In late December 2005, as the holiday season was getting under way, the Other Minds organization in San Francisco hosted a New Music Seance. The concert summoned up the spirits of long gone composers by pairing their works with more contemporary material. Sarah Cahill, the respected pianist, opened with Dane Rudhyar‘s cluster-chorded “Third Pentagram” (1926, MP3), before moving into the hazy romanticism of a 1962 work by Leo Ornstein (MP3). Later, in the second half, a work by Janice Giteck (2002, MP3) led into the show’s eldest piece, “Gnonssienne no. 5” by Erik Satie (MP3), dating from 1889, with which it shares a certain melodic minimalism. Access the whole batch, ectoplasm-free, at (archive.org).
Current Activities
• October 13, 2016: This day marks the start of the 250th weekly Disquiet Junto project. • November 16, 2016: I'll be sharing the mic at Adobe Books in San Francisco with my fellow 33 1/3 author Evie Nagy for an evening hosted, from 7pm to 10pm, by Marc Kate (facebook.com). • December 1, 2016: A likely speaking engagement. Details to come. • December 13, 2016: This day marks the 20th anniversary of Disquiet.com. • January 5, 2017: This day marks the 5th anniversary of the Disquiet Junto. • Ongoing: The Disquiet Junto series of weekly communal music projects explore constraints as a springboard for creativity and productivity. There is a new project each Thursday afternoon (California time), and it is due the following Monday at 11:59pm: disquiet.com/junto. • My book on Aphex Twin's landmark 1994 album, Selected Ambient Works Vol. II, published as part of the 33 1/3 series, an imprint of Bloomsbury, is now in its second printing. It can be purchased at amazon.com, among other places.