Hal McGee New Music from the third quarter of 2007
NEW
STUFF
most recent recordings, info, videos
Dictaphonia Microcassette Compilation project
Laboratory
Music
improvisation festival
Music Index 1981-2010 containing listings for McGee's albums of the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s
Hal McGee has been making homemade recordings of his own experimental, electronic, industrial and noise music since September 1981.
In the 1980s he recorded with Debbie Jaffe under the name Viscera, and solo under the name Dog As Master.
From 1984-87 Jaffe and McGee operated the Cause And Effect International Distribution Service. They distributed more than 5,000 cassettes of homemade experimental music.
From 1989 to 1991 McGee published six issues of the homemade experimental music magazine, Electronic Cottage.
In 1998 Hal produced the Tape Heads compilation series of recordings by more than 200 audio artists.
Hal McGee has released more than 120 albums, and in addition to numerous solo works he has collaborated with Chris Phinney, Al Margolis, L.G. Mair, David Prescott, Dave Fuglewicz, NOMUZIC, Brian Noring, Don Campau, Jabon, Keith Nicolay, Phil Klampe, Charles Rice Goff III, Bret Hart, and many others.
RANDOM 10-TRACK PLAYLIST of songs by Hal McGee and friends at Tapegerm.
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Hal McGee Wired For Sound (originally released on CDR in 2000)
Wired For Sound is one of my favorite recordings in my catalog and in many ways is a seminal Hal McGee audio work. Presented here for the first time ever online, Wired For Sound was originally released by Phil Klampe on his 6 On The Dot label, on homemade CDr. Recorded in its entirety on a Sony Cassette-Corder TCM-453V handheld mono cassette recorder, using only the built-in condenser microphone - TDK D Normal Bias tape ->> March-April 2000. See below to download the mp3s.
Key words and terms: dada, fluxus, cassette art, collage, cut-ups, spontaneous, beat poetry, audio ethnography, juxtapositions, shortwave radio (the use of which connects the worldwide/universal with the personal/local), sidewalk audio art, Kurt Schwitters, Jean Dubuffet, assemblage, quotidian.
Here
is a review by Jerry Kranitz in Aural
Innovations # 19: "...the
disc opens with Hal stating, "Sounds on a tape. Sounds on a
tape". And that's precisely what this is... sounds on a tape.
We hear Hal's spoken word, we join him in the bathroom, hear him
in conversation with his niece and others... loads and loads of
pasted together field recordings. I remember when I was little my
grandfather had this old reel-to-reel and I'd record for hours,
getting something similar to what Hal has of his niece. I'd go on
endlessly about imaginary friends and such, but in my teen years
my grandfather made the mistake of giving me and my sisters the
reel-to-reel and all the tapes... all of which we promptly taped
over. Boy do I regret that now. But I digress. One of the interesting
things about Wired For Sound is the (I presume) deliberately
choppy way in which Hal edits together the various bits that make
up the CD, which gives it a raw quality that makes things a bit
jarring throughout and, given that I was listening with headphones,
a little dizzying as well. I described hearing something similar
on Maps Of Nowhere, though Wired For Sound largely
dispenses with the sonic explorations in favor of a focus on words,
poetry, and day-to-day sounds and activities. It seems chaotic as
hell and I found it difficult to listen to the entire 70 minutes
in one sitting, but on a voyeuristic level it's quite cohesive and
probably my favorite of all Hal's works I've heard. I felt like
I was following Hal around hiding in the bushes as he experiences
a typical day, presented against a wildly surreal backdrop."
Here is an excerpt from a review by Swami Loopynanda: "On this CD McGee breaks through to an environment where most listeners might feel a bit uncomfortable. Nevertheless, those audiophiles out there who are truly looking for a unique experience should check this one out. Using only a handheld monophonic tape recorder, Hal pastes together literally hundreds of chunks of found sounds into an exhibition of nothing less than his own everyday reality. All of these rough chunks are separated by the noises of the tape recorder being turned on and off, giving the entire CD a primitive ambience, uncharacteristic of today's technologically washed recordings."
Gibberish and glossolalia, cut-up improvised fourth generation beat sidewalk poetry; emergency vehicle sirens and other urban noise pollution; shortwave radio bursts; and a four year old girl's meditations on the universe, trees, clouds, butterflies and lemonade.
Wired For Sound Part One (30:47)
Wired For Sound Part Two (30:38)
Deletion Retraction Verification (10:25)
original CDR cover, 6 On The Dot
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Hal McGee Aleatorium (3:37)
On my mid-September tour (Chapel Hill, Richmond, Washington DC, Charleston) -with Ironing- I will probably play material similar to this, plus "benttapecircuitfuck", which you can find below. "Aleatorium" was created with circuit bent Casio SK-1 and SK-5 (both bent by Waterhed), a glorious $100 Fostex X-12 4-track cassette recorder, and an equally glorious $50 Behringer Eurorack UB802 mixer. The angrier, more agitated, more irritated and more depressed I get ... the more productive I get! Photo by Jen Sandwich.
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Hal McGee itchinmytwitchyglitch (6:21)
Created with loop material provided by GEMAfreie-welten at Tapegerm.com. Recorded and processed on microcassette (and in Acid Pro). I am itchy and twitchy and irritable and pissed off. My idea of dance music for the 21st Century. This sounds like the tinnitus in my right ear. Photo by Jen Sandwich.
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The Analog Synthesizer Ensemble Renegade Electronauts (11:52)
The second improvisation of The Analog Synthesizer Ensemble from the July 13, 2007 jam session, at Hal McGee's apartment, in Gainesville, Florida. Jay Peele - Moog Voyager RME, Hal McGee - Moog MG-1, Jen Abell - Moog Rogue, and special guest SOS (Astral Fields Drifter) - Moog Rogue.
Warming up for the jam: Hal McGee and Jen Abell. Gabe Loewenberg assists SOS with The Rogue.
Jay Peele plays the Moog Voyager RME
"Renegade Electronauts" jam out
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Free Space live at Stardust 072006 (9:16)
Audio document of the first live performance of Free Space was at Stardust Coffee & Video, in Orlando, Florida, on July 20, 2007 - complete with Free Space warm-up sounds and ambient audience chatter... Hal McGee (Moog Etherwave Theremin), Bobby Moseley (Moog MG-1), Christopher Cprek (x0xb0x, Scarab Oscillator, Polypentagonal Tonefaker), and Aaron Zarzutzki (Moog Rogue). Kristin Calvarese, Lissajou, Pax Titania, Aaron Zarzutzki, and Praew Jik also played that night. Audio recording by Joshua Manchester on a Sony Discman MZM100 with a Sony 957 microphone. Special thanks to Dustin (Praew Jik) for organizing the show. Photograph above by Jen Sandwich - to see many more of her photos from that night, including several of Free Space, go to her Flickr site.
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Hal McGee benttapecircuitfuck (2:44)
Recorded Tuesday, August 7, 2007. Circuit bent Casio SK-1, Fostex X-12 4-track cassette recorder, Behringer Eurorack UB802. Photo by Jen Sandwich.
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Free Space 072607 Jam 1 (16:47)
Recorded during the fourth Free Space studio recording session, July 26, 2007, at Hal McGee's apartment in Gainesville, Florida. Adam Batley (The Viirus) - Sequential Circuits Pro-One, Andrew Chadwick - Crumar Performer, Bobby Moseley - Moog Voyager RME, Jesi Langdale - Moog Rogue, Hal McGee - Moog MG-1.
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Free Space live at Action Research #4 (20:00)
Recorded live at the 2nd Street Bakery, Gainesville, Florida, on July 21, 2007, Action Research Show #4. Jay Peele - Micromoog and Moog MG-1, Hal McGee - Moog Voyager RME, SOS - Moog Rogue. Mono audio document recorded on cassette. Mastering and post-production by Jay Peele.
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see photos of Hal McGee by Jen Sandwich - click on the pic above
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The Analog Synthesizer Ensemble with Pax Titania Live at Action Research 3 (12:11)
The first live performance of The Analog Synthesizer Ensemble was July 12, 2007, Action Research Show #3, at 1982, in Gainesville, Florida. Jay Peele - Micromoog and Moog MG-1, Hal McGee - Moog Voyager RME, Jenifer Abell - Moog Rogue, and special guest Christopher Cprek (Pax Titania)- x0xb0x, Scarab Oscillator, Polypentagonal Tonefaker. Audio recording and mp3 creation by Andrew Chadwick (Ironing).
Photographs by Jen Sandwich
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The Analog Synthesizer Ensemble Moon Mining (13:35)
This is the first improvisation from the July 13, 2007 recording session of The Analog Synthesizer Ensemble, at Hal McGee's apartment in Gainesville, Florida. It is a free form improvisational analog synthesizer space-noise exploration by Jen Abell (Paramutual Operator) - Moog Voyager RME, Hal McGee - Moog Rogue, and Jay Peele - Moog MG-1.
The Analog Synthesizer Ensemble (Jay Peele, Hal McGee, and Jen Abell) playing "Moon Mining", July 13, 2007, Gainesville, Florida. Photograph by Jen Sandwich
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Free Space 071307 Jam 1 (16:47)
Photograph by Jen Sandwich
This is the first improvisation from the July 13, 2007 recording session of my new group, Free Space. It is a free form improvisational analog synthesizer space-noise exploration by Jen Abell (Paramutual Operator) - Moog Voyager RME, Hal McGee - Moog Rogue, Gabe Loewenberg - Moog Rogue, and SOS (Astral Planes Farmer) - Moog MG-1, Jay Peele - mix.
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Free Space 070807 Jam 1 excerpt (7:37)
Excerpt from the July 8, 2007 recording session of my new group, Free Space. It is a free form improvisational analog synthesizer space-noise exploration by, from left to right, Kristin Calvarese (Moog MG-1), Hal McGee (Octave Cat), Aaron Zarzutzki (Moog Sonic Six), and (Moog Rogue).
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Free Space 070607 Jam 2 excerpt (6:47)
Here is an excerpt from the first studio recording session of Hal McGee's new group, Free Space. Free Space is the sister group of The Analog Synthesizer Ensemble. The personnel lineup of the group will be different at each recording session and live performance. Like The Analog Synthesizer Ensemble, Free Space creates free form improvisational space music explorations with analog synthesizers. The first session was held Friday, July 6, 2007, at Hal McGee's apartment in Gainesville, Florida. On this excerpt taken from the second improvisation you will hear, from left to right, Aaron Zarzutzki (Moog Rogue, Little Boy Black), Bobby Moseley (Moog MG-1), Hal McGee (Moog Voyager RME), and Andrew Chadwick (Crumar Performer).