Stranger than Friction

Jack Wright/Katsura Kan & TROCKENEIS @ The Carriage House, Baltimore, MD
Friday, April 25, 2008

Audrey Chen: electronics, voice, frictions
Catherine Pancake: dry ice, percussion
Dan Breen: electronics, tools, rake
Andy Hayleck: percussion, frictions
Paul Neidhardt: laptop, percussion

Jack Wright: saxophones
Katsura Kan: Butoh dance

What does dry ice sound like? The on stage visual qualities have been well plumbed, but the sonic potential rests squarely in the hands of Catherine Pancake, possibly the closest thing to a dry ice virtuoso to come along in any generation. Making music with extremes in temperatures necessitates a good set of oven mitts as she takes heated cymbals from a portable heating element and applies hot metal to a slab of dry ice. At times the sounds unleashed are startling in their loudness, a dynamic range controlled by the amount of pressure applied between parts. Pancake also explores the more subtle frictions of spoons and forks along the ice and fills out her sound set with hand held gongs and bowed cymbals.

The other members of Trockeneis delve further into the frictional soundscapes as the collective drone of acoustic tectonic plates evolved into a pair of long-form improvisations. Each performer bringing a slightly different instinct to the elemental qualities of objects rubbing against each other. It is a sound filled with subtle detail and a deliberately blank foreground.

The duet of movement and saxophone that followed managed to heighten the other-worldliness of the evening. The pale form of Katsura Kan nearly blended into the wall in the dim light as the intensity of his movements and stark expressiveness was complimented by the air passing through saxophone as exhaled by Jack Wright. The austere, heavily restrained release of this duo shifted focus on details often overlooked in collaborative performance. The meditative quality of movement and music offering a gentle invitation to open one's thoughts and ears.

Shelton from the Storm

Aram Shelton & Ensemble Concertante @ The Red Room, Baltimore, MD
December 15, 2007

Aram Shelton: alto saxophone, laptop, electronics

Kate Porter: cello
Dan Conrad: veena bambina
Catherine Pancake: percussion

With a "severe weather warning" in effect overnight for a storm that never quite materialized it was a hearty crew that forged ahead with an evening of creative music within the chilly confines of the Red Room. While the air conveyed the sonic disturbance it also carried a crisp bite in sharp contrast to the warmth of interactive sound.

Aram Shelton uses his alto saxophone as an acoustic input for his live processing rig. And it's a processing he affects with an array of pedals mapped that allow him to keep the sample playback fresh and unpredictable. The equal parts of percussive keypads and instrument tone in the sound makes for a large and engaging sound.

The trio of Porter, Conrad and Pancake is a responsive unit that fills the air with a moderately loud sound. Porter frequently explored the upper range of her instrument while Conrad filled in the bass with the rubbery shifting tones of the veena bambina. Catherine Pancake would take turns at establishing and extracting a pulse from the sound without laboring upon it, allowing for patterns to dissolve and reappear in the mix. The full quartet of Shelton plus trio at the end of the last set was a natural, interactive force with subtle contributions from the electronics rig.