Tuesday August 31st 2010, 12:54 pm
Filed under: News
OK, the biggest piece I’ve ever written, FRAGILE ABSOLUTE is set to premiere at ANAM on September 17th at 7PM. We’re talking 19 individual lines for winds, percussion, celeste and electronics. Yours truly is conducting, and its on the bill with Bartok’s Music for Strings, Percussion and Celeste, one of the all-time killer works in the repertoire, which will be conducted by Fabian Russell.
The duo known as PIVIXKI are a unique combination of two distinct talents: two hard-working veterans of the Melbourne (and indeed international) music scene.
Multi-instrumentalist and keyboard player within the band, Anthony Pateras, has a CV big enough to fill three press releases. Working within the musical realms of modern composition, improvisation, electronics, avant-rock and noise, he’s composed for major orchestras, played with a multitude of collaborators (including the likes of Oren Ambarchi, Christian Fennesz, Tony Buck, Han Bennink, Dave Brown and violin virtuoso Richard Tognetti), performed in everything from seedy dives to concert halls the world over, released his music on a multitude of labels (including two acclaimed CDs on John Zorn’s Tzadik imprint) and is currently the composer-in-residence at the Australian National Academy Of Music.
Max Kohane has been playing in bands since he was 12 and touring since he was 16. He’s infamous for his dynamic, intensely fast and technical drumming style and has earned a rep as perhaps the best skin-hitter in Australia’s hardcore punk scene. He’s played in the likes of Far Left Limit, George W. Bush, Terra Firma, Cut Sick, grind kings Agents Of Abhorrence and crust-punkers ABC Weapons. In that time, he’s managed to play shows in places as far flung as Macedonia, Japan, Indonesia and the U.S.
The beauty of PIVIXKI lies in the clash of these two musical cultures, though the willing experimentation of Pateras and Kohane has seen fit that there is no clash at all. PIVIXKI’s debut, Gravissima, recorded by U.S. expatriate Casey Rice, sees an amazing melding of sensibilities. Nominally a piano/drums duo, the band expands their sound with percussive flourishes and the addition of organ and electronic keyboards into the mix. Some of the songs are short, fast and cut to the point; others organically develop over several minutes like soundtrack pieces, occasionally feeding through the creepy, picturesque qualities of Italy’s horror-music legends Goblin, or the seething musical soundscapes of France’s avant-prog troupe, Magma.
On the back of last year’s incredible showcase the Ambarchi/Fox/ Fusinato/Pateras line up is set to deliver another astonishing feast of sound. Fusinato’s noise maelstrom has been recently refined on-stage in Japan and Pateras is fresh from a sojourn in Silicon Valley where he’s been sharpening his sonic weaponry. This time around he’s joined by legendary Agents of Abhorrence rhythm genius Max Kohane and together they are PIVIXKI. Ambarchi has been working on a 6 LP Alga Marghen release and Fox has cooked up a few new jaw-dropping tricks with smoke, mirrors and, of course, lasers. This is a must see event delivered on one of the best sound-systems in town!
Wednesday June 30th 2010, 6:11 pm
Filed under: News
Even if its the end of the music industry, I still continue to release records, because I like listening to them and I like making them. Do me a favor, find your favorite pieces of music, and go and listen to them full resolution on a great pair of speakers, without a screen in the room, or that ugly iTunes interface staring you in the eyeballs. Then tell me, looking me straight in the eye, the experience of listening to an MP3 whilst staring into the shallow, dank chasm of the internet beats the experience you just had basking in the greatness of music at full resolution in a concentrated, attentive state.
Erm, so…new records for 2010 include:
1:PIVIXKI full length CD on Melbourne’s Lexicon Devil, released early August. Max and I are super proud of this. Casey Rice recorded it, and to my mind, every band in Melbourne who is interested in having their albums sound FUCKING AMAZING should hire this man.
2: Anthony Pateras/Chris Abrahams surround DVD on Meupe, released sometime before the end of the year. Well, what can I say? Making a two pianos record with one of the greatest living pianists is kind of insane – so insane that we’ve been working on this since 2004. Its the most stubborn thing I’ve ever done, in fact, this shit’s so stubborn it gives Satie’s Vexations a run for its money…
3: Pateras/Baxter/Brownvinyl LP on incredible Italian imprint Die-Schachtel, probably around September. OK, this is seriously one of the greatest labels on the planet, right now. They first came to my attention after putting out the incredible Il Gruppo box set in 2006. Anyway, this is a document of our concert in Milan on our 2008 European tour, at the point where Sean and I were so improvisationally in tune we almost destroyed each other. It’s THAT GOOD. Above is a photo from our Catania concert where when we finished – the crowd exhaled a collective “MINCHIA!” before giving us a standing ovation…
4: THYMOLPHTHALEINvinyl LP on the greatest electronic music label of the 21st century, Editions Mego, around Nov/Dec. This is my newest band and I’m completely honored to play with such a highly talented crew of freaks: Anderson, Guthrie, Thomas and Noetinger. This is an hour long epic piece which defies description, except that when I play it to people, they ask me to play it again, and again. This never happens. We’re playing a one-off EU exclusive concert in Wels at Music Unlimited in November…if you’re in the neighborhood, say hello!
Wednesday June 30th 2010, 9:10 am
Filed under: News
In 2006, Percussion Group The Hague commissioned AP to write a piece. Interested in the amplifcation of microsounds to create otherworldly textures at the time, Pateras wrote a piece entirely for enclosed percussion sextet.
The group have filmed and recorded it for their new DVD parade, and it is available here. A little YouTube preview is posted below….
Thursday March 04th 2010, 11:10 pm
Filed under: News
AP will be returning from the US briefly to play the Melbourne Jazz Festival with Han Bennik, Pateras/Baxter/Brown and the Australian Art Orchestra. Dates are a follows:
Overground: 2nd May, 2pm onwards, Melbourne Town Hall, CBD.
P/B/B opening for Peter Brötzmann: 4th May, 7:30pm, BMW Edge, Federation Square.
Pateras/Australian Art Orchestra (new work premiere): 5th May, 7:30pm, Melbourne Town Hall, CBD.
