In the summer of 2022 Nik Forrest and I began a collaborative sound project; a double lathe-cut record called “Split Solstice.” This project is rooted in our shared interest in the sound of very low frequency (VLF) signals, the normally inaudible electromagnetic waves that result from natural phenomena, including lightning, aurora borealis, and solar flares, as well as the urban electrical grid and other human technologies. We recorded VLF and audio samples simultaneously in Gaspé, Quebec, and Lofoten, Norway, two locations in the Northern hemisphere on June 21st, at the moment of the summer solstice. We exchanged these files and worked with them to make the compositions featured on the A and B sides of the first record. The second record features a selection of original VLF samples from Gaspé and Lofoten.

Track Title for this Side: Lightening (O) - 1. Searching, 2. No Darkness, 3. New Light

Owen - Split Solstice Studio - Stereo

Synth Happenstance performance by Concordia University's Sound III students. Recorded on September 20, 2018 in the CJ Building.

Download the full performance here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bdKMzmw7mqXAVHAZqo13hbyTJNnnJO6-/view?usp=sharing

Matthieu and Antoine (September 20, 2018)

Synth Happenstance performance by Concordia University's Sound III students. Recorded on September 27, 2018 in the CJ Building.

Download the full performance here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wOsqzEtBCTvAqsrzneUXV9mnIm6j_4EO/view?usp=sharing

Zack and Elijah (September 27, 2018)

Synth Happenstance performance by Concordia University's Sound III students. Recorded on October 11, 2018 in the CJ Building.

Download the full performance here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Jf70BVQu6UqOgMtMHw76fWfuYlLkw5lO/view?usp=sharing

Jennifer and Antoine (October 11, 2018)

Synth Happenstance performance by Concordia University's Sound III students. Recorded on October 4, 2018 in the CJ Building.

Download the full performance 
here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wCenzX3YUx2_O5Vg5_DjNWBlUsZjmE9l/view?usp=sharing

Theo and Lou (October 4, 2018)

Synth Happenstance performance by Concordia University's Sound III students. Recorded on October 18, 2018 in the CJ Building.

Download the full performance here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1h-t5NxFKgxRDWoBJpDSVIwnz_7n0iVyq/view?usp=sharing

Kieu-Lan and Sara (October 18, 2018)

Synth Happenstance performance by Concordia University's Sound III students. Recorded on October 25, 2018 in the CJ Building.

Download the full performance here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ey4qH3fX_CGhPJ3n9uNlJl45VOoN7UFX/view?usp=sharing

Michelle and Audrey (October 25, 2018)

Synth Happenstance performance by Concordia University's Sound III students. Recorded on November 9, 2018 in the CJ Building.

Download the full performance here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TQ8ZKiHkmdGiHfH2DBdIhHVRgke6--uc/view?usp=sharing

Xi and Yara (November 9)

Synth Happenstance performance by Concordia University's Sound III students. Recorded on November 15, 2018 in the CJ Building.

Download the full performance here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BOCYGwVO3ym_ID_KKLn7uX_jYAgPOZ3Y/view?usp=sharing

Giordano and Sima (November 15, 2018)

Synth Happenstance performance by Concordia University's Sound III students. Recorded on November 1, 2018 in the CJ Building.

Download the full performance here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1N8tSrMninPNvmOSXiNCL1TTFX8BnRfO-/view?usp=sharing

Susan and Rodrigo (November 1, 2018)

Vacant City Radio explores vacancy and abandonment in the urban center, and the rare pause in activity surrounded by the otherwise churning urban soundscape. I focused on these moments of transition between the monumental industrial past and the generic, gentrifying present, and the highly evocative nature of the sounds found in these empty buildings. Vacant City Radio considers ebbs in place and memory through ephemeral sonic and radiophonic representations of city, through lost sounds found in the dark halls of the factory and the radio dial.

From 2001-2002 I recorded the soundscapes of abandoned factories and wharehouses along the Lachine Canal in Montréal. In the intervening years, all of these unique acoustic spaces are now lost – either demolished entirely or renovated into condominiums. I linked these field recordings touring specific empty places with more ethereal cities of radio and memory: the ‘lost’ cities on the shortwave dial. Many transistor radios, particularly from Europe, were designed with the names of cities in place of frequencies on the dial, but as shortwave broadcasting is in decline and as stations migrate to other positions on the dial, tuning to these frequencies often yields only static.

Vacant City Radio was developed during an artist residency at the Western Front, Vancouver in 2005. It first aired on ORF Kunstradio(Austria) on May 29, 2005. It has subsequently been featured on independent radio stations across Canada, as well as WKCR (New York City),free103point9 (Brooklyn), DeutschlandRadio Berlin, Ars Sonora, Spain, and many others. It was released as a limited edition of 350 CDs (now sold out).

Owen - Split Solstice Studio - Stereo

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