Here's what I can tell you:

The past month saw four shows (two in NYC and two here in Boston).  One was a solo at Marc Dwinell's Schoolhouse in Bushwick, another was a first meeting with Canadian sound artist Kyle Bobby Dunn, the third was the "annual" performance of Hell Hoarse, my computer HC noise duo with Chuck Bettis and the last was a long show with my bro's in Ouest. 

All of these were huge and exhausting experiences, given the heat and the amount of travel and the amount of preparation they took.  They were some of the best shows I've ever played and true to form; most of them will turn into recordings.

Speaking of recordings, there are four new ones on the horizon.  First up is the Sillage CD in September on Sedimental.  That is my duo with Seth Nehil.  We've been working on this on and off for three years now and are pleased (and more than a little relieved) that it is finally on its way. It's totally different from my work and Seth's work and should hopefully be a bit of a surprise.

The first evidence of my duo with my good friend Richard Garet is due to see the light of day.  We've got a 55 minute recording based on some studio improvisations that we have recomposed.  A couple of labels are having a look at it now.

Two new solo releases on the horizon: "Piano, Voice and Metal" is a piece I've been playing in concert for a few months and will be released as a CDR on Alex Cobb's excellent Students of Decay label very soon.  The title is not a misnomer: those are the elements used in the composition.  My wife Karen Corday supplied the vocals and our friends Mike Bullock and Linda Aubry Bullock lent me the use of their beautiful Steinway for the afternoon.  It sounds like "my music" to be sure, but it is pushing towards a new direction.

Finally, and most exciting, is the announcement that my composition "Commonwealth" is finally in it's final (and intended) form and will be released by the 23Five label late this year or next.  This is a 50 minute piece that sums up everything I've been trying to say musically for 10 years.  I'm really proud of it and am so glad that such a prestigious label has agreed to put it out.

So, yeah, that's the sum total of a year's work there, not to mention the recordings that have begun with my new rock band, Paper Summer. At the moment we sound like Swedish psych played underneath the bleachers at a gymnasium.  And I think that a good thing. We'll have a proper release and website soon, but for now we'd prefer to keep quiet until our long simmering band is ready to eat.

That's it for now.  See you in October/November, when I'll be out and about again.

Oh, and here's the records I'm into now:

Xenakis:Musique Electro-Acoustique (Fractal)

Lubomyr Melyk :KMH-Piano Music In The Continuous Mode (Unseen Worlds)

Marhaug/Asheim: Grand Mutation (Touch)

Papa M-Live From A Shark's Cage (Drag City)

Patton Oswalt-Werewolves and Lollypops (Sub Pop)

Gordon Mumma- Studio Retrospect (Lovely)

Codeine- The White Birch (Sub Pop)

John Carpenter-Escape From New York (OST) and Assault on Precinct 13 (OST)

John Zorn-Redbird (Tzadik)

See you soon…

b