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Antony Milton/LBM/Art Lessing and Flower Vato Tuesday 11/21!
Posted by Brian F on 2006-11-16 7:35:46pm

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Tuesday 11/21/06 @ Troy?s Magic Basement (aka 1915 22nd st in Sac:

Antony Milton
Living Breathing Music
Art Lessing and The Flower Vato

New Zealander Antony Milton has been making records, exhibiting sound installations and performing live under various nom de plumes (A.M, The Nether Dawn, Paintings of Windows, Mrtyu etc) since the early 1990s. He is also the curator of the PseudoArcana record label. A recurring theme in Milton's work is an investigation of 'place' and 'presence' and the ways in which these function within the representational realm of recorded sound. With releases on underground labels such as Jewelled Antler, Last Visible Dog and Celebrate Psi Phenomenon Milton's work is situated at some weird junction between electroacoustic composition, folk music, and the more psychedelic end of the 'noise' spectrum... Using predominantly analogue sources (tape loops, field recordings, amplified resonant objects, voice and guitar) Milton's performances have a high degree of intimacy and commonly range from the gestural and nuanced through to the visceral and ecstatic

He is a frequent collaborator with other NZ artists such as Campbell Kneale of Birchville Cat Motel (they play together in With Throats As Fine As Needles) and Stefan Neville of Pumice, both of whom have had multiple releases on Pseudarcana. This is his first US show, and one of only two on the West Coast, before he spends a month touring the Northeast and Europe!

Interviewed in Blastitude:

http://www.blastitude.com/AM.htm

A couple of reviews:

Antony Milton: ?Sirens? CD: When I think back to some of the music I was making in 1997, I shudder. Granted, there's still some I really enjoy, but mostly it was a growing period that is better left to nostalgia. Antony Milton (Pseudoarcana boss and all around excellent guy), on the other hand, doesn't suffer the same fate. Milton has been recording and releasing things under his own name on his old Wire Bridge label since its inception 10 years ago (we won't even discuss what I was doing 10 years ago). "Sirens" is the latest of the reissues (and greatest so far), and on this aquatic journey, Milton brings you into his own person New Zealand, circa 1997.

"Sirens" feels like it's a lost Alastair Galbraith album, rescued from a shipwreck by a team of divers. Milton's voice and fractured compositions bring to mind some of Galbraith's finest, more lucid moments. This is welcomed with open arms as I consider Galbraith to be one of the greatest and underrated talents around. The disjointed, shamoblic nature of many Milton's songs gives the feeling of someone exploring the sonic domain for the first time. Yet, despite this, his songs come together and overall, the album has a cohesive thread that weaves through each song.

What Milton has created is like a lost civilization, forgotten by time, but still thriving with a life all its own. The title track offers a glimpse into the lives of these imaginary people. As Milton half whispers, half sings over a bed of semi-distorted guitar plucks and scrapes and harmonica bellows, the listener is bowled over with a sense that this secret society is crumbling. As the song reaches a crescendo, lead guitar overtake the mix, leading the whole thing into an endless pit of darkness, never to be heard from again. It's a song that slowly rises from the fog of morning, only to be killed off quickly in the dead of night. Milton's words sting. It's that advice you need to hear but don't want to.

After the demise of the title track, the album moves into the short and sour "Frayed Binds." This is sparse and bare. It's like returning to the capital city years after it was destroyed and walking amongst the wreckage. The sound of circling birds along with plucked violin are hints of a life that you left behind. It brings back a flood of flashbacks and makes you remember the good times, and bad. It's these minimalist violin explorations and manipulations that are the most audible stamp of Galbraith's. Milton my not be as technically adept as his countryman, but his message comes through just as loud and just as clear. Quickly after, you are whisked away to the hopeful casio churnings of "Palisades." This track provides the albums catchiest moments. I just imagine Milton relaxing on white sand beaches with pristine blue water as he sings the chorus, "In the Palisades," over and over again. It is fantastic.

One thing Milton does remarkably well is endear himself to the listener almost instantaneously. He does this in a number of ways, but mostly through spoken pieces done in his distinctive Kiwi-drawal. It gives a sense of comfort and familiarity that allows you to fully experience the album in a way that is essential. You'll find yourself sitting alone, listening to his scrawl thinking, "I know this bloke!" It's the aural equivalent of a face-to-face meeting - I'm not sure exactly how he pulls it off so well (I've got plenty of other records with somewhat similar pieces on them, but they just don't work like this).

In the end, Milton finds the green grass pastures of posterity. Finding them, though, was never in doubt - it was taking the journey that mattered. "Sirens" is a look at someone struggling with that decision: should I stay or should I go? This is the aural personifcation of that. But, it also goes to show that many times, if we'd just show up and put ourselves out there, we'd all be better off. Highly recommended.- Brad Rose, Foxy Digitalis

Artist: Antony Milton ?Live @ the Cake Shop, August 2005? CD. First, a few scattered voices and some clatter are heard in the background. The early impressions you may get is that these actually belong to some larger field recordings which are going to be treated later on.

Then, a blast of electric guitar comes in and begins to saturate the space. A few minutes later, a frail cry barely detaches itself from the crowd, before you realize that it is an actual singing which happens to subsume the guitar for a brief moment. From then on, you know that there will be no distinction between voice and instrument, that the two will be inextricably linked to each other. But, more than this, you can feel the music gradually finding its way out, sculpting the air and taking a multiplicity of shapes almost on the spot. The singer?s dismantling cries finally become more distinct: ?Could be anything, Could be just anything, Could be nothing at all??.

It seems the voice needs to empty itself of this surplus of emotion, as if it couldn?t be repressed by anything anymore. Also, there?s a feeling of urgency in its edgy, high-pitched broken quality that suggests a fragile kind of determination ? an unstoppable desire to communicate something.

As soon as that first song evaporates, once can hear a few applause which are immediately followed by a nervous rhythmic guitar that obliterates all the other noises. The song is so intense it has enough faith to impose itself with a disarming simplicity. The voice is still there ? unafraid ? surfing on the sole presence of the music, yet an integral part of that series of breaking sonic waves, at the risk of sounding ?out of tune? to some ears.

The audience is paying more attention now, their somewhat newfound disposition to listen becoming another key element of the ambience. It?s not a source of tension however; it has a definite role to play in the creation of this moment ? a moment that is yet to be defined.

The last four songs will thus be a testimony to that electric, yet controlled atmosphere and it will almost feel like a collective effort from then on as recomposed ?individualities? seem to reappear under a new light.

The ethereal, yet visceral ?Brief Tenure? is particularly evocative here as Antony Milton?s voice shamelessly soars up and fills the room with an impossible silence. That song directly fades into a more abstract structure called ?Astray? that puts a final touch of uneasiness to the performance. Throughout this last song, a dialogue can be faintly heard in the background, unwittingly adding an unexpected layer of surrealism to the recording. By the time the music is over, the crowd ? slightly disoriented ? reacts with a certain degree of palpable enthusiasm and relative dismay.

As you have guessed by now, this new Antony Milton CDR isn?t just a set of gut-wrenching live songs, simply because the magic that was captured that night (?during a bout of insomnia?) will always have the possibility to be endlessly re-enacted ? even recreated ? through us as long as there will be open ears available. - Francois Hubert. Foxy Digitalis

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Antony Milton/LBM/Art Lessing and Flower Vato Tuesday 11/21! - Brian F - 2006-11-16 7:35:46pm

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message:	:Tuesday 11/21/06 @ Troy?s Magic Basement (aka 1915 22nd st in Sac: : :Antony Milton :Living Breathing Music :Art Lessing and The Flower Vato : :New Zealander Antony Milton has been making records, exhibiting sound installations and performing live under various nom de plumes (A.M, The Nether Dawn, Paintings of Windows, Mrtyu etc) since the early 1990s. He is also the curator of the PseudoArcana record label. A recurring theme in Milton's work is an investigation of 'place' and 'presence' and the ways in which these function within the representational realm of recorded sound. With releases on underground labels such as Jewelled Antler, Last Visible Dog and Celebrate Psi Phenomenon Milton's work is situated at some weird junction between electroacoustic composition, folk music, and the more psychedelic end of the 'noise' spectrum... Using predominantly analogue sources (tape loops, field recordings, amplified resonant objects, voice and guitar) Milton's performances have a high degree of intimacy and commonly range from the gestural and nuanced through to the visceral and ecstatic : :He is a frequent collaborator with other NZ artists such as Campbell Kneale of Birchville Cat Motel (they play together in With Throats As Fine As Needles) and Stefan Neville of Pumice, both of whom have had multiple releases on Pseudarcana. This is his first US show, and one of only two on the West Coast, before he spends a month touring the Northeast and Europe! : : :Interviewed in Blastitude: : :http://www.blastitude.com/AM.htm : :A couple of reviews: : :Antony Milton: ?Sirens? CD: When I think back to some of the music I was making in 1997, I shudder. Granted, there's still some I really enjoy, but mostly it was a growing period that is better left to nostalgia. Antony Milton (Pseudoarcana boss and all around excellent guy), on the other hand, doesn't suffer the same fate. Milton has been recording and releasing things under his own name on his old Wire Bridge label since its inception 10 years ago (we won't even discuss what I was doing 10 years ago). "Sirens" is the latest of the reissues (and greatest so far), and on this aquatic journey, Milton brings you into his own person New Zealand, circa 1997. : :"Sirens" feels like it's a lost Alastair Galbraith album, rescued from a shipwreck by a team of divers. Milton's voice and fractured compositions bring to mind some of Galbraith's finest, more lucid moments. This is welcomed with open arms as I consider Galbraith to be one of the greatest and underrated talents around. The disjointed, shamoblic nature of many Milton's songs gives the feeling of someone exploring the sonic domain for the first time. Yet, despite this, his songs come together and overall, the album has a cohesive thread that weaves through each song. : :What Milton has created is like a lost civilization, forgotten by time, but still thriving with a life all its own. The title track offers a glimpse into the lives of these imaginary people. As Milton half whispers, half sings over a bed of semi-distorted guitar plucks and scrapes and harmonica bellows, the listener is bowled over with a sense that this secret society is crumbling. As the song reaches a crescendo, lead guitar overtake the mix, leading the whole thing into an endless pit of darkness, never to be heard from again. It's a song that slowly rises from the fog of morning, only to be killed off quickly in the dead of night. Milton's words sting. It's that advice you need to hear but don't want to. : :After the demise of the title track, the album moves into the short and sour "Frayed Binds." This is sparse and bare. It's like returning to the capital city years after it was destroyed and walking amongst the wreckage. The sound of circling birds along with plucked violin are hints of a life that you left behind. It brings back a flood of flashbacks and makes you remember the good times, and bad. It's these minimalist violin explorations and manipulations that are the most audible stamp of Galbraith's. Milton my not be as technically adept as his countryman, but his message comes through just as loud and just as clear. Quickly after, you are whisked away to the hopeful casio churnings of "Palisades." This track provides the albums catchiest moments. I just imagine Milton relaxing on white sand beaches with pristine blue water as he sings the chorus, "In the Palisades," over and over again. It is fantastic. : :One thing Milton does remarkably well is endear himself to the listener almost instantaneously. He does this in a number of ways, but mostly through spoken pieces done in his distinctive Kiwi-drawal. It gives a sense of comfort and familiarity that allows you to fully experience the album in a way that is essential. You'll find yourself sitting alone, listening to his scrawl thinking, "I know this bloke!" It's the aural equivalent of a face-to-face meeting - I'm not sure exactly how he pulls it off so well (I've got plenty of other records with somewhat similar pieces on them, but they just don't work like this). : :In the end, Milton finds the green grass pastures of posterity. Finding them, though, was never in doubt - it was taking the journey that mattered. "Sirens" is a look at someone struggling with that decision: should I stay or should I go? This is the aural personifcation of that. But, it also goes to show that many times, if we'd just show up and put ourselves out there, we'd all be better off. Highly recommended.- Brad Rose, Foxy Digitalis : : : :Artist: Antony Milton ?Live @ the Cake Shop, August 2005? CD. First, a few scattered voices and some clatter are heard in the background. The early impressions you may get is that these actually belong to some larger field recordings which are going to be treated later on. : :Then, a blast of electric guitar comes in and begins to saturate the space. A few minutes later, a frail cry barely detaches itself from the crowd, before you realize that it is an actual singing which happens to subsume the guitar for a brief moment. From then on, you know that there will be no distinction between voice and instrument, that the two will be inextricably linked to each other. But, more than this, you can feel the music gradually finding its way out, sculpting the air and taking a multiplicity of shapes almost on the spot. The singer?s dismantling cries finally become more distinct: ?Could be anything, Could be just anything, Could be nothing at all??. : :It seems the voice needs to empty itself of this surplus of emotion, as if it couldn?t be repressed by anything anymore. Also, there?s a feeling of urgency in its edgy, high-pitched broken quality that suggests a fragile kind of determination ? an unstoppable desire to communicate something. : :As soon as that first song evaporates, once can hear a few applause which are immediately followed by a nervous rhythmic guitar that obliterates all the other noises. The song is so intense it has enough faith to impose itself with a disarming simplicity. The voice is still there ? unafraid ? surfing on the sole presence of the music, yet an integral part of that series of breaking sonic waves, at the risk of sounding ?out of tune? to some ears. : :The audience is paying more attention now, their somewhat newfound disposition to listen becoming another key element of the ambience. It?s not a source of tension however; it has a definite role to play in the creation of this moment ? a moment that is yet to be defined. : :The last four songs will thus be a testimony to that electric, yet controlled atmosphere and it will almost feel like a collective effort from then on as recomposed ?individualities? seem to reappear under a new light. : :The ethereal, yet visceral ?Brief Tenure? is particularly evocative here as Antony Milton?s voice shamelessly soars up and fills the room with an impossible silence. That song directly fades into a more abstract structure called ?Astray? that puts a final touch of uneasiness to the performance. Throughout this last song, a dialogue can be faintly heard in the background, unwittingly adding an unexpected layer of surrealism to the recording. By the time the music is over, the crowd ? slightly disoriented ? reacts with a certain degree of palpable enthusiasm and relative dismay. : :As you have guessed by now, this new Antony Milton CDR isn?t just a set of gut-wrenching live songs, simply because the magic that was captured that night (?during a bout of insomnia?) will always have the possibility to be endlessly re-enacted ? even recreated ? through us as long as there will be open ears available. - Francois Hubert. Foxy Digitalis : :

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