"C'mon and turn it up," for sure. I really dug Kim Gordon's last project, Free Kitten's Inherit (Ecstatic Peace) - the resurrected Gordon, Julie Cafritz (Pussy Galore), and Yoshimi (Boredoms) collabo came out earlier this year. But what sort of feline mischief has the Sonic Youth player been up to of late? Apparently the indie-underground icon has been toiling as an artist-in-residence at the garden-green Montalvo Arts Center in otherwise-burby Saratoga - so says the press release that came over the transom recently. Sounds like Montalvo is picking up where it left off with the 2006's noise- and art-filled Bleeding Edge Festival, which brought together Matmos and Zeena Parkins (also working with Gordon this time around), Yo La Tengo, Sunroof!, and Tim Hecker:
"On Sept. 26, Montalvo Arts Center will present the world premiere of 'Kim Gordon Meets Phantom Orchard,' a musical collaboration featuring internationally renowned artists at the forefront of the alternative music scene. Kim Gordon, bassist, guitarist and founding member of Sonic Youth, joins the Phantom Orchard duo of laptop artist Ikue Mori and harp innovator Zeena Parkins, plus special guests Trevor Dunn on bass and drummer Yoshimi. The artists are in development with their new project, entitled 'The Song Project,' as part of their Montalvo Arts Center's Lucas Artists Programs residency.
"Kim Gordon has enjoyed a long and storied career as a musician and a visual artist. In 1981 Gordon, with future husband Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo, helped found seminal alt-rock band Sonic Youth. Though they started out as a decidedly underground act, Sonic Youth emerged from the New York City music scene to become one of the most iconic and influential American rock bands, earning praise for their unique, unorthodox rock guitar style, strong studio albums (which have been included in Rolling Stone's 'Greatest Albums of All-Time' list), and career stamina that has spanned over the course of nearly three decades. An established visual artist and curator, Gordon has exhibited her work across the U.S., Japan and Europe (sometimes incorporating live music in her exhibitions), written for respected art publications and has had several books published highlighting her original art.
Flower children: Ikue Mori and Zeena Parkins.
"Ikue Mori has long been a stalwart of New York City's improvisation community via the post-punk era. She moved from her native Tokyo to New York in 1977, and soon formed the no wave band DNA with fellow noise pioneers Arto Lindsay and Tim Wright. DNA enjoyed legendary cult status, while creating a new brand of radical rhythms and dissonant sounds, forever altering the face of rock music. In the mid-'80s Mori started to employ drum machines in the unlikely context of improvised music, forging her highly sensitive signature style with the utilization of elements of standard technology.
"She has collaborated with numerous improvisers throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia - including John Zorn, with whom she built a strong affiliation, Fred Frith and more - while continuing to produce and record her own music. Mori has won numerous awards and honors including the Distinctive Award for Prix Ars Electronics Digital Music, a Civitella Ranieri Foundation Fellowship and a Foundation for Contemporary Arts grant.
"Multi-instrumentalist, composer and improviser Zeena Parkins is highly regarded as a pioneer of the electric harp. She began as an acoustic harpist, but in the late 80s she started to explore different ways of approaching the instrument that revolutionized the harp in terms of both technique and palate. In addition to standard and electric harps, her work also incorporates Foley, field recordings, analog synthesizers, samplers, oscillators and homemade instruments. A heavyweight in New York City's avant-garde music community, Parkins has recorded several solo projects and has also has a laundry list of credits working with the likes of Björk, John Zorn, Tin Hat Trio, Jim O'Rourke, Fred Frith, Lee Ranaldo, Nels Cline, and many others.
"Trevor Dunn is known as both an electric bassist and double bassist, with styles spanning from metal to complex grooves. While still in high school, Dunn formed Mr. Bungle with vocalist Mike Patton (Faith No More) and guitarist Trey Spruance, a group that mixed thrash metal, hard rock, and funk and built a cult following spanning across the world. With a strong background in metal, Dunn also played jazz around San Francisco while immersing himself eclectic styles of bass playing. He is currently involved with Fantômas (along with Mike Patton) and also leads Trevor Dunn's Trio-Convulsant, both of which are signed to Patton's record label Ipecac Recordings.
"Yoshimi is the drummer in Japanese rock band Boredoms who is also a vocalist and plays trumpet, guitar and keyboard. Since 1997 she has led the all-female band OOIOO (the best-known and most successful Boredoms side project), and she continues to contribute to the current incarnation of Boredoms. Yoshimi has worked on a great number of other projects, including indie supergroup Free Kitten with Kim Gordon, Julie Cafritz, and Pavement's Mark Ibold. She also appeared as a session player, vocalist and as the subject matter of the Flaming Lips' landmark 2002 release, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots.
"'The Song Project' unites essential innovators from the contemporary alternative music scenes in both the United States and Japan, in the intimate Carriage House Theatre marking a very special evening of their inimitable world premiere performance. Nestled in the Saratoga hills, Montalvo Arts Center is a member-supported, nonprofit organization dedicated to capturing the innovative and diverse spirit of Silicon Valley and engaging people in contemporary concerns through the arts."
KIM GORDON MEETS PHANTOM ORCHARD
Sept. 26, 8 p.m., $15-$55
Montalvo Arts Center
Carriage House Theatre, 15400 Montalvo, Saratoga
(408) 961-5858
www.ticketmaster.com
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