JUST A NOTE - I RARELY CHECK MYSPACE ANYMORE. FEEL FREE TO CHECK OUT WWW.DAVIDBERNABO.COM AND CONTACT ME THROUGH THE CONTACT PAGE. HOST SKULL'S NEW MUSIC WILL BE RELEASED IN 2011. WWW.HOSTSKULL.COM
BUY HAPPENER-MAGICKER NOW! CLICK ON THESE WORDS!
Comprising two years of writing and recording, David Bernabo + Assembly’s Happener-Magicker presents a sweeping concoction of pop, jazz-rock, and modern classical, all with a subtle anarchist twist. The 25-piece Assembly includes Julie Sokolow (Western Vinyl), Will Dyar (ex-Oakley Hall), and the core Assembly live band of guitarist Daniel Gene Newman, II, drummer Owl Barns, bassist Christopher James, and saxophonist Brandon Masterman.
The shape-shifting group collaborates through a maze of harmonically intricate pieces from the swift rhythms and atonal beatbox of “Sub-Saharan” to the clipped structures of “Saxton” to the altered rock forms of “The Newest Thing” and “The Eclipse.” “Out There” combines Sokolow’s voice with prog guitar figures, achieving a triumphant blast of reassurance in the face of social downfall. The avant-funk of “Mahler Box” provides the greatest punch of politics, bleeding out lessons from Naomi Klein, Noam Chomsky, Rudolph Rocker, and Kropotkin, all behind of haze of electronics and saxophone solos. The album closes with “My Gun”, a gentler ballad that sums up themes and hints at future work for Bernabo and Assembly.
During the two years of assembling this album, Bernabo completed a number of projects, all of which informed each other. In 2008, Bernabo collaborated with Corey Layman on the score to Nintendo WiiWare’s Critter Round-Up, utilizing a guitar technique later used in “The Library.” Performing in the 22-piece HiTEC, an improvising multimedia ensemble based on instructions, led to the more theatrical nature of Happener-Magicker, represented in the artwork and poster series.
The artwork by Owl Kahol depicts the Provo movement's concept of police officers transitioning into social workers in 1970s Amsterdam, but the concept can be applied on a higher level to governments and justice systems, in general. Looking at America's past with oppression of social democratic governments in Argentina, building prisons instead of developing social programs, and overlooking the criminality of corporations while imprisoning workers, the contradictions between what law enforcement and law officials put on paper and the actions of these forces tends toward farce. A poster series displaying the Happener-Magicker characters with either messages of super-capitalist interests or solutions for future is currently being circulated in Pittsburgh. The poster series will also be available in special promotions.
The culmination of these ideals, some new musical avenues, and a few admittedly fanatical detours into the music of Frank Zappa, Eberhard Weber, and Marvin Gaye, has produced an album brimming with excitement, a true assemblage of today’s environment.
from Still Single:
Happener Magicker is a tasteful hodgepodge of jazzy, proggy rock songs that twist and turn and sneak down different avenues, but never completely lose their way or wind up with heads in their asses (well, maybe just a bit at the end of Side 2). There are horns and strings and all sorts of things in these numbers; some go straight for the jugular while others meander into bedroom backwards-tape free-jazz at times. For all of the bases David Bernabo tries to cover, however, he doesn’t sacrifice the essential elements of what makes a song “pop;” these are catchy and hummable tunes regardless of what genre they’re in. He’s a Yinzer on a mission – there’s some kind of anarchist collective bent here that thankfully doesn’t overshadow the music – and he’s assembled some of PGH’s best to assist him. On “Mahler Box,” he sounds like Street Legal-era Dylan while the track bops along like forgotten Boston non-punx Men & Volts. That’s a good thing, Jack. Limited to a certain number copies that will ultimately help free Mumia or some shit. (http://sortofrecords.com)
(Mike Pace)
Morning Light, a short video by DB
.
OUT THERE, animation by David Bernabo
