Ultre - New Album + EP for 2009...
November 19, 2008
Experimental musician and member of the formidable Flat-E visual collective Finn McNicholas will release his next EP entitled 'Watch your Thoughts', before a full-length LP in February on Audiobulb Recordings called 'The Nest & The Skull'. Two beautiful collections of sublime songwriting from one of the most promising young artists in the UK. His live show encorporates Alvin Ryan on drums a stunning synced visual experience and Finn himself on a collection of home made instruments, guitar and electronics. Check his website here for more...
We're looking for good showcase oppotunities throughout the UK and Europe in early 2009 for this unique show, please write to info [at] littlebig.org.uk for more details!
Permalink | November 19, 2008
Mira Calix - New Warp album, My Secret Heart project.. and more!
November 18, 2008
Mira Calix released her latest album 'The Elephant in The Room' on October 27th, drawing together her work on the opera 'Elephant And Castle' (commissioned by Aldeburgh Music), 'memoryofamoment' - an installation piece for cello, originally presented in June this year, and 'Dead Wedding' which saw its premiere at the Manchester International Festival. Its a fascinating hybrid of orchestral textures and experimental electronics, and further supports her position as a key figure in the new avant-garde.
Mira Calix has a handful of projects on the go, and more in the pipeline, but here's a short summary of her current available shows:
Mira Calix feat. Oliver Coates
Sinfonietta cellist Oliver Coates joins forces with Mira Calix, electronically manipulating and layering his strings into vast and thrilling explorations of texture and form. The project premiered at the Bath Festival in May 2008, and with great success.
My Secret Heart
My Secret Heart is a new music and film installation commissioned by Streetwise Opera (www.streetwiseopera.org) and created by Mira Calix, video artists Flat-e and sound designer Dave Sheppard. It's performed by 80-100 Streetwise performers, and takes its insiration from Allegri’s 17th-century choral work Miserere Mei, a piece so protected by the Vatican that they put an embargo on it. Mira Calix and Flat-e have used the theme of secrecy to explore movements and singing with Streetwise’s participants to create this new century-leaping work.
The installation will be previewed in Lucerne in October, premiered at the Royal Festival Hall (Clore Ballroom) on 3rd December (now sold out!) and tour to galleries and festivals across the world through 2009.
Check the website here, and be sure to watch the incredible taster video's here.
The piece exists in three scaled forms:
* A live version of the installation with Streetwise performers and a professional choir performing (for the previews and premiere only).
* A stand-alone installation of 48 minutes shown in galleries, festivals and other venues.
* A 7-minute DVD of the film and soundtrack that can be played on a flat screen suitable for small venues and film festivals (available in SD or Blu Ray).
Alexander's Annexe
This project involves the skills of Sinfonietta principle David Sheppard as sound engineer, Sarah Nicholls on Grand Piano (extracting every sonorous noise possible from the instrument), and Mira Calix manipulating these diverse sounds electronically. The trio debuted at the 2005 Aldeburgh Festival, and since enchanted audiences at Sonar, Elektron, and many more high profile appearences. Their first release 'Push Door To Exit' was released on Warp in November 2006.
Links:
Mira Calix Website
Mira Calix Myspace
My Secret heart website
Alexander's Annexe Website
Oliver Coates website
Permalink | November 18, 2008
Mi Ami - Incoming debut Euro/UK April tour!
November 16, 2008
Littlebig are proud to welcome to the roster San Francisco-based drum punk trio Mi Ami, featuring two key members of Dischord's hyper-percussive Black Eyes (Daniel Martin-McCormick on vocals and guitar, and Jacob Long on bass) and Damon Palermo on drums. Mi Ami are a powerful force, building on the promise of Black Eyes' spastic energy and renowned live performances, but steering it into a more focused, volatile, and personal direction.
Tour Dates:
09.04 UK - Brighton @ Greenhouse Effect
10.04 UK - London @ Lexington (Upset the Rhythm)
11.04 Holland - Rotterdam @ Motel Mozaique
12.04 Belgium - Brussels @ AB (Domino Festival w/ Health + Mono)
13.04 France - Lille @ Aeronef club
14.04 France - Paris @ La Java
15.04 France - Nantes @ La Scène Michelet
16.04 France - Bordeux @ Heretic Club
17.04 Italy - Milan @ Dauntaun
18.04 Italy - Rome @ Init
19.04 Italy - Ancona @ Thermos
20.04 Germany - Nuremberg @ K4
21.04 Germany - Berlin @ festsaal kreuzberg (with Black Dice)
22.04 Poland - Krakow @ Club Re
27.04 Germany - Hamburg @ Hafenklang (with Grails)
28.04 Germany - Cologne @ Rubinrot
29.04 Holland - Den Hague @ The Paard
30.04 UK - London @ Macbeth (Plan B Night)
01.05 UK - Nottingham @ Chameleon Arts Cafe
02.05 UK - Manchester @ The Retro Bar
03.05 UK - Glasgow, Optimo @ Sub Club
04.05 UK - Newcastle @ End Bar
05.05 UK - Liverpool @ korova
06.05 UK - Cambridge @ The Portland
07.05 Ireland - Galway @ Roisin Dubh
08.05 Nrth Ireland - Bellfast @ Menagerie
09.05 Ireland - Dublin @ Crawdaddy
10.05 Ireland - Cork @ Crane Lane Theatre
12.05 Finland - Helsinki @ Kuudes Linja
13.05 Sweden - Stokholm, Club Fritz's Corner @ Lilla Hotellbaren
14.05 Sweden - Malmo @ Debaser
15.05 Denmark - Copenhagen @ Lades
16.05 Latvia - Riga @ Rigas Makslas telpa (Skanu Mezs Festival)
With two 12" releases (see reviews below) we are presented with a rare breadth of sound and influence woven together via obvious experience and talent. You hear elements of punk, dub, tropical, disco,, noise .. As the critics are suggesting, this is a true 'no wave' band, impossible to pigneon-hole or link to current trends coming out of the U.S. hot spots.
Mi Ami's first single on Touch & Go / Quarterstick, Echononecho, will be released as a 12" and digitally January 27, 2009, with the follow-up full length, Watersports, out February 17, 2009. The band fully takes flight and thrives in the live setting, with shows turning into all-out pulsating rhythmic throwdowns...
Check their myspace here
Some info on Touch&Go's website here
We're now booking their first uk/Euro tour for April/May 2009, please send any interest to info [at] littlebig.org.uk!
Mi Ami Dusted Feature
DUSTED REVIEW of 2nd 'Ark of the Covenant' 12"
Second 12" by this SF trio, ex-Black Eyes … hell, ex-Rapture too.
Heavy bass/dub vibes all over this one, screeching vocals rolling over
top of processed guitar and very real, in-your-lap rhythms. Definitely
prefer the dub version, as they get impossibly deep in the space
provided, pitting double-time drums against half-time bass.
Self-released and I really hope these fellas don't drown; they've
probably got the most exciting approach to outside-looking-in
On-U/jazz-based rhythm roll experiments since Tortoise, and more
people really need to be rockin' their records from the dance music
perspective. Edition of 400, silkscreened sleeves.
20JAZZFUNKGREATS on debut 'African Rhythms' 12"
"Mi Ami have us totally psyched, they are a SF trio including members from the oft-missed Black Eyes, and in their debut 12" 'African Rhythms' released by White Denim, they unleash a percussive no wave barrage into the very blackness of space drawing lines of power between imaginary constellations of afro-disco muscle and super-heroic noise verve, totems such as those of Liquid Liquid, Can, Lightning Bolt, Kid Creole and the Coconuts or MARS have in legends appeared to other shamans partaking in such psychedelic journeys, they are an esoteric coda for an attack plan executed with Jaguar-spirit-like carnivorous intensity which ends with our bodies cast into a sweaty spirit world of frantic shaking & twitching."
Permalink | November 16, 2008
Jon Hopkins - Welcome to Littlebig!
November 14, 2008
Get aquainted with the new superstar of electronic music. Composer, pianist and a self-taught studio wizard Jon Hopkins makes big, bold music using walls of synths, twinkling melodies and amorphous bass rumbles. His skills are impeccable - from Herbie Hancock to David Holmes, contemporary choreographer Wayne McGregor (Random Dance), lo-fi folkster King Creosote, not to mention his current tourbus buddies Coldplay, have all called upon the 28-year-old Londoner's handiwork as a producer and composer. Oh, and he's been collaborating on various projects over the past 5 years with Brian Eno...
Hopkins new album Insides (with a March release date soon to be announced by a very well known label!) is a luscious treasure with more than enough to satisfy the most hardened technoid critics and your Mother all at the same time. Check his myspace here and listen to Vessel - you'll see what we mean. It's going to be BIG.
Hopkins begins a US/UK tour as main support for Coldplay, before preparing for his own launch into the wider sphere in 2009, conducted with passion by your friends here at Littlebig. Email info [at] littlebig.org.uk for more...
Permalink | November 14, 2008
