Giancarlo Toniutti - Ura Itam Taala' Momojmuj Löwajamuj Cooconaja

A Toniutti’s release is always an interesting event, mainly when a new personal work comes after many years of silence.
The title of this 3" CD “Ura Itam Taala' Momojmuj Löwajamuj Cooconaja” is an excerpt of a ritual clown dance song of the Hopi Indians, dealing with cunnilingus and bedbugs.
This title has (intentionally) been associated with field recordings taken in Italy, as Toniutti reports: "All sound have been field-recorded by me on a single 60 minutes take at the top (957 m/asl) of mount cisilin/spic (zuffine mountain chain, eastern friuli, italy). There I found a large pylon, and a bell.

All sounds are derived from the bell, its mechanics and the metal pylon; together with all the natural and accidental environmental sounds which manifested themselves during that hour time."

The result produces an impressive impact, emphasizing the meditative approach of his author.

Label: Ferns Recordings
Cat. #: rhizome_04
Format: 3” CD
Release date: 2007

Tracklisting:
01 - Ura Itam Taala' Momojmuj Löwajamuj Cooconaja (19:50)

Previous releases:


La Mutazione (1985, Broken Flag, BFV 06)












Epigènesi (1986, Giancarlo Toniutti, K di Rn/4)

Kynak (Camma) (1990, Edition Panseri Editore, 1990-UR-RI) (w/ Conrad Schnitzler)

Tahta Tarla (1993, Pans'urlo Panseri, G:Rm–>Rn / 03Rn)
(w/ Andrew Chalk)

Tracks appear on:

VV.AA. - Journey Into Pain (1987, Beast 666 Tapes, BST007-1-4) track: Ergodique Per Piccole Labbra

Links:
Giancarlo Toniutti
Ferns Recordings

Goem - Robbed

This new Goem release is a solo work by Roel Meelkop (this time without Frans de Waard and Peter Duimelinks).
The source material is an anonymous CD, whose samples are used for these eight tracks.
The result is a combination of rhythmic patterns with minimalistic passages, strange loops, repetitive elements.
Therefore, an interesting episode into Goem’s production, quite different from early releases of the trio, maybe preluding an evolution in its music.

Label: SmallVoices
Cat. #: SVR 07023
Format: CD
Release date: 2007
Notes: Created in 2005 By Roel Meelkop

Tracklisting:
01 - 01 (04:24)
02 - 02 (05:35)
03 - 03 (04:07)
04 - 04 (10:18)
05 - 05 (05:51)
06 - 06 (05:44)
07 - 07 (05:41)
08 - 08 (07:20)

Previous releases:

• Stud Stim (1997, Raster-Noton, cdr007)
• Aaarrghll....!! / Motormix (1999, Audio.nl, 003) (w/ Jos Smolders)
  
• Dertig CM (1999, Mego, MEGO 019)
• Lokatie (1999, Microwave Recordings, M002)
  
• Mort Aux Vaches (1999, Mort Aux Vaches, none)
• Reduktie (1999, Noise Museum, NM 029)
• InvalidObject Series (Switch) (2000, Fällt, F.0014.0018)
  
• Ems (2000, Audio.nl, 007)
• Punik (2000, Staalplaat, STCD 093)
• Abri (2001, 12k, 12k1015)
• Disco (2001, Fourth Dimension Records, FDCD63)
• Gast (2001, Mutek_Rec, MTK_CLB01)
• Acht Centimeter (2004, Testing Ground, TEST016)
• Live @ Warehouse (2007, Zeromoon, ZERO 086)
• Live DVD Atak Night 3 (2007, Atak, ATAK011) (w/ Pan Sonic, Keiichiro Shibuya, Evala , Keiji Haino)

Tracks appear on:

• VV.AA. - .aiff (1999, 12k, 12k1004) track: Comp Drie
• VV.AA. - New Forms – Compilation (2000, Raster-Noton, ltd006) track: Lokatie Leipzig
• VV.AA. - Untitled (2000, 12k, 12k1008) track: Comp Zeven
• VV.AA. - Between Two Points (2001, 12k/Line, 12k1012/Line_004) track: Comp Tien
• VV.AA. - Fabelbuch (2005, Nexsound, ns40) track: Andrey Mix 1
• VV.AA. - Re'Post'Postfabricated (2005, Defrag Sound Processing, dfrgcd85) track: Chartier_Mix

Other Goem’s posts on this blog:

• Pan Sonic Keiichiro Shibuya Goem Evala Keiji Haino - Live Dvd Atak Night 3 (here)

Links:
Goem
SmallVoices

Chris Watson - Oceanus Pacificus

In April 2006, Chris Watson picked up sounds around the Galapagos Islands using Hydrophones onto a NAGRA ARES-Pll digital audio recorder.
This 7” vinyl, released on new Touch Sevens series, represents a little documentation of his location recordings.
Immerse yourself into the Humboldt current and experience the beauty of the water sound.

Label: Touch
Cat. #: TS 02
Format: 7’’, Vinyl
Release date: 2007
Notes: Limited edition of 1000. Locked grooves on both sides.

Tracklisting:
A1 - 3m (02:21)
B1 - 10m (03:18)

Other Chris Watson's posts on this blog:

• The Sound Of Islay: A Report From The Hebrides (2007, Touch, TouchRadio 25) (here)

more (biography, detailed and expanded discography, photos) on:



(Artist Profiles section)

Links:
Chris Watson
Touch

Naoshima / Takeda / Kawasaki / Takeuchi / Koike / Kawaguchi / Totsuka - Septet

"This CD is a document of a studio-recorded improvisation session. All seven musicians play extremely quietly. (They would probably play this way in a live performance, too.) So quietly that almost all of the "played" sounds are softer than the sounds resulting from the physical action of playing music--the touching of instruments, the rustling of clothes, etc. So quietly that outside noises which faintly penetrate into the sealed recording studio can be heard over the music.
In this music it's extremely unclear what is going on. It's as if someone had secretly recorded the sound of office work. Sounds occur, but the musicians themselves may not be completely sure whether they were produced intentionally.
This really is a curious document. It isn't the kind of playing that brings out the atmosphere of the performance venue. The focus here is on the softness, or near-inaudibility, of the sound.
Very soft sounds do not linger, physically or psychologically. They contain too little energy to reverberate, and leave a weak impression because they tend not to remain in the listener's memory. This is the unique quality of quiet sound. So perhaps this is an attempt to look closely at quiet sound as an element of music or performance. It is certainly not the kind of music that attempts to elicit subtle listening--if it were, the background noises would not be offhandedly left in. Interestingly, though, the character of the music slowly emerges as we listen. And gradually we find that we are focusing on a fresh, new form of improvisation."

(From the liner notes by Toshiya Tsunoda)

Takefumi Naoshima: mixing board
Hirozumi Takeda: guitar
Utah Kawasaki: guitar
Mitsuteru Takeuchi: flute
Toshihiro Koike: trombone
Takahiro Kawaguchi: remodeled counters
Yasuo Totsuka: compressor

Label: Ftarri / Meenna
Cat. #: meenna-333
Format: CD
Release date: 2007

Tracklisting:
01 - Untitled (47:48)
02 - Untitled (19:48)

Links:
Takefumi Naoshima
Utah Kawasaki
Ftarri

La Mar Enfortuna - Convivencia

from Tzadik website:

Featuring the velvety vocals of Jennifer Charles and the imaginative arrangements of Oren Bloedow, the cutting edge downtown band Elysian Fields is an original blend of pop, funk and rock. Their first Tzadik CD, La Mar Enfortuna is a sensuous and lyrical interpretation of traditional Sephardic melodies and is one of the best selling cds in the Tzadik catalog. This is the long awaited follow up and features Oren and Jennifer along with some of the best young players out of the downtown scene.

Personnel:
Oren Bloedow: Guitar, Bass, Vocals, Oud
Jennifer Charles: Vocals, Omnichord
Ted Reichman: Accordion, Bass, Piano
Robert DiPietro: Drums
Brahim Fribgane: Oud, Dumbek, Vocals
Doug Weiselman: Clarinets, Baritone Sax

Special Guests:
Ljova Zhurbin: Viola
Chuscales: Guitar
Liaqat Khan: Vocals
Benjamin Lapidus: Tres

Label: Tzadik
Cat. #: 8120
Format: CD
Release date: 2007

Tracklisting:
01 - La Puerta del Rio (05:40)
02 - Aman Minush (04:14)
03 - Ya Kalbi Khalli Al Hal (06:06)
04 - Pali Mou Kanis To Vari (06:36)
05 - El Eliyahu (04:26)
06 - Gacela Del Amor Que No Se Deja Ver (05:05)
07 - Dhen Me Toumbaris (05:20)
08 - Convivencia (05:13)
09 - Persona Soy Yo, El Buen Sidi (03:47)
10 - 25 Rats And A Dove (03:40)

Previous releases:

Oren Bloedow And Jennifer Charles - La Mar Enfortuna (2001, Tzadik, 7146)

Links:
La Mar Enfortuna
Tzadik

SoundArt: Mario Bertoncini

Date Of Birth: 27 September 1932, Rome, Italy

Composer, pianist, musical constructivist Mario Bertoncini is a leading figure of contemporary avant-garde music.
From 1951 to 1961 he dedicated himself to classical and musical studies: composition with G. Petrassi and piano with R. Caporali in Rome; electronic music with G.M. Koenig in Utrecht. From 1956 he performs widely as concert pianist in Europe, as a soloist with orchestra (Bruno Maderna, Daniele Paris, Mario Rossi, Paul Hupperts, Roelof Krol and others) and in recitals.
In 1962 he wins prize Nicola d'Atri (S. Cecilia National Academy) for “Sei Pezzi Per Orchestra” and soon after he starts his first experiments with invented/prepared instruments (Quodlibet, Cifre, Tune, Scratch-A-Matic).
And for “Quodlibet” in 1965 he gains the prize of the Fondation europeènne de la Culture.
From 1965 to 1973 he is one member of the Improvisation Group Nuova Consonanza and from '67 to '73 Music Theatre professor, working on functional interaction of sound and gestures (Spazio-Tempo, ›Note per un teatro della realtà‹).

In 1968 he works on Epitaffio: correspondence between the action of drawing and writing a text and its sonorous. While the world première of Spazio-Tempo is held at Venice Biennale in 1970, while he is committed to the construction of his first sound objects on the principle of the Aeolian harp.
From 1970 to '72 he is elected President of the contemporary music society Nuova Consonanza, and in 1974 he is invited to Berlin as »artist in residence« of the DAAD art program, where he realizes the first ambitious project of open air kinetic sound-sculptures (VELE, Berliner Festwochen).
In 1975-76 he gains associate professorship at the McGill University, Montréal where he helds an experimental composition course called ›Musical Design Course‹ and became founder of the MUD group, later known as SONDE.
From 1980 (to 1997) he becomes professor at the Hochschule der Künste, Berlin. In 1986 he co-founded the theater group VIE with Matina Schaak and Roberto Capanna.
In the same period, he invents an interactive system for the transformation of dance-gestures in optical and acoustic signals called ›Choreophon‹, while in 1992-93 he develops the ›Stabdämpfer‹ (bar mute), a special device for the preparation of stringed instruments and combines compositional work with performing activities as a pianist (works by Scarlatti, Schönberg, Stravinsky, Satie, Messiaen, Scelsi, John Cage, Terry Riley, Morton Feldman etc. and own arrangement: Earle Brown 4 SYSTEMS; Cage CARTRIDGE MUSIC).
He is now back in Italy, but still really active with Concert/Lectures activities in Italy, but also Germany, USA, Canada, Europe, Korea, Israel…

Discography:

• Cifre / Four Systems / Cartridge Music (1997, Edition RZ, Ed. RZ LP-1002) (w/Earle Brown, John Cage)
• Arpe Eolie (2007, Die Schachtel, DS15)

Appears on:

• John Cage - Sonatas And Interludes (2001, Edition RZ Parallele, RZ CD-20001)
• John Cage - The Complete John Cage Edition, Volume 24 - A Cage Of Saxophones 1 (2002, Mode, mode 104)
• John Cage - The Complete John Cage Edition, Volume 35 - A Cage Of Saxophones 2 (2006, Mode, mode 160)
• Gruppe Nuova Consonanza - Improvisationen (1968, Deutsche Grammophon, 643541)
• Gruppo Di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza - Nuova Consonanza (1966, RCA, MLDS20243)
  
• Gruppo Di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza - The Private Sea Of Dreams (1967, RCA, RCA Victor LP LSP-3846)
• Gruppo Di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza - The Feed-back (1970, RCA Italy, PSL-10466)
  
• Gruppo Di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza - 1967-1975 (1992, Edition RZ, Ed. RZ 1009)
• Gruppo Di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza - Azioni (2006, Die Schachtel, DS13)
• Gruppo Di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza - Nuova Consonanza (2007, Bella Casa, CASA 009CD)

more (detailed and expanded discography, photos) on:



(Artist Profiles section)

Links:
Mario Bertoncini

Lisa Bielawa - A Handful Of World

from Tzadik website:

This is the first CD release by a remarkable composer/performer who has been Composer-In-Residence at the Boston Modern Orchestra Project for the past two years and a key member of the Philip Glass ensemble for well over a decade. Bringing together a sensuous sense of sound with lyrical sensibilities, Lisa ’s compositions point towards a new postmodern romanticism. Featuring her acclaimed song cycle for voice and violin written for and brilliantly performed by the versatile Carla Kihlstedt, an electronic piece featuring her own beautiful vocalizations and a religious piece for full chorus. This is a brilliant debut by a fresh new compositional voice.

Personnel:
Lisa Bielawa: Voice
Carla Kihlstedt: Violin, Voice

Cerddorion Vocal Ensemble:
Jacqueline Leclair: English Horn
Kristina Boerger: Director

Label: Tzadik
Cat. #: 8039
Format: CD
Release date: 2007

Tracklisting:
01 - This Time (03:52)
02 - A Handful Of Words (03:56)
03 - Couriers (01:20)
04 - Ghosts (03:19)
05 - We Ran (02:21)
06 - Lost (03:04)
07 - Finally (04:06)
08 - Lamentations For A City (14:10)
09 - A Collective Cleansing (11:58)

Links:
Lisa Bielawa
Lisa Bielawa (MySpace)
Hi-res Photos
Tzadik

Emily Jane White - Dark Undercoat

“Dark Undercoat” is the debut album of Emily Jane White, a San Francisco folk singer who contributed to the Cam Archer film soundtrack “Wild Tigers I Have Known” with a song of the same title.
Emily’s “devices” are mostly voice and acoustic guitar (the piano appears on tracks 6 and 9) and her music gives a profoundly melancholic sensation, transmitting its sweet sadness to the listener .
A new star in the folk firmament...

Label: Double Negative Records
Cat. #: DNR006
Format: CD
Release date: 2007

Tracklisting:
01 - Bessie Smith (03:27)
02 - Hole In The Middle (03:26)
03 - Dark Undercoat (04:57)
04 - Dagger (05:12)
05 - Time On Your Side (02:21)
06 - The Demon (05:49)
07 - Sleeping Dead (04:31)
08 - Blue (04:28)
09 - Wild Tigers I Have Known (04:18)
10 - Two Shots To The Head (04:19)

Emily Jane White - Wild Tigers I Have Known

Links:
Emily Jane White
Emily Jane White (MySpace)
Double Negative Records

Pauline Oliveros - Accordion & Voice

Originally released on LP in 1982, now reissued on CD by Important Records, “Accordion & Voice” represents the Oliveros’ debut album as a soloist.
Two tracks structured combining the tones of the accordion and vocal drones, to listen again to the meditative music of this singular minimalist composer.

Label: Important Records
Cat. #: imprec140
Format: CD
Release date: 2007

Tracklisting:
01 - Horse Sings From Cloud (22:11)
02 - Rattlesnake Mountain (21:58)

______________________________________

Other releases:

• Accordion & Voice (1982, Lovely Music, VR 1901)
• The Wanderer (1984, Lovely Music, VR 1902) (2007, Important Records, imprec141)
• The Roots Of The Moment (1988, Hat Hut Records, hat ART CD 6009)
• Deep Listening (1989, New Albion, NA 022 CD) (w/ Stuart Dempster, Panaiotis)
• Crone Music (1990, Lovely Music, LCD 1903)
• Alien Bog / Beautiful Soop (1997, Pogus Productions, P21012-2)
• Driftworks (1997, Big Cat UK Records, ABB1000 CD) (w/ Randy Raine-Reusch)
• Electronic Works (1997, Paradigm Discs, PD 04)
• Ghostdance (1998, Deep Listening, DL 7-1998 CD)
• Live At The Ijsbreker, Jan. 1999 (1999, JDK Productions, JDK 03) (w/ David Gamper)
• Primordial / Lift (1999, Table Of The Elements, I 53)
• Springs (1999, Magic If/Deep Listening, Magic If 10/DL 9-1999) (w/ Andrew Deutsch)
• Pauline Oliveros In The Arms Of Reynols (2000, Creamgarden Records, CGR 04) (w/ Reynols)
• No Mo (2001, Pogus Productions, P21023-2)
• Minutes After Frogs (2002, Tu M'p3, none)
• The Space Between (2003, 482 Music, 482-1017) (w/ Philip Gelb, Dana Reason, Joëlle Léandre)
• A Little Noise In The System (2003, Table Of The Elements, Tm 69)
• Tara's Room (2004, Deep Listening, DL 022 CD)
• Lion's Eye/Lion's Tale (2006, Deep Listening, DL 028 CD)
• Accordion Koto (2007, Deep Listening, DL 036 CD) (w/ Miya Masaoka)
• The Beauty Of The Steel Skeleton / Drifting Depths (2008, Important Records, imprec206) (w/ Eleh)
• Four Electronic Pieces 1959-66 (2008, Sub Rosa, SR 185)
• Io And Her And The Trouble With Him - A Dance Opera In Primeval Time (2009, Deep Listening, DL 041DVD) (w/ Ione)
• To Valerie Solanas And Marilyn Monroe In Recognition Of Their Desperation (2010, Roaratorio, ROAR 21)
• Njinga: The Queen King - The Return Of A Warrior (2010, Mode Records, mode 220) (w/ IONE)
• Attention Patterns (2010, Important Records, imprec263) (w/ Eliane Radigue, Yoshi Wada, Sun Circle)
• Accordion To Bass (2011, Cassauna, SAUNA002) (w/ Michael T. Bullock)
  
• Quartet For The End Of Space (2011, Pogus Records, Pogus 21059-2) (w/ Francisco López, Doug Van Nort, Jonas Braasch)
• The Dunrobin Session (2012, Nuun Records, NUUN 8) (w/ Jesse Stewart)
• Reverberations: Tape & Electronic Music 1961-1970 (2012, Important Records, imprec352)
• Sol-Duo-Poetry: Live At EMPAC Festival 2008 (2012, EMPAC) (w/ Cecil Taylor)
• Cicada Dream Band (2014, Gruenrekorder, Gruen 149) (w/ David Rothenberg, Timothy Hill)
• Water Above Sky Below Now (2015, Morphine Records, Doser027LP) (w/ Ione)
• Nessuno (2016, I Dischi Di Angelica, IDA 035) (w/ Roscoe Mitchell, John Tilbury, Wadada Leo Smith)
• Four Meditations / Sound Geometrics (2016, Sub Rosa, SR422 / SRV422) (w/ Musiques Nouvelles) 
• Live At The Stone (2016, Important Records, imprec450) (w/ Connie Crothers)
• Early Electronic Works 1959-66 (2018, Sub Rosa, SRV460) 
• Tara's Room (2019, Important Records, imprec)
• Sounding / Way (2019, Important Records, imprec) (w/ Guy Klucevsek)

______________________________________

Tracks appear on:

• VV.AA. - An Anthology Of Noise & Electronic Music / First A-Chronology 1921-2001 (2002, Sub Rosa, SR 190 CD) track: A Little Noise In The System (Moog System)
• VV.AA. - OHM+: The Early Gurus Of Electronic Music (2005, Ellipsis Arts, CD3690) track: Bye Bye Butterfly

______________________________________

Links:
Pauline Oliveros
Important Records

Pantaleimon - Mercy Oceans

Andria Degens (Pantaleimon) adds another piece to her fascinating mosaic of sounds.
After a full-length album (“Trees Old Time”), two EPs and a single side 7’’, Andria continues to walk a path paved with lights, colours, love.
This time she is accompanied on her journey by Baby Dee, Isobel Campbell, Keith Wood (Hush Arbors), John Contreras and Jerome Alexandre.
Another tiny gemstone, “the great in the small”…

Label: Durtro/Jnana Records
Cat. #: DURTRO JNANA 007
Format: CD
Release date: 2007

Tracklisting:
01 - Under The Water (03:39)
02 - We Love (03:31)
03 - The Sun Came Out (04:55)
04 - High Star (04:02)
05 - All The Birds (02:41)
06 - Born Into You (04:05)
07 - At Dawn (07:05)
08 - Raw Heart (04:33)
09 - I Am (07:30)
10 - Storm And Thunder (02:29)

Previous releases:

Trees Hold Time
















Label: Durtro
Cat. #: DURTRO 047CD
Format: CD
Release date: 1999

Label: Durtro/Jnana Records
Cat. #: DURTRO JNANA 1968CD
Format: CD
Release date: 1999
Notes: special edition of 300 copies

Label: Streamline
Cat. #: STREAMLINE 1018
Format: LP
Release date: 2000

Notes: limited edition of 514 copies (clear vinyl) or 110 copies (black vinyl)

______________________________________

Change My World
















Label: PanDurtro
Cat. #: PanDurtro 005
Format: CD, EP
Release date: 2003

______________________________________

Under The Water
















Label: Bluesanct
Cat. #: INRI 082 S
Format: 7"
Release date: 2006
Notes: limited edition of 500 copies

______________________________________

Cloudburst
















Label: Durtro/Jnana Records
Cat. #: DURTRO JNANA 003
Format: CD, EP
Release date: 2007

______________________________________

Subsequent releases:

Tall Trees
















Label: Abaton Book Company
Cat. #: abaton 029
Format: CD-R
Release date: 2008

______________________________________

Heart Of The Sun
















Label: Durtro/Jnana Records
Cat. #: DURTRO JNANA 008
Format: CD
Release date: 08/2008

______________________________________

The Butterfly Ate The Pearl

















Label: Grass Girl Music
Cat. #: GGM009CD / GGM009LP
Format: CD / LP
Release date: 07/2013

______________________________________

Appears on:

Current 93 - Sleep Has His House

Label: Durtro
Cat. #: DURTRO 051CD
Format: CD
Release date: 2000

______________________________________

Current 93 - Black Ships Ate The Sky

Label: Durtro/Jnana Records
Cat. #: DURTRO JNANA 2112
Format: CD
Release date: 2006

______________________________________

Tracks appear on:

VV.AA. - MM
















Label: World Serpent
Cat. #: WSCD 025
Format: CD
Release date: 2000
track: Bowed And Parted

______________________________________

VV.AA. - Not Alone
















Label: Durtro/Jnana Records
Cat. #: DURTRO JNANA 1963
Format: 5xCD
Release date: 2006
track: Change My World (Alternative Mix)

______________________________________

VV.AA. - Songs From Cam Archer's Film Wild Tigers I Have Known

Label: Durtro/Jnana Records
Cat. #: DURTRO JNANA 23
Format: CD
Release date: 2007
tracks: High Stars, Idumea

______________________________________

VV.AA. - Peace (For Mom)

Label: Brainwashed Recordings
Cat. #: HAND 005
Format: 2xCD
Release date: 2008
track: Idumaea

______________________________________

Links:
Pantaleimon
Durtro
Jnana Records

Steve Peters - Three Rooms

from Vital Weekly #584:

Reviews of the work of Steve Peters are pretty rare in Vital Weekly. Not because we don't get his releases, but simply because there aren't that many. Peters is mainly known for his work with field recordings and a little less known for his composed works, some of which were released by Cold Blue Music. Much of his work is however unreleased, since it's specific works for sound installations or relating to dance and theater. But on 'Three Rooms' he offers us three works of considerable length and which were all made for installations. We don't get to see them, but experience the music.

There is some difference between the pieces. 'Delicate Abrasions' is one built of field recordings made in an old warehouse in Santa Fe and takes all the sounds from that space into the piece: nails, dust, door, concrete and such like. It turns out that this is most complex piece sound wise whereas the other two dwell upon one idea. In 'Delicate Abrasions' we deal with empty spaces through sparse sound. What sounds like rain dripping, slowly develops into a piece in which the rusty sounds of contact microphones become alive in a rather peaceful manner.
The most noisy, if that is at all a relevant term here, is 'Center Of Gravity' which evolves solely around Steve Peters' own breath, along side real time sound processing. Filtering, echo and delay are the simple means, but Peters doesn't create a live piece, but a sound collage of various of these recordings, inserting silence, and creating a sea-wave shore piece at times, which is more hiss like at times and not always the refined counterpart of the first and the third room.

The final piece is 'Mountains Hidden In Mountains' which uses the one strike of the densho, a meditation bell at a Zen Buddhist temple in New Mexico. The attack and sustain of the sound are used here and it never dies out. Peters lets this sound on an endless sustaining, no doubt through computer techniques, and it's ringing sound becomes a highly contemplative piece of music. It's the least complex of the 'Three Rooms', but one of an infinite beauty.
Drone, meditative, this is elevating the listener just above the ground. Three rooms, each with it's own characteristic and approach in sound; the second being my least favorite room, but these three rooms together make a very coherent house.

(Frans de Waard)

Label: Sirr
Cat. #: sirr0029
Format: CD
Release date: 2007

Tracklisting:
01 - Delicate Abrasions (17:14)
02 - Center Of Gravity (20:13)
03 - Mountains Hidden In Mountains (30:46)

______________________________________

Previous releases:

• Emanations (1998, OODiscs, OO34)
  
• In Memory Of The Four Winds (2000, Pianíssimo, ppp 01)
• Here•ings: A Sonic Geohistory (2002, Pianíssimo, ppp 02)
• Delicate Abrasions (2003, Pianíssimo, ppp 03)
• From Shelter (2004, Cold Blue Music, CB0018)

______________________________________

Subsequent releases:

• Occasional Music (2007, Palace Of Lights, PoL 0703)
• Filtered Light (2008, Dragon's Eye Recordings, de5017)
• The Webster Cycles (2008, Cold Blue Music, CB0026)

______________________________________

Links:
Steve Peters
Sirr

Blind Cave Salamander - Blind Cave Salamander

In 2004 Paul Beauchamp (Gullinkambi) and Fabrizio Modonese Palumbo (Larsen, XXL, (r)) released an untitled 3”CD.
The first of four tracks was assigned to “Blind Cave Salamander”.
After three years this name returns to give a title of an entire album, played with the contributions of Julia Kent on cello and Marco Milanesio (DsorDne).
Blind cave salamander is an amphibious (Proteus Anguinus, also named olm) that lives in caves.
It has eyes atrophied and covered with skin. Capable of surviving for twelve years without eating, it can live up to 100 years.
The atmospheres of this album well draw Proteus’ isolated life and its desertic habitat…

Label: Blossoming Noise
Cat. #: bn029CD
Format: CD
Release date: 2007

Tracklisting:
01 - Kroatoa (06:50)
02 - Katydid (06:53)
03 - Ljubljana (04:13)
04 - The Great Mountain (04:11)
05 - Russian Bridge (05:31)
06 - Falls (05:00)
07 - ---------- (00:47)
08 - The Human Fish (04:35)
09 - Time Piece (04:52)

Previous releases:

• Fabrizio Modonese Palumbo + Paul Beauchamp - Untitled (2004, PREcordings, PRE002)

Links:
Blind Cave Salamander
Julia Kent
Marco Milanesio
Blossoming Noise

Artists: Charlotte Moorman (1933-1991)

Date Of Birth: 18 November 1933, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA
Date Of Death: 8 November 1991, New York, USA

Madeline Charlotte Moorman was an American cellist and performance artist. She studied cello from age ten and won a scholarship to Centenary College (Shreveport, Louisiana) where she took her B.A. in music in 1955. She received her M.A. from the University of Texas at Austin and continued on to postgraduate studies at The Juilliard School in 1962.

She began a traditional concert hall career but was soon drawn into the active mixed-media performance art scene of the 1960s. She became a close associate and collaborator of Korean avant-garde artist Nam June Paik, with whom she toured widely. In 1963 she established the New York Avant Garde Festival which played annually in various locations including Central Park and the Staten Island Ferry until 1980 (except for the years 1970, 1976 and 1979).

In 1967 she achieved notoriety for her performance of Paik's Opera Sextronique, a seminude performance which resulted in her arrest on charges of indecent exposure; she was given a suspended sentence. The incident gave her nationwide fame as the "topless cellist." She also performed Paik's TV Bra for Living Sculpture (1969) with two small television receivers attached to her breasts. Another memorable piece was her performance of Jim McWilliams' Sky Kiss in many locations including New York and Sydney, Australia, which involved her hanging suspended from helium-filled weather balloons or the brightly-colored inflatable sculptures of Otto Piene.

As well as being a star performer of avant-garde pieces, she was an effective spokesperson and negotiator for advanced art, charming the bureaucracies of New York and other major cities into co-operating and providing facilities for controversial and challenging performances. The years of the Avant Garde Festival marked a period of unparalleled understanding and good relations between advanced artists and local authorities.

In the late 1970s Moorman was diagnosed with breast cancer. She underwent a mastectomy and further treatment, to continue performing through the 1980s in spite of pain and deteriorating health. She died of cancer in New York City on November 8, 1991, aged 57.

Charlotte Moorman was involved with the Fluxus movement of avant-garde and performance art and was a friend and associate of many well-known artists of the late twentieth century, including Nam June Paik, John Cage, Joseph Beuys, Yoko Ono, Carolee Schneemann, Jim McWilliams and others. In 1966 artist Joseph Beuys created his work Infiltration Homogen für Cello, a felt-covered violoncello, in her honor. Body artist Carolee Schneemann maintains a memorial page for Moorman on the Web.
(wikipedia)

Discography:

• TV-Cello (2007, Alga Marghen, ALGA 019LP) (w/ Nam June Paik)
• Cello Anthology (2007, Alga Marghen, ALGA 064CD)

Bibliography :

• Moore, Barbara, ed. The World of Charlotte Moorman: Archive Catalogue (Bound & Unbound, New York, 2000)

Fred Stern - Charlotte Moorman and the New York Avant Garde

more (detailed and expanded discography, photos) on:



(Artist profiles section)

Links:
A Trove of Archival Performances by Charlotte Moorman

Tzesne - Cliffs Under The Mist

"Quarry Cavila. Region of Salas de los Infantes. Burgos. (...) The excavation is an old marine bottom habited in the Lower Jurassic by Ichthyosaurs, Ammonoids and Belemnites … It's excessively hot, and it will be necessary to protect the microphones and the rest of the equipment with some providential shade. I definitively abandon them for hours to the fury of the sun and they record how the sea retires and leaves the Earth naked, (...) Second, third and fourth days crossing the precipices (...) In the walls and grounds of this sterile place the fossilized remains and sediments fight to continue being, they are everywhere. But sometimes, when the fog enters and it covers everything, you can feel the depth ___ just with the hindrance of the wind."

(Txesus Garate)

from Vital Weekly #595:

From the Basque territory hails Tzesne, who has been a regular feature in Vital Weekly for he has had releases on Drone Records, Tibprod, Antifrost and his own Series Negras label. It was perhaps only a matter of time before his name would pop in the Mystery Sea catalogue, as Tzesne plays unearthly and under-worldly drone music.
If I understood correctly he uses field recordings here from an old marine bottom located in the region of Salas De Los Infantes' in Burgos, which he then in the studio processed to this three piece suite. It's I think for Tzesne quite a relaxing and calm work and doesn't quite has the the louder undercurrents that some of his previous work had.
Maybe he was trying to make a work that fitted the label, but in any case these three flowing (pun intended) pieces are drone like in the highest degree, spacious and moving, soft and not outspoken. Music that goes well with nocturnal walks along cliffs, although it might also be too spooky. Nothing new under the ambient sun of Mystery Sea (or should that be moon?), but one of the better works in their catalogue.

(Frans de Waard)

For his MS excursion, Tzesne permeated himself with the surroundings of an old marine bottom located in the region of Salas de los Infantes (Burgos), next to the Basque country... A panorama of eroded cliffs standing there in a belt in a rather wild nature, a sort of paleontological museum in the open air, gave the impulse to the project...

On "Cliffs under the mist", you can feel the fallen night veil on the stone crests
reshaped by the wind...
An hidden land lying behind the dew, a long opaque flow...
- rain has laminated the fields
and tones of earth come to the surface
through past fissures...
A language of veins,
& exhaled fossilized memories
petrified by time... -

"Cliffs under the mist" is another invitation to see through and caress that interior sea which is our true spine...

Label: Mystery Sea
Cat. #: MS41
Format: CDr, Limited Edition
Release date: 2007

Tracklisting:
01 - The Path (19:57)
02 - Sunburnt Skin (12:48)
03 - By The Dry Sea... By The Falling Leaves (17:20)

Previous releases:

• Kraken (La Leyenda) (2003, Series Negras, Series Negras 004)
• Single 57 (2004, TIBProd., MP3-Single 57)
  
• Huffduff (2005, Drone Records, DR-74)
• One Side And Other Of The Door (2005, Series Negras, Series Negras 005)
• Time Of Bonfires (2005, TIBProd., TIBCD049)

Links:
Tzesne
Mystery Sea