Touch

Touch Radio 49 | Chris Watson

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 18:23:48 +0000

08.02.10 - A Journey South – 50:21 - 192 kbps Chris Watson journeys to the South Pole for the forthcoming David Attenborough series “The Frozen Planet” (BBC, 2011). Here he reports back with his experiences… Photos by Chris Watson & Jason Roberts. Subscribe to the TouchPod podcast of TouchRadio via the iTunes Music Store Play "A Journey South" www.chriswatson.net

T-Phone 1 - Biosphere "Outside By The Fjord"

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 19:22:12 +0000

1 track .m4v video, digital download for iPod/iPhone Track listing: 1: Outside By The Fjord - 25:09 From a field recording trip in Sørfjorden, near Tromsø, Norway. Commissioned by Fondazione Musica per Roma, 2008. Buy Outside By The Fjord in the TouchShop www.biosphere.no

Touch Radio 48 | Biosphere

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 19:22:10 +0000

28.01.10 - Live in Den Haag – 37:05 - 192 kbps Born in Tromso (Norway), Geir Jenssen is better known as Biosphere, a key figure in contemporary Norwegian music. In 1992, Jenssen shot to fame with his Biosphere-debut album "Microgravity", becoming one of the pioneering ambient artists from the 90's. He was one of the first to come up with the mix of soundscapes, voice samples and atmospheric noise with trancey melodies and solid beats. Touch Live on September 26th 2009 at Todaysart 09, Den Haag featured Biosphere, Philip Jeck, Hildur Gudnadottir, Jana Winderen & The Eternal Chord. Biosphere gave an intimate performance in the Lutherse Kerk, a very small church. Recorded straight from the mixing desk to an Ares Pll Nagra digital recorder. Subscribe to the TouchPod podcast of TouchRadio via the iTunes Music Store Play “Live in Den Haag” www.biosphere.no

Biosphere film soundtrack @ Berlin Film Festival | February 2010

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:45:14 +0000

Im Schatten (In the Shadows) by Thomas Arslan, Germany (WP) appears as part of A world in pieces: the films of the 40th Berlinale Forum, with music by Geir Jenssen (published by Touch Music). www.arsenal-berlin.de www.biosphere.no

Philip Jeck & Hildur Gudnadottir live in London | February 2010

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 14:38:56 +0000

Arctic Circle - The Resonance of Music with Water Kings Place, 80 York Way, London NW1 Wednesday 24th February 2010 Philip Jeck Time: 20:00 Venue: Hall One An Ark for the Listener, a new work inspired by Gerard Manley Hopkins’ poem The Wreck Of The Deutschland. "An aspiration in answer to an inspiration, out of music shaped by all the sea has claimed, as is the inevitable shipwreck of our existence. Salvaged out of vinyl, by way of ear, hand and electricity." "And I have asked to be... out of the swing of the sea." (G M Hopkins) Thursday 25 February Time: 20:00 Venue: Hall One Hauschka with Hildur Guðnadóttir Haushka is the alias of Dusseldorf keyboardist Volker Bertelman. His critically-acclaimed albums on the 130701 imprint evince a playfully accessible approach to the often austere realm of the prepared piano. Haushka is joined tonight by gifted Icelandic cellist Hildur Guðnadóttir for a major new, aquatically-themed commission. Saturday 27 February Hildur Guðnadóttir Time: 19:00 Venue: Hall One Icelandic cellist Hildur Guðnadóttir has collaborated with the likes of Throbbing Gristle, Múm and Haushka. She released her debut solo album in 2007. An electronic-tinged follow-up, Without Sinking, appeared in 2009 on the Touch label. More info and tickets at www.kingsplace.co.uk www.jointhecircle.net www.philipjeck.com www.hildurness.com

TO:77 - BJNilsen "The Invisible City"

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 17:26:45 +0000

CD - 8 tracks - 1:04:57 Jewel case with concertina insert Artwork & Photography by Jon Wozencroft Plus bonus 320kbps .mp3 download - 1 track - 33:44 TO:77DL - BJNilsen "Live at Café Oto", Atmospheres 3, 7.xii.09 Available only when purchasing "The Invisible City" via the TouchShop. Track listing: 1. Gravity Station 2. Phase and Amplitude 3. Scientia 4. Virtual Resistance 5. Meter Reading 6. Into Its Coloured Rays 7. Gradient 8. The Invisible City About this release: Recorded and Mixed during 2008-2009 in Berlin. All tracks composed by BJNilsen using Tape Recorders, Computer, Organ, Acoustic Guitar, Electronics, Viola, Subharchord. Field recordings from; Sweden, Iceland, Norway, UK, Japan, Portugal and Germany. The Subharchord was recorded in the EAM Studio @ Adk, Berlin. Viola played by Hildur I. Gudnadottir. Mastered by Denis Blackham at Skye Published by Touch Music [MCPS] You can download a MP3 of Meter Reading by clicking here. Buy The Invisible City plus bonus live MP3 download in the TouchShop www.bjnilsen.com

Ash 8.5 | Paul Williams - Pillars of Wisdom

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 16:54:03 +0000

1 track .m4v video, digital download for iPod/iPhone Track listing: 1: Pillars of Wisdom - 5m27s Filmed and edited by Paul Williams on location in Abu Dhabi. Soundtrack: Gel by Philip Marshall, published by Touch Music [MCPS]. Paul Williams writes: "Arriving in Abu Dhabi my initial reaction, standing on the balcony of my hotel room on the 20th floor, was disorientation and near-vertigo. Laid out before me was a building site on a scale I had never seen before; a small island was under construction. This was “a room with a view” of a very different kind. Not some picturesque vista illustrating historical achievement but a vast, stark scene of becoming; a display of the knowledge, effort and will required to alter the landscape and create a new world. The skyscrapers I was watching turn from plans into reality suggested the phrase “Pillars of Wisdom”, adapted from the title of T.E. Lawrence’s account of his life in Arabia. As the days went by the view became a site of contemplation. There was always something going on, some detail that warranted attention: the endless comings and goings of the work-crews, the slow gestures of the cranes, the shifting patterns of aircraft warning lights. I wanted to capture something of what I was witnessing so, as you survey these monuments rising from the white sand, look closely and you will see tiny events occurring: the slow trajectory of a car's headlights, the flare of a welder's torch at night, even a bird flying across the face of the sun… As I have come to know this landscape I am continually reminded that even though we live beneath the gaze of giants, made with our own minds and hands, it is our simple joys that continue to define us as human." Buy Pillars of Wisdom in the TouchShop www.ashinternational.com

Touch Radio 47 | Pascal Wyse and Tom Haines

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 16:51:39 +0000

01.01.10 - A Rock and a Hard Place – 11:45 - 201 kbps [VBR] Eighty miles off the coast of mainland Scotland, the archipelago of St Kilda is host to almost a million seabirds each summer. Beginning underwater, this journey takes in the remote island group – with its gurgling seawash, gannets and storm petrel – before sailing east to the Shiants, home to puffins, guillemots, fulmars and razorbills. Finally, a mix of the exotic and commonplace – Carrion crow, wren, herring gulls. heron, ringed plover, cuckoo, oystercatcher, song thrush, common sandpiper – heard at dawn on the island of Rhona.  Sound and photography: Pascal Wyse and Tom Haines. Recorded in June 2009 with Dolphin Ear hydrophones, Sennheiser and DPA microphones and Sound Devices recorders. Subscribe to the TouchPod podcast of TouchRadio via the iTunes Music Store Play “A Rock and a Hard Place” www.bergerandwyse.com www.brainsandhunch.com www.myspace.com/thelondonsnorkellingteam

Ash 8.6 | Stephan Mathieu - 10 Minutes

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:40:13 +0000

9x .m4v videos, digital download for iPod/iPhone Track listing: I. Crepuscule light, curtain, wind audio: Amelita Galli-Curci sings Massenet 78rpm from 1921 II. Screen 16mm projector, b/w flicker, projection audio: Stephan Mathieu III. Eye light, reflection audio: Stephan Mathieu plays Sylvain Chauveau (excerpt) IV. Sonnenschatten light, mobile, shade audio: Heinrich Isaac 78rpm from von 1928 V. Licht kitchen cabinet, sunlight reflection audio: (silent) VI. Hoch garden, picnic gramophone, 78rpm record with bird song audio: unknown throssle captured on 78rpm shellac in 1932 VII. Sonne light, mobile audio: Stephan Mathieu, text by Yoko Ono VIII. Two Dots empty turntable audio: François Couperin, "Le Carillion de Chitere" 78rpm from 1934 IX. Code 16mm projector, b/w flicker, puzzled webcam audio: Stephan Mathieu (from “Process”) “Nine webcam movies for handheld devices shot with my laptop's camera between September and October 2009. The soundtrack is basically what was playing then. 10 Minutes is dedicated to Anna Carolina Mikalef.” Buy 10 Minutes in the TouchShop www.bitsteam.de www.ashinternational.com

LCO perform Biosphere | Roundhouse, London, 23rd January 2010

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 13:40:13 +0000

On 23rd January 2010, the London Contemporary Orchestra, one of the UK’s youngest and most adventurous ensembles, make their Roundhouse debut. “Shhoctavoski” is the first piece for orchestra that Biosphere, aka Geir Jenssen has composed and is given here its UK premiere with the Roundhouse Experimental Choir. The same evening sees London Contemporary Orchestra also perform the world premiere of Shiva Feshareki’s “TTKonzert” (a concerto for turntables and orchestra), alongside performances of Steve Reich's “Different Trains” and the UK premiere of John Cage's “Seventy-Four”. These performances are part of the Roundhouse's Reverb series, which “explores the many sides of music at the Roundhouse through world and UK premieres, genre-defying performances, fresh collaborations and a new approach to classical music.” More info and tickets at www.roundhouse.org.uk www.lcorchestra.co.uk www.biosphere.no

Hildur Gudnadottir | Without Sinking wins Kraumur Award in Iceland

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 14:59:55 +0000

Hildur Guðnadóttir's “Without Sinking” wins the Kraumur award in Iceland. It is also in The Wire's Top 50 of 2009… This chart is compiled by all the staff and contributors at The Wire. Stephen O'Malley voted it his album of the year for Boomkat. Below – a video for “Opaque” from “Without Sinking”, directed by Markus Wambsganss. Hildur Guðnadóttir in the TouchShop www.hildurness.com

Touch Radio 46 | Ken Montgomery

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 14:05:35 +0000

10.12.09 - 1/f Noise | Smoothing Out The Press – 59:55 - 151 kbps [VBR] 1/f Noise – While teaching sound art in Cincinnati Ohio's art school DAAP, Montgomery organized sonic tours of the Ceramics Department. The audience was blindfolded and led one by one down 8 flights of stairs into a series of listening stations where ventilators, burning kilns and other machinery were in use (2008). Smoothing Out The Press was composed using the Sound of Sanding from the Crest Hardware Show plus recordings made at Ben Owen's Middle Press in Brooklyn while printing the Ministry of Lamination’s Almost Blank Notebook letterpress edition (2007). Subscribe to the TouchPod podcast of TouchRadio via the iTunes Music Store Play “1/f Noise | Smoothing Out The Press” www.ministryoflamination.com

Atmospheres 3 | review by Mapsadasical

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 11:33:02 +0000

Mapsadasical has published a review of Monday's Atmospheres 3 event at Café Oto: “Touch’s series of Atmospheres events, of which this is the third installment, has an increasingly loosely-framed agenda to explore the sounds of the natural world. In previous years they have set up camp in the Museum of Garden History in Lambeth, with its fine old trees and historic garden. The move across town to Dalston, with its fine old, er, well, lets just say that the move across town to Dalston has added a different dimension to that theme. At least one of the evening’s performers was to pick up on that more urban aspect during the evening, although the quality of the sets from all three of Lawrence English, BJ Nilsen and Philip Jeck was – naturally – of the highest order.” Read the full review at mapsadaisical.wordpress.com

Tone 40 - Oren Ambarchi "Intermission 2000-2008"

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:04:04 +0000

CD in Digipak Artwork & design: Jon Wozencroft Track listing: 1. Intimidator 2. Iron Waves 3. Moving Violation 4. The Strouhal Number 5. A Final Kiss On Poisoned Cheeks Intermission brings together a range of material Oren Ambarchi has contributed to compilations and limited edition vinyl releases between the years 2000 and 2008. Highlights include two live recordings - an early, fragile solo guitar recording taken from a radio broadcast in 2000 and A Final Kiss On Poisoned Cheeks, his powerful 12" recorded live in Vancouver in 2007 and originally released on Table Of The Elements. Additional tracks include Iron Waves an exclusive track in collaboration with vocalist Paul Duncan and Intimidator featuring Australian pianist/composer Anthony Pateras originally released on Southern Lord. These are special anomalies in the Ambarchi canon but nonetheless feature the hallmarks of his unique soundworld, all underpinned by his trademark deep guitar tones and meticulous attention to detail. All tracks are newly remastered, many of which are available on CD for first time. Buy Intermission 2000-2008 in the TouchShop www.orenambarchi.com

Philip Jeck wins the Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award for Composers

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:50:09 +0000

Philip Jeck has won the Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award for Composers 2009. A presentation ceremony took place at The Royal Institute of British Architects, London, on 9th November 2009. Congratulations to Philip on a well-deserved and long overdue award. See Jeck live: Philip has two gigs scheduled in London in November and December at Café Oto. At “The Night of the Long Worms” Jeck plays a rare bass guitar plus effects set and at “Atmospheres 3” he plays a turntable set. For further information and tickets, visit the TouchShop. www.phf.org.uk www.philipjeck.com