NEWS | BIO | DISCOGRAPHY
August 2011 -- Night Sky
My new single "Night Sky" is out today on DFA Records in 12" vinyl and digital. The B-side features an incredible remix / re-interpretation from Mutant Beat Dance. Get yourself a copy today.
June 2011 -- News Flash
The new single "Touch" by The Crystal Ark is out today on DFA Records. Look out for special NYC live premiere of the full band later this month.
March 2011 -- Speculative Histories
Wow, was it really November the last time I updated the news section of my website?
Well, guess that's why I don't have a Twitter account.
But if I did the stream over the last months would have looked like this:
OMG, I ♥ Glasgow!
4 months ago
Merci merci me, spending Thanksgiving in Paris this year, dinner w/ @mizphatcat, @vivaruiz, and Alberto Lopez before The Crystal Ark plays live at Palais De Tokyo
4 months ago
Matt Thornley is killing it right now at The Crystal Ark afterparty at @LeBaron... These people don't know what hit them
4 months ago
The Crystal Ark is currently enjoying Risotto Milanese near our chic graffiti decorated art hotel in Milan before hitting MTV's Brand New Art party at the Museo Della Permanente for our Italian live debut.
4 months ago
Neopolitans Rule!!!
4 months ago
@albertolopez is giving me Cherry Clan flashbacks with his biker cholo look for this MTV gig...
4 months ago
Beer Models. Modelas de la Cerveza... Oh wait they speak Italian here not Spanish
4 months ago
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghK4GVpZaVc
3 months ago
Oh Man! Guadalajara is incredible!! Got to come back here with The Crystal Ark in 2011
3 months ago
Pional "We Have Been Waiting For You" featuring my remix out today on @HivernDiscs
3 months ago
Anyone know if there is a record bin at @MercadoSonoraMexicoCity????
3 months ago
California Sunshine feels good on the new clean shave
3 months ago
Christmas Haircut
3 months ago
Go see @MidnightMagic tonight in LA!!!!!!
3 months ago
I'm at @TheBestWesternHollywood. It won't stop raining. Visitors welcome.
3 months ago
DJ'ing tonight at Feminist Art Loft Party with @VenusX. Invite only. Figure out where it is if you can,
2 months ago
@RyanSchaeffer and @CaraBenedetto are supporting this dance floor right now like a couple of gay dads support an adopted asian baby who dreams of being a doctor
2 months ago
Oh snap. @VivaRuiz just showed up with Disco and Dr. Love
2 months ago
@the_side_pony WHAAASSSSSSUUUUPPPP!!!???!!!!!!
2 months ago
Luke Abbott Trans Forest Alignment 12" out today on @BorderCommunity. Gavin Russom remix on the flip side. RA likes it: http://www.residentadvisor.net/review-view.aspx?id=8586
2 months ago
Strawberries!!!!
2 months ago
New Crystal Ark Tracks in the Logic Cauldron while I soak up the jungle energy here at the @ByronatByron
2 months ago
DJ set tonight at Bamboo Musik, Melbourne. No limits. Come down with your behind.
2 months ago
These people know how to do it!
2 months ago
Going down to cut a live mix for @NoiseinmyHead Melbourne Radio. Going to try to recreate the sheer smoke machine jack madness of Bamboo but it's going to be tough...
2 months ago
Tyler Pope and I are jacking the sh*t out of this 808 at @GoodtimeStudios, Melbourne Australia. One day Crystal Ark recording session. Matt Thornley is working the resonance fader with one hand and the delay feedback with the other...
2 months ago
Last LCD show, MSG NYC April 2nd!!!
2 months ago
Non Stop Erotic Hotel Room Recording Studio!!!
1 month ago
Listening to the Mutant Beat Dance remix for the upcoming Gavin Russom solo 12" on DFA. Traxx and @BeauWanzer hit the nail on the head. This track is on fire!
1 month ago
Working on New Crystal Ark Tracks with @VivaRuiz in the home studio. Spirits rejoice!
1 month ago
Colbert tonight w/ LCD!
1 month ago
This crowd in Sao Paulo is bonkers!!! Sucks I have FOOD POSIONING!!!
3 weeks ago
New T-shirts by @FKawallys are Hot. NOSSA!!!
3 weeks ago
Getting deep with some Colombian food Crystal Ark style. @AlbertoLopez is showing me and @TylerPope the ropes.
2 weeks ago
It's up! Live radio DJ session for Noise in my Head, Melbourne: http://www.noiseinmyhead.com.au/index.php?/archive-2011/270211-w-gavin-russom/
1 week ago
I ♥ New York!!!
6 days ago
DJ set tonight at @gaitelyrique Paris with James Murphy!
1 day ago
Deep in the mix...
12 hours ago
Parc Des Buttes Chaumont!
6 hours ago
New Website Update: http://gavinrussom.com/news.html
1 hour ago
November, 2010 -- I want fire
On Halloween weekend in NYC The Crystal Ark previewed our new video for "The City Never Sleeps" with a big party at Le Bain in the Standard Hotel featuring DJ sets by James Murphy, Rub 'n' Tug and a special "Crystal Ark DJ set" featuring Matt Thornley and I on the decks and Viva, Jaiko and Sokhna on the microphone. So many people came together to make the video and the event something really special and it showed.
Later this month we'll do two live shows, one in Paris on the 25th at Palais de Tokyo and one in Milan on the 27th with details to come.
These preview shows are few and far between, and should give people an idea of what we'll be up to when we roll out the full Crystal Ark live show next year.
A batch of remixes are on the way or just released including:
Populette "Populace" feat. Gavin Russom remix 10/2010
Caribou "Swim Remixes" LP feat. "Bowls (Gavin Russom's rework)" 11/2010
HIM "SWRMX" LP feat. "Ode to Solitude (Gavin Russom remix)" 11/2010
September 25th, 2010 -- Between Worlds
Saying goodbye to an incredible summer. The Crystal Ark did our first live show at PS1 warm up. Really a preview of what the live show will be like but all in all a great day in New York. At PS1 we were joined by Alden Tyell, Justin Miller, Matt Cash and James Murphy and then we partied all night long to DJ sets by Matt Thornley, Saheer Umar and myself. I’m pretty sure they were mopping blood off the floor the next day. Because there was a point where it got so sweaty and pumping that all the people working it on the dance floor were probably sweating blood and I think some people were even maybe crying blood.
The Crystal Ark also dropped the 12” that I have been really excited about since we got started on it, “The Tangible Presence of the Miraculous” featuring Crystal Ark regulars Viva Ruiz, Matt Thornley and Alberto Lopez, and a very special guest appearance by R&B/House diva Lizzy Yoder.
On October 12th DFA will release “Track 5” by Delia Gonzalez and I. It’s a piece I’m really happy with and can’t wait to have out there. The B-side features a remix by Âme, which turns the original inside out.
The Crystal Ark will do the 2nd of our preview live shows in Paris on November 25th, keep your eyes out for more details.
On October 18th Throne of Blood will release the “Populace” 12” by Populette which features a remix I did on the B-side that’s been popping up in some interesting places already.
July 2010 -- Order of the Phoenix
It’s been a while since I did a proper site update. Here’s what’s going on…
In April I began playing as part of LCD Soundsystem and have been with them through 3 legs of heavy touring in the US, UK and Europe. It’s been an incredible experience that’s taken me to places I’ve never been including the deepest depths of my musical knowledge and ability. Overall I’m left with the sense that this band will be one of the greatest of my generation when all is said and done and only the champions are left standing. We’ve had amazing nights everywhere we’ve been and some after hours party action with myself, James Murphy, Pat Mahoney, Nick Millhiser, Alex Frankel, Matt Thornley and others stirring up all sorts of trouble on the turntables until long after the sun comes up. That party we did at Le Baron in Paris after the LCD shows at Bataclan is still one of the best events I’ve ever been part of, and I’m not even going to get into the shock and awe carpet bombing of the dance floor that included myself, Special Disco Version, Tyler Pope, JD Twitch and Teamy behind the decks of the Sub Club in Glasgow.
I’ve spent a ton of time in the studio between tour dates finishing up the 2nd 12” single to be released under the name The Crystal Ark. This one is entitled “The Tangible Presence of the Miraculous” and will be out later this year on DFA. The single features Alberto Lopez on live percussion and another vocal appearance by Viva Ruiz who sang on “The City Never Sleeps”. Lizzy Yoder does an outstanding cameo as guest house diva.
The Crystal Ark live show is well into production. We’re going to debut at PS1 Warm Up on August 7th, mark your calendar. I can’t imagine a better context for our first show than a sweaty outdoor afternoon dance party in Queens.
A bunch more releases are in the works including remixes for Midnight Magic, Pional, Factory Floor and Luke Abbott as well as (yes it really is happening) the final Delia and Gavin 12” “Track 5”.
And things are just getting warm…
February 2010 -- The Midnight Sun is Setting and the Ship is Setting Sail
The last Black Meteoric Star live show was in Berlin on November 14th, 2009. I began the project in 2006 and played live as BMS for almost exactly a year, beginning with the first official BMS live show at Matter in London in October 2008.
The entire experience was incredible and I am hugely grateful to everyone who was part of it. You know who you are.
While I prepare for what is looking like a very busy year of releases and live shows, I’ve dedicated this website to documenting and archiving the BMS experience as it was. I hope you enjoy this look back before we move into the future.
Apropos of that, the first single by The Crystal Ark will be released by DFA Records on March 16th, 2010.
More to come.
BLACK METEORIC STAR TIMELINE
April 5th, 2008 - Gavin Russom presents a preview of Black Meteoric Star tracks during his live set at the Super Festival in Paris. Installation by AVAF, curated by Eric Dalbin
October 24th, 2008 - First official Black Meteoric Star Live show, with visuals by AVAF, Matter, London UK
October 25th, 2008 - Black Meteoric Star Live, Men and Machines, Stereo, Glasgow Scotland
November 20th, 2008 - Black Meteoric Star Live, Scala, Berlin Germany
December 6th, 2008 - Black Meteoric Star Live with Installation by AVAF. 28th International Biennial, Sao Paulo Brazil
March 6th, 2009 - Black Meteoric Star Live, La Fleche d’or, Paris France
April 17th, 2009 - Black Meteoric Star Live, Le Poisson Rouge, NYC
April 30th, 2009 - Black Meteoric Star Live with visuals by AVAF, Donau Festival, Krems Austria
May 8th, 2009 - Black Meteoric Star Live, Berghain, Berlin Germany
May 23rd, 2009 - Black Meteoric Star Live with Installation by AVAF, Pop Rally, MOMA, NYC
June 9th, 2009 - Black Meteoric Star CD album and Death Tunnel/World Eater 12” released by DFA Records
June 19th, 2009 - Black Meteoric Star Live, Con Club, Rotterdam Netherlands
June 22nd, 2009 - Dominatron/Anthem 12” released by DFA Records
July 11th, 2009 - Black Meteoric Star Live, Social Club, Paris France
July 14th, 2009 - Dream Catcher/Dawn 12” released by DFA Records
July 25th, 2009 - Black Meteoric Star Live, Optimo, Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh Scotland
July 26th, 2009 - Black Meteoric Star Live, Optimo, Sub Club, Glasgow Scotland
August 7th, 2009 - Black Meteoric Star Live, Lethargy Festival, Zurich Switzerland
August 11th, 2009 - Black Meteoric Star Live, National Museum, Oslo Norway
September 12th, 2009 - Black Meteoric Star Live, Numusic Festival, Stavanger Norway
September 19th, 2009 - Black Meteoric Star Live, Ecoutes au Vert, Usine/Le Zoo, Geneva Switzerland
September 24th, 2009 - Black Meteoric Star Live with Installation by AVAF, Temporaere Kunsthalle, Berlin Germany
October 17th, 2009 - Black Meteoric Star Live, Last Night on Earth, Brakke Grond, Amsterdam, Netherlands
October 31st, 2009 - Black Meteoric Star Live, Thriller, Privat!!!, Dresden Germany
November 7th, 2009 - Black Meteoric Star Live with visuals by AVAF, Encore III, Bios, Athens Greece
Novemeber 14th, 2009 - Black Meteoric Star Live final show, Maedchen Internat, Berlin Germany
November 2009 -- Website Launch
Hello and welcome to gavinrussom.com. In this section you’ll find information about projects I’m working on, upcoming releases and things like that. Since the site is new here’s a short recap of what’s been happening:
In June I released Black Meteoric Star on DFA Records. On vinyl the release consists of 3 12” singles with the original long versions of the tracks. So that it could be listened to all the way through as a whole, I made edits for the CD. Since October of 2008 I’ve been playing live as Black Meteoric Star, weaving the tracks into a single live soundtrack that has ranged from 45 minute sets at clubs and festivals, to 3 hour sets with accompanying installations by the art collective Assume Vivid Astro Focus. Some memorable nights have been had, including playing with Danielle Baldelli at Skylax’s cosmic party at Social Club in Paris, throwing a rave in the MOMA’s Marron Atrium and a wicked Halloween Party in Dresden with Traxx hosted by We Like and Nation.
While playing Black Meteoric Star live in Europe I also spent a great deal of time in New York City working on my next set of releases which will be under the name “The Crystal Ark”. For this set of 2 12” singles I’m working with stellar singer, performer and filmmaker Viva Ruiz (Escandalo, Dazzle Dancers). Percussionist Alberto Lopez (Belu Music) supplies live rhythms and Lizzy Yoder (Sweet Thunder, Fischerspooner) makes a powerful guest appearance on vocals. DFA will release the 2 singles in 2010 and the band will appear live. Keep an eye on the calendar for more information on that.
In September I went into the studio with Delia Gonzalez and Eric Broucek to mix “Track 5” which Delia and I originally recorded during the “Days of Mars” sessions. The track didn’t fit with the rest of the album and was left unreleased. After doing a second studio session on it in 2007 at Choose Audio in Berlin we were ready to release it but further complications stalled the process. Finally mixed and ready to go this track will appear as a 12” single on DFA in 2010.
New remixes in 2009 include “Boundary Waters” by Palms, which was released on Rare Book Room Records over the summer, and “Snake” by Acid Washed which will be released on Record Makers very shortly.
In October, Black Dog Publishing released “Krautrock”, an in depth anthology about the German music movement which includes an essay I wrote on Achim Reichel.