Sonic Masala End Of Financial Year Party Profile #1 - mnttaB

Only four sleeps until the next Sonic Masala party - and it's gonna be a end of financial year hoedown like none have seem before! With irascible rabblerousers Gravel Samwidge, uber laconic pit dwellers Bottlecock and lichen-growing hybrid enthusiasts Motherfucking Morgan Freeman unleashing all kinds of fiscal knowledge from their instruments, and DJ Micronations plying the Dow Jones commentary with the requisite monetary musical mixes, it's going to be hard to maintain control of bodily movement, function and spending.

But it gets better/worse, as taking up top billing is none other than Melbourne's master of musical mayhem mnttaB (pronounced Mount Tab). Otherwise known as Dik (Bastard Kestrel/S:Bahn), mnttaB focuses solely on brewing a glorious mess of tortured rhythms, deconstructed synth-punk and lo-fi yelling. It has evolved/devolved since the Shiny Stones and Miracles EP I spoke about in 2010 here, which is evident on new mini-release Rocky 4, 2 & 3. Head over to his Bandcamp to collect some slices of digital abrasion and buffoonery. I can't promise you will like it - which means you probably will.

mnttaB - Rocky 4, 2 and 3
mnttaB - Hollywood Nights

In A Room Of Concentric Circuits

A great little endeavour, Concentric Circuits is Room40 and The Queensland Conservatorium in conjunction with Crossbows – A Festival of Small Ensembles. The final program includes the likes of Dot.AY, Hunz, Anonymeye, Hugh Francis, Eugene Carchesio, Joel Stern/ Ross Manning, Primitive Motion, Tralala Blip, aa-cell, Botborg, Timothy Tate, and N4rgh1l3 all storming the Queensland Conservatorium on Brisbane's Southbank over May 11-13. The project is free and aims to deliver some of the most exciting electronic leaning acts from Brisbane and beyond. The three evenings of sonic drifts; from chiptune to audio visual psychedelia.

In its inauguration in 2012, the Crossbows Festival is directed at showcasing the work of small ensembles. In its programming, Room40 is taking an open approach towards exploring the notion of ensembles, with first announcement featuring the feedback chambers of Anonymeye; power duo dynamics of Primitive Motion; the multi-sensorial collaboration of AV ensemble Botborg, as well as installation works from Eugene Carchesio and Lawrence English.

For full program details and artist information, see here.

And to celebrate this awesome initiative, here is a new track from Anonymeye! See you there.

Anonymeye - Rendering (All Alone In The Moonlight)

Do Away With The Rain With Sonic Masala Tonight!

I may have laid dormant in terms of posts, but Sonic Masala has been movin and shakin in other realms, predominantly in the live arena. December's showcase featured a blistering set by high-concept grungers Sleepwalks, an intimate sojourn with Do The Robot, some cathartic meanderings courtesy of Nite Fields and some balls to the wall blues bust-ups from El Motel.

Matt & Sarah loved that show so much that Do The Robot will kick off proceedings once more at West End's The Waiting Room tonight in a pre-Australia Day knees-up. It's a holiday tomorrow, so why not start the celebrations early? Joining DoT are the glass-eating Bottlecock, the ambient tantrics of Anonymeye and the noir gleam of Keep On Dancin's. Once again it's all for a tenner, all for giving bands a chance to get paid for their efforts for once, and all really just an excuse to see bands I like whilst getting drunk for really cheap (it's BYO, doncha know?)

Fuck the rain. This party is where the shit goes DOWN.

Frank Fairfield Fiddles; Anonymeye's Adroit Anontendres

I have a couple of juicy little tidbits coming from local muso/promoter/tech wizard/all round good guy Andrew Tuttle to throw your way today.

Firstly he is organising a tour for the amazing young American bluegrass/old-time musician Frank Fairfield in December. He's going to be playing Meredith Festival and eight headline shows along the East Coast in December, including shows in Brisbane (Syncretism at Judith Wright Centre on Thurs 15/12, supported by Ryan Francesconi [USA, Drag City label, member of Joanna Newsom's band and arranger of her last album. Show is a
co-presentation with Tuttle's label Room40) and Gold Coast (The Sound Lounge on Fri
16/12, supported by Laneway from the Coast, and Anonymeye). Fairfield, impossibly young in comparison to his age-old sermons on life and the wilderness from a bygone Southern era, released Out On The Open West, which really showcases this burning talent. There's heaps
of tour info available at www.micronationstours.com.

Frank Fairfield - Poor Old Lance


The second piece of info surrounds Tuttle's solo project, Anonymeye. He recently released Anontendre (on Room40's avant-pop offshoot, Someone Good). He may be a great ambassador for experimental music from all over the world, but what he creates individually is something to behold. Using his usual (don't confuse with traditional) template of acoustic guitar, signal processing, synthesisers, and effects units, Anontendre is a work of art, an ambient sojourn into the off-kilter world that lies beneath the cosmopolis of everyday life, its gentle folk inflections augmented by the digital intrusions. Its a fantastic listen - a melodious composition that marries varying sonic realms with relative ease, creating a gossamer waterfall of elegiac soundwaves. You can grab it from the Room40 store here.

Anonymeye - Federation