What? Field recordings, noise, sound experiments

Sounds like? abstract sounds, containing not that much melody. think of abstract elektronica

Ok, Kallikak Family is a band that is hard to blog about, but they seem to be the best band to link to something else i want to tell about, which is funny or exciting in a way.

Apparently, we're close to some extremely huge change on our planet. Next to the financial crisis, and the feeling that we're al really getting crazy here (that's at least the feeling i'm having, that we're all running in some sort of extreme overdrive), on 14th of October, the aliens will come and help us!

Some medium, Blossom Goodchild, has been receiving messages from an extraterrestial race that calls themselves the federation of light. They told her that on the 14th october, their spaceship will appear in our skies, more precisely over Alabama, and will be staying there for 3 days. They DON't want to take over, but are here to send us love and positive energy.

Me, as a sort of hippie (sort of), can't be negative about aliens bringing peace and happiness, so let's welcome them. I don't believe this, but i'm curious of course. The Original message you can see in the youtube-link underneath. Fascinating, to say the least. (one question: why the arab music? all the neocons are now thinking it's muslim propaganda)

What has this got to do with Kallikak Family? Well, this one-man band released an album in 2006, which was called "May 23d, 2007", the day the artist believed he would die because a fortune teller told him so. His MySpace is still active, so the guy is probably still alive. Let's hope that the medium wasn't Blossom. Next to that, the concept album is a really great collection of abstract sound-experimental songs.

Kallikak Family - Second Phase

Kallikak Family - Guitar 2

There is not much information found about the guy , but you can buy his albums at Insound or at his label Tell All Records.  (although i'm not sure whether that site is still active)

laurent jeanneau micro tendu en asie + quelques pochettes de son label

depuis plus de dix ans, laurent jeanneau, globe-trotteur d'origine française désormais installé en chine, enregistre de par le monde les musiques de minorités en danger (en danger de disparition pure et simple ou d'acculturation). Sous la bannière kink gong il a ainsi sorti une grosse vingtaine de cd consacrés aux minorités ethniques du Sud-Est asiatique [lire l'article de benoit deuxant à ce sujet]. Ses enregistrements ont aussi donné lieu à trois disques sur l'excellentissime label sublime frequencies. mais comme son rapport à ces musiques est avant tout… musical (plutôt qu'avant tout ethnographique ou humanitaire), il utilise le même jeu de mot - kink gong, donc - pour proposer sa propre musique dans laquelle se retrouvent entrelacées en une étoffe fascinante le fil rouge de ses bandes de field recordings [enregistrements de terrain] et de délicates interventions electronica ou électro-acoustiques. une construction sonore hybride qui fera fuir les ayatollahs du purisme… mais accourir les auditeurs curieux et les tenants d'une réflexion un peu moins monolithique et un peu plus nuancée sur l'état des musiques de notre planète. une réflexion qui commencerait… par l'écoute.

> traduction d'une interview de laurent jeanneau et rob millis parue dans "ruis"

en première partie, un autre expatrié, le cow-boy écossais-belge wilf plum (ex-dog faced hermans) proposera par une technique plus ancienne (la chanson, la reprise) une autre voie pour la réappropriation d'un certain corpus musical collectif à partager. Avant, après et entre les deux concerts, notre collègue benoit deuxant, l'homme-noreille, répondra, par un de ces enchaînements de disques dont il a le secret, à la thématique sous-jacente de la soirée.

> il y a quelques mois, un billet de ce blog déjà consacré à wilf plum

kink gong (france-chine) ~ wilf plum (écosse-Belgique) ~ dj b200 (belgique)
samedi 11 octobre – 20h - la compilothèque
50 quai des péniches - 1000 bruxelles – env. 5 eur

lien 1 [espace king gong]
lien 2 [bande annonce d'un dvd sublime frequencies tourné par rob millis en thaïlande]
lien 3 [les excellentes vidéos de wilf plum et andy kerr sur y**t***]

The main sound sources on Yours Gray are field recordings.  While Hum also used field recordings, here they often seem a good deal less "treated", which tends to make the album a bit less accessible when compared to her more recent work.  The first track, which features Asuna, is the most similar to the material on Hum, with its soft ambient tones, field recordings of birds and water.  It's quite nice and relaxing, actually, but once the track ends the album takes a turn for more experimental territory.

Asuna appears on "A Message From Bed of the Sea" as well.  It's a strange little piece, with a funny melodic loop that sounds a like a lo-fi tape recording of a flute or something being played in reverse, continuing for essentially the entire track as a shimmering drone and CD-skipping glitches rise up in the background.  "Petit garçon" is the first longer track of the album, more than seven minutes, and it's one of those tracks that you'll need to listen very carefully to in order to get anything out of it — it's very, very quiet, so you might even have to turn up your speakers a bit to fully hear the intricacies.  About a third of the way in a very deep, simple sinewave drone enters, and gradually other tones reveal themselves, layering on top of each other to create an spooky effect.  On "Hole", Kiyoharu Kuwayama is credited with "water, sand, shortwave radio, and clock", but the result sounds more like pebbles being dropped on a metal plate; it's sonically interesting but fairly harsh, so if you turned up the volume for the last track you might be in for a bit of a shock.  "Cache Cache" is based on a field recording that included a performance from Toshimaru Nakamura.  The performance, which was perhaps taking place across the street or down the block from where Sawako was recording, consisted of simple sine tones, able to carry themselves long distances and be picked up by her microphones.  The tones are high-pitched and at times even grating, but over the course of 11 minutes she is able to weave wide range of sounds together while (I assume) keeping the general sound of the recordings intact.  "Night Midlight" is easier on the ears, using processed piano recordings from Mitchell Akiyama to create a calm, atmospheric piece not too dissimilar to the pieces on later Sawako albums.  "Go to Ocean" closes the album with more sounds from the Nakamura performance, although this time they only make fleeting appearances amongst the sounds of the ocean and passing trains and cars.

Those seeking the ambient bliss of Sawako's more recent albums will probably the at least a little disappointed with Yours Gray.  It's a more challenging album than you might expect, but if you're into field recordings and organic, lifelike sounds, I think it can be a rewarding experience.

Once I was done, I wanted to hear it in stereo, so i chopped the track exactly in half and made a stereo file. This one is particularly enjoyable. I love the random sonic collisions that take place. Sometimes the placement of sounds is so perfect, I wonder if I some how composed it intuitively, but I know that's just not possible.

So, now that i've gone and done this, I feel like I have finally gotten it out of my system, and I don't really need to do it anymore. The funny thing is, that I can't stop recording sounds! I may go back to the loop cassettes and start building a sound catalog, but I can't help thinking I'll wind up back on the same old tape, in exactly the place i left off, continuing the journey.

- Dictaphone Cassette Collage Mono

- Dictaphone Cassette Collage Stereo

[audio http://sites.google.com/site/ryanedaniels/Home/tibet.mp3]

http://www.tibetanyouthcongress.com/

[audio http://sites.google.com/site/ryanedaniels/Home/jackhammer.mp3]

What? Instrumental sparse beautiness, field recordings folk

Sounds Like? Yann Tiersen (at least the one song i'm posting), Vincent Gallo miniature soundscapes

One of the greatest cd's of all times is "Recordings of Music For Film" by the quite egocentric asshole Vincent Gallo. There is nothing wrong with being an asshole, but because I do believe Gallo could sue anyone that dares to post one of his songs, i'll just be the chicken and go for an unknown alternative.

To be honest: I've only got one small EP by Birdengine. An ep he recorded for the Minerals Series of Benbecula Records. But there are at least 3 wonderful songs on this little jewel, so that i just think this guy is worth knowing about. One is 'Faster little man', which sounds as a song that didn't make the Amelie Poulain-soundtrack, whereas 'Too Late' is a melancholic Gipsy-balkan sadness.

Birdengine - Faster Little Man

Birdengine - Too Late

The man has released a full album at Drift Records. Probably gonna buy it soon or put it on the ever longer getting wishlist. If someone has the album, let me know if it's as great as these two songs!  (his MySpace surely has some great songs, and I love it when he sings!)

I rode my bike down to Brooklyn today, and in DUMBO, right by the water, there was a performance by the Bhutan monks from the monastery fortress of Trongsa in central Bhutan. The dance they did was a ritual demon subjugation dance, and will be done in public spaces in and around New York City over the next few weeks. This was the first. Apparently they had just flown in yesterday, and to imagine what it is like for them, having never really traveled outside their home... and be dropped in New York City, is just surreal.

I brought down in my backpack my camera and field recording gear, and although I did get some photos (above), I was much more intrigued by the audio. I sat in one place, and had some ice cream (thanks Karen), and just tranced out. It was a visually hypnotic repetition. Perfectly imperfect.

I recorded the entire thing, and here are some excerpts:

1st Dance
[audio http://www.fognode.com/bhutan/bhutan1.mp3]

2nd Dance
[audio http://www.fognode.com/bhutan/bhutan2.mp3]

For more information on these events being sponsored by the Rubin Museum of Art, click here. There is a video there that is great too.

Not a bad day in the ole city of New York. And for now, the demons are gone.

(Addition) - Here is the schedule of the next performances:

September 13-21, 2008
FREE
Scheduled Performance Dates and Locations
(all scheduled performances are subject to change)

Saturday, September 13
4:00 p.m. performance at Fulton Ferry Landing pier, Brooklyn (DUMBO district)
Subway: 2 or 3 to Clark St.; A or C to High St.

Sunday, September 14
2:00 p.m. Flushing Meadow Corona Park(Unisphere, Queens)

Monday, September 15
12:30 p.m. performance, Foley Square
(Intersection of Duane Street, Lafayette Street, Centre Street, and Pearl Street)
Subway for Foley Square: 4, 5, 6, J, M, Z to Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall

4:00 p.m. performance, South Street Seaport
(Pier 17 and South Street)
Subways for South Street Seaport: 2, 3, 4, 5, J, M, Z to Fulton Street
A, C to Broadway/Nassau, Walk East on Fulton Street to East River

Tuesday, September 16
4:00 p.m. performance, New York Public Library
Subway to New York Public Library: B, D, F, Q, or 7 train to Bryant Park

Wednesday, September 17
12:30 p.m. Brooklyn Borough Hall
(public plaza at base of Borough Hall steps)
Subway to Borough Hall: 4, 5 train to Court Street/Borough Hall or
A, C, or F train to Jay Street/Borough Hall

Thursday, September 18, 1:00 p.m. performance, Columbus Park
(Mulberry Street between Bayard Street and Worth Street)
Subway for Columbus Park: 4, 5, 6, J, M, Z to Brooklyn Bridge

Friday, September 19, Battery Park
Subways for Battery Park: 1 to South Ferry; 4, 5 to Bowling Green; R, W to Whitehall Street

12:30 p.m. performance, Battery Gardens Plaza
(On the harbor, inside Battery Park, opposite from 17 State Street)

3:00 p.m. performance, in front of Castle Clinton
(Enter Battery Park at Broadway and State Street)

5:00 p.m. performance, Battery Place sidewalk
(Corner of Greenwich Street and Battery Place at the entrance of Battery Park)

9:30 p.m. Bohemian Hall & Beer Garden
Astoria, Queens
Subway for Bohemian Hall & Beer Garden: N to Astoria Blvd. Walk one block, past Staples, to 24th Avenue and turn left. The Bohemian Hall & Beer Garden will have American & Czech flags in front.

Saturday, September 20, 1:00 p.m. performance, Merchant�s Gate, Central Park
(Central Park South and Central Park West, across from Columbus Circle)
Subway for Merchant�s Gate: A, C, 1, 9, B, D to Columbus Circle/ 59th Street

5:30 p.m. Socrates Sculpture Park
Astoria, Queens
Subway for Socrates Sculpture Park: N or W to Broadway in Queens

Sunday, September 21
11:00 a.m.
Liberty Island (Flag Pole Plaza)
Liberty Island is accessible by ferry service only. Purchase round-trip ferry tickets at the Statue Cruises ticket booth inside Castle Clinton National Monument in Battery Park or at the Statue Cruises website (http://www.statuecruises.com).

The New York presentation of The Dragon�s Gift is supported, in part, by The Blakemore Foundation and The Howat Family Foundation.

Cham! Ritual Dances of Bhutan and the Weaver-in-Residence program are made possible, in part, by a grant from the Asian Cultural Council.

Next up, happening on the same dates as Feather Touch, is a dance performance I had been working on for the past half a year with Kuik Swee Boon. A really nice choreographer to work with. "OLD SOUNDS" - This piece, commissioned by the National Museum of Singapore, explores re-interpretations of dialectic folk songs and languages through sound art and music... avant garde music created, that were my responses to these materials, and fusing them into my music and sound compositions. These interpretations also employed a lot of found sounds, sampling and field recordings of objects, spaces, ambient. Complete with stunning video and visual works by Gabriella from Brazil, I think it will be quite a treat. Just click on the image to visit the National Museum site, choose "what's on" and under "other events" you'll find OLD SOUNDS and its ticketing info. Hope you'll enjoy the multi-media feast.

Also, a theatre production by SRT, written by award winning playwright Jean Tay. Her latest creation "BOOM", is one I think has the most colloquial materials; and in a way I am sure it will win many hearts due to it's very heartland-ish contents. So yeah, finally back into theatre. You can find more information about the show, which is opening next week at SRT, by clicking over HERE. Directed by Tracie Pang.

There, 3 productions back to back just in the span of 2 weeks. Crazy times. I've also start to conceptualize for Swee Boon on NUS Arts Festival next year, "VARIANCES"... it will be a 2 x 30min composition where I am thinking of using organic sounds created live by the dancers, I'm going to use customized contact microphones and PCC floor mics for a lot of live sampling, processing and looping of these sounds to created textures and rhythms on top of my music/sound compositions. The concept we are thrown into at the moment is the open term "ENVIRONMENT".

I've started on conceptualization work and possibly technical work (soon) on TFP's new play "WHISPERS" happening next year January. Another one I'll be exploring live organic sound designs with the actresses in relation to the set design, processing and toying with live pick-ups from the set; and a piano to do live minimalist music. So... I'll be buying a lot a lot of contact microphones in the months to come (my guess is in the 20 - 30 pieces range)... lots of wiring work soon!

The year will end with two more SRT theatre productions - The Tooth Fairy (is The Little Company's production; I'm on sound design and August on music, phew!) and The Office Party; and also another ECNAD explorative dance production where... I'll be doing something really interesting. For now let's just say it's live sound art in a very "voyeuristic" sense... so stay tuned! In any case, just drop me a message somewhere if you are coming for any of these shows and remember to come say hi to me. ]]> http://justnotnormal.wordpress.com/?p=60 Sun, 07 Sep 2008 02:23:39 +0000 justnotnormal http://justnotnormal.pl.wordpress.com/2008/09/07/jnn010-controlled-dissonance-sic/
archive.org page

[sic], the latest endeavor of soft noise/dark ambient blowhard, Controlled
Dissonance, is an expression of minimalistic composition. Stripping down
to the bare bones, Controlled Dissonance culled the sounds for this
release exclusively from field recordings and found material on
microcassette. These recordings were manipulated with a transcription
device, a handful of effects pedals and a small arsenal of digital
effects. The resulting tracks both belie the humble origin of their
source recordings, and elevate even the commonplace sounds of the world
around us to new realms of ambience.

Mirror:
Tape Track 1
Tape Track 2
Tape Track 3

Controlled Dissonance - [sic] zip-file
All tracks vbr kbs. Run time: 32,10 minutes

review this release

This is a field recording that I made in 2004 when I lived in Nashville in my favorite house ever, amongst the trees, and consequently, the tree frogs.

[audio http://www.quietamerican.org/download/other/Duquaine_Frogs.mp3]

'A late May 2004 night in Nashville, TN, after a short rain. The frogs are conversing across the hollow where I live; the din of Interstate 40 is in the distance; the wind rustles the leaves high in the trees. I used the new Marantz PMD670 Solid State Digital Recorder with an Audio Technica 825 microphone to record this scene out at the edge of my property in a hillside in West Nashville.'

Courtesy of Quiet American who archives submitted field recordings as "one minute vacations" on his website and then compiles them on a CD at the end of the year and sells them for charity. His work also is very impressive, especially recordings from Viet Nam. Check them out.

It is amazing how much my environment has changed when I hear this. The personal benefits of reflection and insight from making little audio documentaries is quite powerful I think. Almost more photographic than photographs. Evocative and real.

I look forward to getting back into field recording, as well as dealing with the hundreds that I have yet to edit and clean up from my travels over the last few years.

Time. Time.

Maybe I could start something here similarly, except have it be made by people who never do such things. "My First Field Recording". How about this. Make one and email it to me. Use any microphone and record any sound on any equipment. Even digital cameras make mpeg videos and have microphones built in. Cover the lens, and hit record! I will post it here.

I originally made these mixes for myself when i had a terrible bout of insomnia. The whole process helped me find my way back to a somewhat normal sleeping schedule. This series has been about creating a meditative head space. It's multi layered and the tracks featured rarely are in their original form. Part of the fun in this process for me was creating unique edits and finding the perfect sequence, including layers of samples and field recordings, to create a floating-down-the-river sensation.

Big, big-ups to Strategy for lacing me with a gorgeous unreleased track, "Put Your Air in the Hands" (check it at 35m 45s). I had the pleasure of designing his Kranky debut Drum Solo's Delight back in 2004. If you don't already have it get it, it's a classic.

[audio http://saputotime.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/blankets-no-4.mp3]

Download

B4: 49m 26s:

1. Jon Tulchin- "Bamboo (Manoa)" (field recording from Oahu)
2. Shuttle358- "Rocks are Nice" [edit]
3. Robert Babicz- " Emie"
4. Windy and Carl- "Antarctica"
5. Yumi Bitsu "Surface" [edit]
6. Oren Ambarchi- "Suspension"
7. Dale Lloyd- "Airs For Beacons / Signals For Ports"
8. Claro Intelecto- "Beautiful Death" [edit]
9. Strategy- "Put Your Air in the Hands" [unreleased]
10. Vainqueur- "Solanus (Extracted)" [edit]
11. Markus Guentner- "Wanderung"

Wreck This Mess / Ethno-Illogical Psycho-Radiographies

Radio Patapoe 88.3 ~ Amsterdam ~ 31 maart 2008 // 17.00-19.00

•

"Nature is a word I never use; I think everything is natural, even artificial things; it's a different kind of nature. Not everything that's natural is wonderful as anyone who eats the leaves of the hemlock will easily find out. I don't associate with any group; maybe no group will associate with me. I think the 60s was a search for community because American society has none; it has small groups organized to exploit small groups - and then larger groups. At first anarchism has to be an attitude; it starts with disrespect for institutions. If you have a general disrespect, you might slight something worthwhile."

Recorded 1993-2000

The Seattle-based duo of Robert Millis and Jeffery Taylor began to record their initially lo-fi avant-rock sketches around 1993.  They quickly developed penchant for studio improvisations, often produced by Scott Colburn and manned by several regular collaborators, among them drummer John Vallier, sonic explorer Jeph Jerman and visual artist Jesse Paul Miller.

Despite their post-hardcore sensitivity, several of their explorations ventured deep into sound documentary.  At its most esoteric, Climax Golden Twins celebrated the form pioneered by Luc Ferrari’s revolutionary field recordings.  On the other hand, the band’s studio avatar alternated between avant-rock collections and dreamy compendia of loops, drones and sinewaves.  It is the latter incarnation that has contributed auditory haze to countless art exhibitions, radio, theater, film and dance performances.

More recently, the duo reappeared under the Climax Golden Twins moniker in a more cohesive, orientalist rock format, officiating as a promising substitute the now defunct co-locals Sun City Girls.  This is more than a coincidence.  Robert Millis had for years collected field recordings in South East Asia, some of which have now appeared on Sublime Frequeuncies’ series. 

Climax Golden Twins are also behind Victriola Favorites – a highly enjoyable collection of deeply obscure 78rpm singles from first decades of the 20^th century, a treasure imported from most exotic destinations including Japan, Turkey, Burma, China etc.  Charming acetate documents occasionally make an appearance in the band’s multi-layered textures. 

Does Your Mother Know I’m Here?

After a brief phonemic cluster of unknown origin, acoustic guitars begin to strum lazily, carrying us through a stagnant, slumbering environment, laced with glasslike chimes.  Aimless infant vocals vanish somewhere in the backyard.  The informal atmosphere is breezy, summerlike. 

German

The beguine accents turn this primitivist guitar piece into a quasi dance.  It is as if the guitars surreptitiously spied on something, lurking and poking around in a comical fashion.  A self-replicating piano chord obsesses deliriously with little effect.  Unenthusiastically, drums, bells and some non-resonant guitar plucking fill the space.  More abstract cymbal and piano missive finish this off.  It is the “dance” character of this piece that drew references to Fred Frith’s Ralph-label period.

Ballroom

This begins with heavy tympani pounding.  Animist Orchestra’s Jeph Jerman rolls around some round or spherical objects, placing us in the middle of the installation.  The skeletal melodic component is sourced from an ostentatiously purposeless, clacking guitar/bass/drum trio of Mills, Taylor and Vallier.  Despite the radicality of metallic scraping behind them, the sustained bass line makes the band’s outing almost spacey.  In turn, the fuzz guitar erupts violently in short, scalding bursts.  All along, the mysterious round objects keep rolling.  The track wanes when a more prudent guitar peels away gentle notes along with respectful clinking from little bells.

To Float

This (longer) track wastes about a minute before audible elements can be captured.  These “elements” unfold into a tardily progressing rock trio with simple tempo runs on bongos.  Rhythmically pedant, the beat is unmasked as purely accidental when a screeching guitar unfurls a dirty fuzz carpet, eventually spreading over the pounded drum, rather monothematic bass and some insulated piano keys.  This pattern of tortuous progress is reiterated after each fuzz relapse.  An acoustic guitar closes the piece.

Choked Up

Under a prominent bass ostinato and a trickle of cymbals, oval effects pile up, mutating into a rocking behemoth when the bass drum joins to pinpoint the offensive ostinato.  Almost instantly, a choking vocal deprives this “rock” number of any semblance of commercial potential.  The sound is processed through folding, faulting, caving effects. As usual, the piece ends with a contrasting accent – this time from skittery percussion.

Heavy Hippie Shit

Here the bass falls even lower – to a threatening register as perfected by Boris.  But the palette is more diverse: detuned acoustic guitar, grimy, coarse guitar fuzz hijacked from the densest of metals, organ’s vitreous resonance and marimba. 

My Peppy Loins

A strangely tuned “Asian” string instrument (cha’pei?) cackles, followed by a speed punk suprematism in search of something to loathe. 

Cough…  Sniff…

Satanic growl is being smothered by a heavy tornado of several electric guitars, and curiously inept drumming.  Harsh electro-core production places this excursion somewhere between the realms of Orthrelm and Psychic Paramount.  Overall, it is a sonically repulsive experience, unless you’re in the mood for discord.

Composed

Sticks, toy xylophone and acoustic guitar strum, pluck, click and crackle.  There is something Art Bears-ian in the ascendant, skeletal harmonies of this anti-professionally delivered track.

Microspace Patrol II

Non-metric drumming evades any responsibility for rhythmic structure, allowing the fuzz guitar to play with feedback.  The band wakes up into a solid avant-rock number.  Were it more rhythmically complex, it could be categorized alongside Canada’s Fat. 

Theme from Climax Golden Twins

Southwestern atmospheric heavy rock – melodically one of the most promising moments on this record, plunges into discordance and is cut off way too early.

Telephone Call from the 70s

Billy Cox-like bass could be considered an anachronism.  But Climax Golden Twins insists on jabbing the listener with colliding messages – a phoned “hello”, high-end feedback, annoying organ, itinerant, stop-go beats. 

Frankly

If you remember pre-industrial bass utilized by Joachim Stender in German band PD, then the Twins get pretty close.  It migrates through pre-recorded dance tunes, vocal tapes playing backwards, various voices, engine-prepping guitar.  Despite non-rational sawing and scratching, occasional piano tremolo and some dramatic vocal interjections, there are unfortunately not enough ideas to keep it continually interesting. 

You Drove Me, Nearly Drove Me

Groovy Hammond organ teletransported from 1950s small-town pre-rockandroll dance party could have remembered Vivien Leigh’s first steps.  Yet no saccharine allowed here.  Tweeting and twittering juts out from a tape run within a reading range recording head.  The effect is simple, but ingenious; it does chirp and occasionally sings.  And then, an eerie crooner at half-speed does, indeed, loop in a line from the title. 

Swan

Probably the strongest moment on the disc.  This Heat-like guitar symphony with rambunctious drums, simple electronics and tapes thrown into the sonic whirlwind.  It plods on ponderously, toxified further by stammering bray.  The lead guitar crafts a solo and a scream resonates inauspiciously.  The hoarse voice later returns, if only to incinerate the gates of hell. 

A Door A Fish Your Head

Clarinets and Gene Krupa-like archaic 12-bar drumming accompany a failed recitation of “Poems for a Dead Man”.  Amplified, jazzy guitar softly points to the verse ends, with the warm clarinet pouring in additional color.  Later, the clarinet pierces in Ornette Coleman’s style.

Pop

Here’s the basic trio falls into a groove.  Structurally, this is a dialogue between two simple themes: one tense and suspenseful, one joyful enough to resolve the suspense.  After some to-and-fro, a Jon Hassell-like windblown effect quells the dispute.

1, 2, 3, 4

Voice snippets are followed by a cut-up punk charge.  Black metal vocal hurls lethal syllables whenever the charge stops to take a breather. 

Lampshade Market

A relaxed tabla, field recordings and exoticist guitars à la Sir Richard Bishop, crowd in a market full of children’s voices. 

Drink Me

Back to the beginning.  A sizzle sneaks through a rather random mapping of acoustic guitar strumming, melodica blowing and crystalline intonation.  The guitar cradles slowly, effective and swinging, but relatively uneventful.  Then it attempts to impersonate poor-man’s Appalachia plucking style, despite the geographic and cultural gulf that separates the coal miners from Seattle’s coffee shops… Isn’t it closer to Thailand?

***

1. CLIMAX GOLDEN TWINS: “Climax Golden Twins” 2EP (1994)

2. CLIMAX GOLDEN TWINS: “Three Inch” MCD (1995)

3. CLIMAX GOLDEN TWINS: “Imperial Household Orchestra” (1996)

4. CLIMAX GOLDEN TWINS: “Lovely” (1997)

5. CLIMAX GOLDEN TWINS: “Climax Golden Twins (Locations)” (1998)

6. CLIMAX GOLDEN TWINS: “Dreams Cut Short in the Mysterious Clouds” (1999)

7. CLIMAX GOLDEN TWINS: “Climax Golden Twins (Rock Album)” (1993, 2000)

8. CLIMAX GOLDEN TWINS: “Session 9” (1995, 2000)

9. CLIMAX GOLDEN TWINS: “Highly Bred and Strictly Tempered” (2004)

10. CLIMAX GOLDEN TWINS: “Climax Golden Twins” (2006)

11. CLIMAX GOLDEN TWINS: “Five Cents a Piece” (2007) 

The band has also issued plenty of cassettes and I am yet to hear several of their early recordings.  Position 8 is a soundtrack using some material from 2 and 6 and I do not recommend it.  5, 7, 10 and 11 would offer a range wide enough for anyone willing to explore the band’s variegated approaches.

j'avais presque oublié... Touch est un de mes labels préférés de tous les temps, un de ceux qui selon moi, ont défini le futur de la musique tel que nous le connaissons aujourd'hui, qui a brisé les barrières traditionnelles entre musique populaire et musique "savante", entre bruits, sons et notes, qui a inventé une approche radicale de la compilation comme voyage, de la mixtape comme travelogue, avant de produire quelques-uns des albums marquant de la musique expérimentale et de la musique électronique... Un label qui a été aussi radicalement avant-gardiste visuellement ( à travers notamment le graphisme et la photographie du patron Jon Wozencroft, ou le travail du Neville Brody Studio) et intellectuellement, que ne l'était la musique qu'il défendait... etc, arrêtez moi quand je radote... et donc, ce label, Touch, a créé sur son site internet, une sorte de "radio", intitulé bien sûr touchradio, qui consiste en une série de cartes blanches à des artistes maisons, qui proposent les uns des pièces inédites, des extraits de concerts ou des bandes-son d'installations sonores, d'autres, des compilations de pièces sonores, dans le style justement des compilations originales du label (les mythiques k7 "touch travel" ou "Meridians One", les anthologies "antiphony" ou "antitrade" du sous-label Ash International, etc...) La série en est à son 33ème épisode depuis le début de ce mois d'Aout, avec une sélection des archives de Jon Wozencroft. Publié sous le nom de AER, ces enregistrements sont une marque de fabrique du label. Une grande partie de ces prises de sons et de ces field-recordings ont déjà trouvé place sur les compilations du label, que ce soit sous forme de courts interludes ou de montages plus complexes. Elles couvrent une période allant de 1982 à 1998. Une grande partie de ces enregistrements sont des cassettes ou des minidiscs, ce qui leur ajoute un charme certain, avec leur défauts caractéristiques de souffle,de phasing, etc... Les épisodes précédents étaient confiés, entre autres à Tom Lawrence, à Simon Fisher Turner, à Enrico Coniglio, à Novi_sad, à Lasse Marhaug et à Chris Watson pour ne citer que quelques uns des plus récents.

photo de Chris Watson pour touchradio

Addition fascinante à un catalogue déjà fort bien rempli, ces pièces témoignent d'un glissement sensible dans les modes d'écoute. Souvent constituées de pièces sensibles, fragiles, réclamant une écoute attentive, de préférence au casque, cette série est typique d'une forme d'écoute liée à l'internet, non dans le sens du téléchargement de morceaux, mais dans une relation sur la durée, de travail sur la patience. C'est en ce sens que la parallèle avec la radio dans le terme "Touchradio" est excessivement bien choisi. Les pièces de Chris Watson, par exemple, ont une qualité excessivement radiophonique, entre le reportage, la fiction, et la création purement sonore.

]]> http://ofsoundmind.wordpress.com/?p=101 Sat, 02 Aug 2008 22:50:50 +0000 howsthatsound http://ofsoundmind.pl.wordpress.com/2008/08/02/everyday-field-recording-with-baby-monitors/  

I have been working a lot with field recordings lately, especially the idea of sampling the space in which one is playing and using it in performance. A couple weeks ago, it occured to me that I could use a baby monitor, strategically placed, to pull in at will, sounds happening outside the performance space. I almost immediately went on ebay and purchased a Sony BabyCall monitor.

I selected this model because I've had good luck with being able to mod Sony's products in the past, and because this model was supposedly battery opperated, and thus, I figured, I could plant the transmitter anywhere I wanted without having to worry about power. But the listing was misleading and it ended up having a battery opperated receiver, and an AC opperated transmitter. A bit of a bummer, yes, but I think I might be able to mod it eventually.

The other night I got the idea to plant it in by back yard over night, and record the output on my computer upstairs. I quickly mounted an output with a switch inside the receiver and got to setting it up before bed. I put the transmitter outside and connected the receiver to my laptop. I set up Sound Studio to auto record when the input went above background noise level and went to bed.

The sounds that awaited me in the morning were great fun. Planes, busses, and car horns, dominated the soundscape, but the monitor warps everything in such a way that even these fairly plain sounds sounded magical to me.

I decided to set it up again, this time while i was at work, to capture the sounds in my backyard during the day. The sounds were much more of the same, cars, airplanes, trolleys, the occasional dog bark, some frequency disturbance of some kind, etc, but more frequent and louder i think. There was even some random talking that appeared (probably my neighbor). The one other thing that wound up on the recording, was my wife throwing some bottles and stuff in the recycling bin. This part was particularly interesting to me for it's haphazard percussive effect. 

So far, this has been great fun. I think my next step is either to successfully mod my monitor so that it can be placed further from my house, or build one of these. 

I am anxious to try these techniques in performance. I'm hoping when i do, it will be a nice source of random sounds, and i really like the idea that I'm interjecting something both real-time and random into the set. Enjoy the samples.

- Domesticity

- This is a back yard

The plan was that everyone who owned one, would bring a Sawzall, and we would spend the better part of saturday, cutting it into movable pieces. Of course, me, being who I am, brought a mini-disk recorder to capture all the noise. We worked for nearly three hours straight on it, and i'd say we were able to remove about a quarter of it. Sawzalls, as awesome as they are, are just not made to cut through 3/4 inch steel ribs.

I began recording as soon as we started, and as soon as I could, moved the mic to the inside of the tank. I recorded a full discs worth of sound from various locations in the tank. The overall effect is what you might imagine, a grandiose cacophony, but there is something about the pacing and the incidental sounds made by the removal of a panel, or the constant drone of the waves, that is kind of magical.

The only thing that bothered me when listening to it, was the sounds of us. Talking, trying to figure stuff out, making dumb cheers when we got a big chunk. It was too distracting from the overall sound. So what I've done for the purposes of my own listening pleasure, and this blog, is cut out all of the human sound (or as much as I could). I have also cut the length down considerably of course, choosing to focus on some of the more interesting chunks. I have made an effort however to keep as much of the silence in tact as possible, so that the pace still feels natural and organic.

- Oil tank dismemberment

I also, as I listened to this may times, fell in love with all of the incidental, "non-cutting" sounds. They are just so random, robust, and wonderful sounding. So I did an edit, where I removed everything but them and the spaces around them. In doing this, the sound of the waves became very un-natural sounding, so I experimented with removing them using a noise gate. I really liked the effect. It's kind of unnerving at times, and totally unnatural, but I like it nonetheless.

- Oil tank incidentals 

Enjoy!

Esse é o ritmo:

(Water pipes around "tamboo" and sidewalk street . Listen to  its rhythm.)