The Band performs acoustically as a duo with Michael Roderick and cellist Amy Danziger, and expands into a sextet, combining the talents of accordionist and vocalist Michael Roderick, cellist Amy Danziger, guitarist Billy Barnett, vocalist Marietta Bonaventure, bassists Dorian Crow and Jeremiah Harris, and drummer James West. Mood Area 52 also features various Oregon musicians including Dustin Lanker, Mckenzie Stubbert, Dan Schmidt, Dylan DeRobertis, Anthony Dyer, Derek Trost, Kee Zublin, Cosmos Corbin, Sylvain Duplant, Kelly Leguizamon, and Richard Johnson, adding horns, strings, drums, and additional vocals.
Influences
surrealist art, Buster Keaton, malfunctioning appliances, accidental art, unexpected setbacks redirected, sad books, happy food, 19th century narratives of maritime cannibalism, antiquarian garbage, 15-ton sentences, ornate, impractical machines, awkward humor.
Michael Roderick founded Mood Area 52 in 1998 as a Piazzola inspired neo-tango ensemble. Since then the group has incorporated Golden Age Tango material, lounge, electronica, Eastern European influences, polyglot vocal material, Waitsian cabaret tunes, chanson, and original compositions about love, loss, genetic mutations, daring women in petticoats, and the ill-hatched crimes of ambitious charlatans into their self-styled Chamber Americana repertoire.
The Band performs acoustically as a duo with Michael Roderick and cellist Amy Danziger, and expands into a sextet, combining the talents of accordionist and vocalist Michael Roderick, cellist Amy Danziger, guitarist Billy Barnett, vocalist Marietta Bonaventure, bassists Dorian Crow and Jeremiah Harris, and drummer James West. Mood Area 52 also features various Oregon musicians including Dustin Lanker, Mckenzie Stubbert, Dan Schmidt, Dylan DeRobertis, Anthony Dyer, Derek Trost, Kee Zublin, Cosmos Corbin, Sylvain Duplant, Kelly Leguizamon, and Richard Johnson, adding horns, strings, drums, and additional vocals.
Mood Area 52 has performed with Naim Amor, Chuck Palhnuik, The Damo Suzuki Network, Rasputina, The Tin Hat Trio, Slowpoke, Amy Denio, Devotchka, David Lindley, and many other national acts. They perform in venues ranging from clubs to festival stages to old folks homes, accopanying burlesque troops and providing original soundtracks to golden age films.
Mood Area 52 has written and performed original soundtracks to F.W. Murnau's "Nosferatu", Marks' distopian sci-fi classic "La Jette", Sunset Boulevard, numerous Buster Keaton shorts, and several independent films.
Mood Area 52's composition "Furniture Migration" will be used in an upcoming animated short by acclaimed Spanish animated film director Ricard Gras, and Music from their most recent album "Guevara's Ghost" will be used in an upcoming documentary on the life of Che Guevara called "Imagen del Hombre Nuevo."
Mood Area 52 is available to play milongas and has connections with the Eugene, Portland, and San Francisco tango community. Their music and interviews have been featured on Argentine public Radio and on the Buenos Aires station Dos por Quatro.
Roderick and Cosmos’ collaboration, "Guevara’s Ghost", a fusion of tango, lounge, and glitchy trip-hop beats, is now available through Rocketboy Arts along with their previous releases "Mood Area 52" and "Nine Fancy Tangos."
From the U of O Emerald
Mood Area 52 is as spooky a tango group as you're likely to find in this town or any other. Their full-length, self-titled album contains one of my new favorite compositions ("Furniture Migration") as well as a number of other brilliant little pieces of creepy mood music. It has been said that they're looking for films to score, so if you need a little old-school European flavor, you might want to get in touch.
From the Eugene Weekly
Eugene's own Mood Area 52 always sounded like they were providing the soundtrack to an alternate universe where lounge music was a serious blend of Piazzolla and jazz rather than merely a lifestyle marketing concept. So the tango masters have long made a splendid accompaniment to silent films — including, for the fourth time, MA52's Michael Roderick's original score for F.W. Murnau's spellbinding 1922 silent film Nosferatu. - 10/28/06
Mood Area 52's instrumental music moves gently from tango rhythms to old-world melodies, anchored by Roderick's skilled accordion playing. Close your eyes, and it's easy to imagine yourself in a French café on a shadowy cobblestone street, or in a gypsy village under the stars. Roderick enjoys composing film scores, and would like to do more of this with Mood Area 52. "I think we all harbor the aspirations of doing music for films," says Roderick, "So I'm trying to shop this recording around in the hopes that someone will be interested in using it in that sort of context.
Eugene Weekly Review of 2000 MA52 CD Release
A local quintet, this band's debut CD is self-described as "tango nuevo." Jauntily combining sax, guitar, marimba, bass and accordion, the nine instrumentals exude a continental ambience. Whether for cafe society class, lounge lizard cool or rustic romance, MA52 gets my vote. Mood Area 52 features members of such local favorites as Thong, Los Mex Pistols and The Cherry Poppin' Daddies, so you know the music's good.
From The Tango Times
Michael Roderick, of Mood Area 52, loves playing at the Tango Center. "It's been a real pleasure to play in that environment." Recognizing the Tango Center's need to immediately raise funds and reorganize to sustain its downtown presence, this performance is Mood Area 52’s contribution to community building efforts. “It's nice to have a spot like this developed downtown,” says Roderick, “it's really cool and beautiful.” Mood Area 52 is a locally founded tango band that reaches audiences worldwide. They’ve recently returned from a successful tour of Argentina, where they were received enthusiastically by both live and radio audiences alike. We’re fortunate to have live music of this caliber to dance to. For more information on Mood Area 52, vist their site: http://www.rocketboyarts.com/MA52/. They also have CDs for purchase at the Tango Center.
Mood Area 52
c/o Michael Roderick
840 west 3rd Ave.
Eugene, OR 97402
(541) 343-1428
michael@rocketboyarts.com
Hey guys (and gals). Wanted to say thanks for pulling something together the other night AND thanks for the CDs!! I've listened to them like 20 times each already, y'all are amazing!! Cheers, Jamie.
Wonderful music! I'm going to try to come and see the band @ Territorial Vineyards this Thursday night. I'll try and say hello to you then Michael. Sounds great. OX, Penta
i had a lovely dream about you and your band. it involved a vineyard, a lot of low lighting, a parquet dance floor and a wedding. very coppola. but cooler. and marietta was all in taffeta and had a camellia in her hair. nice thing to have in your head.
I remember when Ren and I saw the Nosferatu presentation at Tsunami a few years back - we loved it loved it loved it. Is there a way that I can buy your new songs on the Internet - I've given up CD's in favor of a new wandering gypsy/hobo/migrant lifestyle.
Michael,good to meet you the other evening....thanks for the CD's, great work- hope we can hook up a show sometime in the future, stay cool for now--
Drew Norman
AKA Professor Gall
Will you will be in town Tuesday June 5th? I will be performing with Dan Torres at the Mercury Lounge 8:45pm in New York City. Hope you can make it! :)
Hi Mood Area 52,
Just taking a second to let you know that I love what you do, and to thank you for the wonderful gift of your music that you're sharing with the world.
Aquavenus
Juste un petit bonjour de France, où votre musique manque... J'éspère revenir vous voir (c'était très sympa d'assister à une répèt en 2005).
Merci mickael pour les CD que tu as donné (j'adore!) et bonjour à toute l'équipe!
PS: afflicted to write in French. Bill, you will translate!
Mood area 52 is a great influence on the new age musical world of tango mixed with electronica and a hint of latin samba. I love your music and admire your philosophys.
