General Rehearsal

Radio work for @thelakeradio (honorable mention) and part of 'Enclosed Garden' collective exhibition by Heroine Waves.

Souvenir

"Good Vibes Tonight", by MJ Lenderman

Guest mix for faitiche's radio show on LYL - Temple of Faitiche, Nº20, 27 March 2020 

https://lyl.live/episode/temple-of-faitiche-20/

Hanno Leichtmann – Selbstbespiegelung
Else Marie Pade – Syv Cirkler
Andrés Lewin-Richter – Study No. 1
Fracture Mechanics – Pendentive
Katrine Ring – Den Politiske Håndvask 1
Boris Hegenbart – Wasser Studie
Marja Ahti – Chora
Hideki Umezawa – Still | Steel
Marcus Schmickler – Wabi Sabi (Part 4)
Boris Hegenbart – Wasser Studie
Nicola Ratti – Bn2
Daniel Majer – Tu Lip
Jan Jelinek – Framework 10 (Remix)
Mads Emil Nielsen – Buchla Sketch
Riviera Tape Stash – Strong Arm Baby
Ahnnu – Dovetail
Boris Hegenbart with Stephan Mathieu – S Anode M
David Moss – Terrain 3
James Sey / James Webb – Book Of Imaginary Wavelengths: Book 5
Mads Emil Nielsen – Framework 3 – 3
Andrew Pekler – Tuanahe

https://faitiche.de/blog/2020/03/25/temple-of-faitiche-march-2020

Temple of Faitiche 20 - guest mix

Pie Are Squared is Italy-based Egyptian musician Mohammed Ashraf. He has previously released music through labels such as Handstitched*, Lost Children and on Eilean Records as Śruti, his collaboration with Omar El Abd. Some of you may also recall this year's 'muri', which was the 13th addition to our Home Diaries Series.

'Con Calma' is a serene album for quiet contemplation, as minimalist tones glide and encourage a sense of detachment. It began as Mohammed gathered recordings on his mobile phone whilst travelling, which were later fed through various chains of effects. Guitars and a range of utilities were used to craft these lulling tones, with the wealth of source and detail somehow liquefying into a collection of daydreams. 

These reveries were assembled from lengthy loop sessions, which Mohammed listened to for almost a year to help him detach from the mundane office routine. He wanted this work to be a form of escapism, yet free from anxiety; a slow, calm exit.

Con Calma is not completely weightless and feather-lite; at times the light abrasion of distortion joins the wash, to add texture. The album is best enjoyed with the tracks played in sequence, as they envelope you into a sense of contemplation, starting from humble, quiet beginnings, journeying through air and rail in 'Flügezüge', onto more than a hint of stormy seas towards the second half, before closing with the daze of its final moments in 'Away, World, Away'.

Releases 25/07/2020
Written and produced by Mohammed Ashraf
Mastered by Ian Hawgood
Photography by Mohammed Ashraf
Packaging design by Harry Towell

Con Calma

wlr076 Pie Are Squared - Con Calma

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)

Simon Whetham - (R)ASSEMBLE - YARMONICS 2020

Loop 34 (Bucles)

Ned Lagin's Seastones is a pioneering electronic composition interweaving metaphors from nature, science, art and music and the origins of music. Reflecting the technology, science, modern art, new ecological awareness and optimism of the times and culture, Seastones embodies the history of electronic music by taking full advantage of tape music, analog synthesizers and computer technology to create pieces that are dynamic, rich and deep.

Originally released by the Grateful Dead's Round Records in 1975, Seastones' reputation as a gem of electronic music was further enhanced by the celebrity of the musicians who contributed to the source material. Seastones musicians include Ned Lagin (processed piano, clavichord, organ, prepared piano, electric piano, synthesizers), Jerry Garcia (processed electric guitar, pedal steel guitar, voice), Phil Lesh (processed electric bass), David Crosby processed electric guitar and vocals), Grace Slick and David Freiberg (processed vocals), and Mickey Hart and Spencer Dryden (percussion).

This new LP presents two crafted Seastones sets (Sets 4 and 5, 18 tracks) drawn from the entire Seastones composition and contains gorgeous extended processed vocals by Garcia, Crosby, Slick and Freiberg, and beautiful abstract instrumental passages by Lagin and all.

Ned Lagin - Seastones - Seastones 03 - LP available Nov. 3, 2020

Track from:
Simon Whetham "Forced to Repeat Myself" CD

“When performing with a limited set of resources, through choices in materials to work with and the constraints of being nomadic, there can be a tendency to repeat actions and scenes that 'work', even when improvising and having to respond to each new situation in a unique way.”

One characteristic aspect of the touring experience that is not discussed often enough is the dilemma of repetition. Not repetition as a mechanism of the work itself, but as a tedious consequence of being obligated to perform night after night in quick succession. Generating a completely unique performance for each stop, even with the assistance of improvisation,  is a laborious undertaking that consumes too much time and sanity, while adhering to a rigid set of rules leaves one open to both burnout and diminishing returns. Is there a way to split the difference so that both performer and audience are always engaged to the highest standard?

“I set these constraints on myself. The need to produce something (at least a little) different in each event of a tour was fierce, especially when traveling with other musicians.”

Explicitly within the title itself of his latest CD, Forced To Repeat Myself, UK sound artist and composer Simon Whetham tackles these questions with both a sly wit and sincere inquisitiveness. The tracks, all collected from recordings documenting a 2018 tour, utilize analogous source material and means of execution.  Whetham paid particular attention to the contour and character of each venue when deciding how to best put the pieces together, offering a customization that subverts pure deja vu for a sharp observance of the unfamiliar.

“In each situation objects and materials unique to the space were incorporated into the performance setup and structure, generating sounds or resonating with them. And yet I could hear similar scenes, movements, even spaces. This repetition determined the dynamic of the composition, working with it and against it.”

By the very nature of their disseminating sparseness, the tracks of Forced To Repeat Myself demand from the listener an attentiveness fixed on nuance and variation. The amplified cracks and static of ethereal currents and anonymous electronics infer the works of others who’ve made it their mission to attune our attention toward sounds outside our natural perception, including Christina Kubisch’s electrical walks, Toshimaru Nakamura’s no-input mixer excursions, and Jason Zeh’s experiments with blank tapes and the mechanizations of his cassette players. Whetham’s shaping of the album’s source material to highlight certain exclusivities of each live performance emphasizes how the inherent dynamics of time and chance guide his self-imposed constraints into pathbreaking spectrums. 

“The title references a phrase many of us will have heard in our formative years, ’Why do you force me to repeat myself?’ I have no answer to this question. I never forced anyone to do anything. But with this work, I did.”

One inherent paradox of Forced To Repeat Myself is that each listen naturally manifests a distinct, individual experience. The way sounds are received and processed in one instance to the next each forget their own entryway into transcribing meaning from this abstraction. And Whetham is keenly aware of this as the sounds of Forced To Repeat Myself find consistent, unique ways to perpetuate themselves, ensuring any repetition to be delicately understated.

"Good Vibes Tonight", by MJ Lenderman

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