New N to The Power Album Out Today + Other Xenotone News
N to The Power is the band I founded with Tony Jarvis in late 2016 with the idea that “in dark times we need to create art.” The times were dark then. They are dark now. And I imagine they will be fairly dark for quite some time. So we endure, and we do our best, and we help each other, and we make weird (complimentary) music that combines bass clarinet with electric cello and strange echoes from other times and places. We apply time distortion, build bridges, moor the ship just long enough to extend our community, and then we cast off again in search of new connections. We have a new album out today, which is more trumpety than the first one, thanks to the contributions of the young London-based musician Vincent Curson Smith. It’s fresh, and more live, because we recorded most of it together as an ensemble. And it’s definitely more red. The vinyl and CD are available on Bandcamp, and the music is available everywhere music is available these days. I would be thrilled if you had a listen.
On Wednesday night in Manhattan we gathered the floating village at the gorgeous and sonorous venue Nublu for N to The Power’s first ever live concert with the full band. It was an uplifting and exciting evening. Vincent came from London for a week to rehearse and play with us, and fellow post-Mamboist Bruno Coon came from California, bringing his Charango (the small Andean stringed instrument made from an actual Armadillo carcass). Both trumpet and Armadillo were important contributions. Our frequent collaborator Yusuke Yamamoto was also with us, Chris Eddleton played drums, and John Altieri held down the sousaphone. We are already planning our next outing to Nublu, as well as making real plans for some shows in London, both at the mysterious boat venue and a residency at Café Oto. This is how it looked on Wednesday, and how it might look in London, and maybe even at Big Ears in Knoxville if we can get that together in time:
It has been a busy year for my Xenotone label. In June I put out the first of three planned releases, which was the album played mostly on the obscure (complimentary) instrument called the Gravikord. The album is called New Modern Strings and you can find it here. There was a long interview with me about the project published last week at The Tonearm, a new independent website that is creating interesting music journalism. After the Gravikord record is MORE POWER, the new N to The Power album, out today. And I am in the late stages of a Jon Hassell-related project with Vincent called The Apprentice to The Surgeon Of The Night Sky, which I am optimistic will be finished and available before the Winter Solstice. We recorded the last new tracks for that this week.
This is my first dispatch using Buttondown, which I am told is the non-fascist version of Substack? It seems to work well. Maybe I will send some news occasionally, maybe even on a day which is not a release day.
Peace,
Blake