thisquietarmy: May 2009

31 May 2009

Arriving in Berlin

Landed at Tegel, Berlin at 2pm after some 10-hour flight with a connection in Heathrow, London. Watched 'Yes Man' on the plane and slept a little, avoiding the old british lady sitting next to me (great, just my luck). Border control was a breeze, no questions asked - just a quick look and stamp!

After a cab ride to Treptow at Aidan & Leah's + a walk around the neighborhood to get some Halloumi sandwiches, I began to unpack my two suitcases full of gear and assembled my pedalboard together. I also blew up a North American power bar, trying to figure out the European adapters and converters, but nothing a German beer can't fix. Travel fatigue crept in quickly...

29 May 2009

out-of-office auto reply

goodbye corporate life, done with you for a little while...
i'ma gonna be an artist now.

tour poster by christy & leo romanick @ space30a.

28 May 2009

Hammer Smashed Jazz interview

Read up!

http://hammersmashedjazz.blogspot.com/2009/05/thisquietarmy-interview.html

24 May 2009

Tonight at Zoobizarre

For Montrealers:

Lineland + Animal Hospital + Mark Templeton + thisquietarmy
Zoobizarre / doors @8:30pm, thisquietarmy @9pm...

Last show before Europe, last local show for a while; come wish me a good tour or something, won't see you for another month at least... not that i ever see anyone of you, but WHATEVER. when i get big in Europe, i will completely IGNORE you. Last chance.

(Kidding)

23 May 2009

New track featured on The Silent Ballet compilation

A new thisquietarmy track "Orchestral Dots Under Static", recorded this year & previously unreleased is featured exclusively on the latest Silent Ballet compilation, Vol. XII. The track will probably appear on a future & upcoming album this year, TBA. Meanwhile you can download it for free, as part of the compilation released via the Lost Children netlabel. Tracklisting is as follow:

1. Stephane Horeczko - Fugaces
2. Jasper TX - Sky
3. thisquietarmy - Orchestral Dots Under Static
4. Anduin - Lovers in Transit
5. Light Under Water - Awake
6. Cobra-Matic - Braille
7. Autistici - Curet Must be Protected (Little Murmurs Grow into Big Shouts Mix)
8. CJ Boyd - Pensive Pez
9. Sickoakes - Live Demo

Download here: http://www.archive.org/details/LostChildren068à

More info here: http://thesilentballet.com/dnn/Home/tabid/36/ctl/Details/mid/367/ItemID/2392/Default.aspx

20 May 2009

foxy review of A Picture of a Picture

Sorry for the silence. Since the last update, I've:

- been to New York.
- been working on material.
- tour planning, logistics, packing.
- been designing my Tour 3" CD/DVD package, a labor of love.

And probably more... of course, the energy-sucking day job.
Tour is soon, leaving May 30th.

++

Here's a great review of A Picture of a Picture by Foxy Digitalis:

Aiden Baker and Thisquietarmy’s Eric Quach reconvene on this follow up to their first EP together, “Orange.” Rather than relay tracks back and forth through the mail however, this time the duo made a point of working the material out live, with little to no overdubbing involved. What results is a symbiotic approach to drone that is concerned as much with forward momentum as it is with textural elements.

Lasting an hour, the disc’s four tracks each represent a logical exploration of one element of the unit’s sound. The opening “Imagistic Continuity” glistens as the duo’s guitars intersect in slow motion iridescence. Combining equal parts Fripp & Eno with an undercurrent of noisier influence, the piece transforms itself continuously as it radiates outward from its opening. The following “Loss of Perspective” immediately inverts itself however, slipping inward as it delves deep into some cavernous patterns of thick, folk strums and cresting tonal waves. There is a proggy, constructive element here that separates the material from your usual drone act, as it manifests itself more closely to a live composition than an overtly drone-oriented work. The result is some of the moodiest drone one is likely to come across, as harmonic progressions drive a dirge-like theme above the crystalline shards intermingling below. The work even begins to take on an almost club-like vibe, with a certain brooding trance feel not so far off from the same forest-of-the-mind traversed by Gas.

“Negative Space” once more looks outward, as trickling notes delay and decay around one another, building into a tall cloud of sound whose intricacies are endless and immersive. Each movement, no matter how decisive, is swept into the cyclical center, only to be seen again when another revolution has completed itself. The addition of an amorphous bass line adds to the club feel, pulsing and bobbing in the light of night. Not that this is dance music whatsoever, though maybe the emerald green world of more mysterious creatures believe otherwise. The closing “Horizon Line,” the longest work here at 20-minutes, only deepens the nighttime atmospherics of the rest of the disc, albeit in a far more haunting, even sinister, vein. Deepening the blackness, the piece moves through vast swarms of sinuous mental lines whose construction treads on the right side of a fine line between ambient/drone atmospherics and clichéd movie mood setting. Yet the duo exudes such clarity of vision that it is hard to not be swept up in the grandiose nature of the pieces. One for summer nights and firefly fights. 8/10 -- Henry Smith (20 May, 2009)

http://www.digitalisindustries.com/foxyd/reviews.php?which=4287

5 May 2009

thisquietarmy joins Alien8 Recordings

thisquietarmy is proud to be part of the Alien8 Recordings family, alongside of musical friends Nadja/Aidan Baker, Menace Ruine & Aun, but also of internationally respected artists such as Tim Hecker, Acid Mothers Temple, Merzbow, Keiji Haino, Sam Shalabi and Set Fire To Flames, just to name a few! One of my favorite labels for sure, very excited!

Alien8 Recordings has just launched a new series of digital-only releases and chose to open their digital store with the re-release of thisquietarmy's Transmissions, a conceptual soundtrack to Christy Romanick’s Very Large Array book, which features a series of colored photographs shot in San Agustin, New Mexico.

The book/soundtrack, limited to only 75 physical copies, was originally released on Christy’s imprint, Space30a. The digital release features an exclusive 15-minute track and includes the electronic version of the book.

http://www.alien8recordings.com/digital/transmissions