Wednesday, November 14, 2018

NOUS album streaming early: Christopher Bono, Greg Fox (ex-Liturgy), Thor Harris (Swans), ACME strings, Shahzad Ismaily (Yoko Ono)

"A half-airy, half-aggressive interdisciplinary happening organized by the young and enterprising composer Christopher Bono, who brought together a wise, postcategory, electric and acoustic 12-person crew."  -- New York Times

"You couldn't pigeonhole it into one genre if you tried -- it goes from eerie David Lynchian soundscapes to Eastern melodies to avant-garde jazz drum freakouts to a million other places, all while remaining strangely accessible." -- Brooklyn Vegan


New York experimental music project NOUS, led by producer and composer Christopher Bono, is streaming their forthcoming debut album ahead of release starting today via Brooklyn Vegan. Hear and share NOUS I: A Musical Rite HERE. (Direct Bandcamp and Soundcloud.)

NOUS also plays two live shows -- with a different lineup from the album recording -- this weekend in New York State. This trio configuration is comprised of Christopher Bono (Ghost Against Ghost, Bardo) and Kato Hideki (John Zorn, Death Ambient, Green Zone), and Calvin Weston (Ornette Coleman, Vernon Reid, Billy Martin) for a night of multi media experimentation. See dates below. 

Nous is an experimental music project with a fluctuating group of artists exploring ritual and spontaneity within music. The debut album features multi-instrumentalists Christopher Bono (keyboards/electronics/percussion/vocals), Greg Fox (drums/percussion/electronics), Thor Harris (drums/percussion), Shahzad Ismaily (electronics/guitar/bass) and Grey Mcmurray (guitar), with special guests.

Woodstock, NY label Our Silent Canvas is preparing to release the first of 3 albums culled from sessions the group recorded in an intensive 7-day immersion at legendary Dreamland Studios with 
producer Kevin McMahon (Swans, Titus Andronicus, Real Estate).

Each recording, and performance will center around a different focal concept, always seeking alternative ways of creating art. The name Nous was chosen for its double meaning. 'Nous' in the French language is the plural personal pronoun in the first person, meaning 'we' or 'us'. However, within the philosophical tradition it is a word, sometimes equated to intellect or intelligence, used to describe the faculty of the human mind which is described in classical philosophy as necessary for understanding what is true or real, similar in meaning to intuition.

In the eastern tradition, the sanskrit equivalent is Buddhi, which denotes an aspect of mind that is higher than the rational mind and that is attracted to Brahman (i.e., to "Truth" (sat) or "Reality"(dharma)). Discriminative in nature, Buddhi/Nous is that which is able to discern truth (satya) from
falsehood and thereby able to make wisdom possible. Inspired by this definition, the Nous project looks to build communal musical relationships that collectively work to find new ways of creating art
that bypasses the small, fearful, egotistical mind and encourages the connection of those involved to reach a higher level of consciousness, providing a creative field/space where intuitive, unexpected and unexplained results can occur.

Nous band members on this recording:
~ Christopher Bono (Composer, Ghost Against Ghost)  www.christopherbono.com
~ Greg Fox (Guardian Alien, Zs, Ben Frost, ex-Liturgy) 
~ Shahzad Ismaily (Yoko Ono, Laurie Anderson, Bonnie Prince Billy)
~ Thor Harris (Swans, Angels of Light, Amanda Palmer, Shearwater)
~ Grey Mcmurray (itsnotyouitsme, So Percussion, Tyondai Braxton) 

Special guests:
~ Clarice Jensen (Cello, ACME: American Contemporary Music Ensemble, yMusic, Ra Ra Riot
~ Caleb Burhans (Composer, itsnotyouitsme, ACME) 
~ Laura Lutzke (Violin, ACME)
~ Alex Sopp (Flutes, ACME, yMusic)
~ Imago (Cello, Vocals, Múm)
~ Laraaji & Arji (Zither, Ambient Sounds)
~ Akil Davis and Loud Sol Productions

NOUS I: A Musical Rite will be available on LP and download on November 16th, 2018 via Our Silent Canvas. Pre-orders are available HERE

NOUS LIVE 2018:
11/17 Kingston, NY @ BSP Lounge 
11/18 Queens, NY @ The Footlight Bar 


Artist: NOUS
Album: NOUS I: A Musical Rite
Record Label: Our Silent Canvas
Release Date: November 16, 2018

01. Ya Ma Toh: Tahd
02. Kabay
03. This Winter Can Not Last
04. Dancing Marvels Intro
05. Dancing Marvels 
06. Not All Seeds Fail
07. Shumisah
08. Original Energy
09. The Un-Led
10. Beneath
11. Transitory Reality

On the Web:






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