Front Forty Press hosts a book release party for Signs of the Apocalypse/Rapture, a “curatorial survey of a pivotal moment in contemporary art and thought” featuring images from some 60 visual artists, including Bill Viola, Ed Ruscha, and Robert Ryman, as well as essays, interviews, and two CDs of music from Sonic Youth, Sunn O))), Yakuza, Zelienople, Jana Hunter, and others. You’ll hear them at this event.
$5 or free before 10 PM
The title track on Dan Lippel’s new CD with the International Contemporary Ensemble, Abandoned Time (New Focus), is scored for chamber group—strings, piano, flute, clarinet—so it’s a bit of a shock when his slithering, distorted electric guitar makes its first entrance. Written by young Japanese composer Dai Fujikura, the piece is packed with collar-grabbing stop-start transitions and dissonant strings that deliver choppy unison parts and ominous long tones, but Lippel’s guitar presides over the proceedings whether it’s screaming atop the din or weaving delicately through it. Also a longtime member of the post-rock band Mice Parade, he tackles a strictly modern repertoire on Abandoned Time, backed with sensitivity and verve by members of ICE, a partly local collective that’s emerged as one of the country’s boldest advocates of new music. Lippel plays acoustic guitar on most of the other compositions—by Mario Davidovsky, Kaija Saariaho, Du Yun, and Magnus Lindberg—and they’re just as demanding, filled with jagged lines, blistering rhythms, and explosions of energy. Members of ICE will support him at this concert, which will focus on material from the album but also include some improvisation. —Peter Margasak $10 suggested donation