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Choirs of Aether

@choirsofaether

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An undefined and Vermont-centered artistic collective seeking to explore and cross the boundaries of traditional music (all artwork by @bowthayer)

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Happy Bicycle Day! Look it up if you don’t know. I’ve posted a live Choirs of Aether set from last year’s @rockfirevt over on my Patreon page. It starts out with a version of my song “Let ‘em Sing” and then we go on a ride for the rest of the hour. If you’re not a Patreon member (please consider joining me there!), I’ve also put it up on the Choirs of Aether Bandcamp site. So find time to take a listen and let me know what you think! by @choirsofaether

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2 years ago

It’s been a while Soundpainting 8 is here. I love long form music, always have. Those Allman Brother beauties, (Mountain Jam, Les Brers in A Minor…), the Windham Hill recordings of the 80s, Miles Davis’s Bitches Brew grabbed me early (Tribute to Jack Johnson is still always close by, along with all the outtakes released). I was the kid at The Dead show who was there to absorb Drums/Space and the twenty min segues. It’s all about the journey and I love that shit! At the risk of sounding new age-y, I do believe improvised music is the closest thing to “channeling” as one can get. So this Soundpainting series encompasses all that. Improv, sonic flow, spontaneous symphonic unhinged expression. It’s not for everybody. Its longer and can be weird and sometimes absurd. You kinda have to immerse yourself in it and be open. I start with playing an instrument for about 30 mins. It doesn’t matter what, drums, synth, guitar, banjo… whatever. And listen back sometimes while painting or drawing then go back and start layering instruments and staying committed to the track, meaning I don’t stop if I make a mistake. Interestingly enough I find there are no mistakes (thank you Sun Ra for teaching me that). I hardly remember doing any of these recordings and in listening back I sometimes find it hard to believe it is me… maybe it isn’t.

Listen and download SP8 on Bandcamp. Link in bio. Will be up on the streamers eventually. by @choirsofaether

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3 years ago

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4 years ago

Back in the late 80s and early 90s a band called Seven League Boots arrived on the Boston music scene. The group was comprised of @bowthayer (guitar), Richard Feins (Dickie Dred @dickiefeinsmusic , bass), Mike Press (eMpress @mpressto , drums), all from the South Shore town of Hingham, and Bobby Sullivan (lead vox), who was studying at BU after fronting the band Soulside from DC. The sound of 7LB was partly influenced by the times, aggressive and heavy with elements of punk and grunge, but there was another element: The Dub. The infiltration of dub music in those days from its original Jamaican inception into English and American pop was everywhere. So it’s really no surprise it would sneak into the musical influences of suburban rock kids.

As much as I loved the raw physical energy and volume of rock, my favorite part of our live performance was when we broke it down into an improvised dub (for lack of a better term). The mosh pit would dissolve or sometimes just relax into a slow swirl. I loved when that happened. But it was always too brief before we touched back down into the wall of slam. I stayed away from trying to perform any dub styles after 7LB disbanded. Maybe it was an underlying sense of appropriation, but it was really that I couldn't find anyone like Mike or Dickie that could lay the right foundation.

So after over 30 years and a lifetime of many musical influences it seemed time to try and recreate, or better yet take forward, those “dubs gone by." Back then we had a tempo and a key and just went off from there . . . pure improv in a live setting. Here we employed the studio vibe as well as other instrumental embellishments. The result is two full sides of our version of dub. It's pretty different from the ruff jams done in rock clubs in the early nineties but you can get glimpses of it in there. After all, 30 years of life has a way of latching on to the music that comes out of a person.

Enjoy,
Bow by @choirsofaether

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4 years ago

As we ready to introduce the next Choirs of Aether project, a reminder that all of the Soundpaintings are available on our Bandcamp page and the streaming services.

This is the artwork for the most recent one, #7. Painting by @bowthayer.

#improv #soundpainting #drone by @choirsofaether

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4 years ago

This is the artwork that goes with #6. All but one of these pieces is over 30 minutes long. Is #6 that one? No. But if you can correctly identify the one that is, we will dedicate #8 to you.

Artwork by @bowthayer by @choirsofaether

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4 years ago

The artwork for Soundpainting #5. The art and music are created together - each form feeding off the other. Enjoyed best with headphones. #improv #art #woodshed #norules by @choirsofaether

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4 years ago

Here’s #4. If you’re looking for guitar jams, this series ain’t for you. by @choirsofaether

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4 years ago

Soundpainting #7 is being released on Bandcamp tomorrow. The whole project is a celebration of independence and freedom. But before we do that, let’s take a look back at the artwork for the last four. Here’s #3.

All artwork by @bowthayer by @choirsofaether

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4 years ago

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5 years ago

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5 years ago

Space is the Place #improv #improvisation #sunra by @choirsofaether

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5 years ago