Bristol gigs – Qwak Club & Domestic Sound Cupboard

 

I will be in Bristol next week for a couple of gigs as well as guesting on a live radio show with Viridian Ensemble. First up is Qwak Club with Graham Lambkin on the 23rd November followed by the debut of a new AV collaboration at
Domestic Sound Cupboard on the 27th.

QWAK club #5

An evening of free improv, experimental sound art and performance hosted by the Cube Cinema and featuring live sets by Graham Lambkin, Mark Vernon, Joe Kelley / D-M Withers Duo and Grey Faced Sibling.

When: Saturday, 23rd November, 8pm – midnight.
Where: QWAK club, The Cube Cinema, Dove Street South [off top-left of King Square], Kingsdown, BS2 8JD
Tickets: £9 ADV – available here.

Live performances in the auditorium will begin at 8pm and finish around 10.30PM. DJs will continue in the bar afterwards until around midnight.
More details here.

Domestic Sound Cupboard

For this month’s Domestic Sound Cupboard, the focus is on images, sounds, music, poetry & BEEF! Featuring Kathy Hinde’s Twittering Machines and the first showcase of a new collaboration between Glasgow based artist Mark Vernon (Radiophrenia) & local artist Laura Phillips (BEEF / Viridian Ensemble). An experiment in sound and image exploring the structures of sanitation systems and public health guidelines to hand washing.

When: Wednesday, 27th November 2019. Music starts at 8.30 on the dot ends at 22.30
Where: The Crofters Rights, 117-119 Stokes Croft, BS1 3RW Bristol, United Kingdom.

Pay what you can, suggested donations £5
Excellent Pizzas in Rays Kitchen & Great Ales at the bar!
More details here.

New LP out now on Misanthropic Agenda

An Annotated Phonography of Chance

 

An Annotated Phonography of Chance expands upon the soundtrack to an uncompleted 16mm film made in collaboration with English filmmaker Martha Jurksaitis and the Portuguese artist duo Von Calhau! The film ‘Nossos Ossos’ (which also lends its name to one of the tracks on this record) was shot largely on location in the Alentejo region of Portugal in 2013.

Sites visited included Evora, Evoramonte, the bone chapel ‘Capela dos Ossos’, Almendres Cromlech and many other castles, churches and megalithic sites in the area. These locations were used to make experiments with natural reverbs, for the most part sounding out the spaces with voices. Along with location field recordings and found tapes this provided the raw material for much of the soundtrack.

Limited edition pressing of 100 copies. Available now direct from Misanthropic Agenda or for UK distribution from Penultimate Press.

Sonikas Festival, Madrid

XVII EDICIÓN DEL FESTIVAL DE MÚSICA EXPERIMENTAL EN VALLECAS, SONIKAS 2019
 

I am honoured to have been invited to perform a live quadraphonic set at the 17th edition of experimental music festival Sonikas in Madrid at the end of this month. The festival is free for anyone to attend and takes place across two days – the 26th and 27th October – other acts include Tube Tentacles & Garazi Gorostiaga (GABA), Jesper Pedersen and Andrew Chalk & Timo Van Lujik (Elodie). More details (in Spanish) below.

Esta es nuestra propuesta para este año:
SÁBADO 26
20:00h_ GABA
21:00h_JESPER PEDERSEN

DOMINGO 27
20:00h_MARK VERNON
21:00h_ ELODIE (Andrew Chalk & Timo Van Luijk)

Entrada gratuita

Una vez empezado el concierto, no se permitirá el acceso a la sala.

No está permitido comer, ni beber dentro del auditorio

Centro Cultural Lope de Vega

Calle Concejo de Teverga, 1, 28053 Madrid. La decimoséptima edición de Sonikas ya está aquí y todos estáis invitados. Este año nos acompañará Tube Tentacles & Garazi Gorostiaga (GABA), Jesper Pedersen, Mark Vernon y Andrew Chalk & Timo Van Lujik (Elodie). Con ellos reivindicaremos otra forma de escuchar y sentir el sonido.

Este año, a diferencia de años anteriores, volvemos a nuestros orígenes y hemos movido la fecha de Sonikas a los días 26 y 27 de octubre. Siempre hemos sido conscientes de que para el público y artistas resultaba complicado hacer un hueco en la última semana de año. Muchos sabéis que apenas contábamos con la posibilidad de anticipar fechas y no nos quedaba más remedio de hacerlo en diciembre.

Como es costumbre, la entrada es gratuita y se ruega puntualidad para no interferir en el desarrollo de las actuaciones.

Organiza:
CRC http://www.ccapitalia.net/crc/
VTC http://www.vallecastodocultura.org/

Como llegar:
RENFE: Asamblea de madrid-Entrevias
EMT: Autobus 102 (Desde Atocha)

The World Backwards

A new hour-long music mix created for Organismal available to listen to from 11th October. A trawl through some of the dustiest and darkest corners of my record collection featuring Pytchblend, Annea Lockwood, Chris Watson, Ramases, Toi-So, Timothy Shortell, Anna Peaker, Cyclobe and unreleased tracks by myself and Hassle Hound.
Full Tracklist:

Hugh Le Caine – Sounds to Forget (Compositions Demonstrations 1946-1974 CD)
Anna Peaker – Helicidae (Alert LP – Alter)
Andreas Oskar Hirsch – Row (Row LP – Makiphon)
Found Sound – Concerned Citizen (Found Sound vers 2 CD)
Pytchblend – Ephemeralgold (Ft. Yawha) (Soundcloud)
Timothy Shortell – Tropical Storm Irene (Windows CD – Überkatze Studio)
Found Sound – Dear Dad (Found Sound vers 2 CD)
Cyclobe – Strange Hotel (luminous Darkness – Phantom Code)
Open Corner – Suture Of Love (Empty Pool To No One CD – Recital)
Ian Middleton – Minimal (from Goldfish Music)
Hardworking Families – Hindered Soul
Toshiya Tsunoda – Cider Forest on a Windy Day (Pieces of Air – Lucky Kitchen)
Lee Patterson – Butane (first movement) (Seven Vignettes – Shadazz)
Hassle Hound – The Shapeliest Negations (unreleased)
Lee Patterson – Nine Lucifers (Seven Vignettes – Shadazz)
Toi-So – Baby (Soundcloud)
Nicolas Bernier – Les Chambres De L’atelier (Usure Paysage – Hrönir)
Locked Groove – 1,000 Lock Grooves LP (RRR Records)
Mark Vernon – The Object Invoked (Alert LP – Alter)
Annea Lockwood – Spinning Discs (Early Works 1967-82 – EM Records)
The Orchardist – Nocturnal Pollination by Sphinx (Mercury Vineyard Surgeries Cassette – Nonlocal Research)
Found Sound – Trailer Couple (Found Sound vers 2 CD)
Hugh Le Caine – Invocation (1957) (Compositions Demonstrations 1946-1974 CD)
Jacob Smigel – You Know, Who, What, Where (Eavesdrop Found Sound CD)
John Carpenter – from Dark Star soundtrack
Lucas & Friends – track 24 (Found Sound)
Lee Patterson – Butane (first movement) (Seven Vignettes – Shadazz)
Ramases – Journey to the Inside (Space Hymns LP – Vertigo)
Chris Watson – Cassarina (Star Switch On CD– Touch)
Mark Vernon – Jamais Vu (unreleased)

Deep Listening

Mark Vernon & Daniel Padden: Deep Listening

6:30pm – 7:30pm, Sunday 29th September, 2019
Tramway
Albert Drive,
Glasgow,
G41 2PE

Tickets are free and are available to book here.

This event is part of Altered States and Human Threads, a season from the inclusive arts organisation Artlink, devised in response to ‘Until’, the current exhibition by Nick Cave at Tramway, and aimed at breaking down barriers of difference through shared experience. It will take place in the studio space.

A meditative deep listening audio event in the form of an augmented surround sound soundscape and gong bath. Participants will lie in the centre of a circle of gongs and speakers in a fully immersive, passive listening experience blending natural sounds, ambient textures and the resonating harmonics of gongs. Mats, cushions and eye masks will be provided.

This event is informed by the rich sensory interests and insights of individuals with profound developmental and multiple learning disabilities. Devised by Mark Vernon and Daniel Padden.

No latecomers admitted.

Suitable for ages 16+
If you require additional info on access to this event please contact Artlink directly.

More details here.

The other events in the series include:

23rd September – ‘Sense Field’ with Steve Hollingsworth & Jim Colquhoun

23rd September – ‘Comfort Zones? Whose Comfort Zones?’with Robert Softley Gale

29th September – ‘Sensational Brass’ with Wendy Jacob & Brass Aye

7th October – ‘Listening With Our Bodies’ with Jessica Gogan and Dasha Lavrennikov

14th October – ‘Spin’ by Red Note Ensemble

——————————————

Part of Altered States and Human Threads (23 September – 14 October) curated by Artlink (Edinburgh) which aims to unite diverse audiences through immersive experiences. Funded by Creative Scotland.

Radio Sygma Guest Mix

Undeformed Stratigraphic Sequences

For my guest slot on Russian station Radio Sygma I’ve put together a mix composed of recent tracks, forthcoming releases, found tapes, unreleased material and field recordings made in outdoor markets around the world including Bangkok, Colombo, Evora, Lisbon, Sant-Jean-de-Luz, Santiago, Valdivia and Vienna.

Mark Vernon’s work exists on the fringes of sound art, experimental music and radio broadcasting, with a particular and unsettling flair for re-appropriating environmental sound and obsolete media. A rich collection of domestic tape recordings; audio letters, dictated notes, home sing-alongs, answer-phone messages and other lost voices all find their way into his bewitching soundworlds.

Each Morning of the World

South Asia PhoNographic Mornings

 
Pleased to present the latest track from a digital album in progress – South Asia PhoNographic Mornings from the Each Morning of the World project produced by Stéphane Marin. A new track is broadcast every Sunday until December when the final album will be released. You can listen to the current album so far or the previous six complete seasons here.

’Serendib Stirs’ is composed from recordings I made across Sri Lanka in 2013. The piece imagines different scenes in a variety of locations across the country as both the natural and manmade world slowly spring into life: from birds and insects to factories, markets, transport and the sounds of worship.

Recording locations include Udawalawe National Park, the rail crossing at Wewalgoda Road and the bus station in Hikkaduwa, the Handunugoda tea estate, The Pettah Market and Sri Subramaniam Kovil in Colombo, the Kandyan Arts Association in Kandy and train journeys from Mirissa to Hikkaduwa and Hikkaduwa to Colombo.

Download here.

All proceeds will be donated to the WFAE (World Forum for Acoustic Ecology).

At Home with Tony Morris …

“Join me tomorrow morning at 8 o’clock (on your way to work) when my guest for “At Home With Tony Morris” is Glasgow artist Mark Vernon. These interviews are always an education for me, and this one is no exception. It is difficult to sum up Mark’s activities and achievements: musician, performer, curator, anthropologist, experimental thinker. For me, over the last 18 months, nobody has produced music of more beauty.”

Listen on Threads Radio.

Delve into Mark’s Bandcamp page here:

https://markvernon.bandcamp.com


I’m very pleased to be this months guest on the infamous radio show hosted by the talented Tony Morris:

Here is the tracklist for the programme:

Gavin Bryars – Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet.
John Pilipenko – (a private home recording)
Mark Vernon – Cracked Shell
Mark Vernon – Magneto Mori – Kilfinane
Mark Vernon – The Lost Resort
Coil – Broccoli
Neil Norman and His Cosmic Orchestra – One Step Beyond
Johnny Hiway – Hoyry Klub Life
Joe Meek – Preliminary sketch for Telstar
Daniel Johnston – Hi, How Are You?
Toshiya Tsunoda – Inside of a Pipe
Ray King – Sink Symphony
Mark Vernon – Hot Water Tap
Felix Kubin – Hello
The Caretaker – Untitled (Selected Memories from the Haunted Ballroom)
Gregory Whitehead – The Problem With Bodies

Ribbons of Rust – new tape out now on Flaming Pines

New cassette tape out now on Flaming Pines. Limited edition of 100 pro printed and dubbed J-card tapes in rust orange. Buy now from Bandcamp

This album focuses on a derelict and abandoned holiday resort at Laem Thian bay on the east coast of the island of Koh Tao in Thailand. The resort is situated in a small cove that is only accessible on foot via an overgrown path and a walk of several miles. There are signs of vandalism; graffiti decorates the walls, the remains of campfires, broken glass and other detritus litter the floors – but traces of the previous occupants also remain. Children’s toys, kitchenware, hand written notes, menus, mattresses, a plastic telephone and four cassette tapes – rusty, caked in sand, weather damaged and corroded by the humid salty sea air. Back at home these tapes were prised apart and transplanted into new cassette shells to salvage the audio from them. This piece is composed from excerpts of the recordings found on the tapes along with field recordings taken on site, the journeys there and back and audio rips from video clips uploaded by other travellers who came across this same location.
 
The haunting quality of this place left a deep impression on me. The sense of isolation and abandonment it engendered was in stark contrast to the rest of the island, and indeed the rest of Thailand as I experienced it. This feeling stayed with me and in some way it permeated the rest of my stay in the country. It is that feeling that I wanted to convey through this work. The impetus behind this project has been less objective documentation and more a form of sonic time travel. A document of a place that no longer exists.

Made with support from the PRS Foundation’s Open Fund and Sound and Music’s Francis Chagrin Award. Developed during the Hospitalfield Summer Residency 2017.


Elsewhere is a Negative Mirror

I’m excited to have been asked to produce an exclusive ‘soundtrack’ for Ears Have Ears on FBI radio in Sydney. The show will air from 9-11pm AEST (12-2pm GMT) on Thursday 27th June on FBI radio 94.5FM in the Sydney area or you can listen live online here.

 

‘Elsewhere is a Negative Mirror’ is based around a found voice recording from a Dictaphone micro-cassette bought at a car boot sale in the east end of Glasgow. It continues a series of works that marry found recordings from the past with contemporary field recordings of the same location to accrue sedimentary layers of time and blur chronologies.

On one side, the tape documents the dissolution of a relationship and the aftermath of the separation in a series of text message exchanges read aloud into the Dictaphone for some purpose unknown. Equally puzzling, on the reverse side, the same voice lists a mundane catalogue of company vans and their contact details observed whilst driving down the motorway.

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