Parlour Tapes+

a contemporary classical cassette label

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Vaster Than Empires Chicago Release Party

  • Constellation 3111 N Western Ave Chicago IL (map)

Frequency Series Presents an album release concert for the debut recording by Vaster Than Empires

See the Facebook event for details.

Vaster Than Empires thrives on extremes, seeking/wishing/pretending to cajole music from barren silences and synaptic turmoil. “This peculiar multi-generational trio,” Peter Margasak observes, “generates more than the sum of its diverse parts.” The result is a journey through exotic landscapes, tiny and huge, near and far, above and below, led by players who are comfortable with the discomfort of exploring the nether regions of the space-time continuum. 

Violinist Erica Dicker navigates the space between lush, drone-like sound-scapes to brutal, grating textures, subjecting her instrument to abuse with objects such as chains, screws, and battery-powered fans. Percussionist Allen Otte, a founding member of the paradigm-shifting Percussion Group Cincinnati, brings a wild diversity of sounds to the table, employing instruments ranging from bicycle wheel to ‘prepared yangqin’—a Chinese dulcimer turned into a drummer’s prepared piano. “The ever-changing universe of sounds this pair creates in real-time is effectively manipulated, processed, and re-shaped by sound artist and composer Paul Schuette, who masterfully connects the tactile eruptions, scrapes, and thrums with simpatico grace, leaving a full complement of physicality in the ears of listeners.” [-Margasak]

Vaster Than Empires is: 
Erica Dicker - violin, baritone violin, various percussive materials
Allen Otte - prepared yang-chin, amplified bicycle wheel, rocks, beer can... 
Paul Schuette - laptop, synthesizer

https://parlourtapes.bandcamp.com/album/vaster-than-empires