#Ambrosia Rasputin

[gianttankeh]

Ali Robertson on the Ambrosia Rasputin Show, Resonance FM. Twice!

Ali Robertson was on Resonance FM's Ambrosia Rasputin Show AGAIN, but this time he forgot to tell anyone. You can listen to the first half of his interview here and the second half of it here.

[doolallymagpie]

whether a particular weapon is called “caedometric”, “caedogenic”, or “caedonic” will depend more on the person documenting it, as they’re largely synonymous

SCP-████-Ω (”Casket for the Stars”) is described as “a caedonic stellar eigenweapon”, whereas the first example of the “caedo-” prefix in foundation documentation, SCP-████ (”Speargun of Destiny”), calls it “a handheld annihilation-pumped caedometric device”

“caedogenic” is used solely in SCP-████ (”Spoiled Ambrosia”), specifically in the phrase “caedogenic toxin”

[thatliminal-wanderer]

Backrooms ID Pack

Names

Adam, Adym, Aguana, Aiden, Aiko, Alex, Alexia, Altair, Ambrosia, Amori, Andrew, Ant, Argos, Aries, Ashley, Aster, Avelon, Bartholomew, Belphegor, Berry, Bill, Blake, Blue, Bonx, Bram, Brock, Callum, Caspian, Castello, Chara, Cindy, Clement, Clementine, Colias, Corey, Corri, Crane, Creg, Crimson, Cyllene, Cypress, Daisy, Daze, Destiny, Doll, Dream, Dull, Dunk, Eden, Emily, Emme, Evangeline, Ezra, Ferren, Flannery, Frankie, Freeman, Fume, Gani, George, Gerald, Grey, Hen, Icarus, Jack, Janus, Jax, Jerry, Jess, Johnny, Kaii, Kain, Kami, Kane, Kat, Kimiko, King, Kitty, Koko, Kya, Leeon, Leo, Lilac, Limi, Llio, Lotka, Lucid, Malachi, March, Maria, Mason, Moley, Montie, Nightmare, Noir, Olive, Olivia, Ollie, Paisley, Pedro, Philia, Porter, Quinoa, Rae, Rasputin, Richard, River, Rook, Rosette, Rue, Ryan, Samantha, Sato, Saturn, Sienna, Sol, Terry, Theodore, Tom, Trance, Val, Vanta, Vee, Vesper, Vice, Violet, Will, Xavier, Xoa, Zero

Pronouns

!/!s, 0/0s, 1/1s, 2/2s, 3/3s, 4/4s, 5/5s, 6/6s, 7/7s, 8/8s, 9/9s, :(/:(s, :)/:)s, =(/=(s, =)/=)s, ?/?s, _/_s, almond/almonds, alone/alones, alpha/alphas, back/backs, bee/bees, bird/birds, black/blacks, blood/bloods, blue/blues, bone/bones, book/books, box/boxes, bug/bugs, buzz/buzzes, camp/camps, cave/caves, chalk/chalks, city/cities, clean/cleans, crimson/crimsons, crop/crops, danger/dangers, dark/darks, data/datas, dead/deads, decay/decays, desert/deserts, dirt/dirts, doll/dolls, door/doors, dream/dreams, echo/echos, end/ends, error/errors, eye/eyes, fate/fates, field/fields, fog/fogs, forest/forests, garden/gardens, glitch/glitchs, glow/glows, gold/golds, grime/grimes, hall/halls, haunt/haunts, hill/hills, hive/hives, home/homes, hot/hotel/hotels, house/houses, hub/hubs, ice/ices, icy/icys, jungle/jungles, lake/lakes, laser/lasers, level/levels, light/lights, love/loves, lucid/lucids, mall/malls, maze/mazes, mem/memory/memories, mirror/mirrors, moon/moons, moth/moths, mouth/mouths, musk/musks, neon/neons, noir/noirs, play/plays, pool/pools, rain/rains, rainbow/rainbows, red/reds, road/roads, room/rooms, rot/rots, run/runs, sand/sands, sea/seas, sewer/sewers, silent/silents, snack/snacks, space/spaces, sparkle/sparkles, spring/springs, tha/thalasso/thalassos, time/times, violet/violets, void/voids, wall/walls, warning/warnings, water/waters, wave/waves, well/wells, wheat/wheats, white/whites, yellow/yellows, •/•s, ∅/∅s, ⌛️/⌛️s, ☁️/☁️s, ⚠️/⚠️s, ⚰️/⚰️s, ⛓️/���️s, ⛓️‍💥/⛓️‍💥s, ✂️/✂️s, 🌀/🌀s, 🌈/🌈s, 🌓/🌓s, 🌗/🌗s, 🌪️/🌪️s, 🌫️/🌫️s, 🍄/🍄s, 🍄‍🟫/🍄‍🟫s, 🎞️/🎞️s, 🎟️/🎟️s, 🎤/🎤s, 🎥/🎥s, 🎪/🎪s, 🎭/🎭s, 🐁/🐁s, 🐇/🐇s, 🐌/🐌s, 🐛/🐛s, 🐜/🐜s, 🐥/🐥s, 👁️/👁️s, 📞/📞s, 📠/📠s, 📹/📹s, 📺/📺s, 📻/📻s, 📽️/📽️s, 🔑/🔑s, 🔗/🔗s, 🔮/🔮s, 🕊️/🕊️s, 🕯️/🕯️s, 🕰️/🕰️s, 🕳️/🕳️s, 🕷️/🕷️s, 🗝️/🗝️s, 🗺️/🗺️s, 😶‍🌫️/😶‍🌫️s, 🚪/🚪s, 🛎️/🛎️s, 🛠️/🛠️s, 🥀/🥀s, 🥣/🥣s, 🥩/🥩s, 🦂/🦂s, 🦜/🦜s, 🦟/🦟s, 🦠/🦠s, 🦴/🦴s, 🦷/🦷s, 🧠/🧠s, 🧫/🧫s, 🩸/🩸s, 🩹/🩹s, 🩻/🩻s, 🪐/🪐s, 🪜/🪜s, 🪞/🪞s, 🪟/🪟s, 🪦/🪦s, 🪰/🪰s, 🪱/🪱s, 🪳/🪳s, 🪶/🪶s, 🪹/🪹s, 🫀/🫀s, 🫁/🫁s, 🫗/🫗s, 🫥/🫥s

Titles

A Corrupted File, An Unapproachable (Beast/Entity/Unknown/Any Animal), Entity [number], Lucky (Beast/Entity/Any Animal), The (Bride/Husband/Spouse), The (Entity/Beast/Creature/Thing/God) of Level [number], The (King/Queen/Royal), The (Smiling/Frowning) One, The (Spokeslady/Spokesman/Spokesperson), The (Un)Lucky One, The Artist, The Behemoth, The Bellhopper, The Bone Thief, The Bronze Builder, The Catmaster, The Coder, The Comedian, The Concierge, The Crawlspace (Entity/Beast/Creature), The Endless Walls, The Entity, The Entity Which Doesn’t Exist, The Explorer, The First Entity, The Friend, The Game Master, The Headless (Hunter/Huntress/Entity/Beast/Creature), The Hermit, The Historian, The Homerunner, The Housekeeper, The Liminal Space, The Mail Carrier, The Maker, The Maze of Lost Ones, The Memory (Any Animal), The Memory Manager, The Mucked Smell, The Musician, The Neighborhood Watcher, The Numbed (Entity/Beast/Man/Woman/Person/Creature), The One Adorned In (Red/White/Black/Beige), The One Which Light Flicker For, The One Who Buzzes, The One Who Is Hiding in Level [number], The One Who Looks Too Familiar, The One Who Opened The Back Door to Reality, The One With No Data, The Party Host, The Puppeteer, The Scarecrow, The Scavenger, The Singer, The Smiling One, The Wanderer, [prn] That Lives Behind Reality, [prn] Who (Makes/Ruins) The Party, [prn] Who Can Not Be Explained, [prn] Who Endlessly Falls, [prn] Who Is Sick, [prn] Who Makes and Plays The Games, [prn] Who Resigns in Level [number], [prn] Who Wanders The Endless Levels

Genders

0beckəl, 1beckəl, 3beckəl, 4beckəl, 5beckəl, 6beckəl, 7beckəl, 8beckəl, 92levelic, 974kitic, 9beckəl, Backaneic, Backroomgender, Backroomic, Backroomsaesic, Backroomscattic, Backroomsdollic, Backroomsfluid, Backroomsflux, Backroomspinnic, Buzinbackroomic, Catbackroomic, Cliproomic, Deathmothgender, Eeriroomic, Endlessswimic, Entiromaric, Entity555gender, Entity666gender.exe, Entity99ic, Erokoric, Escapethebackroomsgameic, Flowliminpinkic, Hotelliminix, Kenolimighost, Lepidoipresence, Level!ix, Level0liminix, Level1liminix, Level336dia, Level370ix, Level389ic, Level7ix, Liminaldollic, Liminalmazeic, Liminalmushrooms, Liminalpoweric, Liminalsnowic, Liminalspacestalgic, Liminaquarpetic, Liminaquic, Limingender, Liminix, Liminlovecoric, Natatoliraifortic, Nostbackplushic, Panbackroomic, Parkgaraliminix, Partygoerscharic, Partykenous, Rubicunipresence, Sh4dygr3yl3v3l1c, Smilergender, Snowliminalic, Storeliminix, Unfatholiminal, Zeroaromic

Other mogai

Alderbackroentity, Alderitch, Alderliminal, Alderwhitevoid, Assigned Creature at Birth/ACreAB, Assigned Freak at Birth/AFrAB, Assigned Monster at Birth/AMonAB, Assigned Uncanny at Birth/AUnAB, Backroomsvesil, Darkwarmgreyvesil, Eldritch Omninoun, Eldritchvesil, Error Omninoun, Flesheatseaseque, Grey Omninoun, Hiliblayedernic, Kenovesi, Kittyhousehearthic, Mimicryvior, Nonhuvesil, Null Omninoun, Poolroomperspesque, Shard Omninoun, Sublimityhearthic, Terrorhotelhearthic, Thing Omninoun, Vesiliminal, ∅ Omninoun

[settledownsummer]

Will’s words rolled over him like the tides, the slight Southern twang pulling in his chest. I could listen to you talk all day, Nico thought.

“Huh?” Will asked, looking over at him. His blue eyes were wide, the freckles on his cheeks pronounced from up close. Oh, shit, he must have said that out loud. Quick, distraction.

“You have gold in your hair,” Nico said, matter-of-factly.

“I… what?” Will’s eyes narrowed, concerned. He rolled over to face him. “Okay, what did they do to you?”

Do to me? No one did anything to me, thought Nico. Oh, except, maybe… “They gave me special ambrosia?” Nico suggested. “But I don’t think it’s affecting me.”

Will’s eyes snapped to the blue wrapper on his bedside, then back to him. A slow grin stretched across his face, lighting up his eyes. Beautiful. “You don’t think it’s affecting you?” he repeated.

“Nope,” Nico said, popping the p.

“And what did you say about my hair?” Will asked, a gleam in his eye.

“Oh! You have gold in it,” Nico said, excited to be back on a regular train of conversation. “Like, there’s blonde, and there’s some brown, like, underneath, but some parts…” Nico reached up to gently touch a strand. “They’re like, spun gold. Like that one guy, in the fairytale. What was his name? Rasputin?” Nico let his hand fall deeper into his hair, the soft curls running through his fingers.

Wil let out a small choked noise. Nico glanced back at his face. A blush ran along his cheeks. He was glowing again. “Rumpelstiltskin?” he asked.

“Yes, exactly,” Nico said. “It’s really pretty.”

Will didn’t answer, but his blush spread from his cheeks down his neck. He was laying perfectly still, letting Nico do what he wanted with his hair. Nico appreciated it, because he had been trying not to play with Will’s hair for days now, and now that he started he wasn’t sure if he could stop. And, he was making Will blush. 

--- chapter 3 is up! last one coming next week :)

[dbenfordworks]

Performances & other incidents

Contact: douglas.benford@gmail.com

See also: http://douglasbenford.org.uk

Sound gallery: http://douglassoundgallery.tumblr.com

Bandcamp: https://dbenford.bandcamp.com/music

Further links at bottom of page

◾️◾️◾️◾️

2023

December

- Performance as part of a trio with Mirie Ya and Chris Hill at the Frank Chickens’ Merry Mini Ura Matsuri, St Mary’s Old Church, Stoke Newington, London, UK

- Performance as part of a trio with Chris Hill and James O’Sullivan at Matt Atkins’ 50th birthday event, Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

- Trio performance with Iris Colomb and Tom Ward at a Lion Heart production event, The Royal Albert pub, New Cross, London, UK

- Performances as a member of London Improvisers Orchestra with conductions by Ashley Wales, Steve Beresford, Faradina Afifi, Charlotte Keeffe, Julien Woods and George Garford at Longfield Hall, Camberwell, London, UK

- The Ambrosia Rasputin radio show on Resonance FM this month had two programmes with pieces involving Douglas Benford aired. Firstly, a performance by Maggie Nicols, Isidora Edwards, Alex Paxton, Hyelim Kim and Douglas Benford, and then also a piece by Mandhira De Sara, John Edwards, Hannah Marshall and Douglas Benford from their bandcamp album, see links below.

November

- Trio performance with Verity Lane and N.O. Moore at Soundhunt (part of Cambridge Jazz Festival), Thrive cafe, Cambridge, UK

- Attended and performed at the London Improvisation Workshop at the Welsh Chapel, Borough, London, UK. Other performers: Eddie Prevost, Nathan Moore, Emmanuelle Waeckerle, Jessica St Bruno, Chris Hill, Ed Lucas and Romuald Wadych.

- Performances as part of a quintet with Maggie Nicols, Alex Paxton, Hyelim Kim and Isidora Edwards at Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

- Performances as a member of London Improvisers Orchestra with conductions by Ashley Wales, Steve Beresford, Faradina Afifi (with poetry by Bettina Schroeder & Roger Huddle), Sue Lynch, Jonny Martin and Benjy Sandler at St Mary’s Old Church, Stoke Newington, London, UK

- Duo performance with Dee Byrne at a Lion Heart production event, The Royal Albert pub, New Cross, London, UK

October

- Attended and performed at the London Improvisation Workshop at the Welsh Chapel, Borough, London, UK. Other performers: Eddie Prevost, Nathan Moore, Emmanuelle Waeckerle, John Eyles, Gina Fergione, Jessica St Bruno, Ian Wadley, and Mirei Ya

- Performances as part of a quartet with Emily Shapiro, Sofia Vaisman-Maturana, Abe Mamet, Maya Leigh-Rosenwasser at The Intimate Space, St Mary’s Tower, Hornsey Village, London, UK

- The Ambrosia Rasputin radio show on Resonance FM airs an excerpt of ‘Cascade Study Team’ from the Bandcamp album by Douglas Benford, Emily Shapiro, N.O. Moore and Clive Bell - https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/the-ambrosia-rasputin-show-15-oct-2023/

- Performances as part of a quartet with Sue Lynch, Dave Fowler and Noah Berrie at Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

- Performances as part of a trio with Verity Lane and Eddie Prevost at Ad Lib, Open Ealing, Ealing, London, UK

- Performances as a member of London Improvisers Orchestra with conductions by Ashley Wales, Steve Beresford, Chris Killick, Olga Ksendzovska, Aurelie Freoua and Martin Hackett at St Mary’s Old Church, Stoke Newington, London, UK

September

- Performances as part of a trio with Lucy Strauss and Alan Wilkinson at Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

- Attended and performed three times this month at the London Improvisation Workshop at the Welsh Chapel, Borough, London, UK. Other performers: Eddie Prevost, Nathan Moore, Tilly Coulton, Emmanuelle Waeckerle, John Eyles, Tony Hardy-Bick, Tansy Spinks, Chris Hill, Verity Lane, Noah Berrie, Soeine, Samuele Albani, Alan Newcombe, James O’Sullivan, Ed Shipsey, Ross Lambert, Keisuke Matsui, Ian Wadley, Benjy Sandler, Andrea Bolzoni and Mirie Ya

- Performances as part of quartet with Ariséma Tekle, Robert Finegan & James O’Sullivan at Finch Cafe, London Fields, London, UK

- Performances as a member of London Improvisers Orchestra with conductions by Ashley Wales, Charlotte Keeffe, Olga Ksendzovska, Dee Byrne, Gustavia Clayton Marucci and Phil Minton at St Mary’s New Church, Stoke Newington, London, UK

August

- Attended and performed twice this month at the London Improvisation Workshop at the Welsh Chapel, Borough, London, UK. Other performers: Eddie Prevost, Nathan Moore, Noah Berrie, Emmanuelle Waeckerle, Tony Hardy-Bick, Ian Wadley, Chris Hill, Tansy Spinks, Alan Newcombe, Keisuke Matsui, Will Clark, Mirie Ya and Ross Lambert

- Duo performance with Pascal Marzan at a private party celebrating Sylvia Hallet’s birthday

- Performances as a member of London Improvisers Orchestra, with conductions by Steve Beresford, Charlotte Keefe, Noel Taylor, Julian Woods, Ashley Wales, Maggie Nicols, Faradina Afifi, Aurelie Freoua, Rowland Sutherland, Orphy Robinson at Cafe Oto, Dalston, London, UK

July

- Performances as a part of a quartet with Caroline Kraabel, Julia Doyle and Tom Ward at Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

- Keyboard contribution to Jackson Burton & Ash Reid’s performance at an Associates pop group dedication event, Cafe Oto, Dalston, London, UK

- Trio performance with Charlotte Keeffe and Tom Jackson at a Lion Heart production event, The Royal Albert pub, New Cross, London, UK

- Performances as a member of London Improvisers Orchestra with conductions by Ashley Wales, Steve Beresford, Faradena Afifi, Olga Ksendzovska, Martin Hackett and Dave Tucker at St Mary’s New Church, Stoke Newington, London, UK

June

- A trailer for a documentary film on artist Calum Storrie, to be released later in 2023, is released, featuring co-compositions and performances by Douglas Benford - https://youtu.be/wRHhQ6ojaT4

- Performances as a part of a quartet with Jamie Coleman, Florence Uniacke and Daniel Thompson at Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

- Performances as part of Confront Recordings’ The Seen twentieth anniversary alongside Regan Bowering, Phil Durrant, Graham MacKeachan, Paul Khimasia Morgan, Cath Roberts, Matt Atkins, Bill Thompson, David Toop and Mark Wastell at Hundred Years gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

- Attended and performed at the London Improvisation Workshop three times this month at the Welsh Chapel, Borough, London, UK. Other performers: Keisuke Matsui, Noah Berrie, Emmanuelle Waeckerle, Paul Margree, Tony Hardy-Bick, Chris Hill, Alan Newcombe, Tansy Spinks, Ian Wadley and Tom Mills.

- The Ambrosia Rasputin radio show on Resonance FM airs the piece ‘Smashed Dimensions’ by Douglas Benford, Otto Willberg and Phil Durrant (from the bandcamp ‘Stolen Embers’) - https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/the-ambrosia-rasputin-show-11-june-2023/

- Performances as a member of London Improvisers Orchestra with conductions by Steve Beresford/Faradena Afifi, Adrian Northover, Ashley Wales w. Iris Colomb, Dee Byrne and Julian Woods w. George Garford at St Mary’s New Church, Stoke Newington, London, UK

- Performance as a member of Multiple Melodicas alongside Steve Beresford, David Grundy and Georgina Brett at Cafe Oto, Dalston, London, UK

May

- Performances at a celebration of Emily Shapiro's birthday with Emily Suzanne Shapiro, Devon Osamu Tipp, Jo De Hulsters, Sofia Vaisman Maturana and Laura Beardsmore at Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

- Performances with Marks Sanders and Verity Lane as part of ‘Drawn Into Sound’, with graphic scores by Calum Storrie and Livia Garcia at Cafe Oto, Dalston, London, UK

- Performances as a part of a quartet with Sylvia Hallett, Ecka Mordecai and Roland Ramanan at Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

- Attended and performed this month with the London Improvisation Workshop at the Welsh Chapel, Borough, London, UK. Other performers: Eddie Prevost, Tony Hardy-Bick, Lucy Strauss, Chris Hill, Ross Lambert, Verity Lane, Regan Bowering, James O’Sullivan, Mirie Ya, Andrew Ciccone, Noah Berrie and N. O. Moore

- Recording session at the Hundred Years gallery, Hoxton, London, UK with Graham MacKeacham, Keisuke Matsui and Regan Bowering

- Performances as a member of London Improvisers Orchestra with conductions by Steve Beresford, Faradena Afifi, Adrian Northover, Ashley Wales, Olga Ksendzovska, Philip Wachsmann and Aurelie Freoua at St Mary’s New Church, Stoke Newington, London, UK

- Performance with Chris Hill, Iris Colomb, Crystal Ma and others at Babble & Squeak, Hundred Years gallery, Hoxton, UK

April

- Performances of Phil Morton’s 50:50 timer project alongside Phil Morton & the Oxford Improvisers (inc Mark Browne, Martin Hackett and others), and London-based improvisers Chris Hill, John Eyles, Iris Colomb, Pat Moochy, Lucky Liguori, Alan Newcombe and others at South Oxford Community Centre, Oxford, UK

- Attended and performed on two occasions this month with the London Improvisation Workshop at the Welsh Chapel, Borough, London, UK. Other performers: Eddie Prevost, David Grundy, John Eyles, Oscar Leyens, Tony Hardy-Bick, Tom Mills, Jordan Muscatello, Lucy Strauss, Emmanuelle Waeckerle, Armin Sturm, Chris Hill, Ross Lambert, Ed Shipsey, Alex Dalchecco, Tansy Spinks, Angus Paget, Faidon Pap, Helen Dimos, Sacha Kahirand and N. O. Moore

- Performances of Phil Morton’s 50:50 timer project alongside Phil Morton, Chris Hill, John Eyles, Ed Shipsey, Iris Colomb, Kostas Chondros, Pat Moochy, Martin Hackett, Lucky Liguori, Theo Finkel, James O’Sullivan, Hywel Jones and Matt Atkins at Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

- Performances as a part of a quartet with David Toop, Regan Bowering and Andrea Bolzoni at Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

- Performance as a member of Multiple Melodicas alongside Steve Beresford, Martin Hackett, David Grundy and Georgina Brett at Water Into Beer, Brockley, London, UK

- Performances as a member of London Improvisers Orchestra with conductions by Steve Beresford, Olga Ksendzovska, Faradena Afifi, Ashley Wales, Martin Hackett and Aurelie Freoua at St Mary’s Old Church, Stoke Newington, London, UK

March

- Attended and performed with the London Improvisation Workshop three times this month at the Welsh Chapel, Borough, London, UK. Other performers: Alan Newcombe, Emmanuelle Waeckerle, David Grundy, Chris Hill, Regan Bowering, Jamie Coleman, Ed Shipsey, Lydia Swift, Mirie Ya, Theo Wigens, Helen Dimos, Florence Uniacke, John Eyles, Andrew Ciccone, Noah Berrie, Pat Moonchy, Ian Wradley, Lucky Liguori, Ross Lambert, Tony Hardie-Bick, Oscar Leyens, Jordan Muscatello, Jack Dove, Tansy Spinks, Crystal Ma and Keisuke Matsui

- Performances as a trio with Marjolaine Charbin & Dominic Lash at Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

- The Ambrosia Rasputin radio show airs the Hundred Years gallery event celebrating Maggie Nicols 75th Birthday including a group piece with Douglas Benford - [see the link above for the complete progamme]

- Performances as a member of London Improvisers Orchestra with conductions by Steve Beresford (w. text by Brian Eley), Faradena Afifi, Dee Byrne, Ashley Wales, Loz Speyer and Aurelie Freoua at St Mary’s New Church, Stoke Newington, London, UK

- Lengthy review of three releases (‘Plays LemonMelons’, ‘Taking A Quiet Road’ and a Lonely Impulse Collective piece) by Douglas Benford in the March 2023 issue of the Wire magazine, print edition, by Brian Morton. “Benford quite deliberately goes anywhere…quietly rapt….comfortably absorbed and absorbing”

- Duo performance with Benedict Taylor and group performance with Adrian Northover, Sue Lynch, Adam Bohman, Benedict Taylor, Georgina Brett, Daniel Thompson and Vid Drasler at a Lion Heart production event, The Royal Albert pub, New Cross, London, UK

February

- Performances as a quartet with Steve Noble, Adam Bohman & Dee Byrne at Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

- Performance at Maggie Nichols’ 75th Birthday event and gallery fundraiser with Emmanuelle Waeckerle, Nicky Heinen, Caroline Kraabel, Mark Wastell and Phil Durrant at Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK (see YouTube clip above)

- Performances of Phil Morton’s 50:50 timer project alongside Phil Morton, Chris Hill, John Eyles, Regan Bowering, David Grundy, Ed Shipsey, Tom Mills, Kostas Chondros, Pat Moochy, James Malone, Alan Newcombe and others at Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

- The Ambrosia Rasputin radio show airs the piece ‘Ramparts’ by Douglas Benford, Isadora Edwards and Adrian Northover (from the bandcamp album by them) - [link above for whole radio show]

- Duo performance with Cath Roberts at Boat-Ting, Embankment/Temple, London, UK

- Performances as a member of London Improvisers Orchestra with conductions by David Leahy, Adrian Northover, Dee Byrne, Ashley Wales and Martin Hackett at St Mary’s Old Church, Stoke Newington, London, UK

January

- Attended and performed with the London Improvisation Workshop at the Welsh Chapel, Borough, London, UK. Other performers: Eddie Prevost, James O’Sullivan, Tom Mills, Nathan Moore, Ross Lambert, Chris Hill, Alan Newcombe, Emmanuelle Waeckerle and Kostas Chondros

- Performance as a trio with Isidora Edwards and Adrian Northover at the Horse Impro Club, The Glitch, Waterloo, London, UK

- The Ambrosia Rasputin radio show had two different programmes featuring firstly most of the Mopomoso Xmas event included the duo by Andrea Bolzoni and Douglas Benford - https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/the-ambrosia-rasputin-show-15-jan-2023/ - and secondly most of the Hundred Years gallery winter solstice event including the duo of Verity Lane and Douglas Benford - https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/the-ambrosia-rasputin-show-22-jan-2023/

- Performances as a quartet with Emily Shapiro, N. O. Moore & Clive Bell at Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

- Recording session at the Hundred Years gallery, Hoxton, London, UK with Graham MacKeacham and Regan Bowering

Continued below…

[gatheredinamber]

Radio interview by Ambrosia Rasputin

[aristidetwain]

Who on Earth is Rasputin?

If you answered “the Fourth Doctor using a Chameleon Arch”, you have seen the 1971 biopic Nicholas and Alexandra and you have the sort of spirit we’re looking for. We love you, Tom Baker, we love you.

Nevertheless, while it is clearly canonical that every other part played by a given Dr Who actor represents that actor’s Doctor under a Chameleon Arch, (/s), let’s dig a little deeper, because it’s fun and we have cause to do so, into the life and history of Grigori Rasputin in the Doctor Who Universe.

(Lengthy development under the cut.)

1. 

The PETER HARNESS Story

For those who haven’t been keeping up with the flood of great content springing from the Doctor Who: Lockdown event like slightly wobbly ambrosia from the Cornucopia, Peter Harness has released a synopsis for one of the most improbable missed opportunities of the Welsh Series: a Capaldi one-parter entitled How The Monk Got His Habit. 

This story would have seen the return of the Time Meddler himself, or, as you may know him, the Monk—a positively delightful antagonist from the 1960′s who got overshadowed by the more enduring and more malevolent Master, and whose gimmick was that he was an amoral hedonist who changed history for fun and profit with no care for the consequences. In his televised appearances in the William Hartnell era, the Time Meddler was played by Peter Butterworth; first encountered posing as a monk in an 11th-century monastery, he was subsequently remembered as “the Monk”, wearing that costume, and known thereafter as “the Monk” or “the Meddling Monk” in fandom and in subsequent appearances. 

Harness decided to feature an early incarnation of the character colliding out-of-sync with the Twelfth Doctor, giving nothing less than the origin story of the Meddling Monk, both the “meddling” and “monk” parts, and just from the original pitch email he dug up, it is a thing of beauty.

(Source)

Further enjoyment is to be gleaned from the fully-written-out opening scene of a hypothetical novelisation of the unmade story, which can be found here and establishes the incarnation of the Time Meddler at the start of that story (currently going by “Roger”) as being his fifth. 

This is mildly interesting in that in true Doctor Who fashion, it manages to contradict one of the very few already-existing stories that had tried to make sense of the Monk’s timeline. I refer of course to John Peel’s The Mutation of Time, which took time off to establish that the already-meddling, already-monasterial Peter Butterworth incarnation seen in The Time Meddler and The Daleks’ Master Plan was the Monk’s first incarnation. But never mind that.

Note that the historical Rasputin died at the tail end of 1916. I could construct elaborate theories of how and why Rasputin turning insane in 1917 could affect the Russian Revolution and the rest of human history, but I’ll spare you and myself the additional headache, and assume this was simply a typo.

2. 

The BOOK OF THE WAR Story

Where it gets complicated, as is often the case, is when you factor in the Time War. See, The Book of the War, in one of its most entertaining side-stories, establishes that Grigori Rasputin actually did not die in December 1916. Instead, Faction Paradox, those lackadaisical jackanapes, thought it would be funny to spirit him away to their hideout a few days before his death, leaving a barely-sentient clone to act out Rasputin’s real death. 

Unaware of this, the Celestis (a faction of Time Lords who turned themselves into incorporeal demons to escape the Time War) had decided to recruit Rasputin in their usual faustian way, offering him a form of immortality in exchange of his accepting to be Marked by them, becoming a slave to their will. Because the Rasputin clone’s basic programming included “Do whatever freaky time travelling sorcerers are telling you to do”, the thing blithely accepted the Celestis Mark and was on its way. 

And then, unaware of what the Celestis had done, but having caught wind of the Faction Paradox cultists’ plan to bring Rasputin to their homebase, the actual Gallifrey-based Time Lords decided to duplicate Rasputin themselves, leaving a “trapped” Grigori for the Faction to find, one who was secretly loyal to them, the Great Houses. And so they showed up one day before Rasputin’s death to perform the switcheroo, being under the impression that if the Faction were to whisk Rasputin away, they would do so mere instants before he was supposed to die. 

(Maybe the Time Lords thought that because that’s how they would do it. For more information, see S09E12, Hell Bent.)

Hence, come the fateful day, the Time Lords’ doctored duplicate of the Faction’s doctored duplicate of Rasputin, now secretly immortal thanks to, and under the control of the Celestis, (are you still following this?)… not only does it take forever to die because duh, it’s a badly-made golem, not a human being… but once it does find it within itself to die, it is instantly resurrected by the Celestis, who activate their Mark, ordering it to do their shadowy bidding.

At this point, the misbegotten triple-zombie experiences an existential crisis too big for its artificial brain to handle, as what passes for its soul has now been conditioned to faithfully serve the interest of three different factions who are at war with each other. Not-Rasputin goes instantly mad with confusion and goes drown itself in the nearest river.

Meanwhile, in the members-only Faction Paradox treehouse, the original Rasputin whom the cultists replaced with the first golem is properly inducted into the Faction, where he is widely observed to turn into just as crazy a Grandfather Paradox zealot as he was a devout Orthodox and mystic. He proceeds to use his newfound authority as Father Dyavol of Faction Paradox to advise his fellow Faction member Princess Anastasia to secede from the Eleven-Day Empire and bugger off to Moscow.

After Anastasia and Dyavol’s revolution crashes and burns, his corpse is found in the river again, appearing to once more have been mutilated in more ways than it would take to kill a normal human being. The Book’s ambiguous in-universe authors are themselves unsure of quite what happened.

3.

The OTHER STUFF

Those two are the “big ones”, but I would be remiss if I did not mention other Doctor Who takes on the historical Grigori Rasputin.

Big Finish’s Companion Chronicle The Wanderer has the First Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara coming across the younger, wandering-pilgrim Rasputin in 1903. He briefly becomes a genuine prophet due to having come into contact with an alien artefact which grants him knowledge of future human history, but this is undone at the end of the story and so doesn’t amount to very much. 

I am told that this is because the story was originally written with Nostradamus in mind, which makes a lot of sense. What is of interest to us is that Rasputin is here depicted as a basically good, sane man, once you set the grandiose prophetic visions aside.

Dave McIntee’s The Wages of Sin, on the other hand, is also constructed around Rasputin’s death in December 1916, but it posits that Rasputin was a non-supernatural and non-crazy monk, totally undeserving of his ghoulish and supernatural post-mortem reputation. Rather problematically, it gives us a direct insight into Rasputin’s thought processes as he dies, with no thought of being a triple-zombie with conflicting allegiances to be gleaned: 

4. 

The THEORY

What this tells us is that Rasputin’s death is not strictly a bootstrap paradox — the original historical death that the Faction fetishized to the point of wanting to get their own ritualistic mitts on Rasputin, the one the Monk accidentally averts, a few months before it’s supposed to happen, in a way that threatens to change all of human history, is not the farcical catastrophe described in The Book of the War. There was an original, untampered-with timeline that got thrown out of whack by too many different Time Lords trying to meddle with it.

You could, I suppose, posit that there are three different timelines: the Monk and the various Wartime factions both split off in different directions from the baseline Wages of Sin timeline where the human Rasputin died in the river. But that is no fun at all, is it? And furthermore, it does not account for the fact that the definitely human Rasputin of The Wanderer and The Wages of Sin is a good man unfairly maligned, whereas the Rasputin who becomes Father Dyavol is a rebellious lunatic. So let’s assume instead that the Book of the War story’s time meddling is building onto what happened (or, you know, would have happened) in How The Monk Got His Habit.

If we assume that the “the Monk drives the real Rasputin insane” incident happened a few months prior to December 1916, and it is on the day when he was driven mad that the real Rasputin is taken out of time by the Twelfth Doctor and replaced by the regenerated Monk, then this finally makes sense of the difference in characterization between pre- and post-1916 Rasputin. The sane, misunderstood Rasputin was the real human being, whereas the ranting madman Rasputin is the persona put on by the repentant Monk. Remember, per Harness’s outline, the Monk has a checklist of what Rasputin is supposed to do historically speaking, but I don’t see him having any real way of knowing how Rasputin is supposed to act. Most of his involvement with the man took place on the day that he drove him irreparably kookoo, after all.

So we end up with the following story:

The original Grigori Rasputin, who meets the First Doctor in 1903, is a mostly-sane and wholly-non-evil man. He has a traumatic experience with visions of future history, which the Doctor is forced to telepathically lock away, Donna-style. (The Wanderer) In the original timeline witnessed by the Third Doctor, Rasputin lives out his days largely as he had begun. He is assassinated in largely-mundane circumstances; Jo’s attempt to avert this by switching out the poisoned cakes for normal ones gives rise to a legend that Rasputin was unusually hard to kill, and causes the event to go down in history. (The Wages of Sin)  The Earth band Boney M write a song about Rasputin which inspires the Fifth Monk  to go back in time and make Rasputin listen to it. This drives him irreparably bananas, likely because of his having already had one barely-contained traumatic experience with future knowledge given to him by aliens, back in 1903.This screws with time to the extent that when he realizes he is out of his depth and calls for help, the Fifth Monk actually reaches the post-War Twelfth Doctor. After a lot of shenanigans, the Doctor leaves the Monk in 1916 with instructions to regenerate into a Sixth Monk physically identical to Rasputin, and then act out the part Rasputin was supposed to play in history to a T. (How The Monk Got His Habit)  The Sixth Monk’s Rasputin cosplay leaves a lot to be desired, since he mostly bases his performance on the damn Boney M song and on the bananas, post-listening-to-the-song Rasputin. Nevertheless, it’s enough to fool Faction Paradox into abducting him a few days before he was supposed to fake his death and go back to business as usual. The improbable series of coincidences which follows, with the triply-brainwashed duplicate, might represent Time trying to adjust so that the myth of Rasputin’s outlandish death, which started this entire series of events, still goes down in History somehow. Once in the Eleven-Day Empire, the Sixth Monk realizes pretty quickly that his being there at all, in the middle of the Time War, is a perfectly irregular breach of all the Protocols of Linearity. Hoping to avoid detection, he continues hamming it up as Mad Prophet Rasputin until he figures out a plan. To his surprise, he manages to fool Anastasia, and so he manipulates her into giving him a free ticket out of the Faction, namely the whole Thirteen-Day Republic thing. (The Book of the War) But wait. What happened to the real Rasputin who went crazy? I reckon the Twelfth Doctor took him to some place of caring or other. What’s more, I reckon he voiced his intention to do so while the Fifth Monk was still with him. (How The Monk Got His Habit) And so the final grisly piece of the puzzle comes into place. Desperate to escape back to his own place in Gallifreyan history, where it’s safe and black-and-white, when he sees the Valentine’s Day Battle approaching, the Sixth Monk commits his first truly evil act by hopping back into his timeship unseen, bringing the real Rasputin back to the Thirteen-Day Republic, and murdering him in a way which he hopes will look like the original timeline reasserting itself. To further avoid detection in case he should be intercepted on the way out, the Sixth Monk regenerates himself into a clean-shaven Seventh Monk right there and then, probably hiding in a closet. (The Book of the War) As far as any of the Wartime powers know, “Father Dyavol” is dead, and so the now-inconspicuous Seventh Monk is free to slink away back to his TARDIS. Knowing the Doctor is found on Earth in almost all of their incarnations, the Monk hovers close to Earth’s timeline, hoping to find the “right” Doctor again and rejoin Linearity by latching onto him. When they finally bump into each other in 1066 Northumbria, there’s still a 50-year difference between them, but the Monk thinks “eh, close enough” and reenters normal time for good, now with much-loosened moral standards. After all, act or no act, he spent quite a lot of time working with Faction Paradox — besides which he has seen that everything the Time Lords of his day stand for is torn down eventually by the War, so why bother with any of those Laws of Time he know will eventually be suspended? (The Time Meddler, The Daleks’ Master Plan)

…oh!

And if you want the real Rasputin’s story to have a happy ending, maybe the Faction, once they rifle through the possessions found on the corpse of Father Dyavol, find a fobwatch and open it… reviving the Fourth Doctor, who offers the befuddled coroner-Cousin a jelly baby, shrugs that this particular attempt to throw off the Black Guardian clearly didn’t work, and returns to his own era.

The jelly baby in question was then placed, with religious deference, on a velvet cushion inside the Catalogue.

[douglasbenford]

CONTACT OR TO JOIN OCCASIONAL MAILING LIST: douglas.benford@gmail.com

MUSIC: https://dbenford.bandcamp.com/music

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UPCOMING LIVE EVENTS - if no link shown please check venue websites or myself directly for event confirmations

*** 4th July 2024. Douglas Benford, Mirei Ya, Adam Bohman (trio) at a Lionheart production event. 8pm. Donation. The Royal Albert Pub, New Cross, London, UK

*** 14th July 2024. Douglas Benford, Rachel Musson, Phil Durrant, Roland Ramanan. 3.30pm. £10/£8. Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

*** 15th September 2024. Douglas Benford, Ecka Mordecai + artists tbc. 3.30pm. £10/£8. Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

*** 29th September 2024. Douglas Benford, Adam Bohman + artists tbc (trio). 2pm. £tbc. The Tin Tabernacle, Kilburn, London, UK

*** 7th October 2024. Douglas Benford, Alex Ward, Pascal Marzan (trio). 8pm. £10/£8. Boat-Ting, Theatre Ship, South Quay, Canary Wharf, London, UK

*** 27th October 2024. Douglas Benford, Adrian Southby, Mark Wastell, Tansy Spinks. 3.30pm. £10/£8. Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

*** 10th November 2024. Douglas Benford, Chris Hill + artists tbc. 3.30pm. £10/£8. Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

*** 16th November 2024. Douglas Benford + Clive Bell (duo). 7pm. £7. Konzstrukting Soundz, The Fisherman’s Chapel, New Road, Leigh-On-Sea, nr Southend, UK

*** 15th December 2024. Douglas Benford + artists tbc. 3.30pm. £10/£8. Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

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OTHER NEWS ITEMS

*** From 2020 to 2024 The Ambrosia Rasputin radio show on Resonance FM has aired many various programmes with releases involving Douglas Benford, see http://dbenfordworks.tumblr.com/ for a chronological list. Here are this years:

May 2024 - Track from ‘Melting Frames’ (37mins in) - https://m.mixcloud.com/Resonance/the-ambrosia-rasputin-show-19-may-2024/

Feb 2024 - Track from ‘Glancing Blows’ (5mins in) - https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/the-ambrosia-rasputin-show-11-feb-2024/

*** In March 2024 the BBC Radio 3 Freeness radio show aired an excerpt of ‘Glancing Blows’ from the Bandcamp album by Douglas Benford, Cath Roberts, Sylvia Hallett and Dominic Lash.

*** A documentary film on artist Calum Storrie has been released, featuring co-compositions and performances by Douglas Benford. Available for rental/streaming here. This film has also been screened at Tokyo International film festival 2024.

*** There’s a lengthy review of three releases (‘Plays LemonMelons’, ‘Taking A Quiet Road’ and a Lonely Impulse Collective piece) by Douglas Benford in the March 2023 issue of the Wire magazine, print edition, by Brian Morton. “Benford quite deliberately never goes anywhere…quietly rapt….comfortably absorbed and absorbing”

*** A solo piece, ‘Zither Memory’, by Douglas Benford is broadcast on Bristol based 1020 internet radio station on the show 81 Discovery Avenue (link above)

*** The Seen release w. Stewart Lee, Douglas Benford, Jennifer Allum, Mark Wastell, Dominic Lash, Phil Durrant, Harry Broadbent, Bertrand Denzler and Graham McKeachan broadcast on Dirk Serries’ Netherlands 27 Oct 2022 Portmento radio show

*** Two duos by Douglas Benford with Meg Morley, also one with Sylvia Hallett, filmed at Mopomoso earlier this year are now online - https://youtube.com/user/mopomoso

*** The Lonely Impulse Collective celebrated one year of releases with an album by them all, ‘One Lonely Year’, including this piece by Douglas Benford - https://lonelyimpulsecollective.bandcamp.com/track/annual-scenes. This piece was also aired on Resonance FM’s Ambrosia Rasputin programme (see works list for link, Jan 2022)

*** A playlist by Douglas Benford has been published on the Wire magazine website: https://www.thewire.co.uk/audio/tracks/wire-playlist-douglas-benford

*** The Seen ‘For Sake Of Joy’ CD & bandcamp w. Douglas Benford, Mark Wastell, Stewart Lee, Dominic Lash, Phil Durrant, Jennifer Allum, Harry Broadbent, Bertrand Denzler and Graham McKeachan is now out - https://confrontrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/for-sake-of-joy-of-study-of-oneself-together

*** Douglas Benford performed with the London Improvisers Orchestra at the iklectik art space in south London on May 2nd 2021. This event was streamed only - https://youtu.be/pfddokBJhoQ

*** A celebration of John Russell‘s life (John died in January of 2021) on Mopomoso tv - included Douglas Benford’s tribute at around 1hr 50mins in - https://youtu.be/D7E71YLI7X4

*** Douglas Benford is mentioned a couple of times in a new book, ‘Pianos, Toys, Music And Noise - Conversations With Steve Beresford’ by Andy Hamilton, with an introduction by Stewart Lee...a great read! A cheaper paperback is in the pipeline apparently... - https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/pianos-toys-music-and-noise-9781501366451/

*** As well as being mentioning Douglas Benford releases in his mailing list news, in July 2020 Stewart Lee reviewed the Adam Bohman / Douglas Benford bandcamp in his Idler magazine music column - https://www.idler.co.uk/article/stewart-lees-music-column/

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RECENT RELEASES (see Bandcamp link at top of page for full available catalogue):

*** ‘Copia’ - an album by People Like Us in collaboration w. Douglas Benford (on melodica), Matmos, Ergo Phizmiz, John Leidecker & many others

*** ‘Melting Frames’ - an album by Ross Lambert, Yoni Silver, Julie Pickard & Douglas Benford

*** ‘Dents’ - a solo album of sonic vignettes by Douglas Benford

*** ‘Glancing Blows’ - an album by a quartet of Cath Roberts, Dominic Lash, Sylvia Hallett & Douglas Benford - (Aired on BBC Radio 3’s Freeness! - see above…)

*** ‘Put Your Dreams On Hold’ - an album by a quartet of Mandhira De Saram, Hannah Marshall, John Edwards & Douglas Benford

*** ‘Cascade Study Team’ - an album by a quartet of Emily Shapiro, Clive Bell, N.O. Moore & Douglas Benford

*** ‘Taking A Quiet Road’ - an album by Adrian Northover, Douglas Benford & Isidora Edwards -

*** ‘0 To 60 In 3 Moves’ - a Bandcamp album documenting Douglas Benford’s 60th birthday event at Cafe Oto in 2021, with Adam Bohman, Steve Beresford, Angharad Davies, Emily Shapiro, Alan Wilkinson, Marjolaine Charbain and Mark Wastell - https://dbenford.bandcamp.com/album/0-to-60-in-3-moves-from-cafe-oto

*** ‘Infected Ink’ - A limited edition numbered CDr and Bandcamp album of pieces played by Douglas Benford to graphic scores by Calum Storrie, as featured on the soundtrack to the upcoming documentary on Calum (see news item) - https://dbenford.bandcamp.com/album/infectious-ink

*** The Lonely Impulse Collective celebrate a whole year of day-only releases with an album compilation a contribution from Douglas Benford - https://lonelyimpulsecollective.bandcamp.com/album/one-lonely-year

*** ‘Horse Box 2’ is a compilation - with an all-star amount contributors - featuring a beginning track by Douglas Benford & Clive Bell - CD & bandcamp - https://shrikerecords.bandcamp.com/album/horse-box-2

*** Charlotte Keeffe’s CD album and download, ‘Right Here Right Now’ includes music played by the London Improvisers Orchestra, conducted by Charlotte, with Douglas Benford amongst the players - https://discusmusic.bandcamp.com/album/right-here-right-now-107cd-2021 (see also: https://discus-music.co.uk/catalogue/dis107-detail)

*** An album ‘Distinctions’ - CD and bandcamp - of a live composed improvised piece created by Dominic Lash, recorded at Cafe Oto, featuring a large ensemble including Douglas Benford, Steve Beresford, Marjolaine Charbin, Chris Cundy, Angharad Davies, Phil Durrant, Dominic Lash, Hannah Marshall, Yoni Silver, Alex Ward and many more. https://dominiclash.bandcamp.com/album/distinctions

*** Two London Improvisers Orchestra projects, composed by Caroline Kraabel & Robert Nettleship, have been released on Bandcamp, with Douglas Benford on melodica and breathing - https://londonimprovisersorchestra.bandcamp.com/track/boele & https://londonimprovisersorchestra.bandcamp.com/track/lio-breathing-2021

*** ‘Imaginary Friends’ is a new piece by members of the London Improvisers Orchestra, from a score by David Ryan, including Douglas Benford on harmonium - https://londonimprovisersorchestra.bandcamp.com/track/imaginary-friends

*** A CD album & bandcamp release, ‘Fantastic Paradise Landscapes’, by the quartet of Emily Shapiro, Keisuke Matsui, Graham MacKeachan & Douglas Benford, with proceeds going to support the Hundred Years Gallery - https://hundredyearsgallery.bandcamp.com/album/fantastic-paradise-landscapes

*** A project by Peter Nagle with a couple of contributions by Douglas Benford - in different permutations with various artists - on four bandcamp releases - https://peternagle.bandcamp.com/album/nexus-1, https://peternagle.bandcamp.com/album/nexus-2, https://peternagle.bandcamp.com/album/nexus-3 and https://peternagle.bandcamp.com/album/nexus-4

*** The Confront Recordings album, ‘For Now’ by Douglas Benford, is now available on bandcamp: https://confrontrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/for-now

*** Four pieces released by the London Improvisers Orchestra for August, with Douglas Benford on harmonium & melodica:

- [1] - ‘Traces Of Bicarbonate’: https://londonimprovisersorchestra.bandcamp.com/track/traces-of-bicarbonate

- [2] - ‘Winter Pass For Cello And Orchestra’: https://londonimprovisersorchestra.bandcamp.com/track/winter-pass-for-cello-and-orchestra

- [3] - ‘Dedicated To Steve Beresford’: https://londonimprovisersorchestra.bandcamp.com/track/dedicated-to-steve-beresford

- [4] - ‘Birthday Piece’: https://londonimprovisersorchestra.bandcamp.com/track/birthday-piece

*** London Improvisers Orchestra project 'Bubbles’ features two collaboration pieces by Stephen Barrett with Douglas Benford. http://londonimprovisersorchestra.bandcamp.com/album/bubbles

*** London Improvisers Orchestra project ‘Chain Reactions’, with melodica piece contribution from Douglas Benford. Complete album: https://londonimprovisersorchestra.bandcamp.com/album/chain-reactions. Douglas Benford alongside Emily Shapiro, Martin Vishnick and Caroline Kraabel: https://londonimprovisersorchestra.bandcamp.com/track/kraabel-benford-vishnick-shapiro

*** London Improvisers Orchestra project 'Sustaining The Music' piece with harmonium contribution and arrangement from Douglas Benford. Complete Album: http://londonimprovisersorchestra.bandcamp.com/album/sustaining-the-music. Arrangement by Douglas Benford, 'Lullaby': http://londonimprovisersorchestra.bandcamp.com/track/lullaby

*** London Improvisers Orchestra piece ['conducted' by Caroline Kraabel] with melodica contribution from Douglas Benford. 'We Stay Apart Because We Love Each Other. Love is Stronger than Greed'. http://londonimprovisersorchestra.bandcamp.com/track/we-stay-apart-because-we-love-each-other-love-is-stronger-than-greed

*** Solo piece on Hundred Years Gallery benefit album: ‘In The Chinks Of The World Machine’. http://hundredyearsgallery.bandcamp.com/album/in-the-chinks-of-the-world-machine

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ALSO CURRENTLY AVAILABLE:

*** Please visit the official Douglas Benford Bandcamp page: https://dbenford.bandcamp.com/music. Releases include duo projects with Angharad Davies, Clive Bell, Matt Atkins, Lina Lapelyte & others, plus a quartet with John Edwards/Jennifer Allum/Mandhira De Saram, and also archived electronica/field recording releases etc

*** Douglas Benford - ‘For Now’ on Confront Recordings, CD. http://www.confrontrecordings.com/douglas-benford-for-now

*** London Improvisers Orchestra: ‘Twenty Years On’, Double CD . Douglas Benford on glockenspiel & harmonium alongside musicians such as Julie Kjaer, Alison Blunt, Yoni Silver, Steve Beresford, Terry Day, Crystabel Riley, Klaus Bru, Sylvia Hallet, Alan Tomlinson, Charlotte Hug and many others. http://www.londonimprovisersorchestra.co.uk/newreleases.html

*** Exclusive track on a Hundred Years Gallery fundraiser compilation alongside John Butcher, Matt Atkins, Phil Durrant, Phil Julien, Martin Hackett and Phil Maguire. http://hundredyearsgallery.bandcamp.com/album/doors-into-ocean

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+ MISC / INTERVIEWS:

* Douglas Benford interview and performance on the Sound Out programme with Carole Finer [RIP] on Resonance FM, February 2020. Audio: https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/sound-out-11th-february-2020/

* Douglas Benford solo performance and interview for Unpredictable live streaming project no 2. at Raven Row gallery, Spitalfields, London, UK. Live broadcast archived on YouTube: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZttuYWHGMoE. (Other info: http://www.unpredictable.info/project/unpredictable-radio/)

* Douglas Benford interviewed on the Improvisor podcast at the Horse Festival at Iklectik, alongside Dave Petts, John Butcher, Mark Sanders and others, February 2018. https://soundcloud.com/the-improvisor/podcast-the-iklectik-horse-festival-2018 https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/improvisor/id1046446958?mt=2

* THE SEEN recording release. Stewart Lee, Mark Wastell, Douglas Benford, Jennifer Allum, Harry Broadbent, Bertrand Denzler, Phil Durrant, Phil Julian, Dominic Lash and Graham McKeachan. https://trestlerec.bandcamp.com/album/one-day-band-session-12 Featured on The Wire magazine’s Below The Radar 27 download compilation, track 9: https://www.thewire.co.uk/audio/btr/below-the-radar-27. Edit on vinyl version available at: http://www.trestlerec.com/#

* Douglas Benford interviewed and performing on the Ambrosia Rasputin Show on Resonance FM, January 2018. Audio: https://m.mixcloud.com/Resonance/the-ambrosia-rasputin-show-28th-january-2018/

* Live quartet album with Sylvia Hallett, Mark Browne and James Malone: https://crushtime.bandcamp.com/album/the-voluptuousness-of-hearing

* Live duo track with David W. Stockard on the Horse Improvisation Club compilation album: https://iklectik.bandcamp.com/album/horse-box-vol-1

* Live solo track on Whitstable Biennale compilation album: https://divacontemporary.bandcamp.com/album/whitstable-2016-live-on-the-beach-v-2

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RECENT WORK LIST: http://dbenfordworks.tumblr.com/

SOUND GALLERY: http://douglassoundgallery.tumblr.com

BIOGRAPHY: ‘As a composer and sound artist, I have been involved in various audio genres since the late 1980s, performing at many institutions/venues in the UK (Bristol’s Arnolfini, London’s Science Museum, Cafe Oto, Tate Modern, The Roundhouse, ICA and Glasgow’s CCA), festivals worldwide (Mutek, Synch, Transmediale) and had installation work in numerous UK galleries (Inc. London, Swansea, Gloucestershire and Essex). After numerous electronica releases in my ‘si-cut.db’ guise, in the past decade I have focused on acoustic improvisation and installations, using field recordings, classical instruments, vocals and children’s toys. As well as playing with the London Improvisers Orchestra and Confront Recordings / Mark Wastell’s The Seen collective, my regular collaborators include Dominic Lash, Blanca Regina, poet Tamar Yoseloff, Angharad Davies, Matt Atkins, Lina Lapelyte, Steve Beresford, Adam Bohman, Clive Bell, John Edwards, Jennifer Allum, Alan Wilkinson, Sue Lynch, sculptor Rob Olins, as well as - in the past - pop group Saint Etienne, Jem Finer (The Pogues), Rod Thomas (Bright Light Bright Light), Scanner, Stephan Mathieu and Andrew Weatherall. I was also co-curator with Iris Garrelfs of Sprawl audio events in London from 1996 to 2012.’

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THE SOCIAL MEDIAS & OTHER LINKS:

* Soundcloud collection: http://soundcloud.com/douglasbenfordlive/sets/works-by-me

* Twitter: http://twitter.com/douglasbenford

* Sound gallery: http://douglassoundgallery.tumblr.com/

* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_d_benford/

* Kitchen Reflections project: http://kitchenreflections.tumblr.com/

* Facebook official page: https://www.facebook.com/Benford.official

* Sprawl archive site: https://web.archive.org/web/20200326224018/http://www.sprawl.org.uk/

* [2004-2007] official archive site: https://web.archive.org/web/20071016184317/http://www.douglasbenford.co.uk/

* Now defunct Wikipedia page: https://web.archive.org/web/20210530123605/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Benford

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DISCOGRAPHIES: **** MOST OF THESE RELEASES ARE AVAILABLE FROM ME FOR PURCHASE; WRITE WITH YOUR REQUIREMENTS, EMAIL ADDRESS ABOVE.

* Discog Discography: http://www.discogs.com/artist/115028-Douglas-Benford

* Original archived discography by Eric Frans: https://web.archive.org/web/20071114062937/http://home.earthlink.net/~efrans/benford/

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INSTALLATION WORK WITH SCULPTOR ROB OLINS - PHOTO ALBUMS:

* Wales, Swansea, Mission Gallery, 2012: https://flic.kr/s/aHsjCfaxQo

* Gloucestershire, Stroud, Brunel Goods Shed, (plus performance with Matt Davis), 2012: https://flic.kr/s/aHsjCPr8q2

* Essex, Jaywick Martello Tower, 2013: https://flic.kr/s/aHsjF8M75U

* London, Brentford, Watermans Art Centre, 2013: https://flic.kr/s/aHsjLhujhi

* Birmingham, Repertory Theatre, 2014: https://flic.kr/s/aHsk2R33HJ

* London, Euston, Crypt Gallery (plus performances with Clive Bell, Poulomi Desai & Steve Beresford), 2014: https://flic.kr/s/aHsk4243ax

* London, Bethnal Green, St John’s Church, 2015: https://flic.kr/s/aHsk5Qsood

* London, Iklectik Art Lab, (plus performances with Sue Lynch, Manuela Barczewski, Tim Parkinson & Steve Beresford), 2015: https://flic.kr/s/aHskkDjD19. See also http://kitchenreflections.tumblr.com/]

* London, National Trust’s Osterley Park, 2016: https://flic.kr/s/aHskB3xiWq

* Gloucestershire, Forest Of Dean, 2016: https://flic.kr/s/aHskEv5Fx6

* London, Lambeth, Iklectik Art Lab garden, 2016: https://flic.kr/s/aHskEKqYVi

* London, Bermondsey, Lumen group show, Ugly Duck space, 2017: https://flic.kr/s/aHskU6Xe8M

* London, Bermondsey, Lumen group show, Ugly Duck space, 2018: https://flic.kr/s/aHskyKck6F

* London, Soho, The Chapel, House Of St Barnabas, 2018: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmpZNvvC

* London, Bermondsey, Lumen group show, Ugly Duck space, 2019: https://tinyurl.com/Badsciencefiction1

◾️◾️◾️◾️

MISCELLANEOUS:

* AV Festival Boredcast 2012, audio stream: https://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/45719

* Brentford Recycling Action Group [Treasurer: Douglas Benford]: http://bragonline.org.uk/

[lmshq]

Alice Minerva Longbottom II

Keegan Art Pritchard

Roxanne Weasley Johnson

Kieren Salvatore

Carmem Greengrass

Albus Severus

Louis Weasley

Morgan Greengrass

Oleg Rasputin

Sunshine R.

Adrien Vinke

Audrey B

Olivia Wood

Leonard

Rose Granger

James Potter

Ambrosia M.

Dominique Delacour

Lílian Potter

Rowan L

Teddy L.

Pandora N.

Flint

Fred W.

Leviathan

Scorpius M.

Lúcifer Serpens

Shiro F

Eros S

Clair Ward

[gianttankeh]

Ali Robertson on the Ambrosia Rasputin Show, Resonance FM: 18/6/23.

Nearly forgot to tell youse that Ali robertson is spraffing at Ivor Kallin at midday on the Ambrosia Rasputin show. Music fae Marlo De Lara, Dead Labour Process and Travis Johns 'n' aw. You can tune in here.

[dbenfordworks]

Performances & other incidents

Contact: douglas.benford@gmail.com

See also: http://douglasbenford.org.uk

Sound gallery: http://douglassoundgallery.tumblr.com

Bandcamp: https://dbenford.bandcamp.com/music

Further links at bottom of page

◾️◾️◾️◾️

2024

June

- Performances of Phil Morton’s 50:50 timer project alongside Alan Newcombe, Chris Hill, Martin Hackett, Andy Rowe, Phil Morton, Levente Dudás, Kostas Chrondas, Darius Blaszeck, Helena Paul, John Eyles at Open Ealing art space, Ealing, London, UK

- Performances as part of a quartet with Catherine Pluygers, Sue Lynch & Benedict Taylor at Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

- Performances as a member of London Improvisers Orchestra with conductions by Ashley Wales, Olga Ksendzovska, Steve Beresford, Faradina Afifi, Martin Hackett, Lox Speyer and Kristjan Kannukene at St Mary’s Old Church, Stoke Newington, London, UK

May

- The Ambrosia Rasputin radio show on Resonance FM airs an piece from ‘Melting Frames’ - the Bandcamp album by Douglas Benford, Julie Pickard, Yoni Silver and Ross Lambert, listen here (37 mins in): https://m.mixcloud.com/Resonance/the-ambrosia-rasputin-show-19-may-2024/

- Performances as part of a quartet with Alan Newcombe, Iris Colomb & Tom Mills at Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

- Performances as a member of London Improvisers Orchestra with conductions by Ashley Wales, Steve Beresford, Jerry Wigens, Julia Bruessel and Pascal Marzan at St Mary’s Old Church, Stoke Newington, London, UK

April

- Quartet recording live session at Antenna studio, Crystal Palace, London with N. O. Moore, Tansy Spinks and Clive Bell

- Duo performance with Iris Colomb & Tom Ward at BRAK, Water Into Beer, Brockley, London, UK

- Attended and performed at the London Improvisation Workshop at the Welsh Chapel, Borough, London, UK. Other performers: Emmanuelle Waeckerle, Paul Margree, Chris Hill, Keisuke Matsui, Ross Lambert, Helena Paul, Kostas Chondros and Regan Bowering.

- Performances as part of a trio with Benjy Sandler & Julian Woods at Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

- Performances and conduction as a member of London Improvisers Orchestra with conductions by Ashley Wales, Steve Beresford, Faradena Afifi, Gina Fergione, Olga Ksendzovska and a joint one by Douglas Benford & Aurelie Freoua at St Mary’s Old Church, Stoke Newington, London, UK

- Trio performance with Nat Catchpole & Dominic Lash at Ad Lib, Open Ealing, Ealing, London, UK

- Duo performance with Sue Lynch at a Lion Heart production event, The Royal Albert pub, New Cross, London, UK

March

- Performances as part of a quartet with Tilly Coulton, Caius Williams & Jamie Coleman at Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

- The BBC Radio 3 Freeness radio show airs an excerpt of ‘Glancing Blows’ from the Bandcamp album by Douglas Benford, Cath Roberts, Sylvia Hallett and Dominic Lash

- Performances as a member of London Improvisers Orchestra with conductions by Ashley Wales, Steve Beresford, Faradena Afifi/Ivor Kallin, Theo Finkel, Oliver Jarvis and Martin Hackett at St Mary’s Old Church, Stoke Newington, London, UK

February

- Attended and performed at the London Improvisation Workshop at the Welsh Chapel, Borough, London, UK. Other performers: Eddie Prevost, Nathan Moore, Emmanuelle Waeckerle, Jessica St Bruno, Kostas Chondros, Ross Lambert, James O’Sullivan, Alan Newcombe, Tom Mills, Helena Paul, Chris Hill and John Bissett.

- The Ambrosia Rasputin radio show on Resonance FM airs an excerpt of ‘Glancing Blows’ from the Bandcamp album by Douglas Benford, Cath Roberts, Sylvia Hallett and Dominic Lash, listen here: https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/the-ambrosia-rasputin-show-11-feb-2024/

- Performances as part of a duo with Mirie Ya and Multiple Melodicas (w. Steve Beresford, Georgina Brett, Martin Hackett & David Grundy) at Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

- Performances as a member of London Improvisers Orchestra with conductions by Ashley Wales, Steve Beresford, Loz Speyer, George Garford, Jonny Martin and Martin Hackett at St Mary’s Old Church, Stoke Newington, London, UK

- Performances as part of a trio with Angharad Davies and Sofia Vaisman-Maturana at Ad Lib, Open Ealing, Ealing, London, UK

January

- Performances as a member of London Improvisers Orchestra with conductions by Ashley Wales, Maggie Nicols, Philipp Wachsmann and Terry Day as part of the tribute to Martin Davidson event at Cafe Oto, Dalston, London, UK

- Public screening of documentary on artist Calum Storrie - ‘Drawing, etc’ - with music by Douglas Benford on the soundtrack, at Cafe Oto, Dalston, London, UK. This documentary is also available for streaming / rental here. This film has also been screened at Tokyo International short festival 2024.

- Performance as part of a quartet with Ecka Mordecai, Sylvia Hallett & Roland Ramanam at Mopomoso, the Vortex, London, UK

- Performed on 3 pieces with the Charlotte Keeffe Quartet Right Here Right Now at Cafe Oto, Dalston, London, UK

- Performances as part of a quartet with Emily Shapiro, N. O. Moore & Clive Bell at Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

- Performance with Clive Bell at the Horse Improvisation Club & Shrike Records takeover event at Iklectik, Waterloo, London, UK

Continued below…

[gatheredinamber]

Ambrosia Rasputin interviews Alasdair

Our Friend of the Amber, Ivor Kallin - a.k.a. Ambrosia Rasputin - built his whole Resonance FM show around a visit from Alasdair last Sunday. Here are the results, including live performances of False Flesh, The Stranger with the Scythe, Lyke Wake Dirge and A Keen.

[dbenfordworks]

Performances & other incidents

Contact: douglas.benford@gmail.com

See also: http://douglasbenford.org.uk

Sound gallery: http://douglassoundgallery.tumblr.com

Bandcamp: https://dbenford.bandcamp.com/music

Further links at bottom of page

◾️◾️◾️◾️

2022

December

- Attended and performed with the London Improvisation Workshop twice this month, at the Welsh Chapel, Borough, London, UK. Other performers: Tony Hardie-Bick, Eddie Prevost, N.O. Moore, Tom Mills, Emmanuelle Waeckerle, Regan Bowering, Gaudenz Badrutt, Jordan Muscatello, Aurelie Freoua and David Grundy

- Duo with Verity Lane at a Winter Solstice event at Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

- Private function event at Cafe Oto, Dalston, London, UK which included playing in a quartet with Emmanuelle Waeckerle, Veryan Weston and Gaudenz Badrutt

- Duos with Julian Woods and Andrea Bolzoni at Mopomoso, The Vortex, Dalston, London, UK

- Performances as a member of London Improvisers Orchestra, with conductions by Steve Beresford, Dee Byrne, Noel Taylor, Julian Woods, Ashley Wales & Brian Eley (text), Phil Minton (LIO choir) at Cafe Oto, Dalston, London, UK

November

- Solo piece ‘Zither Memory’ broadcast on the 81 Discovery Avenue show on Bristol-based internet radio station 1020 (link above)

- Performances as a quartet with Verity Lane, Mark Wastell & Colin Webster at Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

- Performances as a member of London Improvisers Orchestra, with conductions by Steve Beresford, Tasos Stamou, Aurelie Freoua, Faradena Afifi, Adrian Northover and Sue Lynch at St Mary’s Old Church, Stoke Newington, London, UK

- Performances of Phil Morton’s 50:50 timer project alongside Phil Morton, Chris Hill, Matt Atkins, Ed Lucas, James O’Sullivan, Verity Lane, John Eyles, John Bissett, Ed Shipsey, Tom Mills, Kostas Chondros, Andrew Rowe, Mark Browne, Jonny K Martin, Dave Fowler, Mirie Ya and Arisema Tekle at Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

October

- An excerpt from the ‘All Of The Both’ bandcamp release with Sylvia Hallett - broadcast on the Ambrosia Rasputin radio show on Resonance FM (link above)

- The Seen release w. Stewart Lee, Douglas Benford, Jennifer Allum, Mark Wastell, Dominic Lash, Phil Durrant, Harry Broadbent, Bertrand Denzler and Graham McKeachan is broadcast on Dirk Serries’ Netherlands 27 Oct Portmento radio show. (link above)

- Performances as a duo with Adrian Northover at Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

- Performances as a quartet with Khabat Abas, Alan Wilkinson & Tasos Stamou at Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

- Attended and performed with the London Improvisation Workshop, the Welsh Chapel, Borough, London, UK. Other performers: Tony Hardie-Bick, Eddie Prevost, N.O. Moore, Alan Newcombe, Tom Mills, Aitor F H, John Eyles, Kostas Chondros, Chris Hill, Verity Lane, Ed Shipsey, Mirie Ya, Zsofia Lorant, Oscar Leyens, Arisema Tekle and James O'Sullivan

- Performances and conduction as a member of London Improvisers Orchestra, with other conductions by Steve Beresford, Adam Bohman, Faradena Afifi and Ashley Wales at St Mary’s Church, Stoke Newington, London, UK

September

- Group performance as part of Martin Vichnick’s 70th birthday event with Kay Grant, Martin Vishnick, Phil Durrant, Rick Jensen and Len Sach at Iklectik, Waterloo, London, UK

- Duo with Sam Andreae at Adam Bohman’s Lionheart evening at the Golden Lion pub, Sydenham, London, UK

- Performances as a member of London Improvisers Orchestra, with conductions by Steve Beresford, Dave Tucker, Aurelie Freoua, Faradina Afifi and Ashley Wales at St Mary’s Church, Stoke Newington, London, UK

- Attended and performed with the London Improvisation Workshop, the Welsh Chapel, Borough, London, UK. Other performers inc. Tony Hardie-Bick, Eddie Prevost, N.O. Moore, Alan Newcombe, Keisuke Matsui, Emmanuelle Waeckerle, David O'Connor, John Eyles, Wil Pritchard and James O'Sullivan

August

- Performances as a quartet with John Edwards, Sue Lynch & Benedict Taylor at Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

- Twice attended and performed with the London Improvisation Workshop, the Welsh Chapel, Borough, London, UK. Other performers inc. Tony Hardie-Bick, Eddie Prevost, N.O. Moore, Verity Lane, Mirie Ya, Iris Ederer, Daniel Kordik, Os Car, Paul Margree, Keisuke Matsui, Tom Mills, Jordan Muscatello, Alan Newcombe and Edward Shipsey

- Duo performance with Colin Webster at BRAK, Water Into Beer, Brockley, London, UK

- Performances as a member of London Improvisers Orchestra, with conductions by Steve Beresford (text by Brian Eley), Dee Byrne, Julian Woods, Faradina Afifi and Ashley Wales at St Mary’s Church, Stoke Newington, London, UK

July

- Performances as a trio with Isidora Edwards & Adrian Northover, at Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

- Solo performance at Project DivFuse, Clapton, London, UK

June

- Performances as a quartet with Sarah Gail Brand, Hannah Marshall & Daniel Thompson, at Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

- A piece - from the ‘O to 60’ bandcamp release with Emily Shapiro and Alan Wilkinson (& intro by Adam Bohman) - broadcast on the Ambrosia Rasputin radio show on Resonance FM - https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/the-ambrosia-rasputin-show-12-june-2022/

- Performances as a member of London Improvisers Orchestra, with a debut conduction by Douglas Benford alongside other conductions by Steve Beresford, Charlotte Hug, Faradina Afifi and Ashley Wales at St Mary’s Church, Stoke Newington, London, UK

May

- Performances as a member of London Improvisers Orchestra conducted by Steve Beresford, Dee Byrne, Phil Morton, Brian Eley/Caroline Kraabel, Philipp Wachsmann and Ashley Wales at St Mary’s Church, Stoke Newington, London, UK

- Two pieces broadcast on the Ambrosia Rasputin radio show on Resonance FM - one from ‘Infectious Ink’ (w. Calum Storrie) and the other from ‘Ourselves One Day’ by Douglas Benford, Rachel Musson, Lia Mazzari and Ed Lucas - https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/the-ambrosia-rasputin-show-1-may-2022/

April

- Performances as part of a trio with Sophia Vaisman-Maturana and Meg Morley at Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

- Performances as a part of a quintet with Maggie Nicols, Dominic Lash, Daniel Thompson and Phil Durrant at Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

- Performances as a member of the London Improvisers Orchestra conducted by Steve Beresford, Sue Ferrar, Tasos Stamou, Caroline Kraabel and Ashley Wales at Iklectik, Waterloo, London, UK

March

- Performance as part of trio with Tim Hodgkinson and Kay Grant as part of the Horse Improv Club ‘Horse Box 2’ album release event at Iklectik, Waterloo, London, UK

- Performances as part of the Noisy Women event with Faradini Afifi, Jerry Wigins, Rachel Musson, Sue Ferrar and Steve Beresford at Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

- Performances as a member of the London Improvisers Orchestra, conducted by Dee Byrne, Fara Afifi, Charlotte Keefe, Caroline Kraabel and Ashley Wales at St Mary’s Old Church, Stoke Newington, London, UK

February

- Performances as a quartet with Marie Roux, Martin Vishnick & Rachel Musson, at Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

- Pieces scored graphically by artist Calum Storrie, and performed/interpreted by Douglas Benford, played back at the Cello Factory, Waterloo, London, UK (see first few minutes of this - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GP9_yAoSftk)

- Duo with Hannah Marshall at Adam Bohman’s Lionheart evening at the Royal Albert pub, New Cross, London, UK

- Performances as a member of the London Improvisers Orchestra, conducted by Faradena Afifi, Steve Beresford, Ashley Wales and Julian Woods at St Mary’s Old Church, Stoke Newington, London, UK

- A duo piece, ‘Away From Here’ by Rachel Musson and Douglas Benford, from the bandcamp album ‘Occasional Duos’ is aired on the Ambrosia Rasputin radio show on Resonance FM - https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/the-ambrosia-rasputin-show-6-february-2022/

January

- BBC national Radio 3’s Freeness programme aired a piece (‘In The Library Of Romantic Notions’) by Douglas Benford, Hannah Marshall, John Butcher & Mandhira De Saram

- Duos with Sylvia Hallett and Meg Morley at Mopomoso, The Vortex, Dalston, London, UK, also on the Mopomoso YouTube channel. https://youtu.be/nY9vsgUPJqw and https://youtu.be/4KEH0tLN-zM

- A piece, ‘Annual Scenes’, from the Lonely Impulse Collective album ‘One Lonely Year’ broadcast on the Ambrosia Rasputin radio programme on Resonance FM - https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/the-ambrosia-rasputin-show-23-january-2022/, also on French radio - https://www.radiopanik.org/emissions/indiedrome/indiedrome-du-8-2-2022/

Continued below…

[gatheredinamber]

Occasional links 2018-04-08

Another slew of What News reviews:

Jude Rogers, The Guardian

Richard Gehr, Relix

Dai Jeffries, Folking.com

Alastair McKay, Uncut

Fiona Shepherd, The Scotsman

Beachboy, Addict-Culture (in French)

Reminder that Alasdair’s mixtape is now available, and well worth a listen.

Confirmation that Leigh-on-Sea is the place to be for your summer solstice weekend.

And honoured Friend of the Amber Ivor Kallin has been in touch, prophesying that Alasdair will be a guest on the Ambrosia Rasputin Show on Resonance FM on Sunday 15th April from 1200 noon till 1330. www.resonancefm.com, or 104.4 FM in London area. Or Replay on mixcloud.

[dbenfordworks]

Performances & other accidents

Contact: douglas.benford@gmail.com

See also: http://douglasbenford.org.uk

Sound gallery: http://douglassoundgallery.tumblr.com

Bandcamp: https://dbenford.bandcamp.com/music

Further links at bottom of page

◾️◾️◾️◾️

2021

December

- Performances as a member of the London Improvisers Orchestra, conducted by Tasos Stamou, Faradena Afifi, Sue Lynch, Steve Beresford, Ashley Wales and David Leahy at Cafe Oto, London, UK

November

- Attendance and performance at the London Improvisation Workshop, the Welsh Chapel, Borough, London, UK. Other performers inc. Chris Hill, John Eyles.

- Performances with Phil Minton, Dee Byrne, Dominic Lash and Rowland Sutherland, with additional graphic score by Livia Garcia, at the Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

- Performances as a member of the London Improvisers Orchestra, conducted by Caroline Kraabel, Maggie Nichols/Faradena Afifi, Steve Beresford, Ashley Wales and Philipp Wachsmann at Iklectik art space, Waterloo, London, UK

October

- Duo performance with Alan Wilkinson as part of Confront Recordings 25th Anniversary celebrations at St Margarets House, Bethnal Green, London, UK

- Performance as a ‘Consort’ at Dominic Lash’s event alongside Angharad Davies, Yoni Silver, Marjolaine Charbaine, Martin Hackett, Phil Durrant, Steve Beresford, Hannah Marshall and many others at Cafe Oto, Dalston, London, UK

- Airing on BBC Radio 3’s Freeness radio programme of ‘For The Sake Of Argument’ by Douglas Benford / Julie Pickard

- Trio performances with Martin Hackett and Sue Lynch at the Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

- Duo performance with Sylvia Hallett at Project DivFuse, Clapton, London, UK

September

- Performances in differing trios with Steve Beresford, Megan Steinberg and Peter Nagle at the Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

- Performances as a member of the London Improvisers Orchestra, conducted by Noel Taylor, Steve Beresford, Ashley Wales and Dave Tucker at St Mary’s Church, Stoke Newington, London, UK

July

- The Wire magazine website features a playlist of pieces from Douglas Benford’s extensive music catalogue - with comments - https://www.thewire.co.uk/audio/tracks/wire-playlist-douglas-benford

- Broadcast of July’s London Improvisers Orchestra concert on the Ambrosia Rasputin programme on Resonance FM including candid conversation and introductions by Douglas Benford (who also performed, see below) - https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/12pm-ambrosia-130pm/

- Performances as a trio with Alan Wilkinson and Keisuke Matsui at the Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

- Performances as a member of the London Improvisers Orchestra, conducted by Caroline Kraabel (graphic score), Jackie Walduck, Steve Beresford and Rowland Sutherland at Iklectik art space, Waterloo, London, UK

June

- 3 trio performances to celebrate Douglas Benford’s 60th birthday - ‘0 to 60 in 3 Moves’ - all with Douglas Benford alongside Emily Shapiro, Alan Wilkinson, Angharad Davies, Marjolaine Charbin, Steve Beresford & Mark Wastell. Introductions: Adam Bohman. Cafe Oto, Dalston, London, UK

- Performances as a member of the London Improvisers Orchestra, conducted by Caroline Kraabel, Steve Beresford, Sue Lynch, Adrian Northover, Dave Tucker and Charlotte Keefe at St Mary’s Church, Stoke Newington, London, UK

May

- Performance as a member of the London Improvisers Orchestra at Iklectik, Waterloo, London, UK - streamed live: https://youtu.be/pfddokBJhoQ

March

- Two pieces by a quartet and a London Improvisers Orchestra project both with contributions by Douglas Benford were featured on an Ambrosia Rasputin radio show on Resonance FM - https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/the-ambrosia-rasputin-show-28-march-2021/

- BBC Radio 3’s Freeness show, presented by Corey Mwamba, aired a piece by Douglas Benford, Olivia Moore and Sue Lynch, entitled ‘Maple’

February

- A celebration of John Russell‘s life (John died in January of 2021) on Mopomoso tv - included Douglas Benford’s tribute at around 1hr 50mins in - https://youtu.be/D7E71YLI7X4

- An interview with Ashley Wales on the Ambrosia Rasputin radio show on Resonance FM, included a piece by the LIO that Ashley conducted at the Oto October 2019 (Douglas Benford on glockenspiel) - https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/the-ambrosia-rasputin-show-21-february-2021/

- Douglas Benford was part of a Zoom online London Improvisers Orchestra performance, which included Maggie Nicols, Charlotte Keefe, Phil Minton, Charlotte Hug, Ivor Kallin, Stephan Barrett, Dee Byrne, Ansuman Biswas and others

January

- Ongoing project: solo pieces by Douglas Benford are being released on the Lonely Impulse Collective Bandcamp for one day only. Other artists featured daily in this cycle series: Martin Visnick, Susanna Ferrar, Emily Shapiro, Georgina Brett, Caroline Kraabel, Steve Beresford, Sofia Vaisman-Maturana, Charlotte Keeffe and Laura Cioffi

2020

December

- The bandcamp release ‘Ceaseless Wonders’ by Douglas Benford, Crystabel Riley, Steve Beresford & Tasos Stamou is reviewed in the Wire magazine

- Two pieces by the trio of Sue Lynch, Olivia Moore and Douglas Benford aired on the Ambrosia Rasputin radio show on Resonance FM. https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/the-ambrosia-rasputin-show-12-december-2020/

- Private recorded performance as a quartet with Emily Shapiro, Keisuke Matsui and Graham MacKeachan at Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

October

- Private recorded live performance as a trio with Sue Lynch and Olivia Moore at Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

- The London Improvisers Orchestra audio visual project ‘Brevity’ includes 90 seconds of Douglas Benford - with accompanying image - on toy piano (3 mins in): https://vimeo.com/464716844

September

- Piece by Nurth Combine entitled ‘...Nurth?’ - featuring Douglas Benford, Chun-Ting Wang, Steve Noble and Poulomi Desai - broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s Freeness programme

- Private recorded live performance as a trio with Graham MacKeachan and Keisuke Matsui at Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

- First live pandemic-safe performance as a member of the London Improvisers Orchestra at Iklectik, Waterloo, London, UK

July

- A full page review of Douglas Benford’s releases by Andy Hamilton featured in the July issue of the Wire

- Stewart Lee - comedian and music fan - lists two Douglas Benford duo releases in his July 2 news. https://www.stewartlee.co.uk/2020/07/from-the-metro-lib-elite-desk-of-stewart-lee-covid-19-tour-rescheduling-news-july-2020-stuff/. Stewart also reviewed the Benford & Bohman bandcamp in his Idler magazine article this month - https://www.idler.co.uk/article/stewart-lees-music-column/

June

- Solo online performance as part of iklectik art space (London, UK) Oscillations all day festival

May

- Piece by the London Improvisers Orchestra entitled ‘Hive’ - featuring Douglas Benford and the late Carole Finer - broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s Freeness programme (Full piece details: http://londonimprovisersorchestra.bandcamp.com/track/hive-dedicated-to-carole-finer)

March

- Performance as a part of a quartet with Crystabel Riley, Martin Vishnick & Hyelim Kim at Steve Beresford’s 70th Birthday Event at Cafe Oto, Dalston, London, UK

- Performances as a trio with Otto Willberg and Phil Durrant and a quartet with Ute Kanngeiser, Otto Willberg and Phil Durrant at Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

- Performances as a member of the London Improvisers Orchestra, conducted by Caroline Kraabel w. poet Brian Ely, Adrian Northover, Sue Ferrar, Steve Beresford, Philipp Wachsmann and Ashley Wales at Iklectik, Waterloo, London, UK

February

- Playback presentation of Douglas Benford’s Vancouver city sound collage (2010 field recordings). Mellifera VII event, Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

- Interview and performance on the Sound Out programme with Carole Finer on Resonance FM. Audio: https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/sound-out-11th-february-2020/

- Performances as a member of the London Improvisers Orchestra, conducted by Caroline Kraabel, Martin Vishnick, Sylvia Hallett, Steve Beresford and Ashley Wales at Iklectik, Waterloo, London, UK

January

- Performance as a ‘Consort’ at Dominic Lash’s birthday event alongside Angharad Davies, Marjolaine Charbaine, Steve Beresford, Hannah Marshall and many others at Cafe Oto, Dalston, London, UK

- Performances as a quartet with Sofia Vaisman Maturana, Neil Metcalfe & Georgina Brett at Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London, UK

Continued below…

[gatheredinamber]

Occasional links 2017-10-30

If you’re near Inverness the weekend after next, a chance to see Catriona MacInnes’ film Howls, for which Alasdair provides music (you will recall that Catriona directed the video for Pangs).

If you’re near Newcastle on 6th December, David McGuinness is giving what sounds like a fascinating talk on Bass Culture in Scottish Fiddle Music from 1750.

And if you’re anywhere near Bristol in December, you’ll want to catch Alasdair’s three-night residency at the Cube Cinema there, which includes some very interesting films on the Sunday, but most excitingly Alasdair “has hand selected musical guests performers, Tartine de Clous and Neil McDermott, to record an album in front of a live audience”. Read more.

The Furrow Collective have a new digital single out.

Our friend Ambrosia Rasputin has an interview with Stevie Jones.