Brixton was my introduction to London when I moved here almost two years ago. I had never heard of Brixton before I arrived, nor had I spent any time in London. I ended up here simply because a friend of a friend knew someone with a flat. This document represents the ways I have come to know this district, and through it a little of the rest of London. 

My work has always begun with the soundscape, and Brixton offers a remarkable one. From outdoor markets, bicycle sound systems, shop stereos and buskers to booming car hi fi systems, sirens, car washes and people simply talking and taking up space on the streets, Brixton is a noisy place. It was through listening to Brixton that I also came to hear voices being raised about how much this area had changed, about rising rents and neglected public housing, about how many people who grew up or used to have businesses here can no longer afford to stay. I learned about the role of Brixton as a centre of Black British culture, resistance and musical production, as well as a location once known for its anarchist squats, and left wing activism. I learned about how, as Brixton has become increasingly gentrified, some of the sounds associated with Brixton's history and communities were being lost from this area. I began to hear some of the new silences of Brixton. I don't want to pretend that this release could ever be a definitive documentation of Brixton's soundscape, there are many far better situated than me to understand all the nuances of this area. This album is simply about the ways I came to know Brixton through listening, and the respect I gained through this process for the many struggles being waged in this district to maintain it as a community. This album is about arriving somewhere to find it in the midst of major upheaval in its social fabric, and about examining my own role in this as a new white Australian addition to the area. 

A soundscape reveals a lot about a place, through its presences, its silences, its rhythms and its pauses. A soundscape is forever being made by us all. It stitches us together in ways both subtle and sometimes overwhelming. I think in both its openness and fragility the soundscape can reveal something about the process of community making, and its sensitivity to change offers both opportunities and risks. 

Kate Carr, Brixton, London. 
credits
released March 9, 2018

I Ended Out Moving To Brixton - full album stream

The spike organ or nail chello (sic) is thought to originate from an early middle Europe monastic sect, the Iscariotians. They may have used the instrument to accompany their lengthy rituals contemplating the pain of the crucifixion.  

The Iscariotians are said to have been wiped out by returning crusaders at the behest of emperor Leopold III. Other commentators have suggested that the whole story may have been a constructed  alibi for the defeated crusaders plunder and desecration of the brewery of ..Santa Quaffa...


A possible surviving 'chello' object, made from of lignum vitae and iron, resides in the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen. Its interpretation is not without controversy with some critics asserting the object is nothing more than a kind of agricultural implement, though this does not explain its cruciform shape and carved decoration.

In 1972 the scholar . Roland de Févin was granted permission to investigate the Rouen Chello, explore its sound making capabilities and make recordings. his theory was that the instrument was to be played by a rosined bow.  Unfortunately de Févin's playing and handling resulted in two of the nails fracturing and so the investigation was terminated after only one day. The single recording de Févin made was never released but it was played to audiences on an European lecture tour he conducted shortly before his death in 1974. 

It has been subsequently alleged that de Févin's  investigation  coincided with the great fire at  Nantes cathedral. This lead to several occultist conspiracy theories, most notably retold in the pulp fiction novel Blood Nail-(Brownie Dane,1975) much of the plot was lifted for the Italian soft core film Sistero Orgasma (1977) where the action was switched away from a monastery to a scantily clad convent.(citation needed) 

On the film soundtrack, the sounds of the Chello were replicated by experimental electronic synthesiser the achoirorium- itself the  subject of intrigue- as its extremely high operating voltages caused the death of its creator  Luigi soon after the recording session.


This recording was made in 1980 by UK avant geographer Forster Iberix who attended several of de Févin's lectures.  He set about building a replica device and making reconstructions of the Iscariotarian mass based on a column of scribbled numbers  which appear reverso  in one of Leonardo da Vinci's codex's (Coded notebooks). The recording was released on an untitled flexi disk issued by cult French label sordide sentimental -who now deny any knowledge of its existence. It does not appear on their official discography.  Improbably- Haringey local studies library, London, has a copy in their archive. The library does not provide any method of playback for the flexidisc and items from the archive cannot be withdrawn -so some subterfuge was involved in me getting this track taped. Whilst the disk was in my possession an inexplicable number of minor disasters befell me -so I can assure you I hurriedly returned it.

disquiet0385
More on this 385th weekly Disquiet Junto project — Audubonus Instrumentum / The Assignment: Imagine a fake instrument, and make music with it — at:
https://disquiet.com/0385/
More on the Disquiet Junto at:
https://disquiet.com/junto/
Thanks to Paul Harrington for the Latin assistance.
Subscribe to project announcements here:
http://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/
Project discussion takes place on llllllll.co:
https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0385-audubonus-instrumentum/

The Nail Chello (disquiet0385)

World has slowed down. 
Hidden beneath a skin of fear.

All Silver was created during the first days of the Corona shutdown.
Made with passion and modular synths.

Sound and artwork by Thomas Breuer

All Silver

all silver

A Light Divides (Naviarhaiku 337)

Distances

Swamp

Short excerpt of a 40 minutes live improv 
15 October 2019 @ Les Instants Chavirés
Sharing the bill with Kate Carr, a concert produced by La Fabrique Agitée
https://www.instantschavires.com/kate-carrvalerie-vivancos/

Valerie Vivancos Live Instants Chavirés  15 Oct 2019 (excerpt)

Equipment:YAMAHA Reface CP,Cooper Fx Outward V2,Chase Bliss Audio MOOD,Chase Bliss Audio Blooper,BOSS RV-5

summer vacation

These recordings are recorded in Kunming city, from early February to early May in 2020. The random sound clips reflect the process of the whole city from silence to vitality, and personal life from public to private space and back again. Life in private space substantially affects the openness of public space, and vice versa, the closure of public life has made private life cramped and boring. The daily life that swings between the two has gradually become a longer "new normal" that everyone has to overcome.

This piece comprises 24 field recordings, each 60 seconds, separated by 3 seconds of silence. This is an equal arrangement, and they are arranged as neatly as the hand sanitizer on the shelf. In these sound clips, private life, media messages, and slowly reviving urban life are intertwined during the period of home quarantine.
Luo Fei, Kunming, China
---------------------------------
这些录音绝大多数来自今年2月初至5月初三个多月的时间内，我在昆明的实地录音。这些随机收录的声音片段反映出整座城市从沉寂到恢复生机，个人生活也从公共空间退回私人空间再返回公共空间的过程。私人空间里的生活也实质性地影响到公共空间的开放度，反之亦然，公共生活的关闭让私人生活变得局促和无聊。摇摆在两者之间的日常生活逐渐成为大家不得不克服的更为漫长的“新常态”。
这个录音作品最终收录了24条实地录音片段，每段60秒，每个声音间隔3秒。这是一种平等的排列，它们像货架上的洗手液一样整齐摆放。在这些声音片段中，居家隔离时期的私人生活、媒体讯息、慢慢恢复生机的城市生活交错混合在一起。

Kunming Record During Covid 19 (excerpt) - Luo Fei - out Sept 3

study on graphical composition, produced 2019.

Untitled V

From the latest self-release Starfish & the sonic tonalities
https://manjaristic.bandcamp.com/album/starfish-the-sonic-tonalities
The Absence started from listening to an old recording of the Wind Quintet by Serbian composer Ljubica Marić. After learning the composition well, I simply fell in love with the noise hidden in-between sounds produced by an old vinyl crackling and web compression. I made myself a little drone and soon realized the psycho-acoustic qualities of it. The narrative is wrapped around the noise pollution, from both below and above the Adriatic sea.

The Absence

Mexican Tree Frog (Smilisca baudini) and Túngara frog (Engystomops pustulosus)in Metapán, Santa Ana, El Salvador. Recorded with Telinga Parabola, Senheisser ME 62 and Roland R-26. Jul 26th 2018.
Rana de árbol (Smilisca baudini) y Rana Túngara (Engystomops pustulosus)en Metapán, Santa Ana, El Salvador. Grabado con Parabola Telinga, Senheisser ME 62  y Roland R-26. 26 jul 2018

Charca de ranas

Soon: Hiraeth by tarxun and Siavash Hakim out Nov 5
Latest:
Oblique by Corder & Yantis out Sept 17
Sounds of Mmabolela - Nikki Sheth - out Sept 3
The Yearning - Liz Helman
A Long Wait - Paula García Stone

Kunming Record During Covid 19 (excerpt) - Luo Fei - out Sept 3

Flaming Pines