Stadiums & Shrines
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Dreams of Quebec

 

Peripheral maroons, blues, and ecrus stretch beyond the sled’s icy spray. Accelerating downward, cascading slope, past cheers, speed’s climbing silence.

The children glide through unknown clearance, piercing the cavern, the illustrious halls of Perce Rock illuminated by temporal projections. Witness to their time-lagged descent broadcast onto the arched rock face interior, seeing their locale moments before, as they skim through time, touring new and absolute fantasias.

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Lead by pianist and composer David Moore, Bing & Ruth often swells into an ensemble as they did here in 2014 (two upright bassists, two clarinetists, a cellist and a tape delay tech). We’re thrilled to revisit the piece in advance of Dreams, a double LP compilation and 20-page gatefold book out this June on Cascine. It can be pre-ordered via Bandcamp and the label’s site.

On July 1st, we’ll celebrate the release at Brooklyn’s National Sawdust, featuring performances by Bing & Ruth and Julie Byrne with fellow Dreamers Yumi Zouma DJing soft sounds throughout, all organized by AdHoc Presents. Tickets go on sale this Friday, RVSP here.

Dreams of Quebec
Bing & Ruth

 

Just under a year ago, Bing & Ruth got the old ensemble back together for one night in New York, to revisit City Lake—the 2010 LP experiencing a second life via reissue on RVNG Intl. Together with the label and (Le) Poisson Rouge, we were honored to help pull off this reunion.

On stage surrounding composer/pianist David Moore was a spread of performers on clarinet, cello, bass, lap steel, tape delay, percussion, and vocals. Most striking, perhaps, was the collective restraint. Each musician waited stoically, meditating ahead of their next movement, be it a nuanced pluck or hum. Every note had purpose. A sublime minimalism, with a mesmerizing, maximal effect, swelling to its climax on the album’s title track. This moment was recorded by Q2 Music, along with the calm that followed on “Broad Channel/A Little Line In A Round Face” and “Here’s What You’re Missin.” All prefaced with a thoughtful series of interviews.

Much thanks to Q2 for providing this path back.

Rails

 

Tomorrow Was The Golden Age, a sublime flight—among our very favorites this past year—was for some (including us) an introduction to Bing & Ruth. While David Moore & friends had provided a proper entry point five years earlier. Quietly self-released at the time, City Lake will now see a newly mastered and expanded run this fall via RVNG Intl. The work of an eleven-piece ensemble, this debut album has a more physical (while no less transcendent) feel compared to its successor.

The bright, astir “Rails” presents Moore at piano, underscored by strings, horns and hand-claps. Its accompanying visual, directed by Seba Cros, captures the contemplative trance of train ride, with the outside world flickering alongside.

City Lake is out November 13th, before a string of live dates revisiting the material. Suggested places to go from here: a dream, and a cliffside performance at FORM Arcosanti.