2006/11/27

lower cases

there is too much excitement in the world. (nothing like starting the day with a big bold statement and yes, you can quote me on that) and everyone is vying for your attention -- which I do believe has become the most valuable commodity. microsound or lowercase or whateveryouwanna may be one method to counter the break neck pace of A.D.D. info saturation - by furnishing your living space with unassuming and un-obtrusive sound objects which one relates to for certain periods. or constructing some conscious or sub-conscious situation which gently unfold in time, the process inducing states of mind, body, or emotion. the interaction may be subtle, but can be multi-layered and open to interpretation - thus arriving at an art which gives, gives, gives, and does not take much in return. (of course the same can be said of some other musics, such as Feldman or Sugimoto)

since Mr. Roden has expressed clearly that he does not mind, but in fact encourages the giving (there's that bizarre concept again) away of his music for free, here are a few more pieces of lovely object/situations by him and a couple of others.

Steve Roden - Speak No More About The Leaves

"The cd contains 3 pieces inspired by Arnold Shoenberg's 'The Book of the Hanging Gardens' and in particular the poems by Stefan George that Shoenberg used as lyrics. Track one uses my voice reading/singing part of the text as the only sound material. Track two uses the vowel structure from the text as a score for striking five tones on a small chime and was originally used for an installation at the pomona college museum of art. Track three uses samples from the Shoenberg work as well as my voice singing the same text as track one."

http://www.sendspace.com/file/7ogci3
or
http://rapidshare.com/files/4280949/Speak_No_More_About_The_Leaves.zip .html

Steve Roden & Jason Kahn - Shimmer Flicker Waver Quiver

"In September 2002, Jason Kahn and Steve Roden joined forces in the Extrapool studios. Steve Roden played small acoustic objects, electric guitar, contact microphones and guitar pedals whereas Jason Kahn played minimal percussion, laptop and analogue synthesizer. Their focus on sound is a central factor in this work. Six beautiful pieces of microscopic, precise music - like watching through the looking glass at the smallest particles available. - www.kormplastics.nl"

http://www.sendspace.com/file/whb8t8
or
http://rapidshare.com/files/5160630/Steve_Roden___Jason_Kahn_-_Shimmer _Flicker_Waver_Quiver.zip.html


[rit 16] STEPHAN MATHIEU - Wurmloch Variationen

a dreamlike digital blizzard in the hard-drive of your brain - snow, impressions, remnants and after-images focus and blur - a mesmerizing play of static and memory.

"]This CD has five pieces out of 26 different pieces, which were all based on a piano recording. That source recording is enclosed here as the final track, which is a very open piece of occasional hammering on the piano and lots of free space. This recording is sampled and pieces of the processings are used to create new pieces. The overall sound might be classified as 'ambient', as in: soft music, but made with clicks, hiss and drony, deep end sound. It's a well-crafted work, very minimal, with great emphasis on, there we go again, microscopic details." - Frans de Waard / Vital Weekly"

http://www.sendspace.com/file/br2eae
or
http://rapidshare.com/files/5159419/STEPHAN_MATHIEU_-_Wurmloch_Variati onen.zip.html

[raster-post] mitchell akiyama - temporary music

akiyama is too soft for the bb; whose objection I think runs somewhat along the lines of noodly, polite, DSP-overdose, pastel-y, boring, IDM-wank. but while I think some of these descriptors fit, this is non-the-less an artist with an unusual number of ideas; his inventiveness and charm of execution clearly making him stand much taller than the thousands of other purveyers of geek-tronica which I absolutely take bb's stance on (like some on Mitchel's own intr_version label).

this release is actually very different from his usual sound - which is synthy and relatively playful. there are actually some similarities to Stephen Matheiu's Wurmloch Variationen. I had to include this because in addition to the quality music, the first track is titled "Big Sur".

[quote]"temporary music", is a collection of fragments - shards of pianos, pieces of field recordings, digital interruptions. all pieces are homages to places and people whose images have changed and faded over time. "temporary music" is a representation of the ephemeral nature of experience and the instability of memory.[/quote]

http://rapidshare.com/files/5156214/Raster_Post.zip.html
or
http://www.sendspace.com/file/56vezb

11 comments:

billygomberg said...

to make it clear, I also find Mr Roden's music to be exceptional in "the genre," for many reasons. "Speak no more..." is a particular favorite. I recommend these posts highly, and if you have the chance to catch Mr. Roden's visual work (painting, sculpture, installation) it is of the same quality - attention to detail/craft without loss of emotional involvement, or overemphasis on technique.

big thanks to Steve Roden for his complicity in our little adventure!

Anonymous said...

I had the chance to see one of his musical performances in a french museum 6 years ago and it was great!!! I'm happy to find these out of print albums in your very good blog. Thank you very much!

Anonymous said...

This is one blog I make certain to check frequently for consistently interesting, rewarding audio treats...many thanks! Unfortunately, the first track of the Akiyama album appears to be missing from both posts.

Anonymous said...

So much great music posted here recently - you've gotta stop doing this to me Zhao, my CD burner can't take it...!

zhao said...

time to get an i-pod tim! :D

anon: sorry... don't know what happened to that first track.. :( if it's any consolation the key moments are later on in the album... but still would be nice to have complete experience... apologies.

grasprelease said...

I'm very happy that Steve Roden has been generous, exceedingly so, to allow this music to be circulated thus. This is not to be expected, and I hope that he'll receive back in turn many times over what he's given, and that this blog/community might be a part of that. MP3 isn't a substitute for listening to carefully-prepared recordings on disc; and I hope that anyone who enjoys the music shared here will try to seek out at least a recording or two by the artist(s) that grab you and won't let go. That's a form of sharing, too. Enough preaching! Take, eat, savor.

sroden said...

zhao, totally fine, drop me an email, not via my blog but via email, you can hit contact on my inbetweenoise.com website. thanks.

Anonymous said...

thank you so much! but Raster Post misses 1-st track :(

could you please find it and upload separately?

and - thank you once again :).

grasprelease said...

This is quite belated post to say that SPEAK NO MORE is pretty awesome stuff. I haven't been as taken with all the Roden I've heard, and initially this was to music to listen to while working and enjoying the sounds of rain (which I enjoy greatly). I did notice that I was getting less and less work done and becoming irritated by the rain; ay first, I thought these problems had to do with one another (and this is a worthy-enough consideration, but beside the point here). Then it occurred to me that Roden's sound design was functioning as more than furniture for me. I started the rcord over again and paid better attention (dropped the work, but retained the rain): I think it's pretty amazing stuff, not least because Steve's voice on the third track had me convinced for a moment that he was sampling Roberta Flack. That would be remarkable enough, but not being the case, only points to the kind of frayed sepia that he conjours (yes, I spelled that right), something like dread and/or nostalgia (what is the difference, by the way, between these, except for their directionality?), but way, way muted. With due respect to BB's comment about Roden's distingushed work "in the genre", a big part of the hushed thrill of this listen as an experience has to do with just how hard it is to _place_. This wasn't meant to sound like a review, all monological and knowing...but I think this is some beautifully crafted sound work that WORKS ON my emotional state in extremely nuanced and complicated ways, and that pushes neither me nor its sounds around. This music, if music it be, is NOT OF THIS WORLD.

Anonymous said...

thanks a lot for rapidshare mirrors. you rock!

sumon220 said...

Really nice work just like this, thanks for post.