THE AMBiENT PiNG presents Repair with Self-Service Visuals

["Scott M2" <scott@dreamstate.to>]

Happy New Year and Welcome to the PiNG's latest series of
ambient, chillout and experimental music concerts in our
new night and residency Wednesdays at the Tequila Lounge.

* Attention Artists - "Artists Support Asia - A Call For Help"
See more details at the bottom of this e-mail about a potential
way to support international aid organizations working in the
area of Asia struck by disaster on December 26, 2004 - by
using your music!  http://www.artistssupportasia.org/about.php

* This edition of the PiNG UPDATE introduces a new segment,
"THE LOOP" by Luna Tek, which strives to capture in words
the sound, the feel, the look and the atmosphere of each event.

* rik maclean has picked out his favourite ambient CD releases
for 2004 for his segment this week.   Enjoy... Scott M2
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

THE AMBiENT PiNG   http://www.theambientping.com
Every Wednesday Night @ THE TEQUiLA LOUNGE
http://www.tequilalounge.ca - 794 Bathurst Street at Bloor
(directly across from the Bathurst subway station) - Toronto
Doors open at 9pm - 1st set at 9:30 - PayWhatYouCan
map - http://www.theambientping.com/maps/tequila.gif
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

This Wednesday January 5th - Repair with Self-Service Visuals

The PiNG's first presentation at the Tequila Lounge features
crack sound-­designers & beat-­creators Mark & Matt Thibideau
with vocalist Dawn Lewis as they go deeper into the more
ambient and experimental sides of their techno/house trio Repair.
Mark & Matt will be unleashing their twin SY77 work-stations
and vintage JP-4 and DW-8000 synths while Dawn lays down
her vocals with a Headrush looper and maybe a synth too.
The slow beats, spacious sounds and looped layers of Dawn's
voice will be complimented by fresh visuals from Self-Service.
Look for copies of Repair's limited-edition CD of rarities and
previously unreleased tracks being unveiled at this concert.
http://www.repair-lab.com

Between Sets CD + Video - "Thursday Afternoon" by Brian Eno
"Seven video-paintings of Christine Alicino" filmed in San Francisco
in April 1984 and treated and assembled at Sony in Tokyo. The
music was recorded at Daniel Lanois' studio in Hamilton and this
video sound-track has a different mix than on the CD. * Please
Note - This is a "Vertical Format" video intended for a TV that's
been turned on its side, so we'll understand if we see you lying
sideways on the bar. http://music.hyperreal.org/artists/brian_eno/
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Coming January 12th - ARC with Pholde + low frequency pilot
http://fade.to/arc  http://www.pholde.com
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/4/lowfrequencypilot.htm
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

||: THE LOOP :|| "Arms Full of Sound and Fury" by Luna Tek

THE AMBiENT PiNG wrapped up its Tuesday night series
at The Gladstone Hotel Ballroom on December 4th, 2004
with "Journey to Ambientia Part 2" by Paul Needler, aka
Arms Full of Sound. PiNG enthusiasts hunkered down
in the ballroom while, outside, gale-force winds threatened
to bring down the scaffolding that adorns the west side of
the Gladstone these days.

Building momentum for our "Journey to Ambientia," Arms
Full of Sound began with a piece titled "Rhythmic Universe".
Amidst the drifting melodic textures of the first set were
images of planets, asteroids and lava lamps oozing like
amoebas-in-motion. Arms Full of Sound's pulsing rhythms
were especially effective alongside the forest imagery that
closed the set. Needler pushed the journey motif further in
a 2nd set titled "Journey's End". While the 2nd set covered
the same terrain visually, it was more varied musically. Both
sets integrated familiar sound symbols - church bells,
for example - into their electronic soundscapes, creating
soundmarks to guide the listeners' journey.

Always forward-thinking, PiNG organizers ended the evening
by preparing for the next leg of THE AMBiENT PiNG's own
journey to a new venue downtown. Once thank-yous and
good-byes were extended to Gladstone staff, The PiNG blew
out of the Gladstone's drafty ballroom, quietly anticipating
the warmth of the Tequila Lounge in the New Year.

More information about Arms Full of Sound's "Journey to
Ambientia" is available at http://www.armsfullofsound.com.

Luna Tek - luna@theambientping.com
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

rik maclean's *ping things* CD Reviews

As ping things looks forward to a new year at the AMBiENT PiNG
(at a brand new location!) we can't help but be a little nostalgic
for the year that's passed. 2004 was an absolutely fabulous year
for new music in the electronic disciplines, with a variety of
wonderful releases by both established artists in the field and
new talents who have just begun their careers.

Jonathan Hughes' "Fluidities" was a fascinating reworking of
the collaborative ideal, featuring a pair of discs meant to be
simultaneously played in random order in an effort to create new
sound environments with each listen. A brilliant exercise in the
ambient ideal. http://www.pingthings.com/HUGHESfluidities.htm

The wonderful people at Piehead Records put out their third
subscription series in 2004 which included some of the best
music they've released to date. Discs by Building Castles
out of Matchsticks and *cough*metrostarman*cough* were
some of my favorites this year.
http://www.pingthings.com/BUILDING.htm
http://www.pingthings.com/SICgorilla.htm
http://www.pingthings.com/METROSTARMANdog.htm

Deane Hughes of Akumu released his disc "Fluxes" based
around a series of field recordings made on a recent trip to
South America. The manipulation of these pieces and the
attention to spatial detail therein are the work of true talents
who have tapped into a different state of environmental consciousness.
http://www.pingthings.com/AKUMUfluxes.htm

Steve Roach released a number of discs this year, all of them
beautiful works that live up to and surpass his reputation as one
of the most talented artists in the genre. Of particular note were
his Fever Dream releases ), two discs that take the listener on
a journey through beautiful and mystical places, a hyper reality
akin to the most intense of reveries.
http://www.pingthings.com/SRfeverdreams.htm
http://www.pingthings.com/SRholding.htm

Eric Hopper released a new disc called "Dreamlife" under his
guise as Sylken which is a stunning collection of emotional
spaces and beautiful new vistas. Featuring the talents of
frequent collaborator Steven Sauve, cheryl o, Gregory Kyryluk
and Wally Jericho, "Dreamlife" is a perfect travelogue for
those lands we visit between waking moments.
http://www.pingthings.com/SYLKENdreamlife.htm

And speaking of Eric, he also did a fantastic job curating the
PiNG AMBiENCE 2 disc featuring an incredible collection of
PiNG artists both near and far. Including tracks by Aidan Baker,
dreamSTATE, Sylken, Sara Ayers & more, PA2 is an essential
compilation that surely deserves to be in every ambient fan's collection.
http://www.pingthings.com/PINGAMBIENCE2.htm

These are just a few of the fantastic releases that came out
this past year. Perhaps you'd like to check out the ping things
site at http://www.pingthings.com to find some more
of the music that made 2004 such a memorable year.

rik maclean - rik@pingthings.com

Send an e-mail to pingthings-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
for updates on *all* the latest releases on sale at ping things
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

* Attention Artists - "Artists Support Asia - A Call For Help"
Artists Support Asia was started by Stefan Koopmanschap, a
dutch electronic musician. Together with a whole bunch of people
from various online communities, he is trying to raise as much
money as possible to help the victims of the tidal waves by
creating CDs for sale from the best tracks submitted for this
project. Ambient music is welcomed but shorter tracks are
preferred to increase the number of artists on the disc(s).
wav. files will need to be uploaded after mp3s are appoved.
All monies will go to 'Giro 555' of the "Samenwerkende Hulp
Organisaties" (Collaborating Aid Organizations). This is the
central place where organizations such as the Red Cross,
Doctors Without Borders, Memisa, Unicef, Novib, Terre Des
Hommes & a selection of local organizations are organized
to raise funds for this disaster. I can personally vouch for
Stefan as being an honourable human who will do what he
states with your work for this project (as dreamSTATE has
previously contributed work for an earlier disaster-relief project
he organised for the Enschede explosion in The Netherlands,
on May 13th 2000). Stefan is also looking for people on
different continents to contribute by making some phonecalls
for him in their respective countries, and maybe, to do some
work in the distribution department as well. Complete info
can be found at http://www.artistssupportasia.org/about.php
Thanks - Scott M2 (dreamSTATE / The PiNG)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

THE AMBiENT PiNG presents live performances by Toronto's
finest ambient, chillout and experimental music artists plus
performers from across the continent, every Wednesday evening
at THE TEQUiLA LOUNGE - 794 Bathurst Street at Bloor.
http://www.theambientping.com
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Please forward this e-mail to any friends who may be interested
in live ambient, chillout and experimental music performances
or to any of your appropriate newsgroups. Thanks.