Big Ears Festival 2015 [Knoxville, TN]

http://assets.rollingstone.com/assets/2014/article/kronos-quartet-big-ears-festival-2015-20141007/170597/medium_rect/1412616108/720x405-42-49417499.jpg

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/kronos-quartet-big-ears-festival-2015-20141007

Presale for 2015 weekend passes starts tomorrow, BTW.

can't say I care much about the Kronos Quartet, but last year was such a blast that I would probably buy a weekend ticket if the artist in residence was a statue of a giant farting ass

also where are you seeing that weekend passes go on sale tomorrow? the email I got says November 7th

FB post, somewhat confusing to have a "presale" sale and an official on-sale date:

This year, we’re proud to welcome the highly esteemed Kronos Quartet as our 2015 Artists-in-Residence! Join the Big Ears newsletter below before 10am ET tomorrow to receive an exclusive presale code to purchase your weekend pass for $153.50 plus fees. The presale at this special low price will last as long as supplies remain OR through Sunday, October 12 at 10 p.m. ET.

We’ve got plenty more to share over the next few weeks, including the initial lineup encompassing over 50 artists on Tuesday, November 4 with weekend passes officially on sale Friday, November 7! Stay tuned…

So, no passes will be sold between Oct. 12 and Nov. 7?

Oops, sorry: link to pre-sale info on the Big Ears website:

http://www.bigearsfestival.com/just-announced-kronos-quartet-2015-artists-residence-plus-special-presale/

The hint of a Terry Riley return is exciting. Anyway, I'm buying passes no matter what.

me too!

if i can secure crash space/cheap accommodation close to the venue, that will dramatically increase my chances of being able to go to this.

I hope you can make it! I'm 3 for 3, no reason to miss one of these now. I'll get my pass this week after the duck drops down with the secret word tomorrow.

I'll be there for sure - Hoping to meet some ILXors I haven't met before!

airbnbs are pretty affordable -- does anyone want to go in with me on one? i don't snore and i won't steal your jewelry!

I'm hoping to see the same people I met last year and add some new ones! Definitely one of my highlights of this calendar year.

i dunno how airbnbs work but i am not staying in the merchants drive quality inn this time since i ran into some bedbug issues there last month

I splurge on a room at the Oliver every year -- can't beat the location for proximity to the venues.

oh no, knoxville has bedbugs now too?

nah it's not like an epidemic! bedbugs are in every city. i think in this case it was just a cheap hotel thing.

also this hotel is fairly removed from the festival locale

if i get tickets and have to flake, is there any way to transfer the passes? i'm trying to find the policy on the ticketmaster site but can't find any info. i know that a lot of venues are making it hard to re-sell your tickets due to scalpers. i'm def not gonna scalp, i'm just pretty broke and dunno if i'll be able to afford flight/lodging. anybody have any experience with this last year?

(tickets on sale now, fyi)

if you can make it to chicago and can stand to be in a car with me for many hours, you are welcome to join me in my car!

hmmmm, that's an idea! i should just go for it. lemme think about this for a bit tho

ticket purchased!

this is going to be so fun! ticket purchased. i already told my coworkers that i will not be in the office on that friday. (i told them a few months ago tbh)

Bought and printed.

thinking it might be fun to drive there and see america by car

I love road trips

New Orleans is the perfect halfway point from Austin, and I could also stop and hike in the Smoky Mountains on the way back!

purchased my ticket!

dream team

got my ticket. looks like they are transferable through ticketmaster.

This thing doesn't like sell out does it? Bc it will be actual 2015 before I have any earthly idea whether I can go

^

2014 sold a lot better iirc, but I don't think it sold out.

Forks: road trip!!!

I may drive straight from Knoxville to the west coast, who wants to come with?

xp tempting. maybe even possible given my work schedule!
i have an issue with motion sickness that makes road travel severely difficult. But i can fly!

I believe u can

i know all the criticisms of kronos quartet as dilletantes etc. and i think it holds some of the time

but the very adventurousness and eclecticism of their work suggests they will put together a pretty awesome lineup

i don't know if i can make this but if i can i will

Be cool if they got some crumb and some Volans on the bill

Kronos Quartet don't get to pick all the other artists, do they? I kinda doubt that Nazoranai and Body/Head were Steve Reich's idea.

whoever does should try to program a performance of an unrecorded moondog piece, since there are so goddam many and i mean c'mon

crüt, I don't think so. I usually hate guessing, but if I had to, I'd say this five-day ticket window is a smart way for AC to gauge how much of a Kronos/Harrington wish list to go with.

I want festival goers to enjoy some Jon Mueller! His new stuff is really great.

it will be a fun winter once they share the lineup!

Just got to see Kronos Quartet play with Laurie Anderson and I am suuuuuuuper jazzed about next March!

I wonder if they could get Swans to be the big rock/metal/etc name for this - they're touring for To Be Kind and seem like they'd be an awesome fit for the festival's overall steez.

they were the big name at basilica soundscape, and while i certainly wouldn't mind seeing them again, i'd love to see that slot reserved for someone else.

Gira was the Sunday night closer at BE#1 (2009), so he has some connection to the festival. Don't know if that would make it more likely or less likely for Swans to be booked for #4.

I love Swans but they'd be a boring pick for this thing.

maybe john cale AND terry riley will come back and + kronos and who knows who else, it'll be church of anthrax redux, just like a dream!

This may sound dumb considering the band's age and occasional dinosaur-status, but King Crimson would be a huge get for this.

oh wow, salivating at church of anthrax redux

i kind of wish they'd lean more toward the contemporary composition side of things but they need some bigger draws i assume

I love Swans but they'd be a boring pick for this thing.

― example (crüt), Wednesday, October 15, 2014 3:37 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

They're the best live band in America, they're a good pick for anything imo

Kronos Quartet: Artists-in-Residence
Laurie Anderson •Terry Riley
tUnE-yArDs •Max Richter •Swans •Ben Frost •Bryce Dessner The Bad Plus •Bill Frisell •Jamie xx •Perfume Genius Rhiannon Giddens •Tanya Tagaq •Clark •Nels Cline
"Häxan" re-scored by Demdike Stare •Grouper •SQÜRL •Sam Amidon A Winged Victory for the Sullen •Nosaj Thing •Gyan Riley Harold Budd & Keith Lowe •Steve Gunn •Amen Dunes •Jozef Van Wissem Hildur Guðnadóttir •Holly Herndon

Terry Riley, Grouper, Winged Victory, and Harold Budd is more than enough for me, plus Laurie Anderson + Kronos doing Landfall will be lovely to see again! Time to have a listen to the other folks.

Wonder what Nels will do for this. I'd love it if it's just a solo set.

Demdike Stare rework of Haxan sounds great.
Swans and Tuneyards are always excellent shows
I love Rhiannon Giddens and Tagaq and Nels and Ben Frost and Bad Plus and Frisell and Riley and Amidon and Riley; this looks like a wonderful time.

is Tanya Tagaq the only non-Caucasian performer scheduled so far?

Rhiannon.

Rhiannon's great. Curious what she'll do as a solo act, too. She can do so many different things.

oh my bad i didn't see rhiannon on there!

i've already seen a lot of these performers! i was hoping for more stuff that would be new to me.

is Tanya Tagaq the only non-Caucasian performer scheduled so far?

― example (crüt), Tuesday, November 11, 2014 12:05 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Rhiannon.

― Steve 'n' Seagulls and Flock of Van Dammes (forksclovetofu), Tuesday, November 11, 2014 12:11 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

and Nosaj

Hildur Guðnadóttir!!

not a response to that q obv, just celebrating

i like some of demdike stare's music but i cannot countenance the band's name. it just sounds awful. does it have some referential meaning to britons that might redeem it?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pendle_witches

making haxon particularly interesting as source material

xpost

hmm, interesting. the whole "hauntology" thing seems deeply silly to me IMO. and the name is still terrible. but the music's not bad, and they have pretty unerring taste.

well aside from whether you like how it sounds or not, the concept is pretty intriguing, at least to me.

oh yeah.

although 90% of silent film scores are horrible and do an injustice to the films, to the point where i'm very reluctant to attend such events.

exceptions include anything matti bye has done, and (to my surprise) loren connors's score to passion of joan of arc.

i should say, silent film scores by contemporary musicians--esp. "experimental" ones.

usually they just treat the film as a pretext for doing whatever they would have been doing anyway, which to be is abusive to the film.

I guess it comes down to "to each his own" but I don't understand why Demdike Stare is such a terrible name? I've always liked it and thought it apt.

new additions to lineup announced today
omar souleyman will be fun

roxy will there be any local musical events happening at the same time?

only two months away now! guess I had better find a hotel!

lechera, something local is in the works atm but details have not been hashed out enough yet to post! i will keep yall abreast

yaay -- i'm looking forward to it!

stoked for Omar Souleyman!!

wow there are so many SF Bay Area acts on the program -- I can never go to this because it falls during one of my busiest work periods

but seriously, Haxan? It's as trite as singer-songwriters covering Hallelujah or white people dancing to Brick House at wedding receptions.

woooooow

impressed?

i agree that haxan is a trite choice but i feel kind of stoked for it regardless, like it would be difficult to not enjoy it on some lvl. much like dancing to brick house at weddings tbh

I am looking forward to random Jim Jarmusch sightings around Knoxville.

I wonder if/hope that William Tyler will be doing his Corduroy Roads thing, that sounds cool.

jim jarmusch is from my area! if i cornered him i'd talk his ear off about ohio.
overall i am looking forward to all of this so much
i'm going to a local festival two weeks before that is also gonna rule so basically the end of march = the beginning of summer imo

but seriously, Haxan? It's as trite as singer-songwriters covering Hallelujah or white people dancing to Brick House at wedding receptions.

I am looking forward to watching Haxan not by myself, actually.

I've never seen Haxan or been to a wedding where "Brick House" has been played

or a wedding reception, for that matter

I don't really consider it a cliche either and even so lots of cliched things are really fun so who cares?!

what's the laughter workshop of 2015?!

Perfume Genius Sad-Sack Workshop

I dragged ass on booking a hotel and had to settle for the Hampton Inn. still stoked to come back out for this; last year's edition was one of the best musical experiences of my life. psyched to see Laurie Anderson, Max Richter, Swans (god, imagine them playing at the Tennessee Theater), Bing & Ruth, Bryce Dessner, Ben Frost, Jamie XX, and Harold Budd; also psyched to just wander around and discover unreal artists I'd never heard of before (which is what happened to me with Nils Frahm's life-changing performance last year).

if the oliver hotel has any rooms and you are rich, get one

thats my only advice. also jim jarmusch loves mayfield brown cows

the oliver is all booked up since they're putting all the artists up there. I called multiple times trying to get a room there and they told me no dice.

I was going to stay at the Hilton because it's so close but it's already full too. Did manage to get a room at the Holiday Inn by the Sunsphere just now though.

I'll be at the Hampton Inn as well... looks like it is well within walking distance of the venues. Would have been fun to get a room at the Oliver and run into Laurie Anderson by the ice machine, but that's OK. Maybe I can run into ILXors instead!

Hampton Inn is an easy walk from everywhere, yeah. Really any of the downtown hotels will be fine in terms of proximity, it's a small downtown.

theres also free trolley downtown

New Rhiannon Giddens album is pretty awesome so far

is that officially out?

Hampton Inn is an easy walk from everywhere, yeah.

I am going to call them and ask them to re-brand it as the Haxan Inn during the festival weekend.

Is it still going to be potentially freezy or even snowy in Knoxville in late March?

Potentially, but 50s or 60s are more likely.

it was beautiful last year, totally jacket weather

i'm at the holiday inn. if anyone wants to double up with me to save a few bucks, lmk.

avoid Quality Inn Merchants Drive because I'm pretty sure I got eaten up by bedbugs there.

I need to find a room though!!

i've seen a lot of these acts before (and saw laurie/kronos doing their collaborative piece at ucla last year; had mixed feelings abt it). just caught both holly herndon and nels cline in the past few weeks, in fact. but looking forward to seeing terry riley again, and harold budd, tanya tagaq, omar souleyman, bing & ruth, and ben frost for the first time.

Crüt, I'm happy to split my room with you. I got one with 2 beds, would be glad to cut my room cost in half, plus I'm not a nudist.

honestly can't see holiday inn without hearing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUhCxyfrTuM

We will definitely need another ILX brunch. Saturday morning at Bistro worked last year, maybe shoot for that again.

yes,i will come this time

yaaay and agree
that's where i made the acquaintance of one whiney g whiningsworth
i have so many good memories from last year tbh
so many!!

man i wish i was going to this ;_;

anyone driving from nyc?

anybody need a pass for this? will discount a bit just to get it off my hands. looking not feasible for me to go! feel free to pm me

maybe live painting with norton wisdom will be the new laughter workshop?

Nels will also be presenting a collaboration with “live action” painter, Norton Wisdom, which I witnessed a few years ago at Winter Jazzfest in NYC. It’s awesome to watch before your very eyes the live interaction between this endlessly inventive guitarist and Mr. Wisdom’s continually transforming painting.

A few more additions: Tyondai Braxton, Silver Apples, Loscil, Little Annie

silver apples!
i was just thinking about this because i am currently wearing the tshirt ms mothra gave me!!

if i dont get a free ticket this year i'll probably barf

Aw nice, LL!

Roxy I will let you know if I hear of any tickets going wanting ...

OMG SILVER APPLES!!

That will be cool -- I saw Simeon live at the Echo here in L.A. some years back and it was a good time.

Weekend's getting better and better. Planning a day of driving around/through GSM National Park on the Monday after the festival.

i just saw this thing about bike rental -- does anyone know if one can rent a bike for the whole weekend? i don't necessarily need one to get from one venue to the other, but i was hoping to avoid driving/parking whenever possible. http://bigearsfestival.com/2015/02/bike-rental-announcement/

very cool. had half a mind to buy a crappy bike off craigslist for the weekend, but this takes care of that! a lot of the venues are within walking distance though right?

Entire fest is walkable if your hotel is downtown

Yeah I'm looking for a bike to get me to/from downtown. Everything's easy once you're there.

My apologies if this is considered off-topic/out-of-line/uncool/etc. but FYI, Matthew Shipp and Michael Bisio are playing in nearby Chattanooga (90-min drive from Knoxville) the night BEFORE Big Ears (Mar 26). Then, the day AFTER Big Ears (Mar 30), Bill Orcutt (who blew everyone away at Big Ears 2014) will also be playing Chattanooga, at the same venue (Barking Legs Theater). Plan your trips accordingly!
More info: http://www.shakingray.com/news.shtml
http://barkinglegs.org/event/details/matthew-shipp-michael-bisio-jazz-duo/
http://barkinglegs.org/event/details/guitarist-bill-orcutt/

whoa, for real? I reeeeeally wanted Matthew Shipp to play Big Ears. that's awesome!!

That is really awesome. I need to check my travel arrangements and see if I can fit those in!

la lech, you can borrow my bike!

I had planned on coming up early Friday but the Shipp show may change that.

seriously? that would be so so so wonderful!! i'll msg u and we can coordinate :)
i am so excited about this trip btw

megabus and greyhound both have bus service between knoxville and chattanooga for pretty cheap. a round trip is about $30.

i changed my reservation so i can catch orcutt. would love to see shipp too but can't afford the extra fees for both legs of the trip. was able to bump up my flight home to first class for cheap (ten dollars more than economy plus).

schedule up. gonna have to dip in and out of some stuff. and will probably skip acts i've already seen (but sorta still wanted to see?) in favor of the collaborations and stuff i guess

http://lineup.bigearsfestival.com/events/2015/03/27/

silver apples sunday night, guess i'm not leaving til monday morning!

how well attended are those chattanooga shows? i mean, those /kind/ of shows. i've visited chattanooga once, a fair number of hipsters seemed to come out of the woodwork for the farmer's market. i guess fairly cheap rent + municipal wi-fi = hipsters.

chattanooga as a whole seemed quite gentrified, lots of cupcake stores and the like. which is really just the (ahem) "basic" flipside to hipsters. also, their riverfront is quite pretty at night.

anyway, if it means matthew shipp has a venue to play, then awesome.

just created my schedule, and i'm pretty happy with it. it's nice that some of the artists (like tyondai) are doing multiple sets over the weekend.

right now my sked looks like:

harold budd and keith lowe
kronos/wu man presents the music of terry riley
demdike "haxan"

loscil
tanya tagaq
holly herndon
tyondai braxton: hive
grouper
ben frost

terry & gyan riley w/ tracy silverman
silver apples
little annie/swans

A Winged Victory for the Sullen/Tanya Tagaq overlap is cruel

The former are doing a pretty decently sized tour, fwiw

amateurist asked: how well attended are those chattanooga shows? i mean, those /kind/ of shows.

I wish Chattanooga audiences were more adventurous than they typically are. You might get a sold-out house for a relatively safe jazz show, but if it's avant-garde jazz (or free jazz or free improv), the numbers drop off dramatically.

It's telling that when The Brothers Unconnected (Sun City Girls minus Charles Gocher) played here, most of the audience members were from out-of-town.

do you find that most avant-garde/experimental acts play /either/ chattanooga or knoxville, rather than both? i'm in knoxville a few times a year, and it often seems that many of the good shows are in chattanooga...

chattanooga tbh has a big underground noise scene, def bigger than knoxville's

not sure about the overground

mo' movies

http://bigearsfestival.com/2015/03/announcing-expanded-film-programming-including-films-bill-morrison-criterion-collection-artist-curated-film-series-screenings/

Looking forward to Decasia -- I've seen it, but not on a big screen.

If any of their PR gives the time and date Decasia is actually going to be screened, they did a good job of hiding it.

I never heard of Decasia, but it's really weird that both it and Disinegration Loops came out the same year

Yeah, I remember them being written about together.

WmC, I think they're still finalizing the program. From talking to AC, the Morrison thing came together pretty recently.

decasia has a lot of beautiful stuff in it but the dirgey music makes it kind of hard to endure, i find it oppressive

like it wants to keep hitting you over the head with the central metaphor/conceit

i know the feeling

the film stuff is nice i guess but i'm not driving all the way to knoxville to watch movies

^^

Well, if you live in Knoxville, Bill Morrison movies are at least as rare an event as a Terry Riley performance. (Rarer! This is Terry Riley's 2nd time through.) But yeah, I will most likely mostly opt for the music.

You guys don't even know what time the movies are

I mean, if you gave me the choice to watch Eraserhead or Tune-Yards...

i would def. go see the bill morrison thing if i was in town and i hadn't seen it! i was just expressing my own sense that the film isn't all it's chalked (?) up to be. after an hour it's like "DEATH = DECAY I GET IT THANKS." but like i said it's got some beautiful stuff in it.

there's not as much stuff at the Tennessee Theater as I would like; I discovered Nils Frahm last year because I got sick of waiting around the Bijou's lobby for Laraaji and decided to head back to the Tennessee to stake out a good seat for Drumming and just bask in the adjective-defying splendor of that venue. but oh well, I'm still profoundly excited. can't wait to:

- eat at Calhouns, where I got not only delicious ribs but a beer the size of a Big Gulp
- go to Tomato Head and get that killer brie sandwich again
- seek out that awesome bar on the edge of downtown I somehow found last year which carried some confoundingly tasty porter whose name I can't remember
- avoid the Preservation Pub with extreme prejudice (lesson learned from last year)
- go back to Wild Honey records (incidentally if there are other record shops in Knoxville worth checking out I am open to suggestion and bringing a big suitcase)
- rent a bike and die trying to ride it
- actually seek out the ILXorz at the Annual Big Ears Bijou Brunch; I missed everyone last year bc it was way too early in the morning to stumble up to groups of strangers and go HI ARE YOU THE FOLKS FROM THE INTERNET but this year I'll wear a distinctive hat or something

my music lineups look like this:

FRIDAY
opening ceremonies
Budd & Lowe
Kronos Quartet performs Riley
45 minutes or so of Hilda Guonadottir maybe
Jamie xx

SATURDAY (the best day)
Kronos Quartet folk songs thing (the content will be entirely new to me but who cares)
either AWVFTS or (more likely) Tanya Tagaq
either the remainder of Holly Hearndon's set or dinner
Kronos Quartet & Laurie Anderson
Max Richter do the Blue Notebooks
Bing & Ruth (Tomorrow Was A Golden Age was one of my very favorite albums of last year so this is unmissable)
either Ben Frost or Budd & Lowe again

SUNDAY
Kronos Quartet w/ Tanya Tagaq & Bryce Dessner
second half of Terry Riley (the hardest decision of the whole festival but I love Aheym an awful lot)
Silver Apples
Max Richter's Vivaldi thing
Swans

tl;dr: stoked.

Other record stores worth a visit:

Lost and Found Records (3710 N. Broadway)
Raven Records & Rarities (1200 N. Central, in the heart of Happy Holler)

Torn between Loscil and Wu Man on Saturday. Watching someone play the pipa might be more fun than watching a dude staring at a laptop, but I don't know. I'll have to see how I'm feeling.

squrl tho

i know nothing about sqürl but the preview on the big ears site is winning me over. also i appreciate the umlaut. game recognize game.

raven records has a ton of great (original) movie posters, too, esp. for 60s-80s hollywood movies.

there are some decent antique malls near that area, too.

and the restaurant next to wild honey is pretty good IIRC. though maybe it closed recently?

are there vegan-friendly restaurants in knoxville?

tomato head will make you a pizza w/ soy cheese...

that reminds me, where is the best pizza in knoxville to be had? also pie.

i have yet to have really good pizza in knoxville :(

the best pizza is dazzos pizza castle and it is on gay st ergo very near everything, but they have recently changed their recipe and it is less good. pizza palace is also good, its out east tho. i do have a van that i am willing to use as an ilx shuttle, pick up on market sq

there are tons of vegan places

my friend said that when i was down in knoxville i should check out this meat-and-three style place, but i can't remember the name. i'm sure that describes a lot of restaurants in tennessee.

Chandlers?

could be!

How long are you going to be in Knoxville pre- and post-festival?

i'm there the 26th through the 30th?

if anyone's getting in the night of the 25th come to my place for a norwegian noize duo? and ill give you a free drink at the bar.

Wish I could!! I'll be there Friday evening thru Monday morning iirc, haven't planned much beyond that.

Getting excited. That is all.

sad to miss the norwegian noize duo

Hope I get to see some of you at the Shipp show in Chattanooga. I'm going to stay overnight there and drive to Knoxville Friday morning.

amateurist asked: do you find that most avant-garde/experimental acts play /either/ chattanooga or knoxville, rather than both?

It can go either way. I have noticed that some non-traditional (for lack of a better term) acts make a whole mini-tour of the southeast. There's a decent amount of support in Atlanta, Nashville, Birmingham, Asheville (NC), NC Triangle and Columbia (SC), in addition to Knoxville and Chattanooga.

if anyone's looking for a hotel in chattannooga, try the priceline "name your price" gambit. i just got a luxury hotel for $60 (before taxes).

i'll be at shipp!!

GB, Crut -- pre-Shipp food/drinks?

ahhh. I'm working that day and will be cutting it close on time, so unfortunately that won't be possible.

pushing for an ilx brunch sunday at 12

That sounds good. Bistro? Whoever gets there first can get a couple tables.

Oh wait, Sunday I have another brunch. Saturday? (Or we could just have ILX brunches both days for whoever turns up.)

an embarrassment of brunches!

I can't get in early enough for Shipp but I am sticking around for Orcutt. Tell me where and when the meetups are and I'll be there!

rain in knoxville this weekend

good to know! it rained a little last year iirc

yeah i remember ducking into a parking garage lobby!
it didn't get too much in the way of things though

anybody gonna be using the free bikes

can't guarantee i'll make it to the brunch; i'll try my best though & if not i'll hopefully see y'all at some of the gigs!

the free bikes sound tempting but tbh i haven't been on a bike in years and i don't want to get into an accident thousands of miles from home.

now i'm hearing it won't rain over the weekend but there will be a thunderstorm on monday.

matthew shipp + michael bisio are killing it in chattanooga

otm

wtf happened to Harold Budd on the lineup??? :( I was so looking forward to that!

Broke his ribs. Bummer.

http://www.knoxnews.com/knoxville/music/harold-budd-injured-rachel-grimes-and-nels-cline-take-his-big-ears-shows_29605606

On the plus side -- more Nels.

btw, for new yorkers: http://www.thestonenyc.com/calendar.php?month=1
4/15 Wednesday (KR)
8 pm
David Grubbs + Otomo Yoshihide duo
David Grubbs (guitar, voice) Otomo Yoshihide (guitar)

10 pm
Nels Cline + Otomo Yoshihide duo
Nels Cline, Otomo Yoshihide (guitars)

holy shit the holiday inn is gorgeous

fuck the festival, i'm just kickin' it here

The Holiday Inn bar is seriously underappreciated imo.

Yeah I'm at the Holiday Inn too, this is swank.

I'm just across the bridge from holiday inn, waiting in the lobby of the Sheraton while they prepare my room that was supposed to be ready for check-in at 3 >:(

The Hampton Inn on Main is shockingly nice too. Also if anyone is looking to achieve some killer bbq, I vociferously renew my endorsement for Calhoun's On The River.

OK, heading over to the KMA for the kickoff ceremony- I'm wearing a black hoodie and a shirt that says "I LOVE CAPYBARAS" in case any of y'all are around

I won't be at any of the shows till after my gf arrives - probably around 7-7:30ish

Tipsy, I just saw you and then you disappeared.

WHAT WAS THAT PHILIP GLASS PIECE THE KRONOS QUARTET & WU MAN PLAYED AT THE KICKOFF

Hilda Guonodottir was fucking amazing at the KMA

Sorry JBR! Holler at me if it happens again. We ducked out to go to Bad Plus, catching a little Ryley Walker, then to Kronos/Wu Man.

Also I just passed Terry Riley on the sidewalk, grinding like a jolly elf. Knoxville is fun during Big Ears.

I caught a bit of "Decasia," but it's really cold out and I'm sorely lacking in sleep, so I decided to call it a night. Sprawling on a king-size bed is more appealing right now than trudging through 40-degree weather, even if this area's very walkable.

"...grinding like a jolly elf"

Mercy!

Ha -- autocorrect, but possibly true!

Well, now I can't do brunch either day. But totally open to an old-fashioned FAP. Maybe 5:30 pm Saturday at Suttrees? Whoever pops in. (I might be a little later, coming from Nels Cline, but anyway by 6.)

ILXors already encountered: Lechera, Crut, WmC, f hazel.

Laurie Anderson blew Terry "The Elf" Riley, Kronos Quartet, and Wu Man off the stage; can't wait for her gig to,or row (one year to the day from So Percussion doing Reich's "Drumming," one of the most transcendent performances I've ever seen).

Took me a moment to parse "to,or row."

it costs much less to get very drunk in Knoxville than it does in Los Angeles

I noticed! That cash bar with $6 Grey Goose?

Also I just passed Terry Riley on the sidewalk, grinding like a jolly elf. Knoxville is fun during Big Ears.

p sure I walked by a dour-looking Laurie Anderson zooming along the sidewalk with wheeled luggage!

sorry I've been so scarce - I was exhausted last night. It was great to finally see Haxan but I had to cut out around part 6.

Having brunch @ the Bistro at the Bijou -- scrambled egg whites with goat cheese and a huge side of cheese grits. Not bad!

*scrolls upthread* wait, are you here?

I am wearing an orange wool hat. Say hi if you see me!

I just stood like three feet from a texting Laurie Anderson!!

Loving this Loscil set. Sorry I missed the first 20 min of it!

I'm out and about wearing a black hoodie and an orange t-shirt that reads "BURNING MAN CAN SUCK IT", holla if yr around. My schedule today is Tonya Tagac, Laurie & KQ, Max Richter, Bing & Ruth, and Ben Frost (unless something goes wrong like the Laraaji performance at the Bijou last year [not the laughing workshop]).

I will see you at Tanya, hopefully!

In the event that it's cold to the point that I have to zip my hoodie up (Los Angeles has made me an immense weather coward), I can also be identified by my bag which is littered with pins

Will be informally FAP-ing at Suttrees twixt Tanya and Laurie (is there any other kind of FAP?), so anyone who fancies a pint just drop by.

A grinding terry riley, a texting laurie anderson
What madness will be next!

The Bijou lobby is packed ass to elbows for Tonya Tagac

god DAMN did she ever put on a show, too; I feel like I just watched an exorcism

She was amazing. It took 20 sec after it was over to overhear someone say "sexualized performance" but I just heard ferocious raw power. She's increíble!

she's intense, yes

Loscil was so good!!! I wish there were chairs in the KMA like last year though

Are we doing brunch tomorrow?? I feel bad that I haven't hung out with y'all.

Holly Herndon was astonishing. Easily the best performance of the weekend so far

Great day of shows! Loscil, Tanya, Holly, waiting for Tyondai now. Might call it a night instead of going to Grouper, unless someone wants to give me a ride from there back to the hotel.

Brunch sounds good but I wanna catch the Nazoranai film at 1:45.

I'd be down for dinner tmrw some time between Terry and "My Winnipeg."

Landfall was good but Holly Herndon was better IMO

I saw a version of "Landfall" last year and was kinda meh on it. Meh on this Tyondai set too and may bail.

Max Richter was fucking amazing

Sad not to make it to Holly Herndon, but needed a break somewhere. My general festival rule holds double for Big a Ears -- just see what you see, don't worry about wha you don't. I liked Landfall -- didn't love all of it, but it came together at the end. Plus Laurie Anderson is just kind of a national treasure. Tried to see some of Max Richter, but the theater was full and turning people away. Tuneyards was a good time. Now at the museum for the midnight Nels Cline show. Want to catch some of Ben Frost too, but I may fade before then.

"Big a Ears" -- as the locals call it.

I really liked Bing & Ruth's piece at the KMA; that music was written to be heard echoing in an empty art museum. Probably my favorite performance of the festival, aside from Holly Herndon's absolute mindfuck. Gonna try to catch their thing tomorrow morning.

my rule for this thing was that i wasn't going to stress out about trying to see everything, that i would listen to my body and brain and go back to the hotel whenever i needed a break. my fitness tracker tells me i walked 6.8 miles (16,076 steps) today, so i feel like i've made a legit effort!

i did just find out that liz harris will no longer be performing under the grouper name, which makes me regret not seeing her tonight. but i'm sure whatever she does next will be good and i'll catch her then.

You really did not miss much re: Grouper.

Excited to find out what t-shirt James Cobo is wearing today.

Anyway: brunch? Dinner? Can we make it happen?

I won't be able to do brunch after all :( sorry!!

If there are early dinner/drinks plans I'm ok w that. I'll be at standard most of the day til richter and swans.

Everyone should just go to the standard and we can hang there!

might wander over to tupelo honey pretty soon. their shrimp & grits and eggs betty are both sounding pretty nice.

I am sitting outside at Not Watson's -- wait at Tupelo was too long.

Popping into the Standard for a minute -- I am in the back by the restrooms.

Excited to find out what t-shirt James Cobo is wearing today.

This, but in gray:

http://yque.com/catcowastblt.html

I'm in the front! Will look for you once it clears out!!

i wore an yque shirt to bed last night. this one but in beige with brown piping:

http://yque.com/ilikelatshirt.html

how is the sushi bar near the regal riviera? i know coming from california to tennessee to eat sushi is a little weird, but i want something healthy.

Enjoying the happy hour there right now.

I'm at the Tennessee Theater posted up for Richter, dead center, reading an iPad; come say hi if you see me. I'm probably going to bail to catch Swans after the Vivaldi piece though.

Also idk if any of yall brought a 3ds but I've StreetPassed a couple of folks a few times; I sent out a Big Ears-related greeting to all repeat visitors. My username d trdn88 - check out my stylish King Dedede hat.

At the Bijou eagerly awaiting Swerns. Anyone getting food after this?

Can't believe I missed seeing JBR and Crut all 3 days and only saw LL once. I wasn't hiding out, I swear. There's an outside chance I'll make the Orcutt show in Chatt tomorrow but it's a very small chance.

Kronos' closing set last night was my favorite thing they did all weekend, with the possible exception of their brief intro thing with Wu Man at the museum. The Nels Cline piece was great, and so was another new thing they did, by a Lebanese-American composer about Beirut. Other good things on the last day: Rhiannon Giddens, Bill Frisell, Perfume Genius, Silver Apples -- and obviously Swans, doing apparently mostly new (and good) stuff.

i had mixed feelings about kronos going in and still do even though i didn't watch much of their stuff this weekend. their eclecticism, while very well-intentioned and appreciated, can be a little meet-cute, and sometimes their academic approach sucks the vital energy out of the stuff they're pastiching. i'm glad they exist though!

I agree, that's always been the issue with them. Sort of built into their mission in a way -- they can for sure come off as academics and/or dilettantes. But with the right piece or right collaborators, they can be great. Nels and Wu Man both fit naturally into their settings. And the Beirut piece really was good.

i'm not opposed to dilettantism as a general principle. dilettantes can do great things!

I guess I'm the only one here who unreservedly loved Landfall.

I liked it a lot and it really came together at the end. I didn't think the music was terribly interesting -- it had its high points, but also some pleasant-but-anonymous passages. But I thought the text and theme were great, and its conclusion was really affecting. One of my friends loved it more than me and actually started crying at the end.

ay: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/live-reviews/big-ears-2015-on-the-ground-at-americas-biggest-avant-garde-party-20150330

Ha! Just came here to post that.

Turns out I can't do Chattanooga after all. They wouldn't let me on the Megabus with the amount of bags I brought (two little carry-on sized cases, a backpack, a purse). I might write to Megabus with an invoice for the flight change, the hotel room, the show ticket, the bus ticket, and the Uber to the airport just now because I'm going back to LAX a day early.

Whiney, I saw you for a second but didn't get to say hi. I think there's a shot of you in the Nazoranai doc too!

you guys i hightailed it home and now i get to see silver apples and holly herndon again tomorrow! for $3!

genuinely bummed i didn't get to meet jody or see roxy
i think i saw whiney too but i wasn't sure bc i was on my way out of the bathroom and i had been in the standard for like 6 hours

their set looking like they were literally shaking dustballs from the rafters

lol, i like that a single ball of dust merited this bit

i saw that dust ball

Love that write-up Whiney
<3 Tanya so much so much

apparently water was a major theme this year

<3 Tanya so much so much

me too! thrilled she's getting so much positive attention.

me too
she was increíble
so was Hildur Guðnadóttir -- she asked for the door to stop opening and closing, a valid request
although i think both she and Grouper would have been better off at the bijou
crowds would have been sufficient and the atmo would have improved
nbd, both were great but i dunno

i'm excited to see holly herndon tomorrow and silver apples AGAIN!!

love holly! was listening to glasser's most recent tonight and thinking those two could pair up really successfully.

Holly was definitely the performance of the show; I threw Movement on as soon as I got back home and while it's definitely better than I remember, it's indivisible from that absolute brain-melting video piece kinda like listening to Nils Frahm outside of the confines of the Tennessee Theater. I'm glad to hear that Bing & Ruth are getting some press too; Tomorrow Was The Golden Age is a really gorgeous album which didn't get nearly enough love IMO. strong showing for RVNG overall.

Max Richter's Vivaldi thing was good, but Infra was far and away the best performance of any of his pieces I saw in Knoxville; I hadn't really paid much attention to it before this weekend, but it was just searingly beautiful. wish I could find a copy on vinyl but it's long OOP apparently.

geez this festival seems ridiculous & amazing. if i ever splurge and travel for a music event, it's going to be this...

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/31/arts/music/big-ears-festival-stars-the-avant-garde.html?emc=eta1

I hadn't picked up on the fact that the Windish Agency repped a bunch of the artists on the lineup. kinda interesting to think of Big Ears as a label showcase for Nonesuch, Windish, RVNG, Erased Tapes, etc.

I mean, it's one thing to complain about the Windishing of the underground when it's like dictating Pitchfork events when the site is, ostensibly, an unbiased group of journalists

But Big Ears makes no claims to being anything but a passion project of the Bonnaroo dude, and I see no real ethical issue with the ease at which one company can offer a bunch of bands he likes. I mean, you could see it in how Swans opening act Little Annie promptly appeared on the bill — oh, this quick and easy and on-brand thing is going to make the fest fuller.

Especially when, "deals" like that (if that even was a "deal") are way more pronounced at fests like Lolla or late night television bookings where shitty major label newbies show up — with my presumption being that it allowed the ease for getting a big major label headliner...

And, like, Betty Who playing some mega-festival is way stupider looking than Loscil playing a 1pm show at a museum

yeah and i dunno looking at that list, the Big Ear lineup is still pretty curated re: their roster of artists:

http://windishagency.com/all_artists

like i don't think Diplo or War on Drugs would have fit on this lineup

Capps is doing the lord's work out there; there's no conflict of interest going on

or misrepresentation or whatevs

in case anyone wondered, toby dammit did not play at the chicago show with holly herndon ;_;
made me realize how extraordinary that performance was!

heh, I kinda wanted to stick around in Knoxville and see the War on Drugs last night, but I had to come back to work! anyway, I had a great time and it was nice to meet the various ILXors and hang out a little. The organizers did a really great job, I thought... such a casual and low-stress experience compared to any other music festival I've attended. Definitely will plan to go again next year! I think my favorite shows were the Demdike Stare/Haxan screening and the final Max Richter/ACME performance. But I saw lots of other great shows too!

xpost nobody doubts Big Ears' mission statement less than I do; I couldn't care less if all the artists came from one source or a thousand when the experience is that great. I'm mostly just intrigued by the notion that agencies like Windish can exert such a big influence over an experience with as tangibly personal a vibe as the one Big Ears has established.

some cool .gifs here

http://clatl.com/cribnotes/archives/2015/04/02/big-ears-2015-music-of-our-times

Where's the stuff your friend was shooting?

some of the gifs are taken from that footage! I don't know when they're uploading them in full, though.

yeah, having experienced the hellishness of the badly bungled corporate festival experience that was fyf fest last year, this was so much better than i could have asked for. nice companion piece to basilica soundscape, which also had swans as one of the main acts.

those gifs are neat! also, terry riley looks like dumbledore.

Where's the stuff your friend was shooting?

it's finally up!

http://clatl.com/cribnotes/archives/2015/04/10/a-lush-and-impressionistic-visual-recap-of-big-ears-2015

awesome video!! special surprise in there too!

with special guest!

I miss this so much

(i saw very few bands, mind)

(just to clarify my last attendance was 2010.. it'd be nicr to meet/see y'all again)

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/big-ears-festival-breaks-barriers-open-minded-music-lovers/

omg lol i hadn't actually watched that whole video yet

Gotta watch at least through Zs

:)