Ipecac Recordings
Artists Eyvind Kang
Biography
Virginal Co-Ordinates
Ipecac Recordings / Angelica
May 4th, 2004
Eyvind Kang's prodigious recording career is surprising considering it's less than a decade old. Working since 1995, he can be heard on over 50 records, collaborating with the likes of Sun City Girls, Bill Frisell, Secret Chiefs, Blonde Redhead, Robin Holcomb, Laurie Anderson and many others. He is one of the most original and exciting violinists currently performing in the underground, a fact cemented all the more by his accomplished solo recordings.
Born in Corvallis, Oregon, Kang spent his youth moving around Canada before settling down in Seattle, where he still lives today. Taking cues from his two main musical mentors - Michael White (who performed with Sun Ra Arkestra and Pharoah Sanders) and Maestro Dr. N Rajam of India, Kang concentrated his studies on the violin. 7 NADEs, his first album, followed a theoretical concept of the NADE as a musical form. The album was soon followed by Theatre of Mineral NADEs, which continued exploring Kang's notions of the NADE.
Virginal Co-Ordinates is Kang's sixth record - an excursion into minimalist territory that nods to Terry Riley and Tony Conrad. Recorded live in Bologna, Italy in 2000 at the Angelica Festival, the compositions combine a written musical score with subtle improvisation. The glide of Kang's smooth violin presides over a 22-member orchestra (The Playground Ensemble - a loose collection of European musicians), which includes Mike Patton on vocals and electronics. The compositions work as full-bodied excursions, parsed out in minimal doses that glide towards stunning emotional grandiosity.
EYVIND KANG SOLO DISCOGRAPHY
7 NADEs (Tzadik) 1996
Sweetness Of Sickness (RGI) 1996
Theatre of Mineral NADEs (Tzadik) 1998
The Story Of Iceland (Tzadik) 2000
Live Low To The Earth, In The Iron Age (Abduction) 2002
Virginal Co-Ordinates (Ipecac Recordings / Angelica) 2004
Releases
