The Squid's Ear Magazine

Staiano, Moe

Away Towards the Light [VINYL + DOWNLOAD]

Staiano, Moe: Away Towards the Light [VINYL + DOWNLOAD] (Edgetone)

An exploration of tonal interplay and contrasting rhythms from nine electric guitars, bass, and drums by West Coast percussionist and composer Moe! Staiano (formerly of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum), a work in three movements that features assertive rhythmic structures and intertwining string structures, balanced by beautifully ringing moments of introspection.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Suki O'Kane-conductor

Moe! Staiano-drums

Jason Hoopes-electric bass

Bill Wolter-electric guitar

Damon Waitkus-electric guitar

Drew Wheeler-electric guitar

Jay Korber-electric guitar

John Schott-electric guitar

John Shiurba-electric guitar

Karl Evangelista-electric guitar

Melne Murphy-electric guitar

Robin Hiroko Walsh-electric guitar


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UPC: 810096655752

Label: Edgetone
Catalog ID: EDT4241
Squidco Product Code: 35037

Format: LP
Condition: New
Released: 2024
Country: USA
Packaging: LP
Recorded at SAE Expression College, in Emeryville, California, on February 4th, 2018, by HL Nelly.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Moe Staiano is a musician and composer based in Oakland, California. Since the late 1990's he has been a part of the creative music scene there with performances of solo percussion, and ensembles of many musicians performed under the moniker Moe!kestra! with composed and conducted improvisation pieces.

Since about 2016, he abandoned the loose guided improv style and has focused on more structured, academic compositions of guitar ensembles, with his first guitar piece, Away Towards the Light, composed that year. An exploration of tonal interplay and contrasting rhythms from nine electric guitars, bass, and drums, Away Towards the Light is composed in three movements, and is Moe! Staiano first composition for multiple electric guitars.

The guitar groups play against one another in bouncing rhythms and ongoing hockets, alternating between soft bell-like sustain and bombastic chord clusters in a repeating minimalist setting, recounting the musical stylings of Glenn Branca, Rhys Chatham, or even Arnold Dreyblatt.

Since this piece was performed he has a new three-movement guitar composition, Music for 48 Guitars, which has yet to be performed and premiered. Moe was a former member of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum and currently fronts the post punk band, Surplus 1980."-Edgetone Records


Artist Biographies

"Moe! is conductor and composer for the Moe! Staiano Ensemble, (formerly Moe!kestra!), a large-ensemble avant garde orchestra, which can feature over 30 musicians playing everything from violins, clarinets and cellos to drum kits, oscillators and electric guitars. Moe! Staiano Ensemble performances are high-energy, electrifying experiences that create unique and memorable soundscapes that intrigue and beguile.

Moe!'s innovative solo percussion shows feature prepared drum kit, found objects, audio looping and the inventive use of a "percussion guitar" woven in with performance art, which always gets the audience involved and eagerly expectant of what might happen next.

Moe! also fronts Surplus 1980, a post-punk band that continually evolves its journey of no-wave progressive and percussive musical exploration. Surplus 1980 features Moe!'s bracing guitar and wry wordplay and a wide palette of timbres from the multi-instrumentalist members of the group.

Over the years, Moe! has worked with a veritable who's-who of the Bay Area creative music scene, including Ron Anderson (the Molecules, RonRuins, PAK), Tom Nunn, Vacuum Tree Head, Z'ev, Amy X Neuburg, Ava Mendoza, Nurse With Wound, David Slusser, Karen Stackpole, Ches Smith, Michael Evans (God Is My Co-Pilot), Caroline Kraabel & John Edwards (Shock Exchange), Gino Robair, William Hooker, Tom Dimuzio and has performed with all these plus Henry Kaiser, Mark Growden's Electric Pinata, Amy Denio, Cheer-Accident and sfSoundGroup among others.

Solo Percussion

Moe! performs solo percussion shows, some are based around a modified drum set and looping, while others include "playing" a variety of found objects. His performances are always interesting and engaging, and often include the audience as a participant, as well as observer.

Moe! Staiano Ensemble (formerly Moe!kestra) is a large-ensemble avant garde orchestra, which can include over 30 musicians that play everything from traditional classical instruments and percussion to contemporary mainstays like electric guitars and drum kits.

Moe!'s ferocious conducting leads the ensembles through his own compositions--epic forays into sonic landscapes from pastoral and evocative to jagged and frenetic.

Moe! has created over ten works for his ensemble, including the dramatic and safety-glasses-encouraged "Piece No.1: Death of a Piano"--which climaxes with a frenzied crescendo and Moe! destroying a piano with a sledgehammer.

Collaborations

Moe! has collaborated in small ensembles with notable musicians such as Amy X Neuburg, Aram Shelton, Jordan Glenn, Thollem McDonas and more."

-Moe! Staiano Website (http://www.moestaiano.com/about.html)
11/29/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Jason Hoopes is a bassist and educator. His work as bassist includes numerous bay area groups including but not limited to...Jack O' The Clock, Fred Frith Trio, OrkestRova, Scott Amendola / Karl Alfonso Defensor Evangelista, Perfect Loss, Eat The Sun, Dominique Leone, The Atomic Bomb Audition, Satya Sena, powerdove, Host Family."

-Bay Improviser (http://www.bayimproviser.com/artist/320/jason-hoopes)
11/29/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Bill Wolter is a composer, guitarist, audio engineer, and sound educator based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He composes music for film, games, and modern dance. His music is inspired by the sounds of jazz, classical new music, film music, progressive rock, and experimental music.

His main musical project is Inner Ear Brigade (IEB), an ensemble that plays a mix of progressive rock, avant-garde jazz, and classical new music. A restless collaborator who seeks the most diverse and challenging musical experiences, Bill performs and collaborates frequently with a wide range of musicians, bands, improvisers, and choreographers.

As a sound designer, Bill has worked on musical games such as Guitar Hero, Tap Tap Revenge, as well as several films from shorts to feature lengths.

Bill is also a passionate educator teaching music and audio at Diablo Valley College, Ex'pression College for Digital Arts, and The Art Institute of California, San Francisco."

-Bill Wolter Website (http://billwolter.com/splash-page/about/)
11/29/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"John Shiurba is a composer and guitarist whose musical pursuits include improvisation, art-rock, modern composition and noise. Shiurba has recorded and toured the U.S. and Europe as a member of the bands Eskimo, The Molecules and Spezza Rotto, as a member of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Anthony Braxton's ensemble and the SFSound Group, and as an improvisor.

Shiurba has conducted the premieres of his compositions at ODC in 2005 ("Moon Cycle" for SFSound) at New Langton Arts in 2002 ("Triplicate") and at SFAlt in 2002 ("5x5 1.4" for SFSound). Shiurba was invited to play at the Seattle Improvised Music Festival in 1998, at the High Zero Festival in Baltimore in 1999, at the SFAlt Festival in 2004 and at the Olympia Experimental Music Festival in 2002 and 2004, and at the Push International Performing Arts Festival in Vancouver in 2007.

As a guitarist Shiurba has developed a unique and personalized approach to the guitar. Through the use of extended techniques and unusual preparations, he expands the traditional sound range of the instrument, producing stunning, often unrecognizable results. Cadence Magazine calls Shiurba a 'wildly creative guitarist... anti-jazz, anti-everything else, yet utterly compelling.'"

-John Shiurba Website (http://www.shiurba.com/bio.html)
11/29/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Filipino-American guitarist/composer Karl Evangelista (b.1986) ranks among a new wave of musicians pushing the traditions of jazz and experimental rock into the 21st century. Synthesizing the heavy legacy of contemporary improvised music with popular song and 20th century composition, Evangelista explores multicultural concepts with sonic intensity and political fervor.

Signal to Noise magazine hails Evangelista as "one of the most original instrumentalists and composers of his generation," and as the creative force behind boundary-breaking group Grex, Evangelista's music has been called an "otherworldly experience" (Eugene Weekly), "a near-seamless blend of modern jazz, contemporary structuralist composition, indie rock, and blues rock" (Tiny Mix Tapes).

Evangelista has explored new realms in sound and intercultural collaboration across a vast spectrum of academic and professional situations. He has worked in a wide variety of ensembles with or under the direction of, among others, Achyutan (Marvin Patillo), Bruce Ackley, Scott Amendola, Tatsu Aoki, Steve Berlin (Los Lobos), India Cooke, Nava Dunkelman, Fred Frith, Eddie Gale, Jordan Glenn, Ben Goldberg, Phillip Greenlief, Alexander Hawkins, Jon Jang, Darren Johnston, Lewis Jordan, Oliver Lake, Lenora Lee, Myra Melford, Hafez Modirzadeh, Louis Moholo-Moholo, Bill Noertker, James Norton, Larry Ochs, Zeena Parkins, John-Carlos Perea, Dan Plonsey, Gino Robair, Rent Romus, Daniel Schmidt, Marcus Shelby, Aram Shelton, David Slusser, Damon Smith, Karen Stackpole, Melody Takata, Marshall Trammell, Eli Wallace, Wayne Wallace, Trevor Watts, and AIR co-founder Francis Wong, and has performed in new arrangements of works by Luciano Chessa, Christian Jendreiko, Polly Moller, Moe! Staiano, AACM co-founder Muhal Richard Abrams, and Art Ensemble of Chicago co-founder Roscoe Mitchell. Evangelista has presented work at the Guelph Jazz Festival, the United States of Asian America Festival, Myra Melford's New Frequencies Festival, the Switchboard Festival, the Sonic Circuits Festival, and the Outsound New Music Summit, and he was awarded a 2011 Zellerbach Grant for Taglish, a suite centered on Filipino-American culture; an album of the composition was successfully funded via Kickstarter and released in 2012.

Evangelista holds a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies from UC Berkeley (Summa Cum Laude, '06) and an MFA in Improvised Music from Mills College ('09). He has lectured at UC Berkeley and directed guitar ensembles at the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts and San Francisco Waldorf High School. Karl is also a licensed instructor in the popular Kinderguitar method."

-Karl Evangelista Website (https://www.karlevangelista.com/bio.html)
11/29/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Melne Murphy is a West Coast guitarist known for the bands Surplus 1980, Surplus 1980 Collectiv Ensembl With G.W. Sok, Têtes Noires."

-Discogs (https://www.discogs.com/artist/3308186-Melne-Murphy)
11/29/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



SIDE A



1. Movement One 14:16

2. Movement Two, Part one 10:58

SIDE B



1. Movement Two, Conclusion 7:18

2. Movement Three 13:26

Related Categories of Interest:

Physical Releases that include Download Codes

Vinyl Recordings
Rock and Related
Compositional Forms
Progressive Rock
West Coast/Pacific US Jazz
Large Ensembles
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New in Rock Forms
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Search for other titles on the label:
Edgetone.


Recommended & Related Releases:
Other Recommended Releases:
Surplus 1980
Illusion of Consistency [CD]
(Surplus Industries)
Composed using an "exquisite corpse" method during the pandemic, where each player provided a partially complete track with instructions to expand their concept, enlisting an incredible set of musicians across the US & Europe, directed by Moe! Staiano, including Jesse Quattro, Fred Frith, Carla Kihlstedt, GW Sok, Amy X Neuburg, Darren Johnston, &c &c.
Surplus 1980
Illusion of Consistency [VINYL + CD + DOWNLOAD]
(Surplus Industries)
Composed using an "exquisite corpse" method during the pandemic, where each player provided a partially complete track with instructions to expand their concept, enlisting an incredible set of musicians across the US & Europe, directed by Moe! Staiano, including Jesse Quattro, Fred Frith, Carla Kihlstedt, GW Sok, Amy X Neuburg, Darren Johnston, &c &c.
Evangelista, Karl (feat. Alex Hawkins / Tatsu Aoki / Michael Zerang)
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(Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))
Meeting in the studio in Chicago, the quartet of Oakland guitarist Karl Evangelista, UK pianist Alexander Hawkins, midwestern bassist Tatsu Aoki and Chicago drummer Michael Zerang combine Evangelista's open-ended compositions with a series of dialogic free improvisations around the concepts of music and family, instrumentally answering the question posed by the album's title.
Surplus 1980 + G.W. Sok
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(Surplus Industries)
Reminiscent of the packaging of early releases from The Ex, the vocalist from that band--G.W. Sok--provides the words for the first tracks on this 7" from Sleepytime Gorilla Museum drummer/composer Moe! Staiano's long-running band, a brutal wordplay stab at Russian president Putin for his invasion of Ukraine; plus a dub remix of a song on the upcoming full-length Surplus 1980 album.
Surplus 1980
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Created out of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum and drummer/percussionist Moe Staiano's Mute Socialite, this 7-piece improvising rock band turns rock on it's side in mostly instrumental, energetically complex and twisted rock pieces with acerbic social narrative, the band employing three drummers, bass & two guitars, piano and trumpet from Darren Johnston.
Surplus 1980 Collectiv Ensembl With G.W. Sok
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Surplus 1980 Collectiv Ensembl takes the current members of drummer Moe! Staiano's Surplus 1980 along with associated musicians, including Kyle Bruckmann, John Shiurba, Vicky Grossi, Paul Costuros, &c, with vocals from Dutch vocalist G.W. Sok (The Ex), in an album of avant post-punk rock, sophisticated but determined and pointed music, an unusual hybrid of impressive styles.
Frith, Fred
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Guitarist Fred Frith performed 80 concerts at NY's The Stone between 2006-2016, in diverse configurations of duos, trios, quartets and large ensembles with some of the planet's finest improvisers, of which 23 recordings, titled from NY Times headlines of each concert's day, are presented in this essential 3-CD package, which includes a 24 page booklet detailing the collection.
Mute Socialite
More Popular Than Presidents and Generals
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Dynamic and hyperkinetic songs from this West Coast band with Moe! Staiano (Sleepytime Gorilla Museum), rugged and impressive instrumental rock including a cover of Massacre's "Killing Time".
Staiano's, Moe! - MOE!KESTRA!
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Two live conducted improvisations percussion for large group recorded at the Oakland Box Theater, presenting the 6 part Piece No.11: Two Orchestras in Separate Rooms.
Staiano, Moe!
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3rd solo album from Sleepytime Gorilla Museum's drummer Staiano, 11 tracks recorded on guitar, loops, drums, and percussion without overdubs.



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