FRIDAY NIGHTS IN JULY GET A LITTLE HOTTER IN THE BAM/PFA GALLERIES WITH MUSICAL PERFORMANCES BY A MINOR FOREST AND GABRIEL SALOMAN, AS WELL AS VARIETY BY STANDUP RON LYNCH AND MUSICAL COMEDY DUO SAD VICIOUS; PLUS MORE!

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Berkeley, CA, June 6, 2014 - The UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAM/PFA) presents a new summer season of L@TE: Friday Nights @ BAM/PFA. The new schedule comprises three July events conceived by returning guest programmer George Chen. A musician, comedian, record-label founder, and writer, Chen established the popular live comedy series Cynic Cave, started the all-ages booking collective Club Sandwich, and founded the ZUM record label, while also finding time to perform in several music projects such as KIT and Chen Santa Maria. His wide range of aesthetic interests is reflected in his eclectic lineup for L@TE.

On July 11, BAM/PFA welcomes Vancouver–based musician Gabriel Saloman. Best known for his work as half of the prolific experimental duo Yellow Swans, Saloman will fill the galleries with his gentle but dense psychedelic soundscapes. His most recent solo album, Soldier's Requiem, is described by The Quietus as “sprawling, varied, often epic, yet emotionally resonant and heartfelt.” Also on the bill is the brooding duo Father Murphy (Rev. Freddie Murphy and Chiara Lee), part of an emerging subset of the Italian music community that critics and commentators such as Simon Reynolds and Julian Cope have described as “Italian Occult Psychedelia.”

Prepare for absurdity and intense laughter on July 18 when Chen MCs the first production in the East Bay of the monthly variety show Talkies. Coproduced by Kyle Mizono and Land Smith, the program is headlined by the bizarre musical comedy duo Sad Vicious, self-described as “San Jose's Most Hated Band.” Also performing is veteran standup Ron Lynch, who emerged out of the same 1980s Boston scene that bore Steven Wright and Louis C.K. Lynch has made guest appearances on Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist, The Sarah Silverman Program, Andy Richter Controls the Universe, and Adventure Time.

On July 25 recently reformed math rock pioneers A Minor Forest drench Gallery B with their intense angular and odd-tempo arrangements. The trio just returned home to the Bay Area from a triumphant U.S. tour to help promote a new anthology on Thrill Jockey, featuring their two beloved albums Inindependence and A Flemish Altruism. They'll be joined by Mansion, dark lords of the underground warehouse performance scene.

Summer 2014 L@TE Schedule

Gabriel Saloman plus Father Murphy
July 11; 7:30 p.m. (doors 5 p.m.)
Experience Gabriel Saloman's densely atmospheric, reverb-drenched, minor-mode soundscapes filling BAM/PFA's interior space. Saloman, best known for his work as half of Yellow Swans, is a Vancouver-based musician and artist who has been performing experimental, conceptual, and freely improvised music for over fifteen years. Moving from twisted psychedelic pop into darker sonic exploration, the duo Father Murphy (Rev. Freddie Murphy and Chiara Lee) utilize kabbalistic chanting, chiming bells, and tinny drones played on toy keyboards to create the sound of “Italian Cult Psychedelia.”

Talkies, featuring Ron Lynch & Sad Vicious
July 18; 7:30 p.m. (doors 5 p.m.)
Join your host George Chen for a frenetic variety show for the Internet age. Chen, with coproducers Kyle Mizono and Land Smith, brings the live monthly music and comedy show Talkies to the East Bay for the first time. The night kicks off with a set from veteran standup Ron Lynch, who was part of the 1980s comedy boom in Boston that spawned Steven Wright and Louis C.K. and is revered for his experimental approach to comedy. Lynch currently runs the LA comedy show Tomorrow! and has appeared on Adventure Time and Bob's Burgers. Featured act Sad Vicious, a duo known as “San Jose's Most Hated Band,” performs absurd sketches, walking the line between performance art and comedy, but mostly landing on the side of silly.

A Minor Forest plus Mansion
July 25; 7:30 p.m. (doors 5 p.m.)
We are thrilled to welcome legendary local rock band A Minor Forest, performing again after a decade-long hiatus. The group, featuring UC Berkeley alumni, is known for its complex arrangements, aggressive dynamics, and intense live performances. Their albums on Thrill Jockey Records are considered classics in the “math rock” genre. Opener Mansion, a visually stimulating favorite of the underground warehouse circuit, has often been described as "sick" and "loud." We would throw in discordant, angular, hypnotically rhythmic, anachronistic, and a darkly good time.

L@TE Tickets
Admission to L@TE is $7; free for BAM/PFA members and Cal students, faculty, and staff. For updates and advance tickets, visit bampfa.berkeley.edu/late.

Support
L@TE is made possible by the generous support of the BAM/PFA Trustees and the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost, UC Berkeley. Thanks to promotional partner Econo Jam Records.

About BAM/PFA
Founded in 1963, the UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAM/PFA) is UC Berkeley's primary visual arts venue and among the largest university art museums in terms of size and audience in the United States. Internationally recognized for its art and film programming, BAM/PFA is a platform for cultural experiences that transform individuals, engage communities, and advance the local, national and global discourse on art and ideas. BAM/PFA's mission is “to inspire the imagination and ignite critical dialogue through art and film.”

BAM/PFA presents approximately fifteen art exhibitions and 380 film programs each year. The museum's collection of over 19,000 works of art includes important holdings of Neolithic Chinese ceramics, Ming and Qing Dynasty Chinese painting, Old Master works on paper, Italian Baroque painting, early American painting, Abstract Expressionist painting, contemporary photography, and video art. Its film archive of over 16,000 films and videos includes the largest collection of Japanese cinema outside of Japan, Hollywood classics, and silent film, as well hundreds of thousands of articles, reviews, posters, and other ephemera related to the history of film, many of which are digitally scanned and accessible online.

Berkeley Art Museum Information
Location: 2626 Bancroft Way, just below College Avenue across from the UC Berkeley campus.

Gallery and Museum Store Hours: Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m.–5 p.m. Open L@TE Fridays until 9 p.m. Closed Monday and Tuesday.

Information: 24-hour recorded message (510) 642-0808; fax (510) 642-4889; TDD (510) 642-8734.

Website: bampfa.berkeley.edu

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