Mark Rushton and Jon Harnish - Live From The Ped Mall Update

Jon Harnish and I played in the Iowa City Ped Mall on Saturday, September 24th. Some pics are here. We played between 6pm and 9pm and recorded almost all of it via my minidisc recorder. I've spent almost every night this week processing the audio, editing it, and enhancing the sound. The quality is really really good. Right now I have some rough edits, but the recordings should be complete by this weekend and one or two of them will make it into the next podcast. They are all really fascinating pieces of improvised music. Jon does wall-of-bass and effects. I'm on laptop with loops. It's a simple setup, but the music is just totally beautiful. It's mostly ambient-oriented electronica with a number of field recordings thrown in. There are a few beats here and there, but not that much and I try to keep it interesting with blending, mixing, and shifting. Jon and I plan to do this again in later October, probably on a Sunday night, before it gets really cold outside.

Interviews and Press Releases Updated

The Interview and Press Release page has been updated with some newer things, mostly press releases.

Saturday, Live At The Ped Mall, Iowa City

I'll be creating soundscapes on Saturday, September 24th, in the Ped Mall (Mini Stage at Washington Ave and Dubuque St) in Iowa City, Iowa, between 6pm and 9pm, weather permitting. I'm on laptop & loops and Jon Harnish will be extracting sounds out of his bass and into his effects box.

Review at Disquiet.com

Here's a very nice review at Disquiet.com:

With its snatch of acoustic guitar providing an earthy, if distinctly computer-enabled, rhythm, "Sunday Drift" (MP3) couldn't surprise more if it took a sudden pause for a glorious break of fog-splitting shimmer — which is exactly what it does. A free download off Mark Rushton's recent Hum and Drift album, the song uses that self-evident contrast (between pedestrian folksiness and heavenly aura) to its advantage, overlaying 'em for effect but playing them against each other as well. Also recommended is "Translucent" (MP3), an amorphous expanse of industrial noise, replete with the sound of approaching trains, light hiss and a pervasive unease. More info at markrushton.com.

Podcast #5: One 34-minute Untitled Drone/Electronica Piece

Podcast #5: One 34-minute Untitled Drone/Electronica Piece

Released September 18, 2005, 36 minutes and 34 seconds, 128kb-encoded MP3, 35MB

This piece was recorded the night before at the September 17, 2005, Ambient Matyk. It's just me on laptop and loops, and Jon Harnish on bass guitar and effects box. We work an initial drone sequence into this electronic/somewhat drifty/somewhat industrial-ish piece that's over 34 minutes long.

Molly O'Poverty

The Molly O'Poverty Guide to (Mostly) Free Music links to my free MP3 page and loves "Theme From Lincoln Highway"

Live at the New Bohemia Solar Project Installation Ceremony

I played 21 different pieces of music at the Live at the New Bohemia Solar Project Installation Ceremony this morning. There are pictures of the event here.

Solar Soundscaping On Friday Morning, September 9th

I'll be providing solar-powered soundscaping during the celebration ceremony of the New Bohemia Solar Project at the Kouba Building, 1012 3rd St SE, on Friday morning. I expect to start the music around 9:30am.

Here's pics of the last solar-powered gig I did back on July 1st.

Mark Rushton September 2005 Podcast

Podcast #4: Ambient, Field Recordings, Dance, Rock, and Remix

Released September 4, 2005, 23 minutes and 18 seconds, 128kb-encoded MP3, 22MB

Mark Rushton starts off with a short ambient piece, National Championship from his latest album, Hum And Drift. The second track is a brand-new arranged field recording called Interference. Next is a work-in-progress that has dance, field recording, and ambient elements. Following that is the track Psychometrics from Mark's 2004 CD release, The Driver's Companion. Immediately following Psychometrics is an 8-minute dance remix Mark created live, improvisationally, in his basement at the end of August 2005.

Throughout the podcast are three brief ads. One is for EcoLips.com, a natural and organic lip balm; another is for ScrapItOut.com, a business and government recycler of computers and e-waste, and LinkertonPublishing.com, an e-book publisher.

To download the podcast:

• Visit Mark's Podcast page
  
• Or go directly to iTunes, visit the Podcast page there, and search for Mark's podcast.
• Or get the MP3 directly by using this link.