Touch News

A Journey through My Bloody Valentine

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 10:17:24 +0000

A picture story of MBV's final performance at the Roundhouse on 24th June 2008

Photography by Jon Wozencroft

Tone 31 - Lawrence English "Kiri No Oto"

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:00:01 +0000

CD - 8 tracks - 43:10 Photography & Design: Jon Wozencroft Mastered by Denis Blackham The Japanese phrase 'Kiri No Oto' loosely translates to the 'sound of fog' or 'sound of mist'. In many ways it's a collection that meditates on the sense of displacement and distortion that occurs in environments which undergo extreme mists, snowstorms and sea sprays. In the same way that visual objects loose their perspective, form and shape in these environments, the sound components that make up Kiri No Oto are not quite as they first might appear. Utilising a range of divergent mixing techniques, analog filtering and 'harmonic' distortion, Kiri No Oto offers an expansive sound space in which the listener must choose to position themselves. Focus, like that in a fog, is in a constant state of flux as elements are brought into and out of perspective. The first in a series of records employing this technique, Kiri No Oto explores the richness in the frequencies that are usually associated with extremes of volume and through this process the recordings position 'the ear' itself as 'another layer of auditory fog' as it begins to distort and alter the sounds it comes in contact with. The sounds sources for Kiri No Oto emanate from both instruments and found sound, with recordings on this edition made in Poland, New Zealand, Australia and Japan. Tracklist 1. Organs Lost At Sea 2. Soft Fuse 3. White Spray 4. Waves Sheer Light 5. Commentary 6. Allay 7. Figure's Lone Static 8. Oamura

Touch Radio 32 | Tom Lawrence

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:00:01 +0000

32. 1.07.08 - Donadea Forest - 30:47 - 192 kpbs Donadea Forest Recordings, December 2007 to May 2008. 00:00-04:27 Castle Crow's Cacophony (31st December 2007, 7.20am) 04:28-10:23 January Gales 9th January 2008 10.45pm (contains references to 9/11 forest monument and the avenue of trees, captured with contact mics) 10:24-14:48 Forest Rain 12th January 2008 1.15am (extensive flooding) 14:49-20:36 Forest Harmonics 8th March 2008 6.20-11.50am (sampled forest chimes, forestry felling, and the 'carbon chorus' [surrounding motorways]). 20:37-30:47 The Dawn Chorus (recorded on National Dawn Chorus Day 20th May 2008, 4.35am) Tom Lawrence is a composer/sound recordist. He is on the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Dublin City University. Further details can be found here. Principal photography by Eddie Mallin from Dublin, currently living in Kildare. Using film-based cameras, he prints using traditional darkroom techniques and favours fibre-based papers. Images for this project are mainly scanned negatives. Monochrome images © Eddie Mallin. For more information, click here. Supplementary photography captured during recording sessions by Tom Lawrence. Special thanks to Karen Bothwell, Forest Manager Kildare & E.Laois and all the staff at Coillte Teoranta. For more info on Donadea Forest, click here. These recordings were made using a Sennheiser mkh20 binaural rig, a Neumann kmr82, contact microphones, a hydrophone, a Sony C1 and a Sound Devices mixer and recorder.

TS06 - Mika Vainio "Behind the Radiators"

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:02:05 +0000

7" vinyl only Limited edition Artwork and photography by Jon Wozencroft Cut by Jason at Transition Track Listing: Side A: Behind the Radiator Part 1 - 2:52 + Side B: Behind the Radiator Part 2 - 2:58 + Locked grooves Mika Vainio continues the series of Touch Sevens, 7" vinyl-only releases, with this stunning record. The crackle... The fire of the analogue... Mika Vainio is the most adept at using crackle as a voice. Sound artists have used crackle ever since the reality of digital audio hit home, however there's a big difference between this and how other practitioners use it... Here are two tracks recorded by Mika in Berlin this February. He has released 3 solo albums for Touch under his own name [Onko, 1997; Kajo, 2000 and In the Land of the `blind, One-Eyed is King, 2003. He is perhaps best known as part of the Finnish duo, Pan Sonic, and he also releases work as Ø for Finnish label, Säkhö Recordings. 7" vinyl was the quintessential format for popular music. Today, it is an undervalued and mostly promotional medium, used as a fetishistic signpost to a time of musical authenticity and a "healthy" popular culture. It might seem like another retrograde step to launch a vinyl series just as the download format threatens to dominate, and indeed there is an element of "the rear view mirror"... the generation of Touch artists who grew up with vinyl [and cassette] still feeling a strong emotional attachment to it. This series is more than that... an overtly critical, non-digital statement is supported by treatments of audio work which cannot be applied to digital formats - the sonic texture, the use of a locked groove, the A & the B and the additional dimension of the visual counterpoint. As for the aspect of audience participation, we choose not to specify the RPM on the label, encouraging the listener to experiment with playback options and personal preferences. An attempt to make music that works at both speeds. The front cover might actually be the back cover... http://www.phinnweb.org/vainio/

TouchRadio 31 | Simon Fisher Turner

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 17:17:32 +0000

01.06.08 Simon Fisher Turner - Lifesounds - 23:08 - 96 kbps 1. Lindsay Anderson recorded at the memorial service for Andrei Tarkovsky [1932-1986] at St. James's Church, Piccadilly, London 2. Filming The Garden [Derek Jarman, 1990] at Dungeness, Kent. 3. Mrs. Oyler in conversation with Derek Jarman 4. Brick Lane Man, 1988

TS03 - AER "Project"

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 12:24:25 +0000

7" vinyl only Limited edition Artwork and photography by Jon Wozencroft Cut by Jason at Transition 'Project' began as a film soundtrack for "The Overcoming of Hazard" by Brad Butler and Karen Mirza, whose 3 monitor installation piece was presented in the crypt of St. Pancras church in London, August 07. It uses four atmosphere recordings, short wave radio and an organ stop - an attempt to confuse inside and out. Mixed with Mathias Gmachl at Loop.ph using Digital Performer, one side is designed for headphone listening, the other for speaker playback. The recording of the 16mm projector was made with the assistance of Al Rees. AER is the occasional recording name for Jon Wozencroft, art director and editor of Touch. For more information on AER, go here about the filmmakers: Karen Mirza is an influential figure in artist film and video, known both for her work and her curatorial practice. She has recently been appointed a director of the new LUX organisation, and has been a tutor in film and video at the Royal College of Art for several years. Her work has been screened at the Tate Modern, Dokument/Art Film Germany, the National Film and Television Theatre, ‘Other British Cinema’, The LUX centre ‘Monuments and mise en scene’ where it preceded Kubrick’s ‘A Clockwork Orange’, the Whitechapel gallery and festivals in Australia, Holland and Germany. Karen recently completed a new body of work, ‘site/non site’ at Goliath visual arts space in New York. Through her activities as a spokesperson for experimental film, Karen has been asked to present her work at screenings in Paris, Berlin and India, as well as creating an evening for the London Film Festival. In collaboration with David Cunningham and Brad Butler, Karen is currently launching ‘where a straight line meets a curve’, her second film financed by the Arts Council. Brad Butler graduated from the Royal College of Art with an MA in Documentary Direction. He also has a first class degree in Anthropology from UCL. His documentaries have been screened on Channel 4 and the BBC, as well as the ICA, NFT, Hedah, Amsterdam. Mute Loops, D-Net, The Lux Centre for Film, Video & Digital Arts. Instit. Francais d’Architectur, Paris. Architecture Film Festival, Rotterdam, BBC British Short Film Festival, London. Experimenta Media Arts, Melbourne, Australia. New British Cinema, Cinema de Balie, Amsterdam, The Tate Gallery, London and multiple festivals across Europe and the US. In September 2000 he won and headlined BBC2’s talent 2000 competition, as well as winning the National Student Television Award in 1998. Brad has just directed his first feature length documentary in the US entitled ‘The Tunnel’, launched in Dec 2002. Brad is actively linked to the DocHouse initiative in London and is co-curator of the light reading series. In 1998 Brad Butler and Karen Mirza established no.w.here. Building on their training as film specialists, their vision was to create a cross-disciplinary, multi platform studio for experimental film. no.w.here have grown to become major activists in this area and now manage ‘Artslab’, a not for profit professional studio dedicated to film as a fine art practice. Artslab was launched in January 2003 and is the only lab in the UK to offer the filmmaker hands on manipulation of the film negative in post production and is a central meeting point for Independent filmmakers interested in the preservation of the film form. Tracklist Side A: Headphones Side B: Speakers

Frieze Magazine's review of Adrian Shaughnessy’s "Cover Art By: New Music Graphics"

Fri, 30 May 2008 18:44:22 +0000

"… Shaughnessy’s book is not an act of mourning for a lost era of great cover art, but a celebration of those labels whose designs have thrived in the digital era. Foremost amongst these are Touch and Ghost Box. The identity of these labels has been defined by their cover designers, Jon Wozencroft and Julian House. Touch began in the early ‘80s, but its tactile aesthetic – it conceived of itself as an ‘audio-visual’ label – meant that it was never going to succumb to the digital tendency towards decoupling sound from images. Wozencroft’s cover photographs – austerely, impersonally beautiful shots – do not so much illustrate the music of Touch artists such as Fennesz, Oren Ambarchi and Philip Jeck as they set a tone for how it can be heard. …" Click here to read the full review online at frieze.com

Tone 28 - Spire Live "Fundamentalis"

Fri, 23 May 2008 11:02:29 +0000

Spire Live - Fundamentalis Autofact FACT 12/Touch Tone 28 Double LP Vinyl only Art Direction & Design by Jon Wozencroft Spire Live - Fundamentalis is a collection of live tracks recorded at various Spire events held throughout 2005 and 2006. Released in association with US label, Autofact, Touch presents a selection of tracks performed by the main performers of Spire: Fennesz | Philip Jeck | BJNilsen | Charles Matthews | Marcus Davidson. Improvised pieces from Fennesz, BJNilsen and Philip Jeck contrast with a performance by Charles Matthews of a scored composition by Italian composer Giacinto Scelsi, 'In Nomine Lucis', and Marcus Davidson's self-penned 'Standing Wave', which ends side two with a locked groove. Cut to preserve and enhance the bottom end frequencies, Fundamentalis is not merely a document; the tension between and within the individual pieces is palpable. Fennesz's set "...evokes the rolling centuries in all their pain and beauty, leaving us at once becalmed and energised, but never oppressed under the weight of time." Electronics breathe new life not only into the organ, but also into the setting. But successor does not mean replacement. Ultimately, it's the majestic sound of the organ, so steeped in centuries of tradition, that one remembers above all else. Spire is one of the most innovative projects around, drawing on the full canon of organ works, from the very first annotation in the Robertsbridge Codex from the 14th Century, to max msp patches and software sampling... With two CD releases and 9 performances in cathedrals and churches throughout Europe, Spire remains a potent live force in harnessing the sounds of the ages. Track Listing: Side One Philip Jeck - Live in St. Michel & St. Gudula Cathedral, Brussels [as part of Les Nuits Botaniques] 7th May 2006 16:36 Side Two 1. Charles Matthews - Live in St. Michel & St. Gudula Cathedral, Brussels [as part of Les Nuits Botaniques] - plays Giacinto Scelsi: In Nomine Lucis 7th May 2006 11:29 2. Marcus Davidson - Live in Masthuggs Church, Göteborg [as part of the GAS Festival] - Standing Wave 4th October 2005 9:11 locked groove Side Three BJNilsen - Live in Masthuggs Church, Göteborg [as part of the GAS Festival] 4th October 2005 19:36 Side Four Fennesz - Live in St. Michel & St. Gudula Cathedral, Brussels [as part of Les Nuits Botaniques] 7th May 2006 16:02 Compiled and edited by Mike Harding October/November 2006 Cut by Jason at Transition, London, on a Neumann VSM 70 March 2007 Now available from the TouchShop

Tone 28 - Spire Live "Fundamentalis"

Fri, 23 May 2008 01:44:27 +0000

[vinyl only through Autofact, USA] Art Direction & Design by Jon Wozencroft Spire Live - Fundamentalis is a collection of live tracks recorded at various Spire events held throughout 2005 and 2006. Released in association with US label, Autofact, Touch presents a selection of tracks performed by the main performers of Spire: Fennesz | Philip Jeck | BJNilsen | Charles Matthews | Marcus Davidson. Improvised pieces from Fennesz, BJNilsen and Philip Jeck contrast with a performance by Charles Matthews of a scored composition by Italian composer Giacinto Scelsi, 'In Nomine Lucis', and Marcus Davidson's self-penned 'Standing Wave', which ends side two with a locked groove. Cut to preserve and enhance the bottom end frequencies, Fundamentalis is not merely a document; the tension between and within the individual pieces is palpable. Fennesz's set "...evokes the rolling centuries in all their pain and beauty, leaving us at once becalmed and energised, but never oppressed under the weight of time." Electronics breathe new life not only into the organ, but also into the setting. But successor does not mean replacement. Ultimately, it's the majestic sound of the organ, so steeped in centuries of tradition, that one remembers above all else. Spire is one of the most innovative projects around, drawing on the full canon of organ works, from the very first annotation in the Robertsbridge Codex from the 14th Century, to max msp patches and software sampling... With two CD releases and 9 performances in cathedrals and churches throughout Europe, Spire remains a potent live force in harnessing the sounds of the ages. Tracklist Side One Philip Jeck - Live in St. Michel & St. Gudula Cathedral, Brussels [as part of Les Nuits Botaniques] 7th May 2006 16:36 Side Two 1. Charles Matthews - Live in St. Michel & St. Gudula Cathedral, Brussels [as part of Les Nuits Botaniques] - plays Giacinto Scelsi: In Nomine Lucis 7th May 2006 11:29 2. Marcus Davidson - Live in Masthuggs Church, Göteborg [as part of the GAS Festival] - Standing Wave 4th October 2005 9:11 locked groove Side Three BJNilsen - Live in Masthuggs Church, Göteborg [as part of the GAS Festival] 4th October 2005 19:36 Side Four Fennesz - Live in St. Michel & St. Gudula Cathedral, Brussels [as part of Les Nuits Botaniques] 7th May 2006 16:02 Compiled and edited by Mike Harding October/November 2006 Cut by Jason at Transition, London, on a Neumann VSM 70 March 2007

TS05 - Oren Ambarchi - Destinationless Desire

Thu, 01 May 2008 10:22:59 +0000

7" vinyl only cut by Jason @ Transition artwork and photography by Jon Wozencroft Electric guitars, organ, samples, bells, percussion and motorised cymbal recorded at BJB Studios, Sydney with additional overdubs made at home 2005-2007. Gratitude to Fairport Convention and Boris D Hegenbart. Oren Ambarchi is a composer and multi-instrumentalist with longstanding interests in transcending conventional instrumental approaches. His work focuses mainly on the exploration of the guitar, "re-routing the instrument into a zone of alien abstraction where it’s no longer easily identifiable as itself. Instead, it’s a laboratory for extended sonic investigation". (The Wire, UK). 7" vinyl was the quintessential format for popular music. Today, it is an undervalued and mostly promotional medium, used as a fetishistic signpost to a time of musical authenticity and a "healthy" popular culture. It might seem like another retrograde step to launch a vinyl series just as the download format threatens to dominate, and indeed there is an element of "the rear view mirror"... the generation of Touch artists who grew up with vinyl [and cassette] still feeling a strong emotional attachment to it. This series is more than that... an overtly critical, non-digital statement is supported by treatments of audio work which cannot be applied to digital formats - the sonic texture, the use of a locked groove, the A & the B and the additional dimension of the visual counterpoint. As for the aspect of audience participation, we choose not to specify the RPM on the label, encouraging the listener to experiment with playback options and personal preferences. An attempt to make music that works at both speeds. The front cover might actually be the back cover... Tracklist Side A: Highway of Diamonds 5:55 Side B: Bleeding Shadow 6:38

From Boomkat's digital newsletter 17th April 2008

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 12:05:21 +0000

"This is what we’ve been waiting for – the chance to finally present the epic Touch catalogue in digital format. The UK label has long been a favourite of ours and it’s hardly surprising with the sheer volume of quality releases, they almost seem infallible even, with rarely a dud record emerging from their hallowed company. Established in 1981 and adorned with some of the most gorgeous cover-art ever to grace a sleeve, Touch became widely known for its look, fashioned in part by the photography of Jon Wozencroft (who co-runs the label). These simple but devastatingly effective images became synonymous with their respective releases and the label became just as widely appreciated in the art world as in the world of experimental music. It's the music itself though that has set Touch apart from so many other similar labels, and their roster still speaks for itself; Fennesz, Biosphere, Hafler Trio, Oren Ambarchi, Philip Jeck, Rosy Parlane, Jóhann Jóhannsson, BJ Nilsen, Chris Watson, Mika Vainio, Ryoji Ikeda – it reads like a veritable who’s who of contemporary experimental music. Many of these artists seem to have gravitated towards Touch to create their finest works – Fennesz with the seminal ‘Venice’ or Oren Ambarchi with the genre-bending ‘Grapes From the Estate’ whereas others simply found a home they could grow with over many albums; Philip Jeck and Chris Watson for instance, but it is to Touch’s credit that they have managed to build a team of worldwide recording artists this flawless. To conclude, the Touch catalogue is a selection of work we have deep respect for and somehow manage to keep going back to again and again, it’s just that good. Take the time to explore deeper and you won’t be disappointed…" You can visit the Boomkat website here.

Touch Artwork @ Norwich Arts Centre

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 12:27:52 +0000

In February & March 2008, an event at Norwich Arts Centre, Norfolk, 'DIY', portrayed some of Jon Wozencroft's Touch cover art. Here are 3 photos from the exhibition, which "explored the contemporary infrastructure for self-promotion and the appeal of the hand-made object."

Chris Watson Live at Cabaret Voltaire, Zurich | 9th April 2008

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 09:06:44 +0000

Date: Wednesday 09.04.2008 19:00 Location: Cabaret Voltaire, Spiegelgasse 1, 8001 Zurich. contact email fo reservations etc: info@cabaretvoltaire.ch / +41 43 268 57 20 website: http://www.cabaretvoltaire.ch you can find an announcement in German here Programme 1900 Chris Watson presents... 1945 Mike Harding Presents Touch 2030 Chris Watson Live

Jon Wozencroft wins Best Artwork Award for 4 Rooms at Qwartz 4 | 4.04.2008

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 06:47:14 +0000

Touch Radio 29

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 06:32:46 +0000

TouchRadio 29 is now posted. Novi_sad - dramazon - 22:52 - 259 kbps Recorded, assembled and produced by Novi_sad, March 2008. Mastered by Electroware and Novi_sad at Dsp Lab, Athens The whole piece is based on field recordings from: Mamori Lake, Amazonia, Brazil Alphios Bridge, Ancient Olympia, Greece Vibrations from the bridge which connects Denmark with Sweden A bottling plant in operation and hydrophone recordings* from Mamori Lake. Also used were sounds and notes from a church organ. Output signals have been manipulated and electronically treated. Dramazon is made in memory of a long rainy night in Amsterdam... In the era of 01110011000111010110, one thing remains stable and it will remain stable and non-mutated for eternity. The way people kiss, the way bodies are connected... [*thanx to Scott Konzelmann]