Hey I am one of the lucky few! In 2010 I was privileged not to be bombed, starved, invaded, occupied, raped, harassed, imprisoned, tortured, disenfranchised, disappeared, beaten, slandered, enslaved, endangered or robbed. I was not denied medical treatment. I was not denied entry to the places I wished to travel. I say privileged because so many others in the world experienced one or more of these things. But not me, at least not in the literal sense. As an artist many of the choices I make in favor of my work and the messages therein do not provide maximum comfort or security, but I am, perhaps, privileged and happy to make those choices.
I was fortunate to perform around 100 shows in 2010: more than last year and hopefully fewer than next year. I got to play in The Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, The US and Canada. I got to collaborate with old friends and new friends and visit amazing spaces and meet generous concert organizers. I had audiences that cared and listened and asked questions. One of my proudest achievements was the release of Unison Lines in November. I also self-produced two CDs under the moniker The Love Story: U$ DRONE and Let My Music Hear Children. The net label Insubordinations released improwizje. Other good things from this year:
THESE RECORDS:
Gil Scott Heron: I'm New Here (XL).
Gorillaz: Plastic Beach (Parlophone).
Erykah Badu: New Amerykah Part Two (Universal Motown).
Matt Bauder: Day in Pictures (Clean Feed).
Kate Moore: The Open Road.
Ensemble Klang: Matt Wright: Music at the edge of collapse.
Ensemble Klang: Peter Adriaansz: Waves.
Ensemble Klang: Oscar Bettison: O Death.
Ensemble Klang: Tom Johnson: Cows, Chords & Combinations.
Johnny Dowd: Wake Up the Snakes (Munich).
Jason Ajemian & the High Life: Let Me Get That Digital (sundmagi).
THESE FILMS:
Gasland, directed by Josh Fox.
Slingshot Hip Hop, directed by Jackie Reem Salloum.
THEIR VIDEOS:
MIA: Born Free.
Erykah Badu: Window Seat.
The Books: I Didn't Know That.
Gil Scott-Heron: Me and the Devil.
MY VIDEOS:
I put very simple "placeholder" videos together for two of my own songs:
A Bloodletting and Questionnaire.
SEEING THEM PERFORM:
Matt Bauder's Day in Pictures. Dan Deacon. Vieux Farka Toure. Jason Ajemian and the High Life. Lechuguillas. Hank Roberts with John Stetch and Jim Black. Poverty Hymns. Burning Spear. Johnny Dowd Band. Zorch. Why the Wires. Summer People. Cuddle Magic. Trevor Dunn's MadLove. Marnie Stearns. DAM.
PERFORMING:
My own favorite performance was my last of the year: December 10 at Tranzac in Toronto, where some of the various threads I have been working on (agitprop songwriting & drone electronics & singing & saxophone improvisation & performance text) felt organic and natural in the context of each other. Other highlights: The Haiti Horns at The Haunt, Ithaca, May 14. The Love Story at Soundlab, Buffalo, May 22. JATAS at Chapterhouse, Ithaca, June 5. Places, or: The Hague Invasion Act at Wildfire, Ithaca, June 17. The Love Story at Robinwood Concert House, Toledo, July 8. Narayana's Cows with Ensemble Klang at Paradiso, Amsterdam, September 12. Walden with Ensemble Klang at the Bern Biennale, September 15. Desire & Decay at the Schwartz Performing Arts Center in Ithaca, December 3.
PERFORMING/COLLABORATING WITH THEM:
Ensemble Modelo 62. Ensemble Klang (Saskia Lankhoorn, Heiko Heerts, Erik-Jan de With, Anton van Houten, Joey Marijs, Pete Harden). Monica Germino. Max Haft. Max Knigge. Sanne van der Horst. Pascal Meyer. Brice Soniano. Mike Stark. Ryan Zawel. Steve Reichlen. Stephanie Pan. Simon Jermyn. Joachim Badenhorst. Wilson Shook. Jacob Wick. Reuben Radding. Bonnie Jones. Andrew Drury. Matt Bauder. Jay Spaker. Lee Hamilton. Angelo Peters. Alicia Aubin. Alexas Dominique Esposito. Patrick Murphy. TJ Borden. Johnny Dowd. Brian Wilson. Kim Sherwood-Caso. Matt Saccuccimorano. Park Doing. Ami Ben-Yaacov. Alan Pauling. Pat Burke. Jim Catalano. Jarek Miller. Trevor Pinch. Jim Spitznagel. Nick Bullock. JP Petronzio. Devon Rehl. Matt Wright. Zaun Marshburn. Chris Seeds. Max Buckholtz. Lindsay Gilmour. Durga Bor. T. Andrew Trump. Jax DeLuca. KG Price. Jim Abramson. Gabriel Beam. Michael Kimaid. Kevin O'Brien Caine. Steve Baczkowski. Marc Levitt. Jesse Blockton. Greg Altman. Jens Carstensen. David Gordon. Walt Lorenzut. Maurice Perry. Hank Roberts. Brian Dozoretz. Samantha Abrams. Alyssa Duerksen. Shaina Ung. Audrey Pincus. Liz Hake. Danny Lindgren.
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