Floating in the Nothing

LAWRENCE ENGLISH, Observation of Breath, LP

Release date - Sept 10th 2021
Catalogue nr. - HG2103
Format - Vinyl / digital
Hallow Ground

hallowground.bandcamp.com

Tracklist:
1) A Torso (10:01)
2) A Binding (06:05)
3) And A Twist (02:42)
4) Observation Of Breath (20:44)

Credits:
All organ recorded at The Old Museum, Brisbane July-November 2020,
except A Torso’s centre section which was recorded in 2016 on the same organ.
Performed and Produced by Lawrence English
Picture by Juan Valverde de Amusco, 1560
Design by Ruth Stofer and Greenpointless

///
Do you remember the last time you were breathing consciously? Either way, you are likely doing it now. On his new album »Observation of Breath« for the Swiss-based Hallow Ground label, Lawrence English worked exclusively with an organ for four compositions that are exercises in »maximal minimalism,« as their creator himself notes in a nod to Charlemagne Palestine, who coined this term. While it seems somewhat fitting that those four pieces based on a steady flow of air were conceived and recorded in a situation of accelerated standstill caused by a respiratory disease, the Room40 founder is not so much concerned with capturing the zeitgeist than rather incorporating the spirit of time itself. »It is a record about presence and patience,« he explains. Exploring the unique sonic affordances of a singular instrument, »Observation of Breath« is not only devoted to the durability of sound but also to its density. That it marks his debut on Hallow Ground after having shaped its sound by mastering most of the label’s releases in recent years is just as fitting then as its release following albums by Kali Malone and FUJI|||||||||||TA, whose innovative work with organ instruments have facilitated a rediscovery of their possibilities. 

English’s compositions however are neither directly indebted nor responding to these musicians. His exploration of the organ’s many facets started a decade ago when the composer was given access to an instrument built in 1889 that is presently housed at The Old Museum in Brisbane. After it had already played a crucial role on his seminal albums »Wilderness Of Mirrors« and »Cruel Optimism,« last year’s self-released »Lassitude« was the first record that English entirely composed and recorded with that instrument. »During the soft lockdowns, I spent many days playing to an empty concert hall, recording the pieces that became ›Lassitude‹ and then, this album,« says English in regards to an unfortunate situation that fortunately provided him with time and space—two major themes but also key qualities of the four new compositions. In this sense, he goes on, »Observation of Breath« resolves a number of the questions originally raised by »Lassitude.«

»The organ is an exercise in the observation of breath,« English explains the album’s title. »It is a physical breath, one that manifests both audible and inaudible waves of vibrations. The sheer scale of the instrument, its weight and the physical length of the pipes involved in producing the sounds we experience is nothing short of mind-boggling.« More importantly, the sound artist is fascinated by the organ’s ability to produce frequencies that exist at the sensory limits of human awareness—it’s at the edges of these limits that fascination can be found, he argues. »The particular organ that I work with comprises four manuals and 45 speaking stops and it has a tubular-pneumatic action,« he explains. »It’s the stops that are the focus of my interest. They are very specific and when manipulated in certain ways and in certain combinations, create a unique set of unsteady timbres that make it a remarkably intoxicating instrument to collaborate with.«

LAWRENCE ENGLISH - A Binding (HG2103)

These Are Just Times And They Will Change

a song from Echotourism Vol. 3
http://echotourist.bandcamp.com/album/va-echotourizm-vol-3

it is about one beautiful ukrainian village
and with some field recordings from there

summer-winter 2013

picture by Boris Litovchenko 

+++


Sedniv

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Lo-Theory

New project of BedouinDrone + Abu Ama , first album 2023

" SHABAH"  limited Cassette released 12.08.23 -free download   https://mahorka.bandcamp.com/album/1

Excerpt of the first five minutes from the forthcoming vinyl re-issue of 'Topography of The Lungs' - one of the key recordings in the development of free improvisation and originally the first release on Incus, the label founded by Evan Parker, Derek Bailey and Tony Oxley to document the music. 

This vinyl issue caps off a year celebrating Evan Parker's 70th Birthday. Evan plays a week of concerts at Cafe OTO and The Vortex from the 20-26 October. 

Release Date: 15 December 2014

Liner notes by Evan Parker (for the 2014 re-issue):

‘The Topography of the Lungs’ was the first recording I made as a "leader" - in the somewhat antiquated terminology of the times. What this means in simple terms is that I set up the date and invited Han and Derek to participate - after that it was a matter of open interaction.

The original notes make clear my enthusiasm for the work that Derek Bailey and Han Bennink had done as a duo and it was good of them to share their discoveries with me. It was the first release on Incus, a label that I set up with Derek Bailey and Tony Oxley with financial assistance from music journalist Michael Walters.  No accurate history of Incus Records has yet been written. After parting company  and when the conditions of my agreement with Derek Bailey had been met, it was issued as a CD, thanks to Martin Davidson, on my label psi.

Musicians of my generation were very happy when the CD superseded the LP. I remember clearly the initial argument that CD was an elitist format... Times and attitudes have changed and the LP has made a serious return, especially in the documentation of marginal musics. OTOroku is run by and, perhaps, largely for, a new generation of listeners who have an affection for the LP format that reminds me of my youth.

I am very happy that a label associated with one of the most important music venues in London is overseeing this release.

I often travel along Dawes Road in Fulham and pass the building where the recording was made.  It is on the first floor by a bus stop and was a small space with a dead acoustic, probably ideal for making low-budget rock demos, which encouraged very analytical listening.

The engineer, Bob Woolford, was not shocked by what we were doing. On the contrary he was then, and remains, one of the great engineers, along with Adam Skeaping and Michael Gerzon who enjoyed the challenges of recording alternative musics.

In the intervening forty-odd years since its first release, the idealism of the original notes has been battered almost sense-less by the Neo-Liberal (Neo-Fascist would be a more accurate term) moves to global hegemony. I take heart from the environ-mental, Occupy and anti-war movements and would encourage all younger listeners to find a way to live their lives as far as possible without interference and control by decisions made in corporate boardrooms. May the music here give you energy and fuel your imaginations.

					          EP  (August, 2014)



PRE-ORDER NOW

Evan Parker / Derek Bailey / Han Bennink 'Topography of the Lungs' [Excerpt] (ROKU(RE)001)

Lumen Naturale

SIMINA OPRESCU, Sound of Matter, LP
Hallow Ground
Vinyl / digital, catalogue nr. HG2402, EAN: 0602343041803

Tracklist:
1. Sound of Matter I (16:16)
2. Sound of Matter II (19:19)

Credits:
Composed, mixed, and written in Berlin, December 2022 – February 2023 by Simina Oprescu
Mastering by Lawrence English
Master cut by Andreas Lupo Lubich
Artwork by Laurin Huber
Essay by Simina Oprescu

Sound of Matter

Simina Oprescu - Sound of Matter II (excerpt) (HG2402)

Microwave is a community-based, audiovisual webradio. We aim to provide a platform for a wide variety of upcoming artists through digital and real-life media.

Tune in at microwave.live

17.02.2024 Noase w/ Entrantica

from the Spectrographies Soundtrack to be released on Last known Trajectory.

Spectrographies trailer : https://vimeo.com/140039915
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3543838/

YOUR DESIRE FOR HER GHOST

an excerpt from the second track on Robert Turman's "Flux" 2xLP, a reissue of his debut solo work from 1981. Due at Forced Exposure first week of February

Excerpt from "Flux" by Robert Turman

Track from NE62 Misantropen – Molltoner från Norrland 1 & 2
2x Cassette & Digital

Visual by A.L.

Pre-order: http://northernelectronics.bandcamp.com

Misantropen – Moll 4

Misantropen – Moll 5

You Do Know Me

•͙✧⃝ Dream✩ͯAura✧⃝.•͙͙✩ͯ

Online Shop: www.northernelectronics.bandcamp.com

WW Distribution: www.spacecadets.world

Misantropen – Moll 5

Northern Electronics

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