Monday, December 15, 2008

Band Of Gold

Spoken Word/Vocals - Paul Amlehn

Guitar/soundscapes - Robert Fripp

Viola - Joan Jeanrenaud

Piano - Mike Ganson

Drums - Jim White
You have to hand it to NZ artist Paul Amlehn. The multi-media artist doesn't tend to do things by halves so when we heard about his latest art project, effectively a band, we were intrigued to find out more. The 'band' has no name as yet and is really a multi-media performance created online and curated by Amlehn himself. So who is in the band then? First up, Robert Fripp, the founder of King Crimson who has collaborated with artists such as David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, and Brian Eno. Fripp has already recorded his part - over 60 minutes of soundscapes at this stage. Amlehn has now sent those soundscapes to Joan Jeanrenaud who was a founding member of The Kronos Quartet, and has worked with composers such as John Cage, Morton Feldman, and Philip Glass. Once Joan has done her thing, Amlehn then forwards the composition to Mike Garson, David Bowie's long-serving piano player, who has also collaborated with NIN, and The Smashing Pumpkins. Once Amlehn has received that back he will record his spoken word and singing onto the recording before sending it on to drummer Jim White. White is a member of The Dirty Three, and has played with the likes of Nick Cave and PJ Harvey.The music project will be finished in early to mid 2009.