Free improvisation is a fairly new concept to me, personally. Nonetheless, during the last two years it has had an effect on my musical direction and has inspired the way we form our live performance as Amberclock - subtly, but steadily.

Improvisation does not stay within the performance realm - it has to do with a general direction and therefore creeps into life as well. Thus, it wandered -kind of by its own free will- into the Amberclock project earlier than I anticipated, for I already considered future plans regarding this performance. In May, we gave an almost impromptu concert where instead of our usual guitarist, Alexandros Stigas, we performed as a trio with Nikos Kordelis, with whom I have had the honor of collaborating in various line-ups centered around free improvisation and its wonderfully unpredictable mondus operandi.

This is a rehearsal capture which pretty much covers the musical direction we followed at the gig some days later.

Line-up:
Amberclock: Electronics, Ableton Live, vocals
Dimitris Mitropoulos: Synthesizers
Nikos Kordelis: Guitar, prepared guitar, violin, oven lid

Tracklist:
1. Carpenter's meditation
2. Geiger has a dream
3. You will have to wait
4. Haptic synapses is a pretty abstract concept
5. Geiger malfunction isn't subtle
6. Longcase clocks and after hours

Geiger Malfunction Isn't Subtle

Laughing Out, a three track 7" pop single, released by The Tapeworm's Wormhole imprint, released August 12th in a limited edition of 123 copies

Pre-order and further info...
https://touchshop.org/product_info.php?cPath=103&products_id=785

Screenprint of a legendary double-act by Lukas Julius Keijser

Dale Cornish & Phil Julian - Laughing Out (out August 12th)

THORIVOS ALIVE

This is the opening track of "Crease", the collaborative release between Danae Stefanou & Michalis Moschoutis.

As listeners, we often fantasize about music collaborations between artists, yet not solely driven by the parameter of "artists we like". Before jumping ahead to any interpretations, we don't just like Danae and Michalis, we like them a lot. But that's not the reason their cooperation is so unique, which is evident on how well they complement each other and communicate in a level of musical language. A simple listening to both solo LPs, "[herewith]" and "Nylon" (both on Michali's Holotype Editions) reveals both a common reasoning on composition, and two extremely consubstantial perspectives on improvisation. Michalis almost attacks the classical guitar, using every microtremor, screetching string, and each high frequency resulting from rough play to his advantage, giving a performance centred on the bet with himself to extract every possible sound which can be produced by the instrument. Danae's approach to the piano sounds "excruciating", as she engages with the physical body of the instrument in all its material surface and depth, toying with the diversity of its strings, pins, frame and soundboard, and exposing the piano’s innermost noises in real-time compositions. 

So with a common feature being the in-depth exploration of the perceived physical boundaries of the piano and guitar, "Crease" is their debut release, through which they experiment in unison and beyond, in the same space, on the same concept. The peculiarity of this movement has to do with the parallel communication between the two artists, where they define a space completely of their own gradually structuring a singular sound which they then deconstruct into individual pieces. Or conversely, if you'd like, they assemble the pieces to construct a somewhat complicated sound structure, on the fringes of improvisational noise; a product both of one-take frenetic playing, and technical skill, they have mastered on the instruments themselves. The aggressiveness of the experiment -recorded live on a 4-track cassette recorder- makes you wonder at times if what you hear makes you feel that it should be placed alongside a composition by Hyperion Ensemble or a sound orgy of Russell Haswell's nO!se series. I am certain on both, after a series of dozens of listenings, and I wish that starting with "Crease", and after the shows in Athens and London (January 15th at Cafe Oto) that are to follow, Danae and Michalis will continue to experiment, to record and play together until they completely destroy their instruments. 

Danae Stefanou is an improviser & an assistant professor in musicology at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. She is a member of the electroacoustic duo acte vide, and, since 2012, co-founder and co-curator of Syros Sound Meetings, an initiative for residencies & workshops on improvisation, field recordings, site-specific composition and sound art. She has translated Michael Nyman’s“"Experimental Music: Cage and Beyond" in Greek, and has performed in concert halls as well as DIY venues in Greece and abroad. 

Michalis Moschoutis is a musician, primarily a guitarist and composer, based in Athens. He runs the experimental music label HOLOTYPE EDITIONS (with excellent LPs by Marinos Koutsomichalis, Jacob Kirkegaard, Lawrence English) and curates the annual audiovisual festival INMUTE - which opens up shared spaces between cinema, sound art and experimental music. He has participated in Apnœa and has also released his music as Kerkville, alongside regular appearances in a broad range of concert venues and festivals in Greece and abroad.

Crease

Danae Stefanou & Michalis Moschoutis - -

Rebetik Klapsomoun

Each installment of this ongoing portfolio series features an original audio recording by a musician, composer, or sound artist along with their commentary. Projects range from raw documentation of live performances to sound collage and experiments with aleatory music.

Click here for more details: http://bombmagazine.org/article/610168/field-recording

Alan Courtis: Field Recording #12, "Osaka Pachinko"

Audio outlet from Athens, Greece. We do tapes and more. Coherently.

Danae Stefanou & Michalis Moschoutis - -

Coherent States

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