IDM Mailing Archive

Thanks to everyone who mailed me on the subject of Berwick St. I went to Ambient Soho and Selectadisc at lunch time. I got Systemisch by Oval. I'm currently playing it on our cd playing machine at work, which is a Pentium with soundcrad, sub-woofer etc. It's curiously relaxing to listen to, although I don't think the little speakers are keen on it. Very fractured music. Anyone know much about Woob and emit? Cheers, Andrew

edward pond wrote, replying to andrew thompson:

quoted 8 lines Diskont 94: This was the first thing I bought by Oval and it so happens that I

>Diskont 94: This was the first thing I bought by Oval and it so happens that I >bought it from Ambient Soho in Berwick St. I was slightly disappointed with >this album because it is not very long (45 mins) and the first track is over 20 >minutes long, and a shortened version is also included. The style of this track >(Do while) is quite nice with a strong ambient feel but I wish it did not take >up >so much of the album. The remaining tracks I like much more. They are much >more like Systemisch.

i agree. the vinyl version of diskont94, however, comes with a second record with remixes by jim o'rourke, scanner, mouse on mars and cristian vogel, all of them very ambient and calm. the scanner mix is still my favourite track of the whole album. nice bavarian talking. still, systemisch is the classic. cheers, p.

quoted 14 lines From: "Jon Drukman" <jsd@cyborganic.com>

> >From: "Jon Drukman" <jsd@cyborganic.com> >Date: Fri, 4 Oct 1996 16:54:03 -0700 >Subject: (idm) oval cd player > >anybody know anything about this??? >(this mentioned in the aphex interview at techno.de) > >FP: There is a good program from the people of OVAL wich functions sort of a CD >Player on the Mac, but you got a record button, wich lets you collect samples >from the CD and rearrange them to do a track that sounds like an OVAL(TM) >track, and then add it to the menu of your CD so that everytime you reopen the >CD, you have more tracks, your own OVAL remixes of the CD, on your player. >

A friend of mine told me he saw an interview with OVAL on a french channel (ARTE) in which they showed a piece of machinary which was basicaly a modified CD that takes random parts of music and makes a massive REPEAT. This is second hand info but I had the impression they make most of their music in this manner. Ofcourse if I had the pleasure of listening to their music I would have had a better opinion. Also on the program were interviews with AFX,Atom Heart,Deep Space Network (yuck!) and Alec Empire (Hurray!). Snow.

quoted 9 lines A friend of mine told me he saw an interview with OVAL on a french channel

> > A friend of mine told me he saw an interview with OVAL on a french channel > (ARTE) in which they showed a piece of machinary which was basicaly a > modified CD that takes random parts of music and makes a massive REPEAT. > This is second hand info but I had the impression they make most of their > music in this manner. > Ofcourse if I had the pleasure of listening to their music I would have had > a better opinion. Also on the program were interviews with AFX,Atom > Heart,Deep Space Network (yuck!) and Alec Empire (Hurray!).

Not to forget the interesting lession of 'How to use a scanner and make tracks with it' tought by Mr. Scanner himself =) -marc

On Tue, 08 Oct 1996 01:24:09 +0200, you wrote:

quoted 8 lines A friend of mine told me he saw an interview with OVAL on a french channel

>A friend of mine told me he saw an interview with OVAL on a french channel >(ARTE) in which they showed a piece of machinary which was basicaly a >modified CD that takes random parts of music and makes a massive REPEAT. >This is second hand info but I had the impression they make most of their >music in this manner. >Ofcourse if I had the pleasure of listening to their music I would have had >a better opinion. Also on the program were interviews with AFX,Atom >Heart,Deep Space Network (yuck!) and Alec Empire (Hurray!).

And a bit on Warp. Video footage from inside the Ballroom... g.

Sorry. I'll try again... Any reviews of Oval's 94diskont? Thx

quoted 2 lines Sorry. I'll try again...

> Sorry. I'll try again... > Any reviews of Oval's 94diskont?

Nope, (I'd like to get it in my hands myself) but there's a webpage (http://www.outersound.com/band/oval/default.htm) with info on Oval and also 94diskont.

quoted 1 line Thx

> Thx

transmission from the pHinnWeb Bunker over, ekku the maintainer of pHinnWeb - everything u ever wanted to know about Finnish electronica scene but were too afraid of the reindeer trerra@uta.fi | http://www.uta.fi/~trerra | http://www.sci.fi/~phinnweb

Seofon wrote:

quoted 1 line

>

quoted 7 lines Well, I can't give a detailed analysis, but it's dominated by "Do While&quo

> Well, I can't give a detailed analysis, but it's dominated by "Do While", > which is (for lack of a better term) their hit single, as seen on Amp etc. > etc. > > I would recommend it for that reason alone. > > --Seofon

I missed it!!! Can you briefly describe it? What was so cool about it? Thanks!

quoted 2 lines Sorry. I'll try again...

> Sorry. I'll try again... > Any reviews of Oval's 94diskont?

Well, I can't give a detailed analysis, but it's dominated by "Do While", which is (for lack of a better term) their hit single, as seen on Amp etc. etc. I would recommend it for that reason alone. --Seofon

On Sat, Jun 7, 1997 10:45 PM, Seofon <mailto:seofon@wco.com> wrote: <regarding Oval's 94_diskont> : Well, I can't give a detailed analysis, but it's dominated by "Do While", : which is (for lack of a better term) their hit single, as seen on Amp etc. : etc. : : I would recommend it for that reason alone. I'm partial to the track "Shop In Store", which puts me in the mind of two milleseconds of every record in my collection somehow rearranged into a startlingly melodic pulsing thingy. With backwards muted trumpet sounds. -d.w.

Just picked up an Oval 12" on Thrill Jockey called 'DOK' and I'm quite enthralled with it. It's kind of like Basic Channel/Chain Reaction without the drum beats and some trippy CD skipping effects for good measure. Is this 12" representative of their other output? I remember hearing a track of theirs from 'Systemisch' a couple of years ago and it didn't do much for me, but this recent 12" is quite nice. Also picked up the new-ish Bisk/Multiphonic Ensemble 12" 'Drum and Bass from Japan' which is pretty good. Nice to get Bisk on vinyl. GD

quoted 3 lines Just picked up an Oval 12" on Thrill Jockey called 'DOK' and I'm quite

>Just picked up an Oval 12" on Thrill Jockey called 'DOK' and I'm quite >enthralled >with it. Is this 12" representative of their other output?

Yes. This is a collab w/ Christoph Charles. Apparently he geave up his sample bank to Popp, who in turn 'Ovalised' the sounds. Their other albums are more clicky, w/ less recognisable sound sources.

quoted 4 lines Also picked up the new-ish Bisk/Multiphonic Ensemble 12" 'Drum and Bass

>Also picked up the new-ish Bisk/Multiphonic Ensemble 12" 'Drum and Bass >from Japan' >which is pretty good. >Nice to get Bisk on vinyl.

Absolutely. Strange or Funny Ha Ha? has bewildered me. Absolutely killer. I wish they wouldn't tag their stuff as Dn'B though, despite the fact that I hear that they're working on decidedly Dn'B oriented sounds now. Sub Rosa needs to do more vinyl in general. If I had 'Futurism and Dada reviewed' or the Antonin Artaud CD on vinyl, I just might take up DJ'ing again... __________________________________________________ Reckankreuzungsklankewerkzeuge.________________________ _________________________________PO Box 382864-2864 Cambridge, MA 02238-2864____________________________ _______________________________________________USA _______________Main URL: http://www.tiac.net/users/sheket __________________________________________________

Just to let everybody know, Oval is opening for Tortoise. I'd give an in depth review of last night, but I'm at work. Basically it was a really good show even though I don't think Oval fits a club setting but it was great to see anyway. nick d

i hear a lot about oval lately; what kind of music do they make (i know it's electronics, but is it like autechre, or more like the chain reaction guys, or something completely different...)... and which of their cd's should i buy? thanks! robert

At 04:23 PM 1/27/99 -0500, you wrote:

quoted 6 lines i hear a lot about oval lately; what kind of music do they make (i know

> >i hear a lot about oval lately; what kind of music do they make (i know >it's electronics, but is it like autechre, or more like the chain >reaction guys, or something completely different...)... >and which of their cd's should i buy? >

Oval's sound mixes deep lush melodies with poppy-skippy digital manipulations. Try Systemisch first, then Diskont 94, then Dok. -->-Lance--- p.o. box 450715 westlake, ohio 44145 united states

the early days (wohnton) were a bit krautrock, with cd skips thrown in as samples, but later efforts grew more and more experimental. there is still traditional song "structure" in diskont97, which is completely absent in systemisch. all of their stuff now is generated by computer logarithms that mutilate samples into terse digital snippets, and the end result is often quite beautiful and tranquil soundscapes. dok heavily features bell samples, and their latest, aero daero, is quite brilliant. for a good introduction, find diskont97 on thrill jockey. if anything, it's more ambient than autechre or c.r., and lately, beatless. [apologies for any botched titles/spellings] m/j *** ** ** * * * ** * * * * *

J m A i V k O e R w r o t e

quoted 8 lines the early days (wohnton) were a bit krautrock, with cd skips thrown in as

> the early days (wohnton) were a bit krautrock, with cd skips thrown in as > samples, but later efforts grew more and more experimental. there is > still traditional song "structure" in diskont97, which is completely > absent in systemisch. all of their stuff now is generated by computer > logarithms that mutilate samples into terse digital snippets, and the end > result is often quite beautiful and tranquil soundscapes. dok heavily > features bell samples, and their latest, aero daero, is quite brilliant. > for a good introduction, find diskont97 on thrill jockey.

yeah i'd go for diskont first. cd skips samples aren't just thrown in>>>i think the music is entirely composed of 'distressed' (!) cd samples... he (oval is one person, markus popp) did a small lecture here a couple of months back (which i recorded with intentions to mp3 it, but disappointingly it's barely audible.... it was interesting... the man thinks very very deeply about what he's doing... he screws up the cds by scribbling on them with marker pens...... i got to check out the program he uses to manipulate his sound samples.. all done on a mac g3 ... some coder friend of his in london has built this insanely sexy looking piece of software that he's planning on releasing as his next cd. he was brutally honest about how easy his music was to make with the tool (an idea which seemed to upset a whole lot of people present) saying that anyone can do it... it's true::::you just drag samples onto the play area and give them distortion functions by manipulating the interface... the next cds released after that will just be full of samples...

quoted 5 lines the early days (wohnton) were a bit krautrock, with cd skips thrown in as

> the early days (wohnton) were a bit krautrock, with cd skips thrown in as > samples, but later efforts grew more and more experimental. there is > still traditional song "structure" in diskont97, which is completely > absent in systemisch. all of their stuff now is generated by computer > logarithms

<--- you mean "algorithms" not logarithms... Karl-Michael

damn! long day for me yesterday! thanks for the correction...i hope we got the idea... m/j At 09:36 AM 1/28/99 +0100, you wrote:

quoted 11 lines the early days (wohnton) were a bit krautrock, with cd skips thrown in as

>> the early days (wohnton) were a bit krautrock, with cd skips thrown in as >> samples, but later efforts grew more and more experimental. there is >> still traditional song "structure" in diskont97, which is completely >> absent in systemisch. all of their stuff now is generated by computer >> logarithms > ><--- you mean "algorithms" not logarithms... > >Karl-Michael > >

m/j*** * * * * * * * *

Lance C McGannon wrote:

quoted 13 lines At 04:23 PM 1/27/99 -0500, you wrote:

> > At 04:23 PM 1/27/99 -0500, you wrote: > > > >i hear a lot about oval lately; what kind of music do they make (i know > >it's electronics, but is it like autechre, or more like the chain > >reaction guys, or something completely different...)... > >and which of their cd's should i buy? > > > > Oval's sound mixes deep lush melodies with > poppy-skippy digital manipulations. Try > Systemisch first, then Diskont 94, then Dok. >

Don't worry, the cd isn't skipping, it's supposed to sound like that.

forwarding a concert of possible interest from the john cage list, apologies if it's been mentioned here already but i get the digest... From: owner-silence-digest@mail2.realtime.net (silence-digest) Date: Tue, Aug 31, 1999, 10:16 Hello, two concerts announcement : Steve Roden, Brandon Labelle, Markus Popp (oval), Christophe Charles "Sampling Rage" solos and collaborations concert at Podewil, Berlin September 27, 1999 http://www.bkv.org/podewil/ and Henning Christiansen, Bjorn Norgaard, Christophe Charles concert "Polar Cirkel - Nord Licht" "Urban + Aboriginal XIII: POLAR" festival at Haus der Kultur der Welt, Berlin October 17, 1999. http://www.inx.de/~freunde/freunde.htm thank you for your attention, - -- christophe charles tokyo 110-0001 taitoku yanaka 3-21-5-303 tel/fax +81-3-5685-6566 mobile +81-908-59-65264

recently picked up oval "systemich"... is this indicative of his work at large? -Alistair White www.ire.org/~al

At 02:04 PM 10/14/1999 -0500, you wrote:

quoted 2 lines recently picked up oval "systemich"... is this indicative of his work at

>recently picked up oval "systemich"... is this indicative of his work at >large?

Yes Systemisch is a good reference point to the sound of Oval although i think that their subsequent works are much "warmer" with more of an organic feel to them. For a more melodic twist to the Oval sound check out the Microstoria releases which is a collaboration between Markus Popp and Jan Werner of Mouse on Mars. For more info on all the abovementioned artists check the recently relocated and soon to be redesigned & updated Oval-Microstoria "Cross-Selling" website at: http://www.inaudible.com/artists/cross-selling/ -->-Lance--- lance@inaudible.com p.o. box 450715 westlake, ohio 44145 united states