Got a chance to check out 2 releases on the Touch and Ash labels that are
noteworthy, Hazard's Wind (Ash 6.5) and the Touch 2001 tour release "Light."
"Light" is a 4-track short disc that features contributions from Hazard,
Fennesz and Biosphere to mark their European tour this summer. (details of
the tour are online at www.ashinternational.com). As may be expected, this
disc is highly ambient in sound, beginning with a serene dronescape from
Hazard called "Meteosat." Even the Fennesz selection, "C-Street," shows a
great deal of restraint when compared to the often saturated noisedrones of
his last full-length on Touch... this time he is making use of manipulated
samples and loops in a textural sort of way. The Biosphere tracks (there are
2) do not veer too far off from the "Cirque" release from last year.... both
are worthwhile. The disc on the whole, while rather short, is solid.
The new Hazard full-length, titled "Wind," is highly derived from field
recordings of Chris Watson. Nilsen claims in its liner to have attempted to
make quality recordings of wind throughout the US, Canada and Sweden without
much luck ("Anyone who tries to record in the open air with primitive or
less than professional equipment knows that it's not easy getting good sound
and avoiding distortion in the microphones"). However, despite using
Watson's wind recordings as source material, while Watson prefers to simply
draw attention to the nature of the source, Nilsen has completely changed
the sound into one that is barely recognizable.
From the Dutch East site:
Hazard's [Benny Jonas Nilsen] 3rd album for Ash International, after North
[Ash 4.5] and Wood c/w Bridge/Field [Ash 5.4/5.5]. Here he collaborates with
Chris Watson [Touch], a process about which Benny writes: "I had been
working on this project about wind and weather for half a year, recording
and putting together sounds from various locations in the USA, Canada and
Sweden. I was really happy with a great deal of it but less enthusiastic
about the rest, particular the pure wind recordings. Anyone who tries to
record in the open air with primitive or less than professional equipment
knows that it's not easy getting good sound and avoiding distortion in the
microphones. I did however catch some fine air movement in trees, branches,
grass and hail or thunderstorms. Later Mike Harding and I had a discussion
about Chris Watson's work and he convinced me that we should try to ask him
if he had some recordings that could be useful. Coincidentally Chris had
just finished a radio program about wind for the BBC and he had a tape ready
which I could use. This was a great honour and relief for me to be able to
take hold of such professionally recorded material which could easily stand
on its own but [obviously] I wanted to do something else with it,
incorporating nature with technology, and in conjunction with each other I
created these pieces." Track listing: 1. Stream Today will drift (and become
stationary). 2. Barrier Barriers are built to withstand hurricane force
winds and debris thrown by a raging storm. 3. Downslope [Foehn] There are
four significant factors associated with the development of major downslope
wind events: (1) Strength of the cross-barrier flow (at about 850mb) (2)
Magnitude of the cross-barrier pressure gradient (measured as MSLP) (3) A
layer of stable air near ridge crest with lower stability above (4) Presence
of a critical level 4. Village An energetic storm...centred near the four
corners. 5. Shear Line A shear line is a narrow zone across which there is
an abrupt change in the horizontal wind component. 6. Anemo The Airflow
Anemo wind speed and strength cup Anemometer is a highly versatile
instrument perfect for all those who need to measure outdoor conditions,
accurately and economically. Ergonomically designed for one handed operation
the meter is weather resistant and ruggedly constructed to withstand
everyday use. Reading directly in km/h, m/sec and knots, Anemo also
indicates wind strength in the Beaufort scale. Using the inter-nationally
accepted rotating cup principle, accurate and comparative readings are
repeatedly achieved even in gusty, uni-directional wind conditions. 7. Sough
sigh, moan, wail, swish; or v. sugh [Robert Burns] NOUN: A low, indistinct,
and often continuous sound: mumble, murmur, sigh, susurration, susurrus,
whisper VERB: To make a low, continuous, and indistinct sound: murmur, sigh,
whisper [Roget's Thesaurus] 8. Landmass The west wind brings showers Design
and photography by Jon Wozencroft. Mastered by Denis Blackham @ Country
Masters In May 2001 Hazard takes part in the Touch 2001 Tour of the UK with
Biosphere and Fennesz - for further details see:
www.touch.demon.co.uk/tour.html "Hazard, aka Benny Jonas Nilsen, releases
"Wind" as his fourth solo record (and third on Ash Int'l). Nilsen was
formerly in industrial group Morthound before moving to quieter pastures
(sometimes actually) as Hazard. And his work retains the industrial feel, in
absentia at least: it's like an industrial record with all the _grind_
removed. This work of Nilsen's is made with -- what else -- recordings of
wind, most of which he obtained from nature- recording superstar Chris
Watson. Not only does it capture the sound of air on a microphone, but also
how it sounds rushing through trees and grasses and valleys, or how fingers
of wind infiltrate a building through cracks. And the record lives up to its
title, sounds teeming with vitality caught via microphone, one of the most
powerful things on earth not only the subject but the star. What he does
with it is multifold. He seems to use reverberation as a tool of distance,
bringing sounds near and pushing them away; there are also cycles, slow and
faster, the textures ranging from hollow to sterile. This nearly entirely
abstract opera (many sounds are not recognizable as to their natural origin)
is reminiscent of Fennesz and (some have said) Zoviet France. 49 minutes.
+------------------------------------+
m.mercer :: systm
audio-visual communicator
http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/98/systm.html
mmercer@kent.edu :: vletrmx@hotmail.com
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