Mario Diaz de Leon

HYPNOS OUT TODAY

2012-01-24T13:14:00.000-08:00

Hypnos is released today on Shinkoyo.

Pick up a physical copy here.

Downloads available here and here.

Chuck Bettis of Downtown Music Gallery gave the first review of the disc. Read it here. Thank you, Chuck.

Finally, the video for "Oneirogen". Thanks to my longtime collaborator Jay King for this amazing work.

Mario Diaz de Leon "Oneirogen" / Video by Jay King from Shinkoyo on Vimeo.

Oneirogen

2012-01-06T20:22:00.000-08:00

"Oneirogen", the first track off "Hypnos" is now streaming on Shinkoyo. The CD is available for pre-order HERE. The release date has been moved up to January 24th. The release show is still January 27th, at The Stone in NYC.

<a href="http://shinkoyo.bandcamp.com/track/oneirogen">Oneirogen by Mario Diaz de Leon</a>

HYPNOS

2011-11-17T08:59:00.000-08:00

"Hypnos", the new full length CD on Shinkoyo, will be released January 27th, 2012. This is music for synths, power electronics, and guitars (and often synths that sound like distorted guitars). We'll have preview tracks up in December.

The release date will coincide with Shinkoyo's two weeks at The Stone, which I had the privilege of curating. Check out the full schedule here. I will perform solo at a CD release event at 10pm on Friday, January 27th. Seating is limited to 75 people so arrive early! Doron Sadja will play the 8pm set - not to be missed.

The song "Oneirogen" will have a video by longtime collaborator Jay King, to be released in February.

tracklist:

01 Oneirogen (5:42)
02 Consumed (7:25)
03 Hypnocaust (5:49)
04 Cinerum (4:31)
05 Faithless (7:58)
06 Kukulkan (10:40)
07 Dissolution (6:18)

Portals Before Dawn at the Kitchen

2011-10-13T09:33:00.000-07:00

ICE and MDdL will present the second performance of "Portals Before Dawn" on October 20th, 2011 at the Kitchen, as part of the SONIC Festival. Here is a recording from the world premiere last March at Le Poisson Rouge.

Performers:
Claire Chase, flute
Eric Lamb, alto flute
Joshua Rubin, clarinets
Cory Smythe, piano
Nathan Davis, percussion
Mario Diaz de Leon, composer, synth

Levy Lorenzo, sound engineer
Ryan Streber, audio recording

MDdL + ICE @ Le Poisson Rouge

2011-10-13T09:19:00.000-07:00

From the concert last March in NYC. Special thanks to Meerkat Media, Ryan Streber, Levy Lorenzo and ICE for this amazing document.

ICElab at LPR | Music of Mario Diaz de León from ICE on Vimeo.

PRISM PATH: Music of Mario Diaz de León

Performers:
Claire Chase, flutes
Eric Lamb, flutes
Joshua Rubin, clarinets
Cory Smythe, piano
Nathan Davis, percussion
Mario Diaz de León, composer, synth

Levy Lorenzo, sound engineer
Ryan Streber, audio recording
Video by MeerkatMedia

Prism Path for two alto flutes and percussion (2010) NEW YORK PREMIERE
Altar of Two Serpents for two flutes (2010)
Mansion for two alto flutes, percussion, and electronics (2009)
The Soul is the Arena for bass clarinet and electronics (2010) NEW YORK PREMIERE
Portals Before Dawn for two flutes, clarinet, percussion, piano, and synth (2011) WORLD PREMIERE

The Soul is the Arena

2010-11-19T07:37:00.000-08:00

“The Soul is the Arena,” for bass clarinet and electronic music, was written for Joshua Rubin in summer 2010, and is dedicated to him. It is intended as a sequel to “The Flesh Needs Fire,” for flute, clarinet, and electronic music. Inspired in part by accounts of wrathful deities in Tibetan Buddhism, whose spirits take wrathful forms to vanquish forces that hinder one’s path to spiritual liberation, TSITA is also concieved as a journey inward. The title from the piece comes from the prelude to Kazantzakis’ “Last Temptation of Christ,” discovered by way of Sepultura’s “Under Siege” when I was 12 years old. Sepultura’s version of the text:

From my youth onward has been the incessant, merciless battle between the spirit and the flesh, and my soul is the arena where these two armies have clashed and met.

The piece’s musical influences include technical death metal, Sun Ra’s distorted electric organ, and the solo instrument music of Stockhausen. Like many of my pieces, electronic feedback sounds are featured here, for a special atmosphere—like if Vajrapani (pictured below) made an appearance in a bardo version of Mortal Kombat.

Joshua Rubin will give the world premiere at the Velvet Lounge in Chicago on November 19th, 2010.

JACK Quartet performs Psalterion

2010-05-02T09:42:00.000-07:00

On April 24th, JACK Quartet performed my 2nd string quartet, "Psalterion" (2007) at St. Peter's Church, NYC. Also on the program were works by Steve Lehman, Zosha Di Castri, Alex Mincek, Victor Adan, and Brahim Kerkour.

MIRRORGATE @ Last West Nile Show

2010-05-02T09:30:00.000-07:00

Mirrorgate performed a set at the final West Nile show, on April 13th, 2010. Also on the bill were Skeletons, Wish, Moonwalk, Freddy Nightliker + Nickel Emmet, and Nasties. Thanks to Steve Bookman for the video. More photos of the event here. The next MIRRORGATE show is May 18th at Issue Project Room.

Paris London West Nile Finale 13 April 2010 from Steve Bookman on Vimeo.

Updates

2010-02-23T04:59:00.001-08:00

First, thanks to everyone who made it out to Armory Show last weekend. It was an amazing experience, and i'm really grateful to have worked with such amazing people in a that wild space.

Three new reviews of "Enter Houses Of" in Impose Magazine, New Music Box, and Pepper Zone (France).

Talea's US Premiere of Trembling Time II at Symphony Space went great, and I was thrilled to be on the program with awesome works by Du Yun and Victor Adan.

Lastly, Mirrorgate, my new band with Doron Sadja, is performing Wedesday Feb 23rd at Death by Audio in Brooklyn.

Trembling Time II - Live in Paris

2010-01-28T19:58:00.000-08:00

Members of Talea premiered this piece in Paris during our tour in fall 2009. Thanks to Anthony Cheung for the video! The US premiere will be February 22nd, 2010 at Symphony Space in New York. This is an expansion of the work I composed for "Portrait of Glenda Goodman", a video I made with Jay King, which was shown at the "White Noise" exhibition at James Cohan Gallery in summer 2009.

Impose Magazine Feature

2009-12-21T08:24:00.000-08:00

A performance with Doron Sadja on December 9th at West Nile was reviewed by Impose Magazine. Thanks to Nate Dorr for the writeup. Also last week, "Enter Houses Of" made Time Out New York's "best of 2009" in Classical and Opera.

Disembodied Reissue

2009-12-18T12:51:00.000-08:00

One of the highlights of my year has been the reunion of Disembodied. I performed for a short time with this group in the late 90's, and they were a huge influence on me in general. The reunion was initially a one-off as part of the release of Burning Fight (a book by Brian Peterson documenting the 90's hardcore scene), and they've since played a bunch of shows and even played Europe for the first time! Prime Directive records recently released "Psalms of Sheol", a rarities collection, which features four songs I recorded with the group in 1997. All the songs are remixed, and they sound brutal as hell. If you live in NYC, don't miss Disembodied when they play Santos in January!

Doron Sadja / Mario Diaz de Leon Duo @ WESTNILE

2009-11-23T12:08:00.000-08:00

ROULETTE TV

2009-11-09T11:30:00.000-08:00

Interview and performance clips from the September 29th CD Release show at Roulette:

European Dates in October

2009-09-30T11:30:00.000-07:00

Tonight, Talea heads over to Europe for 8 concerts in Paris and London, as part of the Spectrum XXI Festival, curated by Iancu Dumitrescu and Ana-Maria Avram. They will give the world premiere of my new string trio, "Trembling Time II" on two dates in Paris. Next week, i'll catch up with them in London, where Alex Lipowski will give the world premiere of "Ghost War" for percussion and electronics. I'll also be playing electric guitar in the large ensemble works of Dumitrescu and Avram, featuring Talea and the Hyperion Ensemble. Be sure and check out the October issue of Wire Magazine, which has a great article on Dumitrescu.

October 5th : Spectrum XXI Festival @ Cite Des Arts, Paris – world premiere of “Trembling Time II” for string trio

October 6th : Ensemble Cairn + Talea double bill @ Comme Vous Emoi, Paris – “Trembling Time II” for string trio

October 12th : Spectrum XXI Festival @ The Warehouse, London – UK premiere of “Trembling Time II” for string trio

October 15th : Spectrum XXI Festival @ The Warehouse, London – world premiere of “Ghost War” for percussion and electronics - Alex Lipowski, percussion

"Enter Houses Of" OUT NOW

2009-09-29T06:26:00.000-07:00

Available at fine stores and Tzadik, Amazon, or iTunes.

CD Release Show and NY Times Review

2009-09-28T19:49:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who came to the show last Friday at Roulette. A review was published today in the NY Times. You can read it here. Thanks to Steve Smith for the support! Other than the one published in the Times, I haven't gotten my hands on any photos from the live event, but Doron Sadja took these during soundcheck. "Enter Houses Of" is released tomorrow!

Eric Lamb, Nathan Davis, and Claire Chase rehearse "Mansion".

Members of ICE and Talea rehearse "Gated Eclipse" : Anthony Cheung, Alex Woods, Joshua Rubin, Alex Lipowski, Chris Gross, Claire Chase. Guest Conductor : Nicholas DeMaison.

Nicholas Demaison, Alex Woods, Chris Gross, Claire Chase.

"Enter Houses Of" Release Date Announced

2009-08-23T21:20:00.000-07:00

The debut CD for Tzadik, "Enter Houses Of" will be released September 29th, 2009 in the US and Canada. A release event has been scheduled September 25th at Roulette (NYC) and will feature performances from ICE and Talea. All of the pieces from the CD will be performed, in addition to the world premiere of "Prism Path" for two alto flutes and percussion.

Tracklist:
1) Mansion (2009) for two alto flutes, percussion and electronics (11:21)
2) The Flesh Needs Fire (2007) for flute, clarinet, and electronics (8:40)
3) ii.23 (2002) for viola and electronics (5:46)
4) 2.20 (2003) for string trio and electronics (9:23)
5) Gated Eclipse (2006) for sextet and electronics (13:05)