François-Emmanuel Fodéré - Cochin (Impulsive Habitat, 2011)

1 Cochin

Recorded in November of 2009 by François-Emmanuel Fodéré on Kochi (India).
Thanks to Allamprabhu & his family, Julien, Louise, Shivu.
- François-Emmanuel Fodéré

"Cochin" was the colonial name for the city of Kochi and it is also the title of the first of two releases to be published this year on IH of phonographic works recorded in India. We would like to welcome sound artists and documentarists from all nationalities to continue sending us their phonographic works from different spots on the planet as publishing them is one of the main reasons why we are here for.
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Darren McClure - Semi (Impulsive Habitat, 2011)

1 Semi 23:25

"Semi" is a recording of cicadas, made in late August in my garden. The summer had been
especially hot, and the sound of cicadas in the trees was really overpowering at times.
From absolute silence, their sounds would suddenly emerge and escalate, before returning
to silence again.

The recording is untreated, except for some filtering: the first few minutes have a high pass filter so that only the cicada sounds are allowed. Gradually, over the course of the recording, I filtered in the rest of the lower frequencies, so the street ambiance slowly bleeds in and the full sonic picture comes into view. During the final seven minutes, the cicadas cease to be heard and only that street ambiance remain.

>> Darren McClure

The sound produced by the male cicada to attract the female is so powerful that at some point it could cause hearing loss, anxiety, aggravation and high blood pressure; the sound is produced by a corrugated exoeskeletal structure called "tymbal". The sonority of the song of the cicadas has had an impact on many cultures for example in japanese cinema the sound of cicadas is often used to symbolize the hot temperatures of the summer.

The cicadas spend most of their life as underground living nymphs; finally when they reach
an adult age they dig an exit tunnel to emerge from the ground also leaving the shell that protected them during their metamorphosis. In Japan this process philosophically symbolizes a "re-birth". Cicadas also symbolize in Japanese culture "evanescence" referring to their short adult reproductive life.
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David Velez - Funza (Impulsive Habitat, 2010)

01 Funza 43:04

Part of my job involves taking photographs of industrial processes to illustrate a series of manuals with production instructions and guidelines that the company gives to the machine operators. Parallel to taking the photographs. I capture the sounds from those processes most of them involving steam and pneumatic powered machines whose sonorities I found quite interesting for their percussive nature and their high pitched textures respectively.

These recordings reveal an interesting obvious and irrelevant phenomena that captures my interest: parallel to making a product, the operator is performing a sound score using the machines as instruments.

The operator is unadvisedly reading and performing a score unadvisedly written and encoded in the instructions and guidelines.

While aware of "a performance" I advisedly record it.

(Some recordings were later treated. Found sounds collected during that period were also used).
David Velez

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Federico Monti - Sorolls (Impulsive Habitat, 2010)

1 Perfil 1 10:40
2 Perfil 2 09:58

The field recordings for 'Sorolls' were taken on the sea and mountains between March and June of 2010.

Sorolls' two pieces were processed with granular synthesis. This release was put together for a deep listening.
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Philip Sulidae - Lux (Impulsive Habitat, 2010)

01 Lux 06:55
02 Lumen 04:45
03 Foot Candle 02:35
04 Candela 07:12
05 A Distance 09:28

Lux was recorded and created during the Autumn of 2010 with field recordings made in the inner city of Sydney, Australia. The recording locations were all made over a week at around dusk. This busy time when the air is filled with the sound of commuters returning home, transportation and the process of day turning to night formed the conceptual basis for these recordings. It's an interesting and dynamic environment, that slowly eases into the quiet and dark evening.
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Son Clair - Watermarks (Impulsive Habitat, 2010)

01 The Sea (Part 1) 02:30
02 Fireworks on the Beach 03:38
03 Parade in Hastings 04:50
04 Bell Ringers (Before a Wedding) 02:22
05 Thunderstorm 05:56
06 Church Bells in St. Leonards Gardens 01:58
07 The Sea (Part 2) 14:44

‘Watermarks’ explores in sound the mile-long stretch of coastline from Hastings to St. Leonards-on-Sea in East Sussex, England. Recorded over a 2 month period, the man-made sounds of life and motion along the sea-front (including a celebratory parade along the waterfront, a fireworks display on the beach, a marching band and a wedding) are bookended with the constant, natural sound of the sea.
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Ennio Mazzon - Celadon (Impulsive Habitat, 2010)

1 Celadon

Project “Celadon” started as an audio documentary of the Piave river, which is located
in the north east of Italy (It begins in the Alps and flows southeast for 220 km into the
Adriatic Sea near the city of Venice). The purpose was to represent with sounds
(field recordings and electronic interludes) the contrasts and the complex interactions
between the "natural side" and the "urban side" of a place.

But “Celadon” evolved in a somewhat unexpected way. Several concrete sounds (raw and processed) captured during the 2010, have been inserted in order to provide a more structured shape, and a noisy coda has been added at the end of the piece. This noisy coda is basically made up of various processed recordings of electromagnetic interferences created using
a tape player, a cd player, a laptop, a small dc motor and a stepping motor found in a old broken inkjet printer. As can be heard in the final version of “Celadon”, the recordings of the Piave river are now overwhelmed by other sounds and the initial “concept” has been probably lost within the new structure of the work.

"Celadon" is an experimental composition built upon natural recordings which reflects the constant changes of our perception of things: new information, new inputs and new approaches are parsed unconsciously and places, feelings and people undergo an endless process of remapping.
The focal point of the piece is now the "decontextualization" of sounds and mental images.
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Simon Whetham & Various Artists - Active Crossover (Impulsive Habitat, 2010)

VA are:

Douglas Benford, Gints Birznieks, Jez Riley French, Iris Garrelfs, John Grzinich, Joined By Wire, Jaanika Kakluse, Kaspars Kalnins, KIWA, Shawn Pinchbeck, Merilyn Püss, Piibe Piirma, Maksim Shentelev, Toms Siklovs, Silver Stairs of Ketchikan, Sound Meccano, Toomas Thetloff and Alexander Thomas.

Throughout May 2009 I participated in a residency at the Polymer Factory Culturehouse in Tallinn, Estonia, to compose new work, collaborate with other artists using sound and run deep listening, field recording and composition workshops.

This residency has resulted in ‘Active Crossover’, a touring exhibition and exchange project which has been hosted by the Arnolfini in Bristol and The Grey Area in Brighton, incorporating a large scale sound installation in two sonically treated chambers, creating three separate listening experiences.
In one you hear my composition created during and following the residency, in the other work by all the artists i worked and performed with. When outside the enclosed spaces, the listener will hear both, combining my work with that of the guest artists. The track released by Impulsive Habitat is a composed approximation of being in the exhibition space and moving around the three chambers. You will hear my work in isolation, and that of the guest artists, but also a combination of the two.

Tracks included are:
Simon Whetham: 'Active Crossover II'
John Grzinich: 'Sentience of Spring'
Jez riley French: 'Pelure #10'
Maksim Shentelev: '16-36';
Sound Meccano: 'Walking through'
Kaspars Kalnins, Toms Siklovs, Gints Birznieks, Maksim Shentelev and John Grzinich: 'Bungu Tanks / Turbine Hall'
KIWA: 'Structural Divisibility'
Toomas Thetloff: 'Buckwheat on Steel Brushes'
Shawn Pinchbeck: 'Ajulennuline'
Merilyn Püss: 'From Butterflies to Crows'
Piibe Piirma: 'Sound for Babies'
Jaanika Kakluse: 'The Walk'
Silver Stairs of Ketchikan/Joined By Wire: 'Active Crossover 18Oct09'
Alexander Thomas: 'Active Crossover 18Oct09'
Iris Garrelfs / Douglas Benford: 'Active Crossover 18Oct09'

My thanks to all the artists and galleries involved so far, all at Polymer during my residency, John Kannenberg, Patrick McGinley, Arts Council England and Impulsive Habitat.
Simon Whetham

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Claudio Curciotti - Nepalese: Sounds From Nepal (Impulsive Habitat, 2010)

01 Night watchman
02 Prayer flags
03 Tibetan hit (03:21)
04 Losar sound (02:47)
05 5 A.M. pray number 2 (01:54)
06 On the road 2 (01:08)
07 Street parade (02:00)
08 Monks privée (01:49)
09 Clock quartetto (01:07)
10 Bucolico instant noodles (01:28)
11 Tamang's Losar (08:36)
12 Strike sight seen (01:23)
13 Field Nepal (01:06)
14 Tamang's Losar Band (02:57)
15 Wedding scratch (01:19)
16 5 A.M. pray number 3 (01:18)
17 5 A.M. pray number 1 (02:40)
18 Ping pong and bells (00:50)
19 Unknown (01:11)
20 Main Stage (01:27)
21 Horn Bay (00:41)
22 The valley 2 (04:04)
23 Dori! (01:03)

"Field abuse" is a project from Italian sound artist Claudio Curciotti and photographer Eleonora Trani where they document visually and sonically the loudness of the contemporary world in relation with religion, ethnic music and traditional cultures. 'Nepalese: Sounds from Nepal' is a selection from the many many recordings Claudio captured during his trip to Nepal that greatly display the beautiful sonorities of this young country with an ancient cultural legacy and spiritual and religious tradition.

The recordings are complemented with a series of photographs by Claudio and Eleonora that provide visual cues to the beautiful sounds captured here.

Phonographic works like 'Nepalese: Sounds from Nepal' are always an amazing experience that literally recreates a journey through many places with different sonorities as it establishes a relation in real time between the listener and a passed moment in time that will never repeat itself.

This is the first publication of this kind by IH, where sound acquires a meaning beyond a mere imaginary, as it serves a window between our lives and the lives of other people and the sounds that define their everyday life.
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Christopher McFall - Lost At Sea And Seldom Found (Impulsive Habitat, 2010)

01 A black nightingale ascention (14:06)
02 Hallowedweenie (15:03)
03 As red as snow could be (16:14)
04 The persistence of breakable memory (08:38)
05 Track III (07:58)

When I started working on the Impulsive Habitat release, I first composed the track 'A Black Nightingale Ascension' which reflects some of my newest workings done with treated tape, vocal, field recordings, piano recordings and sampled material. There's a lot of twists and turns with this particular track and the routing of the composition seemed to imply an innate sense of journey. Some of the field recordings were composed from source material of birds here in the city, a favorite recording source for me for some time now. With all of this in mind, the title came into being. There are some engaging melodies that emerge out of the murky static and to me, the recordings convey a sense of broken nostalgia, of loss and recovery.

With the concept of broken nostalgia and of loss and recovery in mind, the idea of going back to the archives and work with lost and unfinished material seemed like an interesting way to give to "Lost at sea and seldom found" a substantial turn.

The track 'As Red As Snow Could Be' is an alternate version of a release I did for 'Self-Preservation Intact With Teeth.' Effectively, this work was reworked and remastered for the final composition. I rather enjoyed this version in particular and wanted to share it with everyone. It reflects a certain subtle interplay of sounds; a slow swoon into the abyss.

'Hallowedweenie' has remained unreleased to date and was composed from sounds from the local train yard as well as random field recordings. A funny story accompanies this piece, as I originally composed it for play in a haunted house at a Halloween party that this girl Beth had organized. The whole affair turned out to be a bust because when the party came around I was sick with the flu. I had this infatuation with Beth at the time and she was interested in my work, so there were a few other possibilities at play there, I suppose. On the day of the party she called asking that I bring the work to the haunted house but I was too sick to drive it there. She refused to send someone by to pick it up, so it just stayed on my computer until now. My friend Robert stopped by to check in on me that day and I was sort of down about how things had worked out with this one, as I had put some serious time and effort into composing this track. I was also a bit upset about Beth. Robert listened to the work and really enjoyed it. He also sympathized a bit with me about blowing things with Beth. As he left he said "Well, it is what it is. You should just call the track 'Hallowedweenie!' Hahaha! You win some and loose some." and so that's what it became. So, everyone please do me a favor and give it a play on Halloween, if you think of it.

'The Persistence of Breakable Memory' is a rework of some of the material I did for 'Grayscale Is Failing' and the result came out really well.

'Track III' is a variant of the release 'Friend of 12.' This version is shorter but the remastering really brought out certain aspects of the work that seemed to be missed in the original version of the release. After listening to the original version a few more times, I felt that some of the parts came off a bit 'murky' and there were parts that I wanted to rework, so this is the resulting track.
Christopher McFall

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(and everybody checks the back catalogue!)