Simulacrum
Replacing Reality with Representation
Excerpt From Liner Notes by PEK
“… So, we ended up with quintet. Usually, we don’t have bass in this band, so another unusual thing here is a rhythm section. Scott and Michael have played together a bunch of times in other settings and did a fine job here. Eric and Bob made a lot of great electronic sounds, and Bob and I played brass and reeds respectively. As usual, there is an enormous amount of doubling from Eric, Bob and me on the percussion and electronic auxiliary instruments. With a smaller unit, the set was a bit more slow moving than usual and has quite a few moments that are rather pretty. Another excellent example of the Evil Clown broad palate improvisation aesthetic at work…”
Replacing Reality with Representation:
Simulacrum
Evil Clown Headquarters, Waltham MA
8 August 2024
1) Replacing Reality with Representation – 1:09:33
2) Formal Statements – 5:12
PEK – clarinet, contralto & contrabass clarinets, alto & tenor saxophones, glissophone, piccolo oboe, English Horn, flute, melodica, soma pipe, theremin with moogerfooger, ms-20, moog subsequent, novation peak, Linnstrument controllers, lfo percolator, lfo violin, daxophone, noise tower, brontosaurus & tank bells, Englephone, danmo, wood blocks, log drums, cow bells, gongs, plate gong, Tibetan bells, [d]ronin, 17 string bass, crotales, glockenspiel, chimes, electric chimes, orchestral chimes, spring & chime rod boxes, array mbira, array mbira, rubber chicken
Bob Moores – Spiphone Les Paul Jr electric guitar played through Zoom multi-efx pedal, Electric cornet with electric mouthpiece played through Zoom multi-efx pedal and additional efx chain, Donner Essential B1 Analog Bass Synthesizer and Sequencer, Vaux Flores Eyetron pocket synthesizer, Syntha-sette pocket synthesizer, 2 LFO drone generator with eft, Signal generator with eft, Wobble box, Bamboo flute, Animoog Z app on iPad mini, wood flute, gongs, plate gong, wood & temple blocks, log drums, Englephone, danmo, lfo violin, nord stage 3, flex-a-tone, bell tree, orchestral castanet, Tibetan chimes, wind siren, seed pod rattles, psychic mumbling
Eric Woods – analog synthesis, nord stage 3, ms-20, moog subsequent, novation peak, Linnstrument controllers, claves, bells, almglocken, temple bells, balafon, xylophone
Scott Samenfeld – BSX electric upright bass, ghaita, mollenhauer elody electric recorder
Michael Knoblach – Cooperman Bodhran, shakers, devil chasers, split bamboo mallets, wooden clacker, sleigh bells, meinl helix bowls, seed pod shakers, flex-a-tones, vibratones, basket of rocks, wood shakers, basket rattles, metal rattle, palm frond rattles, plastic ball rattle, Fisher Price turtle and bee, Humpty Dumpty toy, Spooky World noise makers, children rattles, castanets, African circumcision rattles, African basket rattles
Joel Simches – live to 2-track recording, real-time signal processing
Full Video
Video Shorties
Liner Notes by PEK
Simulacrum is an offshoot of Metal Chaos Ensemble that was conceived just prior to the Virus shutting things down. The ensemble features 3 core members PEK on all my stuff, Eric Woods on analog synth, and Bob Moores on space trumpet, guitar, and electronics. The basic idea of this band is to increase the amount of electronics, to keep the ancillary percussion and loose the drum set, along with PEK and Bob holding down the horn parts.
Typically, Simulacrum sets tend to have ensembles on the large size, say 6 or 7 players, and that was the plan here. Ordinarily I like to have at least 3 electronics specialists in this band, and we had Eric Woods, Bob Moores and the amazing relatively new arrival Robin Amos scheduled. Unfortunately, Robin had a conflict with some work that had to happen on his house and had to withdraw a few days before the session. Michael Caglianone, one of our star reed players who has performed in many of the Evil Clown ensembles, also had a last second conflict, but with his day gig.
So, we ended up with quintet. Usually, we don’t have bass in this band, so another unusual thing here is a rhythm section. Scott and Michael have played together a bunch of times in other settings and did a fine job here. Eric and Bob made a lot of great electronic sounds, and Bob and I played brass and reeds respectively. As usual, there is an enormous amount of doubling from Eric, Bob and me on the percussion and electronic auxiliary instruments. With a smaller unit, the set was a bit more slow moving than usual and has quite a few moments that are rather pretty. Another excellent example of the Evil Clown broad palate improvisation aesthetic at work…
Anyway, I like this set and I bet you will too.
PEK Out – 8/10/2024
Video Screen Grabs
