Monday, August 26, 2013

Sound Sample/Video Sample

Sound and Video Sample 2013 from Jason Zeh on Vimeo.


https://vimeo.com/73114426

This is a mix of elements from various tracks combined with clips from the A Vacant Lot To Be In Artist edition VHS.

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Crow With No Mouth 2013 Needs Your Help.

Please consider going here so that I can continue making these fliers for the series. I am unsure of the specifics, but it seems that one of the grants that Jesse had been awarded to fund this year's concert series ended up disappearing. Without your support, CWNM will be unable to fund the rest of the shows.

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Polarity Review From Musique Machine

Review from Musique Machine

Jason Zeh - Polarity [Handmade Birds - 2012]
A simple but professional package, here, from Handmade Birds: a neatly printed inlay card, with introductory notes from Zeh; and a red cassette with on-body printing. The tape contains one long track on each side, both based around recordings of the electromagnetic fields produced by tape machines. Zeh picks up these fields using telephone coil mics, which convert them into audio signals. My small experience of using these mics, has normally resulted in pretty static, crackling drones and hums; so I'd wager that Zeh is achieving his sounds from mixing and layering his multiple tape machines' fields, as well as eq-ing.
Side A is a very static, strong drone; recorded live in October 2011. Constructed out of several layers of tones and hums, it pursues a straight line more-or-less until its end. Zeh tweaks his materials very subtly, with his main techniques pulling them in two quite different directions. The first of these is towards beating tones and throbbing pulses; the piece begins with a gently throbbing low end, and throughout the track these modulations rise and fall - though never with any overwhelming strength (thus maintaining the tension of the drone). The second direction goes the opposite way entirely: rather then playing layers against each other, Zeh somehow coaxes singing tones from them. Thus, tibetan bowl-like drones emerge from the main body of sound; before diminishing, and returning. The piece ends with the sounds of tape reels, amplified by contact mics; these rather decrepit rhythms carry the track to its close, with Zeh creating a nice stereo-bouncing effect.
The second side of the tape, according to Zeh's inlay notes, was created by subjecting recordings of electromagnetic fields to a "variety of tape-based processes of manipulation." The track begins, perhaps unpromisingly, with the sound of slurring tape - and then Zeh brilliantly grinds this sound into the ground. He doubles it, layers it; makes it resonate and reverberate - it really is a masterful piece of work. In terms of what's actually occurring, you might imagine (at the most basic level) someone manipulating a loop; but perhaps a more helpful notion is someone like John Butcher constantly producing a very short passage on the sax (trilling, even), with equally constant variations of tone, timbre and melody. There's a relentless, vigorous exploration of the initial slurring sound - in fact, Evan Parker would be the more obvious saxophone parallel, given his spiralling repetitions. Zeh teases out all kinds of colour, making the track growl and vibrate; building it into buzzing maelstrom with malevolent traces, before it decays down into a warbling drone. After this, Zeh breaks it further; till the listener is left with scratchy, hesitant whines and murky rumbles, slowly playing out in an ocean of tape hiss. Its quite mesmeric.
Whilst the first side of Polarity is undeniably competent and enjoyable, it's the reverse offering that truly makes a name for Jason Zeh. There are a few projects that properly explore the use of tapes and tape machines - rather then simply using recorded sounds on tape as source material - and it's sometimes an area that produces rather austere works, given the limitations of the "instruments." Polarity, though, shows Zeh to be capable of creating great colour, from the barest of sounds. I'm loathe to saddle him with the burden of "the acousmatic Evan Parker," but in case his future reveals that: you heard it here first.

Saturday, July 20, 2013

from Aquarius Records.
ZEH, JASON "A Vacant Lot To Be In"
"The resurgence of the cassette as a viable media may provide an additional context for the work of Jason Zeh, as his gritty drone-noise constructions are entirely based on the contact points between magnetic tape and the tape heads that read / translate that magnetic information into sound. His approach to sound often deals with the dis...location of this contact point, which is akin to the way that Christian Marclay, Gum, or Phillip Jeck approach the turntable. Zeh might wield sandpaper to abrade the tape itself, magnetized razor blades to slice the tapes, leaving irradiated coronas of electrical hum near the edit, and even smearing globs of dirt into the gears and mechanics of the tape deck. All of these very tactile methods impart very tactile results, and as such, A Vacant Lot To Be In is much more akin to Chop Shop's obliterated tape saturation than the somber self-immolation found on William Basinski's Disintegration Loops. Both tracks on this vinyl only release rise through scabrous crumplings into a steady arcing mass of high-voltage dronework whose phase shifting patterns give the impression of an electrified sea of ferric oxide churning through tidal forces. One of the sides builds towards an intense crescendo of turbulent, boiling, junked noise, while the flip eerily navigates an insectoid minimalism. Zeh's work is very strong and deserves as much acclaim as we can muster, especially given his relatively low profile. Highly recommended for fans Joe Colley, Hive Mind, Mike Shiflet, and the more industrially slanted aspects of contemporary sound art. Oh yeah, limited to just 300 copies."

Monday, June 10, 2013

NMASS Podcast

This Podcast contains some tracks from many of the New Media Art  and Sound Summit participants. My contribution is a track off of my forthcoming cassette release on Banned Production. I am really hoping that my copies will be here on time for my tour. Check it out.

It includes the tracks (not necessarily in order):
Coppice - Compound Form
Jason Zeh - A Series of Objects 2
Bryan Day - Moon Crumbs
Melmann - Igual y Dulce
the Dialtones - Johannes
Vanessa Rossetto - Cebra
Brent Fariss - 4 Environments Collapsing
Brekekekexkoaxkoax - “Dugmahrak”
Derrick Fore and Mohadev Bhattacharyya - Last 3 times
Cinders - Lonely Eskimo
The Space - Gusts

Printing Proof: A Vacant Lot To Be In Artist Edition VHS & Audio Cassette


Tuesday, June 4, 2013

NMASS

June 15, 2013
Salvage Vanguard Theater, Austin, TX

Church of the Friendly Ghost’s "New Media Art and Sound Summit 2013"

Flyer by Melissa Seely

INC Tour in Lawrence Kansas

The International Noise Conference US Tour of 2013 is coming to Lawrence, KS. 
 
Wed. June 5th
10:00 pm
8th st. Tap Room
801 New Hampshire st.

Featuring:
Laundry Room Squelchers
This Is My Condition
Sack Lunch
Folkicide
Kind Horse
Llambs
C.A.S.H.E.D.
Jason Zeh
Hellsage
Brandon Evans
Conceal & Carry

15 Minute Rapid-Fire Sets!
Come see your favorites and only have to listen to your least favorites for 15 minutes!


Monday, June 3, 2013

Pivot Arts in Chicago

Find info about the artists here.

Refractions at a Steep Angle of Incindence

7pm, June 19th
4101 N. Broadway Ave.

$10 Suggested Donation.
RSVP to info@pivotarts.org

As part of the Pivot Multi-Arts Festival, Coppice is partnering up with the Buena Park Neighborhood Association and High Concept Laboratories to create and curate experimental sonic experiences in a defunct cleaners in uptown. The show will feature visual art created by current HCL Sponsored Artist Nora Maité Nieves.

Pivot Arts develops new work and presents performances throughout the year culminating in a large-scale, multi-arts festival. Our vision is that of a vibrant community where unique collaborations between artists, businesses and organizations lead to the support and creation of innovative performances.
Pivot’s inaugural Multi-Arts Festival is a celebration of innovative performances in our community.  This year’s festival reignites the spirit of the Vaudeville Era by performing in unique and historic spaces throughout Uptown and Edgewater!  Top Chicago innovators including: Manual Cinema, Molly Shanahan/Mad Shak, Mucca Pazza, and Theater Oobleck lead celebration of multi-disciplinary performances in a former Vaudeville Theater, an at-one-time Charlie Chaplin film studio and other exciting spaces.

Summer 2013 lineup.

COPPICE

JASON ZEH

JASON SOLIDAY

N.N.N. COOK 

TROY SCHAFER




LIZ MCCARTHY
ABBÉY ODUNLAMI
ROBERT HONSTEIN
SCOTT BARTON
TIRTZA EVEN
Everything is Terrible/CHANNEL 2020
THE INCONVENIENCE
EXIT GHOST
NORA MAITÉ NIEVES
THEATRE SEVEN OF CHICAGO

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Just putting this here so I don't forget

EXiS Call for Entries!
10th EXPERIMENTAL FILM and VIDEO FESTIVAL in SEOUL 2013

Annual international experimental film and video festival EXiS 2013 is waiting for your innovative film and videos! EXiS is the biggest premier showcase of experimental media works in Asia.

■ FESTIVAL DATES
Sep 5 ~ Sep 12 2013, Seoul, Korea
■ ENTRY DEADLINE
June 1st, 2013 (Postmark)

... ■ What We Look for:
Experimental film or video work in any format and in length.

■ Requirements
1) Films completed after: September 1 2012
2) Preview Tape (1/2” video cassette or any region DVD)
3) Country of production: all countries
4) Entry Form (both mail & e-mail)
5) 1 photo of artist & 3 production photos (e-mail only)

- NO ENTRY FEE

■ Where to Send:
Attn. Programmer at EXiS office Mapo-gu Soegyo-dong 475-13
Wonchun Bldg. 6th Fl. Seoul, Korea (121-842)

When mailing, please write “without commercial value, for cultural purposes only” on the envelope.

* PLEASE NOTE – Submitted Materials Will NOT Be Returned.

서울국제실험영화페스티벌 HOST_무빙이미지포럼 Moving Image Forum
Executive Body_EXiS 2013 Organization Committee
EXperimental Film And Video Festival in Seoul EXiS2013
Tel. +82(2) 3141-1841
Fax. +82(2) 3141-1842
email. entry2013@ex-is.org

A Vacant Lot To Be In Reviewed in The Wire

Jason Zeh
A Vacant Lot To Be In
Crippled Intellect Productions LP


Those who grew up with the cassette as the principle means for portable listening and file exchange find its resurgence a bit puzzling. How many beloved tapes died from the tape snapping or getting melting in the sun from leaving it on the car dashboard or the physical mechanism itself jamming? For Jason Zeh, those failings are exactly what he seeks to extract through his visceral collages from discarded tape machines and malfunctioning cassettes. While many of his previous recordings have employed the mangled sounds of crumpled and even burnt tape, A Vacant Lot To Be In focuses on the electro-magnetic properties of the tape machine, as Zeh shoves magnetic pieces of metal into the mechanism to interfere with the signal flow. The result is ominously insectoid humming and scabrous noises that increase in density and velocity over both pieces of this vinyl, collapsing into a exhausted smolder of corroded drone and hiss.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

More Teasers


Here is the finalized, full color, artwork for the cassette and VHS that will come with the artist edition of A Vacant Lot To Be In. I am about to send them off to the Risograph printers after running into some problems and other work demands over the last week. These are going fast. So, contact CIP if you want to reserve one.

NMASS in Austin, TX

2013 marks the 10th year anniversary of Church of the Friendly Ghost! This is the fifth annual NMASS (New Media Art and Sound Summit) 



At The Church of the Friendly Ghost.
2803 Manor Rd, Austin, Texas 78722
 
https://www.facebook.com/#!/events/257350554404705/
nmassfest.org
 

Wednesday, June 12th at Town Lake (around sunset)
Lisa Cameron's Canopy of Sound opening ceremony

... Thursday, June13th at SVT

ERCATX II & How to Build a Fire: Films and Videos by Michael Morris
plus the work of: David Bartner, Lyndsay Bloom, Nathan S Duncan, Jarrett Hayman, Kirsty Hughan, Caroline Koebel, Patrick Marshall, Metrah Pashaee, Ekrem Serdar,Scott Stark and Rachel Stuckey

Friday, June 14th at SVT

Eurorack synth module building workshop with Super Synthesis and Delptronics* Modular synth meet and greet / show and tell, Thomas Fang, Daze of Heaven, Douglas Ferguson, Rick Reed, Atlanta-based sound designer and IDM wizard Richard Devine with visuals by SYMBOL, Argentinean electronic musician Nicolas Melmann presentation of live sound and video performance.
(this day is brought to you by I/O Music Technology http://www.io-mt.com/)

Saturday, June 15th at SVT

An afternoon brunch followed by a screening of the documentary Conlon Nancarrow: Virtuoso of the Player Piano, followed by performances by Demaris & Knowles, Josh Ronsen BBC turntable trio, Derrick Fore & Mohadev Bhattacharyya, Bryan Day, Nick Hennies, Brent Fariss, Red Ox vs. Cinders, Jason Zeh, O'Neill+Odam installation performance, Coppice, the Dialtones performance and installation, and "Decline" late night visual score ceremony.

Purchase your advance ticket for only $35 here!
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/cotfg-nmass-2013/x/2396972

Other links:
http://nmassfest.org/
http://do512.com/event/2013/06/12/cotfg-new-media-art-and-sound-summit-2013

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Show in KC June 17th

Monday June 17th 
8:00pm
$5
FOKL
556 Central Ave.
Kansas City Kansas

Jason Zeh
KC extended technique cassette music.
http://jasonzeh.blogspot.com/
https://vimeo.com/64354733
https://vimeo.com/47962724

Coppice
Chicago duo of bellows and electronics. Coppice will be
performing a new composition for prepared pump organ
and tape processes
http://www.futurevessel.com/coppice/
http://soundcloud.com/futurevessel/coppice-pied-excerpt

Ashley Tini and The
Lawrence chamber ensemble performs music by Iannis
Xenakis and David Lang.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOvepxvHXKk

Piper Harrow
KC tapes, mouth, etc.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpFGiTa5j44

Conceal and Carry
KC ambient drone-pop.
http://soundcloud.com/user2128422

Friday, May 17, 2013

More Images from Hammer Anvil Stirrup in Lincoln, NE




Tue. June, 11 Wichita Kansas

Tuesday June, 11th
10:30pm

Kirby's
3227 E 17th St N, Wichita, Kansas 67208-1910


JASON ZEH - kansas city tape manipulator. and overwhelming, enveloping, and enthralling adventure is sound decay. releases on chondritic sound, gods of tundra, gameboy productions, etc.

CRICKET ENSEMBLE - recently founded offshoot of CRICKET WAND. drone / ambient duo? trio?

+1 more tba

KIRBYS
FREE
COME SUPPORT JASON ZEH

Wed. June, 12 Austin TX

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 12TH
6pm - 10pm
HOUSE OF CACA (1111 Saucedo St, the house with the red door and all the trash in the yard)
FREE/BYOB
FREE BOOZE (while it lasts)
... DONATIONS ENCOURAGED (seriously)

Jason Zeh
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0f4MLenmTvg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7gFluRj0Vs
Kansas City, Missouri's master of tape manipulations. If you can't catch him at the NMASS festival; here's a free gig that you have no excuse if you miss it. Bring donation bux/whiskey for him if you can.

Breakdancing Ronald Reagan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqE6P9DGdVI
1/2 of the House of Caca staff. Cut-up Harsh Noise and junk abuse meets Pansy Power ElectroniXXX and funny mashups.

Gym Mat Nap
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGdraUWqH9c
The other 1/2 of the House of Caca stalves. Abrasive ambience with tapes, white noise, occasional vocal, + element of surprise.

Dromez
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrT2LRZ49qE
Freaking out about creeps. Screaming, awkward, emotional, brutal chick, harsh noise and feedback. Winner of contests.

Aunt's Analog
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2FRO274H_U
Harsh pedal-abuse from Austin's own OG HN king!

DJ Papa Caca will be in full effect this night. For real.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:
Roughly 1hr before the show, we will be having an exclusive screening of GX Jupitter-Larsen's (The Haters) film "A Noisy Delivery." It'll be the first, and currently ONLY, screening of it in Texas. Come chill in our living room and watch this flick with us. More info:

GX Jupitter-Larsen (sometimes erroneously spelled Juppiter-Larsen) is an artist, based in Hollywood, California, who's been active in a number of underground art scenes since the late 1970s. Jupitter-Larsen has been involved in punk rock, mail art, cassette culture, the noise music scene, and zine culture.

Shot around the world A Noisy Delivery is the first, yes the 1st, feature - length movie by GX.

Official Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCDRurt-ZBM

unofficial Trailers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ruq53Ai-Hg

"The synopsis: a couple were going to get together after the girlfriend had dropped off her package, but the boyfriend will have to keep waiting. The whole day turned out to be an attempt in crossing the distance between nothing and something. Everyone, it seems, was at the post office for philosophy instead of postage."

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!

Alexandra Pharmakidis, of Power Monster/Sex Bruises/Mustard Tugboat/Mema/etc, will also be having a miniature one-night-only gallery showing. She'll be showing off excerpts from her collection of mail-art trades as well as her own work. These will be viewable in the living room of the house during both the film and the show. Please treat them with respect and care.

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Review of Hammer Anvil Stirrup

Read it here.

"The sounds created aren’t always musical. One of the key sonic components of Jason Zeh’s '3 Examples of Extended Tape' is tape hiss along with other noises and hums created by three cassette players run through a mixing board."

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Show in Lincoln NE



8PM Wednesday May 15 at Toothblack House
3708 J ST Lincoln NE Roy Werner and John Brumley (CA) electronic sound and light
Jason Zeh (KC) minimal tape sounds
Angeles Cossio and Jeff Thompson (NE, NYC) sound and light
Joseph Jaros (NE) sound
Scott Cook (NE) sound
Mighty Vitamins (NE) the task at hand
             we’ll start on time
Please donate $5 to the touring artists

Thursday, May 9, 2013

2013 MILWAUKEE NOISE FEST

FTAM, Rushmor Records, Callous Musik and Koala Buttons present...

2013 MILWAUKEE NOISE FEST
AUGUST 22-24
THE MIRAMAR THEATRE
... 2844 N OAKLAND
6:00 DOOR, 7:00 SHOW
ALL AGES
$16.00 PER NIGHT//$41.00 THREE DAY PASS

THURSDAY, AUGSUT 22
The Haters (CA)
Frank Rosaly (IL)
Hal Rammel and Jim Schoenecker (WI)
Lucky Bone (WI)
Hostage Pageant (OH)
KrampusØ (WI/MN)
Blessed Sacrifist (WI)
Fake Blood Universe (WI)


FRIDAY, AUGUST 23
The Rita (Victoria, BC)
Steel Hook Prosthesis (TX)
Reptile Worship (WI)
Dan of Earth (WI)
Startless (IL/MO)
Wapstan (Montreal)
Anal Hearse (WI)
Nummy (WI)


SATURDAY, AUGUST 24
Negativland (CA)
Pedestrian Deposit (CA)
Peter J Woods (WI)
Climax Denial (WI)
Jason Soliday (IL)
Dr Rhomboid Goatcabin (OH)
Urth (MN/IL)
Mildew (WI)


Line Up Subject to Change


LINKS TO TICKETS:
THURSDAY- http://www.themiramartheatre.com/event/274363
FRIDAY- http://www.themiramartheatre.com/event/274373
SATURDAY- http://www.themiramartheatre.com/event/274381
THREE DAY PASSES- Click any of the above links


an FTAM production
http://experimentalmilwaukee.com/
peter@experimentalmilwaukee.com

Artist Edition VHS Cover

Here is the Black and White art for the VHS that comes with the Artist Edition of A Vacant Lot To Be In.

The final version will be a full color Risograph print of this design. If you are interested in getting one, make sure that you reserve it soon. They are quickly disappearing.

Update: as of now, there are only five of these left that are unspoken for. If you want one contact Crippled Intellect Productions.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

A Vacant Lot To Be In Review On Vital Weekly

JASON ZEH - A VACANT LOT TO BE IN (LP by CIP)

The other new record on CIP is by Jason Zeh, of whom I first heard on the same label, and whose work since then has my interest. Zeh is one of the few people I know who uses extensively cassette tapes, processed in extreme conditions, to create some excellent musique concrete from a very lo-fi point of view. Tape is treated with paint, dirt, needles, sand papers, but also tape recorders are subject to similar modifications, and all of these processed recordings are put together with some great effect. Two pieces, one per side and each is described on the cover, such as 'all sounds derived from cassette loops of varying lengths stretched between modified tape decks. Magnets, splicing tape, sand paper and magnetized knife blades have been used to slowly dismantle the recorded source material' and that's what happens over the twenty minutes of 'Cycles Of Doubt'. That piece is throughout quite a drone like affair, whereas 'A Vacant Lot To Be In' is a slow growing animal, reaching it's forceful peak at one point, buzzing loudly with tons of hiss, in a might crescendo ending the piece. Excellent stuff, carved into an analogue medium for optimum playback. (FdW)
Address: http://cipsite.net http://misanthrophicagenda.com

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Hamer Anvil Stirrup: People Make Things That Make Sounds



Photos by Craig Roper and Bryan Day


I have a piece in this sound art exhibition in Lincoln Nebraska right now. The show is called Hamer Anvil Stirrup: People Make Things That Make Sounds and was curated by Jay Kreimer and Bryan Day. 

LUX Center for the Arts
2601 N 48th St, Lincoln, Nebraska 68504

Hammer, Anvil, Stirrup: People Make Things That Make Sounds
Reception: May, 3 from 5-8pm
May 3-June 28
... Sponsored by: Garner Industries

Lincoln artist, Jay Kreimer and San Francisco musician, Brian Day invited a group of contemporary sound artists from around the country to make work that engages your eyes and ears. A variety of mediums are used to create curious instruments that make sounds that are familiar and foreign. Participating artists: Harry Bertoia, Scott Cook, Bryan Day, Anne Hege, Tore Honore’Boe, Joseph Jaros, Tim Kaiser, Ben Kreimer, Jay Kreimer, Sung Kim, Cheryl Leonard, Reinhold Marxhausen, John Collins McCormick, Tom Nunn, Ed Ruchalski, David Samas, Jeff Snyder, Robert Stewart, Jeff Thompson, Jon Yates and Jason Zeh.

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Soup Of Freak

Soup of Freak, a 62 artist compilation featuring me, is available here

Hammer, Anvil, Stirrup: People Make Things That Make Sounds

Hammer, Anvil, Stirrup: People Make Things That Make Sounds
Reception: May, 3 from 5-8pm
May 3-June 28
... Sponsored by: Garner Industries


LUX Center for the Arts

2601 N 48th St, Lincoln, Nebraska 68504


Lincoln artist, Jay Kreimer and San Francisco musician, Brian Day invited a group of contemporary sound artists from around the country to make work that engages your eyes and ears. A variety of mediums are used to create curious instruments that make sounds that are familiar and foreign. Participating artists: Harry Bertoia, Scott Cook, Bryan Day, Anne Hege, Tore Honore’Boe, Joseph Jaros, Tim Kaiser, Ben Kreimer, Jay Kreimer, Sung Kim, Cheryl Leonard, Reinhold Marxhausen, John Collins McCormick, Tom Nunn, Ed Ruchalski, David Samas, Jeff Snyder, Robert Stewart, Jeff Thompson, Jon Yates and Jason Zeh.

Austin, Texas

Church of the Friendly Ghost presents the fifth annual NMASS (New Media Art and Sound Summit) from Thursday, June 13th until Saturday, June 15th, 2013! Concerts! Art Installations! Film screenings! Workshops!

artists and workshops include...

Eurorack synth module building workshop with Super Synthesis and Delptronics* Modular synth meet and greet / show and tell, Thomas Fang, Daze of Heaven, Douglas Ferguson, Rick Reed, Atlanta-based sound designer and IDM wizard Richard Devine, Experimental Response Cinema will present the films of Dallas artist Michael Morris and a program of local experimental filmakers, Chicago's Coppice will perform new material for prepared pump organ and tape procceses, Nick Hennies in a vibraphone and bass duo, The Austin premier of the film Conlon Nancarrow: Virtuoso of the Player Piano, Red Ox vs. Cinders, master of cassette tape destruction Jason Zeh, Argentinean electronic musician Nicolas Melmann will be presenting a live sound and video performance, a new installation by Sean O'neill and Clay Odom. Plus more artists and events are being added every day!    
tickets for the whole weekend cost only $35. 

You can support the fest on Indie Gogo by going here.

Thursday, April 25, 2013

A Vacant Lot To Be In currently available.

Here is the  info from the label.

Order now from CIP
WHOO HOO! JASON ZEH'S "A VACANT LOT TO BE IN" IS NOW READY TO SHIP!

I'm overjoyed to announce that the regular edition of this LP is ready to ship; see below for information on the artist edition.

CIP24: Jason Zeh: A Vacant Lot To Be In LP
edition of 300 copies, silkscreened back sleeve and mounted risography image on the cover.
$16 ppd in the US; if you're overseas, inquire first for shipping costs.

Jason Zeh is a hands-down master of cassette tape and cassette playback devices. Using magnets, metal, plastic, car stereo tape adapters, cassette players without tape, cassette tape loops, modified tape decks, and sand paper (among other devices), Zeh creates two tracks that swim through hiss, grit, and wavering, fractured soundwaves to create some of the most engaging audio I've had the pleasure to hear.

This recording reflects not only Zeh’s dedication to mastering and refining his source material of choice, but also a drive to explore and mine new facets of that source material for some truly rewarding audio.

Artist Edition:

There is an artist editon, but please note IT IS NOT YET AVAILABLE; as it's the end of the semester, both Jason and I are a bit slammed with student needs, and the production and assembly process takes a bit of time. However, here are the details and the pricing.

the artist edition includes:
--a cassette with an alternate mix of side 2 one one side and a reworking of source material on the other
--a vhs tape of video treatments Jason has been working on; very much a visual interpretation of his audo processes (approx 20 minutes)
--a combination cloth / custom wallpaper wall hanging wrapping the entire release (featuring, naturally, Jason's distinctive artwork)

this will be limited to 33 signed copies; it is $33 US; again, overseas folks please contact me first.

people are welcome to reserve an artist copy, but please DO NOT send payment until I shoot you a confirmation email--the artist edition should be available by mid- to late- May at the latest.

thanks,
Blake
 
A Vacant Lot To Be In from Jason Zeh on Vimeo.

Friday, April 5, 2013

Back Cover


This is really interesting...


...to me at least.

At the risk of sounding like a douche, I wanted to say a little about my visual art and use the above images as a reference point. The first image is the artwork that I recently sent to the label that is putting out a cassette for me. I greatly respect that label as it has been going for quite some time and releases work by some truly inspiring artists. I was honored and humbled to have been asked to submit some work for this cassette series and, as is often the case with me, I took far too long to complete the audio. Then, it took me far longer to finish the art work. I struggled with a few ideas for the cover and finally decided on a concept that I thought was good. I executed the idea that I had in mind and edited the image so that it should fit perfectly within the dimensions of a cassette case.

Anyone who has been following my visual art will have noticed that, over the last few years,  I have been breaking outside my standard black and white xerox art and have been straying away from the use of bold and often earthy tones into more garish pastels. Another stylistic change that I have undergone in the last year, specifically, is that I have been working on incorporating frames into my art. In the realm of record covers, this is a move that has been met with considerable confusion. Just about every time I send the art off to the label that is dealing with it, the response I get is something like, "do you want me to crop out the frame?"

I fully understand the confusion. We usually think of frames as being things that are used to present art. They are devices that identify visual space as art and cordon it off from the outside world. Because of the disruption of visual space caused by the frame, the abstract expressionists often rejected its use. It may have been a way of blurring the boundaries between the experience of art and that of other visual experiences. It may have been an attempt to separate that kind of painting from the pictorial associations of past art movements. It may have been an attempt to draw attention to the objecthood of a painting in contrast to its former role as mere depiction of something external to it.

With this understanding of the frame in mind, it makes sense that people would be unwilling to easily accept a frame as part of the artwork for an album cover. But that is why I first started using it. Years ago, when I first began trying to show my work in public, I started collecting odd frames to put the pieces in. Much later, I became interested in photographing xerox art in frames to cast them as three dimensional objects rather than as flat designs.

Another issue that came up in this work takes me back to the abstract expressionists, specifically Robert Motherwell. A few years ago, I was reading his collected writings and became very interested in a series that he referred to as "opens." I was lucky enough to see one in person in Grand Rapids MI (it wasn't my favorite, but was pretty cool nonetheless). These pieces are characterized by very large expanses of one color (there might be some with more than one color though) and very simple lines that start to outline a geometric shape, but then intersect the outside edge of the canvas. The result is an implied form that continues outside of the visual field and kind of opens the canvas up to continue out into the rest of the world. This idea was really interesting to me and its influence started to work its way into my work.

When I came up with the idea for this record cover, I think I pushed my ideas about what I was doing with frames a step further than I was able to achieve before. In the first image, you can see that the bottom edge of the frame is cut off. I intentionally did it that way because the bottom black line of the xerox art is supposed to function as a stand in for that fourth wall of the frame. The whole idea of that piece is an interaction between the image and the frame so that they both work together to complete the rectangle. The result, for me at least, is that, like Motherwell's "opens" the piece opens the cover of the tape out into the world by implying a continuation of the image outside of what is visible. But, more importantly, it sets up a dialogue between the xerox art and the frame. The frame is trying to contain the image, but it is unable to do so because the bottom of it is cut off. As a result, the xerox art piece (which is rectangular, like a frame) steps in to close off the image at the bottom. At the same time, the top, left corner of the image is left open. Therefore, it relies on frame to keep everything closed up nicely. Because the xerox and the frame both need each other to box everything in, it becomes obvious that the function of the frame has been radically transformed. It is part of the image rather than external to it.

If you look at the actual, proposed, cover art, the bottom of the frame has been photoshopped back into place. Now it is just a frame again. The art is the thing inside the frame. The frame is not part of the art. There is no reason to think about the purpose of the frame on the cover.

If the cover goes to print like this, we will all survive. There is no big problem. It just provided a really amusing opportunity for self indulgent thinking: maybe one that is only amusing to me.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

I Have Achieved KC "Metal Local" Status.

From The Pitch
"One spin through last year's double album The Clearing/The Final Epoch, by Chicago drone duo Locrian, puts you in a dark place. It's full of proper apocalyptic noise driven by doom and disaster — breathtaking black-metal-influenced tunes with the power to raise evil spirits and drop testicles. This bill, which also includes metal locals Boreas and Jason Zeh, is the first UFO Show, a new series at Davey's curated by local experimental music sage Pat Hopewell. "Booking shows that other venues are too chickenshit to attempt" is the promise that Hopewell shot us when he announced the series, and it looks like he's on his way to making good on it."