Michael Pisaro's Continuum Unbound is a three CD box set, featuring three individual as well as linked CD-length pieces, each 72 minutes long. 'Kingsnake Grey' is a field recording of sundown in the Congaree National Park in South Carolina. The beautiful and erratic sonic transformation that occurred over the 72 minutes was the model for the other two pieces.
'Congaree Nomads' takes as its basis 24 three-minute recordings Greg Stuart and I made in the park, along Cedar Creek and the Kingsnake, the Weston Lake and the River trails. It is a 'nomadic' series that moves very gradually from the Creek to the Congaree River. Instrumental 'fogs' (harmonies made by Pisaro and Stuart) overlay the field recordings.
'Anabasis' is a composition in 72 parts for five musicians, loosely based on four kinds of materials: Sand, Wind, Tone and Wave. The musicians featured on this recording (in addition to Pisaro and Stuart) are Patrick Farmer, Joe Panzner and Toshiya Tsunoda.
"Continuum Unbound", as the title implies, attempts to hear how the apparent continuum of the sounding world is actually a series of states that are as fragile and discontinuous as they are solid and connected. (Discrete continuity is one of the ways we have of understanding contingency.)
The three discs come in an oversized box with a gorgeous cover collage by Greg Stuart, which also includes a 12 page full color booklet including additional photos and liner notes by Pisaro