The Bleeding Edge: 10/7/2024

This will be a moderately busy week. The only previously reported events are those taking place at The Lab on Thursday, October 10, and Saturday, October 12. However, because this will be a busy month at the Center for New Music, it is probably worth accounting for all of the events planned with hyperlinks to all of the Web pages:

• Thursday, October 10, 7:30 p.m.: This will be a two-set program. Composer Theodor Kentros will be visiting from Stockholm. His offering will probably range from screeching culminations of serialized drones to the repetitive minimalist approaches to both tape loops and string synthesis. A.F. Jones, on the other hand, is a guitarist, who applies electronics to not only his “standard” instrument but also lap steel and pedal steel.
• Saturday, October 12, noon: Everyone should know by now about the vegan pancakes for G|O|D|W|A|F|F|L|E|N|O|I|S|E|P|A|N|C|A|K|E|S; but the contributing performers for this installment (which will be the first of two this month) will be Pulsating Cyst, Mod Life Crisis, EKG (the duo of Kyle Bruckmann and Ernst Karel), Amphibious Gestures, and Birdspanker.
• Sunday, October 13, 7:30 p.m.: The program will begin with a new piece created jointly by Casey Anderson on electronics and guitarist Matt Sargent. Sargent will then perform “The Fragility of Time,” an hour-long composition by James Romig. This will mark the beginning of a West Coast tour to celebrate the release of the album of this piece.
• Saturday, October 19, 7:30 p.m.: Contributing performers for the second G|O|D|W|A|F|F|L|E|N|O|I|S|E|P|A|N|C|A|K|E|S installment will be Commode Minstrels in Bullface, Medicine Cabinet, Kevin Corcoran, David Leikam, Hora Flora, and Tanuki Spider Cat.
• Saturday, October 26, 7:30 p.m.: According to my archives, there has not been an Opus Project concert since this past April, when the opus number was four. It may therefore be logical that the opus number for this month will be five. In the past I have focused on the composers, rather than the contributing performers; and the lineup for Opus 5 is an impressive one, since it will include a new composition by Vance Maverick (better known by many for his talents as a choral director). The more “traditional” composers will include Joseph Haydn, Franz Schubert, Richard Wagner, Franz Liszt, Leoš Janáček, and Alfred Schnittke.

That leaves only two remaining events, both of which will take place at “usual suspects” venues as follows:

Tuesday, October 8, 7:30 p.m., Bird & Beckett Books and Records: Music from Other Worlds will be a program that pairs Ava Koohbor’s versatility with electronics with the Evidence Trio, whose members are Andrew Joron on theremin, Kersti Abrams alternating between saxophone and flute, and Michael Wilcox on electric bass.  As regular readers probably know by now, Bird & Beckett is located at 653 Chenery Street, a short walk from the Glen Park station that serves both BART and Muni. As of this writing, there will be no cover charge; but donations for the performers will be accepted. Given the limited space of the venue, reservations are necessary and can be made by calling 415-586-3733. The phone will be answered during regular store hours, which are between noon and 6 p.m. on Tuesday through Sunday.

David Boyce with one of his instruments (from the BayImproviser Calender Web page for this week’s performance)

Friday, October 11, 7 p.m., Medicine for Nightmares: This week Other Dimensions in Sound curator David Boyce will host a duo performance by Mutant Audio. Boyce himself is half of this duo, playing a diversity of horns subjected to electronic processing. He will be joined by guitarist Scott Foster. As always, the venue is located in the Mission at 3036 24th Street, between Treat Avenue and Harrison Street. There is no charge for admission, presumably to encourage visitors to consider buying a book.