JAB / TALsounds / Lieven Martens / Alma Laprida

Monday September 5 * 7pm * MASKS, VAX REQUIRED * TICKETS

John Also Bennett is an American composer, synthesist and multi-instrumentalist who creates music that could be described as avant-garde, atmospheric, or minimalist, and is characterized by a continuous engagement with an inherent magic, real or imagined, in nothingness. His debut solo album Erg Herbe, which used flutes, microtonal synthesis and field recordings, was released under his initials JAB on the French label Shelter Press in 2019.

As well as composing and performing under his own name he regularly collaborates with Christina Vantzou as CV & JAB (Shelter Press, Editions Basilic), and has released albums with the groups FORMA (Kranky, Spectrum Spools) and Seabat. He has also collaborated with the likes of Jon Gibson, Pauline Anna Strom, Michael Harrison, the American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME), Jefre-Cantu Ledesma, LEYA, Peter Burr, and Zin Taylor, among many others, and performed at festivals such as Big Ears, Moogfest, Ambient Church, Dark Mofo (Tasmania), MODE (London), Meakusma (Belgium), Jue (China), The World Minimal Music Festival (Amsterdam), and Nostos (Greece). His work as a composer for animation and film has been screened at institutions and film festivals around the world including the Sundance Film Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam, 25FPS, London International Animation Festival, The Biennale of Sydney, The Museum of the Moving Image (MOMI), as well as on Adult Swim and ESPTV. http://www.johnalsobennett.com/

Natalie Chami (b. 1987) is a proud Canadian-born Lebanese American who adopted the TALsounds moniker in 2009 for her explorations in the drone, ambient, and improvisational disciplines. Through her masterful synth work, operatic vocals, and nuanced sculpting of mood and atmosphere, Chami's music strikes a balance between the extremely personal and the selflessly transportive. Chami has shared bills with Merzbow, Tortoise, Mary Lattimore, Mdou Moctar, and more. In 2020, she released Acquiesce, available on NNA Tapes. www.talsounds.com/

Lieven Martens (Lieven Martens Moana, formerly Dolphins Into The Future) is a composer and observer. He makes a conceptual form of music – programme music - that travels beyond the pure description. His works are like narrative stills; encounters with objects and thoughts.

As a recording artist he presents mainly music albums and live concerts. But other forms come into play too, like an operetta, music for carillon, music for a commercial, a few movie soundtracks, installation music, and more. Martens also runs Edições CN, a private press that is praised for its catalogue of original works by a list of internationally acclaimed artists.

He has recently collaborated with Christina Vantzou (GR - USA), Matthew Sage (USA), and Sugai Ken (JP). edicoescn.bandcamp.com/album/idylls

Alma Laprida (Argentina, 1985) explores the territories among composition, improvisation, performance and installation. She works with trumpet marine, field recordings, synthesizers, lyre and other non-conventional instruments and objects. She played, performed and set installations in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Italy, Mexico and the United States. She released two solo albums, two collaboration albums and several pieces in compilations. In Buenos Aires, she created the series of concerts Ciclo Hertz and a project for collaborations between visual and sound artists named Estrépito y contemplación. She was Curator-In-Chief at the Centro de Arte Sonoro, which depends on the Ministry of Culture (Argentina), and Assistant Professor at the BA in Electronic Arts of the Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero. After living and working in Buenos Aires for ten years, she’s been based in Maryland, USA, since 2021. almalaprida.wordpress.com

Presented by Outside Time.