Name: Ajidamal by Alan Gesso
Duration: 3 min 30 s
Description: Out on "Obliscence" CS via Field Studies 2013

Recorded live at Bolero Record store in Malmö 

Please support dublab.de through their support program:
https://dublab.de/support/

Tracklist:
Ragnarrök - Brushanespel
Michael Brook With Brian Eno And Daniel Lanois - Distant village
John Zieman - Occasional Thing 
Afro-Disiak - Tambours D’eau
Wayne Horvitz - In Fields They Lay 
YPY - Games #2 p-type
Ravi Dubbi - Wrong Kind Of Stone Age 
Kont - Baklasjön
DWART - Mate 
Golden Ivy - Din Dans
Iro Aka - Forest Drums
Artis - Cetacea
Youkounkoun - Soixante Semaines
Dom Dummaste - Pablo Picasso
Dungeon Acid - 04

Episode #5 Fasaan Rec @ Dublab.de 2021-05-07

William Selman’s latest release on his label Critique of Everyday Life co-managed by Chris Miller (aka Gunnar Haslam, Emile Zener) is a slow, sparse unfolding. Forming a kind of enigmatic triptych that evolves, breathes and retreats over the course of 45 minutes, these three arrangements are capable of standing on their own, or working together as a brilliant summation of parts. Intensely cinematic but not overly lush, Saccades finds its power through a meticulous, purposeful construction. 

The term “saccades” actually refers to involuntary rapid eye fixations the eyes make while taking in an image. Selman says, “this constant motion and tracking, trying to make sense of a scene is a metaphor for my inability to focus on anything over the last year. I wanted to make music that structurally broke up itself into episodes that shifted from one similar idea to another, but not directly—instead they shift by fading in and out.” This concept translates well to the sonic result; part of why Saccades is compelling has to do with Selman’s ability to make room for negative space. Silence is an integral part of these arrangements, which lends to a storytelling sensibility. Ongoing tension between the active and passive principles—a moving forward, a stepping back, creating, destroying, yielding—creates hyper visceral tension and almost feels like an affront to our capitalistic, hyper-productive conditioning. 

Each of these three pieces hover around the 14-minute mark, becoming mini universes within themselves. The opening arrangement—the title track—is suspenseful, mysterious, eerie, and wonderfully atmospheric. “Ghost Strata” is filled with field recordings and Selman’s exceptional sound design is apparent throughout: shakers appear in one ear and move around the head, satisfying the senses. Every small sound is made massive, for even the tiniest sounds bounce against the quiet, strengthening their potency. The third and final arrangement feels as if it’s starting in medias res; tension is continued straight away with discordant, metallic tones. However, this tension is dispelled more swi ly than in the previous two compositions; in fact, “Waking Tracing” is a departure from the other tracks, in that it draws more from the natural world. A single field recording acts as the foundation of the piece, upon which Selman overlaid other recordings and sounds to generate a sense of both direct and associative
memories. Hyper natural textures are threaded into an off-kilter atmosphere, inciting contemplation of Nature vs. Machine, or the destruction of the natural as it interplays with the unnatural. But the piece keeps moving, albeit non-linearly, until something is transmuted. Saccades ends how it began: wavering between two zones: one tense and disorienting, one meditative and purposeful. But Selman doesn’t leave us hanging—the release completes itself intentionally, and makes for a deeply rewarding listen.

Mastered by Stephan Mathieu
Design by Common Name
Words by Taylor Bratches

Saccades

Saccades (Excerpt)

Michele Mercure - "An Accident Waiting To Happen"

Taken from the archival compilation, Beside Herself, out on RVNG / Freedom To Spend November 9, 2018

https://smarturl.it/rervng12

©2018 RVNG Intl. // www.igetrvng.com

Michele Mercure - An Accident Waiting To Happen

New mix from CZ Wang of People Plus - Be sure to check the stellar EP 'Olympus Mons' with Anthony Naples' Incienso Records

Link:
https://soundcloud.com/inciensorecs/people-plus-olympus-mons

CZ Wang - SANPO 123

West Pier

Ambient track performed on my Eurorack system.

////Patch Notes////
All sequenced and performed on my Eurorack system. Shift Register melodies fed from Marbles generative/random sequence.

VOICES:
 Bass: Ts-L (Triangle) into Lxd (6dB stage), envelope from Quadra.

Left Lead: Rings (Orange Mode) into Ripples (Bandpass Mode). Modulation from Marbles (Y output) + 3sisters (centre output)

Right Lead: Mangrove (formant) into 3Sisters. Low out into Lxd (12db stage, envelope from Quadra).

Pad: Tides into RxMx. Rings Even out and Mangrove Square out also mixed on RxMx.

Transition Pad: Just Friends into DPLPG. Envelope from Quadra (triggered from Branches).

SEQUENCING: 
All pitch sequencing from Marbles feeding Quantimator (in Shift Register mode). 

Left Lead and Right Lead envelopes triggered from Branches (triggered by Marbles clock out).

Tides/RxMx modulated using Marbles voltage outputs and slewed output from Noise Tools.

PROCESSING/MODULATION: 
Chronoblob (with time and hold modulation) treatments on Left Lead and Right Lead.

Left Lead processed through Fairfield Shallow Water.

Right Lead processed through Fairfield Meet Maude.

Pad processed through Strymon El Capistan.

MIXING:
 Mixed on Mackie 1202 with OTO Bam and Strymon DIG on Aux Sends. Stereo out recorded into soundcard.

West Pier

Daniel Baughman - SANPO 149

3 Cats

DPO and 261e with CSR transposing two 250e's.

CSR Sequence

Out on "Obliscence" CS via Field Studies 2013

Ajidamal

https://jungdeejay.bandcamp.com/album/q-archive

untitled (q/archive)

Jung DJ - Stuck on gum

Alan Gesso
New York City

History:
"Identity II" self release
"Sintesi" c30 / Mmm Sound
"Abraxas" c30 / Lupin 
"Ivory Tower" Split Cassette with Genuine Fractals
"Music Television" / Player Press
"Obliscence" c42? / Field Studies imprint
"Identity" c30 / Natural Causes

Ajidamal

Alan Gesso

Recent comments

HGHCLR

Related tracks