MidiFest

http://www.midifestival.com/

merci beaucoup to Jon from MiniFest for showing me things about Beijing. I know I didn't write much on my trip.

names of areas and streets are too long to remember..

trop rad.

http://noishanghai.org/

Torturing Nurse et al.

um.. i think i'm gonna have to go

I have to be back in Asia by the end of this year. North America/Montreal moves too slow esp. in the winter.

Noise Asia Festival

Noise Asia 10 years festival, Sound Factory 17 years party…coming soon

artists
Otomo Yoshihide, Sachiko M, Yoshimitsu Ichiraku, I.S.O, Filament, Djdee, Li Chin Sung, Wang Young, Zenlu, Turtoring Nurse, Zbigniew Karkowski, Wang Fan, Park Je Chun, Miyeon…..more coming

date
24th Dec 06 - 4th Jan 07 in 4 cities

http://www.noiseasia.com/dick/?page_id=111

ARTiT: new issue

New issue of ARTiT is: Art in China II!

Picked up Art in China I while I was in Japan. I was surprised to find a part II.

Time to mail order this one.



ARTiT

Japan's bilingual quarterly art mag.


previous post on Art in China part I

more festivals..ONTARIO experimental music _ resurgence - melding of the old and new

Electric Eclectics

Festival of Modern Music and Irritainment taking place in Meaford Ontario August 4th-6th.

I stumbled upon this festival.. surprising to see something like this happening in Meaford Ontario.. it seems there are a number of experimental music festivals popping up all around .. or are simply getting more attention.

Though the line up in general does not peak my interest at all, I thought the general idea was interesting especially coming from small-town Ontario. It seems there is an emergence of small-town of bedroom experimental artists. There is a grass-roots hippie vibe to of an older generation that seems to meld and inspire a new generation of experimental/noise artists that are bored with overly processed sounds and media. One example of the older generation London Ontario’s Nihilist Spasm Band.

The festival includes a range of international and local artists including Alexander Hack from famed German early industrial group Einstürzende Neubauten, as well as longer standing sound, light and media installations.

Peter Venuto and partner Jimmy Green (Toronto) will also be featuring their Rainbow Lites or Electric Rainbow Machine (‘primitive synaesthesia’, diy light display) and musical project Very Venuto.

Video below:



Very Venuto

The new generation of experimental is emerging throughout. A new festival Bummer in the Summer in Toronto taking place Aug 4,5,6 at Tranzac brings new experimental, folk, psych, noise with a surprising number of new, young artists from all around Toronto as well as support from larger American artists in the genre. It has a similar appeal of Terrastock and Suoni Il Per Popolo, but with a good amount of local content to build and support the community.

Local line up includes: Polmo Polpo, Awesome, Picastro, Mortimercy, Rozasia, Creeping Nobodies, Deep Dark United, Nadja, Montreal’s Cousins of Reggae and many others.

Much anticipated appearance by psych rock group Oneida, who will also be swinging through Montreal around that time.


Beginning of these rural festivals seemed to be sparked by a bold venture of Blake Hargreaves of Dreamcatcher/Cousins of Reggae with the EARTH UNDER festival that took place last summer 2005. It was a weekend noise fest in the forests of rural Ontario that brought for the first time some major noise bands from the eastern townships of the US into Canada.

neglect. & over saturation & festivals

sorry for the neglect.

when consumed by a particular subject for example music, one becomes slightly adverse to music over time. industry kills the passion.

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Montreal's experimental community cannot be expressed better than through the barrage of festivals that take place throughout the year.

In May just outside of Montreal is infamous International Festival Musique Actuelle in Victoriaville. For over 20 years the festival has been bringing in the brink of contemporary music from around the world from improv, free jazz, experimental electronic, to noise...

This years highlights include Japan's Keiji Haino and experimental doom metalists SUNN 0)))

www.fimav.qc.ca/

Also in May is Elektra Festival - a Digital Arts festival featuring an array of media arts, and digital culture from music, video, design, gaming, and interactive/sound installations.

http://www.elektrafestival.ca

Similarly, the infamous MUTEK festival at the beginning of June, features and epic showcase of music, sound and new technologies. Electronic musicians, sound artists alike congregate with head to head collaboration showcases, big shows like Pierre Bastien, Placards (30 min sets by dozens of artists, mats & headphones all day)

The traveling festival has also been hosted in Mexico, and China.

www.mutek.ca

And finally, this year, Suoni Il Per Popolo offers and monstrous month long festival (more along the lines of Victoriaville) at the city's two main rock venues La Sala Rosa and Casa Del Popolo, where programming for the span of the entire month of June is dedicated to free jazz, noise, avant-rock and experimental music. From acts like Jack Rose, Pengo, Mouthus, Tetuzi Akiyama, Excepter, Sun Ra Arkestra and many many more...

SUONI il per popolo Sounds for the People

Along with mammoth indie-rock extravaganza Pop Montreal and MEG Montreal festival following only weeks after in October as well as Franco Folies and the Jazz Festival in the summer, it can't be denied that the city isn't over-saturated with culture (even in terms of only music). Especially with such a small population and general lack of money in the city to really support culture, it is quite impressive to see so much happening.

It's sometimes troubling to see festivals slowly deminishing, and down sizing events due to lack of funds.

Generally cultural development occurs after a city has substantial financial means to support it (ie. a strong market economy). It is surprising to see so little in Hong Kong, where the population is too concerned about work to even bother going out and further developing culture (though culture is generally expressed differently through more traditional means).

To work as a cultural pioneer and settler in newly developed modern economies might be a thrilling adventure on its own.