M.A.K.U. Soundsystem

Second Sundays: Streamcast & Open House February 2015

Clocktower Radio joins in the monthly Pioneer Works open house festivities with a reception in our studios as we record artist interviews and stream performances live for the February 8, 2015 edition. Tune in or stop by! Here's the menu...

Click here to LISTEN to artist interviews and more starting at 5PM!

ARTIST INTERVIEWS 5-7:30PM
Clocktower sits down with Pioneer Works residents, Brooklyn neighbors, and artist friends to kick off the evening's festivities plus special appearance by Michael Caputo of Know Wave radio.

OPEN HOUSE 6-10PM
Exhibition on view: Tongue Stones, a group show featuring David Horvitz, Soda_Jerk, Joachim Koester, Elise Rasmussen, & Julia Weist curated by Clara Halpern.

Third floor installation on view: The Proof: Third Laboratory from Pioneer Works resident David Colosi. The Proof is the third iteration of recurring sculptural theater, a satirical parody play on the use of theoretical mathematics to prove or disprove the existence of God. The work features the equations of project collaborator Jensen Gilles, transcribed and documented by Colosi on chalkboards, and Colosi’s Syntactic Objects.

Open studios and artists in residence projects on view: Clocktower, Nanotronics, Hyon Gyon, Robyn Hasty, David Horvitz, Christopher Kardambikis, Henrique Oliveira, and Ian Trask.

All performances and interviews captured during the Second Sundays events, are streamed and archived for on demand listening on the Clocktower's Pioneer Works Radio Channel.

LIVE MUSIC 7:30-10PM
Streamed live for the duration of the event on Clocktower Radio at clocktower.org/listen!)

TONGUES IN TREES 7:30PM
Drawing from North Indian classical and folk music, Tongues in Trees is vocalist Samita Sinha, drummer SunnyJain (Red Baraat), and guitarist Grey McMurray (itsnotyouitsme). The trio blurs the line between East and West, traditional and experimental, acoustic and electronic. Long time collaborators Sinha and Jain bring their distinctive musical voices as Indian-Americans alongside McMurray’s avant new music textures. File as: Sonic Youth meets Bjork meets Sufi trance

M.A.K.U SOUNDSYSTEM 9PM
Comprised of 8 members, hailing mostly from Colombia, M.A.K.U. SoundSystem makes big music that begins in traditional Afro- Colombian rhythms and ends somewhere in the punk-jazz stratosphere, with hints of Colombian folklore, Psychedelic Rock and Caribbean grooves.. Clarinet, trombone, sax, guitarra, and Latin percussion supplement an overdriven rock core, creating a sound familiar enough to be danceable but always surprising.

SECOND SUNDAYS is a monthly series of open studios, live music, and site-specific interventions presented by Pioneer Works the second Sunday of every month. The series showcases artists in residence along with musical performances and DJs, curated by Olivier Conan.

Second Sundays, Melaza

The fourteen piece Latin band unleashed their salsa groove, urban edge, and nostalgic air to the May 2014 Pioneer Works Second Sundays extravaganza, and Clocktower Radio recorded the live set. Melaza's band leader and très player Jacob Plasse is a veteran of the NY Latin scene, while Peruvian singer Renzo Padilla delivers son and boleros with easy charisma and unquestionable talent. The group's first album was released by the Neo-Soul/Neo-Salsa Daptone Records.

Second Sundays: Alsarah & The Nubatones

Performing live as part of Pioneer Works Second Sunday series, Alsarah & The Nubatones's sound blends traditional songs of central Sudan with the group's original material. Alsarah & The Nubatones came together out of a collective love for Nubian music and a genuine belief that Soul transcends all cultural and linguistic barriers. The band draws inspiration from the pentatonic scale and a selection of Nubian ‘songs of return’ from the 1970s-today. Their music carries you on a journey through diaspora and migration, while looking through an urban lens.

Second Sundays: Ambrosia Parsley & Slavic Soul Party

Ambrosia Parsley with the Elegant Too and Slavic Soul Party recorded live at Pioneer Works on June 8, 2014. Singer and songwriter Ambrosia Parsley is probably best known for the work she did with her band Shivaree. Their first album was described by Pitchfork as “spooked Americana full of eclectic sounds and randy songs about spankings and cannibals." Their song "Goodnight Moon" attained cult status after being featured on the soundtrack of Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill 2. Ambrosia has now teamed up with Chris Maxwell and Phil Hernandez who, as the Elegant Too, have produced work for Yoko Ono, Ray Davies and others. Ambrosia has just released her first album in seven years-‐ Weeping Cherry.

Second Sundays: Artist Interviews, December 2014

A collection of interviews recorded as part of our open studio sessions during Pioneer Works Second Sundays in December 2014. Members of Long Distance Poison, creators of long-form electronic music. Hosted by Joe Ahearn. 12 minutes. Brett Swenson, Pioneer Works 2014 artist-in-residence, glassblower, interdisciplinary sculptor, and experimenter. Hosted by Jake Nussbaum. 15 minutes. Christian Joy, costume designer, and textile artist, and veteran of the Clocktower's Anxious Spaces performance festival, and Naomi Clark, painter and member of the Fort Makers collective in Brooklyn discuss their new collaboration. Hosted by Tim Goossens. 20 minutes. Nat Roe, a Silent Barn alumnus, and now executive director of Flux Factory, a mixed-used arts space in Queens. Hosted by Joe Ahearn. 14 minutes. G. Lucas Crane and Nicholas Cummins, Silent Barn conspirators, explain the Party Lab recording project and other sound and noise initiatives. Hosted by Joe Ahearn. 21 minutes.

Second Sundays: Big Lazy & Janka Nabay and the Bubu Gang

In this August 10, 2014 edition of Pioneer Works' Second Sundays, Clocktower recorded the event's two experimental pop-rock groups, Big Lazy and Janka Nabay and the Bubu Gang. Guitarist and composer Stephen Ulrich has been leading the trio Big Lazy for close to twenty years. At once stark and otherworldly, Big Lazy is a moody surf-like outfit full of tremolo guitars, slowed down tempos and exotica touches. Their cinematic music evokes noir, spaghetti western, Lynch and Tarantino soundtracks – but Big Lazy’s organic and uncontrived music remains beyond category. Ulrich’s many other musical projects include a number of collaborations with members of Balkan Beat Box as well as countless TV and film scores including the series Bored to Death.

Second Sundays: Brooklyn, Poland, Bangladesh, & Sudan

Clocktower Radio streamcast interviews and music from Pioneer Works on May 11, 2014 during the Center's day long open house. Here is a selection of conversations that capture the multinational flavor of that day. You can also check out our recording of the Nubatones live sett in the Pioneer Works Radio section of the archive index. Magdelena Firnag - Polish artist doing remarkable things with glass Malcolm A Davis Jr. - Brooklyn artist Alsarah - Lead singer for The Nubatones Nabil Rahman - Bangladeshi photographer and curator

Second Sundays: Chia's Dance Party & Grupo Chonta

In this July 13, 2014 edition of Pioneer Works Second Sundays, Clocktower recorded the event's two fantastically upbeat Colombian performers, CHIA's Dance Party and Grupo Chonta. CHIA's Dance Party is a New York City-based brass band based on the sounds of traditional Colombian marching bands, but with an urban edge. They branch out from the Colombian rhythmic and melodic traditions and explore diverse genres and compositional approaches, producing "infectious danceable grooves." Colombia native and marimba master, Diego Obregón, created the group, Grupo Chonta, when he moved to the United States. Grupo Chonta is dedicated to the breezy Afro-Colombian music of the Pacific Coast, with the express purpose of introducing Colombian folklore and its music to the US.

Second Sundays: Cuddle Magic & Brooklyn Qawwali Party

Live sets by two bands recorded at the October 2014 Second Sundays open house festivities at Pioneer Works: Chamber Pop band Cuddle Magic uses a quirky blend of instruments to create complex arrangements of deceptively simple folk melodies with perpetually shifting rhythms. Brooklyn Qawwali Party was founded by Brook Martinez in 2004 as an experiment inspired by recordings of the late great Sufi singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

Second Sundays: Clocktower at Pioneer Works, April 2014

The Clocktower joins in the activities of their Second Sunday open house and invites all visitors to tour our radio and operations center, lounge in our viewing room, and learn about our programs. Visitors to the Clocktower's broadcast studio will encounter Julian Bozeman's psychedelic video installation that immerses all in a sea of light and optic magic. On view March 30 to May 1st, 2014. SECOND SUNDAYS is a monthly series of Open Studios, Live Music/ DJ, and Site-specific Interventions presented by Pioneer Works every second Sunday of every month. Opens art & science studios start at 5PM, live music curated by Olivier Conan starts at 7PM. MUSIC SCHEDULE FEEDEL BAND – 7PM