highways_logo4

JAB_IMG_3920X

7:30 PM

Tickets

Highways Performance Space
1651 18th St, Santa Monica, California 90404

JAB is vocalist/performance artist Anna Homler’s new ensemble with bassist Jeff Schwartz and soundscape percussionist Breeze Smith. Homler sings in an invented language and uses toys and other objects to make sound, while Smith plays his own wood and metal sculptures, as well as conventional instruments, and uses electronics to capture and transform his and the others’ sounds. More Info.

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Breadwoman & Other Tales has the feel of freshly resurfaced collected recordings from a forgotten tribe. It is in fact the organic collaboration between Anna Homler and Steve Moshier.

In her artistic practice, Anna Homler approaches visual arts, performance and sound art. In 1982, she assumes the role of Breadwoman and documents her magical speech in the form of rhythmic, melodic sound. The Breadwoman character is outlined as being so old she turned into bread. By positioning herself outside the space or time linearity, it is almost impossible to contextualize her. The project was subjected to a musical dimension when Steve Moshier joined in, complementing the recordings by composing, mixing and engineering the music.

Breadwoman & Other Tales is, dare I say, so much more than a musical project. How can such a fundamental need – that of singing or producing sounds – have such a modern approach to it? I think the answer here is its forward-thinking interdisciplinarity. The LP inhabits the skin of an intricate art project that enmeshes artistic mediums such as performance, photography and music, while investigating language and its systems.

Anna Homler tackles language by inventing a new one, completely displacing its conventional structuralism and meaning. Just by the simple act of opening her mouth and modulating the flow of air being expelled from her lungs, she delivers a plethora of haunting sounds, seemingly impossible to discern, far from any language known to us.

The sounds she produces indeed suggest a vocal construct akin to the wisdom of an old woman and the naïveté of a little girl at the same time. If you really feel the need to pinpoint it, it could resemble shamanic rituals, with their inherent primal and earthy qualities. This invented language reaches such a level of musicality that it is easy to blur the fringe of contact between music and language. 

Roland Barthes underlined this idea in his series of interviews called The Grain of Voice. He argued that this very precise space, the encounter between a language and a voice, which he calls “the grain of the voice”, occurs when the latter is in a dual posture, a dual production – of language and of music.

Steve Moshier manages to give birth to some sort of ritualistic mythical electronica, powerful yet subtle, so as to not drown Breadwoman’s enthralling melodies. He uses her voice as a sonic element, interweaving its meshes with the warmth of analog sounds.

The sixth piece, Sirens, stood out to me the most. It is engulfed in a reverberating primordial screech, reminiscing of the eerie sounds the sirens use to lure sailors into certain death. The effect of this one is disarming. I will let you discover by yourself the rest of the pieces. This is a unique musical journey into thought, to be carefully listened in its entirety.

READ ARTICLE AT THE ATTIC

FromNowOnFestival

Cardiff
From Now On Festival
Chapter Arts Centre
http://www.fromnowonfestival.co.uk/

 

“Breadwoman is a storyteller — she’s so very old she’s turned into bread. Breadwoman says: If you don’t try to understand, you will. She is the voice, and the voice is cosmic reality’s musicality.”

 

BREADWOMAN_EU_FLYERsm

A project borne of myth, mystery and shadow play in eighties Los Angeles gets gloriously animated for the 2016 stage: meet Breadwoman, the character that embodies US vocalist and performance artist Anna Homler’s practice of divining speech, lyrical fragments, and melody for music, with the fluid synthetic excursions of Steven Warwick aka Heatsick as her modern-day accomplice.

 
Originally recorded in 1985, the album Breadwoman & Other Tales found Homler in musical dialogue with electro-acoustic composer and LA avant-garde contemporary Steve Moshier, on a set of otherworldly spirituals delivered in an invented language by Homler over Moshier’s rich and strange production.
 
To mark the reissue of this unheralded landmark album by the RVNG label in February 2016, Homler will give rise to Breadwoman again for a series of very special mixed-media performances, with Warwick rechanneling Moshier’s material for the live realm.
Breadwoman photo gallery https://annahomler.com/portfolio/breadwoman/

 

Time: 19:30
Glasgow
The Glad Cafe
http://www.musicglue.com/the-glad-cafe/events/11-feb-16-anna-homler–steven-warwick-breadwoman-the-glad-cafe/
1006A Pollokshaws Rd, Glasgow G41 2HG, United Kingdom
Phone:+44 141 636 6119

 

“Breadwoman is a storyteller — she’s so very old she’s turned into bread. Breadwoman says: If you don’t try to understand, you will. She is the voice, and the voice is cosmic reality’s musicality.”

 

BREADWOMAN_EU_FLYERsm

A project borne of myth, mystery and shadow play in eighties Los Angeles gets gloriously animated for the 2016 stage: meet Breadwoman, the character that embodies US vocalist and performance artist Anna Homler’s practice of divining speech, lyrical fragments, and melody for music, with the fluid synthetic excursions of Steven Warwick aka Heatsick as her modern-day accomplice.

 
Originally recorded in 1985, the album Breadwoman & Other Tales found Homler in musical dialogue with electro-acoustic composer and LA avant-garde contemporary Steve Moshier, on a set of otherworldly spirituals delivered in an invented language by Homler over Moshier’s rich and strange production.
 
To mark the reissue of this unheralded landmark album by the RVNG label in February 2016, Homler will give rise to Breadwoman again for a series of very special mixed-media performances, with Warwick rechanneling Moshier’s material for the live realm.
Breadwoman photo gallery https://annahomler.com/portfolio/breadwoman/

 

8 pm
London
Cafe OTO
https://www.cafeoto.co.uk/events/anna-homler-steven-warwick-breadwoman/
https://www.cafeoto.co.uk/info/
18–22 Ashwin street
Dalston
London
E8 3DL

 

“Breadwoman is a storyteller — she’s so very old she’s turned into bread. Breadwoman says: If you don’t try to understand, you will. She is the voice, and the voice is cosmic reality’s musicality.”

 

BREADWOMAN_EU_FLYERsm

A project borne of myth, mystery and shadow play in eighties Los Angeles gets gloriously animated for the 2016 stage: meet Breadwoman, the character that embodies US vocalist and performance artist Anna Homler’s practice of divining speech, lyrical fragments, and melody for music, with the fluid synthetic excursions of Steven Warwick aka Heatsick as her modern-day accomplice.
 
Originally recorded in 1985, the album Breadwoman & Other Tales found Homler in musical dialogue with electro-acoustic composer and LA avant-garde contemporary Steve Moshier, on a set of otherworldly spirituals delivered in an invented language by Homler over Moshier’s rich and strange production.
 
To mark the reissue of this unheralded landmark album by the RVNG label in February 2016, Homler will give rise to Breadwoman again for a series of very special mixed-media performances, with Warwick rechanneling Moshier’s material for the live realm.
Breadwoman photo gallery https://annahomler.com/portfolio/breadwoman/

 

CTM

Time: 20:30
BERLIN
PREMIERE
CTM Festival
http://www.ctm-festival.de/news/
Tickets: http://www.ctm-festival.de/festival-2016/tickets/

 

“Breadwoman is a storyteller — she’s so very old she’s turned into bread. Breadwoman says: If you don’t try to understand, you will. She is the voice, and the voice is cosmic reality’s musicality.”

 

BREADWOMAN_EU_FLYERsm

A project borne of myth, mystery and shadow play in eighties Los Angeles gets gloriously animated for the 2016 stage: meet Breadwoman, the character that embodies US vocalist and performance artist Anna Homler’s practice of divining speech, lyrical fragments, and melody for music, with the fluid synthetic excursions of Steven Warwick aka Heatsick as her modern-day accomplice.
 
Originally recorded in 1985, the album Breadwoman & Other Tales found Homler in musical dialogue with electro-acoustic composer and LA avant-garde contemporary Steve Moshier, on a set of otherworldly spirituals delivered in an invented language by Homler over Moshier’s rich and strange production.
 
To mark the reissue of this unheralded landmark album by the RVNG label in February 2016, Homler will give rise to Breadwoman again for a series of very special mixed-media performances, with Warwick rechanneling Moshier’s material for the live realm.
Breadwoman photo gallery https://annahomler.com/portfolio/breadwoman/

 

toyStories_BellaFoster

TOY STORIES

an audio-visual concert

with:
Anna Homler: voice, toys and objects
Tania Chen: found toys, lo-fi electronics, and keyboards
Viv Corringham: voice, electronics and field recording
Katherine Liberovskaya: live video and live toys

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 14th

Doors: 6:30 pm – Concert: 7:00 pm

Location: The Emily Harvey Foundation
537 Broadway at Spring Street – 2nd floor
New York, NY 10012
www.emilyharveyfoundation.org

*For more information:  Download .pdf

[watercolor drawing by Bella Foster]

BABES IN TOY LAND: A NIGHT OF TOYS & NOISE WITH ANNA HOMLER, TANIA CHEN AND GINO ROBAIR

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Friday, May 15 at 8:00pm
Center for New Music in San Francisco, California

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/386187918248404/

Tickets: $15 General, $10 Members
Tickets available at the door only

Anna Homler and Tania Chen met in London a few years ago and bonded over a love of toys and the unexpected. This premiere performance will be an exuberant exploration of sonic worlds created by toys, found objects, lo-fi electronics, and alien vocalese. They will be joined by the versatile electronics wizard & percussionist Gino Robair, for an evening of improvised duos and trios.

“The work is transportative, mesmerizing, witty, sexy and intelligent. It has the power to transform the kitsch artifacts and consumer culture into something ethereal, surreal and beautiful.” – of Anna Homler, Performance Magazine

‘Raw and incandescent’ – of Tania Chen, The Wire

‘A revelation that these shifting arrangements of piano, objects, text and voice can produce ever-new configurations of feeling.’ – of Tania Chen, Frieze

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The Soundtrack and the Performer, with live performance by Anna Homler and Tania Chen.

Thursday Mayhem May 7
10PM-2AM
Hosted by Naysayer

Tania Chen and Anna Homler, performance artists, musicians, toy manipulators, creators of new sounds, improvisors, will join Naysayer for a conversation about the role soundtracks play influencing performers and their choices for performance. Chen and Homler will play selections from film and theater soundtracks which have made an impact on their work. They will also join together in the KFJC Pit for a live mic, composing the soundtrack for an unmade film.

Listen online: http://kfjc.org/netcast/index.php

http://kfjc.org/mayhem/  

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SASSAS’s event – “soundSpark” Children’s Theatre

Saturday, April 4
12 pm – 1 pm

West Hollywood Library
625 North San Vicente Boulevard
West Hollywood, CA 90069
Free

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1575893826025392/

The CD presents five gifted improvisers expressing a myriad of emotions thoughtfully developed and masterfully executed.

HereHereHereKen Waxman on Here & Here & Here
Jazzword, December 16 , 2014

http://www.jazzword.com/one-review/?id=128640

“A spatial rather than a geographical description, the 15 tracks on this CD add up to an object lesson in how to integrate an improvising vocalist`s skills with a prime Free Music ensemble. At the same time the well-balanced and inventive program confirms that not all of California’s experimental improvisers are clustered in the Bay area.

Los Angles trumpeter Jeff Kaiser and San Diego trombonist Michael Vlatkovich have for many years waved the Free Jazz banner all over the golden state. Meanwhile LA vocalist Anna Homler has been forced to take her talents overseas to concertize with Brits like pianist Steve Beresford and violinist Sylvia Hallett. No variation of those chordal instruments is on hand here. Basically Here & Here & Here relies on the inventive pumping of bassist Scott Walton and the concentrated beats of percussionist Rich West to keep the bottom balanced as the front line works through novel sound strategies.

Committed to vocal expression that takes from vocalese, nonsense syllables, shamanistic ritual and double talk, Homler’s contributions often could be imagined as coming from a non- English-speaking-vocalist unexpectedly paired with a hip Jazz combo. At the same time though, her vocal shading, reminiscent to that of Lauren Newton and other Free Music songsters, take the place of a horn in arrangements for some tracks. With brass fully accounted for, think of Homer as a saxophonist doubling soprano and alto.

If the CD does have a drawback though, it’s the extreme brevity of some of the selections. Two minutes may be long enough for a Pop single, but with improvised music that time-span merely gives players space to suggest a concept; organic sounds like organic food take longer to nurture. Other selections which initially could develop more forcefully end up being scene-setting rather than completed creations. Popping ‘bone tones, triplet brass interludes and percussion nerve beats stand out on their own, but adds up only to a fanfare, a liquid interlude or a tone demonstration rather than a complete statement.

Much more substantial are those pieces which integrate unexpected asides within the tunes’ chromatic concepts. Textures that could arise from a kazoo, a marimba, a steel drum or a bird- caller – replicated or real – are used as color. Possessed of a Maggie Nichols-like ability to articulate nonsense syllables as if she’s singing in a legit language, on the title track Homler sweetly spins out her lines while matched by plunger trombone and guttural Jew’s harp twangs. On the other hand, as a percussion interlude clangs savagely on “Red Coda” she puts aside her reed-replication that chases timbres along with the horns for squeezed bel canto expression.

Sweetness or strength from Homler’s vocal chords and embouchure are the key variables on many of the other tunes. Growling made-up language serves its purpose when matched with trombone plunger retches or vibrated trumpet chirps, just as a lyric soprano expositions can cut through dense brass slurs to add delicacy to improvisations that could turn self-indulgent.
Overall the five players distinguish themselves as sound experimenters – and original ones at that. But next time H&H&H records, giving themselves expanded space in develop their unique expression would be beneficial for both the band and listeners.”—Ken Waxman

Find out more: http://www.pfmentum.com/PFMCD084.html

ANNA HOMLER (voice, toys & devices) Michael Delia (sound sculptures & homemade instruments) joined by guests Al Margolis (live electronics) and Katherine Liberovskya (live video) for an evening of idiosyncratic improvisation.

March 11, 2015. 9pm
224 Centre Street at Grand, Third Floor, NY 10013
212 431 5127, 431 6430

For more information, visit:
www.experimentalintermedia.org
www.XIrecords.org
mad.node9.org

NOVEMBER 2014

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Alternativa Festival

Pharmacia Poetica Installation
http://www.alternativa-festival.cz/detail-en/anna-homler-pharmacia-poetica

 

ah_installationslideshow_liplecture

 

Vocal Workshop
http://www.alternativa-festival.cz/detail-en/workshop-anny-homler

http://skolska28.cz/en/vocal-workshop

 

 

 

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Skolska 28 Performance

Anna Homler &
George Cremaschi duo

http://skolska28.cz/en/anna-homler-george-cremaschi-duo

 

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Performance

Four eclectic improvisers crossed meridians to meet in the heart of  Europe: ‪Jaroslav Kořán‬, Fabio Turchetti, Anna Homler, and Michael Delia

http://www.alternativa-festival.cz/detail-en/dreamers-crossing

Date: Wednesday, 22nd Oct 2014

Time: 8pm doors, ca. 8.30pm showtime

Venue: Kunsthaus Rhenania, Bayenstraße 28, 50678 Köln

Program: Anna Homler & Joker Nies  //  Michael Evans & Susan Hefner  //  Georg Wissel – Joker Nies – Paul Lytton  //

Support: ON – Neue Musik Köln, funded by Stadt Köln, Kulturamt

“Composer Talk” streaming live at www.ktru.org and (if you have a HD radio receiver) on 90.1 HD-2.

Saturday, September 27, 2PM to 4PM CT

Hosted by composers Hsin-Jung Tsai and Chris Becker.

Sharing the music of vocalist Anna Homler, Lisa Gerrard, composer Gila Carcas, Paul Connolly’s NC-17 noise project Screaming Caustic Butterfly and more.

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Wonders, Vol.1
Sunday, September 7
Cafe NELA, Los Angeles, CA

Joker Nies – official visiting Gernam delegate and uber omnichord bender
Anna Homler – daring diva of found sound objects s’arte and vivacious vocal utterances
Jeff Boynton – herr Grand Poobah and circuit crusher
Andy Ben – avante garde assembler and artist of the abstract obtuse
Igor Amokian – creator of chaos and beat smasher
Mona Jean – spiller of signs and poetry splasher
Marvel at a whole array of DIY electrical wonder of the circuit bent persuasion
Join us for a semi-conducted solos, duos, trios, quatros, cincos, a big ol’ six-o of a jam!

 

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A unique evening of adventurous music by five master improvisers – Anna Homler, Jeff Kaiser, Scott Walton, Rich West, and Michael Vlatkovich.

Anna Homler – Voice, toys, and objects
Jeff Kaiser – Trumpet
Scott Walton – Acoustic Bass
Rich West- Percussion
Michael Vlatkovich – Trombone

Performing at Automata in Los Angeles on Saturday, July 26 2014

Two shows: 8pm and 10pm
Admission: $12 and $10 for Automata members, students, and seniors
Address: 504 Chung King Court Los Angeles, CA 90012
Phone: 213-819-6855

Tickets available at: http://www.automata-la.org/tickets.html  and  https://www.artful.ly/store/events/3674

 

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https://www.facebook.com/events/293957440773453/

http://cfaer.org/

http://www.opengatetheatre.com/at-eagle-rock.html

CFA
 
Sunday, June 1 at 7:00 pm
Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock
2225 Colorado Blvd., Los Angeles, California 90041
 
 
 
 
Open Gate Theatre, and Center for the Arts Eagle Rock present:
 
Michael Vlatkovich, Anna Homler & Rich West Trio
Michael Vlatkovich – trombone
Anna Homler – voice and devices
Rich West- percussion

Also appearing, The Cosmopolitians

Admission is $10
Students, seniors, and series performers half price.
Free parking is plentiful.
Further information at (626) 795-4989

In a rare international gathering of highly accomplished improvising musicians, new and old friends from Italy, London, Los Angeles and the Bay Area meet for an evening of electrifying and engaging spontaneous music. 

Opening the evening will be a highly adventurous and unorthodox trio featuring veteran musical adventurer and trombone virtuoso Michael Vlatkovich in collaboration with inventive and eccentric sound-making artist Anna Homler, employing her voice and a host of sound-making devices and toys in her highly distinctive way, and multi-percussionist Rich West, always a sonic source of endless interest, innovation, and surprise. This will be three of the L.A. area’s most singular players combining for an experience of spontaneous music-making at its most free-range, spirited, and delightful. — From Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/events/293957440773453/

 

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KFJC 89.7 FM, The Attic
Hosted by Naysayer

Live Performance & Interview
with possible special guests, Alison Blunt and Gianni Mimmo.

Thursday, May 29, 2014
10:00 pm – 2:00 am

More information at
http://www.kfjc.org

Saturday, May 24  at 9:00pm

Anna Homler with Michael Vlatkovich and Scott Walton

DADAISMUS: “Auditory Odyssey” 

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FACEBOOK PAGEhttps://www.facebook.com/events/628307900589011/

Mark you calendars for Saturday, May 24th and dip into the dark delicacies that we here at HM 157 have on offer curated by moi!

THE CENTIMETERS! L.A.DRONES! { www.ladrones2.bandcamp.com } CIRCUITRY & POETRY! { www.circuitryandpoetry.com } ANNA HOMLER { www.annahomler.com }, MECCA VAZIE ANDREWS! JOHN TOTTENHAM { www.johntottenham.com } DJ DON BOLLES!!! I know, riiiiight???!!! More Kulture than you can shake a stick at!

The High Priestess of Visuals is back !  https://www.facebook.com/themysterymachinetakesoff

LOCATION: 3110 North Broadway, Los Angeles, CA  90031

*$12 contribution

*Nosh and social lubricants will be on offer

*All Ages!

*Street parking only

*Doors open at 8PM

*Show starts at 9PM sharp

*Raffle prizes!!!

copy-cropped-testcardwallgermany1From Radio-On Berlin, listen to Don Campau’s No Pigeonholes and his special feature on Anna Homler.

Don’s words:
“Anna is one of my favorites. Strangely, I originally found about her from Harald Ziegler in Koln and then found the CD at Gelbe Muisik in Berlin 1996. Later, she and I became friends…a wonderful person and we will finally meet in a few days in Berkeley.”

Click here to listen ->
http://www.mixcloud.com/doncampau/no-pigeonholes-radio-on-edition-anna-homler-special/

wpfwLogoWomen’s History Month
Friday, March 14th

Featuring Anna Homler, singer/guitarist,  Jen Chapin (daughter of the late Harry Chapin), Kim Gordon (formerly of Sonic Youth), and flautist Nicole Mitchell.

 

 

TUNE IN: http://www.wpfwfm.org/radio/
89.3FM WPFW
Host: Bobby Hill
Overnight Jazz Part I
Airing Friday March 14, 2014
12AM (i.e., midnight) to 2AM

 

1st HOUR

Jen Chapin / Paris / Reckoning / Purple Chair / 2013 / (Jen Chapin/voice Stephan Crump/bass Liberty Ellman/guitar Jamie Fox/guitar Dan Rieser/drums)

** Anna Homler /Do Ya Sa Di Do   / Do Ya Sa Di Do / AMF / 1992

Jen Chapin / Insatiable / Reckoning / Purple Chair / 2013 / (Jen Chapin/voice Stephan Crump/bass Liberty Ellman/guitar Jamie Fox/guitar Dan Rieser/drums)

** Anna Homler (vocals) / Bottle Song  / Macaronic Sines / Low Lands / 1992 (Geert Waegemen/guitar, Pavel Fait/percussion)

Jen Chapin / Let It Show / Reckoning / Purple Chair / 2013 / (Jen Chapin/voice Stephan Crump/bass Liberty Ellman/guitar Jamie Fox/guitar Dan Rieser/drums)

** Puppetina (Anna Homler & Stephanie Payne) / Monkey Jazz / Pasha Nina Teen / 2005

Jen Chapin / Gospel / Reckoning / Purple Chair / 2013 / (Jen Chapin/voice Stephan Crump/bass Liberty Ellman/guitar Jamie Fox/guitar Dan Rieser/drums)

Roscoe Mitchell, Nicole Mitchell’s Black Earth Ensemble / Cards for Orchestra / Three Compositions / Rogue Art /2012 / (Roscoe Mitchell/composition, conduction Nicole Mitchell/flute, piccolo David Boykin/tenor Greg Ward/alto Robert Griffin/trumpet Renee Baker/violin Myra Melford/piano Josh Abrams/bass Marcus Evans/drums Maia/harp Tomeka Reid/cello Mankwe Ndosi/vocal)

Nicole Mitchell (flute) / Cave of Forgotten Spring / Engraved in the Wind / Rogue Art / 2013