Event Horizon Series
presents
Chuck van Zyl, Nocturne Blue and Centrozoon
Chuck van Zyl - Best known as host ofStars End (WXPN's renowned radio program of spacemusic dreamscapes) and as coordinator of The Gatherings(Philadelphia's premiere concert series of innovative music), Chuck van Zyl has also been making his own unique style of electronic music since 1983. Over the course of his musical existence Chuck van Zyl has developed a signature exploratory style. By blending the primitive machine beauty of classics like "Ricochet" with the highly formed values of more recent groups such as Redshift and Arc, his solo studio works are the result of a persistent creativity. With a solid melodic invention, atmospheric modulations and heroic shifts in tonality, van Zyl masterfully realizes the fascinating patterns, riffs and pulses that dominate his live concerts. As the music forms, climbs and sustains, listeners are pulled into a highly distinctive mindscape. Tone patterns weave and collide as go-for-broke keyboard lead lines dance high above - while synthetic strings draw long lines across a cool digital plane. Chuck van Zyl is at home in this endlessly inventive genre, offering ample muscle for the adventurous, archaic modulations for the experimentalist and dreamy floating space for the cloudwalker.
CENTROZOON is a trio that is interested in the creation of music in experimental settings. it has existed in several forms for more than fifteen years. current members are Bernhard Wöstheinrich (synthesizers, electronics), Markus Reuter (guitars, electronics) and Tobias Reber (electronics).
From the beginning of Centrozoon, the group has had an interest in "experimental" music not only in improvised sound experiments but also in the improvisation of form and structure - improvisation beyond the individual sounding moment. Music as an exploration of possibilities and extremes, playing with boundaries.
Ironically, the group's most widely acclaimed work has been its live and studio collaboration with singer Tim Bowness (No-Man), a modern pop project that was an exception to the band's usual approach. In its regular, less accessible work, the projects fearlessness in combination with its trademark deadpan humour has usually provoked very strong emotional reactions and reviews, and led to controversial discussion among electronic music lovers.
The music featured on the group's album releases include the electronica soundscapes of "blast" (2000), the disturbing free-form mayhem of "the cult of: bibbiboo" (2002), "angel liquor" (2006) or the reduced chamber electronics of "lovefield" (2007). 2012 sees the release of "boner", another dive into unexplored territory and impossible combinations of references, where dozens of hours of music are distilled into an endlessly deep texture of frightening as well as captivating moods.
Centrozoon has played concerts and appeared live on air in the USA, UK, Finland, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg, Austria, Switzerland and Germany. Notable appearances include concerts at the Ars Electronica 2004 Festival (Linz, A), Virtual Arts Day (Helsinki, SF) and a UK Tour including performances at Burning Shed Nights (Norwich, UK).
"Humour is not permitted." - Robert Fripp
Bernhard and Markus will go into a retrospective mode for this tour, mixing their space music and experimental electronica in varying ratios, depending on the nature of the context their are performing in. Having started to perform together in 1996, this series of concert is a personal celebration of a long-term artistic collaboration.
Centrozoon is currently mostly working as a trio with Swiss member Tobias Reber, who unfortunately is not able to join us on this tour. You can see and hear the trio in action in this preview for the upcoming "Hununpenti" DVD and CD release: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyplOx0uMzc