The PiNG presents The London Apartments + Weird State Inbetween

["Scott M2" <scott@dreamstate.to>]

Welcome to September at the PiNG. Each week this month we'll be
featuring a disc from ambient master Steve Roach's "The Dreamtime Box"
between sets. Yes - another 4 CD set from Roach! This one includes his
newly remastered classic "Dreamtime Return". Also - be sure to read
rik maclean's column this week, as he focuses on New Orleans and what
that city means to him - obviously a lot, as he ensures that
throughout September *all* money (except taxes/shipping) from
CD sales from an extensive list of artists at ping things will be
sent directly to the American Red Cross disaster relief efforts.
Help rik and dozens of creative artists help others through their art!
http://www.pingthings.com

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THE AMBiENT PiNG   http://www.theambientping.com
Tuesdays @ HACiENDA - 794 Bathurst Street at Bloor
(directly across from the Bathurst subway station) - Toronto
Doors open at 9pm - 1st set at 9:30 - PayWhatYouCan

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This Tuesday September 6th - A Worthy Fall - September

This fall the PiNG will be hosting a monthly showcase for the
inspiring independent label Worthy Records on the first Tuesday of
each month. Worthy Records has been releasing a huge catalog of
works by creative musicians from across Ontario and Canada and each
month we'll present 2 or 3 artists. September features the mesmerizing
ambient, post-rock songs of The London Apartments (from Windsor)
and Weird State Inbetween (from St.Catharines)- a collaboration
between Scott Johnson and Anne Sulikowski oozing improv electronic
music with keyboards, pedals, blips, skips, vocals, beats, distortion,
loops and found sounds.  http://www.worthyrecords.com

"A more clearly enunciated Windy and Carl at the wheel, with
Fridge beats riding shotgun and arguing over the map, doing 30 mph
down 495 at midnight, with My Morning Jacket, Auburn Lull, and
Slowdive tied up in the trunk." http://www.thelondonapartments.com

"The Weird State In Between's debut release on Worthy Records
(music for listening rather than profit) is without a doubt one of
the freshest noise recordings of the year. It's disgustingly
beautiful, cathartically romantic, a sledgehammer french kiss."
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pageartist.cfm?bandID=256530

Between Sets CD - "Dreamtime Return - disc 1" by Steve Roach
An undeniable masterpiece of the ambient world. "17 years after its
release "Dreamtime Return" still sounds like a transmission from the
near future and the very distant past."  http://www.steveroach.com

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Coming Tuesday September 13th - Wendy Atkinson with David Lester
http://www.tinforest.com/tinfr/wendyatkinson/
http://mecca_normal.tripod.com/

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||: IN THE LOOP :||  by Luna Tek

Even with a hot summer coming to a close, THE AMBiENT PiNG concert on
August 29, 2005 continued to heat up the experimental music scene in
Toronto with two stellar acts: Michael Keith with David Sait and
The Riderless from London, Ontario. 

Michael Keith (Guqin) and David Sait (Guzheng) kicked off the evening
with a majestic first set replete with exotic undertones. The duo,
both originally guitarists, took an interest in traditional Chinese
music a few years ago and began improvising together even though their
particular instruments are not historically played together. Breaking
with tradition in this arrangement, Keith's interpretation reaped
slide-guitar effects with a Ry Cooder edge. To the audience's delight,
their elegant experimentation yielded a sense of longing without the
usual crush of melancholy. The tension between notes created a spare
yet ultimately fulfilling experience akin to the procedural technique
of sound poems: they set up aesthetic and emotional expectations and
then rewarded the audience with unexpectedly melodic "songs." 

After the concert, I asked Michael Keith about his interest in
traditional Chinese music. Keith explained that he discovered the
Guquin through Derek Bailey, an avant garde guitar player. After
reading an article with Bailey discussing the Guqin, Keith decided
to check it out for himself. His interest in this ancient instrument
has led to an interest in Chinese culture, broadening his creative
horizons to the extent that he is now planning trip to Bejing. 

In the second set, The Riderless continued their cross-country tour
with passages of pure improvisation, a departure from the free style
approach they used to play when they were more into creating walls
of pure rock-oriented noise. While tonight's performance was
completely free-form, the band explored the chords and melodies
available to them in a post-rock universe. With six musicians
playing guitars, synthesizer, a homemade xylophone, saxophone,
clarinet and drums, The Riderless commanded the stage with an
ambient set that built in intensity and included lots of texture,
rhythm and the pure joy of playing.

More info: http://www.alexiteric.com   http://www.davidsait.com
           http://www.theriderless.com 

Luna Tek - luna@theambientping.com

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rik maclean's *ping things* CD Reviews

I spend alot of time telling you about music I love. But today I
thought I'd tell you about a city that I love. I've idealized
New Orleans ever since the first time I read "Interview with a
Vampire" when I was eleven. There was something about the way the
city was described, something so magical about it that appealed
to my eleven year old psyche. And like a handful of other places
and ideals and songs that wormed their way into my being in those 
early formative years, New Orleans has always had a special place
in my heart.

I finally went to visit there in 2000. The Cure were playing two
gigs in a theatre on the "Bloodflowers" tour and I had a travelling
companion with connections in the travel industry. Really, it was
too good an opportunity to pass up. So we went. I don't think I've
ever been so excited about a vacation in my entire life.

I'll admit that I was a little nervous about going though. You
know how there are places you dream of all your life, and when
you finally get there it's nothing like you had imagined? I was
so scared that the city wouldn't live up to my expectations, that
it would be one of those places that we create in our heads that
has no hope of existing in the real world. But when I got there I
was thrilled to find that it was exactly what I had always dreamed
of. Beautiful, mysterious, haunted. My companion and I walked
through the French Quarter, we did the Garden District tour, we
saw Marie LeVeaux' tomb and a million other things. It was
everything I had thought it would be and more, and it's the only
city I've ever been to that has made me think seriously of leaving
my beloved Toronto. And even though I didn't leave then, New Orleans
has always had an Echo Beach type quality to it, a notion in my
head that I had somewhere to run away to, somewhere to go and
start again if I ever needed to.

We were only there for a few days, but they were among the most
wonderful I've ever had before or since. Dreams fulfilled, wishes
made real, the discovery that the magic you hold in your heart
sometimes does exist in the real world. Going to New Orleans meant
something very special to me and I'll always hold that feeling
close inside.

***

This last week, seeing pictures of what has happened in the wake
of  Hurricane Katrina, seeing what the people of New Orleans and
the surrounding environs are going through, has been heartbreaking,
devastating.

With this in mind, a number of artists in the ping things catalogue
have kindly and generously agreed to donate all earnings (excluding
shipping and taxes) from sales of their CDs through ping things for
the remainder of September to the American Red Cross to help those
affected by Hurricane Katrina. If you were thinking of buying some
new music, now is the time to do so as the money you spend will be
used to help others in this time of need. http://www.pingthings.com

There are people affected by Hurricane Katrina that desperately
require our assistance. Making a purchase at ping things this month
is one way that you can help them. Alternatively, if you'd like to
pursue help in other ways, please visit
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2005/katrina/help.center/ where CNN 
has collected a comprehensive list of charities and organizations
that are helping out.

Please look inside your heart and give generously.

rik maclean - rik@pingthings.com

http://www.pingthings.com = ambient + electronic + chill things
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for updates on *all* the latest releases on sale at ping things

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THE AMBiENT PiNG is a social sound/art event presenting
live performances by Toronto's finest ambient, chillout, improv
and experimental music artists plus performers from across
the continent, every Tuesday evening at HACiENDA -
794 Bathurst Street at Bloor. http://www.theambientping.com

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Please forward this e-mail to any friends who may be interested
in live ambient, chillout and experimental music performances
or to any of your appropriate newsgroups. Thanks.