discussion program

introduction

The series of panels and workshops taking place at Unsound Festival New York will be aimed at creating a context of discussion around music and sound cultures. It is an essential part of the project, and will be very extensive. The main venue for these events will be Goethe-Institut's Wyoming Building.

 

Workshop: Lillevan's screen tests
06.02.10 // 15:30 // Wyoming Building
Lillevan talks about his project Screen Tests Revisited, explaining the background of Warhol’s original Screen Tests. He describes techniques employed in the project, as well as those he uses generally in his work. One of the most renowned video artists working with producers of electronic music, Lillevan is also an entertaining and informative speaker, and this workshop is not to be missed.
Tickets: Free
Kids’ Electronic Music Workshop
07.02.10 // 11:00 // Harvestworks
Producers of electronic music show kids and young adults how to create music using simple technologies, found objects, and their own ingenuity. Participants will perform in Le Poisson Rouge on Wednesday, opening a night of experimental music. Co-presented with Dis-Patch and Communikey festivals, from Serbia and Boulder, Colo., and Harvestworks. Until 5pm. First of 4 sessions.
Tickets: $25 for four sessions. To sign up send paypal payment of $25 to [email protected]. After payment organizers will send you further information and forms.
Panel Discussion: Music Journalism
07.02.10 // 14:00 // Wyoming Building
What does it mean to write well about music? A panel of working music journalists discusses issues related to the art of music-writing, as well as the changing practice of covering music in an eclectic and diversified world. When so much is available globally, how does one search for the new? Andy Battaglia and Simon Reynolds lead a discussion with other working writers in the field.
Tickets: Free
Panel Discussion: The Art of The Party - The Hidden Issues
07.02.10 // 15:30 // Wyoming Building
Explores hidden challenges involved in producing music events in New York, from small club parties to big concerts. This includes everything from obtaining legal U.S. work permits for international artists to dealing with agents and gatekeepers. A range of participants includes Wordless Music's Ronen Givony, The Bunker's Bryan Kasenic and artist/organizer Jessica Schmitz.
Tickets: Free
Panel Discussion: Who Programs Who?
07.02.10 // 17:00 // Wyoming Building
How do you create sounds that have never been heard before? What is the connection between music consumption and creation? And how does technology and music-making software influence this quest? Do we program machines, or do they program us? Vladislav Delay, Sebastian Meissner, Jacek Sienkiewicz and Ezekiel Honig talk about the process of finding an original voice in electronic music.
Tickets: Free
Workshop: Kids’ Electronic Music Workshop - Session 2
08.02.10 // 16:30 // Harvestworks
Second session. Until 7:30 pm.
Tickets: $25 for four sessions. To sign up send paypal payment of $25 to [email protected]. After payment organizers will send you further information and forms.
Screening: Electronic Music Movies – Session 1
08.02.10 // 18:30 // Wyoming Building
Two films on the roots of electronic music includes the NY debut of Kara Blake's 2009 documentary The Delian Mode, exploring the life of pioneer Delia Derbyshire, the woman behind the distinctive Doctor Who theme music created at the BBC. "The Future Is Not What It Used To Be", directed by Mika Taanila, is about Erkki Kurenniemi, a Finnish scientist, musician, filmmaker and cybernetic pioneer.
Tickets: Free
Workshop: Kids Electronic Music Workshop - Session 3
09.02.10 // 16:30 // Harvestworks
Third session, in anticipation of a live concert at Le Poisson Rouge the following night. Until 7:30 pm.
Tickets: $25 for four sessions. To sign up send paypal payment of $25 to [email protected]. After payment organizers will send you further information and forms.
Walking Tour: Dream House
11.02.10 // 18:00 // Wyoming Building
Unsound leads a walking tour to composer LaMonte Young’s Dream House in Tribeca. A discussion of the installation, in process now for 17 years, will help provide context at the Wyoming Building, followed by an experience of the work on-site, in a loft with plush carpeting, pillows on the floor, and banks of big speakers.
Tickets: Free
Screening: Electronic Music Movies – Session 2
12.02.10 // 18:30 // Wyoming Building
Repeat session.
Tickets: Free.
Panel Discussion: Bass Mutations
13.02.10 // 15:30 // Wyoming Building
How have bass-heavy forms of music shifted in recent years? Where did the genre called dubstep come from—and where is it leading? How does it differ in New York, London, Berlin, Minsk and Bucharest? Writer Mitch Strashnov (URB, Electrodrone) will lead a discussion featuring Pole, TRG, FaltyDL, Dave Q, and Olof van Winden.
Tickets: Free
Panel Discussion: Mapping Sound in Art, an Investigation
13.02.10 // 17:00 // Wyoming Building
In the U.S., sound art remains a fluid catchall term for a range of acoustic activities. Conversely, in Europe, sound as art occupies narrower practical methods and concepts. Kabir Carter leads a discussion on the role of sound in the arts with curator/writer Regine Basha, philosopher/writer Christoph Cox, composer/artist Michael J. Schumacher and installation artist Asa Stjerna.
Tickets: Free
Dialogue: Vince Aletti
13.02.10 // 18:30 // Wyoming Building
Storied disco critic Vince Aletti, one of the first to cover disco during its 1970s heyday, talks about the history of the formative dance-music as it happened in New York. Discussion focuses on Aletti’s recent anthology The Disco Files: 1973-78, as well as his memories of the scene as he saw it firsthand. In discussion with music journalist Andy Beta (Spin, Village Voice).
Tickets: Free
Panel Discussion & Press Conference: “Connections”
14.02.10 // 15:30 // Wyoming Building
Presentation of “Eastern Promise,” emerging from ideas integral to Unsound and its international projects - in New York, Poland, Eastern Europe. This includes “Connections," which linked Belarus and Western European electronic musicians. With “Connections” co-ordinators Stefan Betke (scape) and Mat Schulz (Unsound), as well as Pavel Ambiont (Belarus), Zenial (Poland), Petre Inspirescu (Romania).
Tickets: Free
Dialogue: Morton Subotnick
14.02.10 // 17:00 // Wyoming Building
A talk with electronic-music pioneer Morton Subotnick, whose career goes back to the 1960s and includes some of the most important early work with modular synthesizers in the popular realm. Anecdotal talk focuses on Subotnick’s work, both as it plays into history and as it has evolved into the present. In discussion with music journalist Andy Battaglia (A.V. Club, Pitchfork).
Tickets: Free
Selected events
11.02 // Littlefield // Brooklyn
Brooklyn Electronic Music Showcase, co-presented with Treehouse: Morgan Geist Blondes Neurotic Drum Band
12.02 // Wyoming Building // New York, NY
Screening: Electronic Music Movies – Session 2

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