Bela Emerson

Music

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Skinny Fingers

Album: Hespera

Released: Nov 19, 2008

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Skinny Fingers
5:39
2,664 plays
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Meeting Kate
4:16
8,510 plays
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Meeting Kate Expo67 remix
5:06
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Amber
5:09
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I jumped REMIX
6:01
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Total Plays: 52,001 / Plays Today: 1See All Featured ►

General Info

Genre: Experimental / Live Electronics / Other
Location Brighton, Please select your region, Un
Profile Views: 86121
Last Login: 1/27/2012
Member Since 1/26/2006
Website www.belaemerson.com
Record Label BiP_HOp, Drama Queen, Slightly Off-Kilter, Quiet
Type of Label Indie
Bio
.. .... .. .. .... "Bela Emerson makes her instrument speak in tongues" Ed Pinsent, The Sound Projector.... "Spontaneous music of extreme beauty and power" Venue magazine...."A more captivating, physical performance you are not likely to see." Brighton Source.... "Excellent!" Mark Russell, Mixing It, BBC Radio 3.... "My favourite concert: Bela Emerson, Ladyfest Brighton; she touched me so deeply with her cello playing and beautiful, passionate appearance... she got me in tears" Charlotta Kerbs, The Tumbling Dice.... *********************.... Combining electric cello with loops and effects, Bela Emerson strives constantly to explore the potential and extend the boundaries of the instrument's place in contemporary music. Passionate and exciting, both musically and visually, she captivates audiences worldwide. She has recently incorporated musical saw & tenor viol into her solo sets. .... Bela's performances are the stuff of legend: spontaneous, intense, and exhilarating. Her command of her instruments and ability to attune to the uniqueness of the moment combine to produce music that is always different and frequently spellbinding. Using an array of electronics, pedals and effects that take the cello way beyond its usual sphere, Bela builds layers of rhythm and sound not just from strings and bow, but from every bit of the instrument. Sounds are looped, take on lives of their own, bounce off each other, drop in and out... The effect, as anyone who's heard her will testify, is mesmeric..... Though in her element as a live performer, Bela has captured a healthy slice of the excitement of her performance on five solo recordings: 2003's Kissing Nettles received extensive radio play - notably on BBC Radio 3's 'Mixing It', Totally Radio and played in full as a live set on Passion 107.9 ..The second CD, Cables, was released on Quiet Records in 2004, and Bela did her bit for the vinyl revival in 2005 by releasing a 7” single, Scythe e.p. (on Brighton's own The Slightly Off Kilter Label) launched with a stunningly powerful Hallowe'en performance in St. Andrew’s Church that left some dazed locals mumbling about ‘'gig of the year'’. ..2005 also saw Bela perform live on BBC Radio (as part of Brighton Festival), do two UK tours - 8 dates in July and 12 dates in November - and win over the crowds at Glastonbury, Big Green, Brighton, and Shambala festivals..... Between 2006 & 2008, Bela toured Germany with vj Stephen Wolff; she also collaborated with Stomp for the world premiere of their highly-acclaimed production the Lost & Found Orchestra for Brighton Festival, performed at Aldeburgh Festival’s extraordinary Faster Than Sound (with Tim Exile), Bestival, & three Ladyfests, played live sets on Resonance FM, plus shared bills with A Silver Mount Zion & Wolf Eyes amongst many others. She also performed ten dates at Sydney Opera House with the Lost & Found Orchestra, solo in Sweden, Finland & the UK (including a solo tour with Hot Roddy) including live sets at Supersonic, Quwack(e), Ladyfest Finland, Big Chill, Ortom, & Sonic Boom, as well as releasing live album Laurasia (Drama Queen). She also composed & performed the soundtrack to Tereza Buskova's award-winning film ..Wedding Rituals... She toured with Drei in Switzerland, in Brussels & Holland with The Mercurial Ensemble (Ryan Teague (Type Records), Sefa Steer/Rhodri Davies, & Tom Edwards), performed a solo UK split tour with Men Diamler and a six-week solo tour of the USA & Canada. ...... Bela released a new studio album, Hespera, on BiP_HOp at the end of 2008 [to great acclaim - see reviews in myspace blog] and recently completed four soundtracks (inc. SchMovies.. On The Verge.., and Tereza Buskova's ..Forgotten Marriage..), as well as recording with The Damned, a thing that makes her very happy... In winter 2008/09, Bela joint-headlined a six-week European tour with Lianne Hall and performed a 30-date run with the Lost & Found Orchestra at London's Royal Festival Hall. In 2009, Bela collaborated in the studio with Philippe Petit (as featured on The Wire’s March issue CD & live at Cafe Oto) and Dan Grantby, live with Tim Exile (Bloc) and Artamonova - and also with the Lost & Found Orchestra at Amsterdam’s beautiful Theater Carr�. She recorded with Nick Pynn (the beautiful Colours of the Night), Jacquemo, and The Dirty Cakes. In 2010, Bela made soundtracks for Tereza Buskova and Bitesize/SchMovies (Beyond the Verge) as well as collaborating with Geoff Leigh, Richard Miles, Philippe Petit, The Don Bradmans and Moscow's MusicKollektiv. This AND a six-month sabbatical! Go, girl. 2011 brings a tour of the Netherlands, a show with Lola Perrin and recorded collaborations with...wait for it... RELEASES: Hespera (BiP_HOp 2008) .. Laurasia (Drama Queen 2007).. Subaqua (Gruenrekorder 2006) - track on AudioArt03 compilation.. Scythe 7" vinyl (The Slightly Off Kilter Label 2005).. Cables (Quiet Records 2004).. Kissing Nettles (Drama Queen 2003) .... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ...all available from ..www.belaemerson.com.. ........and finally - I'm far more likely to accept a friend request which comes with a personal message xx
Members
For details of Bela Emerson..s other projects, go to ..www.belaemerson.com..
Influences
lots & lots of people and things. like: Steve Reich, My Bloody Valentine, Thelonious Monk, Slint, Mrs Pilgrimm, Tony Moore, Same Actor, Kate Bush, Pixies, His Name Is Alive (first three...), the Mambas, People Like Us, Robin Guthrie, Virginia Astley, Queens of the Stone Age, Jeff Buckley, Sonic Youth, John Gray, Kirsten Elliott, Susanne Lambert, Into a Circle, Astor Piazzolla, Aphex Twin, Gustav Holst, A C Marias, Siouxsie and the Banshees, John Zorn, Music for One, Charlottefield, Talk Talk, Nina Simone, Frank Zappa, PJ Harvey, 4AD, The Chameleons, Sun Ra, Warp, Powers of Ten soundtrack(first electronica I ever heard), Teahouse Camp, Screaming Jay Hawkins, Captain Beefheart, Dif Juz, Bjork, Juana Molina, Radiohead...
Sounds Like
"Emerson never conceals her talent with indulgent echo-chamber play, and beautiful rich melodies are never far away, summoned up by her skilled, gripping fingers. Man, I bet she could open a jar of pickles just by looking at it. On Hespera, remarkable sonic textures rub up against each other to the extent that I would say the instrument’s true voice is unleashed, rather than being buried under a pile of studio effects. In fact, make that several true voices – she makes her instrument speak in tongues." Ed Pinsent, The Sound Projector, November ..08 .. .. .. .. .... .. .. .. ..