Music for Frequencies of Tradition film screenings at The Roxie
Music for Frequencies of Tradition film screenings at The Roxie Dates: Wednesdays, April 20, May 18, June 15, July 13, 2022, 6:15 – 6:45 pm (preceding 6:45 pm screenings) Location: Little Roxie Theatre, 3117 16th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103 Each monthly screening for Frequencies of Tradition is preceded by original music and a sound mix curated by Topazu (Infinite Beat – San Francisco), with the participation of Annie Chen (Teaphile, Zhuang B – Oakland), Nihar (Left Hand Path, TVOD – San Francisco), and Aaron J (Sure Thing – Boston). The sonic environment anticipates five films, in conjunction with the exhibition Frequencies of Tradition , on view at KADIST San Francisco (April 2 – July 16, 2022) “In film, we find ourselves passing into a lucid dream. A song on a swing in Charulata . Two cigarettes shared in Drive My Car . An extended tracking shot by Bi Gan. We escape memory and time; past, present and future, yet we seek a sense of understanding our realities through fantastical logic, sitting in the dark, looking through a portal. Film music is part of the cinema experience, evoking a film’s rhythmic guide into emotion. Responding to the films in Frequencies of Tradition , original compositions and music mixes are created by four artists/musicians to prepare the viewer for the film they are about to watch. The soundscape encourages the viewer to experience their own reactions, nostalgia, and emotion, in anticipation, without image. Like Frequences of Tradition , the music reflects not only cultural traditions, enmeshed in modernity but also the traditions of the cinematic experience. Enjoy.” – Topazu (Host of Infinite Beat – San Francisco) April 20, 2022 Annie Chen: DJ mix For Fiona Tan, Ascent (2016) Annie Chen (Teaphile, Zhuang B – Oakland) is the founder of Teaphile, a first-generation immigrant, woman-owned micro business offering small-batch loose leaf teas and a curated selection of teaware from China. You can find Annie spreading the love of gongfu cha tradition, managing an art gallery, and co-hosting a monthly radio show focused on the Chinese diaspora. May 11, 2022 Nihar: DJ/original music For Jane Jin Kaisen, Community of Parting (2019) Nihar (Left Hand Path, TVOD – San Francisco): Nihar is a South-Asian American experimentalist, musician, DJ, and sound designer based in San Francisco. His work contributes to the modern re-invention of the “industrial music” category within a non-eurocentric and consistently anti-capitalist framework. Utilizing a combination of generative, interactive, and linear sequencing methods executed through a hybrid digital-analogue setup with modular hardware at its center, Nihar often mixes the sounds and rhythms of the 21st century global supply chain with textures that evoke the dissociative, isolating, and depressive effects of neo-liberal culture. The music also lingers on the romance and ecstasy of intimate connection, the virtue of rejecting professionalization and work, as well as the possibility of collective confrontation with power, forming counterpoints to a fundamentally bleak vision of our times. June 15, 2022 Topazu: DJ mix For Wang Tuo, Tungus (2021) and siren eun young jung, Deferral Theater (2018) Topazu (Infinite Beat – San Francisco) is a San Francisco-based selector, curator, and artist. She hosts the local Infinite Beat Ambient showcase and radio show, Infinite Beat, formerly on Radio Valencia and SutroFM. Since 2015, the show features producers, artists, and DJs that are shaping the Bay Area sound in experimental synthesis as well as celebrates romanticism, nostalgia, and cinematic themes with modern-day electronics. Besides curating Infinite Beat, she has been featured DJing many shows including; Sure Thing, TVOD, Surface Tension, Honey Soundsystem and Recombinant Media Labs. With her interests in abstract textures, carnal rhythms and her exuberance in darker, chaotic noise, Topazu has also supported many international artists such as Wolfgang Voigt, Evigt Morker, Silent Servant, Takaaki Itoh and Marie Davidson. She was a featured performer for the first San Francisco edition of Mutek in 2018. July 13, 2022 Aaron J: DJ Mix For Ko Sakai & Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Storyteller (2013) Aaron J (Sure Thing – Boston) is founder and resident DJ of Sure Thing, a label, event, and mix series dedicated to developing the audience for experimental and boundary-pushing electronic music throughout the US. As a performer, Aaron is inspired by the complex conversations that occur between music and emotion on the dance floor, and the way we experience these interactions together. Reflecting upon memories of these conversations, each set leaps between delicately layered moments that are at times expansile, blissful, and propulsive toward an energetic infinity.