Tag: sarah j ritch

pan y rosas presents – library experimental!

Posted on by

library experimental is a new and (hopefully) ongoing series focusing on chicago’s experimental musicians. it is happening at the chicago public library in jefferson park.

the first show features:

a text / sound piece with texts by nathanael lee jones and performers: beth mcdonald, kate r morris, jess saldana, and neal markowski.

cello/noise experiments with sarah ritch!

it is happening saturday, march 18, from 2-4pm. free. children are welcome (if, for some reason they’re not into the music, they can take advantage of all the library’s resources – board games, puzzles, legos, even books!)

jefferson park library is located at 5363 w lawrence. convenient to both bus and blue line.

sarah ritch on pan y rosas.

beth mcdonald on pan y rosas.

facebook event page

pan y rosas discos featured on sopa de truenos!

Posted on by

rosalind hall, alice hui-sheng chang, julia a. miller, ada rave, nicolas chientaroli, jorge espinal, luciano vitale, sarah j. ritch, lauren redhead, renée baker, piss piss piss moan moan moan, canned fit and aaron yabrov are all. all! featured on the newest episode of sopa de truenos!

sopa de truenos is a radio program broadcast in bilbao that focuses on all types of music – experimental, underground, periferal, difficult or however you want to describe it.

go listen. now!

[SdT13] Pan y Rosas Discos by Sopa De Truenos on Mixcloud

kind words for “articular facet 5.3” by jim baker and sarah j. ritch!

Posted on by

the kindness comes from the fine people at the

On this quiet album, Jim Baker on modular synth and Sarah Ritch on cello, guitar and electronics, create a sonic environment with minor changes from a long horizontally developing tonal texture. The effect is mesmerising at times, with repetitive loops and sudden ‘surprise skree’, one of the appropriate tag lines that Sarah Ritch gives to her music, together with ‘modern scratch, mechanical wood, tone bits, crushed fragments and atlantis shred’. Despite these names, the music is relatively accessible, and of a dark monotony.

pan y rosas release live at the surplus of options by jim baker and sarah j ritch!

Posted on by

BakerRitchAlbumArt

jim baker is an improviser based in chicago who focuses on the keyboard arts – pianos, keyboards, synthesizers. since the 80′s baker has played in numerous groups in chicago’s free improv scene. he has performed throughout the united states and europe and plays almost weekly with the group, extraordinary popular delusions. his activities as a writer / composer have been ongoing during the past twenty years, and some of his compositions have been recorded by steam and broken wire.

along with classical training in cello and piano, sarah ritch also played guitar and bass in several punk and metal bands between 1996 and 2003 in las vegas, nv. existing in two aesthetic worlds, sarah’s work ranges from improvisational noise to tonal notated music. she has been the composer-in-residence for chicago classical ensembles the millennium chamber players and anaphora, and regularly performs solo and with her free improv band, sound collision alliance.

this album documents the first meeting of these two chicago improvisers that went down on january 15th of 2013 at the surplus of options in chicago. sarah played electric guitar and cello and jim played electronic keyboards. the sound is: modem scratch. mechanical wood. tone bits. crushed fragments. surprise skree. atlantis shred.

get the album here!

pyr artists at articular facet 5.1-5.3!

Posted on by

pan y rosas is stoked to be teaming up with articular facet for its fifth round of shows. this time the series will unfold over three sundays in october at empty bottle chicago. in celebration of their just released or soon to be released albums, the second and third shows will feature pan y rosas artists: reid karris, avreeayl ra, jim baker, sarah ritch, and renee’ baker.

the shows will start at 3pm, cost $5 and feature two 45 minute sets.

the full schedule is:
oct. 13 3pm
ryan dunn – solo live electronics improvisation
shawn decker/mark booth (grykes) – live electronics and acoustic instruments
event info

oct. 20 4pm
karris/price duo – prepared guitar and drums duo. improvised noise and rhythms.
avreeayl ra dream stuff – ecstatic, sonorous vibrations
event info

oct. 27 3pm
jim Baker/sarah ritch – improvisation involving cello/guitar/laptop & synthesizer.
renee baker’s chicago modern orchestra project AWAKENING – renegade ensemble from the ranks of chicago modern orchestra project composer/director/violinist renee’ baker’s tour de force of comprovisations and experimental creations. continuing the radical tradition of the aacm by celebrating open-ness,transparency and engaging all senses.
event info

about articular facet:
articular facet is a series of electro-acoustic compositions and structured improvisations. curated by julia miller, the series reflects the use of ancient, adapted, or hacked technology, invented instruments and performative objects, and the incorporation of the visual and physical into the sonic. articular facet seeks to expand on a strong foundation in the collaborative principals of the chicago scratch orchestra.

kind words for sarah j ritch and sky thing!

Posted on by

from recent music heroes:

Sarah J Ritch`s 5-track issue is a crossover album which is managed in a way to lead it up to the consolidation of modern and traditional, doleful cello music and experimental, at times even aggressive electronic or electro-acoustic processings which wake you up from a lethargic state of mind. These minimally treated vibrating impulses are spectacular, filled in with divergent power and intensiveness, however, ultimately ready to ascend or descend into remote, abstract universes.

nice!

and an older one from avant music news:

With Garbage Strike, sound artist John Collins McCormick – working under the name Sky Thing – creates a sonic portrait of post-industrial wastelands. McCormick uses a varied collection of sounds produced by electronics, objects, turntables, industrial detritus, field recordings, and conventional instruments. The five resulting tracks are studies in themes and variations for drones. Blast Place, for example, combines the sounds of friction with what appears to be rocks tumbling in a cylinder; Sheerest (CWTKK) follows with hissing, rattling high frequencies punctuated by the creak of a door on its hinges and the footsteps of a person entering (or leaving) the room. Things a Cat Can Do to a Fence, by contrast, is the sound of motors running down—an actual or quasi field recording of dying factories. All in all, a thoughtful take on a given moment in time.

kind!

pan y rosas showcase at the hideout!

Posted on by

hey everyone, exciting news! pan y rosas is having a showcase for the chicago-based pyr artists, and the awesome people at the hideout have been generous enough to host the event! if you’ve ever downloaded any of their records and enjoyed them, this is your chance to show the artists your support! and please tell everyone you know…

the details:
saturday september 8th.
the hideout
1354 w. wabansia ave, chicago
doors at 8pm. show starts at 9pm, sharp!
$8! cheap!

the schedule (with approximate times):

SET 1 9-10pm
sky thing
sarah j ritch
piss piss piss moan moan moan

SET 2 10-10.40pm
julia a miller
last king of poland

SET 3 10.40-11.25
sound collision alliance

SET 4 11.30-12.20pm
solar fox
call me on the allophone

…and an after hours DANCE PARTY!
DJed by Plastic Crimewave and Miss Libby!

don’t miss it! (if you can help it)

the event at facebook

kind words for 53:38 by sound collision alliance!

Posted on by

…53″38 dei Sound Collision Alliance, 4 lunghi brani in cui sono le chitarre elettriche e quella gu-zheng (uno strumento tradizionale cinese sistemato a piano, che ha usato anche Fred Frith) a farla da padroni, con un sound molto aderente a certe filosofie post-rock con evidente vicinanza all’avanguardia “da ripetizione” del minimalismo americano, alla “sgangherata” microtonalità di Partch, ai passaggi silenziosi che riflettono concretismo e noise edulcorato. L’album che sembra evocare graficamente la scoperta del bosone di Higgs e che quindi ne potrebbe fornire una sua colonna sonora ideale, è suonato da Sam Krahn e Darren Bartolo (per la parte chitarra) a cui si unisce la stessa Sarah J Ritch al cello e al laptop.

the kindness comes from the blog: percorsi musicali. the full review is here. get 53:38 here.

pan y rosas release 53:38 by sound collision alliance!

Posted on by

sound collision alliance is a group of three composers who were brought together by their shared interest in exploring the world outside the western classical conservatory style of sound creation. the three composers – darren bartolo, sam krahn, and sarah ritch – rarely discuss melodic or harmonic structure before playing. instead, they use improvisation as a means to investigate the interplay of sound. they experiment with the spatial, harmonic, and chronological elements of sound in order to create a forum to experience vibrations and resonance in an uninhibited environment.

53:38 is the first album from sound collision alliance and was recorded in one session over the course of 6 hours. the sounds created range from pure spontaneous noise to repetitive rhythmic grooves. in addition to guitars, cello and laptop you will also hear gu zheng, guitars, cello, and slinky. get it here.