Juno Daily: In The Mix – Ben Vida and Lea Bertucci
Stand by for Ol’ Dirty Bastard, The Fall and a whole lot more, re-minced New York style
Ben Vida and Lea Bertucci are both well known experimenters in the richly creative New York avant garde, but the pair have never collaborated – until now.
Murmurations, released on Bertucci’s Cibachrome Editions label on May 27, sees them teaming up for their first release as a duo, incorporating live tape manipulation, modular synthesis, sampling, and real-time instrumental and vocal improvisation, into a joyous tapestry of playful, boundary blurring sound.
Longstanding figures in New York City experimental music scene – both noted for pushing electroacoustic music into highly individualized realms – they created the album during the Summer of 2021, while living on opposite sides of the same mountain outside of Woodstock, NY. What began as a series of conversations between friends, slowly formed into the development of a unique form of nonhierarchical improvisation that challenged and rethought the nature of dialog and language itself; intertwining their respective practices into a series of fluid compositions where the identities and locations of each artist become progressively obscure.
More than any other feature, it is the sense of exuberant experimentation and playfulness that defines Murmurations – and it’s a feeling that runs through this superlative, esoteric mix that they’ve ever so kindly created for Juno Daily. A quick scan of the running order will tell you this one is an absolute corker for any fan of the outsiders and mavericks of the music world.
1. Bailey/Johansson-Halldin/Natvig – Trio – Idylle Und Katastrophen
2. David Avidor and Nicole V. Gagné – Cassandra and Chorus 4 – AGAMEMNON
3. Jeanne Lee – Angel Chile – Conspiracy
4. Nina Dante & Bethany Younge – The Stones Discuss – Lizard Tongue
5. Chant Avec Cithare – Burundi Musiques Traditionnelles
6. Sam Ashley and Werner Durand – I’d Rather Be Lucky Than Good – S/T
7. Elodie Lauten – Despair – The Death of Don Juan
8. Ol’ Dirty Bastard – Brooklyn Zoo (Stripped Version) – Return To The 36 Chambers
9. Robert Ashely – The Wolfman – The Wolfman
10. Sunn O))) – Kannon 1 – Kannon
11. The Fall – Paintwork (Gloss) – This NAT-ION’S SAVING GRACE