A recording of my performance at Deer Pile in Denver, CO on October 4th, 2013 as part of Plastic Sound Supply's release party for the 'Ultrasoft!' compilation. Audio was captured direct from the board with a Zoom H4n, with editing only being done for equalization and volume.

10.04.2013: Live at Deer Pile

Recorded July 29, 2011. Wind chimes, guitar, electronics and tape.

"Good Evening, Ghosts" has now been officially released - along with several remixes - via Futuresequence and is available for purchase directly from the label's online shop: http://futuresequence.bandcamp.com/album/good-evening-ghosts-ep.

Good Evening, Ghosts

A quick capture of a patch I am developing for my evolving Eurorack system, which hones in on the darker tonalities of the Mutable Instruments Elements and Clouds modules.

Recorded at home in the early hours of the morning.

08.21.2015: Arise, Michael

Recorded October 27, 2011. Guitar, pedals and laptop. Thanks to Dan Lisowski (www.danlisowski.com) for the title inspiration.

This track is available on the full-length album of the same name, released by Futuresequence.

I'll Make You Quiet

Recorded live in Boulder, CO at Communikey Festival 2011. Guitar, pedals and laptop. Performing material from 'A Season In Decline' and 'Lost At Sea, I'm Never Coming Back.'

04.15.2011: Live at CMKY

A quiet bed of looping guitar, recorded in front of my woodstove during an early winter's snowstorm. An extended mix of this track is available as a PWYW download here: http://radere.bandcamp.com/track/woodstove-extended.


Woodstove

My remix of Christopher Willits' "Sunlight Is You," off of the 'Tiger Flower Circle Sun' LP. Built from vinyl samples recorded to tape, processed through my guitar, pedals and laptop. Mastered by Andrew Weathers.

This track is available as part of the 'Tiger Flower Circle Sun - Remixes' compilation, released by Overlap.

Sunlight Is You (Radere's Light Has Gone Out Remix)

I completely failed to set the levels properly when I attempted to record my performance last Friday; as such, I lifted a few samples from the buggered .WAV and built out this little sketch. Doen't quite capture the spirit of the set, but it's something. Enjoy.

Excerpt Process

Last week, I dusted off an old four-track tape machine that had been given to me by a friend. After reacquainting myself with the unit's basic controls - and battling some rather finicky output jacks - I managed to lay down some noise during a late night session. This is the first of what I hope to be many more tape-based recordings made over the next few months. Recorded with guitar, pedals and laptop.

04.07.2012:  Tape Drift Session

A live recording of my performance at Crane Old School in Philadelphia, PA. As part of the new event series from Inciting dubbed "The Monochrome Sequence," I shared a bill with Hero/Victim, Metasplice and Demdike Stare. Recorded using guitar, mini-cassette and pedals, the file was imported to Ableton for minor EQ adjustments and editing for length.

Photo by Dan Lisowski.

04.21.2012: Live at Crane Old School

A recording of my performance at the summer 2018 Great Circles Grit Massive, featuring sampler, live synthesis, no-input mixing desk, and vocal processing. It feels good to be home.

07.07.2018: Live at Inciting HQ [GRCR Grit]

Sun Hammer and I had the great fortune of collaborating on this Junto project together while he was traveling through Colorado this last weekend.

We chose to use two of the provided field recordings, supplementing them with sounds from Sun Hammer's own collection for the winter and spring sections. From there, we created three distinct layers for the arrangement. The most readily identifiable segment consists of the unprocessed field recordings, mixed and blended so as to show progression from winter to fall.

Beneath that, we created two additional layers, each of which showcases our respective approach to sound design and signal processing. Sun Hammer provided several layers of the source recordings processed through his Max / Ableton set-up, while I passed each of the samples through a selection of guitar pedals.

We arranged and mixed the final track together.

The project makes use of the following creative commons licensed source sounds:

Summer: Thunder  http://www.freesound.org/people/Erdie/sounds/23222/

Autumn: Walking in dry leaves  http://www.freesound.org/people/HerbertBoland/sounds/33207/

More details on the Disquiet Junto at:  http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/info

Sun Hammer + Radere - Mountain Standards [disquiet0021-4seasons]

Junto 22 concerned itself with sonic decay, be it the warbling tonal shifts of aged magnetic tape or the tintinnabular artefacts of digital bit reduction.

I pulled out a (very old) Tascam Portastudio for this project, making use of its unreliable playback speeds and touchy output jacks. An initial multitrack recording was created using guitar and pedals. This audio was then subjected to a variety of physical manipulation techniques and then fed into my laptop to be shaped into a core for the track; you can hear this in the shifting rhythmic patterns and filter-swept tape sounds. Then, another layer of guitar was recorded direct to digital on top of this via a Zoom h4n, bridging the divide between vintage and modern home recording techniques.

More details on the Disquiet Junto can be found <a href="http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/info">here</a>.

Sputter Dubs [disquiet0022-sonicdecay]

For this week's Junto assignment, we were asked to create a palindromic drone from a provided selection of samples. I've long held a certain fascination with such compositional techniques, having recorded several such pieces for guitar over the years.

I chose to make use of several recordings of resonance sourced from a glass bottle for this project, doing an initial round of processing in Ableton before passing it through a selection of guitar pedals. I then dumped the files back into my laptop for a final round of processing and mixing to create a drone which resembles a mirror image of itself.

Samples courtesy of Mystified, aka frequent Disquiet Junto participant Thomas Park: http://archive.org/details/Junto_23_Samples

More details on the Disquiet Junto at: http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/info

Mirrored (Back + Forth) [disquiet0023-palindrone]

A brief loop-based piece, which fell together rather rapidly during a recent studio session. An ode to that odd woozy look that trees take on when they've been submitted to the summer sun for a bit too long...

Never, Ever (Loopstructure)

For this week's Junto project, we were asked to build a composition around the natural rhythms of water.

Rather than turning to nature for my foundational samples, I captured the sounds of the aquarium pump in my studio; taking advantage of its mechanical flow to infuse this piece with a subtle pulse. I then fed the raw field recordings through a selection of pedals to create a synthetic texture; over which I improvised a passage of looped guitar figures, mirroring the ebb and flow of the processed layers with interwoven lines of resonant feedback and harmonics. Through it all, the intricacies of the water's quiet gurgling push forward, anchoring the mix to a central element.

The inspiration for this track came from the opening of chapter 17 of William Gibson’s 1986 novel Count Zero.

More on the 29th Disquiet Junto project at: http://disquiet.com/2012/07/19/disquiet0029-countzero/

More details on the Disquiet Junto at: http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/info

Feeding Time [disquiet0029-countzero]

For this week's Junto project, we were instructed to explore John Cage's notion of silence, specifically in the context of recorded silence. As such, I chose to delve deeper into a technique I've used in my recent live performances, taking advantage of the microphonic nature of guitar pick-ups and the ways in which they interact with magnetic tape. However, instead of using a tape recording of a found sound or location, I instead simply inserted a fresh mini-cassette into my handheld recorder and used the pick-ups as a means to amplify that "silence" into something more substantial. I then ran that signal through my pedal board and proceeded to capture several takes of the resulting textures with a digital recording device. These layers were ultimately combined in Ableton and submitted to further processing, resulting in the wooly mass of textural sonics I have chosen to call "Lurker."

An interesting exercise in discerning the edges of perception and crafting music without the use of melody or traditional form...

More on the 30th Disquiet Junto project at: http://disquiet.com/2012/07/26/disquiet0030-nonsilent/

More details on the Disquiet Junto at: http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/info/

Lurker [disquiet0030-nonsilent]

Recorded for inclusion on the recently released companion compilation for this year's Goldrush Music Festival, "Exultation (Loop)" was built around a processed mini-cassette recording of a church choir rehearsal.

My friend and collaborator Sun Hammer recently produced a remix of this track, which can be heard on <a href="http://soundcloud.com/sunhammer/radere-exultation-sun-hammer?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=twitter&utm_content=http://soundcloud.com/sunhammer/radere-exultation-sun-hammer">his SoundCloud profile</a>.

Exultation (Loop)

A recording of my performance at Spectral Rehab on October 21st, 2012. Captured direct from the board at O'Brien's Pub in Allston, MA with a Zoom H4n, the audio has only been edited for volume and equalization.

Photo by Justin Snow for <a href="http://antigravitybunny.com/?p=7296">Anti-Gravity Bunny</a>.

10.21.2012: Live at Spectral Rehab

A recording of my performance supporting Xela and Black To Comm at West Philadelphia vintage boutique Younglove's. Comprised of live guitar looping, field recordings and processed percussion. Photo by John Twells.

11.13.2010: Live at Younglove's

Preview track taken from my upcoming release for Full Spectrum / Editions Littlefield, 'The Blood.'

From the label's one-sheet:

Full Spectrum mainstay Radere is back with a new collection of pieces culled from stripped down improvisations, which he captured during the winter of 2017-2018. The titular Blood is that of family; having recorded the bulk of this material at his parent’s home outside of Philadelphia, Ritger edited the session recordings in hotels and spare rooms as he relocated back to the east coast from Denver, Colorado.

'The Blood' finds Radere working in an unusually lean and utilitarian mode. Having left the bulk of his studio in storage, he traveled with only a small modular synthesizer and handheld digital recorder. This minimalist approach, however, led to uniquely direct approach to the instrument. Ritger often found himself working from single use patches – building up a soundworld and abandoning it once it was time to pack up shop and move to another locale. The wide-ranging sonic qualities across the album speak to the efficacy of this approach.

The work within is gestural, the compositions tighter than the sprawling slow burns found in the rest of the Radere catalog. It’s as if the waterlogged swamp dirge of 2016’s 'Sloth Period' has fully emerged from the depths and now glows exposed to air, defiantly challenging the listener to meet it on its own terms.

The Blood

Last Of The Good Sins

A live recording of Radere’s appearance at the 2019 Chillits Festival, an annual experimental music event that takes place in Laytonville, California.

Prepared on the road as the artist traveled along the Pacific coast with his partner in the days leading up to the festival, this performance marked a major departure from Radere’s recent synth-focused works. Instead, he returned to his original instrument – the guitar – to create sweeping drones, accompanied by tape loops, dynamic no-input mixer feedback and various electronics.

Available as part of the 'Alive In California, 2019' release, click the 'Buy' button to purchase.

Recorded by Aaron Ballard

Mastered by Andrew Weathers

Gratitude & respect to Ahsan Ali, Menyui Leung + the entire Chillits 2019 team

Alive In California, 2019

Alive in California, 2019

September 14, Laytonville

My new album, Dreamless, is slated for release on Full Spectrum Records this Valentine's Day. At this time, I am pleased to be able to share the first taste of that release in the form of "Marin." A staple of my live sets over the past year, this track is built from tape recordings of Full Spectrum boss Andrew Weathers and I vocally harmonizing in the bunkers found in San Francisco's Marin Headlands. Stay tuned for more details pertaining to Dreamless. I, for one, can't wait to share these new sounds with all of you.

Marin

Last fall, I contributed a version of this track to Headphone Commute's ...And Darkness Came compilation, which raised funds to benefit victims of Hurricane Sandy. The mix I submitted for the project had to be considerably shortened, due to time constraints; but I liked the original edit so much that I saw fit to share it here. "Everything Dies, But That's Alright" was recorded in November 2012 at the NVRVR studio using guitar, effects pedals and a laptop.

Everything Dies, But That's Alright (Extended Mix)

'Holographic Warmth' took shape as an informal studio mixtape, compiling a handful of orphaned sonic experiments and extended guitar drones that sprouted up in the restless moments between more formal projects [c. December 2018 - March 2019].

My intention was always to return to this material at a later date, with an aim to somehow "finish" it. Unfortunately, my focus was ultimately drawn to more pressing considerations and these files were left to languish on a neglected hard drive for many months.

More than a year after the initial sessions that yielded these recordings, I was invited to prepare a block of original material for inclusion in a 9128.live / A Strangely Isolated Place event curated by Mysteries of the Deep. I took this as an opportunity to let some fresh air into my moldering archives and stitched together 'Holographic Warmth' in a feverish rush. 

In an effort to maintain the raw, exploratory character of the source material, very little editing was performed and I took a light hand with eq and gain adjustments. Andrew Weathers – my longtime collaborator and friend – was also gracious enough to master the final mix-down and smooth out some of its rougher edges. 

Thank you to Grant Aaron and Ryan Griffin for facilitating the release of this material.

An "official" version of this release can be purchased at full resolution quality via my Bandcamp shop.

Enjoy.

Holographic Warmth: Studio Mixtape for Mysteries of the Deep 9128.live Takeover

Full resolution audio recording of my April 2020 performance on the Decentralized Sonic Quarantine Network, featuring guitar, tape loops, and no-input mixing desk.

Be safe. Stay healthy. Look after one another.

04.10.2020: Live on the Decentralized Sonic Quarantine Network

Taken from my recently released album, 'Dzud.'

Recorded at home, Spring 2020.

Dzud

That Which Is Not The Desert No Longer Exists

A moment of "silence" held in my home office/studio. The sound of traffic passing outside is audible, as well as the faint hum of my stereo receiver; the turntable is still spinning, but the needle has been lifted. In the background, my roommate's Boston Terrier is snoring, while the click and clack of my keyboard - as I write a congratulatory email to a close friend of mine - patter on rhythmically.


4'33" (Moments with the Needle Lifted)

A quick recording I made last night during an early spring snowstorm, "feedback01" is an off-the-cuff studio improvisation captured while I experimented with my recently expanded Moogerfooger modular effects system. The sound itself is gnarled and decidedly raw, but I'm looking forward to mining these processes for textures and samples as I begin work on new material.

feedback01 (snow day)

A live document of my performance at The Burlington in Chicago, IL earlier this year, where I shared a bill with Scott Cortez and Zelienople. Recorded using guitar, mini-cassette, laptop and electronics, this performance was captured direct from the board and only edited for length and volume.

Thanks to <a href="http://www.bigmodularsynth.com/">Caleb Condit</a> for the photo.

03.23.2013: Live at The Burlington

Carl Ritger [FKA Radere; b. 1984] is a composer, field recordist, & instrumentalist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Currently living and working on Colorado’s Front Range, his work composites entropic sonic environments from acoustic sound sources & electronics.

Carl Ritger

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