performers:
Arrington de Dionyso's Malaikat dan Singa
Arrington de Dionyso (b. January 4th, 1975) of Olympia, Washington uses performance as a vehicle for driving through the nameless territories held between surrealist automatism, shamanic seance, and the folk imagery of rock and roll.
After living in Chicago, Arkansas, and Spokane, Arrington moved to Olympia in 1992 to attend the Evergreen State College, where he studied Ethnomusicology, Music Therapy, and Butoh dance theater. In 1995 he founded the avant-rock group Old Time Relijun, which has since toured and recorded throughout the US, Europe, and Israel, and has released eight albums on the K Records label from Olympia, enthralling audiences with an approach to performance described as deep hermetic practice and/or “some fuckin’ scary shit” by critics in the know.
As a solo artist, Arrington performs on the bass clarinet, jaw harps, and his voice with a distinctly multiphonic ability inspired by Tuvan throatsinging and the ecclesiastics of Albert Ayler and Don Van Vliet. Pushing the envelope between musicality and pure energy, between shamanic ecstacy and lunacy, he enwraps rooms with resonant sound. His devotion to bringing traditional Tuvan musics into an experimental music context has been acknowledged by Tran Quan Hai, the famous ethnomusicologist and the world’s leading expert on throatsinging.
In addition to Old Time Relijun and his solo projects, Arrington devotes a significant amount of his time to furthering the cause of free improvisation. He is the founder and curator of the Olympia Festival of Experimental Musics, in its twelfth year. Arrington tours constantly, and has performed or/and recorded with notable improvisers throughout the U.S.A., Canada, Italy, France, Israel and Lithuania. He presents workshops on improvising with the human voice in conjunction with his touring around the world.
Arrington has received increased attention for his visual artwork, which deals with many of the same themes of spirit, sensation, and improvisation as his music. Recent exhibits have been held in Los Angeles, New York City, Vancouver BC, Paris, Bologna, and Beijing, China. A series of several dozen ink drawings is on view at www.krecs.com/oldtimerelijun. His work is represented in Paris by Atelier Cardenas Bellanger. (www.ateliercardenasbellanger.com)
recordings-
with OLD TIME RELIJUN
” Songbook Vol.I” 1996 (Pine Cone Alley)
” Uterus and Fire” 1999 (K Records)
” La Sirena de Pecera” 2000 (K Records)
” Witchcraft Rebellion” 2001 (K Records)
” Varieties of Religious Experience” 2003 (K Records)
” Lost Light” 2004 (K Records)
” 2012” 2005 (K Records)
other recordings-
ABRAXASAXOPHONIC cd- 2000 (NGWTT)
CREATION MUSIC vol I & II 2001 (Pine Cone Alley)
ARRINGTON DE DIONYSO QUARTET- cd & VHS- 2002 (Wallace Records)
ROOT AND CROWN RAGA, with Cat Lamb, viola 2004 (Pine Cone Alley)
SATURN RETURNS, with Thollem McDonas, piano 2004 (Pine Cone Alley)
EL TIGRIS, EUFRATES, y EL RIO DE LA PLATA, with Bryce Panic, drums 2004 (Pine Cone Alley)
CASSER LES VAISSELS with Garth Powell LP 2005 (Galerie Pache)
BREATH OF FIRE, solo cd 2006 (K Records)
Art Exhibitions-
1999 Capitol Theater, Olympia
2002 The Smell, Los Angeles
2002 “Rock
2003 “Seattle Erotic Art Festival” group show, Seattle
2003 “Alchemical Manifestoes: New Drawings and Gouache” one man show, and performance at Area 5, Missoula, Montana
2003 “Duo Paintings” paintings by Arrington de Dionyso and Chauney Peck, Capitol Theater, Olympia
2004 “Ghost Walrus Under Moonlight: Drawings made while traveling through Buenos Aires, Gothenburg, Montreal, and Juneau” at A Ship Wrecked, Manhattan, NY
2004 Artfair at Jupiter Hotel, Portland (Fresh Up Club)
2004 solo showing at Department of Safety, Anacortes
2004 solo art show and performance at The Butchershop, Vancouver BC
2004 POOL OF RADIANCE, group show at Broadway Gallery, Manhattan
2004 Les Mains d’Oeuvres, Paris, France (solo showing)
2005 WHITE PAGES, group show at Pickled Art Center, Beijing, China
2005 BLIM! Vancouver, BC group showing and performance
2005 K Temple, Olympia, USA
2006 Musee de le Art Moderne, Strasbourg
2006 Atelier Cardenas Bellanger, Paris Workshops and Residencies
2004 IDEAL Festival, Gothenburg, Sweden
2004 Bard College, NY
2004 Department of Safety, Anacortes, WA
2004 Butchershop Gallery, Vancouver BC
2004 Improv Garage, Oakland, CA
2004 Trasportti Marittimi, Otranto, Italy
2005 Festival Etna, Catania, Italy
2005 Castello Vecchio, Itri, Italy
2005 Atelier Tampon, Paris, France
2005 Seattle Festival of Improvised Musics
2005 Festival MoFo, Paris, France
2005 Patiphone, Tel Aviv, Israel
2005 Schio, Italy
2005 Hybrida Cultural Center, Tarcento, Italy
2006 Reims, France
2006 Musee de le Art Moderne, Strasbourg, France
2006 Cinders Gallery, NYC
2006 Blim! Vancouver, BC