Nihilist Spasm Band NO NOTHING No Music Festival 2000 6 CD Box Set New Sealed

THE NIHILIST SPASM BAND

NO NOTHING — No Music Festival 2000 - Nihilist Spasm Band & many others

NO NOTHING
NO MUSIC FESTIVAL 2000 — NIHILIST SPASM BAND with musicians from Canada, the United States, Europe, and Japan

6 CD BOX SET

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The live recording of the 2000 No Music Festival, NO NOTHING, consists of six CDs, an oversize 20-page booklet with photos of the performers, notes by festival director Ben Portis and by several of the participants, and a button, which you can wear to impress your friends by making them think you actually attended the festival, all packaged in a sturdy, attractively-designed box.

The festival was structured in two parts over three days and evenings: the concert performances by each of the groups (on discs 1, 2, 3, and 4), and "interplay"—what might be called jam sessions—consisting of improvisations by members of the various groups, many of whom had never met one another before the festival, in a variety of permutations and combinations (on discs 5 & 6). Additional "Inter-players" included free jazz saxophonist Eric Stach, Tim Glasgow (who also made the digital recordings of the festival), Galen Curnoe and Owen Curnoe (sons of the late artist Greg Curnoe, a founding member of the Nihilist Spasm Band), Jay Bellchamber, Shawn Bristow, Mark Favro (son of NSB co-founder Murray Favro), Miyu Uemura, and Mark Thibideau.

The seven concert numbers by the Spasm Band included one of their "greatest hits," "Meat Eater," and an expanded version of their 1967 debut recording, "No Canada," called "No Canada/No United States/NoSweden." Nihilist Spasm Band bassist Hugh McIntyre was absent from the festival due to illness, but the band was augmented by guest artists Lee Ranaldo (co-founder of the rock band Sonic Youth), dancer Ruth Douthwright, Japanese noise band alumna Aya Ohnishi, and Paulina Wallenberg-Olsson.

Personnel of The Nihilist Spasm Band:
John Boyle - kazoo, drums, thumb piano
John Clement - guitar, drums
Bill Exley - vocals, kazoo, cooking pot
Murray Favro - guitar, drums
Art Pratten - Pratt-A-Various

Track Listing:
Disc 1 (concert performances)
1. The Black Auks (Don Wherry, Craig Squires, Wallace Hammond, Neil Rosenberg, Harold Klunder)
2. undo (Alexandre St. Onge & Christof Migone)
3. Gary Hill, Paulina Wallenberg-Olsson, & John Boyle
Disc 2 (concert performances)
1. Lee Ranaldo & Paul Dutton
2. Voice Crack (Norbert Möslang & Andy Guhl)
Disc 3 (concert performances)
1. Aube (Akifumi Nakajima)
2. Mne-mic (Mayuko Hino & Ranko Onishi)
Disc 4 (concert performances)
1. Nihilist Spasm Band - Introductions
2. Nihilist Spasm Band - Sober Second Thoughts
3. Nihilist Spasm Band - Meat Eater
4. Nihilist Spasm Band - Don't Count (with Lee Ranaldo)
5. Nihilist Spasm Band - No Bell Rings for Alexander (with Ruth Douthwright)
6. Nihilist Spasm Band - Ask My Opinion (with Aya Ohnishi)
7. Nihilist Spasm Band - No Canada/No United States/NoSweden (with Paulina Wallenberg-Olsson)
Disc 5 (Interplay, 10 tracks)
Disc 6 (Interplay, 10 tracks)

This is an original, new, sealed 6-CD box set issued in 2000 and now out of print.

Review

The third edition of the No Music Festival occurred on March 30th and April 1st, 2001 in London (Ontario, Canada). All the performances were recorded, and the six-CD set No Nothing: No Music Festival 2000 regroups the strongest moments. The festival, which by 2000 had become more than a curiosity, is structured in two parts: the scheduled performances and the "interplay" sessions, where musicians are called to improvise in "rounds." The 2000 No Music headliners were Lee Ranaldo (co-founder of Sonic Youth) in a superb duet with sound poet Paul Dutton (a world premiere), the Swiss electronics duo Voice Crack, Aube, and, of course, the Nihilist Spasm Band, the hosts of the event. With a set this comprehensive (a total of 426 minutes of music!), there are bound to be good and less-good moments. The most intriguing is undo's set -- Christof Migone and Alexandre St-Onge stuffed contact microphones down their throats to capture the sound of their saliva. St. John's, Newfoundland's the Black Auks account for the best discovery -- they play a very strong NSB-derived, but also folk-influenced, set. Singer/screamer Paulina Wallenberg-Olsson's performance with video artist Gary Hill and NSB's John Boyle is another highlight. These concerts are found in part on the first three discs. Disc four is dedicated to the NSB's show (without bassist Hugh McIntyre, who was sidelined by health problems), which included a few guest appearances (the best are Ranaldo and Wallenberg-Olsson). The last two discs contain interplay excerpts. Here, the Sonic Youth guitarist and Aube (aka Akifumi Nakajima) were very enthusiastic and flexible. Highlights are too numerous to mention. Suffice it to say that there is a surprise in almost every track. No Nothing: No Music Festival 2000 was released as a limited-edition (500 copies) box set with a 20-page booklet by Non Musica Rex. ~ François Couture, All Music Guide

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