★Room40
Rotterdam 1
Recorded at the Rotterdam International Film Festival in January 2005, this explosive piece from Text Of Light typifies their abilities as a vivid freeform improvisational unit. Ranaldo and Licht’s measured guitar work sets a basis on which Kreiger’s blaring saxtronics, Barnes’ percussive explorations and DJ Olive’s swirling turntable incursions can intertwine and augment one another. This piece ebbs and flows, each of the players listening intently and guiding the proceedings with disarmingly s…
Opaque (+ re)
In spring 2003 Steinbrüchel received an invitation from the Swiss music festival 'Taktlos' in Berne to contribute a track for their listening room equipped with a surround 5.1 sound system. During the two-day festival in November 2003 Steinbrüchel's track 'Opaque' was played back in cycle mode (among tracks from various other artists). The listening room focused on the experience of being able to listen to music in a very quiet and large environment - unlikely to most home listening situations. …
Substation
Apart from being recognised as two of Australia's leading improvising musical forces, Clayton Thomas and Robin Fox are also acknowledged for their unrelenting experiments and divergent acoustic approaches in relation to their instrument of choice. Over the past 3 years, Robin Fox has developed some of the most powerful live processing tools in Australia through his research with MAXMSP. Clayton Thomas on the other hand has expanded his performance styles, moving between blistering free jazz expl…
Current
Richard Chartier’s sound installation and recorded pieces evoke a state of aural awareness. Working with a variety of minimal structures and refined sound sources, Chartier has been responsible for some of the most austere audio works of recent years. Aesthetically refined and creatively provocative much of his work has focused on the edges of perception, both in frequency range and amplitude. On Current, his latest work to be released in conjunction with his performances in Australia and Japan …
Pech
Pech is the latest duo recording from inside pianist Reinhold Friedl and avant- percussionist Michael Vorfeld. Over the past five years, this pair of German musicians have created some of the most engaging and imaginative electro-acoustic music, exploring the potentials of subtle performance techniques and refined compositional approaches. On Pech, the duo seek to uncover the hidden and masked character of their instruments - the piano is altered via various preparations and unconventional ways …
One plus one
The turntable has enjoyed a varied history in the realm of performance and experimental music. From the early phonographic works of John Cage to the spliced cut-ups of Christian Marclay in the 1980s, the device has proven to be a versatile tool for the creation and transformation of sound. Following a joint billing at Brisbane’s Metro Arts Space in 2002, Melbourne based composer Philip Samartzis and sound artist Lawrence English shared a 30-minute performance that was to become the beginning of …
H ()
Australian electro-acoustic composer Philip Samartzis is an increasingly vital presence in the Australian sound community. His work over the past decade and a half has offered a prophetic vision for each of his chosen formats and aesthetic approaches. On h [ ] Samartzis is joined by minimal Japanese composer Kozo Inada, who brings with him an equally refined and austere sound sensibility. Between them, these two composers collaborate to produce a highly detailed work that juxtaposes, obscures an…
Clockwork
Its initial release - an edition of 100 3CD-Rs on Ambarchi's Jerker Productions label back in 1999 - let it slide by just enough aesthetic radars to register among cognoscenti. Coupled with Ambarchi's solo work from the era, the recording marked a shift from the gonzo-rock of the duo's previous band, Phlegm. Things happen throughout Clockwork that had never really happened before. Recorded in front of a live audience for that 'what we did on our holidays' feel, Avenaim and Ambarchi unravel their…
Mise en scène
For well over a decade, Australia's Lloyd Barrett has been issuing all manner of intricate sound works – from diligent examinations of postconcréte sound and abstracted rhythmic projects to spacious ambient works. In 2005, he committed himself to create Mise en Scene, a work drawing on the concepts of filmic sound and exploring the possibilities of philosophies suggested by authors and theorists such as Michel Chion. The resulting album heralds a bold statement of intent from Barrett. Deeply evo…
In the last hour
Janek Schaefer first surfaced 10 years ago with his sound-activated tape recorder installation 'Recorded Delivery'. He followed that with a range of award winning turntable and vinyl related projects including the random playing Skate LP, and the Tri-Phonic Turntable which he hand built to transform sound. In recent years, Schaefer's work has expanded into areas revolving around composition, installation, and the exploration of site specific instrument and location recordings. 'In The Last Hour'…
Ku
The act of conjuring remarkable sound from found objects is at the very heart of this recording from American musicians Greg Davis and Jeph Jerman. Having met in Arizona some years back, Davis and Jerman commenced working together on a series of recording projects. Improvising with a range of implements and devices ranging from sticks, stones and lo-fi electronics to prepared instruments, gongs and broken percussion, the pair sought to develop a personal language that reflected their individual …
New days
Available on CD and heavyweight vinyl. The vinyl edition is limited to 300 copies cut by the legendary Rachad at Dubplates & Mastering. Each cover is an ORIGINAL lino-cut print by Carina Thorén that extends over the front & back covers... CD is the 'standard' ROOM40 triple gatefold style with totally different artwork to the LP. Picture below is the CD cover. For Barry Ray is the husband and wife duo of Carina Thorén (Sweden) and John Chantler (Australia). After a number of compilation appearanc…
Les protorythmiques
This recording is taken from a live concert which took place at the Musique Action Festival in France on Thursday the 26 of May 2005. Initially Luc Ferrari and erikm were invited to present "Les Protorythmiques" at Musique Action 2005, a work composed around a new 'open working process' in which sounds and compositional parts could be substituted and transformed in an almost improvisational setting, this however was not to pass due to Luc Ferrari's health, at which point Thomas Lehn was invited …
Wakool
Recorded over a series of four Sunday afternoons, Wakool is an interrogation into an expanded range of techniques and gestures applied to instruments including banjo, electroacoustic guitar, bandura, and eukolin. In part an antidote to laborious studio process, this project privileges live stereo recordings without additional overdubs, processing or equalization. The varied and spontaneous nature of David's effortless playing across an eclectic range of instruments was recorded transparently to …