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The "PiNG AMBiENCE 2" CD is now available online at www.pingthings.com for those of you living outside of Toronto who'd like to hear some of what's been happening here - and rik maclean has written an extensive track by track review for this week's PiNG update. Enjoy... Scott M2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . THE AMBiENT PiNG http://www.theambientping.com Free - Every Tuesday Night - doors open at 9pm - 1st set at 9:30 @ club nia / C'est What - 19 Church St. at Front St. - Toronto 3 blocks east of the Union Station subway. map - http://www.cestwhat.com/map.html . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . This Tuesday May 4th 2004 - RADiO iN AMBiENCE Part 1 featuring Allison Cameron, James Bailey & Michael Waterman A special presentation for Deep Wireless, in collaboration with New Adventures in Sound Art, featuring experimental artists making extensive use of radio as a live ambient sound source. http://www.deepwireless.ca Opening the night is composer and experimental performer Allison Cameron, who uses contact mics to amplify small things. She creates textured pieces with radios, samplers, tapes and various toys. Since 2000, she has been the artistic director of Arraymusic and has been improvising in collaboration with Martin Arnold, Éric Chenaux, the Draperies, Ryan Driver, Dan Friedman, Mike Gennaro, Kurt Newman, John Oswald and many others. Her compositions have been performed by the likes of Arraymusic, Eve Egoyan, Les Couscous Bénévoles, Maarten Altena Ensemble and the Bang On A Can All-Stars. Allison will be assisted by Doug Tielli (nose flute, electric guitar with slide) and Stephen Parkinson (electric guitar). http://www.composers21.com/compdocs/camerona.htm James Bailey, the host of Electric Storm / A Missing Sense on CKLN-FM 88.1, will then be "inflicting all sorts of radio cacophony, silences and interferences using an assortment of cheap semi-working receiving devices, on a generally unsuspecting audience". Concluding the night's performances will be Michael Waterman, (aka Porter Hall) creating a realtime sound collage with the help of Allison Cameron and (via cell phone links to Los Angeles and Winnipeg) his far-flung cohorts from Mannlicher Carcano - an experimental audio collage group that has been together since the mid 80's, releasing numerous self-produced cassettes and CDs, performing live, creating sound installations and improvising live to the airwaves on various radio shows. http://www.deepwireless.ca/Artist_Biographies.html#Waterman Between Sets CD - "places of motility" by Jeff Greinke (Hypnos) Recorded between 1985 and 1986, this CD illustrates American composer Jeff Greinke's earlier soundscapes - with various shades of murky darkness, atmospheric drones and percussive patterns. http://www.hypnos.com/greinke/ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Coming Tuesday May 11th 2004 - RADiO iN AMBiENCE Part 2 featuring David Pritchard + Scott M2 + Byron Wong and Planet Of The Loops David Pritchard - http://www.thesonicworkshop.com/ Scott M2 - http://www.dreamstate.to Byron Wong - http://www.canoe.ca/JamMusicArtistsW/wong_byron.html POTL - http://www.geocities.com/energymadeaudible/planet.html . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . rik maclean's *ping things* CD Reviews "PiNG AMBiENCE 2" by Various Artists Toronto's AMBiENT PiNG releases the 2nd in it's ongoing series of PiNG AMBiENCE discs, spotlighting artists from around the Toronto electronic community as well as like-minded PiNG friends from farther afield. This time, compiled by Eric Hopper of Sylken, PiNG AMBiENCE 2 explores the space-ier side of the genre, sonic excursions to the planets that orbit the PiNG. The disc opens with "Phases of the Moon" by dreamSTATE and Susanna Hood, a flowing piece of spectral elegance highlighting Susanna's wonderful vocal stylings. A fantastic track that typifies the collaborative spirit of the PiNG. Alpha Wave Movement offers the track "Sunset on Timeless Landscapes", a beautiful lament to the mysteries of the stars. Synthlines ebb and flow, minimal percussion passes by, the occasional snatch of sound sweetening the mix just so. Beautiful. PiNG favorites Sylken supply a brilliant new song entitled "The Light Unseen". Travelling the same spaceways that have made them so beloved in the Toronto scene (and beyond), "The Light Unseen" captures the sense of movement through the stars, graceful pads and percolating synths providing the landmarks (or spacemarks if you will) along your journey. Guitarist Paul Royes treats us to a lovely work of layered and processed guitar that delights and inspires. His track "Dolphin Sky" is one of my favorites on the disc with it's beauty and virtuosity. Brilliant. Terry O'Brien aka Anomolous Disturbances provides "The Invisible Landscape" another guitar based piece. More drone driven in tone "The Invisible Landscape" offers our first glimpse at the darker side of the PiNG, a study in quietly building dark ambient. Very nice work. earotica is a collaboration between Scott M2 of dreamSTATE and myself, so out of fairness I'll decline to comment on "Mara's Dream", other than to say it's the first release by our mutual side project and that alone should be reason enough for it to be interesting to you... =-) Solipsystem chime in with another one of my favorites on the disc, "Verdant", a brilliant marriage of arpeggios and minimal synth melodies. Absolutely beautiful work that resonates deep within me every time I hear it. Steven Sauve in his guise as Karmafarm offers "of all the things we said", an exploration in organic synth systems and oblique motion that slowly gives way to a groovey synth line. I love the use of the soundfield in this one, it has such a rich, full sound. Lovely. "Turn Twist Twirl" represents the work of Aidan Baker, an artist who is comfortable in a variety of styles and forms. In this track he creates a spontaneous improv piece in keeping with the space-y styles of the disc. I often compare Aidan's work to the magical and this track is very much in keeping with that idea. A stunning performance by one of Toronto's brightest stars. Performing as Styrohead, Joe G, another Sylken alumni, contributes the track "Portal". Deep drones lay a bed of sound over which a variety of tones pass subtly and effortlessly. Wonderful work. Jamie Todd represents URM with the track "consume", a dark droning motion based piece. With a few simple elements Jamie takes us on a trip into the deepest depths of space, where stars are consumed by living dark matter and the laws of physics that we understand hold no meaning. Another fabulous piece from one of my personal favorites. Sara Ayers supplies the piece "I Sewed The Feathers To My Arms", a stunning vocal based piece accompanied by minimal instrumentation. I've said this before on countless occasions, but I think it bears saying again that Sara Ayers is a treasure. Her work is always of the highest quality, brilliant, sparkling, wonderful. This track is a prime representation of what she does, and of course what she does is amazing. Simply Amazing. "Broken" by James Johnson closes out the disc with a beautiful organic piece where keys play delicate melodies and found sounds play underneath creating a rich dense soundscape that lives and breathes within it's own environment. Wonderful work by one of the masters of the genre. Needless to say, PiNG AMBiENCE 2 is an excellent collection proving that there are an incredible number of artists creating beautiful music worth discovering for yourself. A wonderful introduction to a variety of talents and a testimony to the community that has developed around THE AMBiENT PiNG. rik maclean - rik@pingthings.com Explore the ping things' newly expanded "features" section at: http://www.pingthings.com/PTfeaturesNF.htm Send an e-mail to pingthings-subscribe@yahoogroups.com for updates on *all* the latest releases on sale at ping things http://www.pingthings.com = ambient + electronic + chill things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Ambient Ping presents free live performances by Toronto's finest ambient, chillout and experimental music artists plus performers from across the continent, every Tuesday at club nia (aka C'est What) featuring a comfortable lower stage area, perfect for attentive listening, plus a higher level with a bar, back room and more seating that's great for conversation, good food and the club's impressive beer, wine and whiskey selection. Musical treats are on offer at the *ping things* ambient/experimental CD boutique. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Please forward this e-mail to any friends who may be interested in live ambient, chillout and experimental music performances