Marcia Bassett

‘Survival of Laments‘ CD on Headlight recordings. Two long compositions performed by Marcia Bassett and Manuel Mota on Guitar and Margarida Garcia on Bass and recorded at Janskerk in Utrecht, 2018.  Cover art by Margarida Garcia.  “But lamenting is also a metaphor of how music endlessly stages its own death; music is the art form that lives through constant dying or dying out, and in lamenting it postpones and theatralizes this dying. In this sense a lament always laments a death to come, anticipating it. And its performance is just a suspension of the moment when it will deliver itself to the silence of the building’s stones.” – excerpt from the liner notes written by Björn Schmelzer. 

‘Buchla Now‘ cassette on Ultra Violet light released on September 2nd sold out that same day! I’m sorry if you missed it! Maybe you have a friend who can share their download code with you. The 300-copy limited edition cassette came with 3-color risograph printed artwork by Wilson Ward Kemp and features music from Marcia Bassett, Suzanne Ciani, Dan Deacon, Jonathan Fitoussi, Steve Horelick, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Hans Tammen & compilation curator Todd Barton. Buchla Now, a collection of new music created on synthesizers designed by Don Buchla, the visionary instrument maker, inventor/physicist, circuit designer, musician, and founder of what has popularly become known as the “West Coast Style” of synthesis. ULV 2020

‘Morning Flare Symmetries’ LP on Feeding Tube Records released on June 23rd. Copies are still available and of course, you can listen and download via the Feeding Tube Bandcamp site. Cover art – Super 8 film stills by Spencer Herbst. “The string blend they manage to invent is a hugely psychedelic wave that washes over everything in its path. And when you’re enveloped in its massive flow, you are hauled along by sonic forces that are way beyond your control. Some parts are soothing, others are eruptive, but they work a really amazing push-pull on your brain, so that the individual sections don’t feel competitive so much as complimentary. Like thousands of tiny thumbs urging your spirit to free itself? Sure, why not? I absolutely encourage you to check out all of their albums. but this new one is a particular killer, so maybe you ought to start right here.” –Byron Coley, 2020

While COVID-19 has impacted live shows and gatherings there has been time to work on recordings. Earlier in the year, I released a digital-only recording on Bandcamp YOU ARE HERE is a collection of field recordings captured on iPhone and a Zoom recorder in India Dec 2019 and early Jan 2020 – Varanasi, Jaipur, and Rishikesh. Mixing and additional tracks were recorded at home in Brooklyn NY, April 2020.

During quarantine, I found a mix down of old 4-track recordings “rough mix for the LP” and released Two Butterflies as a digital-only release via Bandcamp.

Jennifer Lucy Allan reviewed Two Butterflies in her July Rum Music Column for The Quietus – “So Many Stars” hits all my buttons – rough multi-tonal drones that might come from strings or Shruti box (or something else) all lit up with the stridulations of night-time insects. It’s the sort of track I’m always looking for but never have quite the right key words to find. 

I also added to my Bandcamp page, a Buchla Music Easel track Morning Reflections that I composed for a short super-8 film that I made last year, and the cassette Endless Parabolas a collaboration with Bob Bellerue is available for download too!  Stay tuned for vinyl and CD recordings coming up!