Arne Nordheim - Electric (1998)

The amazing sonic constructions which appear in Electric were composed by Norwegian Arne Nordheim. Impressive by any standard, these experimental tracks were literally sliced-and-diced 30 years ago resulting in unique collages of sound which retain their magic. These are wonderful arrangements of found sounds, instruments and primitive (though quite effective) filtering effects.

The technical aspects alone are staggering; the wildly manipulated atmospheres sound as if they were created with the most advanced computer sound editors... of course, they weren't, having been recorded in 1968 - 1970. The much-appreciated liner notes briefly detail some of the techniques employed by Nordheim, and it does not sound easy. But due to Nordheim's artistic persistence, the results are absolutely stunning.

Solitaire lives up to its namesake in both the sparkling and the singular sense. Various crystalline effects achieve the former, and the piece's disjointed nature causes the latter, depositing the listener alone in some strange otherworld. Drones, echoes, mutated voices are all part of the track, but thousands of tinkling shards create an utterly icy, and often chaotic, environment.

Pace (which means "peace") opens on an explosive cacophony of modified bell tones. Eventually, a calm is achieved through quieter, more spacious use of variously clamoring timbres. A man's, woman's and child's voices reading "The Declaration of Human Rights" are used as source material, but they have been utterly transmuted, though the words' meaning may be retained in spirit. Toward the piece's closing, pressures build once again, until... the end. Incidentally, at 9:32, this is the shortest track.



Warszawa contains bits Nordheim collected on tape from around Warsaw as well as pieces from radio station archives, becoming a musical diary of sorts. From tumultuous to serene, grittily textured to smoothly planed, a most interesting collage unfolds. Haunting industrial soundscapes form a large part of the proceeding with wild mechanical drones, electronic buzzes, echoey drips and eerily quiet passages bathed in a gray, yet intriguing, light.

Composed of six tape loops of various length, Polypoly is mind boggling on many levels... technically, to hear the piece return to its starting point would take 102 years. It played continually for six months in the Scandinavian Pavilion at 1970's World Exposition in Osaka. Comprised of sound samples and musical electronics, this is a 21-minute-plus segment of a self-regenerating landscape rolls past again and again in different dimensions each time. The sounds are relatively mundane clatter, music, sound effects or disembodied voices; some are fairly distorted, and others are just plain crazy! The loops are long and varied enough that, in this sample, you don't actually get any real effects of overt repetiveness; it remains quite unpredictable... perhaps after a few weeks one might catch on to the patterns.

Colorazione is an exercise in which Nordheim interacts with a live ensemble, recording their input, filtering it and playing it back after a 15-second delay. The resulting interchange is again recorded, reworked and replayed. Fading in from silence, a dense build-up of Hammond organ and cymbals open . The resulting accumulation attains a grand state of cacophony. Passages of quiet musical interplay comingle with moments of tumultuous musical blasts.

Not only as a history lesson, but as a completely entrancing listen, Electric is mightily recommended. When paired with the Biosphere/ Deathprod remixes, Nordheim Transformed, the box set is an unparalleled mix of old and new. It's the AmbiEntrance #1 recording of the year! Now go to Rune Grammofon and get your own!

1. Solitaire (1968)
2. Pace (1970)
3. Warszawa (1970)
4. Polypoly (1970)
5. Colorazione (1968)

Originally released in 1974.
Recorded at Studio Eksperymentalne, Warszaw.

link@320

Michel Redolfi - Sonic Waters #2 [underwater music] 1983-89 (1990)

Michel Redolfi makes real atmospheric music, in this case, on his second volume of underwater music -- and his first on CD; this is music to be recorded, played, and listened to underwater.

Redolfi hangs microphones underwater, leaving them there for years at a time, records sound, then records other sounds from near-silent or silent auditory environments above the water, processes them -- with the help of Pascal Gobin and Michel Pascal -- with synthesizers and then plays them back to an audience, who is sometimes underwater!

What does it sound like? Like music made in the deep stillness of time. The keyboards add something, like a very subtle trance-inducing effect while the underwater sounds, such as on "Effractions," which was played to an audience seated outside, suggested a marriage of sea and sky, evoking the notion of a lost civilization, or the lost traces of some passage. They shimmer and sweep, irregularly wash over, and disappear just as suddenly.

On "A Sunny Afternoon at Bird Rock," sounds from the air are melded and even collaged with the sonic pulses. Water and air joining together, held in mid-space by the synthesizers -- so minimal they almost aren't there -- and whistle and wave through each other as well as the listener. The effect is heightened tenfold through headphones as gulls cross from one speaker to the next, and formations of water bubble up from the depths and move in the other direction.

Finally, the amazing "Full Scale Ocean," which has been performed dozens of times in tide pools, oceans, ponds, lakes, and rivers, becomes the overwhelming experience that joins technology and the natural world together as one inseparable universe. Over half-an-hour in length, this is music as atmosphere because that's what it is. The sheer technical manipulation of those natural sounds that most affect the human mind and body are edited together and mixed into a whole that echoes deep within the human psyche.

This is what Brian Eno only dreamed of doing, and what those other environments records wish they could pull off. Truly amazing!

ARTISTS
Ensemble Ricercar: Pascal Gobin, Michel Pascal; Lanie Goodman (flutes); Melissa Morgan (harpe); Michel Redolfi (synclavier synthesizers)

[more info @ jazzloft.com]

------------------------------------------------------]

1. Effractions (9:40)
2. Sunny Afternoon At Bird Rock Beach (13:10)
3. Full Scale Ocean (32:17)


link@320

Philippe Manoury - En Echo / Neptune (1999)

Philippe Manoury is one of the world's leading composers and computer music researchers. He studied composition with Gerard Condé and Max Deutsch (one of Schoenberg's first students in Vienna), and at the Conservatoire National de Musique de Paris, with Michel Philippot and Ivo Malec. He studied computer-assisted composition with Pierre Barbaud beginning in 1976.

In 1978, Philippe began teaching in Brazil at universities in Sao Paulo, Brasilia, and other locations. A major appointment followed at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Lyon (1986-96). Most significant is his long association with the world's leading center for computer music research, IRCAM (Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique), a branch of the Centre George Pompidou in Paris. Philippe has worked as a musical researcher (in collaboration with Miller Puckette) since 1981, and as a Professor of Composition since 1993. At IRCAM Manoury composed Zeitlauf (1981), a work for mixed choir, instrumental ensemble, synthesizers, and tape.

For the European Year of Music, the Council of Europe commissioned Manoury to compose Aleph, which premiered in 1985. He also wrote a series of chamber works, including Musique I and II, and Instantanés. In 1992 and 1993 he composed La Nuit du Sortilège, which won an award from the UNESCO International Composers' Tribune. In 1999, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Cleveland commissioned Sound and Fury, premiered by Pierre Boulez.

Philippe has composed three operas, 60e Parallèle, K..., and La Frontière. K... was commissioned and premiered by the Paris Opera in 2001. One of his most important works is Sonus ex Machina, a series of compositions (Jupiter, Pluton, Neptune and La Partition du Ciel et de l'Enfer) for solo instruments, ensemble and real-time computer processing. Mr. Manoury was also composer in residence at the Orchestre de Paris where he composed Noon, a large piece for soprano, choir, orchestra and electronics. It was premiered by Esa-Pekka Salonen.

In 2005, Philippe composed Identités remarquables and Strange Ritual for the Ensemble Intercontemporain and the Modern Ensemble. Recently, Mr. Manoury premiered On-Iron, a 75-minute oratorio for choir, percussion, electronics and video which toured five cities in France.

Mr. Manoury will have an immediate impact on our composition, computer music, and ICAM (computer music) programs. He will be available as a senior mentor to Ph.D. candidates in composition, teach the Music 203 composition seminar, 103 undergraduate composition seminar, 270 computer music seminars, and 210 musical analysis.

"Philippe Manoury's Jupiter (1987) is a pioneering work, the first to use score-following to synchronize live electronics with the performer."-James Harley, composer

"Manoury's score (Last, 1997) puts the unlikeliest of musical partners, a bass clarinetist and a marimbist, through an exhilarating relay race."-John von Rhein, Chicago Tribune

"En echo is a succulent extravaganza of computer-generated sounds interacting with the purity of a solo soprano."-Keith Potter, The Independent (London)

------------------]

En echo

En echo (1993-1994) pour soprano et dispositif électronique en temps réel

d’après des poèmes de Emmanuel Hocquart

1. La rivière
2. Un jardin
3. Broadway
4. Mea lux
5. Betty
6. Mon visage
7. La table

commande de Françoise et Jean-Philippe Billarant ;
oeuvre réalisée à l’IRCAM (Miller Puckette : concepteur scientifique ; Cort Lippe et Leslie Stuck : assistants musicaux)
durée : 32 min.
première audition : 26.02.1994, Paris, IRCAM / Donatienne Michel-Dansac (S), Philippe Manoury (projection sonore) Technique IRCAM

[------------------

Neptune

Neptune (1991)

pour trois percussionnistes et dispositif électronique en temps réel

commande de l’association Les Amis du Centre Georges Pompidou ; oeuvre de réalisée à l’IRCAM (Miller Puckette : concepteur scientifique ; Cort Lippe : assistant musical)
durée : 40 min.
première audition : 26.06.1991, Paris, Centre d’art et de culture Georges Pompidou,

Vincent Bauer (perc), Michel Cerutti (perc), Daniel Ciampolini (perc), Philippe Manoury (projection sonore)

link@320

Jonathan Harvey - From Silence, Nataraja, Ritual Melodies (1993)

There’s a strange dichotomy, a paradox almost, at the heart of Jonathan Harvey’s music. On the one hand he has been more involved with exploring the possibilities of electroacoustics and computer techniques than any other British composer of his generation. That is the Harvey represented on the Bridge compilation: From Silence was the result of a residency at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1988, and involves electronic keyboard, computer and pre-recorded tape; Ritual Melodies is a tape piece realised at IRCAM in 1990. Both are supremely accomplished works, elegantly crafted and full of beautifully imagined sound complexes. Yet the other Harvey is the composer of religious works, often for unaccompanied chorus, exemplified by the Joyful Company’s survey. It shouldn’t seem paradoxical, but in an age when radicalism has been equated with rationalism it does, though the broad range of Harvey’s sympathies (the most substantial piece on the ASV disc, Forms of Emptiness, combines texts by e e cummings with Sanskrit and English extracts from the Buddhist Heart Sutra) takes these pieces far beyond any narrow prescription of a specific religious tradition. Apart from some of the compositional techniques, it is hard to find many points of contact between the portraits of Harvey offered on these two discs; he remains one of Britain’s most intriguing composers and, I suspect, probably one of the most important ones.

-- Andrew Clements, BBC Music Magazine [in arkivmusic]

	Nataraja by Jonathan Harvey
	Performer: Harrie Starreveld (Flute), René Eckhardt (Piano), Harrie Starreveld (Piccolo) Period: 20th Century Written: 1983; England		Venue: Sweelinck Conservatory, Amsterdam Length: 10 Minutes 2 Secs.
	Ritual Melodies by Jonathan Harvey
	Period: 20th Century Written: 1989-1990; England		Length: 13 Minutes 26 Secs.
	Notes: This selection was realized at IRCAM, Paris.
	From Silence by Jonathan Harvey
	Performer: John MacDonald (Keyboard), Philip Sohn (Computer), Kathleen Supové (Keyboard), Dean Anderson (Percussion), Marcus Thompson (Viola), Lucy Chapman Stoltzman (Violin), Karol Bennet (Soprano), David Atherton (Tapes), Diana Dabby (Keyboard), Brent Koeppel (Computer), Ken Malsky (Computer) Conductor: Barry Vercoe Orchestra/Ensemble: MIT Chamber Ensemble Period: 20th Century Written: 1988; England		Length: 21 Minutes 45 Secs.
	Notes: This selection was realized at the Media Laboratory at MIT. link@320

Kaffe Matthews - Cd Cécile (1999)

"Kaffe Matthews has been making and performing new electro-acoustic music since 1990. She is acknowledged as a leading figure and pioneer in the field of electronic improvisation and live composition making on average 50 performances a year worldwide. In 1997 she established the label Annette Works, releasing the best of these events on the six cd's, 'cd Ann', 'cd Bea' , 'cd cecile' ,'cd dd', 'cd eb and flo' presenting an annual document of ever developing sound worlds.

Currently she is rarely performing, instead directing the collaborative research project Music for Bodies with multidisciplinary professionals and the community, bringing new music and some ideas about listening to everyone.(NESTA Dreamtime Fellowship, 2005).

Kaffe has become known for making site-specific sound works live, playing in the dark in the middle of the space, the audience surrounding her, the sounds moving around them. She uses self-designed software matrices through which she pulls, pushes and reprocesses sounds live, using microphones, a theremin, and feedback within the space; the site then becoming her instrument.

It is this practice that she has shifted to sonic furniture building, with Sonic Bed_London (Distinction: Prix Ars Electronica, 2006) and the Worldwide Bed project being a central pin in this ongoing project.

Kaffe also collaborates and has worked and performed with many artists worldwide including AGF, Ryoko Kuwajima, Eliane Radigue (The Lappetites), David Muth, Shri, Mandy McIntosh, Zeena Parkins, Sachiko M, Brian Duffy, Leafcutter John, Janek Schaeffer, Ikue Mori, Marina Rosenfeld, Pan-Sonic, Alan Lamb, Christian Fennesz, and ongoing democractic stuggles with pan-European electronics orchestra 'MIMEO'. Her most recent collaborative release, Before the Libretto, by the Lappetites, was voted in the WIRE's best top 10 new releases for 2005.

She has also been making a growing body of composed works through collaborations with a variety of people, things and processes. From working with NASA astronauts researching the sonic experience of space travel, making BAFTA awarded Weightless Animals: kites and the weather on an uninhabited Scottish island,Sanda, Weather Made; taut Wires in the Australian outback with Alan Lamb; Touching Concrete Lightly for MIMEO and the Oscar Niemeyeyer Pavilion 2003, Serpentine Gallery; and the innovative Radio Cycle, a concept and works for maps, bikes and radios.

Kaffe's Background:

Playing classical violin from the age of 7, singing badly in one band but getting further with bass and drums in another which recorded and toured for 4 years, in 1985 she discovered electricity and sound and with that, her current trajectory.

Since then, acid house engineering, electrically reconstructing the violin, Distinction for a Masters in Music Technology, introducing and running a Performance Technology course at one of the leading Live Arts Colleges in the UK, and establishing the label Annette Works. She also set up a shop and did a Zoology degree along the way." [in annette works]

1-3. Contact C
4-12. My Love Gave Me A Blue Plastic Watch
13-19. Skagerrak:
13. This Many B Planes
14. The Air Underneath
15. The Surface Is Air I Believe
16. At Night
17. The Air Hostess
18. Touch Down
19. Outside

link@320

Günter Müller & Lê Quan Ninh - La Voyelle Liquide (2000)

Günter Müller and Lê Quan Ninh are both improvising percussionists who have worked increasingly with electronics over the past few years. Müller has released numerous records on his groundbreaking For 4 Ears label, including collaborations with Christian Marclay, Voice Crack, Otomo Yoshihide, and Erik M. Two more recent records involve Taku Sugimoto, The World Turned Upside Down (Erstwhile), which is a trio concert with Keith Rowe, and a duo released this fall, I Am Happy If You Are Happy (For 4 Ears). Earlier this year, Müller also released the gorgeous Direct Chamber (33revpermi), with Michel Doneda and Fabrice Charles. Ninh has worked extensively both in the improv and in the contemporary classical genres. His improv side has probably best been captured thus far by two superb trio projects on FMP, Burning Cloud (w/Butch Morris and J.A.Deane) and Open Paper Tree (w/ Michel Doneda and Paul Rogers), as well as by his solo tour de force, Ustensiles (For 4 Ears). As for his classical side, he's a member of the Hêlios Quartet, a percussion ensemble which recently released a self-titled CD on Vand'ouevre, containing compositions by Ninh, Jean-Christophe Feldhandler, Vinko Globokar and Toru Takemitsu. Ninh has also recorded John Cage's Ryoanji (Auvidis Montaigne), in duo with Joelle Leandre.

Müller and Ninh first met and played together in 1988, and have occasionally performed together since, most notably in the quartet Plugged in Zeit Reel with Jim O'Rourke and J.A. Deane. In January of 2000, Müller and Ninh traveled to CCAM in Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy, France and recorded four hours worth of material, from which the 75 minutes contained on this CD has been carefully selected. The title was inspired by a passage from L'Eau et les Rêves (Water and Dreams), a book by French philosopher Gaston Bachelard. The two musicians demonstrate their seemingly limitless palettes, slipping back and forth between percussion and electronics to create endlessly inventive systems of sound.

"The collaboration of these two percussive pioneers offers some of the most inspired performances I have heard by either musician to date. While not minimizing the quality of any of their other superb records, this seems to be a culmination of their history. Müller and Ninh are percussionists of two very different styles, and that is this record's strength- the sparse to the dense, the electronic to the acoustic ... a wonderfully dynamic ride." -- Tim Barnes

A vast improv composition of ordered and soothing intimate electroacoustic sound_objects & soundscapes.

--------------------------------------------------------------]

Günter Müller, selected drums, minidisc, electronics

Lê Quan Ninh, surrounded bass drum, electronics

1. La voyelle a (04.28)
2. La voyelle e (21.27)
3. La voyelle i (13.00)
4. La voyelle o (08.04)
5. La voyelle u (08.10)
6. La voyelle y (08.36)
7. La voyelle liquide (11.16)

Recorded at Studio CCAM, Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy, France on 29/30 January 2000.

link@320

Karlheinz Stockhausen - Sirius (1977)

Sirius has been described as "a modern mystery play, clothed as a science fiction story" (Kurtz 1992, 207). While not described by the composer as an opera, it is nevertheless a musical drama, in which four emissaries from a planet orbiting the star Sirius bring a message to earth. "This was to be the big leap into theatre proper. . . . Sirius is the key work that leads to his magnum opus LICHT (LIGHT)" (Ball 1997).

When Stockhausen's daughter, Julika (aged 5 or 6 at the time), asked for a dog, he obtained one for her and named it Sirius, after the star in the constellation Canis Major, which was in his mind because he had just finished composing Sternklang ("Star-sound", 1971). Shortly afterward, he chanced upon a passage in a book by Jakob Lorber describing Sirius as the sun at the center of our universe, and this fired his imagination:

Other snippets of vitally important information then came to me through a couple of revelatory dreams. Crazy dreams, from which it emerged that not only did I come from Sirius itself, but that, in fact, I completed my musical education there. (Tannenbaum 1987, 34–35)

Stockhausen never explained these dreams in detail (Kurtz 1992, 207), maintaining that "It would lead to misunderstanding and false interpretation" (Stockhausen 1989, 18). In the composer’s imagination, for beings from the planets of the Sirius system, "everything is music, or the art of co-ordination and harmony of vibrations. . . . The art is very highly developed there, and every composition on Sirius is related to the rhythms of nature . . . the seasons, the rhythms of the stars." Stockhausen’s composition therefore is based on "the cycles and rhythms of nature—of the seasons—with all of their characteristics, and to the planets, animals, and to the twelve main characters of human beings" (Stockhausen 1989, 17–18).



Sirius was commissioned by the West German government to celebrate bicentenary of the United States, and is dedicated to the "American pioneers on earth and in space". Composition was begun in 1975, and the first performance was given before an invited audience at the opening of the Albert Einstein Spacearium in Washington, D.C., on 15 July 1976, though only the "summer" section had been completed by then. The "autumn" portion was added in time for performances later that year in Japan, France, Germany, and Italy. After interrupting work in order to compose the second part of his choral opera Atmen gibt das Leben and the orchestral Jubiläum, Stockhausen finished Sirius and the première of the complete form took place on 8 August 1977 at the Aix-en-Provence Festival (Kurtz 1992, 208–209).


Sirius consists of three main parts: "Presentation", "The Wheel" (subdivided into four sections, corresponding to the four seasons), and "Annunciation". The words were written by Stockhausen, except for a text by Jakob Lorber used in the Annunciation. The musical material consists of the twelve zodiac melodies of Tierkreis, originally composed for music boxes in connection with the percussion sextet Musik im Bauch (Music in the Belly). Four of these melodies are principal, each associated with one of the protagonists, and are subjected to a variety of transformations, even undergoing metamorphosis from one to another. The remaining eight melodies serve a subsidiary role. In the Presentation, the four characters introduce themselves and their attributes. They are:

* North (bass): Earth, Man, Night, Winter, Seed
* East (trumpet): Fire, Youth, Morning, Spring, Bud
* South (soprano): Water, Woman, Midday, Summer, Blossom
* West (bass clarinet): Air, Friend/Beloved, Evening, Autumn, Fruit.

The main, central "wheel" lasts over an hour, and can be rotated, according to the season of the performance, to produce four different forms:

* Winter version, beginning with "Capricorn"
* Spring version, beginning with "Aries"
* Summer version, beginning with "Cancer"
* Autumn version, beginning with "Libra".

The total duration of Sirius is 96 minutes.

The eight-channel electronic music was realized in the Electronic Music Studio of WDR, Cologne in 1975–77, using an EMS Synthi 100 synthesizer. The electronic music can be performed by itself, without the four soloists, and there are also three excerpted versions, each for a soloist with a specially prepared version of the electronic music: Aries, for trumpet, Libra, for bass clarinet, and Capricorn, for bass voice.

[in wikipedia, more info @ http://home.earthlink.net/~almoritz/sirius.htm ]


link@128 [except part 4 @192] (parts 1 to 3 vinyl rip _ part 4 cd rip)

Escaping From Color - Rapoon Recomposed & Remixed (2007)

"Again Quasi Pop Label hits the target, with one of the most interesting compilation CDs coming lately to my hands. So, this is at my eyes a kind of tribute to British ethnic ambient industrial solo project known as RAPOON, which has been developing all its talent through the years. Through “escaping from color: Rapoon recomposed & remixed” album. We swim in an experimental sea of creativity, originality and dynamism. This time Quasi Pop Label in the shape of Edward.S has gathered a selection of one of the most representative projects inside experimental/ambient scene to escape from reality and to enter in a no colors world, when Rapoon is the only tangible reality. A reality based in 15 compositions, all of them bringing the necessary essence to represent in a concrete way the nature of an act such as Rapoon.

FRANCISCO LOPEZ, with more a high quantity of releases, and having traveled the world developing electro acoustic performances, is opening this album with a minimalistic ambient composition, floating slowly from start to finish. TV POW, surprises this time with an excellent track, full of dense percussive sounds and effects surrounding the whole track. Really one of the best tracks here. The german duo of Baraka (H) and Glit(S)ch known as TROUM,one of the most representative acts nowadays comes with a tribal ethnic composition with impressive percussive elements which moulds perfectly with the structure of the track in general.

The sound & Media explorer from Portugal, PAULO RAPOSO, makes its presence in this album with an interesting track, in the hands of drone sounds mutating into dense ambient atmospheres, creating architectural spaces through such musical vortex, as only Mr. Raposo could create. AIDAN BAKER, devour us with a magnificent convergence of drone elements, mixed with dense eerie percussive sounds floating between each atmosphere, to create an hypnotic voyage to the most hidden realms of Rapoon. FAMILY UNDERGROUND is a Danish trio, adapting its track into psychedelic drone/noise invasion full of madness. Another artist to mention is Swedish RONNIE SUDIN, creating hypnologic states, covering a wide range of styles as experimental and electronics. This time he develops a provocative ambient piece with vibrating elements, abrasive atmospheres and subliminal vociferations at the core of this track.

CISFINITUM, the Russian ambient act, develops a perfect emotive live track which was recorded 29.10.2006 at “Lkra” Club in Moscow, together with RAPOON, in which the percussive elements and atmospheres are the predominant patterns marked here. Limited to 500 copies, and coming in a kind of digipack with abstract drawings and general art, which reflects in part the material included on this excellent release."

1. Francisco Lopez “Untitled #193”
2. TV Pow “Ladder Friends Remix”
3. Machinefabriek “Drijfzand”
4. Troum “Farawer”
5. Steve Roden “Colorscape Forming”
6. Jorge Castro “Depths”
7. Paulo Raposo “Tidal Winds”
8. Aidan Baker “Percussive Drone”
9. Anla Courtis “Rapooned Rapunga”
10. Gert-Jan Prins “Raponsje”
11. Heimir Bjorgulfsson “Obmam Ognom”
12. Mike Shiflet “Version Belize”
13. Family Underground “Tube”
14. Ronnie Sundin “Distant Demons”
15. Cisfinitum & Rapoon “Live in Ikra, Moscow 2006”

+limited edition of 500 copies*

link@320

Barry Weisblat _ Alfredo Costa Monteiro _ Ernesto Rodrigues - Diafon (2005)

Fellow violinist Ernesto Rodrigues runs the Creative Sources label, which has been one of the primary documenters of experimental improv in Lisbon. His new release features accordionist Alfredo Costa Monteiro, here playing amplified turntable, with New York electronicist Barry Weisblat. The disc is deeply quiet, with pauses long enough to lead the listener either to introspection or agita. In the spirit of good improvisation, though, they work well together, carrying out each other’s suggestions and finding a single, unique group voice. Kurt Gottschalk (All About Jazz)

Labelboss Ernesto Rodrigues (violin, pick-ups and objects) is less active as a musician compared to the early days of the label, but on 'Diafon' he turns up again with Alfredo Costa Monteiro (pick-ups on turntable) and Barry Weisblat (electronics) - the latter being a new name for me. Their almost thirty-six minute work was recorded in a studio and is a fine work of electro-acoustic music/improvisation. Very tight and intense playing here, not really soft or something that, but the music remains audible throughout. Another highlight. Frans de Waard (Vital)

Diafon (2005 -cs041)

Barry Weisblat: electronics
Alfredo Costa Monteiro: pick-ups on turntable
Ernesto Rodrigues: violin, pick-ups, objects

Recorded 12 July 2004 at Tcha Tcha Tcha Studios, Lisbon, Portugal
Total Time 40:00 © 2005 CSR

link@320

Acousmatrix VII - Berio/Maderna (2004)

In 1955 Luciano Berio and Bruno Maderna founded the Studio di Fonologia at a Milan radio station; it was the first electronic music studio in Italy. Berio became very active there, organizing concerts and also publishing a new music journal, both under the name Incontri Musicali. Berio explored the frontiers of sound, particularly vocal sound.

Among Berio's three contributions here, his Thema (Omaggio a Joyce) is the most memorable. Words come up from the ether in English, Italian, and French, merging and causing one another to erupt with new meaning and sonic resonance as they collude, combine, and resist their electronic counterparts. Maderna's two works, La Rire and Invenzione su una Voce, are both extreme exercises in splicing techniques. The voice and the taped sounds are so distorted, removed from their centre of gravity and context, that they become mere sonic elements in a collage of rhythm, sound, and dynamic. Indeed, the scratching techniques used by DJs today were taken to extreme territories in 1960.

Luciano Berio - Momenti, for tape - 7:15
Luciano Berio - Thema (Homage to Joyce), for tape - 6:20
Luciano Berio - Visage, for tape - 21:07
Bruno Maderna - Le Rire, for tape - 16:02
Bruno Maderna -Dimensioni II-Invenzione su una Voce - 16:02


booklet here!

link @320

Parmegiani _ Bayle : La Divine Comédie : d'après l'oeuvre de Dante _ 1995

Parmegiani _ Bayle : Divine Comédie - Enfer Purgatoire & paradis terrestre - d'aprés l'oeuvre de Dante -1995

Parmegiani - Enfer

CD1-01 Bernard Parmegiani La Découverte De L'Ombre (3:54)

Les Portes (9:59)
CD1-02 Bernard Parmegiani La bête (1:52)
CD1-03 Bernard Parmegiani Le chemin difficile (1:25)
CD1-04 Bernard Parmegiani Les portes de l' Enfer (9:59)
CD1-05 Bernard Parmegiani L' étendard humain (2:28)
CD1-06 Bernard Parmegiani Passage de l ' Achéron (1:52)

L'Impouvoir (7:08)
CD1-07 Bernard Parmegiani Béatrice (2:08)
CD1-08 Bernard Parmegiani Désir sans espérance (1:55)
CD1-09 Bernard Parmegiani Les châteaux (0:33)
CD1-10 Bernard Parmegiani L'ouragan infernal (2:32)

Mal - Mort (5:13)
CD1-11 Bernard Parmegiani Mal - Mort (4:10)
CD1-12 Bernard Parmegiani Le messager céleste (01:03)

Les monstres (7:26)
CD1-13 Bernard Parmegiani Femmes de griffe (01:58)
CD1-14 Bernard Parmegiani Hommes de ronces (02:15)
CD1-15 Bernard Parmegiani Metámotphoses (02:06)
CD1-16 Bernard Parmegiani Cérbères (1:07)

Les abysses (10:33)
CD1-17 Bernard Parmegiani Les abysses (03:56)
CD1-18 Bernard Parmegiani Le Styx (03:48)
CD1-19 Bernard Parmegiani Les rêve du rêve (02:49)

Fond de bleu (03:06)
CD1-20 Bernard Parmegiani Le phénix (0:41)
CD1-21 Bernard Parmegiani Fond de bleu (02:25)

Le noeud ardent (10:03)
CD1-22 Bernard Parmegiani Bataille des dragons (03:23)
CD1-23 Bernard Parmegiani Le noeud ardent (06:40)

CD1-24 Bernard Parmegiani Le crépusculede l'aube (03:50)

duration: 61'20''
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Bayle - Purgatoire & Paradis Terrestre

CD2-01 François Bayle Danse Des Chiffres (3:01)
Chiffre 1 L'Ange de Dieu (12:07)

CD2-02 François Bayle le roseau (5:19)
CD2-03 François Bayle ils... (1:35)
CD2-04 François Bayle la barque (2:07)
CD2-05 François Bayle danse du tremblebemt initial... (3:06)

Chiffre 2 La Vallée des Princes(06:05)
CD2-06 François Bayle polyphonie de texte 1 (0:51)
CD2-07 François Bayle polyphonie 2 (0:50)
CD2-08 François Bayle longue attente 2 (1:50)
CD2-09 François Bayle rêve de l'aigle (2:34)

Chiffre 3 La porte (06:29)
CD2-10 François Bayle ou deuxième Ange (6:29)

Chiffre 4 Les sculptures (10:45)
CD2-11 François Bayle éprouve de l'orgueil (4:43)
CD2-12 François Bayle Ô notre père (6:02)

Chiffre 5 Extase (06:13)
CD2-13 François Bayle polyphonie 3

Chiffre 6 L'Angue-Feu (07:21)
CD2-14 François Bayle danse en six parties

Chiffre 7 Epreuve des flammes (06:29)
CD2-15 François Bayle fusion (4:04)
CD2-16 François Bayle maître de toi-même (2:25)

Chiffre 8 Paradis terrestre . Béatrice (07:48)
CD2-17 François Bayle danse des trois dames (2:10)
CD2-18 François Bayle la forêt (2:32)
CD2-19 François Bayle Béatrice (3:06)

Chiffre 9 Transparence (3:59)
CD2-20 François Bayle le repentir (1;33)
CD2-21 François Bayle la vérité révélée (2:26)
CD2-22 Chiffre 10 Figure supérieure (1:02)

duration: 71'28''

Total Duration : 132'48
Labels: Ina-GRM / Magison
Resume : d'après la Divine Comédie de Dante , précédé de Enfer de Parmegiani

Link CD1 | Link CD2 @ 320

Peter Zummo _ Tom Hamilton - Slybersonic Tromosome (2000)

"Acoustic versus synthesized, breathing versus bleeping, live versus studio: Slybersonic Tromosome is all about contrasts and opposites meeting. Peter Zummo is a virtuoso on the trombone. His extended technique covers a lot of aural ground, an impression emphasized by his use of unusual instruments like didgeridoo and irrigation hose. Tom Hamilton plays electronics and synthesizers. They have been working together since 1993 but Slybersonic Tromosome is their first recording as a duet. Both instrumentalists been recorded separately and then integrated through digital mixing. Although there was live interaction at the session, there was also subsequent studio tampering. This work method allows better mixing of the electronics (stereo panning, depth in the mix), resulting in a more lively and -- paradoxically enough -- interactive performance on CD. It sounds like Zummo and Hamilton relate to each other on a subconscious level as they anticipate the other's move. The electronics take at times an almost electroacoustical quality, dressing up the music in an almost "thoroughly composed" fashion. The music contains a healthy dose of humor tha translates into track titles like "Neural Sturgeon" and "Trance for the Bopanon Set."
A very enjoyable CD requiring a lot of the listener's attention" by: François Couture, All Music Guide

Slybersonic Tromosome was released in a numbered limited edition of 600 copies.


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SLYBERSONIC TROMOSOME

1. Café Criminal 3:03
2. Neural Sturgeon 8:28
3. Raging Ions 6:42
4. Today's Beat Thing Tomorrow 10:07
5. Trance for the Bopanon Set 6:30
6. Rachel Tension 9:54
7. Steaming the Envelope 4:22
8. Loudspeaker Than Words 2:19
9. Pup Ramping 7:21

Tom Hamilton: synthesizer, electronics, beat thing
-/\-
Peter Zummo: trombone, valve trombone, irrigation hose, didjeridu, mouthpiece extender, beat thing, superfunnel

link@320

Jean Schwarz - Chantakoa _ And Around | avec Michel Portal (1989)

Jean Schwarz' 'Chantakoa,' for solo clarinet and "tape", is played by Michel Portal. While the clarinet has been made electronic, the acoustic sound is preserved. 'And Around' is something of a follow-up to Schwarz's 'Surroundings' for two jazz musicians and a tape of American sounds.

Excellent electroacoustic pieces, a colorfulsoundcanvas! Impressive!!

about (click to enlarge, cd liner notes):


CHANTAKOA 34' (1986)
[Michel Portal : clarinette / Daniel Teruggi : SYTER : INA-GRM realtime sound processing device]

1. Introduction-dialogue 5'46''
2. Tape 4'18''
3. Accents 3'24''
4. Trame 5'14''
5. Par 5 3'26''
6. Solo 4'40''
7. Final 7'12''



AND AROUND 35'02'' (1981)
[Charles Austin : saxophones & flute / Joe Gallivan : percussions]

8. Accord 8'10''
9. Rythme-Venise 5'03''
10. Solo 3'06''
11. Trains 2'03''
12. Water 4'12''
13. Ballade 5'
14. Conclusion 7'28''

link@320

Wadada Leo Smith - Luminous Axis: The Caravans of Winter & Summer (2002)

A relentless musical innovator since his early days in the Chicago AACM, Wadada Leo Smith is one of the most consistently creative composer/performers in new music.

In his sixth Tzadik release he once again explores new territory, bringing six absolute masters of live electronics together to perform some of Wadada's most adventurous and colorful compositions. Including a large, sprawling work for four laptops and trumpet, and two dynamic duets with legendary laptop pioneer Ikue Mori, Luminous Axis is one of Wadada's most exciting and dynamic recordings.

"I'm no big booster of the laptop as the axe for our time — too much grey hissing — but on the remarkable Luminous Axis, Smith effectively squares off against four California computer jocks (including the very musical Tim Perkis), and plays duets with Ikue Mori, also on electronics. Where, say, Evan Parker or Axel Dörner on their electro-acoustic stuff blur the line between one and the other (albeit in different ways), Smith respects the autonomy of both worlds; his trumpet is a trumpet, singing brass and breath not noise-generator, and it occupies its own musical space. Ditto William Winant's kettle drums in the bass range, helping to inspire a rhythmic hubbub you might trace back through '70s Miles all the way to rainforest drum choirs. But then Smith sees them all as part of an ongoing continuum of black creativity."

in Wadada Leo Smith: Space Man Visits Many Worlds
by Kevin Whitehead

Wadada Leo Smith: trumpet and fugelhorn with electronics
Ikue Mori: computer-driven electronics
Chris Brown: computer-driven electronics
Mark Trayle: computer-driven electronics
Tim Perkis: computer-driven electronics
John Bischoff: computer-driven electronics
William Winant: percussion

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Luminous Axis - The Caravans of Winter and Summer (2002)

1. Garden Of The Heart 5:19
2. Perfect Essence 0:33
3. Radiant Light Gushing From The Sun 2:37
4. Night Splendor, A Certain Moon Flow 1:27
5. Tango 0:46
6. Beauty 0:18
7. Fountain (immortality) 4:30
8. Garden Of The Soul 3:52
9. Apples, Dates And Pomegranates 1:29
10. Light, Ginger, Olives And Musk 2:36
11. Harp: A Gleaming Sama 2:20
12. Fountain (lore) 5:10
13. Camphor 3:53
14. Caravans Of Winter And Summer 15:16
15. The Traveler 4:58

link@320

Michel Pascal - Puzzle (2000)

Puzzle is the culminating project of a residency done by the group Studio Instrumental at the CIRM. Studio Instrumental is a modular ensemble that explores how today's musical instruments change through their connection with the capabilities offered by new technologies, while empowering the soloist with significant gestural control in the electronic domain. This control remains within the realm of instrumental technique developed by the performer. Therefore, a new type of musician, interpreter, or producer, emerges: one who controls the acoustic and electronic aspects, in real time, within a living concert.

Portraits: Composed mostly in collaboration with the instrumentalist using improvised sound recordings, they form the "genetic card" of the musician and his instrument in a short span of time. Playable in the normal way, these portraits serve as the reference, as instrumental links from the acoustic to the electronic. (...)
Solos: Two sampler solos build an inverted bridge from electroacoustics to the living instrumentalist. A few elements from the sound matter are captured through this medium that allow for the creation of playing modes characteristic of the electronic keyboard in real time. Michel Pascal, CD liner notes.

01 Puzzle 96: Répété
02 Puzzle 96: Portrait Du Trio À Cordes De Paris
03 Puzzle 96: Diffractions
04 Puzzle 96: Portrait De Raymond Boni
05 Puzzle 96: Portrait De Bernard Vitet
06 Puzzle 96: Portrait De Michel Godard
07 Puzzle 96: Vents
08 Puzzle 96: Portrait De Brigitte Sylvestre
09 Portrait De Daniel Kientzy
10 Ram (live solo on sampler, M. Pascal)
11 Portrait De Pierre-Yves Artaud Aux Six Flûtes
12 Centuring (live solo on sampler, M.Pascal)
13 Portrait De Michel Lethiec
14 Puzzle 99: Rondes
15 Puzzle 99: Portrait D'Alexandre Ouzounoff
16 Puzzle 99: Trois Temps
17 Puzzle 99: Portrait De Gérard Frémy

Pierre Yves Artaud: Flutes
Jean Querlier: Oboe
Michel Lethiec: Clarinet
Alexandre Ouzounoff: Bassoon
Daniel Kientzy: Saxophone
Patrice Petitdidier: Horn
Vinko Globokar: Trombone
Bernard Vitet: Trumpet
Michel Godard: Tuba
Pablo Cueco: Zarb
Gérard Frémy: Piano
Elisabeth Chojnacka: Harpsichord
Brigitte Sylvestre: Harp
Raymond Boni: Guitar
Charles Frey: Violin
Michel Michalakakos: Viola
Jean Grout: Cello
Barre Philips: Double Bass

part 1 : part 2 @320

Iannis Xenakis - Electronic Music (1997)

"This is a collection of compositions from electronic music pioneer and 20th century legend Iannis Xenakis, deceased in the early half of 2001 after a lifetime creating one of the most significant bodies of European art. The great Greek-born Frenchman's extraordinary work covered early electronic music and post-serialist composition, architecture, and mathematics, and his mastery of diverse mediums informed his work in music composition, securing his place as one of the most important composers of avant-garde classical music. Those familiar with Xenakis the architect will know him for his pavilion at the Brussels World's Fair (1970), while instrumental classical musicians will know of his complex and abstract percussion and string works. In electronic music he is known not as the inventor but as the composer who shaped the medium into one of the most progressive and complex mediums of the late 20th century. Hence, New York's Electronic Music Foundation released this compilation of his works dating from the late '50s, when at a Paris studio he produced these artifacts that take the primitive electronics of the time into stunningly sophisticated realms. On hearing this CD in the new millennium, it is hard to believe that these abstractions were not made in the late '90s, judging from their futuristic use of electronic effects. Xenakis' work was always considerably more abrasive than that of his contemporaries, and is comparable only to the work of Karlheinz Stockhausen, who was similarly interested in noise and sonic phenomena during the '60s. The works on this CD such as "Polytopes" and "Concrete PH" are concerned with "clouds of sound" where the density is extreme, giving these tape works complex textures that can be examined for hours and at different volumes, presenting effects from curious ambience to engaging and rigorous sound worlds. This archival collection comes highly recommended. It is more than a footnote in the history of electronic music, as many reissues can be; rather, this is a vital document in the shaping of late-20th century music." by Sylvie Harrison, in All Music Guide

Iannis Xenakis is without a doubt one of the major figures in the development of music in the 20th century. In 1957, he joined Pierre Schaeffer and others at the GRM (Groupe de Recherches Musicales) in Paris, and it was there that Xenakis composed his early works for electronic tape.
Xenakis' distinct sound is already apparent in 'Diamorphoses' (1957) which incorporates sounds of distant earthquakes, car crashes, jet engines, and other 'noise-like' sounds. His distinct sound is also apparent in 'Concret PH' (1958), based on the sounds of burning charcoal. 'Concret PH' was played along with Varese' 'Poème Electronique' in 1958 in the Philips Pavilion at the Brussels World's Fair , which Xenakis (also architect, mathematician and engineer) designed. 'Orient-Occident' (1960), commissioned by UNESCO as music for a film by Enrico Fulchignoni, uses the sounds of bowed boxes, bells and metal rods, sounds from the ionosphere, and a speed-altered excerpt from Xenakis' orchestral work 'Pitoprakta' are combined to create a work suggestive of the themes of the film, which tracks the development of civilization. 'Bohor' (1962), was composed mostly with the sounds of Middle Eastern bracelets.

'Hibiki-Hana-Ma' (1970, 'Reverberation - Flower - Interval'), composed for the Osaka World's Fair, was composed with the UPIC system, a graphical input device that Xenakis invented, using recordings of an orchestra, a biwa, and a snare drum. And 'S.709' (1992) is the first of two compositions created with the GENDY-N program at CEMAMu (Centre d'Etudes de Mathematiques et Automatiques Musicales / Center for Studies in Mathematics and Automated Music), Xenakis' research center near Paris.

This music is extraordinary! And the CD is an essential part of history.

-----------------------------------------
Iannis Xenakis / Electronic Music

01 Diamorphoses (1957) 6:53
02 Concret PH (1958) 2:42
03 Orient-Occident (1960) 10:56
04 Bohor (1962) 21:36
05 Hibiki-Hana-Ma (1970) 17:39
06 S.709 (1992) 7:03

total time 67'02''

link1 | link2@320

Natasha Barrett - Isostasie (2002)

"Not so long ago, electronic music was the province of those lucky enough to be able to gain access into the squeaky clean labs of IRCAM or similar institutions, where large, impossibly expensive boxes festooned with dials and flashing lights awaited the bidding of the composer. Now that a similar level of wizardry is achievable with just the aid of a laptop, and contemporary electronica made in bedrooms all over the world enjoys cutting edge status, it's tempting to wonder what the point of 'classical' electronic music actually is. Records like this one may be the answer...

A graduate of Jonty Harrison's B.E.A.S.T. project, Natasha Barrett's approach is highly rigorous, borne of compositional rather than improvisational process. Though on paper her methods can seem a little dry, her music is possessed of an overtly sensual and often awesome power that rivals anything else you're likely to hear. Her 'acousmatic' techniques transform field recordings, percussion and voices into restless soundscapes that conjure up strange geographies buffetted by even stranger meteorological phenomena, cosmic forces on a massive scale or hallucinatory rainforests straight out of J.G Ballard.

Barrett's structural precision gives her pieces a strong sense of narrative as well as place. Tiny sonic fictions unravel throughout; footsteps recede over glassy, gong like tones. A door is opened, a cat enters, draws near, purrs and eats from a bowl seemingly placed in your left ear. You're dragged through dense undergrowth packed with insects, or sat in a dripping cave listening to distant machines devouring the landscape. But most of all it's her control of timbre that catches the ear again and again.

At times during the opening "Three Fictions" the immersion factor almost sent me into some deep alpha state, or the abstract sweep of millions of tiny oscillations produced such strange sensations in the small of my back I had to take my headphones off to catch my breath. One of Barrett's interests is in manipulating the listener's perception of time, and it's something she does with consummate ease.

Lush, disturbing and beautiful all at once, Isostasie at once connects with the rich and strange concoctions of classic musique concrete, coupled with a timeless quality lacking in the ephemeral world of contemporary electronica. Stunning."

by Peter Marsh, in BBC experimental review, January 2003

"A former student of Jonty Harrison and Denis Smalley — two important figures of the British electroacoustics school — Natasha Barrett integrates the approach of these two composers into a proposition which recalls both sound ecology and properly abstract composition. Isostasie is full of these poetic, disconcerting environments, impressionistic pictures of various formats, evocative of her country of adoption, Norway. In this CD, one will encounter various meteorological happenings, the midnight sun, Red Snow (a phenomenon due to the growth of algae or diatoms), as well as an ode to the forest, Viva la Selva!. Plenty of illustrations and impressions of the Norwegian landscape, postfaced with an «exploration of spatial musical structure» (The Utility of Space), all fabricated with utmost delicacy by a young composer with an attuned ear, of whom this is the third album already (following two self-produced CDs, Rocks & Wraiths and Chillies & Shells.)"

in electrocd website

Isostasie (empreintes DIGITALes | IMED 0262 | 2002)

Three Fictions (Northern Mix) (2000) 10'34''
1. In the Rain 3'51''
2. Midnight Sun: Midday Moon 3'35''
3. Outside Snow Falls 3'02''

Displaced:Replaced (2001)
4. Fog, light wind 2'46''

5. Red Snow (2001) 15'39''

Displaced : Replaced (2001)

6. Wet and gusty 1'42''

7. Viva la selva (1999) 17'28''

Displaced : Replaced (2001)

8. Gathering wind 2'50''

9. The Utility of Space (2000) 13'25''

10. Industrial Revelations (2001) 11'32''

total duration: 76'41'

link1 | link2@320

(note: track 8 is in the first folder for uploading space optimization)

Variable Geometry Orchestra - Stills (2007)

"The music produced by the Variable Geometry Orchestra (VGO) results from the juxtaposition of acoustic and electronic sound matter that constantly searches for detail and meaning. Its sounds contain subliminal as well as psycho-acoustic characteristics and include the possibility of complete silence. (...) The conduction is operated by balancing the sound masses that travel in the acoustic space, dictating the construction of the real-time composition, and thus revealing the organized juxtaposition of specific instruments as mobile sound groups.

This leaves space for the musicians to regain their natural rhythm and breathing, as well as their sense of random pulsation. It also allows them to listen to all the sound events that are happening at any given moment and thus to act accordingly. On the contrary, they can simply listen to what another musician has just begun. The musical space is thus filled only with the intrinsically essential elements.

Another of the outstanding aspects of the orchestra is how open it is to new participants. That is one reason why it is called 'variable'. The influx of new creative power is tempered only with a truly democratic spirit where hierarchy is reduced to a bare minimum, also permitting a very large number of combinations and permutations of smaller ensembles to be arranged on-the-spur-of-the-moment.Last but not least, the orchestra encompasses three generations of musicians who have set age aside to pursue a common contemporary language." Ernesto Rodrigues, CD Liner notes

E. Rodrigues - Conduct., Violin, Viola (all) João Castro Pinto - Computer (1,2,3,5) Adriana Sá - Digital Synth (1,2,3,4) Eduardo Chagas - Trombone (1,2,3,4) Olympia Boule - Voice (1,5) Etsuko Kimura - Organ (3) J. Silva - Cracklebox, Field Recs. (3) P. Bastiaan - ASax, Melodica, Ds (1,2,3) Fala Mariam - Alto Trombone (1, 5) A. Moimême - TenSax, El. Guitar (1,3,4,5) Ivan Fontes - Didgeridoo (2,3) Eduardo Lalá - Trombone (2) Silvia Freitas - Violin (3) Katia Santandreu - Viola (3) G. Rodrigues - Cello (1,2,3,4,5) J. Lampreia - Flute, Soprano Sax (1,3,4) Lizuarte Borges - Alto Sax (3) Nuno Moita - Sampler, Turntables (1,3,5) Plan - Turntables (1) Hernâni Faustino - Double Bass (1,2,3,4,5) A. C. Neto - Alto & Tenor Sax (2,4,5) João Oliveira - Drums (1,4,5) R. Ausar-Sahu - Double Bass (1)

Sei Miguel - Pocket Trumpet (1,4,5) Nuno Torres - Alto Sax (1,2,3,4) Rafael Toral - Modified Amp. (1,4) Nuno Rebelo - Amplified Objects A. Gonçalves - Analog Modular Synth (3) J. Krieger - Trumpet, Frech Horn (2,3,5) G. Gonçalves - Tuba, Euphonium (1,2) Marcelo Maggi - Trumpet (1, 3) M. Bernardo - Clarinet (1, 2, 3, 4) B. Parrinha-Cls., ASax, Harmonica (1,2,3) J-M Charmier-Trumpet, Euphonium(2) M. Pereira - Contrabass (3) J. Viegas - Bass Clarinet (1,3) Pedro Portugal -Trumpet (1,2) R. Pinheiro - Piano (3) Travassos-CircuitBending,Tapes (all) A. Pereira - Accordion (1,2,3,4,5) P. Castello-Lopes - Percussion (1,3,5) Jorge Oliveira - African Percussion (3) A. Chaparreiro - Electric Guitar (1,2,3,5) C. Burago - Cowbell (1, 4, 5) M. Trinité - Cymbals, Objects (2,3,4) Carlos Santos - Computer (1,2,3,4,5)

disc 1
1. The Morning Walk After The "O" Of The Clock
disc 2
2. Just As You Were Able To Talk About Nothing
3. Suddenly The Dream Became A Promise Of White
disc 3
4. Loosing The Place Where Someone Watched Over Me
5. We Almost Turned Around And Headed Home
- all@320 -

Texturizer (2003)

Texturizer is:

Nikos Veliotis: Cello
Coti K.: Electronics

.a _ 14'14''

.b_ 08'59''

.c_ 16'17''

.d_ 09'44''

Recorded live at Agios Georgios Church, Halandri - Athens, Greece/ January 2003. Antifrost Records__afro2018

Link1 | Link 2

all@320

About Texturizer:

"The Athens duo of cellist Nikos Veliotis and electronic dronescaper Coti K recorded this glacial four-part drift in a local church, and there is certainly something mediative and reverential about the music. It's far from tentative, however, as from the first moment low rasping feedback tones ring out proudly, as Veliotis tries to prise open some space for himself with insistent scratchy harmonics. [...] The bowing of the cello within the brooding stasis of Coiti K's treatments adds a reassuring human warmth to what would otherwise be a rather forbidding experience; in this "Texturizer" recalls the driftworks of Pauline Oliveros, without quite managing to reach the same time-confounding plateaux." by Keith Moline, in THE WIRE (UK)

"Texturizer seems to me a very apt chosen name for the duo work of Nikos Veliotis and Coti K. The first one plays cello and Coti plays the electronic part. Apperentely this new CD was recorded in the Agios Georgios Church in a suburb of Athens, but they could have fooled me. No huge amount of natural church reverb, but a nice set of four pieces. Texturizer, who can it be different, play drone music, using cello and electronic processings thereof and field recordings (maybe those of motors, fans etc, basically anything that sounds drony), and of all these closely related sounds fit together very well. Overall, I found this drone music of a more louder nature, without saying it's aggressive or anything, it's just more present and more audible, and less blurry then some of the other music in this area. Since you may know me as a sucker of good drone music, I can't be wrong this one: very nice work." by: FdW, in VITAL Weekly (NL)

Terre Thaemlitz - Means From an End (1998)

"Thaemlitz's deepening descent into the obscure sonorities of hard disk recording is here pushed to new extremes. Compositionally, Means From an End focuses on the metaphoric reconstitution of meaning through the social field, and is equal both in scope and sonic detail to the output of freeform academicians such as Francois Bayle and Jim Horton. But as challenging as the music is -- fuzz, clicks, and thin sheets of off-putting digital synthesis constitutes much of the hour on offer here -- the music is among some of the most engaging and even, at times, touching of Thaemlitz's career (particularly the title suite, which closes out the disc)".
by Sean Cooper, in All Music Guide

(1998 mille plateaux mp 44 / efa 00694-2) cd

01 00:02:00 02:01:11 g1.a-j
02 02:03:11 02:05:60 g6.a-s
03 04:08:71 02:49:50 g3.a-l
04 06:58:46 01:34:23 g2.a-o
05 08:32:69 02:18:07 g7.a-t
06 10:51:01 02:33:13 g5.a-s
07 13:24:14 02:09:49 g4.a-s
08 15:33:63 01:11:22 commentary
09 16:45:10 00:49:10 resistance
10 17:34:20 03:19:70 resignation
11 20:54:15 03:09:07 transformative nostalgia
12 24:03:22 08:27:52 still life w/ numerical analysis
13 32:30:74 10:28:30 means from an end
14 42:59:29 03:11:08 reduction of contents
15 46:10:37 01:08:56 reinroduction of contents i
16 47:19:18 07:40:38 means to a means
17 54:59:56 00:34:52 reinroduction of contents ii
18 55:34:33 08:24:36 end to a means
cd 63:56:69_total

link1 | link2 all@256

-------------------------
Still about "Means From an End"

"For Terre Thaemlitz, sonic synthesis is analogous to a bewildering, yet liberating multiplicity of historically determined social agendas. It is also his tool for commenting on that multiplicity. Though his theories undoubtedly come first, that's not to say his music disintegrates if you remove its theoretical scaffold. Besides, the weighty language masks a radical playfulness - the project is far more engaging than first appears. The disc comes in four sections. The first, called "Inelegant Implementations," loops brief jazz snippets and passes them through a waveform analysis of radical/pop cultural soundbites, for reasons Thaemlitz's sleevenotes best fathom. The second part is a sonic essay on "overcoming resistance to radical social change," which translates as a witty deconstruction of Billy Joel. "Still Life w/Numerical Analysis" is an eight minute sound collage around a high register operatic drone - which softens you up for the last part, the title track itself. "Means from an End" bombards the listener with high frequency noises. In his attempt to deploy music as an agent of deconditioning, Thaemlitz's methods come close to the audiences-baiting techniques of Non and Throbbing Gristle. But in its final transition from Metal Machine Music aggression to the Enoid serenity of Evening Star, Thaemlitz raises the suspicion that he's not quite the stern neo-Marxist theoretician he makes himself out to be."

by: Chris Sharp; in Wire, March 1998, issue 169.