EVENTS

SATURDAY, December 6, 2008

“Performance at Noon”
Marcus Coates, In Conversation
NADA Stage

4–7pm
Jad Fair & John Sluggett
Prurient
Burning Star Core (C.Spencer Yeh)
NADA Stage

Since 2004 Marcus Coates has been developing an ongoing body of work in which he performs a shamanic ritual in front of a live audience. The performance begins with Marcus interacting with the audience by asking them for a question (often relating to the context of the performance or in larger commissions this has often been negotiated prior to the event). Marcus then takes that question with him into the spirit world during the ritual in which he encounters, and where possible communicates with, animal spirits. Once he emerges from his trance he then discusses his experience with the audience in an attempt to use his visions as the basis for an interpretation of the answer to the initial question.

Jad Fair & John Sluggett: In 1974, with his brother David, Jad Fair co-founded the lo-fi alternative rock group Half Japanese. Over the ensuing three decades, Half Japanese released nearly 30 records, and in the process, attracted a solid base of fans passionate about the band’s pure, unbridled enthusiasm for rock and roll. Kurt Cobain was a devoted fan of the group; in 1994, he asked Half Japanese to open for the east coast leg of Nirvana’s “In Utero” tour. They did eight shows. “Half Japanese: The Band That Would Be King” is a critically acclaimed documentary that chronicles the band’s unique history and trajectory. Directed by Jeff Feuerzeig, the film was released in 1993. Jad also performs and records as a solo artist, and occasionally collaborates with such musicians as Daniel Johnston, Teenage Fanclub, Moe Tucker (of Velvet Underground), Yo La Tengo, Steve Shelly and Thurston Moore (of Sonic Youth), John Zorn, Kramer, and more. For the performance at NADA, Jad joins up with his Half Japanese bandmate, John Sluggett, for a memorable set of new and classic songs.

Prurient is the nom de plume of noise musician Dominick Fernow. He has released material on numerous independent record labels, such as American Tapes, Hanson Records, Load Records, Troubleman Unlimited, Chrondritic Sound, and his own label Hospital Productions. Since 2000, Prurient has become one of the most well-known and influential names in the noise field, having been covered in outlets such as Pitchfork Media and The Village Voice. Fernow works primarily with a microphone and amplifier, and sometimes drums. On some releases he has been joined by Ben Barnett, Richard Dunn (FFH), John Wiese, Jeff Plummer (Immaculate Grotesque, Shallow Waters), Kris Lapke (Alberich, MCMS), Sickness, Wolf Eyes, Macronympha, Philip Best, Sutcliffe Jugend, The Hototogisu, Carlos Giffoni, Wilt, Grunt, Nicole 12, and Emily Salvatierra. Fernow grew up in Wisconsin but now lives in Manhattan and runs the Hospital Productions record label and retail record store.

Burning Star Core, C. Spencer Yeh was born in Taipei, Taiwan 1975 and moved to the US in 1980. He studied radio/television/film at Northwestern University, and is now based out of Cincinnati, Ohio. Yeh is active as a solo and ensemble artist, as well as with his primary “organ-ized sound” project, Burning Star Core. As an improviser, Yeh has focused on developing a personal vocab-ulary using violin, voice, and elec--tronics. As a sound organizer/composer, Yeh works with all aspects available surrounding a work, aurally and physically, as elements key to the cumu-lative experience. He is concerned not only with the sensual aspects of sound, but the gestural qualities as well.