Spiritual Archives: September 2009

Atak is a Japanese label born in 2002, founded by Keiichiro Shibuya and maria, a duo also known as "Slipped Disk".
Its catalogue comprises fifteen releases so far, including Shibuya's newest work ("For Maria").
All published albums have electronics as predominant factor, although managed from different viewpoints, primarily dealing with experimentation fields and sound art aspects.
"Ligne", out two months ago, marks a collaboration (a new synergy after “Anther” in 2006) between France Jobin, Canadian sound-sculpture artist (i8u) and Tomas Phillips, American composer as well as literature teacher.
i8u creates, since more than a decade, acclaimed works, live performances and installations, Phillips' sound is usually associated to reference labels like Trente Oiseaux, and/OAR, Non Visual Objects, Line, and, recently, Koyuki.

"Ligne" could be read as a report of visions, feelings and aesthetic attitudes, reflecting the intellectual background of its authors, whose abilities, combined together, produce an astounding result beyond expectation.
Four tracks here: two "lines" (which open and close the work) as boundary for a point and a data (names given to the other pieces), about an hour of encoded information, a persistent stream from the start-up to the last pulse, unpredictable sound sceneries proposed.
Environmental recordings are present, of course, but it is also possible to notice compositional moments, forceful changes of state, harmonic structures which tangle up.
Dilated, extended soundscapes burst on the scene, fade away and revitalize themselves after a while.

The first drawing is built on cracklings, glitches, interferences which intersect resounding patterns, melodic (in rare moments) or (more often) soaked with a hypnotic vein.
This scheme is kept for the first half of the track, then new, different perturbations on a more minimal ground and a new mutation around the thirteenth minute: electronic pulses meet repeated, manipulated piano tones.
In the second piece there’s a prevalence of subtle frequencies and defective insertions, what causes a granular effect in pure microsound style.
“Donnée”, the third track, is also the longest and the most fascinating: it starts with rustles, scattered noises, rumblings placed in continuum, then evolves in suave patches put on abrasive surfaces.
Lastly, “Ligne”, once more an immersion into profound sounds, exploded with more violence, sharp-pointed projections which afterwards dissolve into more peaceful states, almost meditative.
Excellent interaction between the two protagonists, intelligent use of (re)sources, spent for a very complex work, really expressive…or, to be precise, visual.

Label: Atak
Cat. #: ATAK013
Format: CD
Release date: 2009

Tracklisting:
01 - Ligne (18:23)
02 - Point (08:38)
03 - Donnée (19:15)
04 - Ligne (10:10)

______________________________________

i8u’s discography:

i8u

Label: Pandora
Cat. #: mpan-0004
Format: CD
Release date: 1999

______________________________________

Live At Spectre

Label: Pandora
Cat. #: mpan-0006
Format: CD-R
Release date: 2000

______________________________________

i8ub

Label: Bake Records
Cat. #: Bake Records 047
Format: CD-R
Release date: 2001

______________________________________

Untitled

w/ Martin Tétreault

Label: --
Cat. #: --
Format: CD-R
Release date: 2001

______________________________________

VOLT-AA (01) Le Silence

w/Alexandre St-Onge, Ælab

Label: Oral
Cat. #: ORAL cdr 01
Format: CD-R
Release date: 2001

______________________________________

Grasshopper Morphine

Label: Piehead Records
Cat. #: PIE004
Format: CD-R
Release date: 2002

______________________________________

Obstacle: Phase 2

Label: Oral
Cat. #: ORAL cdr 02
Format: CD-R
Release date: 2002

______________________________________

Diffraction

Label: Vague Terrain
Cat. #: Vague 5
Format: CD
Release date: 2006

______________________________________

Anther

w/ Tomas Phillips

Label: petite sono]
Cat. #: o67
Format: CD
Release date: 2006

______________________________________

Symbiotic

w/ Andrew Duke

Label: Pertin_nce
Cat. #: Pertin-nce_006
Format: File, mp3
Release date: 2007

______________________________________

10-33 cm

Label: Room40
Cat. #: DRM406
Format: File, mp3, Digital download
Release date: 2008

______________________________________

Ligne

w/ Tomas Phillips

Label: Atak
Cat. #: ATAK013
Format: CD
Release date: 2009

______________________________________

Physical, Absent, Tangible

w/ Christopher Delaurenti, Gil Sansón, Brian Mackern, Gabriel Galli

Label: Contour Editions
Cat. #: ce.cd_0001
Format: CD-R
Release date: 02/2010

______________________________________

Unter Den Linden / Und Transit

w/ Christophe Charles

Label: Non Visual Objects
Cat. #: nvo 022
Format: CD
Release date: 05/2010

______________________________________

29 Psalms

Label: Dragon's Eye Recordings
Cat. #: de5030
Format: CD-R
Release date: 10/2010

______________________________________

Surface Tension

Label: Murmur Records
Cat. #: MMR-10
Format: CD
Release date: 11/2011

______________________________________

As France Jobin:

Valence

Label: Line
Cat. #: LINE_054
Format: CD
Release date: 02/2012

______________________________________

i8u appears on:

Andrew Duke - More Destructive Than Organized (2004, Cognition Audioworks, caw021)
flag.frog - Secrets Of The Lake / Foreign Sun (2011, Murmur Records, MMR-05)

______________________________________

i8u's tracks appear on:

Goem - Gast (2001, Mutek_Rec, MTK_CLB01) track: Harusame
Andrew Duke - Highest Common Denominator (2002, Piehead Records, PIE010) track: Loon Stats
VV.AA. - Save Your Fork, There's Pie! (2002, Piehead Records, PIE012) track: Onua
VV.AA. - 60 Sound Artists Protest The War (2003, Atak, --) track: No
VV.AA. - A Baker's Dozen Part 1 (2004, Adozen, adz001) track: Friday

VV.AA. - Mutek 04 (2004, Mutek_Rec, MTK04) track: 1/4 (w/ Magali Babin)
VV.AA. Spellewauerynsherde, Interpretations Various & Sundry (2005, TRANS>PARENT RADIATION, TRANS001) track: Spelle [i8u] 1570-1 In Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) III. 594 For Vppyng Ye Swannes And Wynteryng Them .xxiijs.
VV.AA. - Keeping The Neighbors Up All Night (2006, Pertin_nce, Pertin_05) track: Felt Not Heard (w/ Andrew Duke)
VV.AA. - Extract - Portraits Of Soundartists (2007, Non Visual Objects, nvo 011) track: Steganography
VV.AA. - Hmmm Remix Compilation (2007, Le Son 666, 666-13) track: Dodecahedron
VV.AA. - Mutek 10 (2009, Mutek_Rec, MTK10) track: Whispering In Body Language
VV.AA. - Send + Receive: 10 Years Of Sound (2009, Send + Receive Editions, --) track: (2005)
VV.AA. - Flowers: Dragon's Eye Fourth Anniversary (2009, Dragon's Eye Recordings, de6006) track: Gallowalking
VV.AA. - Untitled 10 (The Black Album) (2010, Untitled & After, UA10) tracks: Hovercraft, Hovercraft (Chaircrusher Remix) (w/ Andrew Duke)
VV.AA. - Michelangelo Antonioni - Trilogy And Epilogue (2010, and/OAR, and/36) track: Untitled
VV.AA. - 10 (2011, Room40, DRM410) track: Higgs
Mathon - Terrestre Remixes (2011, Everest Records, ER_DVD_046) track: Sublim (i8u Remix)
VV.AA. - Iron: Dragon's Eye Sixth Anniversary (2012, Dragon's Eye Recordings, de6010) track: Apophis

______________________________________

Tomas Phillips’ discography:

On Dit

Label: Trente Oiseaux
Cat. #: TOC 033
Format: CD
Release date: 2003

______________________________________

If Not, Winter

w/ Tobias C. van Veen

Label: and/OAR
Cat. #: and/live 2
Format: CD-R
Release date: 2005

______________________________________

A Travers Le Bord

w/ Dean King

Label: Non Visual Objects
Cat. #: nvo 007
Format: CD
Release date: 2006

______________________________________

Anther

w/ i8u

Label: petite sono]
Cat. #: o67
Format: CD
Release date: 2006

______________________________________

Intermission / Six Feuilles

Label: Line
Cat. #: Line_029
Format: CD
Release date: 2006

______________________________________

Drink_Deep

Label: Non Visual Objects
Cat. #: nvo 012
Format: CD
Release date: 2007

______________________________________

Les Mailles

w/ Dean King

Label: Monochrome Vision
Cat. #: mv26
Format: CD
Release date: 2008

______________________________________

Six Notes

Label: Koyuki
Cat. #: yuki_006
Format: CD-R
Release date: 2009

______________________________________

Ligne

w/ i8u

Label: Atak
Cat. #: ATAK013
Format: CD
Release date: 2009

______________________________________

IC

w/ Francisco López

Label: Aural Terrains
Cat. #: TRRN0411
Format: CD
Release date: 03/2010

______________________________________

Blau

w/ Jason Bivins

Label: Dragon's Eye Recordings
Cat. #: de5029
Format: CD-R
Release date: 06/2010

______________________________________

Quartet For Instruments

Label: Humming Conch
Cat. #: Conch 007
Format: CD
Release date: 07/2010

______________________________________

Prosa

w/ Marihiko Hara

Label: Tench
Cat. #: TCH02
Format: CD
Release date: 10/2010

______________________________________

Vignettes Amplifié

w/ Luigi Turra

Label: Nitkie
Cat. #: patch five
Format: CD
Release date: 04/2011

______________________________________

Le Goût De Néant

w/ Craig Hilton

Label: absinthRecords
Cat. #: 019
Format: CD
Release date: 05/2011

______________________________________

Five Transpositions

w/ Kenneth Kirschner

Label: SaD
Cat. #: DQC-1133/SADCD-002
Format: CD
Release date: 09/2013

______________________________________

Limit_Fold

Label: Line
Cat. #: LINE_076
Format: File, Digital download
Release date: 02/2016

______________________________________

Chuchoter Pas De Mots

Label: Silentes (Private Sounds)
Cat. #: sps1611
Format: CD
Release date: 08/2016

______________________________________

Tomas Phillips appears on:

Hideki Umezawa - Suido-Kan (2012, mOAR, moar4)

______________________________________

Tomas Phillips’ tracks appear on:

VV.AA. - Extract - Portraits Of Soundartists (2007, Non Visual Objects, nvo 011) track: Each More Melodious Note
VV.AA. - Victoriaville Matière Sonore (2009, Victo, Victo cd 113) track: white.gray
VV.AA. - [ parvo ] art (2009, [ parvoart ] recordings, parvo 007) track: Prosa II (w/ Marihiko Hara)
VV.AA. - Flowers: Dragon's Eye Fourth Anniversary (2009, Dragon's Eye Recordings, de6006) track: Tablature I
VV.AA. - Michelangelo Antonioni - Trilogy And Epilogue (2010, and/OAR, and/36) track: Untitled
VV.AA. - Unearthed From Airwaves (2011, IO SOUND – IO/001) track: Flore
Kenneth Kirschner - Imperfect Forms - The Music Of Kenneth Kirschner Remixed (2014, tokafi, --) track: Budenmayer