%ARRAY | SEPTEMBER 2000
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NEWS
Dust Theories.
Dust Theories is an ongoing visual work by Fallt designers Fehler to
complement an audio installation by sound designer and composer Kim Cascone
currently showing at Chicago's DeadTech Gallery.
Inspired by Cascone's theory of 'residualism' - which he defines as "the
process of removing a signal until all that's left is its ghost-signal or
the artifacts thrown off by the original signal" - the Dust Theories visuals
utilise low-memory components to create pages which load quickly and
dynamically using a minimum of server-side memory.
Fehler are currently developing a web-independent audio-visual version which
will incorporate randomly looped audio fragments sourced from Cascone's
recent 'Parasites' CD.
To view the Dust Theories work in progress, check out:
http://www.fallt.com/dust
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Fallt accepting credit cards.
Fallt are pleased to announce that we are now accepting Credit Cards. In
response to demand from subscribers, ordering is now simpler as all Fallt
products can be ordered direct from us by web; email; phone or fax.
Pimmon's Assembler CD is now in stock (limited to only 1000 copies
worldwide) and pre-ordering is also now available on forthcoming projects,
including the invalidObject Series.
For further details, check out:
http://www.fallt.com/orders
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Call for entries.
Fehler have been invited to contribute (.mp3) samples to an audio
installation in Dublin's ArtHouse Space. The piece titled 'mp3 (abode)' is
being curated by sound artist Loftus and is described as follows:
An old upright piano in a large dark space, one light, and a seat. The
sounds received will be collected and stored in samplers. They will be from
all around the world and from every aspect of life and will inhabit an old
upright piano located in the basement of Arthouse. Visitors to the building
will be able to play the instrument and these 'recitals' will be
broadcast...
For further information or to contribute samples, check out:
http://www.arthouse.ie/exhibitions/abode/ab.htm
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REVIEWS
Kim Cascone | Parasites [Anechoic]
Kim Cascone follows up his 'Pulsar Studies' on fals.ch and an earlier set of
'Parasites' on the Ritornell compilation 'Maschinelle Strategeme' with a
further twenty 'Parasites' on his own recently-formed Anechoic label.
As its title suggests the 20 tracks might be regarded as organisms; indeed,
Cascone states that they are released with the intention that they "travel
and mutate into various forms". The opening track '1ParasiteForDeleuze' does
indeed sound alive and at just over three minutes it displays perhaps the
greatest compositional and structural development of all the tracks. This is
audio which - rather than being alive - seems to occupy some pure or
abstract mathematical space in which hissing particle flows trace out smooth
or folded geometrical surfaces and shifting fields.
Each of the subsequent tracks exhibit some unique characteristics and,
though similar, are by no means identical. They follow each other in rapid
succession some of them just a few seconds long. Sequencing seems secondary,
in fact, the CD could be played randomly every time or dipped into for just
one or two tracks chosen by chance.
Perhaps, like some of the more rarefied aspects of pure mathematics, these
unreal spaces are a route to understanding some deeply hidden features of
our normal acoustic environment. Whatever, 'Parasites' is also appreciable
on more levels than the purely conceptual. As far as Cascone's stated
purpose is concerned, only time will tell how far they travel and where they
lodge.
[GM]
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Microstoria | Improvisors & Vert | The Köln Konzert [Sonig]
Two live glimpses captured on Mouse on Mars' Sonig label. Microstoria's live
set, recorded in the Autumn of 1998, heralds their third studio album
'Model3,Step2' which is scheduled for release in October 2000 on Sonig.
'Improvisors' is unlikely to contain any real surprises: four of the tracks
are "alternative versions and reconsiderations" of tracks which originally
appeared on 1998s '_snd'; with the balance generated as live laptop
improvisations.
The sleeve's barely-there quality - with depictions of tiny artefacts made
from detritus and knotted thread - make it a ready metaphor for the music
contained within. It would be a mistake, however, to dismiss this unassuming
document so lightly. Popp and St Werner's music is both engaging and
affecting; consisting of amniotic drones (softened by a lack of high
frequencies), stutters, and plaintive refrains. It possesses a random
quality that truly allows it to live and breathe and its overall effect is
contemplative and, at times, even melancholic.
Vert's 'Mewantemooseic' is undoubtedly one of the highlights of the Sonig
catalog to date, largely due to its effortless grooves composed from
frenetic beats and samples. 'The Köln Konzert', in contrast, is centred
around sparse acoustic piano often pared back to a one or two note refrain.
The sleeve notes state that it is inspired by Keith Jarrett's record of the
same name. A work with which I am not familiar except, that is, for the
first five notes from which Vert constructs the fifteen minute 'Part One';
Jarrett's main theme which is used in 'Part Two' and 'Part Five'; and a
further eleven notes which are used in 'Part Three'. (Only 'Part Four' is
entirely original to Vert.) Jarret's themes are taken by Vert, edited,
reconfigured and subjected to all manner of electronic treatments. He adds
effects, scrapes and concrete sounds and lets them gnaw freely at the edges.
He also reprises Jarrett's themes in various synthesized forms with the main
theme finally played out on a toy music box.
'Part One' impresses the most; sparse and hypnotic it breaks down into a
comfortable groove before returning to the original piano figure atop a
volatile sonic compound which finally, and inevitably, ruptures. In
comparison parts three and four sound rather weak with the result that,
although the whole work is coherent and shows plenty of variation, it
doesn't quite hold the attention at the same level throughout. It is,
however, an ambitious exercise, deftly executed and well worth
investigating.
[GM]
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Tone Language | Patience is the Key [Korm Plastics]
Tone Language are Lee Norris (better known for his work as Metamatics on
Clear) and Japanese brothers Ichiro and Kenji Taniguchi
(frantic-sampling-meets-spacious-flotation duo Reflection). The fruits of
their collaboration as Tone Language is the aptly-titled 'Patience is the
Key' which features twelve slow motion tracks of post-Oval glitch.
Comparisons could certainly be drawn with Oval (circa 'Do While') and there
are undoubtedly similarities, but Tone Language, if anything, allow their
melodies to unfold at a far smoother and sedate pace. Like the embers of a
dying fire each track crackles and glows, unfolding gently and elegantly.
The opening track 'Ocean' hovers atop a distant beat that always seems
tantalisingly just beyond grasp while 'The Robot Sparrows' underpins a
hesitant rhythm with the softest of basslines that smoulders gently but
insistently. The ease with which Tone Language's works unfolds is mesmeric;
by only the fourth track 'A Plants Day in Stages' hours seem to have elapsed
yet only minutes have passed.
This is music to get effortlessly lost within: warm, absorbing and perfectly
formed.
[CM]
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Tetsu Inoue + Taylor Deupree | Active/Freeze [12k]
The results of a long anticipated SF/NYC collaboration, 'Active/Freeze'
might initially be perceived as a measured study in cold, hyper-minimalism;
repeated listening however reveals a warmth and depth which can be
all-too-easily overlooked.
In contrast to the title's implied iciness 'Active/Freeze' is predominantly
shrouded in a shimmering equatorial heat. 'Remote/Beauty' features a
condensed melody which bristles with the evening whine of a thousand cicada
while the midi-overload of the title track 'Active/Freeze' wouldn't sound
out of place in the humid tropical soundscapes of Mouse on Mars' 'Iahora
Tahiti'. Equally, 'Interior/Tone' sounds like a hyper-condensed version of
Microstoria-axis glitch whose trademark pops and clicks have been steadily
reduced to create a distilled concentrate of extreme potency.
The integration/contrast between the pixel-precision rhythms that Deupree,
in particular, is renowned for and the painstakingly formed DSP melodies of
Inoue render 'Active/Freeze' captivating to witness. This is the sound of
two artists enjoying a vibrant exchange of ideas which, one hopes, we might
enjoy again.
[CM]
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Thilges 3 | Saumarkt [Thilges]
The third in a Series of ten 3" CDs, 'Saumarkt' arrived form Berlin's
Musique Korrekt packaged within an intricate series of layers which, from
the outset, presented a mystery. Just who is Thilges 3? Or perhaps, more
accurately, what is Thilges 3?
This much is evident...
A padded envelope marked with a sticker bearing the URL
http://www.thilges.at contains the following: a (semi-) official-looking
'Bank Austria' credit/debit form overprinted with pricing for the Series; an
A6 photocopied sheet with instructions on subscribing to the Series; and,
finally, a 3" CD strikingly packaged and printed in Cyan, Magenta and Black,
bearing the cryptic ref. no. 'isrc at-h66-99-th303'.
According to the audio that lies at the heart of the package, Thilges 3
create rhythmic, glitch and hiss-laden compositions not dissimilar to Pole¹s
mesmeric grooves. Over the course of one event-filled track, the trio
unravel a variety of sonic inflections underpinned throughout by the
ever-present metronomic foundation of a single static-soaked dub.
At 20 minutes and 58 seconds, just as the tempo and pace are beginning to
escalate, the track...
CUTS
...as if in mid-recording. Whether this interruption is by intention or mere
accident is, for once, irrelevant as the mystery of Thilges 3 once again
descends upon the ensuing silence. Is this package some elaborate marketing
ploy, designed to ensnare the unsuspecting listener into subscribing?
Whatever, I hope further installments find their way to me via Musique
Korrekt as I, for one, am truly hooked.
[CM]
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740 CHARACTER ASCII ART
This month's ASCII Art - 'lllytttr' - is courtesy of an impromptu two day
collaboration between Eva-Lucy Mathieu and Ross Murphy. This is the first in
an ongoing series of random ASCII exchanges that Fallt designers Fehler are
utilising as source material for their forthcoming design of Stephan
Mathieu's website (
http://www.bitsteam.de).
yxd.lllllly,y.,-x¥Éа--
-
irrueioruotifuigguhgihggggggjj
k.<-yaÖÄÄÖ#ÖÄÖAaÖÄAQäQAA_QÖ_AAQ:ÄÄ.Öq:QAÄÖQ
QÖÄÖÖÄÖ##############
tttr;t5jiut32abbnvg hgjbbvffgbvgkh
tkikyhihnkjkhhykkh
gdfvfcghe ¥ghrfy uyer ty7f4et78643frewueyweyuuuuyttiuiuttyv±!@#$^&^
%U*
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PLAYLIST
Each month we ask one of our contributors to share their current playlist
with us. This month we are grateful to Saarbruecken-based musician Stephan
Mathieu for his contribution.
Walter Marchetti | Nei Mari Del Sud [Alga Marghen]
Oval | OvalProcess [Form and Function]
Geeez'N'Gosh (aka Atom) | My Life With Jesus [Mille Plateaux]
Akira Rabelais | Eisotrophobia [Unreleased]
Isang Yun | Isang Yun [Con Legno]
Will Oldham | Ode Music [Drag City]
Francisco Lopez | Untitled #92 [Mego]
Christophe Charles | Undirected/Dok [Ritornell]
Autopoieses | La Vie Á Noir [Mille Plateaux]
Brian Wilson | I just wasn't made for these times. [MCA]
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks to all those who contributed to this month's issue of %Array, in
particular Gordon McEwen, Stephan and Eva-Lucy Mathieu, Ross Murphy, Taylor
Deupree and Eric Benndorf.
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