Excellent Academic Records is a student-run record label at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. In the winter of 2009 we invited five emerging composers to dream of summer and make work from whatever joy or angst these dreams evoked. Read More
Feature:
New Work : ‘Noumina’ (2010)
- NOUMINA presents a story, an abstract narrative, a cinematic journey through the cosmos. From a twinkly gaze at the stars, ...Read More
Liquid Architecture is Australia's premiere annual festival of sound arts. Events often include concerts, immersive sound presentations, audio-visual and recorded work, exhibitions and installations. 2010 sees 'LA' hit its 11th year, with a program in 7 Australian cities. The festival presents an array of local and international artists engaged in the field of sound, in a range of live and installation settings. Read More
The Gertrude Street Projection Festival is a week of projected light along Gertrude St, Fitzroy Melbourne. The free street-based event provides audiences with a navigable gallery across a multitude of buildings, shop fronts and venues. It's hosted by the Gertrude Association and is now in it's 3rd year with the 2010 theme ME.YOU.US. Read More
I watched the iTunes Visualizer (Magnetosphere) for about 2 hours straight the other night, and it blew my mind. I've looked at it lots of times before, but this time, for some reason, it was just amazing to watch. Read More
Lately I've been totally obsessed with film & cinema. I've got a few shows coming up this year (predominantly installation) and I started checking out a lot of sci-fi as part of research for the work. Slowly it bled over to just more film-watching in general. Read More
I thought I'd take a moment to mention Passage, a netlabel out of Russia. It's actually "an ambient sub-division" of their more techno-related label Fragment, which has been on the rather quiet side and without a release since late 2007. Read More
It's been some time since I've posted an update about this project, but I'm happy to announce our material is now available online for free download. Our debut EP Fireflies (2007) is now online (and hosted at the gargantuan archive.org) as well as our 2nd EP, released yesterday, 'Pre-Historia'. Read More
Stuie C has just released the opener to the 2nd season of Nawlz! There's also a new site called 'Nawlz HQ' which includes a blog, gallery, shop, and a whole host of news feeds including links to Twittery and Facebooky goodness... Read More
Maps & Diagrams new release is available on the Yuki Yaki netlabel: Its a delicious blend of layered frequencies, a real ocean of shimmering ambient electronica. Somewhat reminiscent of Fennesz. For a free netlabel release this one really is a score. Get it here. Read More
As part of the Video Arts Lounge at this years Rainbow Serpent Festival, I'll be presenting a screening of short, abstract video works, predominantly from the Sonic Acts XI Festival: The Anthology of Computer Art DVD... Read More
SUBAUDIBLE HUM Live A/V Gig - featuring T A N T R U M S and Re:enactment (QLD) SubAudible Hum Live A/V Gig - the room will be black, there will be a big big big screen, on it will be some very interesting and beautiful video by some very talented people, behind it will be SubAudible Hum. Supports from T A N T R U M S and Re:enactment (QLD) at 9pm. Features works by C Rodent, Dirty Puppet, Leaf Tierney, ...Read More
It's interesting the effect the internet has on the physical world. Apart from say, your workplace, major downloading would predominantly take place in the home. The internet essentially "homes" culture. For instance, dudes can now wank in the privacy of a bedroom, instead of the cubicle of a live peep-show booth. Because as it goes, locally, Shaft Cinema Complex recently closed down. Read More
The prefix 're-' holds a mighty standing in the modern times. With every email it comes as an abbreviation for reply, while 're-' placed in front of many words supposes a return, or a repetition. In fact one can struggle somewhat to define 're-' without relying on 're-' itself. In many instances 're-' is an expression of applied will; a conscious act. This act is replete throughout the history of the arts. Artists from all times continue to explore what at best ...Read More
'Airfield' is the new two-track EP from Sinuso Dial (aka m. leaf-tierney). The title piece combines location recordings from an old farmhouse cottage residence in Briar Hill, Victoria, Australia, with the electric guitar aesthetic characteristic of Tierney's ambient electronic sound. Read More
Processing is a programming language built for visual artists and designers, developed by Casey Reas & Ben Fry. I've been working with the language for a little over a year now... And it's a slow process. For someone like me with very little background with programming, jumping back into bed with numbers and math is a bit grinding after not having touched it since ten years ago in high school... I was inspired to start using code by video games. To ...Read More
Some great reviews for the Feeding the Transmitter compilation are floating about on the web...Really nice to see the release get a review on Neural too! I love that site and magazine... :) One particularly nice story on the relevance of CD samplers in the current day is up on Tokafi, with a little mention of the track I had on the compilation... Read More
Currently down at Freeplay at the State Library in Melbourne. So far it's been pretty good, with the highlight definitely going to Petri Purho (Kloonigames) out of Finland with the Keynote Presentation on 'Making Shit Games and Making Shit in Games'.... Read More
The season finale to Nawlz went live today and it is an absolute MONSTER. Cool to see a few of the old sounds I designed are littered throughout the piece... :) Congratulations to Stu and the crew on the completion of Season #1! Read More
Man's landing on the moon opened up a new consciousness for humans: for the first time we saw our planet as a whole, rather than a collection of divided countries and continents. Similarly, a new perception of ourselves has emerged with the proliferation of high quality satellite imagery, such as those provided by Google Earth. We now have access to the collective Space Eye, and possess the ability to zoom and focus at any one scale of the fractal. NASA provides ...Read More
http://www.compactstick.com/ I think it's a nice idea, but it falls short in many ways. In a way it's a cosmetic novelty. Something new to get people to buy a product, not something with any actual 'new' inherent qualities that make it desirable. In fact, you might as well be packaging releases up as DVD's, it's not like the plastic case size is any smaller than a DVD. And you'd get 4GB to play with then. And anyway, apart from media players with ...Read More
I'm pleased to announce a new release, a track of mine called 'Anigma', on UK Label AmpBitif/go. It's a compilation called 'Feeding The Transmitter'. This is my first audio release on a label of any kind! I'm really happy to be featured - the album is a really enjoyable listen and I find the other artists work to be just the mood and genre that I am happy to sit amongst - glitchy, ambient, drone electronica. My track is the final track ...Read More
Audio is a live recording from the set, however the video recording didn't turn out so great, so this is instead a rough mock-up of how it went. Obviously a lot of the improvisations that took place visually on the night are missing, but this will give you an idea. Something of a compilation of video work from 2008 :+ a lot of digicam movies from my travels, weaved into some samples from 'The Future is Not What is Used ...Read More
If music is dying, musicians are killing it. Composers are the ones decomposing it. We are as responsible as anyone--although we'd love not to admit it. We lash out at "The Industry", blaming things like corporate structure for our shitty music--but we are the ones making it. We open the box they've given us and jump in, wrap ourselves up, and even lick the stamp. Why? Insecurity--the need for acceptance--maybe even money. We're not thinking about our music, just how ...Read More
Visual wallpaper for a two-track blend from Anigma EP: Teranigma/Denshu from M. Leaf-Tierney on Vimeo. Read More
RDB put me onto this one. A student entrant into the 2009 IGF - a whole ream of games to chek out I didn't even know existed! This is a great concept, by Ian Dallas, a game where you have to paint a white 3d space in order to navigate, all the while the moody soundtrack gives the games a very ominous feel. Read More
Totally love this series from Christopher Willits! Check out the latest two episodes which dive a bit into integrating Max with Ableton, and also the new Looper Effect. Awesome videos! Man I can't wait to get a new laptop, I'm dying without it! What this guy does is awesome. It's so up my alley, it's exactly the kind of thing I'm doing and am keen to push further. Much respect Christopher! Read More
Well, after months of speculation my laptop finally died. I'm not sure if it was a result of general wear and tear, or if i should actually suspect someone may have tipped water on it - as the Mac repair guys deemed the problem "logic board damage due to liquid spill". They want $2,300 to replace the logic board, which just makes no sense at all. A new Macbook itself is only a mere $1600. Where do they get off charging ...Read More
So I've been doing more work with Processing. Well, I've been learning it more, I should say. I created my first half-decent sketch which uses some mouse movement and colour randomization. Something of a simple paint program. I'll post my developments with it as I move along. Also, any stuff I do with processing now I'll be archiving at http://mattleaf.com/sketches Open Processing Click and drag to draw, press a key to refresh the screen. Woo! Read More
I'm running my first audio-visual event in Australia on the 22nd of February. I got some funding from RMIT University's arts funding body 'Union Arts'. It's basically a get-together for RMIT Fine Arts students, but anyone is welcome. It's an outdoor event, held in the riverside lawn amphitheatre at Footscray Community Arts Centre. A range of sound & video experimentalists will be performing - from 6pm, thru dusk until 11PM. BYO Picnic, free entry - with a few drinks and snacks provided. Full ...Read More
Lev Manovich is offering his latest book for free download. It's in pre-publication phase so there's still a few spelling mistakes and stuff but it makes for great reading. It touches on a lot of stuff I've been thinking for a while and affirms my ideas about software somewhat. Check it out Software Takes Command Read More
Found this game via John Blows blog. It's probably the coolest looking little abstract game I've seen in a while! (I've really gotta get myself a pc) : StdBits (Standard Bits) from Mark Johns on Vimeo. I've been plugging along trying to code things in processing, and I'm really excited about the announcement of Ableton Live 8 & Max for Live. This will really shake up the a/v performance world imo. Max for Live Ableton ~ On another tangent one of my tracks will be released ...Read More
You've got to wonder how many people actually read your blog. And what the point of it really is. It's like a public record I guess, well, I guess for me it is. But lately I've been using Facebook a lot, and I'll use it to post video's I like, things I'm interested in, quotes, events etc... It's kinda confusing having all these portals. Even at home I keep a journal, which I guess is just for my own personal ...Read More
Gregory Taylor (pictured back, 5th from the right) was kind enough to include me in his fave releases of 2008. Anigma EP made it into the delectable list. http://www.rtqe.net/2008/2008_best.html Read More
M. Leaf-Tierney releases the new Sinuso Dial EP 'Live in Melbourne'. The release contains 2 new pieces, one being an exploration of percussive, open-tuned guitar playing, and the other ~ a loop based, processed ambient work that utilizes the aforementioned guitar techniques. 'Live in Melbourne' was recorded at 'The Toff in Town' as part of the OUTSET music event on the 24th of November 2008. http://mattleaf.com/releases/melbourne Read More
I met Gregory Taylor while attending a Max/MSP workshop in Copenhagen. Gregory works for Cycling '74 but also runs his own radioshow called RTQE Read More
I'm proud to announce 'Anigma EP', my second release as Sinuso Dial. You can download it for free here. Just double-click the .zip file to open it. Containing 4 tracks that explore processed electric guitar and field recordings, 'Anigma EP' examines more subtle frequencies and sounds than on 'Biology'. Read More
short version saturday november 15, 6pm-> 18 dawson st, brunswick bring friends, booze, boozy friends. theme = future retro long version jim knox battlesnake lewis cancut spitfire parade jessica elphinstone lamonte young talent time vijay thillaimuthu jason montero danny griffith phoebe kiddo jared davis sinuso dial martin kay Read More
OUT_SET presents Graduate Students from RMIT FINE ART SOUND in a night of aural and visual expansion. Delivering an eclectic mix of music spanning a wide aural spectrum. From ambient, drone, noise, & vocal manipulations to treated acoustic electrics, psyched-out-jazz and critical-cut-ups. Video Screenings + Live A/V. Read More
Just received this email from the 'YouTube Content Identification Team' to inform me that my final year Diploma video piece from Swinburne 'exp.05' has been pulled due to copyright infringement. The piece was set to a track by Nine Inch Nails from the album The Fragile. Ironically, NIN are these days calling on artists to use their free music to create free tunes for upload to YouTube! No Matter! Check it out on Vimeo! exp.05 from M. Leaf-Tierney on Vimeo. The email: Dear VintageSystem, Video ...Read More
'Death To Yevgeny Nourish' is an installation work being shown from Oct 20th - 31st at the 'New Genres' group show, at RMIT School of Art Gallery in Melbourne, Australia. The piece uses a live fish housed inside a tank to which a small LCD screen is attached. The screen flickers visuals, while the fish (a Japanese Fighter fish) swims jubilantly ~ creating a wispy silhouette against an ambient rainbow of colour. Read More
Under The Gun Features installation, video installation and interactive-based work to showcase the diversity of approaches within the Media Arts 'New Genres' course. This course looks at that which is not easily classifiable and operating outside of the traditional definitions of what constitutes contemporary art practice. Read More
I've been hard away at work, steaming ahead towards graduation of my Fine Art degree. It's about bloody time! I should have a new 3 Track EP out in a couple of months. Say, November. Though I might make it two releases, one stereo, the other a downloadable 5.1 DVD. All the tracks are currently for my class 'Immersive Environments' (under the guidance of lecturer Philip Samartzis) which is essentially a course in spatialisation and surround sound techniques. I'm also working on a ...Read More
Within Earshot presents a closing night concert to mark the end of their residency at First Site Gallery. Clearing all remnants of the exhibited sound installations, Within Earshot members and invited guests will occupy the many empty spaces of First Site Gallery, bringing with them only one sound out-put to create an interaction of sound fields with varying complexity. Sound sources will vary from acoustic to electronic. Through movement, audiences have the ability to tune in/tune out to multiple sound sources, ...Read More
Food Coma from M. Leaf-Tierney on Vimeo. Read More
Machtdose (out of Germany) were kind enough to include my Sinuso Dial track 'Biology Part 1' in their September 2008 podcast. You can check it out here: Read More
Keith Rowe on preparing for performance: Read More
friday beers, august 29 5pm-8.30pm building 8, level 11 (above the library) $3 coopers, $3 house reds == LIVE we has == M. LEAF-TIERNEY 'extended laptop DIGITAL video guitarist etc' RICHIE LIPP 'slow rock emotional ballad style' PHOEBE FAULKNER who promises 'a down-tempo set' == and DJing we has == LEWIS CANCUT who says 'I hate all music that's why i'm the next serial wax killer' and QUE who says 'Can, Bauhaus, Fatima Miranda, Tony Conrad, Faust, Early Cure, B-52's, Early Sonic Youth, Early Squarepusher, Neu! Cluster, Hoa Hio, Suicide, Steve Reich, Slits, Kleenex/lilliput, Joanna ...Read More
I've just launched my website http://mattleaf.com ! In the coming weeks I'll be moving this blog over to Wordpress, which will hopefully come out with a similar look to the website. It's also my pleasure to announce my first online (and debut) release of music as 'Sinuso Dial'. Entitled 'Biology', the albums compositions consist of processed guitar and field recordings which result in a blend of ambient, warm distortion and subtle electronica. You can download it for free here. Read More
F O O T S C R A Y A U D I O - V I S U A L S O C I A L C L U B Electric Cinema Invitational Tuesday August 12, 6-8pm Pit Theatre, Footscray Arts Combining the A/V energies of local and international artists, FAV's night of audiovision turns the industrial pit theatre into an electrified sensory space. Read More