The Empty House Cooperative began in 1997 with casual gatherings for brunch and music at David Michael Curry's apartment in Central Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. The limits of a conventional band setting led DMC to explore ideas of improvised music with like-minded friends, staying with no formula, but eventually growing into a moody flavor related to chamber music mixed with avant-garde noise-rock, with meditative tonal shadings. The music varies depending on who is playing... there are several regulars, and a few from places like New York City and Montreal. Some are known from bands like Boxhead Ensemble, Pullman, Come, Willard Grant Conspiracy, Godspeed You Black Emperor!, Molasses, Jumbo (the Boston circus band), and others. The regular and current musicians and guests include David Michael Curry (EHC coordinator, viola, guitar, horn, piano, loop samples), Chris Brokaw (guitar), Brian Corr (fretless bass, euphonium), Nick Patterson (Turkish Saz, piano), Jonah Sacks (cello), Thalia Zedek (clarinet). From Montreal: Thierry Amar (upright bass), Scott Chernoff (acoustic guitar & banjo - strummed & bowed), Fluffy Erskine (scrap metal percussion, singing saw). The Empty House Cooperative has performed live soundtracks to silent films, improvised dinner music at restaurants, occasional street performance, and has also participated in a national Jack Kerouac festival in Lowell, Massachusetts, providing the ambient musical score to the marathon 7-hour reading of his book "Big Sur". The coming year will see the release of studio and live recordings, and a possible Fall 2002 tour in the USA and UK.
This release is a recording made at the studio of WMBR 88.1 FM radio at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on August 28, 2000. The musicians on that day were Chris Brokaw (electric guitar & feedback), David Michael Curry (viola, guitar, horn, loop samples), and Jonah Sacks (cello). The recording engineer was Andy Hong, from the "Pipeline" radio show.
Photos: Leslie Brokaw
Recording info
Music by Empty House Cooperative
Recorded on August 28, 2000 at WMBR, 88.1 FM, MIT (Cambridge, MA) by Andy Hong
- Musicians -
Christopher Brokaw: guitar and feedback
David Michael Curry: viola, guitar, horn, loop samples
Jonah Sacks: cello
We discovered Templo Diez thanks to an exchange of records with the French label Intercontinental Records, which had released the band's debut album "Hoboken". Three years later, while hinah was on a sabbatical year, Pascal Hallibert sent us the new cd of Templo Diez, "Winterset", on which we especially loved the beautiful song "Sal". We suggested we could put out an EP if they felt like going for more acoustic tracks and putting the voice of Gloribel Hernandez (who was also singing on "Sal") more upfront. And they agreed!
We discovered Andrew Goldman's music a few years ago, at the time of his folk, melodic project Maestro Echoplex. After playing for a while under the name John Guilt, Andrew started a new project named Fulton Lights, which has just released its second album "The Way We Ride" and its heavier and more distorted atmospheres and tempos. As Andrew was on solo tour in Europe, we invited him over for a session that was meant to be electric but ended up being acoustic after the amp of our friend Éric decided to break down at the last minute. So here is a chance to discover Fulton Lights in its most stripped-down version!
Those who visit our website regularly are bound to have come across the name "Flowers From The Man Who Shot Your Cousin" once in a while in the news section. Indeed, we have been following closely Morgan Caris’s project in the last five years and we would very much like to release something with his name on it... But Morgan is a perfectionist and this something is yet to come. Therefore a hinah session had clearly become necessary and the opportunity of an acoustic evening with Shelley Short and Brittain Ashford to inaugurate our Parisian hinah hq was just the perfect excuse!
This is not the first treat we get from Matt Bauer: a few years ago, he had already contributed to our "Tribute To The Anthology Of American Folk Music by Harry Smith" with an edited cover of "Willie Moore". Shortly afterwards, he had sent us his big EP "Wasps And White Roses", a beautiful folk piece on which the banjo blends with Matt's suave voice. In addition, Matt was surrounded with nice people, as Jolie Holland and Mariee Sioux joined him for this EP! So as Matt was touring Europe as part of Alela Diane's backing band in the spring, we invited him to make a detour via Frankfurt for a live hinah session.
:: Catalogue & mp3 ::
hinah029 - Templo Diez
hinahgift026 - Fulton Lights
hinahgift025 - Flowers From The Man Who Shot Your Cousin
hinahgift024 - Matt Bauer