Episode 043 - feat. Mark Allender & Matt Coffman, Copal, Ashia, Local Lingo

Mark Allender & Matt Coffman - "Jack Szechuan"
Copal - "Ice Crystal"
Ashia - "Fossil"
Local Lingo - "Third Sight"

http://bowed.org/043/043.mp3

Hi everybody! This comes to you from my new place of employment - Mars Horsecare US, Inc. I am outside of the main plant as I recorded this - fighting the wind - so please don't mind the odd gusts that blow into my microphone! It adds character, right?

First up on the show is a collaboration between me and my longtime friend Matt Coffman. He and I have been friends since high school. In the wake of the events of the past year, I have asked a lot of my friends to contribute artwork as I rebuild my new life (an incredibly healing thing to do by the way if you find yourself in a similar situation and have a lot of creative friends). So in the spirit of this, I asked Matt if he would help me put together a recording of one of the old tunes we used to do in a we were in together called North River Company. So over the past couple weeks we got together and laid down some tracks -- with me on violin. I'm far from being a competent violinist, but I can put out a fire with it ... so I hope you enjoy it!

Copal is a group out of Boston featuring violinist Hannah Thiem and cellist Joe Ball. Together with electronica artist Ammon Ep, they create a wonderful mix electronica and Arabic idioms. Fascinating work. This group has recently released a full-length disc entitled eso-terra.

Ashia - a cellist with Cirque de Soleil in Las Vegas, makes her second appearance on this show. Her passionate, vaguely sinister delivery brings a unique quality to what she calls her "songs about nostalgia, desire, transcendence, and love." Wild, seductive, yet understated.

Local Lingo is the collaboration of violinist Jason Kao-Hwang and Sang Won Park, who plays traditional Korean instruments such as kayagum and ajaeng. Both are veterans of the celebrated Far East Side Band, but in this incarnation, they bring an intimacy to their intercultural improvisations.

Thanks everybody! Take care!

Mark Allender, producer-host
web: www.bowed.org
email: string@bowed.org
phone: 330-781-4387
skype: mark.allender

Episode 004 - Hosted by Tom Lyberg of Wired Jesus Podcast

Over the Rhine - "The First Noel"
Black Violin - Mixtape, 3 #18 thru #26
Jason Kao Hwang / EDGE - "Stream"
Corbin Keep - "Aping Awakening"
Hangedup - "Alarm"
Malcolm Goldstein - excerpt from Configrations in Darkness
Bethany and Rufus - "The Swallow"

http://www.bowed.org/004/004.mp3

Hosted by Tom Lyberg of Wired Jesus Podcast

Hello all,

One of the issues that I have had to overcome in not doing my own announcements for this program is that it is very difficult for me to give my personal opinion - or other otherwise useful information to you the listeners. And this episode has so much incidental information that I am going to start including "Producer's Notes" with each new episode from here on out - or at least till I get tired of doing them. And one of the things that I have struggled with in doing this program is deciding boundaries for what is appropriate to include and what isn't. I have tried to do my best to encourage independent artists to submit tracks on their own, and this has happened a few times. But overwhelmingly, the submissions I receive come from guitarists. (And I make it clear - if you can play your guitar with a bow, I'll give it a listen.) What I will not accept are pop songs with a violin solo in the middle. I am looking - first! and foremost - for the sound of bowed strings to permeate the music.

How about playing pizzicato (you may ask)? Is that okay?

Well, that was my big agonizing decision on this episode - in the case of Bethany and Rufus. Their current disc has a wonderful hip, jazzy sound - with brilliant takes on many traditional or otherwise popular folk songs. But Rufus' cello is predominantly featured with long pizzicato passages. And the only "all arco" tune on their current disc is a nice - but very uncharacteristic - somber sound to it.

But I stuck to my guns - and they are here with their somber tune. Check them out privately - they are a lot more hip than you would think by listening here.

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Notable on this episode is Black Violin. I enjoy these guys a great deal - they've got one of the freshest sounds I've heard in a long time. Also worthy of note - they were scheduled originally to appear on Episode 003 but were caught in the wreckage of Hurricane Wilma and were unable to provide materials in time. But I'm pleased to report they are doing okay and I am very happy to have them on this show.

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Black Violin aside, this episode features more avant garde material than I have featured in the past - with Hangedup's, Jason Kao Hwang's and Malcolm Goldstein's tracks comprising over half of the show's duration. So, to those with less experienced ears, I ask that you give them a patient listen - it may be a rewarding one after all.

(me? I can't get enough of this shit...)

Anyway, I want to say a big thank you to the artists and their management for making this show possible.

And thank you as always for listening.

#005 coming in January.

AMK
string@bowed.org
www.bowed.org