MIE presents the first UK show for Higuma, the psychedelic shoegazing drone duo of Evan Caminiti (Barn Owl) and Lisa McGee. The night will also see a performance from the ever excellent Jozef Van Wissem, the hypnotic Dutch lutenist.

HIGUMA

“Over the past few years Higuma’s Evan Caminiti (of Barn Owl) & Lisa McGee have slowly evolved their sound from shamanistic acoustic dirges into shimmering metallic blast-off hymns, hair raising eulogies to the cosmos. ‘Pacific Fog Dreams’ is a set of seven such songs, all beautifully distant and drenched in layers of earth toned echo, balanced in dream time between melodies and all out electric whitewash. Delayed strums hang in a beyond background, a ghost world of songs from some other place and time, channeled onto the hiss of a cassette tape to remind you. Caminiti’s guitar is often on the verge of taking the whole thing down, sporadically billowing into colorful feedback, huge blocks of impenetrable sound. McGee’s vocals are sometimes discovered, but just as distant smears, or riding the peaks, coaxing out phrases of hidden origin.. maybe singing of intimacy, memory, nature or magic.”

Higuma website



JOZEF VAN WISSEM

Devoted to what he terms “The Liberation of the Lute,” his compositions for the instrument have involved a dynamic mix of conceptual, minimalist, classical and improvisational strategies. Over the last two decades, he has used cut-and-paste tactics, created palindromic compositions by playing pieces forwards and then backwards and used field recordings and free improvisation to create a sound world that is at once meditative and surprising, new and arcane. He composes mirror image melodies that step up and then back down seemingly without end Van Wissem is able to bridge the language of 17th century music with that of the 21st century without compromising the timbre and resonance of traditional lute playing techniques. An incessantly touring musician, van wissem's hypnotic live shows have taken him all over the world. He has records out on Important Records and his own Incunabulum label and has collaborated with James Blackshaw, Keiji Haino and Jim Jarmusch amongst others. Van Wissem studied lute in New york with Pat O'Brien.and released a classical lute CD " A Rose By Any Other Name" consisting of anonymous lute pieces. He lectures on 'the liberation of the lute' ( At Harvard, Wesleyan University, Mills College amongst others) He was commissioned by the National Gallery of London to compose a sound piece to Hans Holbein's painting "The Ambassadors". Van Wissem's work is featured more and more in documentaries and feature films, as well as in the upcoming Sims Medieval video game.

“In “The Mirror of Eternal Light,” the Dutch lutist Jozef van Wissem catches his own reflection in tender, minimalist picking and gold-spray overdubs.”- -David Fricke, senior editor, Rolling Stone Magazine

Jozef Van Wissem website

AN INFINITY ROOM (A.I.R)

A haunting aura of drones, a Zen-like state of repose. An Infinity Room (A.I.R) inhabits a hazy world of harmonies driven by simple arithmetic patterns. Led by sound artist and composer Julian Day, A.I.R uses multiple synthesizers effected by heavy bolt to create richly resonant sound fields reminiscent of La Monte Young, Phil Niblock and Stars Of The Lid. An ever-evolving lineup allows A.I.R to perform in a wide variety of venues from galleries and concert halls to laneways, shopfronts and living rooms. A.I.R hits oto fresh from acclaimed performances in New York, Berlin, The Hague, Edinburgh and Sydney.

An Infinity Room website