Tuesday 18 May 2010

The Noise Upstairs.

Richard Scott (left) and Phil Marks the night's featured act.




Jim Tetlow joins 'The Noise Upstairs' regulars at monthly jam session.

Between a Northerly pilgrimage to see Faust on spark-raising form in Manchester and joining with Glenn Boulter to perform at the FON Light Night event in Liverpool, Dave Dhonau and Jim Tetlow spent a suitably noise full Thursday evening at Withington, Manchester's 'The Noise Upstairs'. It's a monthly jam session at which, the blurb declares, 'names are pulled out, ensembles formed, and hearts broken'. In a format quite similar to Leicester's own monthly Quadelectronic (of which Jim and Dave a regular attendees), participants' names are drawn from a hat and the randomly selected trios improvised together. Unlike Quadelectronic, however, 'The Noise Upstairs' nights also boast a set from a different featured act each. This time it was a duo consisting of seasoned local improvisers Phil Marks and Richard Scott. Scott coaxed a range of compelling squelches from a bewilderingly complex electronic setup (largely controlled by customised Wii remotes), whilst Marks subjected his drum kit and percussive assortments to a frenetic, skittery battering. The evening was well attended, and was rounded off with a 'Jam du jour', featuring six of the participants and a convoluted set of rules based around the number 5.

Also, it should be mentioned, one of the jams featured a brand new electronic / percussive instrument constructed from a bike wheel, courtesy of Levenshulme Bicycle Orchestra.


Aurelie at Liverpool Light Night

Pictures from Full of Noises at Liverpool Light Night, Friday 14th May.



Rockscape (above) is an outdoor amphitheatre created by Atelier Bow-Wow for Liverpool Biennial in 2008.



Aurelie's David Dhonau and Jim Tetlow setting up (and attempting to stay dry).



Andrew Ellis (Samizdat) - resident DJ for the evening.



Noise Club's Ian David Simpson and Simon Jones



The a.P.A.t.T Orchestra (left)



Security guard + enigmatic Biennial wolf.

This event was co-produced by Glenn Boulter and the Liverpool Biennial as part of the PRS for Music Foundation New Music Plus scheme.

www.prsformusicfoundation.com/newmusicplus/index.htm

Friday 14 May 2010

State of Play



A recording of Aurelie's 2008 Barrow AFC inspired mini opera is being exhibited this month as part of an exhibition at the Public Gallery in West Bromwich. 'State of Play' is an exhibition of paintings, photographs and sculptures by local, national and international artists on the theme of football curated by Colin Yates including work from the Professional Footballers Association collection.

The recording features Aurelie members David Dhonau, Francis O'Donnell Smith, Glenn Boulter, Ola Szmidt and actor Damian Rose.
The exhibition runs from May 12 2010 | July 11 2010 and admission is free.
The Public
New Street
West Bromwich
West Midlands
B70 7PG
Tel: 0121 533 7161
www.thepublic.com

Wednesday 12 May 2010

Aurelie Live at Liverpool Rockscape Friday 14th May



Friday 14th May
6-10pm
Free entry
Rockscape 95-99
Renshaw Street (corner of Leece Street)

Liverpool, L1

Full of Noises is an evening of exciting new music taking place at Liverpool's unique open air venue, the Rockscape. Co-produced by Glenn Boulter and Liverpool Biennial as part of the Light Night, this free event brings together cutting edge music from Liverpool and beyond. The night will explore alternative forms of interaction between musicians and audience and will feature performances from the a.P.A.t.T. Orchestra, Noise Club, Aurelie and a Dj set from Andrew Ellis (Samizdat).

The a.P.A.t.T. Orchestra
The a.P.A.t.T. Orchestra is a musical ensemble of indeterminate size and instrumental content. An inclusive group for musicians of any background, the orchestra was formed to make traditionally ‘high-brow’ music more accessible to a wider audience. The orchestra performs time and space-specific music, including new work by local composers, and utilises the architecture of each venue as a compositional and performance tool.
The a.P.A.t.T. Orchestra has performed works by John Cage, Steve Reich and Terry Riley, among others www.apatt.com

Noise Club

Formed in 2003 by three guys who met at a kung fu club, Noise Club is Liverpool's longest-running and most experimental noise group. Straddling the divide between stage performance and interactive intervention, the group creates dynamic soundscapes using homemade electronics, specially-constructed sonic sculptures, found objects, toys, plants, and even smells. Noise Club have played in a wide variety of unusual locations, from
underground tunnels and public baths to shopping centres and public gardens, as well as more conventional stage performances. There is always a highly visual and dramatic element to the group's performances, with an emphasis on interactivity, creating a total sensory experience. www.myspace.com/noiseclub1

Samizdat

Andrew Ellis, a.k.a. Samizdat, has acted as a conduit for new and interesting music in Liverpool for the past five years. He has booked early shows for exciting emerging acts such as Foals and Deerhunter as well as acts from the independent music canon such as Liars and Charles Hayward, making Samizdat a hub for independent international acts in the north-west.
In addition to independent music based events Andrew runs Samizdat Records (a vinylonly record label), a regular music documentary night at art house cinema FACT, and can also be seen playing records at Blue (Collar) Mondays and various nights across Liverpool. www.myspace.com/samizdatpromotions

Aurelie at Phoenix Square

Pictures from Leicester's Phoenix Square Digital Media Centre, 24th April.



Left to right: Francis O' Donnell Smith, Glenn Boulter, Dave Dhonau

Footage from April shows

Footage from Leeds Left Bank and Sheffield Red House by Jim Tetlow. Check out Jim's channel at: http://www.youtube.com/user/synoneiro



Aurelie at Sheffield Red House



Aurelie at Leeds Left Bank

Aurelie at Sheffield Red House

Pictures from Sheffield Red House, 20th April where we were joined by Neil Woodall on violin and bass. We were supporting James Green and the Big Eyes Family Players - check them out at: http://www.myspace.com/bigeyesmusic



James Green and the Big Eyes Family Players



Milk crate mixage



Jim Tetlow



6 people on a very small stage...

APC pics from Lancaster

Pics from Aurelie's show with APC in Lancaster on the 9th April. All pictures by Will Miners.



Ola Szmidt



John Hall and Dave Dhonau



Glenn Boulter, Dave Dhonau and Jim Tetlow



APC's M. Sayyid



APC's Beans



APC's High Priest and M.Sayyid

Thursday 22 April 2010

Aurelie go to church







The next leg of Aurelie's (miniature and somewhat chronologically dispersed) tour of the North found them in Leeds, in the ominously beautiful surroundings of The Left Bank, Formerly Known As St Margaret of Antioch Church. An intriguing lineup of acts included The Twilight Gatherers, Seed of Barrabas and Slimpro 6 and the Bobettes. The latter concluded the evening with a colourful trip which melded thunderous choral motifs, a custom built Altar of Plumbing, and what eventually turned out to be frying fish. A truly sacramental, description-defying feast for bewildered senses.



The personnel from Aurelie's previous outing reconvened, augmented this time by Neil Woodall on violin. The sextet developed upon the structure of their Lancaster performance climaxing the set in an abrasive squall of sound spearheaded by Mr Hall and the Bin Lid.






(L-R: Glenn Boulter, Jim Tetlow, David Dhonau, Ola Szmidt, Neil Woodall, John Hall.)



Video documentation, filmed and edited by Jim Tetlow.



Monday 12 April 2010

Aurelie meets APC

Anti-Pop Consortium, Lancaster Storey Institute 9/4/10 from Glenn Boulter on Vimeo.

Aurelie performed in support of lauded left field hip hop collecive Anti-Pop Consortium last Friday at Lancaster's Storey Institute. Casting various bits of electronic produce into the mix on this occasion were Dave Dhonau, Ola Szmidt, Jim Tetlow, John Hall and Glenn Boulter. Photos to follow...

Hats off to Alex and Fern Oxley for organising this one!
www.myspace.com/44breaks

Tuesday 30 March 2010

More April Shows



More Aurelie shows for April:

Friday 9
th April

(w/ Anti-Pop Consortium)

Storey Creative Industries Centre

Meeting House Lane, Lancaster

Doors 7pm

£12

www.Storey.co.uk


Saturday 17th April

(w/ Twilight Gatherers + Slimpro 6 & the Bobbetts)

Leeds Left Bank

Cardigan Road, Leeds

Doors 7:30pm

£4

www.leftbankleeds.org.uk



Tuesday 20th April

(w/ The Big Eyes Family Players + The Cardboard Lung)

The Red House

Solly Street, Sheffield

Doors 7:30pm

£4

www.myspace.com/redhousesheffield


Saturday 24th April

Phoenix Square

Midland Street, Leicester
9pm – late

Free admission

www.phoenix.org.uk

Monday 15 March 2010

Digital Supper with Mark Vernon 05/03/10



Photos from an improvisation session led by sound artist Mark Vernon at Ulverston Lanternhouse earlier this month.



The event was the latest in the Digital Lunch series organised by digital arts organisation Folly:

"A programme of informal events connecting the Northwest's artists and creative practitioners to the FLI artists, their ideas and practice, is being developed as part of a new Upgrade programme in the region. Based on the premise of a Digital Lunch – a pilot event which was hosted during Andy Best's time in residence – these events will run throughout the residency programme. FLI artists will each host a Digital Lunch, gathering artists together to explore art, technology and culture over dinner. Digital Lunches are a ma-net Action Research Project supported by Arts Council England."



The evening featuring two improvisation sessions and an impressive array of food was attended by Aurelie's Glenn Boulter and a variety of South Cumbria based musicians and sound artists playing everything from a theremin to an egg slicer!

Photos by Folly's Tor Townley.

Mark Vernon website: www.meagreresource.com/index.html
Folly website: www.folly.co.uk

Thursday 11 February 2010

Upcoming shows in April



Two upcoming shows in April:

Storey Institute Lancaster, supporting Anti-Pop Consortium
Friday April 9th from 7:30pm
www.thestorey.co.uk
www.myspace.com/antipopny

Leeds Left Bank with Slimpro 6 and the Bobettes
Saturday 17th April from 7:30pm
www.leftbankleeds.org.uk/

Aurelie + Volcano the Bear



Aurelie performed a festive jig at Ulverston's Roxy Basement Bar in November of last year supporting a stunning set by fellow ex-of-Leicester experimentalists Volcano the Bear (Aaron Moore and Daniel Padden) against the unlikely backdrop of the annual Dickens fest...



The lineup on this occasion was Glenn Boulter on guitar, harmonium and the 'Ted Hughes Sheepboard', Jim Tetlow on keyboards and John Hall on laptop, Dickens samples and vinyl. John also took the opportunity to wheel out the mighty dustbin / gramophone feedback unit for it's first public appearance (see below).



Look out for a free MP3 of the closest thing Aurelie gets to a Christmas album in the near past/present/future featuring a digitised Scrooge, stillborn sheep and some angry sounding Buddhist trumpets...



Glenn, Jim and John in post-gig still life episode (above).

With thanks to Alex and Fern of 44 Promotions for organising another great show. Additional thanks to the driver from Barrow cars who was a Pavement fan and let us put two massive tables in his boot.

brainwashed.com/vtb/
www.no-fi.org.uk/
www.myspace.com/44breaks

Aurelie at ROH2 Firsts '09



Aurelie presented the latest incarnation of their open-scored Barrow AFC drone opera 'An Unorthodox 1-2' at the Royal Opera House Linbury Theatre in November of last year.
performances from some of the most diverse and genre-defying artists in the UK today.

Firsts is an annual programme of performances from some of the most diverse and genre-defying artists in the UK today.

Originally commissioned by Bifocals Community Arts in 2008 as part of a residency at Barrow AFC, a twenty minute version of the piece was performed over two nights on 24th and 25th November to a full house of 400 people.



Aurelie captured in a rare moment away from the impressive ROH Canteen...

The lineup (left to right) featured the return of Barrow based actor Damian Rose (voice and live manipulation) and artist John Hall (Laptop and samples) in addition to Aurelie stalwarts Glenn Boulter (guitar and samples), Euan Rodger (percussion and electronics), Dave Dhonau (cello and guitar) and Ola Szmidt (flute and vocals).



The whole thing was captured for posterity by Endgame's Jim Tetlow, so watch this space for upcoming footage and details of a planned DVD edition compiling several performances of the piece.



With thanks to Rebecca Hanson for selecting us for Firsts, all of the crew and the receptionist for her entertaining anti-operatic diatribes.