★Semishigure
Armonica
Completing the trilogy of Christina Kubisch releases on Semishigure, Armonica features another investigation into one specific sound source, which forms the basis of a one-hour composition. Kubisch's newest work is created by using the glass harmonica - recorded 1994 at Musikinstrumenten-Museum Berlin - an instrument from the 18th century, which isn't in use anymore. The glass harmonica, also known as armonica, was invented by Benjamin Franklin in 1763. This instrument consisted of a series of c…
Private Pleasures
Gerwald Rockenschaub is one of the most wellknown visual artists, currently living in Berlin. Apart from making art he has been deeply involved with music from the start, playing in bands, DJ-ing, organising parties in his former hometown Vienna and occasionally composing music which got released mostly through his own Definitely Something label. Private Pleasures is his first album in more then 5 years, a perfect showcase of his weird and very personal hybrid of half-defunct techno rhythms with…
Hecker, Höller, Tracks
Spending time together in Gothenburg in the spring of 2003, Florian Hecker and Carsten Höller discovered that they don't share only a passion for Munich's culinary speciality Saures Lüngerl. Carsten later driving off to Berlin, equipped with a single CD-R of some unreleased Hecker tracks playing on heavy rotation in his car, and Florian enjoying the Upside Down Goggles, they said goodbye, but not for long. Once Florian mentioned to Carsten his fascination for psycho acoustics, he soon found a CD…
Capital
The first release on Semishigure is the soundtrack CD for the film Capital by painter and video artist Sarah Morris. Released and shown in the Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin and the Guggenheim in New York amongst other places, it gives a fast-paced and gorgeously filmed look into the (political) life of Washington DC. The 18-minute soundtrack score has been made by artist Liam Gillick and has been rerecorded especially for this CD release.
Light forms (music for light bulbs and churches)
This is the third release on the Semishigure label that specializes in music & sound works related to films or installations from the visual arts. Light Forms is the new album from Calfornia based musician/artist Steve Roden which contains two pieces that are constructed from the sound material of two installations that he made in Germany. Both of these pieces started with the same sound: a group of small glass light bulbs handled acoustically. These acoustic sounds were then processed electroni…
Adventura Anatomica
** longtime sold out at source, few copies restocked ** A fairy tale world comes to life in sublime fashion on Maja Ratkje’s latest collaboration Adventura Anatomica, a musical work for theatre she created with choreographer/danser Odd Johan Fritzøe and stage designer in November 2005. This is a world of bittersweet fairytales, of wolves and innocent maidens losing their way in a dark wood, a world of fear and despair and joyful ecstasy. In any case, emotions such as these coexist closely in Rat…
Los Angeles: a film by Sarah Morris
It reflects a sprawling metropolis within which indulgence and superficiality were magnified in advance of the event
Two soundtracks for Angela Bulloch
David Grubbs (Bastro, Gastr Del Sol) has a longstanding history of collaboration and interest in contemporary visual arts. Many of his solo albums, for instance, feature covers by artists such as Doug Aitken, Marcel Broodthaers, Cosima von Bonin, Stephen Prina or Albert Oehlen. This new mini-album features two compositions commissioned by Angela Bulloch for two of her installation pieces. British artist Angela Bulloch has been making installations since the early 90s, while starting to use the i…
Twelve signals
New CD from German sound artist Christina Kubisch on Semishigure, a similar exploration of sound & silence as the first one, Diapason (SEMI 002). On Twelve Signals Kubisch used original miner bells from a German mine to produce an hour long piece of bell tones. Several electrical bells were hit with small hammers each giving forth a sequence of clear bell tones that hover in the air. This live recording was made in the St. Matthaeus-Kirche in Berlin: halfway through the recording the original ri…
Diapason
Germany most famous sound artist with a new album recorded exclusively with tuning forks. A meditative album that takes on a different meaning, feeling and association with every sound, in places almost microsound-ish and in others like a heavily delayed gamelan set. CD comes with a beautiful 16-page colour booklet with shots of the tuning forks and the installation where this is piece is taken from. Last copy available