October 4th 1997 saw a performance by Higher Intelligence Agency and Biosphere, aka Bobby Bird and Geir Jenssen, on the 12th floor of the Rotunda entitled Birmingham Frequencies.
on this night, two hundred & fifty people went up into the rotunda for the first time, to hear a soundtrack by geir jenssen & bobby bird, made with location recordings taken from around birmingham over the previous week. visual impressions were also commissioned & projected on to the inner curve of the polo-mint shaped room.
the event was a follow-up / return invitation to an event two years previously, when hia / biosphere collaborated in a live concert overlooking tromso, norway as part of the polar music festival, a performance subsequently released as polar sequences.
A CD, with audio and video content, came out in 2004 and is available on eMusic (where you can listen to clips) and Amazon. I have ordered a copy!
Info came from my favourite American Anglophile Kevin Church.
Nice to see this event mentioned – it was organised by the same members of Oscillate, ( Bobby Bird / Scylla Magda) who are still here in Birmingham, creating work and putting on occasional high end electronic arts and music events, as part of Modulate collective . On 31st May we are hosting an audio visual performance by Frank Bretschneider (Raster-Noton), more details at http://www.modulate.org.uk.
The CD Birmingham Frequencies is still available direct from Bobby’s Headphone label (http:www.headphonerecords.co.uk).
Co incidentally we are currently planning a similar project to Birmingham Frequencies with sound artist Fransisco Lopez (whom we brought to Birmingham last year to give a ‘Total Darkness’ performance ) to take place in 2009, featuring Lopez plus a number of regional sound artists / musicians.