Words M. GEDDES GENGRAS
1. EARLY 2015 – HOUSE SHOWS IN HIGHLAND PARK, CA, FEATURING D/P/I, AHNNU, SMURPHY, $3.33, SUN ARAW, MATTHEW SULLIVAN + MORE
A series of concerts at a private residence in LA, presented in a living room with a quadraphonic PA. The artists involved are some of the most forward-thinking performers in the experimental community here and it’s easy to catch the vibes playing in front of 40 close friends who are all on mushrooms. Easily the most consistently excellent concert programming I saw in 2015.
2. MAY 25TH – FORM FESTIVAL, ARCOSANTI, AZ
Watching David Moore (Bing & Ruth) give an impromptu solo piano performance on the side of a cliff as Paul Giese scrambled to set up a PA speaker and mic in order to soundtrack the marriage proposal of a friend taking place on the other side of the canyon.
3. JUNE 15TH – VARIOUS SPOTS IN KINGSTON, JAMAICA
Having an 8 a.m. flight the following morning, we spent our last night in JA going to parties (as one does). A righteous sound bath at Kingston Dub Club led to our annual Rae-Town pilgrimage (imagine a block party-as-church-service all in honor of the god of music), a bottle of overproof rum in one back pocket and a bottle of ting in the other. we ended the night gathered around the rental car in the Norman Manley airport parking lot as the sun rose, passing bottles of roots wine and spliffs as Bob implored us to turn our lights down low.
4. JULY 5TH – FARE THEE WELL AT SOLDIER FIELD, CHICAGO, IL
Specifically the top half of set two. Our camp counselor had furnished our group of freaks with some family fluff of a sketchy provenance which only primed the pumps for a set-break re-intake and we had managed to sneak about 20 people down to the floor with two wrist bands. So when they opened the set with “Truckin’,” I was overtaken by ecstatic lysergic lighting riding my spine. In the next hour or so we covered a LOT of ground (Chicago, New York, Detroit, and it’s all on the same street) and when the lights came up after the “Touch of Grey” / “Attics” encore we found each other in 333/334 and wandered out to the lake. Peak life experience.
5. SEPTEMBER 19TH – WANDA GROUP AT OPAL TAPES RESIDENCY, LONDON
Lou was starting to feel like my imaginary friend (Bish too, come to think of it) but in London many things can happen and within two hours of meeting we were sharing a futon at Holovr’s house. (Lou reports that I sleep like a “fucking corpse”.) The next night he liquidized my interior like a water bug and left me to spill out all over the floor of Cafe Oto, even though he insisted it was just some recordings of him mucking around in the kitchen. Also his Twitter account is the best reason to go on the internet.
M. Geddes Gengras’ latest album under his Personable alias, ‘New Lines’, is now available through Peak Oil. Sample a SoundCloud set of his modular sounds and DJ mixes down below.
