Artist description visionEar combines light,video,and futuristic sound. Preforming onstage in his RPM(real-time preformance module). A constant mix of changing light/video/sound texture is always taking place. Groove's pile up along lines of crunchimg guitar then suddenly drop off into ambient endlessness.

Music Style Futuristic sound/light/video/ presentation

Musical Influences Miles Davis, Experimental Music,Weather Report,James Brown, Arnold Shoenberg, Claude Debussey, King Crimson, Peter Gabriel, Fred Frith, Primus, Music made with electricity or electroinics, Nature/Space sounds. Rock/R+B, Sci-Fi Movie Sountracks etc...

Similar Artists Bill Laswell, Bill Nelson, PROJEkCT TWO, Brian Eno, Art of Noise, Jah Wobble, UZEB,

Artist History Official starting date: 1998. visionEar began as a series of recording dates to develop the concept. Light and video were added to amplify the attitude of this music. In this short time, one mans timid concept has become the vision it is today!

Group Members Only One: Jim Konen aka visionEar

Instruments Guitar/ Synth Guitar, Casio D-10 digital guitar, RolandGroove Machines, the motorWand, and the CLANG!

Press Reviews FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:Detroit music multimedia preformer visionEar has his first CD entitled "digThesis. This nine song set emerges from a long background of musical experiences. Touching down onto many styles but never landing on one. visionEar describes this "chameleon" style CD as his touchstone. The context of this material manages listeners senses into areas where present common beats and melodies mix together like the patterns in a kaleidoscope. Never depicting any one style but a combination of many. A new cohesive spirit is captured here and begs you to listen. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Detroit performer/insturmentalist visionEar releases second CD "Future Sans". A vocal element presides over this latest release. These ten songs include the quirky radio friendly "Futuristic Guy". "Flight No." and "Ambiene" incorporate memorable sung melodies also. Each song emerges one by one distinct from each other but always connected to their source. Plenty of fine electronica abounds, "wiggley giggley stuff","A1A" but, this is not just serious knob twiddiling. The guitar-tronica tracks like "The Construct" or "Black Box" rock this beaty but edgy framework. The strength of these arrangements is visionEar's unique ability at combining rock and electronic elements. REVIEW AURAL INNOVATIONS: visionEar is a solo project from Michigan based musician Jim Konen who I was introduced to recently by a couple of collaborations with Rotcod Zzaj (see AI#18). Blending highly charged electronic beats and patterns, and drawing on rock and jazz influences, konen puts his personal stamp on the electro dance genere, having created a set of manic spaced out instrumentals that seem to occupy a realm between the Ozric Tentacles and Eat Static. Among the highlight tracks is "Ambiene', an ambient space tune with multiple layers of electronic patterns and textures, some of witch border on the symphonic. It's dancy but totally cosmic and includes some beautiful wailing guitar lines that add intensity but also partly creates the melody. After an electronic big band jazz intro, "Flight No." quickly becomes a quirky techno lounge tune. There are recognizable influences but all done in a unique way. I can see how Konen and Zzaj hooked up with each other. "Futuristic Guy" is one of my favorites, being a cosmic space hip-hop tune with trippy bubbling synth and fun lyrics. "Wiggley Giggley Stuff" features a meditational blend of space ambience and firey electro beats. konen is all over the place,blasting the listener from every direction with bits and pieces of seemingly countless electronic patterns. "Black Box" and "Fluten" are among the most rocking tracks on the disc and feature mucho crunchy guitar. "Strange Attractors" is another one of my favorites. It's a jazz-in-space electro spectacular with rapid-fire beats, wind tunnel effects that suck the brain matter out of your eardrums, Egyptian snake charmer melodies that evolve into enerigized fusion runs, ambient textures.....LOTS going on here...and it's all got a frenzied groove to it as well. In summary, Future Sans came as a surprise to me as my introduction to Konen's work was mostly in his capacity as a guitarist. I was pleased to discover he blends his guitar with electronics to create music that is stylistically recongnizable but still a bit different from the rest. Highly recommended to electronica fans. Ozric fans will find much to enjoy here too! Jerry Kranitz/ Aural Innovations #19 (april 2002) REVIEW SPLENDID: Admittly, there is a glut of electronic dance music available today, but you can still find quality recordings. This is very much the case with these uncannily alluring tracks, witch not only demonstrate what this medium can do, but also define its limits. My usual milieu for listing to electronic music (that dosen't involve a dance floor) is any sort of cardiovascular activity (whether upright in the gym, or prone in the boudoir). Here again, this kind of movement is key: visionEar provides the requisite breakbeats, basslines and samples that are the crux of the genere, yet his innate sense of timing, combined with his tasteful selection, makes for an altogether exquisite aural experience. Of course, visionEar (like many of his colleagues) is also prone to experimental flights of fancy (i.e "Strange Attractors"), but even that is readily condoned as a nessary evil. Experimental longueurs aside, visionEar's music is both focused and listener-friendly--a rare combination of traits indeed Daniel Arizona/Splendid 4/5/2002.

Additional Info Not content with only conventional sound making devices. The visionEar created the motorWand and, the CLANG. Instruments that point the way to future sounds.

Location Pontiac, MI - USA

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