Loren Chasse - Hedge of Nerves (Anomalous Records, 2002)

1 Untitled (2:23)
2 Untitled (9:25)
3 Untitled (9:42)
4 Untitled (12:29)

Oval, Disc, Autechre... Lots of folks like that digital glitch stuff -- we do too -- but how 'bout some analog 'glitch'? Good old fashioned record crackle! AQ friend and fave sound artist Loren Chasse's new solo release, his first for Anomalous, totally delves into the realm of crackle, from records and beyond. For details, we may as well quote directly from the label's press release (since our own Allan wrote it!):
"The work of sonic artist/investigator Loren Chasse (solo, Thuja, id Battery, Coelacanth and various manifestations of the 'Jewelled Antler collective') usually involves the documentation and manipulation of minute sound events (rubbings, scrapings, clickings) involving found objects and natural phenomena, emphasizing unexpected perspectives and connections. Even when performing in the psychedelic improv outfit Thuja, his 'instruments' primarily consist of contact mics, a mixer, some rocks and twigs, and his imagination. Loren's processed field recordings are fragile and full of strange beauty and feeling.
"Hedge of Nerves is dedicated to a friend of Loren's who dearly loves the sound of record crackle as it mingles with the music from a record's grooves. He also enjoys the sound of record crackle alone, as when an LP cycles on its run-out groove. Compact disc reissues of early 20th century ethnic music 78s, or Portishead, or Philip Jeck: if it's got that crackle, he likes it! So, this friend asked Loren to make him a recording of vinyl surface noise only, one that he could DJ with, mixing with non-crackly musical sources, to create virtual scratchy records. For this reason, the idea was to avoid any obvious looping, but to make a continuous, unbroken and organic field of crackle. Thus inspired, however, the project soon turned into more than that, as Loren decided that it was more interesting to emulate the sound and texture of record crackle using other sources. The resulting cd indeed begins by utilizing sounds from a scratchy old 78 rpm disc (one recorded by Loren's grandfather in the 1930s at NBC Radio) but also explores more 'elemental' crackling sounds derived from fire and wind and water, from rustling branches, waves, and sand. Hedge of Nerves is dynamic, moving from loud crinkly-crackly storming sound-swarms to the sounds of a wilderness quietly bristling. It's a mesmerizing expanse of hiss and drone, buzz and click, with hints of melody (from his grandfather's 78). The originating idea of surface noise is ever-present, but upon closer examination that 'surface' proves quite deep, something within which the listener will become submerged, blissful and fascinated. Hedge of Nerves is a masterpiece -- just ask Loren's grateful crackle-loving friend, who files it with the best of Philip Jeck, Jonathan Coleclough, M. Behrens, Troum, and other masters of detailed drone constructions."
As you might have guessed, that friend of Loren's is of course our own Allan...and he really does love this disc!! (And he did manage to use an advance version of this to DJ with at the Beyond The Pale festival last year -- it goes really well with Bo Hansson, actually.) Even if you're usually wary of some avantgarde academic "experimental" sterility, try this out anyway, it's warm and organic and inviting in a way many glitchy, noisy things are not, like a bonfire on a desolate, foggy sea-shore.
Aquarius Records

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Loren Chasse - Fantasy Apparition (S'Agita Recordings, 2002)

1 Fantasy Apparition - Part 1
2 Fantasy Apparition - Part 2
3 Fantasy Apparition - Part 3
4 Fantasy Apparition - Part 4
5 Fantasy Apparition - Part 5
6 Fantasy Apparition - Part 6

During the past couple of years, San Francisco's Loren Chasse has split his time equally between textural minimalism, as found on his exceptional solo album "Exfolia Motors", and organic improvisations, as heard in Thuja as well as several other bands on the Jewelled Antler label. Yet, Chasse has released a couple of limited CD-Rs that bridge the two at times conflicting headspaces. "Fantasy Apparition" is one of those cross-pollenizing albums from Chasse, showcasing a good deal of sustained harmonium built into half melodies amongst Chasse's signature environmental abstractions, where low creaking drones emerge from blustery loops of slowed down cricket choruses and the hiss of burning wood. As always, Chasse contextualizes these field recordings and contact microphone striations with an amazing sense of mystery.
Aquarius Records

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Glassine - Birds Are The Life Of The Sky 1995-1997 (Jewelled Antler, 2001)

** sorry no cover art **

1 Lyca
2 Above The Wings Is Heaven
3 Orchard
4 Birds Are The Life Of The Sky
5 Kingfisher
6 Dust Is Falling
7 White Sands
8 Blight
9 Doorways

Pre-Jewelled Antler project of Glenn Donaldson

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Ov - The Moon Is Down (Jewelled Antler, 2006)

1 The Chambers Of The Hand (8:43)
2 Spiritual Magnetism (3:56)
3 The Earth Was Once A Giant Animal (3:08)
4 Song Inside The Bower (1:43)
5 The Moonlit Door (8:11)
6 The Moon Is Down (7:40)
7 Devoted Realms (8:51)

This is a monumental occasion, the return of Jewelled Antler, after a seriously lengthy hiatus. This is the first Jewelled Antler cd since the last Of record, The Quartz Pond, way back at the beginning of 2005. It also marks the debut of newly married duo Ov, which just so happens to be sound artist Loren Chasse (Thuja, Blithe Sons, Child Readers, Coelacanth, Of, etc.), and former aQer Christine Boepple (Whysp, Skygreen Leopards Skyband, Kyrgyz, etc.). You know that whole 'beautiful music together' thing, but wow is that the case with The Moon Is Down. The first two tracks are lengthy abstract soundscapes of bells and chimes and gongs and percussion. The amazing thing is that the final result doesn't necessarily sound all that percussive, instead Chasse and Boepple manage to smooth the sounds into a dreamy billowy fog, with tinkling bells, reverberating chimes, it's like floating through a slowed down sculpture garden, huge pieces of metal slowly swinging, and gently rubbing up against each other, sending soft ringing tones to float softly across the gauzy landscape like dry leaves on a summer breeze, underpinned by slow low end pulses, smears of glistening shimmer and a constellation of glimmering tinkles. There are lilting guitars too, but plucked and strummed so sparely, they almost just sound like more chimes.
The record shifts gears after that, drifting from one dreamlike sound to another, a rich and exotic tribal landscape, huge swells of crystalline fuzz beneath fluttering flute melodies, primitive shakers and hand drums, and what sounds like forest sounds, drifting in and out of the mix, a world of alien lullabies, super distorted melodies over warm warbling woodwinds and textural percussion that sounds more like the crinkle of plastic, a gentle stream of fuzzy organ, buzzing harmonica, plink plonk guitar melody, pocket full of coins jangle, all bathed in a soft focus shimmer and some Eno-esque melodic ambience constructed from a dense assemblage of notes and tones, rich and oversaturated with tonal color, delicate minimal guitar strum and a mesmerizingly reedy hypnotic high end flute melody hovering in the background.
The final track is mostly made up of field recordings when the pair were on a trip to Germany, they were strolling through the quiet streets when suddenly the town's church bells began ringing, more and more, from every direction, a glorious cacophony, here there is a brief interlude part way through, a wheezing organ breathing out a fuzzy melancholy melody, but it quickly drifts away, leaving the record to fade out with just the distant pealing of bells. Wow!
Packaged in a beautiful hand printed sleeve, a strange angular crystalscape on the front, a mysterious symbol on the back, each sleeve with a different color ink and different colored paper. Includes an insert with liner notes and an image of some mysterious multi horned instrument on the other. As with most things like this, SUPER LIMITED!!!
Aquarius Records

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Horticultural Compass - The Apparition Of Bees (Jewelled Antler, 2005)

1 Plant Navigations, Part I
2 Moss Urn
3 The Primeval Glaze
4 Trilobites
5 The Grasslands
6 Plant Navigations, Part II

A friend of mine recently said that he actually has been enjoying some of the Jewelled Antler side-projects even more than some of the 'main' stuff recently. I am not really sure I agree on that, but what such a statement proves is that this loosely knit group of San Francisco-based musicians continues to be able to churn out exceptional music at the drop of a coin into a hat.

In the shape of Horticultural Compass (Samara Dun, Rob Reger, Donovan Quinn, Buffy Vice Sick & Glenn Donaldson) we get ceremonies of celebratory string massage, layered field recordings, swirling drones, beautifully plucked guitar plus the regular myriad of exotic instrumentation. The Apparition of Bees sounds distinctively Jewelled Antlerish but still quite unlike the other combos I?ve been fortunate to treat my ears with. Sometimes they border the haunting realms of Thuja?s improvised music, in others we get a glimpse of the Franciscan Hobbies? caterpillars of majestic oak beauty and at the most melodious and structured we get to experience a similar kind of slightly bent, mellow organic psychedelia as Glenn Donaldson does under his various tree monikers.

There's a loose and highly improvised approach to drones and quietly tinkling noise present here, and what makes it work so successfully is that the band just lets things wander wherever it?s natural to go next. I wouldn?t yet place this dark, slowly unfolding aural mystery up there with the best work of Thuja or the Franciscan Hobbies, but I wouldn?t be surprised if that has changed the next time we get to hear these guys.
Foxy Digitalis

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Af Ursin - Aika - Un Réveil Sidérant dans le Passé Décomposé (La Scie Dorée, 2008)

A1 Esclarmond
A2 Marche Arrière
A3 Sortilège
B1 Ombre Oubliée
B2 Un Réveil

the music is something of a departure for timo ; instead of a suite of drone-oriented string pieces, this appears to be an electro-acoustic construct, utilizing recordings of chamber-music, ghostly vapor-trails of distant voices, and radio / telemetry noises to evoke a feeling akin to “electronic voice phenomena” ...
Mimaroglu Music

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Af Ursin - Aura Legato (La Scie Dorée, 2005)

A1 Rêverie En Mineur
A2 Capsule Détachée
B1 Tableau Fluide
B2 Aphanes

Signé Timo Van Luijk, un bel album de boucles, de drones et de mélodies lointaines à base de percussions, cuivres, claviers...
hinah

Timo Van Luyck releases a new LP as Af Ursin, if I'm not mistaken his second or third. Van Luyck produces all the sounds himself on his records, which are finely woven together. He plays electronica to process sounds from a flute, voices, glass harmonium and on side two even, a drum-machine and bass guitar. Here, on this side, things are jumpy, perhaps even a bit krautrock like, which doesn't sound unlike old HNAS records. But for the most part this record (four lengthy pieces in total) contains wonderful extended drone music, that is alike some of the UK counterparts, but Af Ursin adds a much more musical dimension to it, through a much clearer use of instruments and a likewise much clearer production. Great stuff for those who like expand beyond the 'ordinary' drone music.
Vital Weekly

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The Wind Harp - Song From The Hill (United Artists, 1972)

01 Beginnings
02 Spring Songs
03 Solstice/Summersong
04 Turnings
05 Harvest
06 Winterwhite
07 Circle’s End
08 Fire
09 And Earth
10 And Air And Water

Now here’s a pretty unusual record that has come to my attention recently. Issued in 1972 as a double LP set, ‘Sounds From The Hill’ purports to represent the sounds produced by a gigantic ‘wind harp’ erected on some desolate hilltop by a hippy commune in Northern California, as illustrated by the rather beguiling and old fashioned (even for 1972) cover photograph reproduced above.

Now, given that this was released by a major label, presumably to take an early bite out of the post-hippy ‘new age’ market, you’d be forgiven for suspecting it might all just sound like a bunch of bloody wind-chimes or something. And who knows, perhaps such mellow meanderings were even what the harp’s creators were aiming for. But thankfully Mother Nature had other ideas, and ‘Songs From The Hill’ is actually a pretty remarkable document of dense, organic womb-drone, exhibiting the kind of chilling distance and remorseless tonal purity that music created by human hands is rarely able to replicate, however hard contemporary noise/ambient artistes might strive for it.

It is undoubtedly a spiritual sound, just not in a way that I suspect either the record company nor the hippies were anticipating. Certainly anyone sticking this on to accompany a meditation session or drug trip would get more than they bargained for; bummers, paranoia, bloody noses; all are possibilities. For however much we may be taught to view nature, and atmospheric conditions / weather systems in particular, as an entirely beautiful, harmonious system through which we can gain understanding of ourselves via an impression of dissolution within it’s patterns, it swiftly becomes clear upon dropping the needle that the sounds emerging from this here Wind Harp were REALLY FUCKING MALEVOLENT.

Most of the eleven tracks, arranged thematically according to seasons and the elements, begin with tones suggestive of the unsettling amplified silences developed by Alan Splet and David Lynch for use in the latter’s films. Over this float warped, low-end theremin type sounds and variations on the kind of ‘futuristic engine hum’ tones rendered ubiquitous by a thousand b-movie flying saucer / laboratory scenes, all darkened and elongated for a particularly woozy, nightmarish quality. Before long, tension seems to build, and a kind of full-spectrum aural sandpaper begins to accumulate, ebbing and flowing with the gusts of the winds, occasionally starting to resemble some creepy, organic Merzbow nastiness.

This is not the sound of the gentle, refreshing wind that weaves through orange groves on a lazy afternoon and blows through the hair of steadfast labourers and sullen hippie girls, that’s for sure. What’s tinkling the ivories here is the kind of wind that spreads bush fires, that blows through ribcages in Death Valley. Wind that freaks out timid kids who leave the windows open at night, that drags intrepid sailors toward their watery doom and…. well you’re connected to the same collective unconscious as I ma, you dig up the imagery to finish off this paragraph.

The Harp itself must have been quite a piece of workmanship to produce this variety of sinister sound, assuming the recordings presented here are honest representations of the wind doing it’s thing amid what looks to be a apparatus of metal strings and wooden sheets(?). I suppose it’s possible that someone might have been on hand to alter the arrangements of the harp on the fly to create variations in tone, although the singularly relentless quality of the drones presented here would tend to suggest otherwise. On the other hand though, it does seem that a degree of post-production has been applied to these recordings; occasionally we hear oddly incongruous sounds such as tolling bells and rustling grass which put me in mind of the kind of stuff that has a tendency to turn up on other, more dubious commercial ‘ambient’ records. It certainly seems likely that the more ‘effective’ (by whose criteria god only knows) sections of the master recordings have been blended and segued together, both to fit the record’s spurious seasons / elements track listing, and also perhaps to avoid the total monotony of listening to the wind blowing in the same direction at the same speed for hours on end.

Regardless of questions of authenticity though, The Wind Harp certainly makes for a hell of a listen, and comes recommended should you be feeling a little too comfortable in your life, and in need of a glimpse of the blind, chaotic and ultimately destructive natural forces at the mercy of whose temporary placidity we erect our fragile civilisations. It would also be just the ticket for soundtracking eerie, low budget horror movies and invoking lesser Cthulhoid deities. Or so I would imagine.
Stereo Sanctity blog

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Mutrone

Reçu un mail il y quelques de temps de Camilo de Mutrone / Received a mail sometimes ago from Camilo of Mutrone:

Our last work is CENTINELA, you can download from the web. Theres is four more albums between ep´s and lp´s.... ALL FOR FREE DOWNLOAD!!!

P.D. Centinela is a free jam session and direct recording, 9 songs in 3 sessions..... for this album we just work with our "electronic" instruments, like an MPC 2000, Nord synth, sampler, midi controller, and a Electric Bass Guitar with pedal effects.

www.mutrone.com
http://www.myspace.com/mutrone
http://www.lastfm.es/music/Mutrone

Oblivion Ensemble - PhonoRecord (Drone Records, 1998)

A Untitled
B1 Untitled
B2 Untitled

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Toy Bizarre - KDI DCTB 49 / KDI DCTB 23 (Drone Records, 1998)

A KDI DCTB 49 (7:29)
B KDI DCTB 23 (8:11)

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Kallabris - 81° n.B., 178° ö.L. (Drone Records, 1998)

A Lob Dem Technischen Personal (9:32)
B MME.DE Stael On Treasure Island (8:44)

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Organum & The Haters - Shovels (Aeroplane, 1996)

1 Shovels (2:04)

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Organum - Raw (Aeroplane, 1996)

1 Raw (1:18)

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Organum - Arc (Aeroplane, 1996)

1 Arc (3:05)

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Organum - Rotor (Aeroplane, 1995)

1 Rotor (1:13)

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Organum - Lysis (Aeroplane, 1995)

1 Lysis (3:56)

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Organum - Gloria (Aeroplane, 1994)

1 Gloria (4:40)

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Organum - Drome (Les Disques du Soleil, 1989)

A1 Drome Pt. 1 (2:36)
B1 Drome Pt. 2 (2:41)

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Aube - Magnetostriction (God Factory, 1995)

1 Spectrum (12:22)
2 Head Demagnetizer (19:05)
3 S.C.A.N. (11:46)
4 Paramagnetism (21:22)

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Aube / Small Cruel Party / Daniel Menche / Kiyoshi Mizutani - Shiroseasons (Shirocoal Recordings, 1996)

First Season - Spring
1 Aube Awakening In The Pool (16:49)
Second Season - Summer
2 Small Cruel Party Home Borders: Circling Outward Past Edge To Rest, Awaken (17:26)
Third Season - Autumn
3 Daniel Menche Hand Against Her Sand (17:30)
Fourth Season - Winter
4 Kiyoshi Mizutani Infusion (16:36)

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Quiet American - Plumbing And Irrigation Of South Asia (and/OAR, 2003)

1 Takeoff
2 Oil Drum
3 Rice Pounder
4 Drainage Pipe
5 Hotel Sink
6 Communal Well
7 Prayer Wheel
8 Irrigation Cistern
9 Plumbing
10 Full Moon Well
11 Sprinklers
12 Gurgling Hose
13 Irrigation Pipe
14 Water Pump
15 Grain Grinders
16 Lawn Watering
17 Rubber Hose
18 Village Pump
19 Three Gorges
20 Waterfall
21 Bottles
22 Toilet

Aaron Ximm (aka Quiet American) is a "phonographer" (let's use this term) who's been a lot into the field recordings thing. Unfortunately, I haven't downloaded from his great site the various MP3s he has around, so my first encounter was the Stelzer/Talbot - Quiet American split 3" CDR which I truly enjoyed. Thanks to Dale, I had the chance to get a better idea of his work as dale recently issued his (first, if I am not mistaken) full CDR Plumbing And Irrigation Of South Asia featuring 22 pieces recorded between 98-01 all over Asia (China, Nepal, India, Bangladesh,
Vietnam, etc. Gotta admit that by the time I heard the aforementioned split 3" CDR, accidentally it was the time that "The Quiet American" movie was playing, so I went to see it, and frankly I liked it, needless to say, that upon seeing the film, there striked in my mind a flash that I had Graham Greene's s/t book lying somewhere in the house, purchased some 15 more or less years ago for practice reasons and thanks to Aaron (I guess), I found it rotting somewhere in my basements library (though I still haven't found the proper time to start re-reading it). But I am beating a lot about the bush, well, over here I don't know if Aaron's on Pyle's role or the
"narrator's" but certainly it is a pleasant surprise to see that still there are phonographers (uh, say "artists" or whatever) who evoke questions out of their soundscapes. Aaron has included a very interesting text around the use of water and the future of water supplies in Asia, including, of course, references to the West and East, and the way the two deal w/ the problem. The vast majority of the recordings themselves too deal with this certain problem. Frankly, being in a country that this problem is also discussed (but our state sleeps in its beauty sleep and gives no f**k 'bout that), I found it a really exciting moment both listening and reading. I assume that for being his first full CDR release, Aaron crafted a truly stunning experience, providing food for both the mind & ear/soul. Besides, I always considered as essentials, releases which work as "audio books", how about you?
Absurd

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Les Instants Chavirés menacés / Menaces on one of the few french experimental concert halls

Pétition de soutien aux Instants Chavirés
Online petition to support Instants Chavirés

Communiqué

english below

Les Instants en suspens

Le jeudi 2 juillet 2009 nous apprenions brutalement que le solde de la subvention de fonctionnement du Conseil général de Seine-Saint-Denis allouée à notre association était amputé de 25.000 €, soit une baisse de plus de 19%. À celle-ci se cumule la baisse de la subvention municipale de 7.000 €. En début d’année, la ville de Montreuil nous avait annoncé une diminution de 15.000 €, ramenée fin juin à une hauteur de 7.000 €.
C’est donc 32.000 € qui nous ont été retirés pour 2009.

Ces baisses de financement nous contraignent à annuler dans son intégralité la saison d’automne: concerts, projections vidéo et exposition. Le maintien même a minima d’une programmation nous entraînerait dans un déficit budgétaire que nous ne pouvons pas nous permettre.

Nous nous interrogeons sur le choix et les modalités de la décision du Conseil général et ignorons à ce jour sur quels diagnostics et analyses elle se base. Nous déplorons également l’excessif retard de cette décision.

Les façons de faire du Conseil général laissent à penser qu’il opte de façon délibérée pour une politique de fragilisation de l’association avec pour conséquence une asphyxie progressive mettant en danger l’avenir des Instants Chavirés. Comment envisager une programmation en 2010 dans ces conditions ?

«Il faut mettre l’art là où il est indispensable, c’est-à-dire partout»
Claude Lévêque, plasticien.

Nous affirmons qu’un lieu culturel intermédiaire comme les Instants Chavirés est un outil de complémentarité aux institutions : il contribue à la diversité de la proposition culturelle et joue un rôle fondamental dans l’accompagnement de l’émergence artistique depuis 18 ans. Y a-t-il encore une volonté politique de pérenniser dans le département de Seine-Saint-Denis et sur la ville de Montreuil, un lieu de diffusion et de production de renommée internationale axé sur la création contemporaine, aussi modeste soit-il ?

Nous demandons la mise en place d’une table ronde avec l’ensemble de nos interlocuteurs institutionnels pour assainir une relation partenariale déliquescente. Il est primordial de redéfinir ensemble les cadres financiers, au regard de la singularité de notre engagement artistique et de notre spécificité géographique et structurelle.

Nous vous invitons à signer la pétition en ligne (http://instants.mollo.fr), et à nous envoyer un courrier à l’attention de M. le Président du Conseil général de Seine-Saint-Denis, Claude Bartolone et/ou de Mme la Maire de Montreuil, Dominique Voynet, afin de leur signifier ce que représentent les Instants Chavirés dans le paysage culturel français et international, et exprimer votre attachement à la pérennité de ce projet.

Vous pouvez nous les adresser par email à l’adresse : soutiens[at]instantschavires.com, ou par courrier aux Instants Chavirés, 7 Rue Richard Lenoir 93100 Montreuil, nous ferons suivre aux intéressés.

Merci de diffuser ce communiqué le plus largement possible autour de vous

Association Muzziques – les Instants Chavirés
http://www.instantschavires.com/

: : : : : : : : :

Suspended Instants

On Thursday July 2nd 2009 we were shocked to learn that the balance of the operational subsidy allocated to our Association by the General Council of the Seine-Saint-Denis Department had been slashed by no less than 25,000€ – a drop of more of 19%. This in addition to a 7,000€ cut in our municipal subsidy (at the beginning of the year, the town of Montreuil had announced a reduction of 15,000€, 7000€ being the amount eventually decided upon by the end of June). This means that we have lost 32,000€ in 2009.

The lack of funding has forced us to cancel our Autumn season of concerts, video projections and exhibitions, in its entirety. Even maintaining a strict minimum of programmed events would lead to a budgetary deficit that we simply could not contemplate.

We have serious questions regarding how the Council reached its decision, and what factors might have influenced it in so doing, and to date do not know on what opinions or analyses the said decision was based. We also deplore that the decision was taken so late.

It would seem that the Department has deliberately adopted a policy designed to weaken our Association, resulting in a slow asphyxiation that will put the entire future of the Instants Chavirés in jeopardy. How are we to plan for a 2010 season in such conditions?

"Art must be where it's indispensible, which means everywhere" - Claude Lévêque, artist

We maintain that an intermediary cultural space like the Instants Chavirés is an essential complement to existing institutions, and that it has made a major contribution to the diversity of the cultural offer, playing an essential role in discovering and promoting art for over 18 years.

Does the Seine-Saint-Denis Department still have the political will to maintain an internationally acclaimed artspace dedicated to contemporary creation, however modest it may be?

We demand the setting up of a round table with all our institutional partners to rehabilitate a relation which is clearly deteriorating. It is essential to redefine the financial framework together, regarding the unique nature of our artistic commitment as well as our geographical and structural specificity.

We urge you then to sign the online petition (http://instants.mollo.fr), and write to Claude Bartolone, President of the General Council of Seine-Saint-Denis, and / or to the Mayor of Montreuil, Dominique Voynet, to inform them of what the Instants Chavirés represents in the local, national and international cultural landscape, and express your own commitment to the lasting nature of this project.

You can address your correspondence directly to us at the following email address soutiens[at]instantschavires.com, or by regular mail to Instants Chavirés, 7 Rue Richard Lenoir 93100 Montreuil. We undertake to forward it to the parties concerned.

Please circulate this communiqué as widely as you can, amongst everyone you know. Thank you.

Association Muzziques – les Instants Chavirés
http://www.instantschavires.com/

Ben Fleury-Steiner - To Reach The Other Shore (Gears of Sand, 2004)

1 Red Moon Echoes (9:55)
2 Glocio (6:26)
3 Kairos (9:00)
4 Khole & Logia (3:44)
5 ... To Whisper One Thousand Shimmering Births (1:52)
6 Anemos (6:18)
7 Tzippor (2:56)
8 Shadows Of A Luminescent Warmth (7:31)

Ben Fleury-Steiner is a regular participant in the lively – and sometimes comical – debates on The Hypnos Forum. He is also a serious electronic musician recording as Paradin. … To Reach the Other Shore is his first set that he has made available to the public on his new label - Gears of Sand. It is a wonderful disc! He weaves subtle drones, experimental sounds, field recordings and atmospheres around and through each other. He processes the sounds – adding panache and charm to the soundscapes. His sound design is reserved yet he gets a full-bodied sound. This CD is an early candidate for debut of the year!
Ambient Visions

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Douglas Quin - Oropendola - Music By And From Birds (Het Apollohuis / Apollo Records, 1994)

1 Dawn Chorus (2:05)
2 Aurorasong (10:39)
3 Dawn Chorus (1:31)
4 Kindoms And Phyla: Part 4 (Alar Grace) (4:32)
5 White-Bearded Manakin (Manacus Manacus) (2:02)
6 Green Oropendola (Psarocolius Viridis) (2:50)
7 Dawn Chorus (1:22)
8 Yasashii Kaze (Gentle Wind) (2:27)
9 Yasashii Kaze (Gentle Wind) (2:28)
10 Yasashii Kaze (Gentle Wind) (2:30)
11 Yasashii Kaze (Gentle Wind) (2:29)
12 Yasashii Kaze (Gentle Wind) (2:34)
13 Capuchinbird (Perissocephalus Tricolor) (1:32)
14 Black And White Casqued Hornbill (Bycanistes Subcylindricus) (2:10)
15 Golden-Rumped Tinkerbird (Pogoniulus Bilineatus) (0:13)
16 Aria Locustae (7:15)
17 Screaming Piha (Lipaugus Vociferans) (0:40)
18 Great Blue Turaco (Corythaeola Cristata) (0:25)
19 Parakeets (Myiopsitta Monachus) (0:20)
20 Ice Diver (6:43)
21 Dawn Chorus (1:57)
22 Aracua-do-Pantanal (Ortalis Canicollis) (0:55)
23 Kingdoms And Phyla: Part 5 (5:57)
24 White-Backed Vultures (Gyps Bengalensis) (1:02)
25 Assorted Bird (1:39)

Quin's main activity is as a wildlife recordist, but he's also active as a composer. This wonderful album focusses on bird sounds (albeit with a few other guest animals), with compositions such as Aurorasong sampling and layering a huge variety of chirrupping and whistling, gradually transforming in this case into an intricate field of granular electronics. Alar Grace transforms sampled sounds of bird wings, insect wings and whispering, with bizarre results, although not as strange as the alien buzzings and poppings of the processed cicada on Aria Locustae, while tracks like Yasashii Kaze combine the birdsong less successfully with other instruments, in this case a lyrical solo clarinet. However, it's the birdsong itself that makes this such an entertaining listen, especially since Quin seems to have gone out of his way to record some of the richest dawn choruses and weirdest bird voices on earth: the Green Oropendola that provides the album's title is one of the most impressive. Quin's extensive sleeve notes provide informative and fascinating background regarding both his compositional strategies and his many field trips.
EST7

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Beequeen - Natursymfonie (Beta-lactam Ring Records, 2002)

A1 Basilic Noises
A2 Die Heilige Hase
B1 Pop Pop Fizz Fizz
B2 The Lost Boats
B3 Saving Pennies For A Present (Ownliness)
B4 The Really Big Shew

Beuys keep swinging. This show was organized by Stephan Froleyks at the Schloss (castle) of Moyland. This castle holds the largest collection of artworks by Joseph Beuys, so as you can imagine we were thrilled to play there. Before the show, during the communal dinner, we watched probably the funniest Germanic performance ever (even though we were the only ones who thought so). We played in the evening in the middle of the woods next to the castle just in front of a mausoleum. A beautiful location. The show was very ambient and was recorded by both ourselves and the German national radio for later broadcast. The recordings made by Beequeen that night were released as an LP called Natursymfonie by US based label Beta-lactam Ring Records. The package features, among other things, autumn leaves from the actual site where we performed.
Beequeen

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Amon - Aura (Drone Records, 1998)

A Aura Rhanes (7:56)
B Rhauna Ares (6:41)

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