Dave Harrington
Dave Harrington is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and producer. A native New Yorker, Harrington has worked across many genres and musical communities including the downtown improvised scene, Brooklyn indie rock, various substrates of the jam band world, and the city’s burgeoning electronic milieu. Perhaps best known for his collaboration with Nicolas Jaar in the duo DARKSIDE, since the band's dissolution in 2014 Harrington has run with the spirit of synthesis and collaboration that drove the project and carved out a unique and eclectic solo career.
Improvisation is central to all that he does, a freewheeling and psychedelic approach that is applied to everything from jazz to techno. He has released two LPs with the Dave Harrington Group, “Become Alive” (2016) and “Pure Imagination, No Country” (2019), and has toured internationally performing headlining shows across Europe and the US, as well as appearing at festivals ranging from Pitch Festival in Amsterdam to We Love Green in Paris and the Gent Jazz Festival.
As a collaborator, Harrington has recorded or performed with artists including Ilhan Ersahin’s Istanbul Sessions, Innov Gnawa, Nels Cline, Miho Hatori, Nick Murphy (aka Chet Faker), Yuka Honda, Joe Russo, Ian Chang, Mauro Refosco, Lars Horntveth (Jaga Jazzist), Brian Chase (Yeah Yeah Yeahs), The Master Musicians of Jajouka, Kimbra, Sophia Brous, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Marshall Allen & The Sun Ra Arkestra, Angel Deradoorian, and many more.
Releases
Pique-nique Recordings is proud to present “ Investigate & Enjoy”, a deep musical conversation between two of New York City’s most prolific musicians, Dave Harrington and Kenny Wollesen. Harrington (Darkside) and Wollesen (Sex Mob) use a shared language of texture, groove, and space to craft intricate, free-formed, and inventive experimental music.
Wollesen’s forceful percussion opens up side A, which grooves heavily underneath Harrington’s skittering electronics. The flip side features sparse yet rich guitar tones on what Harrington and Wollesen refer to as an “improvised ballad.” Both pieces resonate with a powerful mood as hints of late-Talk Talk and Battles permeate these unique recordings.
This release is part of an ongoing series that aims to capture the New York City jazz scene in its current, always evolving form.
Buy on Bandcamp
TRACKLISTING:
A. Investigate & Enjoy
B. It’s Too Late to Look at the Blossoms
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Released October 30, 2020
Dave Harrington - guitar, electronics
Kenny Wollesen - drums
Produced & Mixed by Dave Harrington
Mastered by Joe Lambert
Recorded live with no overdubs at Figure 8 Recording (Brooklyn, NY)
Engineered by Michael Coleman
Artwork by Georgia Hill
Pique-nique Recordings are proud to present Innov Gnawa - 'Aicha', a limited 12-inch from the new label, featuring four traditional pieces, performed by Innov Gnawa and mixed and produced by Dave Harrington (Darkside).
There is perhaps no group that better illustrates the beauty of Gnawa music than Innov Gnawa. Having grown up and studied Gnawa music in Morocco individually, fate brought each musician separately to New York City, where they met and formed a band around the Master - Mâalem Hassan Ben Jaâfer. As Innov Gnawa, they began carrying the torch of this uniquely Moroccan music tradition with rich pan-African roots. All Gnawa music has a role to fulfil in the healing ritual called the "Lila", which means "Night" in Arabic.
A "Lila" can last for more than 12 hours, and is usually conducted in intimate gatherings, for the purpose of creating a safe place for people to reach a trance-like state, and connect with their ancestral spirits. Innov Gnawa are the only New York-based Gnawa band who play regularly and still remain true to the traditions of this ancient ritual.
Buy on Bandcamp
TRACKLISTING:
1. Chalaba
2. Baniya
3. Lalla - Aicha
4. Youbati - Boulila
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Released March 30, 2018
Produced by Dave Harrington
Hand-drawn artwork by Sophie Bass