Rock & Roll Farm

Friday! Jan 24 2003 // 9:58 am //

one audience member for every degree below zero

despite the bitter cold, we had a few people show up last night. three? four? who can say…

anyway, thanks to jeremy, jonathan, jonathan’s roommate (ha ha. you forgot me, so now i’m forgetting you), chris, sara, amanda?, ann, matthew, john?, and the really awesome girl whose name i can’t remember even though i’ve met her like ten times in the last week, for coming out to the show. i think there were two other people there that i didn’t get to meet, but thanks to you also.

even though the crowd never really reached “crowd” status, the show was wonderful. wiretap wednesday did a spectaculary spooky and tense accompaniment of Un Chien Andalou (with a 23 yr. old Salvador Dali). i got to talk to them for a little while about surrealist films, and betty boop cartoons. if you’ve never seen a betty boop cartoon you’re missing some great surrealist treasures.

ethan clauset showed some beatiful old films of what i believe are someone’s family vacations in the fifties. it was really dark, so i couldn’t tell what his equipment was like, but the music was leaning toward gritty and beautiful ambience. near the end there were some voices that came in singing what was obviously some sort of folk song, but i didn’t recognize the language. i asked him about it and he said it was from *somewhere in/near india that i can’t remember now*. the story being told in the song is incredibly complicated. it involved a woman, her husband, and his mother, and a missing nose ring.

the transaction ensemble played one of our best sets to date. we are really getting good at communicating in the dark, and also being able to work through mistakes without the entire piece falling apart. we played two of the movements with alternate instruments (toys, shakers, etc.), which sounded very cool. this time we chose a key, which i think helped us keep things focused. last night was the first time i could actually hear steven’s bass, and that was the farthest away he’s ever stood from me. maybe that’s the secret.

i came up with a joke to tell when i introduce us to the audience next time. ha. now you’ll have to come see us to hear the joke. suckers!

tonight the autumn-waking leaves for louisville. we are going down there to mix our new recordings.