30.01.06
The Ghost Orchid - An Introduction to EVP
Grooves Magazine (USA):
Rather than shining light on the unknown, the attempt to explore the world of the dead seems to have made it appear all the more bewildering. Be it through séances or Ouija boards, the desire to reach what Thomas Edison called the ¨living impaired¨ remains very much a vibrant practice. For those who do not feel such an affiliation with the otherworldly, electronic voice phenomenon (EVP) aspires to provide tangible proof for life after death, poltergeist activity, and even the existence of aliens.
“Captured” by high-frequency radio receivers and a bevy of other basic recording equipment, these tapes culled from England’s leading paranormal hobbyist Raymond Cass consist of garbled voices that sing, respond to questions, and often engage in polyglot word play, deftly switching from English to German, Russian, and Latvian. Given the poor quality of the recordings, and the fact that tape warbles or high-frequency chirrups interrupt every now and again, each piece is repeated twice and introduced by composer Leif Elggren, whose brief but informative commentary helps ground the listener amid these brief, often difficult-to-understand sounds. As these fluttering, sometimes caustic, voices spill out onto radio broadcasts, and then quickly depart, one is often inclined to believe that this is all probably the result of channels crossing. At other moments - namely, those populated by alien voices or by the responses of apparent ghouls to the questions raised by radio broadcasters - even the more skeptical may find themselves surprisingly taken aback.
Wherever one happens to stand on paranormal activity, in the end there’s nothing on An Introduction to EVP that is likely to change minds as to the validity of such matters. At the very least, though, watch for blustery weather, invite a qualmish friend over for a glass of wine, give this disc a whirl, and an eventful night may not be far away. [Max Schaefer]
Brainwashed (USA):
This disk combines recordings from two well-known Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP ) researchers: Raymond Cass, whose work makes up the bulk of this disk, and Dr. Konstanin Raudive, who not only produced thousands of tapes during his lifetime but is also alleged to have appeared on recordings himself after his death. (In case you were wondering, Dr. Raudive says he's "living fine.")
The packaging for this rarely available release (it's gone out of print twice in seven years) is lush and obviously produced with care. The booklet includes not only an essay explaining EVP, but also includes detailed and thorough biographies of Cass, Raudive, and Friedrich Jurgenson (who pioneered the technique after finding voices on his tapes of bird calls). The cover image—an adaptation of a polygraph—and the photos of Cass and Jurgenson are printed in a silvery ink with a slight metallic sheen. The polygraph image is repeated in the inside of the booklet and is the perfect visual representation of eerie, distorted speech. The title itself is significant too...a ghost orchid is a tiny and rare flower, hard to come by and grow.
I was a bit apprehensive of listening to this CD initially—I'm the sort of person who avoids scary movies and covered her eyes during the bloody bits in Gladiator—but I actually did not find the recordings to be particularly scary or creepy, perhaps because I was expecting them to be. If I walked into an empty room where these recordings were being played, however, I can't say I wouldn't be scared half to death. The voices do sound ethereal and other-worldly at times; at other times they sound like a commercial or the oldies station being played on a cheap stereo down the block. They speak in English, German, Russian, and Latvian, and sometimes combinations of several languages (the so-called "polyglot voices"). They sing, laugh, and are said to respond directly to researchers and address them by name. Each fragment is repeated three times to give the listener a chance to really hear and absorb the voices.
These voices are said to be ghosts attempting to communicate from the afterlife (including Winston Churchill), psychic impressions from the researcher himself, and even extraterrestrial beings (the evidence for this being their bad grammar). I'm not sure I buy any of those explanations myself, but I do find these recordings fascinating and compelling. Some of the transcriptions of the voices are a stretch and don't sound to me much like what they're "supposed" to (I've also possibly identified an "unknown" alien word as a German surname). Even viewing these recordings as the results of radio interference, cordless phones butting in, or CB or shortwave radios breaking through, they can be enjoyed as the sonic equivalent of a found poem.
Almost Cool (USA):
Released on the Touch UK sub-label Ash International, An Introduction To EVP by The Ghost Orchid is one of those weird releases that will probably only appeal to fans of the seriously odd. EVP itself stands for Electronic Voice Phenomenon, and falls into the category of the paranormal alongside stuff like UFOlogy and telepathy. Ash International has teamed up with PARC (the Parapsychic Acoustic Research Cooperative) for this rather exhaustive collection of recordings from the collection of one Raymond Cass and Dr. Konstanin Raudive (with introductions from Leif Elggren). The resulting disc is a whopping 77 tracks and sixty five minutes of static-laden pieces of scrambled voices, singing, and flat-out weirdness that is at times creepy and at others unintentionally hilarious.
Even listeners who are flat-out skeptics can find things that are enjoyable on the release, simply because of the recordings themselves. Many of them warble with a high level of hum and hiss and noise, recalling the sprawling Conet Project box-set of shortwave radio recordings. At any rate, the disc sets itself up well, with an overall introduction by Elggren before going into another explanation from Cass (which is of noticeably lower quality) that leads into the first set of recordings (looped three times each to try to help the listener try to discern the truth). In the case of most of the recordings (in all the different sections of the disc), your overall experience will be defined by just how much you actually believe in the phenomenon.
Personally, I'm a fairly pragmatic person, and as I mentioned above, most of the clips sound like weird interrupts from a radio station, with bursts of song or fragments of broken speech from a language that's indecipherable (actually, none of the "ghosts" seem to speak English). The phenomena has been portrayed and discussed recently in everything from film (the unfortunate White Noise starring Michael Keaton) to non-fiction (Mary Roach devotes a chapter of her book Spook to the study of EVP), and is obviously viewed by serious scientists as a crackpot field.
Even with my skepticism fully in place, I have to admit that some of the tracks are somewhat creepy (namely the "alien voices" and "new research" sections, which deals with direct responses to questions) if you're in the right mood. Given the range of recordings (some of them made almost fifty years ago), the sheer textural quality (including static, weird tape warbles, and high-frequencies blips) of the release is interesting, alongside the random fragments of shattered speech and talking-heads researchers trying to somehow get some sort of response from the spirit world. Further playing on the theme, the CD includes a 12-page booklet discussing EVP, including biographical information on the researchers involved and other information.
As a child, I used to completely love reading about unexplained phenomena, but somewhere along the way, my view of the field went from really wanting to believe everything to not really believing much of anything at all. My views have become much more grounded in science, and while one could argue that the existence of voices on tape actually entails scientific proof, it's also easy enough to argue away as radio or some other sort of interference. That said, many of the clips on The Ghost Orchid are edited to be so short that it's hard to get any sort of context for them. The longer sections do a much better job of laying out the evidence, and while I still don't believe (even though I was a big fan of the X-Files), the more developed setups make for much better listening than a two-second section looped three times. Supposedly, this is only the first release in a series from Ash International about EVP, so here's hoping they draw the listener (believer or not) even further into their world on future efforts.
rating: 7
TheStranger.com:
I also used my gussied-up stereo to investigate electronic voice phenomenon, better known as EVP. The Ghost Orchid: An Introduction to EVP (Ash International) collates examples from three EVP researchers active in the 1960s and '70s: Freidrich Jürgenson, Konstantin Raudive, and Raymond Cass. All three collected purported examples of the dead communicating via radio and their mutterings embedded in magnetic tape. After some obsessive listening, I'm not sure garbled, polyglot utterances such as "Only Sonja Will Make It" and "We Can See Edith by Radio" confirm communication from beyond, but almost all of the examples have a wonderfully cryptic, lo-fi patina suitable for DJ loops or, as the booklet recommends, "intriguing and original ringtones for mobile phones."
18.01.06
Alvars Orkester - Interference
Alvars Orkester - Interference [Ash # 6.9]
can be ordered from the TouchShop now
17.01.06
Touch 25
Interference
The Sound Projector (UK):
The Wire (UK):
Swedish noise combo Alvars Orkester were active in the 80s Industrial cassette underground. Interference marks the return of core members Jan Svensson and Joachim Nordwall after a long layoff. Inspired by faintly ghoulish interest in extreme mental states (both psychic and chemically induced), the duo present four highly involving pieces, some of which feature source material dating back to the group's beginnings. Their approach switches between slowly evolving electronic dreamscapes ("Field Grey") and noise constructions ("Cobra Mist"); "Reality Distortion Field", the album's highlight, pits feedback whine against processed and cut-up voices, occupying a space somewhere between the two poles. There's a sense of careful retsraint about Interference, evincing a reluctance on the part of the duo to be drawn into making noise for noise's sake. [Keith Moliné]
Other Music (USA):
Founded in 1987, Alvars Orkester (Swedish noise/drone chiefs Joachim Nordwall and Jan Svensson) have been active on and off ever since. Initially inspired by the power electronics and harsh industrialism of Test Dept, SPK and Throbbing Gristle, the two eventually moved towards a droney, more ambient, trance. After a 10 year hiatus, Nordwall and Svensson reunited for Interference, recorded in April 2005. Opener "Johannishus" massively builds for nine minutes before it collapses into a low bass tone and morphs into "Cobra Mist," the only truly jarring wall of noise on the album, sitting nicely next to Merzbow or David Jackman's more abrasive moments. "Reality Distortion Field" samples film dialogue over sine wave drones and spills into "Field Grey," Interference's atmospheric 19-minute closer, which subtly shifts to create a trance-like effect comparable to the works of Organum or Mirror. Beautiful and disconcerting all at once. [AK]
VITAL (The Netherlands):
The name Joachim Nordwall pops up more and more in Vital Weekly. Here as a member of Alvars Orkester, recently with the Skull-defekts and sometimes releases on his own Ideal Organisation label. The Alvers Orkester exists since 1987 when it was formed by Nordwall and Jan Svensson (among unnamed others), when they lived in Johannishus, south-east of Sweden and they had a cassette label called Börft. Back then they released a couple of things on small labels in Italy, Portugal, USA and sounded by like an ambient industrial band (moving away from the first line of inspirations such as Test Dept, Throbbing Gristle and SPK). The band was in active for a couple of years, when Nordwall wasn't living in Sweden and Svensson moving to acid house. But they reformed and recorded this album in April 2005. These days they balance the lines between the strictest darker ambient corners and the highly aggressive noise version of music. The basic stuff of the four pieces here, selected by Ash-boss Mike Harding and Philip Marshal, were recorded between 1987-2005. Highly atmospheric in the opening piece 'Johannishus', going through a pretty mean noise slab of 'Cobra Mist'. Although the noise of the Alvars Orkester is a controlled one. It doesn't bounce into all sorts of directions, but works as a true wall of sound. Tape experiments with voices open up 'Reality Distortion Field', and feedback/sine wave like sounds drop in. The final piece, the longest, is 'Field Grey', and that is exactly what it is: a grey field of sound that is cut somewhat softer, but if you crank up the volume, all sorts of nasty frequencies become apparent in this piece. Quite an intense work altogether, that may also be somewhat of a surprise for the label-spotters out there. It moves into the field of drone/ambient/noise but picked out an interesting classic to explore the field with. Quite nice. [FdW]
Gonzo Circus (Belgium):
Na jaren van windstilte, de twee ‘Freq_Out’ compilaties moeten zowat het laatste wapenfeit van het label zijn, komt Ash International opnieuw aan de oppervlakte. Met de release van ‘Interference’ brengt Ash, een onderdeel van Touch, nieuw werk uit van Alvars Orkester. Het Zweedse combo debuteerde in 1987 en haalde hun inspiratie bij legendes als Test Dept, Z’Ev en de cassettecultuur. Het interesseveld van Alvars Orkester was groter dan de muziek, hun fascinatie voor psychiatrische ziektebeelden sluimerde duidelijk door in hun plaatwerk. Het handelsmerk van Alvaster Orkester is ook op ‘Interference’ een vakkundig opgetrokken wall of sound van analoge soundscapes, industriële noise en experimentele drones. De sterk ingehouden klank, de lang uitgesponnen nummers en in sobere vormgeving, een hoesontwerp van Philip Marshall, passen volledig binnen de huidige tijdsgeest en zorgt ervoor dat Jan Svensson, samen met Joachim Nordwall de spil van de groep, met ‘Interference’ aansluiting vinden het Southern Lord label, niet toevallig de thuisbasis van Thrones en Sunn O))). [Peter Deschamps]
Bad Alchemy (Germany):
ALVARS ORKESTER Interference (Ash International, # Ash 6.9): Diese ‚Analogue sound experiments from old Sweden 1987-2006+‘ lassen die Geschichte einer Clique von SPK- und Test-Department-Fans aufleben, die sich in Johannishus, einem Kaff in Südostschweden, um das von Jan Svensson & Joachim Nordwall gemachte Björft-Label geschart hatte. Der harte Industrial war bald dark ambienten und psychedelischen Neigungen gewichen, die zunehmend den Charakter der Soundproduktionen des Duos Svensson-Nordwall bestimmten. Das Orkester geriet ins Stottern, als Nordwall 1994 außer Landes ging. Nach seiner Rückkehr, wie es die kleine Welt will als Kopf von iDEAL in Gothenburg, dem Label, das die BA 50-7“ produzierte, kam es 2005 zu einer Wiederbelebung, auf die freilich Svenssons zunehmender Verfolgungswahn und interne Spannungen ihre Schatten geworfen haben. Dennoch sind vier neue Tracks entstanden, dröhnminimalistische Rauschzustände, in denen sich Erinnerungen an ‚Johannishus‘ in graue Nebel auflösen, wie sie die Titel ‚Cobra Mist‘, ‚Reality Distortion Field‘ und ‚Field Grey‘ andeuten. Stehende Drones aus motorischem Brummen, Tuckern und Sirren, orgelartige Haltetöne, Gitarrenverzerrungen und bebende Vibrationen rauschen ineinander. Vor dem inneren Auge beginnt ein grauer Vorhang sich zu kräuseln, ein granularer Sud zu sieden, pfeifendes Gebläse aufzufauchen, ein harscher Puls zu pochen, ohne dass die hermetische Undurchdringlichkeit ihr ‚Dahinter‘ preisgibt. ‚Reality Distortion Field‘ verstärkt die Irritation durch Stimmen, ominöse Filmdialoge und Telefonate. Danach wieder Grau in Grau, ein Zustand des katatonen Stupors, bei dem das Leben auf ein Grundrauschen reduziert ist und aus seiner Stagnation nur ganz allmählich sich löst, angestoßen durch ein perkussives Rumoren, das immer näher rückt, durch einen Vorhang gedämpft zwar, aber doch mit berserkerhaften Schlägen gegen Gongs und Blechwände. Am Ende bleibt nichts als ein Nachbeben, nichts als der zitternde Schleier selbst.
Ruis (Belgium):
Gonzo Circus (Belgium):
Westzeit (Germany):
Zum Glück machen die beiden Schweden Joachim Nordwall und Jan Svensson seit 1987 als Alvars Orkester zusammen Musik. Denn ohne diese Ausdrucksform wären sie entweder unberechenbare Terroristen oder hätten sich schon gegenseitig umgebracht. So können sie ihre Noise- und Industrial-Attacken dafür nutzen, mit eigenen offensichtlichen psychischen Krankheiten umzugehen und ihre spannungsreiche Beziehung zu bearbeiten. Wenn man nicht wüsste, wobei man hier zuhört, könnte man auch denken, Pan Sonic wären eingeschlafen und hätten das Band laufen lassen. ****/5 [Dennis Behle]
Fear Drop (France):
De ce duo suédois on apprend qu’il se passionne pour les maladies mentales et leurs mystères. On entend que la musique industrielle a fortement influencé leur pratique, et de telles conjonctions d’intérêts ne sont pas rares (Virgin Prunes, Psychic TV, SPK...). Encore faut-il sortir du sensationnel, préférer l’induction pour créer ou suggérer le trouble, bien plus efficace que le délire. Patiente, la musique d’Alvars Orkester est aussi très sombre, conçue en drones analogiques, en micro rotations, en flux synthétiques rapprochés et en échos de voix aveugles. Ce bloc musical est absolument cohérent, depuis ses plus linéaires propulsions de bourdonnements jusqu’aux déchirures métallisées. Le gris y domine, gouvernant le nuancier. Sombre et évocatrice, la musique sait rester réfrigérée. Dans son propos et dans sa réalisation, elle s’approche d’une version épurée de l’univers de Schloss Tegal, une horreur tissée, sans la moindre trace de narration. Ici, les bouches, les humeurs et les fracas se dessinent hors de l’organique, l’expression naît de l’interférence, une sortie du silence pour oser la métaphore nietzschéenne. Du splendide développement de drone gris sur la première plage, on retient un talent certain pour le développement d’ondes courroucées, une colère concrétisée dans les rugissements de Cobra mist, déferlement de noise analogique old school où la pulsation sort du magma, imperturbable, insensible à l’interférence. Ce jeu de submersion est-il un test de solidité pour les bases les plus stables de la réalité ? La troisième partie met celle-ci à mal, l’innervant après l’avoir brusquée. Voix empruntées et flux pulsatif hypnotique soutiennent les ascensions d’aigus, les effondrements vocaux. Malgré l’apparente fixité du fond, une nouvelle fois plus rien ne semble pouvoir résister à la corruption. La vie, le mot, modèles d’interférences et d’oxydation. Le minimalisme est ici sapé, malgré la prédilection qu’il impose à l’œuvre tout entière. Il perd un peu de sa rigueur pour voir s’agiter la matière rageuse que l’on a entendue sur différents fronts. Field grey, le morceau de conclusion, montre, magnifiques, les plages droniques de réverbérations métalliques après le festin de la rouille. Les strates exposent leurs creux, leurs morsures, leurs plaies difficilement cicatrisables, elles n’en sont que plus belles dans le reflet de leur propre crépuscule. [Denis Boyer]
Number One
freq_out 2
The Wire (UK):
D-Side (France):
az-eta (Poland):
"Freq_Out 2" is a bit of an abnormality. Given the fact that laptops are common music-making tools, it's still rather infrequent to see an orchestra of laptops given a cohesive performance. Swedish artist CM von Hausswolff assembled an all-star cast of laptop/electro-acoustic devotees [these people were actually artists, architects, composers, producers, sculptors, etc.] from around the world [Kent Tankred, Maia Urstad, BJNilsen, Jacob Kirkegaard, Brandon LaBelle, J.G. Thirlwell, CM von Hausswolff, Mike Harding, PerMagnus Lindborg, Petteri Nisunen, Jana Winderen, Finnbogi Pétursson, Tommi Grönlund and Franz Pomassl] and asked them to play in a certain frequency range. Everything here was live and recorded onto tape as it happened. Each member of this impromptu orchestra had a workstation of a mixing desk and a PA system. Everything was then mixed and melted to create the final results. The results are certainly not the chaos you may expect. Rather calming in nature, the sounds have a flowing quality to them. Imagine you're listening to a soft electric current with an array of fuzzy background humming and you'll get the gist of this record. Gentle piercing of bell and chime-like sounds along with this noise that resembles a howling wind are just two images that come to mind as I listen to this for the umpteenth time. Truly effective landscape that has an ability not to overpower the listener with too much "stuff" all at once, the hour of seamless music on "Freq_Out 2" is well orchestrated and perfectly programmed.
VITAL (The Netherlands):
The idea behind this CD, or maybe I should say, sound installation, is that thirteen artists work within a specific sound range. Unlike the first volume (see Vital Weekly 406), this is not a compilation of various pieces, but just one piece, spanning one hour. I think each artist plays within the given frequencies, but in one long jam session together. The piece is a slowly evolving matter of softly gliding tones, with sometimes elements rising out of it, but only mildly, just above the rest, but no sound seems to be taking a distinct shape. This makes this a highly ambient record, or better an environmental album, one you can put on repeat for the rest of the day at a soft volume and your space will be filled with sounds that don't force themselves upon the listener, but rather provide a nice background soundtrack for the user (rather than 'for the listener'). It's a very nice disc, much better than the first volume in terms of listening experience. Artists included are BJNilsen, J.G. Thirlwell, Jacob Kirkegaard, Jana Winderen, Maia Urstad, Kent Tankred, Finnbogi Petursson, PerMagus Lindborg, Brandon Labelle, Franz Pommasl, Mike Harding, Tommi Gronlund and Petteri Nisunen. A very fine disc. [FdW]
Bad Alchemy (Germany):
Nachdem inzwischen (am 1.10.2005) in der von Oscar Niemeyer entworfenen Zentrale der PCF in Belleville die dritte Folge von Freq_out stattgefunden hat, ist hier erst einmal freq-out 2 (Ash 6.8) dokumentiert. Das Cover zeigt den spartanischen Arbeitsplatz für einen einzelnen Knöpfchendreher. Aber CM von Hausswolff hatte im Oktober 2004 ein gutes Dutzend der einschlägig Verdächtigen für das Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival eingeladen - Brandon LaBelle, Amerikaner in Kopenhagen, den als Clint Ruin, Foetus oder Steroid Maximus besser bekannten Jim G. Thirlwell, Australier mit Wohnsitz Brooklyn, mit Mike Harding (*1957) den englischen Botschafter des Königreichs Elgaland-Vargaland, der seit 1981 zusammen mit Jon Wozencroft Touch leitet und seit 1995 auch noch Ash International, den Österreicher Franz Pomassl, aus Schweden Kent Tankred (*1947), einer der Söhne Gottes, den auch als Hazard bekannten BJNilsen (*1975) und den in Paris ansässigen PerMagnus Lindborg (*1968), den Dänen Jacob Kirkegaard (*1975), Maia Urstad & Jana Winderen aus Norwegen, Finnbogi Pétursson (*1959, Reykjavik) und die beiden Finnen Petteri Nisunen & Tommi Grönlund, die offenbar als einzige als Team fungierten. Von ihnen zusammen stammt der exakt einstündige, dröhnminimalistische Soundscape, der sich mit geradezu prototypischer Ambientsublimität im Raum entfaltet und ihn mit nordischer Chillout-Atmosphäre tönt. Wobei Hausswolffs Konzept darin bestand, jedem Zwölftel dieses Quasi-Mimeo-Orchesters aus dem Audiospektrum von 11000 Hertz nur je ein Frequenzfenster von 250 Hz zuzubilligen. The orchestra is dead! Long live the new organic frequency output autocracy! Das je Individuelle geht dabei als nur leichte Temperaturveränderung, vage Farbnuance oder Duftnote im Klangbild unter. Ohne Schnitte oder Brüche fließen die einzelnen Zutaten ineinander, ein gemeinsamer Atem zieht sich durchs ganze sehr kristalline und frostig klare Stück.
Freemusic (CZ):
V podstat? podobného zvukového charakteru jako album Sala Santa Cecilia je i tato nahrávka, p?esto však vznikala naprosto jiným zp?sobem. Za vše hovo?í slova, jež u p?íležitosti festivalu Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music pronesl v roce 2004 její kurátor C.M. von Hausswolff (jež byl zárove? jedním ze zú?astn?ných hudebník?): "Vytvá?íme totáln? nový koncept vzniku hudby. Tato myšlenka je založena na respektu, ?lenitosti a spojování. Orchestr je mrtev! Skupina je mrtva! Hudební soubor je mrtvý! ... Toto je p?edve?er nové hudby 21.století!" Ve skute?nosti tu má poslucha? co do?in?ní s více mén? ambientn? zn?jící zvukovou instalací, tvo?enou dvanácti p?izvanými osobnostmi (krom? von Hausswolffa mj. Jacob Kirkegaard, J.G.Thirlwell, B.J.Nilsen a celá ?ada mén? známých Skandinávc?), jež vznikala improvizovanou cestou výhradn? za pomoci laptop? a se zam??ením na ur?itou frekvenci, p?i které, jak lí?í von Hausswolff "každý detail, každá vte?ina hluku a ticha jednoduše p?ispívá k celkovému atmosférickému a emocionálnímu zvukovému výsledku, jež valná ?ást z nás chápe jako podstatnou esenci muzikálnosti". V podstat? statický a nem?nný ráz nahrávky vyvažuje v?domé nastolení kázn?, ba p?ímo ?ádu jednotlivých zú?astn?ných. P?i jejím poslechu se totiž ani nechce v??it, jakýmže stylem tento hudební útvar vlastn? spat?il sv?tlo sv?ta. Nic na tom nezm?ní ani fakt, že samotný poslech tentokrát možná p?ed?í prvotn? plánovaná idea jejího vzniku.
Signal To Noise (USA):
El (USA):
The Wire (UK):
13.01.06
Fennesz | Phoenix Dance Theatre
A new dance piece by Darshan Singh Buller - "Laal", features a seven minute extract from Fennesz's Spire Live in Geneva set. The world premier is at Sadler's Wells on March 2nd 2006. This is his final piece as The Phoenix Dance Theatre's Artistic Director.
12.01.06
New Ash International site and new release
Ash International relaunches in its 13th year with a new release by Alvars Orkester. A celebration of the 13th anniversary will be held at Fylkingen, Stockholm, on 26th February 2006. You can hear a track here (down at the bottom there)
09.01.06
Touch & Spire live in 2006
There will be various live events throughout the period to celebrate our 25th anniversary.
The first will be a label showcase with Philip Jeck at the ICA, London, on Friday May 5th 2006 as part of the Cut & Splice festival. Accompanying the live set will be a film, 'fingerprints' by Tereza Stehlikova. 2230-0100 HRS
Spire Live events can be found here
TouchRadio 12 | 8.01.06
TouchRadio 12 is now posted. Jacob Kirkegaard performs Eldfjall live in Spain...
Jacob Kirkegaard writes: "The sounds I here perform with were recorded in two ways: with an acoustic microphone and with an accelerometer. For the acoustic recordings I used a Sanken CSS-5 which I held very closely to the tiny bubbling surface. The accelerometer was inserted approximately 4 cm into the earth and picked up a denser timbre than the acoustic microphone. As opposed to the Eldfjall CD release (where I chose to let the sounds stand by themselves), I here mixed the different sounds with each other to create a more organic sound and a narrative. I began the concert with creaking ice from different lakes in Iceland. These were also recorded with accelerometers. None of the sounds have been processed."
And we are also delighted to report that TouchPod is now fully operational as a podcast in iTunes again...
01.01.06
Biosphere - dropsonde [CD]
This release is available on CD and LP from the TouchShop
See 'Tour Dates' below for news of a UK tour of cinemas by Biosphere in April 06