How old are you?
On March 21st, the obscure little Japanese label, Home Normal, will be celebrating their fifth anniversary at Cafe Oto. Releasing a cross of experimental pop, minimalist folk, and ambient organics, they have built a strong kinship with the Pennine Moors label, Hibernate. Hibernate supported Home Normal through the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, which heavily damaged their studio and store. Without their kind support Home Normal would not have been able to reach this small landmark.
By way of celebration we are thrilled to present Czech music pioneers Gurun Gurun with special guest Gareth Davis, the multi-talented Hibernate and Home Normal artist Ithaca Trio, a completely one-off show from the Brighton-based software designer and composer Christopher Hipgrave, and the latest Hibernate addition, Gideon Wolf. Alongside them will also be small DJ/improv sets by Ekca Liena (Plurals), and film by Ian Hawgood and Ben Jones, the curators of the Home Normal label.
Advanced tickets will include an exclusive compilation from the Home Normal label to celebrate their 5th anniversary. All profits from the show and the accompanying CD will go to the Habitat for Humanity charity in Japan. Habitat Japan builds houses and conducts community development projects for “A World Where Everyone Has a Decent Place to Live.” They continue to support those in Fukushima who are still without homes after the 2011 earthquake, as well as disaster relief around the world.
Gurun Gurun is a Czech-based experimental, weird ambient & improvised music collective formed in the autumn 2007 by guitarist Tomas Knoflicek and keyboardist Jara Tarnovski. Named after a fictional planet from the old school Slovak childish sci-fi TV series “She Came Out of the Blue Sky”, their musical work combines guitars, analogue synthesizers, turntables, acoustic instruments and digital effects to span musical spaces ranging from hypno-minimalist atmospheres to warm tones of slow moving, repetitive melodic stanzas.
GG were later joined by the highly respected Czech producer Tomas Prochazka aka Federsel (Handa Gote, B4). With the help of Moskitoo (12k), Sawako (12k, Anticipate), Opiate (Morr Music), Aki Tomita (Neguse Group), Irena & Vojtech Havel, Floex, Kora et le Mechanix and Daniel Meier, they released their critically acclaimed self-titled debut in November 2010 on Home Normal.
Gareth Davis is an acclaimed clarinetist who resides in the Netherlands. He is a common collaborator of Rutger Zuydervelt (Machinefabriek), Romke and Jan Kleefstra, Ian Hawgood, Frances-Marie Uitti, and many others. He is a member of the groups A-Sun Amissa, The Whalers Collective, Birdt, and Mere. His work has appeared on labels such as Home Normal, Miasmah, Rural Colours, Wist Rec, and Fake Jazz, to name a few.
Gareth will be performing with Gurun Gurun as a special guest on the night.
Ithaca Trio is the project of Oliver Thurley, a composer based in Leeds, UK. Established in 2009, The Ithaca Trio is a collage of compositions, soundscapes, improvisations, field recordings, manipulations and experimentations recorded by various members of the Deus Ex Machina Arkestra and assosiated sound-propagators.
Thurley’s work has appeared on both the Home Normal and Hibernate labels. His most recent album for Home Normal, ‘Music For Piano & Patience’ was widely praised after its release in November, appearing on a whole host of ‘best of year’ lists.
Christopher Hipgrave is one of the great enigmas of the modern ambient-electronic scene in the UK. In 2009 he released his debut ‘Day’ to critical acclaim, but in the five years since then only quietly released his fantastic ‘Slow, With Pages Of Fluttering Interference’ on Low Point, as well as creating the excellent standalone ‘Ambient’ software which had Sound On Sound of all people getting all giddy. His performance at Cafe Oto on the 21st of March will be a very rare chance to see the man perform in the flesh finally.
His follow-up to ‘Day’, titled ‘No Greater Hero Than The Least Plant That Grows’, will be released on Home Normal later in the year.
Gideon Wolf is the alias for musician and composer Tristan Shorr. He has released on Fluid Audio and Chemical Tapes, with his newest work due on Hibernate this year. Over the past few years he has forged a career as a composer for theatre, dance, performance & film. He is currently a member of noise makers Vlk, and as a founder and member of London based music collective Orchestra Elastique has previously played at the ICA, Cafe OTO and toured in Berlin, Istanbul and Romania.
Ekca Liena is the work of Daniel W J MacKenzie. He’s a founding member of such great groups as Plurals and Hexenverfolgung. In June 2012 he released his collaboration with Spheruleus, ‘Mapping The Boundary Layer’ on Home Normal.
Ekca Liena will be performing a special DJ / live improv set before, between and after each set.
Ian Hawgood and Ben Jones are the founding curators of the Home Normal label and will be showing films from Ian’s old 8mm stash throughout the night.
Place: Cafe OTO, 18 – 22 Ashwin Street, Dalston, London, E8 3DL
Date: Friday March 21st
Time: 8pm
Tickets: £10 adv including an exclusive compilation CD / £5 without CD on the door