Al Baldwin is one of the more remarkable figures in the North American electronic music community. A veteran of countless live shows ranging from the Electro-Music festivals to Mountain Skies, Al commands attention just by walking into a room: the classic curmudgeon with a lit cigar and an opinion on everything, the sort of person you think you’ve got figured out just by looking at him… and then he starts to talk, revealing incredible kindness and generosity of spirit commingled with a healthy skepticism of all the noise and chatter filling the world around him. He loves his wife and his dogs unconditionally… everybody else has to work for it. I have never doubted that it’s worth the effort.
This duality of character infuses every note played by Al in his solo project Pallid Mask. He’s fond of grand theatrics and gloom-and-doom imagery (the photo above is from a live show!), but his music carries with it somber beauty and intense, almost painful, feeling… a passion that dives deep and doesn’t seem to ever come up for air.
Tonight, I am pleased to invite everyone to a gallery showing of the music of Pallid Mask. I’m hoping that Al can take part in Slack chat for at least part of the evening; he’s a respected presence in our online community, and if you’ve never had a chance to chat with him and ask about his music, now would be a great time. We’ll also have a presence in Second Life, of course, and if I can tear myself away from playing Al’s stuff, I might do a little Live Ambient microRant. Please join us, starting at 9/8/7/6 PM E/C/M/PST.
Iä! Iä! Cthulhu fhtagn! Ph’nglui mglw’nfah Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn!
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