04/08/2008 16:22

everything is moving

this site will be archived and taken down very soon... go to briansiskind.wordpress.com

03/05/2008 11:00

i know... lame

I have been too busy to keep this site up very well... and against my better standards I find much of it is now broken due to various upgrades etc.
The short of it is... if you want to see my latest photos its flickriver.com/photos/siskind -- and myspace.com/fognode for music... and if you
want to keep up with me personally find me at myspace.com/briansiskind

i have tons of music that needs to be hatched... and a backlog of field recordings... and there are other things...

moving to new york (again 12 years later) has been amazing... i have had a great time with all my people here... and am spending many hours
a week just studying paintings.

and yes the rumor is true... i am in school... it appears i am living life in reverse.

all is very well and thanks to all those who have been checking in and hounding me for music.

be careful out there.

.b

10/24/2007 02:32

Two Photography Shows and One music show coming soon

12 Pictures Gallery
Opening reception for photography at 12 Pictures in Nashville October 25 6-9pm
Show runs until November 17th...
www.twelvepictures.com for info

Portland Brew West - November 9 - December 21
Opening reception November 11 7pm

View my photographs here:
http://www.flickriver.com/photos/siskind/sets/

AND BUY THE NEW HARDCOVER BOOK HERE (.95 - 42 pages):
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/96339

Also I am performing at the annual Buzz and Click / WRVU 91.1 benefit.
December 8 - late. My last show in Nashville before I leave for NYC... again.

07/28/2007 03:56

photography show in Nashville

There will be around 15 photographs in large format giclee prints, as
well as 8x10's on display at Portland Brew West on Murphy Road/I-440
in Nashville from November 9 - December 21.
All will be available for purchase with a deposit and the balance due
on the 21st when the show comes down.
There will be an opening party/reception on Sunday November 11, and
more details on that will follow.

07/22/2007 13:24

this amazing year

Hey everyone!
Ok. It has been a long time since I updated here. I have so much to
say that I can barely even think of where to start. This year so far
has been an amazing year. It has been a very difficult year. It has
been the most challenging experience of my life, as well as yielding
some of my greatest triumphs as a creative person. I feel completely
behind, as well as ahead of the game. So many contradictions this
year... but a few things seem pervasive. I care a lot about a lot of
people. I have a lot of amazing people that care a whole lot about me.
Travel is the best medicine. Music is a saving grace. Stuff is just
stuff, and money is just money. Don't hold grudges, as people just do
the best they can do with what they have at the time. Don't have
expectations. People will be people.
Yes a lot of these things have been central to the recent past... but
here is what has come out of it that matters to me most... or is at
least relevant to this website. Here are the goings on:

PHOTOGRAPHY

- I had my camera (among everything else) stolen in Italy this summer,
and it gave me time to evaluate what I am doing with photography, and
I have chosen to pursue it more. I have a show lined up at Portland
Brew West here in Nashville from November 9 - December 21. There will
be around 15 pieces shown there and will of course be for sale. I am
working on other shows at galleries in and outside of Nashville, and
expect more news on that soon.

- I submitted a portfolio to the Museum of Contemporary Photography in
Chicago in person recently, and am expecting to hear something from
them in 1-2 months about a possible inclusion in a temporary
installation of some kind. I expect nothing, but now they know who I
am. I will be back. By the way the MOCP has some amazing Harry
Callahan photographs. Go see them.

- I am selling prints. Go buy one!
www.flickr.com/photos/siskind/sets/72157600272447353/

- I have had a few photographs published recently... two in a book
called Nashville Amplified and the other is in a book on Abe Jacob.

Ok enough on picture taking.

MUSIC

- I co-produced, engineered, and played on Clare Burson's new record
"Thieves". I think it's great. I am really proud of this record. Go
see her and buy it: http://www.clareburson.com
http://myspace.com/clareburson

- I have been working with Oblio on a new record at House of David and
at... well house of Fognode. Maybe that's what I should call it....
um... anyway... It is sounding good and I am also proud of that work.

- I just started a record with Jordan Caress. She is awesome. You will
know this voice soon.

- I have also been doing miscellaneous mixing/mastering/whatever with
everything from the Bubblegum Complex to Tommy Keenum to Let's Say
Baltimore to my own music... and more is coming. I have piles of
unfinished things that I look to wrap up before the end of the year...
I am sitting on at least two records of material.

TRAVEL
- I have been to Seattle, Chicago, Milwaukee, Wilmington,
Winston-Salem, Asheboro, Charlotte, Asheville, Memphis, Barcelona,
Nice, Rome and seen a lot of beauty in the last 7 months. See my
flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/siskind

So there is a lot more to say... but I think that is all I have in me
right now to write.
I thank all of you for being so supportive, and buying music and
photos and spreading the word.

03/08/2007 13:58

just so you know

i am alive

10/16/2006 19:10

All Recordings 25% Off in MP3 Format until Halloween

Look for the store link on the right side here to take you to the cheapness.
The mp3's are high quality and include artwork and liner notes.
Enjoy.

10/16/2006 18:49

Buzz and Click 4 November 4th at The End

08/08/2006 00:16

Sense of the City

If you are in the Montreal area, go to the Canadian Centre for Architecture to see the exhibit "Sense of the City". It includes many field recordings as part of the installation, and one came from my driveway here in Nashville, among many others.

Here is the skinny:

Sense of the City
In the Main Galleries, from 26 October 2005 to 10 September 2006

The Canadian Centre for Architecture presents Sense of the City, a major exhibition dedicated to the theme of urban phenomena and perceptions which have traditionally been ignored, repressed, or maligned. Challenging the dominance of the visual in the urban environment, the exhibition proposes a re-thinking of latent qualities of the city, offering complex analyses of the comforts, communication systems, and sensory dimensions of urban lifethus advancing a new spectrum of experience and engagement.

"The most banal and ubiquitous phenomena," remarked curator and CCA director designate Mirko Zardini, "like asphalt, the second crust of the earth, cacophonies of everyday sounds and smells, competing light effects, manipulations of temperature and climate, heat and cold, the junk and graffiti that disfigure buildings and streets, as well as the subtle, mostly hidden signs of regeneration in the urban environment, will be presented through artefacts and images that collectively suggest the rich array of urban experiences and behaviours lying just beyond traditional interpretations of the city."

The communicative and symbolic character of the contemporary city has until now resided primarily in visual phenomena. Smell has been systematically erased from the urban domain in the name of hygiene, the outcome of a process which had begun by the 14th century. A barrage of electronic sounds and ambient noise today pervades the social space once reserved largely for verbal communication, driving pedestrians and motorists to retreat into controlled personal soundscapes. Tactility is largely unexplored as a means of navigating and understanding the city, while continuous efforts are made to neutralize or conquer variations in temperature. Sense of the City explores overlooked modes of perception, offering a complex analysis of urban phenomena and proposing a new sensorial approach to urbanism.

Sense of the City will be presented in five interrelated sections focusing on fundamental sensory conditions and technological interventions in the urban environment: nocturnal city, seasonal city, sound of the city, surface of the city, and air of the city. The materials exhibited will include drawings, photographs, artefacts, maps, printed ephemera, models, installations, videotapes, projections, recorded sounds, and odours.

A catalogue of the same name will accompany the exhibition, co-published by the CCA and Lars Müller Publishers, and edited by Mirko Zardini. Following the thematic structure of the exhibition, the book comprises a critical interpretation of the city through sensory experience. With an introduction by Mirko Zardini and a preface by Phyllis Lambert, the volume features essays by cultural historians Constance Classen and Wolfgang Schivelbusch, anthropologist David Howes, urban designer and planner Norman Pressman, and historian Emily Thompson. In keeping with the synaesthetic and heterogenous character of the contemporary city, it juxtaposes text and image in a format that is open to multiple readings. Insightfully illustrated with over 400 colour and black and white images, the 350-page catalogue will be published in English and French editions. Available at the CCA Bookstore at a cost of .00 CAD, Sense of the City will also be distributed internationally.

Born in Verona, Italy, Mirko Zardini is an architect whose research, writings, and design projects engage contemporary architecture, its transformations, and its relationship with the city and the landscape. A former editor of Casabella magazine and Lotus international, Mr. Zardini also served on the editorial board of Domus magazine. He has taught design and theory at various architectural schools, including the Swiss Federal Polytechnic University in Zurich, and Harvard University. Among his numerous publications, the most recent is Asphalt (Milan, 2003), the result of in-depth research on the character of the contemporary city for a series of exhibitions, of which Asphalt (Milan Triennale, Spring 2003) was the first. He conceived the innovative exhibition Out of the Box: Price, Rossi, Stirling + Matta-Clark for the Canadian Centre for Architecture in 2004.

Promo Card

1920, rue Baile
Montréal, Québec
H3H 2S6
514 939 7026

Map

Getting to the CCA
By metro - Guy-Concordia stop (Saint-Mathieu exit)
By bus - #150 - boulevard René-Lévesque, or #15 - rue Ste-Catherine

06/21/2006 16:34

Off to the next

I look forward to being in NYC and working with Clare. Music music music. Ok... Buy some stuff here..its cheap... Thanks for stopping in.

04/24/2006 15:43

It works!

The new board is working well. Now I begin work on a new record for Oblio, some film music in LA, and then I am heading to NYC to make a record with the wonderful Clare Burson. That puts me through the beginning of August where I hope I can resume my new record in earnest. It's going to be an amazing and productive summer. Take care of each other.

04/03/2006 22:37

Beginning Of The End

This is the new console for the studio. More info on this King Tubby worthy beast soon.

03/23/2006 12:26

Everything and Nothing

It seems lately that lots has been going on, but it is hard to figure
what has actually happened.

IN THE STUDIO
I have done some fun and widely varied work in the studio as of late,
including helping on music for a ballet, a rock opera (that doesn't
stink), and most importantly finally getting to my own recordings. I
have finished a new ambient track, and have many other sketches in
place. It seems I am making 2-3 records at once. We shall see how it
all sorts out. The sounds are really big and pure with lots of live
drums and grand piano, with accordians and synths and guitars pumping
and breathing. It is only beginning.

In May/June I will be producing/recording/mixing the next record from
the great guys and musicians of Oblio, who are surely going to get
everyone's attention once it is all said and done. I am a fan, and
their energy, great writing and playing are going to be a blast to put
down on wax.

OUTSIDE
I will be in LA for part of May as well working with my good friend
and musician/writer Andy Tubman on music and sounds for a film.

I have been taking lots of photos as well when I have time, and I have
prints available of the photos you will find here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/siskind

ON THE WEB
Remember that through the online store here you can buy cds/vinyl, and
if you buy the cd you automatically get the download for free.
Immediate gratification combined with old school goodness. The
downloadable albums are also available for cheap on their own as well.
Soon also slowly you will start to see my records available via
iTunes, Rhapsody, and all the international outlets for mp3 downloads.
If you buy them from me however, you pay much less and get much higher
quality, and no copy restrictions.

Hope everyone is well. Drop me a line if you need some weird sounds,
or want to talk basketball.

02/04/2006 06:40

The Art of Recording & Mexican Food

I have been recording all week with the one of a kind musician/songwriter/artist and all around dude Daniel Tashian. He played lots of drums, bass, guitars, synths, beats, percussion, and who knows what else. We had lots of good mexican food for lunch several days which I think helped the sound in some intangible way. Anyway... should be a great EP. Oh and if you are in Nashville, apparently Let's Say Baltimore will be playing at Dino's in East Nashville Monday the 6th of Feb. Come on out and watch bikers try and dig improv/noise music.

01/10/2006 15:17

in session

Thanks to everyone who came out for Sarah's CD release show. We had a great time playing. It was especially fun I think because we didn't rehearse and that keeps things looser and more interesting I think. Interesting being another word for broken in a good way. If you haven't heard her record... visit her and check it out.
I played some ambient steel guitar and sounds over at Roger Moutenot's studio for Mindy Smith's new record, and to hang with Lex and drink beer as planned. Oh and we got some good vibes on her new lovely and amazing tracks.
There are a few things cooking for this year that should be really great... and maybe even a few surprises... but I am going to try and not jinx anything.