The pioneers of Russian avant-garde jazz and improvisational music are captured in fine form performing at a festival in Lithuania from 2005.

You must think this is a joke, right? WRONG!!! Chicken, Alaska is the name of a town my comrade Malcolm Lawrence was kind enough to hip me to. I have no idea about the folkies performing at Chickenstock – the name alone sold me. If you are in the area and free June 12 & 13, do take photos!

Terrible news from Morocco. World Music concerts and festivals are not the place one would find death, as most of the people there tend to be of a rather sweet character, even if I don’t agree with them on much. It is horrible to read, however, that 11 lives were lost during Abdelaziz Stati’s performance because fans rushed the stage. May they all rest in peace.

Gogoyoko posts a link from Digital Wire on the common sense that was shown at Midem this year. The indie labels get it. They’ll be the ones with the future. If the majors wake up, they can stave off their own extinction.

Boston, Massachusetts will host this festival of uncompromisingly weird musicians. Expected to perform are:

Threshold HouseBoys Choir • JG Thirlwell’s Manorexia • Meat Beat Manifesto • Matmos • Stars of the Lid • Little Annie • Major Stars • Silver Apples • Windy Weber and Thomas Meluch as Lambs Laughter • Reformed Faction • Torch Duo • Nmperign feat. Jason Lescalleet • Marissa Nadler • Glenn Jones • His Name Is Alive • Gary Wilson • Rivulets • Strategy • Nudge • Boduf Songs • To Kill A Petty Bourgeoisie • Lichens + DJ Steven Stapleton & a special video presenation from Greater Than One.

This should be amazing. The festivals dates are from November 21-23.

Lucky buggers. You get to see a show I’d kill to see! YMO will be part of the Meltdown Festival, hosted by Massive Attack, a wonderful band in their own right. The article is here, but be warned that it’s in Japanese. Use Babelfish to get an idea of what’s going on.

Those of you into spectral music are in for a treat. On November 16-26, 2008, this festival will take place in Brussels, Mons, London, East Grinstead, and Paris. Expected to perform are:

iO Quartet (New York)
Hyperion Ensemble (Bucharest)
Tim Hodgkinson (U.K.)
Gustavo Aguilar (U.S.)
Robert Reigle (U.S.)

Several other composers, mainly Romanians who have mastered spectral music, including Iancu Dumitrescu and Ana-Maria Avram, will also be featured. The flier is below:

A very interestig festival is about to take place from November 5-10, 2008.  Wroclaw, Poland will host the “Industrial Art” festival, and the line-up, at least for my taste, is amazing (and I must say I’m extremely jealous that heath and money are keeping me away from this).

Featured artists include:

• Carter Tutti (Chris & Cosey from Throbbing Gristle)
• Vladimir Hirsch (Czech dark music composer)
• Napalmed (Czech Industrial music legends)
• In Slaughter Natives (Swedish Black Ambient)
• Andrew Liles (British sound designer).
• Some interesting local projects will be performing as well.

For a link, check out the festival site here.

HT: pornoroe.

Karlheinz Stockhausen is sorely missed.  There are few, if any, composers who can match his stature.  He is being honored with a retrospective of his work in Berlin, Germany.

HT: Alex Ross.

Ramadan has passed for our Muslim friends, Barbican honors some of the wonderful music during their Ramadan Nights Festival.