David Lester has released 13 albums with his underground duo Mecca Normal, on labels including Kill Rock Stars, Matador and K. Mecca Normal’s latest album, The Observer, "A Portrait of the Artist Online Dating", (Kill Rock Stars). A "sexy" video directed by Mecca Normal singer Jean Smith for the song 'Attraction is Ephemeral' uses self-portrait photos she took for her online dating profiles." Mecca Normal is now writing songs for its next album.
www.myspace.com/meccanormal
David is currently putting the finishing touches on his 300 page graphic novel called "The Listener". His art has appeared in Bananafish, Broken Pencil and his cartoons have appeared regularly in the San Diego Reader. His book The Gruesome Acts of Capitalism (Arbeiter Ring) has gone into a second printing. David lives in Vancouver. More info on David: mecca_normal.tripod.com
“Through 8 albums over 10 years, Mecca Normal have presented a consistent, evolving, and luminous challenge to the reigning social order.”—ROLLING STONE
Selected Performances Highlights:
Playing with Fugazi, Sonic Youth, Jad Fair, Godspeed You Black Emperor, Sleater-Kinney, Unwound, The Ex, The Fall.
CONTACT: davidlester735@hotmail.com
WENDY ATKINSON
Check out this video of a marathon day from my last tour! It was filmed by David Lester:
Pink Noise, Wendy Atkinson's second solo bass-only album, continues her exploration of the low-end world of electric, acoustic and double basses. Just like her first album she wrote and mixed this one on an analog 4-track. Since its release in January 2007 Pink Noise has charted on college radio stations across North America and been reviewed by publications in Canada, US, China and Germany. Wendy’s song “Summer BBQ” from Pink Noise has been featured on the Deep Wireless 5: Radio Art Compilation that was released last fall by NAISA (New Adventures in Sound Art) in Toronto.
She has performed at the Olympia Experimental Music Festival; Ladyfest Toronto; Ladyfest Ottawa; the experimental Ambient Ping series (Toronto); the Western Front's Raw and Cooked series (Vancouver) and the Access Artist Run Centre's Celebration of John Cage.
She was twice selected for Art in the Air, an international audio art festival. Her music was included in Sonic Landscapes, a sound art exhibit held in Michigan, along with Mecca Normal and Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth. In 2007 she completed a West Coast tour including Seattle, Olympia, San Francisco and Los Angeles and an eastern tour that included Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.
http://www.myspace.com/wendyatkinson
Selected Reviews:
"Wendy Atkinson on her second album Pink Noise creates a marvelous album, simultaneously dark and energetic, a spiking of a deep red punch." -- Ned Raggett, All Music Guide, 4 out of 5 stars
“PiNK NOiSE places Atkinson in the same territory as previous musical explorers such as Brian Eno or Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo.” – Jeff Friesen, Earshot (Toronto, ON)
“Pink Noise is just as much about atmosphere as it is about clamour.…this album taps into playful moments that bounce and writhe with a dark sensuality. ....Atkinson somehow creates worlds within these short spans that are hauntingly taut and frayed at every conceivable edge.” – Liz Worth, Exclaim Magazine (Toronto, ON)
Selected "Horde of Two" Reviews
"[Horde of Two] pursue variations on melodic riffs and brief musical refrains, duo trading them back and forth, and deftly counter-pointing or supporting each other’s playing along the way. There is some over-dubbing, just enough to exact a mood. Even so, the set maintains a severe and minimalist feel.
This is crucial, because it gives the album tautness and tightness that reflects the film’s own tension, with tracks like “Union Canal” rife with nervous energy. “Blackmail” itself is as sneaky as its title, an interplay of dark nefarious forces waiting in the shadows. The experimental piece “The Knife,” is filled with foreboding before erupting into violence as bloody as the murder scene in the movie. “Freighters at Midnight,” in contrast, is as serene as two ships passing in the night, with Atkinson’s double bass deftly imitating the sound of ship horns.
There are many quiet, introspective moments within, with “Conversation in a Berlin Train Station,” the set’s dreamy apotheosis, and the one number that includes a third instrument—piano. But for each of these calmer numbers, there’s a darker counter-part, with the skittering guitar and ominous bass of “Evil,” capturing the fear and terror at the movie’s core.
This is the duo’s debut album, and a wildly successful pairing it is, and one fervently hopes it’s not a one-off collaboration. Rating: 4/5
--Jo-Ann Greene, Wonkavision Magazine
"The first song had me mesmerized, its bass sounds all distant and murky, like something calling out from the ocean. The guitar definitely had its charm too, the end of the fourth track finds it teetering on the brink of a pop song and then collapsing into a manic cartoonish slobber…that kind of mood you get when you put on the first Silver Mt. Zion record. Wendy is wonderful with her basses, electric, acoustic and double. And David's guitars resonate like his paintings, long thick strokes of colour, equal parts mischievous, maudlin, and haunting. And I like their record a lot; it's ripe with personality and authenticity."
--The Skinny, Vancouver
"We're excited to introduce you to new Radio Stars, Horde of Two, featuring Wendy Atkinson (June 2007 Radio Star) and David Lester of Mecca Normal! Their latest release, Guitar & Bass Actions is superb + highly enjoyable! --Church of Girl Radio
"The guitar and bass are constantly swirling around each other, like knife fighters from a Borges story. The use of looping and other non-traditional techniques lend structure and narrative to the otherwise loosely assembled songs. Lester and Atkinson stand on solid ground, having created a handful of even-tempered tunes that are both original and easy on the ears." -- Bryon Hayes (Exclaim)
... the pair dabble in atmospheric, almost cinematic soundscapes (the aforementioned “Conversation…"), melodic, create quality lo-fi pop ("Stockholm") and riff on ‘90s alterna-rock structures ("Wander on the Dark” and “Galiano Island"). -- Aarik Danielsen (PopMatters)
Video for the song "Conversation in a Berlin Train Station"
Shot by David Lester
The debut CD Guitar and Bass Actions from Horde of Two (AKA David Lester and Wendy Atkinson) is out and available from K Records online store.
The album includes abstract and ambient soundscapes, poppy instrumentals and music to cry by. We used varied techniques to provoke distinct and startling sounds from our instruments: a knife on a guitar, improvising while watching films with the sound off and overlapping and intertwining disparate sounds.
Recording this album began in the dead of winter with a TV monitor set up in the living room of Wendy's apartment. The video was cued to a murder scene in Alfred Hitchcock's film Blackmail. We picked up our instruments - guitar and bass - Wendy pressed the record button on the 4-track. The music unfolded in a collaborative response to the tension on screen. Lush tendrils of bass hang from wrought iron balconies of guitar.
Look for HORDE OF TWO shows in the Fall of 2009.
Selected Quotes:
“For nearly 20 years, guitarist David Lester has provided the scabrous backdrop for Jean Smith’s agit-tone poems in Vancouver underground heroes Mecca Normal. Tonight at the Ambient Ping, he explores a different, more expansive kind of noise with BC bass experimentalist Wendy Atkinson.” —Eye Weekly, Toronto
“…a great pair of artists.”—Rabble Radio “Take Down Shake Down” podcast (featured artists)
Selected Performances Highlights:
Western Front (Raw and Cooked series); The Ambient Ping series (Toronto); Live on-air performance for “No Best Radio” CIUT (Toronto)
Here are the first two of the holga double exposures I shot at KPSU of you on Saturday. They are yours to use, just please credit Ricardo Wang as photographer. There's more to come, and they are up on my Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/deadair/
thanks wendy and david for your interest i'm glad you found me on thisspace, and happy to discover your duet. very nice sounds here. all the best david
"The Season" is nearly upon us. When you're in the mood to blast some techno Sugar Plum Fairy, or chill out to Arabian Dance, you know where to find it!
Vancouver eh? I've tried to go there several times to no avail. Although I did get to spend 4 hours in the airport once waiting for a connecting flight. Anyway, thanks for your interest. You don't seem to be friend miners and I appreciate that. Best of luck,
- brian
