On double vinyl and digital. Order one of the 500 vinyl copies and digital download here. See a video premier of the album track Rent a New Place, Everything Could Change on The Vinyl Factory mag here
Merz & Victoria Williams are performing new music as a duo at High Desert Soundings festival in Wonder Valley, California 10 - 11 May.
Also performing a Victoria Williams set at Big Thief’s album launch show at The Fonda Theatre, Los Angeles, 9th May
“Victoria Williams (USA) and Merz (UK) are neighbours in Joshua Tree, California. Both charting songwriters-turned-musical explorers who coincidentally play the Chinese guzheng harp. In recent years both musicians have been experimenting with the instrument’s sonic possibilities, while integrating it into their singer-songwriter fare. High Desert Soundings festival is an ideal setting to debut the musical meeting of these two trans-Atlantic innovators. They will perform a set of vocal duets and instrumental compositions with two guzheng harps, acoustic and processed electric guitars.”
“High Desert Soundings is a two-day outdoor music festival near Joshua Tree National Park in the California High-Desert. The festival is held at the Palms Restaurant in Wonder Valley, a homesteading frontier community sprawled across 180 square miles. The Palms is the only restaurant in Wonder Valley and the primary meeting place for the diverse group of artists, free spirits and isolationists who make up the valley’s tiny population. Wonder Valley’s natural beauty and remarkable quiet set the stage for unique and immersive performances”.
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Merz and Arto Lindsay sing a duet titled The Special Relationship on the Matthew Herbert Big Band album The State Between Us released on 29 March 2019. More info here
Merz’ first project as Associated Artist of Dampfzentrale Bern is a collaborative performance with the multi-instrumentalist Laraaji, transforming the ex-power station venue into a monastic vault.
“This singular concert engineers an atmosphere similar to recitals in churches: calm, sublimity, respect, humility, however here free of old-world religiousness and iconography. A concert-ceremony is the idea behind «A Monastic Gig».
Merz had this idea formulated for a year, ruminating on how it might work. There’s hardly a musician more perfect to join this live-design than Laraaji. The American zither player, singer and keyboardist is the embodiment of the experimental interpretation of new-age ambient music. The former actor and comedian was discovered playing zither in Washington Square Park, New York by Brian Eno at the end of the 1970’s. Eno produced an album with Laraaji which became one of the seminal records of the “Ambient” series. Laraaji and Merz will spend some days together before presenting the marriage of their music in Dampfzentrale, Bern on the 13th June 2018. The set is designed by Los Angeles artist Jed Ochmanek. Known primarily for his abstract works, which expand the horizons of color-field painting, Ochmanek will create a synergetic, chromatic environment for the collaboration.
«A Monastic Gig» promises to be an exceptional, unique experience. The audience will find themselves lost in an oasis of calm and serenity, surrounded by a highly influential musical and visual ambience.”
8th Aug 18 in LA, Zebulon Café Concert “The first night of The Renderers month of Mondays residency at Zebulon Café Concert, LA. First guest playing the opening set is English psych-folk musician Merz”
Merz has been invited to be Associated Artist at the Dampfzentrale music and contemporary dance venue in Switzerland’s capital city Bern. It’s a two year appointment during which time Merz has carte blanche at the venue. Stay tuned for some special event announcements.
JON HOOD - BODY SEMANTICS ALBUM : PRODUCED BY MERZ
