Email: ExEasterIslandEmbassy(at)Gmail.com
Their first two records "Mallet Guitars One" and "Mallet Guitars Two/Music for Moai Hava" are available from Low Point records:
http://www.low-point.com/
"Precise and Pulsing rhythmic minimalism...a three chord punk mission statement turned into a neo-classical manifesto"
- THE WIRE
"A record of repetition and rumbling resonances so beguiling that it's easy to see how making it could have absorbed whole days. The record's highlight, the prosaically titled "Mallet Guitars Two Second Movement", brings to mind Rhys Chatham's seminal work with tone, and John Cage's rhythmic sensibilities as filtered through early Clogs releases."
- PITCHFORK
"Skillfully balanced between methodical precision and emotional resonance, the result is a listen that is dynamic, rich and fluid despite the modesty of its parts."
- THE QUIETUS
"Somewhere between the minimalist disciplines of Steve Reich and the more avant-garde inclinations of performers such as Bang On A Can or So Percussion"
- BOOMKAT
Ex-Easter Island Head have played with the likes of Rhys Chatham, Philip Jeck, Tim Hecker and James Blackshaw. Their music has been played on BBC Radio 3's Late Junction and Resonance FM.
Brighton/London - March 8th/9th
Following on from our dates opening for Esben and The Witch, we are venturing south to play two shows performing “Mallet Guitars Three” in March:
March 8th - The Hope, Brighton, 8pm - courtesy of LOVE THY NEIGHBOR
Support comes from LUO, FAUX FLUX and CROP CIRCLES DJs.
Tickets available here - http://www.wegottickets.com/event/195665 - or £5er on the door
FB Event:
https://www.facebook.com/events/479966362062371/
&
March 9th - Union Chapel, London, 1400 - courtesy of DAYLIGHT MUSIC
David O’Dowda & Haiku Salut will also be appearing at what Time Out magazine called “London’s best performance venue” !
Donation entry.
2013: Live Dates / Releases
Happy New Year!
We are pleased to announce our first live shows of 2013:
February 7th: Birmingham. Hare & Hounds. 8pm. Opening for ESBEN AND THE WITCH
http://www.theticketsellers.co.uk/tickets/esben-and-the-witch-ex-easter-island-head/10023840 (http://hareandhoundskingsheath.co.uk/)
February 9th: Manchester. Bunker. 8pm. Opening for ESBEN AND THE WITCH
http://www.skiddle.com/whats-on/Manchester/The-Bunker/Now-Wave-Presents-Esben-and-the-Witch/11764168/ (Thanks to NOW WAVE: http://www.nowwave.co.uk/)
March 8th: Brighton, The Hope. 8pm.
http://www.seetickets.com/Event/EX-EASTER-ISLAND-HEAD/The-Hope/683940 (Thanks to Love Thy Neighbor: http://lovethyneighbr.tumblr.com/)
March 9th: London. Union Chapel. 14:00. Donation entry!
(Thanks to Daylight Music: http://www.unionchapel.org.uk/pages/events-daylight_music-364.html)
…
2012 roundup
(Photo by Chris Summerlin)
A few days late, but here’s a little roundup of some EEIH related links from 2012:
We’d like to thank everyone who came to see us play, bought our records, played our music on the radio and contributed towards 2012 being a very busy and satisfying year - we played on a tiny island (Iona), undertook two richly rewarding residencies (WEYA 2012, The Curfew Tower), were nominated for a ‘scouse mercury prize’ and released our second record to some very positive reviews, as well as lots of other fun stuff like gigs, buying the odd bit of gear and hilariously breaking the odd bit of gear.
If you missed them first time round, here’s a trio of features concerning our second record - Mallet Guitars Two / Music for Moai Hava:
The Quietus: http://thequietus.com/articles/10889-ex-easter-island-head-interview (Thank you Simon Jay Catling http://essjaycats.tumblr.com/)
The Wire: http://www.exacteditions.com/read/the-wire/september-2012-32350/10/3?dps= (Thank you Abi Bliss http://www.abibliss.co.uk/)
The 405: http://thefourohfive.com/news/article/an-interview-with-ex-easter-island-head (Thank you Chris Woolfrey http://thefourohfive.com/news/by/chris-woolfrey)
….and here’s a couple of nice reviews of said record:
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Mallet Guitars Two / Music for Moai Hava
MALLET GUITARS TWO / MUSIC FOR MOAI HAVA - RELEASED 17TH SEPTEMBER 2012
‘Mallet Guitars Two’ is the second release by Ex-Easter Island Head. Expanding from the duo of theirdebut, ‘Mallet Guitars One’ to a quartet, the piece is four movements for mallet guitars, percussion and trumpet.
Originally commissioned for Liverpool Light Night (2010) and honed over a ten-month period of notable live performances alongside Rhys Chatham and Philip Jeck, ‘Mallet Guitars Two’ broadens the groups’ pulsing percussive minimalism into a full spectrum shimmer of electrified strings, chattering percussion and meditative brass.
Incorporating prepared third-bridge guitars to create a chorusing attack of alternating chords and a bamboo-struck field of flaring harmonics, ‘Mallet Guitars Two’ explores the melodic potential of overtones and drones generated through multiple electric guitars. Anchored by the mesmericrepetition of three fixed chords and incorporating tuned singing bowls alongside gong-like washes of cymbal, this composition exhibits a further refinement of Ex-Easter Island Head’s unique guitar minimalism.
Translated as “One who is lost”, Moai Hava is a ritually significant relic of the now lost Tangata Manu (Bird-Man) religion of Easter Island. Taken from a burial ground on the island in 1868 by the crew of the British ship HMS Topaze, it is unknown whether this name refers to a deceased ancestor or the act of removal from the island, but his relocation coincides with the cataclysmic end of a culture which had existed on the island for around one-thousand years.
Recorded live before an audience of several hundred people, ‘Music for Moai Hava’ was commissioned for performance around the statue itself in the cavernous atrium of the World Museum,Liverpool.
The piece sees Ex-Easter Island Head collaborating with members of the a.P.A.t.T Orchestra, an inclusive ensemble of no fixed size or instrumentation, bringing together players of all ages, abilities and backgrounds.
Performed with a twenty-seven piece ensemble, scored for mallet and third-bridge guitars, drums, hand percussion and voices, ‘Music For Moai Hava’ sees Ex-Easter Island Head’s guitar-struck minimalism at the centre of a ritualistic rattle of bamboo, handclaps, cymbals, bells, gongs and shakers before a horizon-line drone of prepared guitars ushers in a swelling chorus of wordless vocals, amplified by the five-storey space of the museum’s vast atrium.
Track List:
Side A: Mallet Guitars Two, Movements 1 to 4
Side B: Music For Moai Hava
Available to purchase and download from Low Point records:
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Announcement: Ex-Easter Island Head to WEYA 2012
We are pleased to announce that Ex-Easter Island Head will be appearing at Nottingham World Event Young Artists 2012 (WEYA) 5th-15th September:
“This global event will showcase a selection of the best international creative talent, across a spectrum of artforms, in one city, providing an opportunity for 1000 artists from 100 nations to join together and share their creativity on an international platform.
The World Event will be a chance for international exchange on a global scale, bringing the city to life; it is as much about intercultural dialogue across political borders as it is about the practice of young artists.
This unique combination of factors will ensure an unforgettable experience for all who take part and its audiences. Its public programme and web resources will offer space for collaborative development, workshops, debates and symposiums across a mixture of structured and informal settings. Artists will take part in workshops and interactive engaging sessions which will be delivered by an exciting range of creative individuals and artform specialists, exclusively tailored for young artists of the 21st century.”
We are performing three times across the course of the event:
Performance: Isle of Iona, 28th July 2012
On 28th July Ex-Easter Island Head will play on the Isle of Iona in the Inner Hebrides.
Iona boasts a population of 125 and the single best preserved abbey from the middle ages as well as a climate that according to our source is sometimes “like Barbados”, which sounds immensely promising.
If you’re feeling particularly adventurous and would like to go to a beautiful part of the world, or are fortunate enough to already live there, we will perform Mallet Guitars Three in the island’s library - which has previously hosted the likes of King Creosote - at 22:00.
Tickets are available on the door.
More information here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/259835740791787/
here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iona
…and here:
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UPCOMING SHOWS - TIM HECKER, GNOD & MORE, LUCKY DRAGONS
Following our nomination for the Liverpool “Get Into This” award (http://www.peterguy.merseyblogs.co.uk/2012/05/the-git-award-knowing-me-knowi.html) and shows with James Blackshaw, we are pleased to announce three more upcoming performances of our new piece Mallet Guitars Three:
17th May: Liverpool Sound City w/Tim Hecker, Forest Swords, Sun Drums and more @ Screenadelica poster exhibition http://www.liverpoolsoundcity.co.uk/assets/thursdaylineup.pdf
FREE ENTRY - Onstage 19.30
19th May: Talk Amongst Yourselves all day festival @ METROS, Milton Keynes w/Gnod, Poino, SJ Esau, Americans and more
https://www.facebook.com/events/384396481584407/
£3 Advance / £4 On the door - 16.00-23:30
2nd June: Opening for Lucky Dragons:
Lucky Dragons have managed to create a completely new strand of west coast American Psychedelia - Frieze.Challenging stereotypes that electronic music is cold and sterile, Lucky Dragons’ live show…is a truly great celebration of the human spirit, giving real hope for the techno-future our society is racing toward - Artforum
http://www.wolstenholmecreativespace.com/exhibit.php
8pm, Wolstenholme Creative Space, Liverpool, £6 Advance.
4th May / 6th May 2012: Two shows supporting JAMES BLACKSHAW
In anticipation of our second release, Mallet Guitars Two / Music for Moai Hava, we are thrilled to announce two upcoming shows supporting JAMES BLACKSHAW (Important Records / Tompkins Square).
On the 4th May we play an evening hosted by Buried Bones (http://www.buriedbones.co.uk/) in Sacred Trinity Church, Salford. The bill is Ex-Easter Island Head/Directorsound/James Blackshaw.
Tickets are available here : http://www.seetickets.com/Event/JAMES-BLACKSHAW/Sacred-Trinity/619729
& here: http://www.wegottickets.com/event/154420
On the 6th May it’s just us and James Blackshaw playing courtesy of ceremony concerts in one of our favourite venues Mello Mello, which is looking rather fantastic post-refurb.
Tickets are here and are £8 - http://www.ticketweb.co.uk/user/?region=gb_northwest&query=detail&event=491251&interface=
Mercy - http://www.mercyonline.co.uk/ - are a London/Liverpool based arts and literature collective.
In September 2011 they approached us to provide a contribution to their Spectres of Spectacle event, to be held in the Static Gallery. The event, featuring new works from Forest Swords, Anat Ben David and Maria Minerva presented
“Half-erased, deliberately fogged works across lo-fi, spoken word, and the analogue/digital crossover delivering a nuanced, complex response to a present day of degraded ideals.”
Mercy Commission is an installation piece for three tape loops, delay units and multiple amplifiers arranged in a large space. Running continuously, the loops undergo an echoing transformation from their original sound sources - voice, bass guitar and Bell reed organ - to form a subtly changing sonic environment of billowing drones, ghostly replicas and analogue imperfections.
Recorded & Mixed by James Rand, Croxteth Lodge, January 2012.
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Next show: 11/11/11 with Outfit & Dauwd, CUC Liverpool
Our next show is at the Liverpool Music Week 2011 closing party, taking place in the huge CUC building.
We will be appearing on a stage curated by our very good friends and former bandmates in various projects OUTFIT, who have just released (and sold out) their debut single “Two Islands” on Double Denim records.
Appearing in the pages of NME, the Guardian and all over the internet in just a few short months, Outfit play intricately textured emotionally ambiguous songs to be taken seriously with either head or heart (or both). We think they’re one of the best bands in years and fortunately, so does everyone else - come and see why or at the very least, give them a listen: http://www.everynightidressupasyou.com/
DAUWD is someone we’ve had the pleasure of getting to know very recently. Here’s what’s been said:
“Dauwd creates music with a complexity most contemporary producers shy away from. Found sounds are thickly laden over multi-timbred synths, vocal and instrumental stabs punctuate organic and evolving passages guided always by driving percussion and immaculate bass production. The method, “make a noise, make it my noise, then give it some rhythm” certainly seems to work for him. Constantly experimenting, Dauwd describes his creative process as “finding a sound, texture, or moment that you can relate to, and from there develop your narrative.”
We couldn’t agree more - give him a listen here “Ikopol” is particularly good: http://soundcloud.com/dauwd
In addition to getting to share a stage with a large number of our good friends, the likes of a.P.A.t.T, MUGSTAR, GIGANTES, DUSTIN WONG and loads of other good stuff will be happening throughout the evening.
Tickets are here… http://www.ticketweb.co.uk/user/?region=gb_northwest&query=detail&event=467799
…and they’re ten pounds, but totally worth it.
Oh and we’ll be playing new material for four mallet guitars, three allen keys, two violin bows and one tape loop. Come and see what that sounds like!
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