James Ilgenfritz releases Thirlwell composition for solo contrabass

a1596461489_10JG Thirlwell was commissioned by James Ilgenfritz to write a composition for solo contrabass. The piece, entitled “Xigliox“, has finally been recorded and will be released on Ilgenfritz’s second solo album, Origami Cosmos on Infrequent Seams on March 24 2017. “Xigliox” is described as “a work that constantly careens from lyricism to ferocity, from precision to frenetic abandon.”

The album also feature pieces written for Ilgenfritz by Annie Gosfield, Elliot Sharp and Miya Masaoka.

Origami Cosmos is described as : “From hypnotic drone works involving Just Intonation and use of multiple bows to astounding feats of technical virtuosity, this collection of works brings hyper- complexity, improvisation, and lyrical beauty together into a deeply personal tour-de-force of musical invention. “

Ilgenfritz plays JG in Indiana

Screen shot 2015-09-17 at 12.32.55 PMJames Ilgenfritz will be playing JG Thirlwell‘s composition for solo contrabass, “Xigliox”, at the Wounded Galaxies Festival of Experimental Media in Bloomington, Indiana on October 8 2015. Ilgenfritz will also play pieces by Elliott Sharp and Miya Masaoka with live video from Yuri Zupančič. The concert will take place at the Bishop Bar and tickets are $15.

JG Thirlwell pens new composition for Burroughs opera

10.16_experiments_in_opera_temp_imageJames Ilgenfritz has commissioned JG Thirlwell to compose a composition for an opera with the text based on William S. Burroughs cut ups of Clockwork Orange author Anthony Burgess. The piece will form part of a larger opera entitled The Travel Agency is on Fire, drawn from a book of Burroughs cut-up experiments, where he re-appropriates everyone from William Shakespeare and Arthur Rimbaud to William Wordsworth and James Joyce. The other composers contributing to the opera include Jason Cady, Natacha Diels, Anne Guthrie, James Ilgenfritz, Travis Just, Lukas Ligeti, Charlie Looker, Elliott Sharp, Aaron Siegel and Katie Young.  
The opera will premiere on October 16 2015 at John Zorn‘s club The Stone in NYC as part of James Ilgenfrtiz’s residency. It will be performed by the Anagram Ensemble, consisting of  Megan Schubert, Amirtha Kidambi, Nick Hallett and  Michael Douglas Jones (voices) PK Harris and Sarah Bernstein (violins), James Moore (guitar), Jonathan Singer (percussion), Brian Chase (drums), James Ilgenfritz (basses) and Nathan Koci (conductor)

JGT reads WSB

William-S-Burroughs-william-s-burroughs-24368992-1329-1389JG Thirlwell  will take part in William S.Burroughs reading marathon presented by The Poetry Project as part of WSB100, New York’s month-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Burroughs, the iconic writer of Naked Lunch, Queer, Junky, and many other experimental works of great American literature. The event will take place at the sanctuary of St Marks Church in New York City, on April 23 2014, beginning at 8.30pm. JG will read with interpretive guitar accompaniment from Sam Mickens. Also on the bill are Anne Waldman, Bob HolmanGenesis Breyer P-Orridge, Matt Mottel & Kevin Shea, James Ilgenfritz, Jack Womack & Elliot Sharp, Iron Dog, Nick Zedd,  Penny Arcade, Simon Pettet, Steve Dalachinsky and many others.

JGT composes solo contrabass piece for James Ilgenfritz

nmid-046JG Thirlwell has composed a piece for solo contrabass, to be performed by James Ilgenfritz. Entitled “Xigliox”, the composition will premiere at a concert by Ilgenfritz at Roulette in NYC on December 12 2013. Ilgenfritz will also be playing pieces from his recent CD, Compositions (Braxton), solo contrabass performances of the music of Anthony Braxton; plus Trio For Trumpet, Accordion, and String Bass, a classic mid-60s work from Pauline Oliveros; and a new piece that Ilgenfritz commissioned from Annie Gosfield. Thirlwell will accompany Ilgenfritz on his piece with “small intrusions of electronics”. To open the evening, Reinier Van Houdt presents a solo piano performance of Italian avant-garde composer Walter Marchetti’s new solo piano work Concerto per la Mano Sinistra in un Solo Movimento (Concerto for the Left Hand in One Movement).

Foetus "Soak" and JG Thirlwell "Blue Eyes OST" albums out now!

Ectopic Ents is proud to announce the simultaneous release of two new albums from JG Thirlwell: Foetus “SOAK” and JG Thirlwell’s “The Blue Eyes Original Soundtrack Recording

The albums are available on CD from the shoppe at foetus.org, where you can also listen to previews. The albums are also available digitally here, and also from iTunes, Amazon and regular digital outlets. The albums, however, are not available for streaming on Spotify, Pandora etc. All copies of SOAK come with a free sticker of a variation of the cover artwork, personally signed by JG Thirlwell.
SOAKsticker_5WHAT IS SOAK?

The album kicks off with the beat-heavy “Red and Black and Gray and White”, a celebration of the color scheme of Foetus album covers and an opportunity to proclaim them in the patriotic style of cheer-leading and military cadence. The track employs the drumming of Jeff Davidson, where exuberant paramilitary rhythms collide with chain gangs, big band brass stabs and call-and -response vocals kick off the album in a blistering breathless blast, echoing JG’s intense action-packed scores for the Adult Swim cartoon Venture Bros. “Pratheism” continues JG’s voyage into opera which began with HIDE’s “Cosmetics”, this time abetted by mezzo soprano Natalie Galpern. In the multi-movement composition, which will also appear in Thirlwell’s forthcoming opera, heavy drums drive the bombastic orchestrations, propelled by urgent choral vocals and pulsing analog synthesizer. Singer Abby Fischer joins JG on the lilting seductive piece “Alabaster”, also written for the forthcoming opera, the track being a paean to the singer’s inanimate partner. JG’s version of The Normal‘s electronic post-punk classic “Warm Leatherette” originally appeared in the 7″ box set collection Recovery along with the likes of Johann Johannsson, Fennesz and Alva Noto. JG was commissioned to record a cover version of John Carpenter‘s “Halloween” while creating the sound design for the website of the remake of the classic horror film. JG decided to resurrect it, merging it with an original piece “Turbulence”. In the same way that Wendy Carlos‘ “Switched on Bach” took classical music and re-cast it in the electronic musical idiom, with his versions of “Halloween” and “Warm Leatherette”, JG is taking classics of electronic music and recasting them in a symphonic idiom, reconfiguring them from the minimalism that made them distinctive at the time into a bombastic maximalism. “Kamikaze” is a post-millennial psychedelic meditation on Japanese suicide pilots, evoking a classic romanticism in it’s Beatle-esque refrain. JG’s eccentric interpretation “La Rua Madureira” follows, complete with balkanized mid-section and dream sequence, summoning the author of the song, tragic french chanteur Nino Ferrer, who shot himself in the heart in 1998. Following the twisting cinematic opus of “Spat”, Secret Chiefs 3 remix the Foetus track “Cosmetics” , turning it on it’s head and infusing it with some of their style while retaining the mad collision of opera and prog. The album closes gently with the meditation-cum-lullabye “Mesmerin”, blurring the line between anti-depressants and religious awakening.
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BlueEyes_newdig_4WHAT IS THE BLUE EYES SOUNDTRACK?

JG Thirlwell’s chamber soundtrack to the film “The Blue Eyes” is also released on the same day. The original score was created for Eva Aridjis‘ Mexican-lensed supernatural thriller, and is performed with an ensemble which includes Manorexia alumni Karen Waltuch on violin & viola and Isabel Castelvi on cello plus Nathan Koci (Ensemble Modern, Bang On A Can etc) on french horn, James Ilgenfritz (Lukas Ligeti, Anthony Braxton ) on contrabass and Marcus Rojas (David Byrne, Steven Bernstein) on tuba and bass trombone, with JG on everything else, including piano, electronics and percussion. The film, set in Chiapas, Mexico, stars Allison Case (Hair, Mamma Mia, Nurse Jackie) and Zachary Booth (Taking Woodstock, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, Darkhorse) and was released theatrically in Mexico.

"The Blue Eyes" film debuts

The Blue Eyes is the new film directed by Eva Aridjis, with a brand new musical score composed by JG Thirlwell. It will premiere at Morelia Film Festival in Mexico on October 21 and 22, 2011. Shot on location in Chiapas, Mexico, this supernatural thriller was lensed by Sebastian Mlynarski, the creative cinematographer who is also known for directing videos for the likes of Miike Snow, Cold Cave and Maya.

The score was composed, produced and performed by JG Thirlwell with guest musicans Nathan Koci on french horn, Isabel Castellvi on cello, James Ilgenfritz on contrabass, Marcus Rojas on bass trombone and tuba and Karen Waltuch on viola and violin, with the vocal stylings of Angel Inconnu.