IMMERSION REVIEW: Dave Brown ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Immersion Series of Surround Sound Concerts was launched at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Arts here in Melbourne with a short and very focussed set of three pieces of 6 channel diffused music. It was bloody marvellous and heres a potted account.... First up were Thomas and Gregoire Couzinier. Next we enjoyed, as Melbourne people are blessed to do, the music of DaveBrown. Now Dave never replies to my occasional emails so he probably won't read this. In which case its time for me to declare that Dave Brown is a living treasure and one with as many strings to his guitar as I've had hot dinners. Dave playes allmost everywhere,most notably perhaps in Bucketrider, a quar/quin/sextet playing free jazz hard core infused wild music and occasionally in the odd Sun Ra tribute band. Tonight, for the second time, I heard his solo electronics with pre-recorded multi channel backing. The first time I heard this was at Synaesthesia where Dave did it on a much more intimate scale using a minidisc as looped backup along with his guitar playing over and in and around the backing. That was generally a soft and, well, intimate piece and very beautiful it was.Tonight with a bit more gadgetry at hand Dave had a couple of stereo Cds assigned to different channels and a stereo signal rom his guitar and the array of effects boxes that are his trademark of sorts. Gotta love that Frostwave sound!!! (PFP take a bow!) So Daves piece, like the others timed in at about 15 - 20 minutes of crystalline droplets and dense clouds of electrics. Dave seems to have a visceral relationship with volume, which he uses to create sounds that he then plays at levels that are right for the piece. In other words he seems to use the volume in the circuitry to create sound and then the pieces he performs may or may not be loud, depending on the aesthetic calls he makes. I have just read a piece in Halana on Rafael Toval thats allmost the eulogy this is and I was thinking a collaboration would be jolly good fun... Tonights piece was in turns and simultaneosly abrasive, delicate and , well, immersive. His use of the space through the 6 channels available was fullsome without being a distraction from the whole thing to be heard at any time. I got lost. Cool as.... Bucketriders music is available from lots of places, especially Missing Link in Melbourne but for mail order I recommend Synaesthesia: atomic@ vicnet.net.au (Mark) Finally we heard from PH2 who are Phillip Brophy and Phillip Samartzis. Both are involved in the organisation of the event and are to be given a Mars bar and allowed to stay up late!!! ______________________________________________ Contributed to the Undesirable Propagation Unit by agent AlanBamford