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Sunday Sessions: A Creative Audio Archive Listening Party with Steven Krakow

  • Ace Hotel 311 N Morgan St Chicago, IL 60607 USA (map)
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Sunday, October 28, 2018

5PM

Ace Hotel, Waydown on the 7th Fl.

FREE

On October 28th, Ace Hotel and ESS welcome Steven Krakow for Sunday Sessions, presenting a playlist of rare recordings from the Malachi Ritscher collection of the Creative Audio Archive.

Sunday Sessions from the Creative Audio Archive at ESS asks guest curators, those with ties to a particular CAA collection, to assemble a playlist around a theme and present it at a live listening event. Between and beside these historic sounds, curators will provide first-hand stories and conversation, offering further insight into important recordings of avant-garde music makers.

The inaugural Sunday Sessions series will be hosted by ESS's Archives Manager, Matt Mehlan, and feature: Steve Krakow (aka Plastic Crimewave - founder of the Million Tongues Festival - featured in CAA's Malachi Ritscher collection), Sun Ra scholar and contemporary art curator John Corbett and musicians from some of Sun Ra's ensembles, ESS & CAA founder Lou Mallozzi, harpist Zeena Parkins (featured in many iterations, in the newly acquired Studio Henry collection), and more. 

The Creative Audio Archive (CAA) is a Chicago based center for the preservation and investigation of innovative and experimental sonic arts and music. With collections from Sun Ra / El Saturn, Links Hall, Malachi Ritscher, Studio Henry, and Experimental Sound Studio (its parent organization), among others - CAA was formed for the historical preservation of recordings, print, and visual ephemera related to avant-garde and exploratory sound and music.

About Steven Krakow:
Chicago-native Plastic Crimewave aka Steven Krakow is known for being a "psychedelic guru" of sorts, and is the creator of the Galactic Zoo Dossier, a hand-drawn magazine published by Drag City since 2001. Crimewave also: runs the Galactic Zoo Disk reissue label imprint that is manufactured/distributed by Drag City and roving label Galactic Archives, draws/writes the bi-weekly Secret History of Chicago Music comics for the Chicago Reader for over a decade, books/founded the avant/psych festival Million Tongues featuring international musicians, has exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary art, and has drawn countless comics, posters, album covers, and branding art for Lush Cosmetics.

From 2001-2011, PCW headed up Plastic Crimewave Sound, legendary space-punk ensemble that recorded 5 LPs, toured nationally with Acid Mothers temple, Comets on Fire and The Ponys, and whom Julian Cope described as "outtasite." PCW currently leads Plastic Crimewave Syndicate (who have opened for Hawkwind, Keiji Haino, Chrome, Loop, Josefus, Purling Hiss, and Woods and have released 2 albums on UK labels); conducts the Plastic Crimewave Vision Celestial Guitarkestra of up to 70 guitarists (performed in NY, Hyde Park Arts Center, and yearly at the Hideout block party), plays banjo/guitar in the spacey duo Spiral Galaxy, and has DJ-ed all over the world--from London to Tokyo. 

The 2018 Sunday Sessions are made possible with lead support from Robert Fromberg.