Phillips, Jon (rejon)

Damascus from the Mount

Originally uploaded by rejon

After taking some time away from big time projects, massive traveling and speaking, I’ve cranked up all things REjon because of my projects with StatusNet, Fabricatorz, and , Creative Commons.

I wanted to take some time to give thanks to all on the great holiday of Thanksgiving. I’m not giving thanks to the history of Thanksgiving, but to the concept of it, in giving thanks to all those I know, love and appreciate.

Thank you to my Overlap family! We have many big projects and plans we will unveil between now and the new year, so stay tuned!

I'm doing some cool stuff with off-the-shelf knock-off speakers in Shenzhen, China this weekend. Please read the big post and get involved in making speakers where you live!

Behind the scenes at Overlap.org, we’ve been hustling to get various bits of history and accomplishments in order. As part of this, I compiled a list of major Overlap Release, Events and Projects. We also made a subtle tweak to the statement about what Overlap.org is: “Overlap.org is a platform for experimental media — releases, events, and projects.”

Check out the Overlap CV and do the mathematics. We’ve done 18 releases, 28 Symbiosis Podcasts, 33 events, and run 9 sustainable projects. And, there is so much more to come!

For Immediate release – 6 October 2009 – San Francisco

Curated by Jeff Owens from Ghostly International, Overlap presents Chris McNamara. Echoes from the Windsor-Detroit techno scene modulate off Lake St. Clair and emerge into the sound forms of “Vague Cities”. McNamara’s muffled beats, gentle harmonies, and light-like shimmering textures envelope you wholly, while creating a space to breathe and be.

Chris McNamara is a Windsor ON. / Ann Arbor-based video artist, writer, DJ, new media instructor, and founding member of Thinkbox (http://thinkbox.ca), a label/collective that currently includes Christopher Bissonnette (Kranky), Steve Roy, Rob Theakston, Bill Van Loo and Mark Laliberte. Chris spent much of the last decade making sounds and moving images for both live performance and for museum and festival settings. He has shown his work in numerous festivals including the International Film Festival Rotterdam, the Ann Arbor Film Festival and the Independent Film Festival of Boston. His multi-media installations have been exhibited in a number of settings including Toronto, Vancouver, Halifax, Zurich, Berlin and most recently in Plymouth, UK. Chris’ latest projects are nospectacle (a live pa/dj group with Walter Wasacz and Jennifer Paull) in Detroit and Noiseborder – a new music ensemble based in Windsor, ON.

This release marks Overlap and Ghostly International’s first release collaboration. Jeff Owens, Label Manager for Ghostly International, passed along Chris McNamara’s work to Overlap founder Christopher Willits and both agreed it needed to be heard. “Chris’ compositions are precise while patterns slowly emerge and build upon each other to create a rewarding listen to patient ears. It reminds me of snowy Detroit winters or watching a person’s daily experience with public transportation slowed down to a more manageable pace and that everything is going to be ok…,” said Jeff Owens. Overlap.org’s founder, Christopher Willits said, “Chris McNamara’s ‘Vague Cities’ is Overlap’s first curatorial collaboration with another label. A big beautiful welcome to our diverse catalog of media growing at Overlap, Chris McNamara creates the sound feeling of an early morning post-rave bliss.”

Chris McNamara, Vague Cities

Track List

* 01 Trimalchio
* 02 oooohdear
* 03 Sleeping Car/Shunting Yard (formerly titled For Markus)
* 04 et puis
* 05 Subsandtaxis (Markus Guentner rmx)

*Release: http://shop.overlap.org/album/chris-mcnamara-vague-cities
*Album Image: http://ur1.ca/behx
*Cover art by Christopher Willits: http://ur1.ca/bei6
*Chris McNamara Myspace Page: http://ur1.ca/bei4

Overlap Salon, San Francisco – Dia de los Maxos

On 28 October, Overlap.org’s series of Max/MSP/Jitter/Live Salons will continue in a collaborative event with the Bay Area Computer Music Technology Group, hosted by the Gray Area Foundation for the Arts. This will be an evening of informal lectures and performances: a brainwave system for the creation of music presented by Jef Stott; Edison making music with Max, Monomes, Live and low-bit samplers; Preshish Moments detailing and performing with his custom hardware controller and Max/MSP system for manipulating audio.

28 October, 7pm – 9pm
Overlap.org and BArCMuT hosted by Gray Area Foundation for the Arts: http://www.gaffta.org/
55 Taylor Street
San Francisco, CA 94102

For more information: connect@overlap.org

About Overlap.org

Overlap.org is a platform for experimental media – releases, events and projects.

Overlap releases experimental music and videos, produces unique events, and provides users with a blog to share experimental media with others. Overlap.org is based in San Francisco and our mission is to grow and support experimental culture locally, and throughout the world. 18 exclusive Overlap releases have featured a vast diversity of audio and visual artists experimenting within the convergence of different genres. 14 different Overlap events, and 8 Overlap Salons have brought people and new ideas together in the San Francisco Bay Area, New York, and London.

Overlap was founded by musican/artist Christopher Willits and came to life with the help of Jon Phillips, Kenric McDowell, Louis Rawlins, Lucky BK, Barry Threw, Vlad Spears, Simon Hampson, Ryan Kleeman, and other devoted artists.

For more information, please visit: http://overlap.org

Press Contact

* Sponsoring Organization: Overlap.org
* Contact: Jon Phillips
* Contact email: info@overlap.org
* Phone (USA): +1 510-499-0894
* Website: http://overlap.org
* Press Kit: http://overlap.org/about
* Press Release: http://ur1.ca/d2mi

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 Oooohdear from Chris McNamara's : Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (338)

I announced at my website, and posted an invite to all that I now extend to my overlap friends, to come to the Renegade Art Auction this Sunday in Sonoma (wine country).

Here is a description of Virii 2009 Conficker:

Virii 2009 is an annual acknowledgment of the computer virus which has replicated the most, globally, for an annual year. The first Virii 2009 unique plaque, VIRII 2009 CONFICKER, is presented as a certified record of authenticity, framed for hanging on a wall in a secure location. Future certifications are to be only distributed as an annual unique plaque. It is entrusted to a collector to be stored or shown securely. The attached disc and samples contained on the disc are packed in a secure manner that only the artist, Jon Phillips, or his designated agents may discuss.

Head over to my site for the rest of the details and more pictures!

Come find us at the big swissnex event this weekend that is FREE at San Francisco Art Institute! Barry had a great post about the event on Saturday that features Overlap’s own, Christopher Willits doing a live set amongst others including: Marcus Maeder, Bernd Schurer, Thomas Peter and Jasch, and the tape works of the ICST’s German Toro-Perez, Daniel Bisig, Philippe Kocher and Martin Neukom, these three evening also bring a great roaster of West Coast performers together, including Steve Roden, Mem1, Kadet Kuhne, Loren Chasse, and Seth (Sutekh).

Come and find us! I look like this, but with a pre-mission beard:

[ Photo by-sa asadal ]

We will have some stickers and other things to get you into Overlap! Find me near Christopher and more than likely that Barryster (like Barista).

After the SWISSNEX + SFAI gig, several of us will roll over to check out Tim Kiefer’s event, The Night Kitchen featuring amazing SJ SLUGO and DUB U, RIPLEY & RICO PREDICAT from Bay Area! Its a night of Juke House Music.

Then, come to Swissnex the coming Tuesday, September 29 at Swissnex office to participate in more electronic music goodness from 1 to 5 PM at a workshop to “discuss research and tools by the ICST, in domains such as ambisonics (Ambisonics externals for Max MSP and others) and Interactive Swarm Spaces while also broaching on historic perspectives about electronic music in Switzerland and beyond.”

Over at my blog, I posted up the slides and a quick recap of my travels to Melbourne. Of course, most notable for this blog is the kick-off of the Overlap Salon Melbourne.

A big thanks to Simon Hampson for setting up the event, and always doing what he does, which is symbiosis great! He set the event at the fabulous Loop Bar in downtown Melbourne. After about 10 people showed up, Simon started off by discussing what Overlap is, the evolution of Symbiosis and how he wants to see Overlap Melbourne move with the Salon and eventually doing Listen/Vision events in the future.

Then, I did my presentation thing (you can see my slides here), talked about my background, Fabricatorz, Vision Forum and the Laoban Speaker Workshop. I also updated the Overlap slidedeck, so that others in Overlap can use it to build future presentations.

Josh Batty gave my favorite presentation of the night by showing off his wonderful max patches, and talking in general about his direction as an artist, and how he hopes to grow the scene in Melbourne through the Overlap Salon Melbourne (You can see my photos of him speaking here).

We ended the night after some constructive discussion, a few pints, and then onto eating the most amazing noodle soup I’ve ever had at a nearby venue.

Hats off once more to Simon and Josh for great event. I look forward to seeing how the Overlap Salon Melbourne grows. If you want to start an Overlap Salon in your city, start contributing to Overlap.org, drop us a line, and lets overlap.