Friday 24 October 2008

Aurelie Live at Barrow AFC



Aurelie performed live at Barrow AFC on Friday 17th October as part of an exhibition presenting work from their residency at the club.



On display were selections from Francis' video installation Unbridled, prints, hand-packaged Unorthodox 1-2 CD's, tracks made by Glenn with local schools using graphic notation and project organiser John Hall's edition of books charting the career of fictional Barrow player Al Mobility.



The live section of the event consisted of a talk by Francis and Glenn about their work, followed by a live performance of Unorthodox 1-2. This used a series of recorded texts as a starting point from which to improvise a series of drones based around the notes BAFC.



Differing considerably from the recorded version, the set featured Dave Dhonau on samples, thumb piano, radios and drum machine, Francis on laptop, guitar and effects and Glenn on prepared guitar.

Look out for further posts on how to order the CD and upcoming performances.



Shiny: Aurelie in BAFC mode (clockwise from top left), Actor Damian Rose, Francis O'Donnell Smith, David Dhonau, Glenn Boulter.

Tent Show



Tracks by Aurelie were featured during September in an open air sound installation at the Heron corn Mill in Beetham, Cumbria. Curated by Cumbrian artist and musician John Hall, the piece also featured sounds made by children from Storth School and John Ruskin School as well as a track from mysterious Leeds-based group, the Wendigos.





An Unorthodox 1-2

During August and September, Aurelie spent time recording and editing the raw material for their Barrow AFC sound piece. The piece combines elements of spoken word, music and field recordings and is intended to be performed live, broadcast via radio and to exist as an edition of CD's. (See the project blog at: barrowafcdigital.blogspot.com for full details)




The script, written by Glenn, consists of three parts describing
a) a walk across Barrow to Holker St. stadium,
b) the atmosphere of the crowd during a match and
c) the experience of hearing the match in a domestic environment via radio. The script was then recorded with local actor, musician and Barrow supporter, Damian Rose.




Following this, the recordings were broken up into individual sentences, looped and processed to determine the rhythm and tone of three instrumental compositions. These were composed and recorded by Francis in collaboration with David Dhonau (cello and bass) and Ola Szmidt (flute). The three pieces of music, varying in tone from steadily building drones to minimalist cello melodies, were then edited together with the spoken word sections and sounds from a bank of recordings made at the ground to form the final recording.



Keep an eye on the blog for details of how to order the CD, as well as documentation of a live performance that took place at Holker St. during October. Further performances of the piece are planned, the first of which will take place at the Canteen Arts Media and Arts Centre in Barrow on Thursday 13th November.