For the past three years, one of the prime centers for experimental, improvised, and new music and jazz in Boston has been the Open Sound series in Somerville. This Saturday marks the return of one its founders, percussionist TIM FEENEY, who left Boston a little more than a year ago for a teaching post at Cornell. Via e-mail from Ithaca, Feeney says that in preparation for his solo set he’s been experimenting with his constantly evolving set-up, which mixes percussion, found objects, and modified electronics. “I’ve been working this summer on trying to find something that sounds a little bit more organic and human.” No mean feat, given the extraordinary array of sounds he’s already capable of creating.
Feeney will also perform John Cage’s Variations III with Open Sound’s current organizers, LOU COHEN (laptop) and LOU BUNK (electronics), as well as JAMES COLEMAN (theremin) and WENDY RICHMAN (violin). Written for any number of performers on any type of sound-making device, Variations III calls for those performers to create the score from their interpretations of a set of transparent cut-out circles dropped on a blank surface.
San Francisco’s EATS TAPES create music that’s just a hair more predictable and infinitely more danceable than that of Feeney, Cage, et al. Using a hodge-podge of modified drum machines, synths, and cracked electronics of all stripes and colors, Marijke Jorritsma and Gregory Zifcak serve up some seriously tweaked techno. Known for their formidably enjoyable live shows, the duo mix elements of improv, noise, and dance music in the grand tradition of electronic eccentric luminaries like Felix Kubin and DAT Politics.
TIM FEENEY + JOHN CAGE'S VARIATIONS III | Third Life Studio, 33 Somerville Ave [Union Square], Somerville | August 16 @ 8 pm | 617.628.0916 | EATS TAPES + DJ FLACK + WAYNEANDWAX at Beat Research | 567 Mass Ave, Cambridge | August 18 @ 9 pm | 617.491.5550
