New release: Ran Slavin’s “Thermo Swing & Quanta​+​Else / Studio Blanks 01​-​02”

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In anticipation of Ran Slavin’s Bittersweet Melodies, his fifth studio album in the label, Crónica is thrilled to present the re-release of his early albums Thermo Swing (1999) and Quanta+Else / Studio Blanks 01-02 (2002), published on his own Esoteric Recordings label and long out of distribution.

These two releases are representative of Slavin’s early production and were instrumental in the definition of his signature and approach to composition. Thermo Swing was recorded in Tel Aviv in early 99 and was one of the first releases to hit the local electronic scene. Tel Aviv was just waking up to the bug 2000 era from a underground Drum and Bass and Freestyle tsunami which can be sensed in these recordings, and indeed Slavin’s second studio album from 2000 SharkMoneySexFastEntertainment was defined by a critical and twistful approach within and about the genre.

Thermo Swing marked Slavin’s first solo release utilizing electronic studio equipment and audio editing, while Quanta+Else / Studio Blanks 01-02, his 3rd solo release marked the more abstract- splintered soundscape gardens that characterize his solo work today.

Thermo Swing was a release still in the buffer zone of physical instruments and the digital. It set off Slavin’s heavy utilization of audio editing, abound in beat structures, old vinyl samples (including Miles Davis in The Picket, and Chet Baker in Bum Carib), and live instrument playing (electric guitars, bass, drums, vocals, electric pianos, synths, harmonica).

The work on Thermo Swing was Slavin’s introduction to visual music editing, working on the album with Pro Tools. The year was 1999, a personal studio rig was possible to obtain and the option to see and edit sound waves on screen presented exciting new adverse possibilities. Until 1996 Slavin was playing in various live stage experimental Post Punk and Post Electronic outfits (3H (Shalosh Hait), Rir, Rare, Lip Stick $ync) as frontman/ writer-vocalist/guitarist. In that sense, Thermo Swing marks a more personal approach to music making, and a unique style that kept growing with the freedom to control a multitude of positions in the studio.

Quanta+Else / Studio Blanks 01-02 appeared in 2002 on Slavin’s own label, Esoteric Recordings, founded when the scene was young and no other labels were around to release his material. Quanta+Else is defined by a minimal, clinical DSP synthesized aesthetics, with warm analogue acoustics and techno reminiscences lurking in the background.

Both these albums were widely played on local and international indie/ underground FM radio/ web stations and tracks were used in dance ensemble repertoires.

Thermo Swing & Quanta​+​Else / Studio Blanks 01​-​02 is now available from cronica.bandcamp.com.

“Roha” reviewed by Rif Raf

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Il manipule des sources. Souvent uniques, qu’elles aient pour nom contrebasse ou percussions. On le sent, son ‘Roha’ (Crónica), première sous son vrai nom d’ANDREAS TROBOLLOWITSCH, défie les lois du temps et de la musique. Nulle caresse auditive à l’avant-plan, où la recherche des locutions grinçantes occupe l’essentiel de l’espace. Les tripes en prennent pour leur grade, mieux vaut baisser le volume pour ne point inonder d’acidité les tympans (‘Ratt’). La colère n’est pas en reste, elle gronde en sourdine, un restant d’humanité industrielle s’invite dans le magma, on traverse la chaussée sous les auspices du diable, les coulées du haut-fourneau en lointain souvenir (‘Tapco’). Tel un hommage à la main de l’homme, et de la machine en adjuvant, l’odyssée prend un embranchement vers l’artisanat, on ne sait trop si on pousse la porte du cordonnier ou du serrurier. Seule certitude, aux yeux de Trobollowitsch, jamais humain et mécanique n’auront été autant interdépendants. Fabrice Vanoverberg

“Everything Emanating from the Sun” reviewed by Silence and Sound

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Sans vouloir trop entrer dans les détails explicatifs du nouvel opus du compositeur grec Yiorgis Sakellariou, sachez que c’est le premier album d’une série intitulée Corollaries et mise en place par le label portugais Crónica, qui regroupera des oeuvres issues des résidences Active Crossover: Mooste supervisées par l’artiste anglais Simon Whetham. Oeuvre d’ambient construite d’un seul tenant, autour de collages électro-acoustiques et de field recordings naturalistes, Everything Emanating From The Sun laisse passer la lumière à travers des zones nuageuses à la luminosité presque blanche, caressant des paysages aux douces collines survolé de temps en temps, par des chants d’oiseaux, des cris d’animaux et des bruits de ville lointaine. La nature est là, omniprésente dans chaque recoin de l’oeuvre, reconstruite et reconçue par les mains de l’homme, débarrassée d’un chaos organique qui l’habite intrinsèquement, survolée par le tumulte de machines et de cloches diverses, cherchant à construire un semblant de Création Divine aux allures d’Eden perdu, mutilée par les affres du désir, vaine tentative de vouloir toucher l’après Big Bang et ses premiers pas dans le cosmos. Un album habité de douces intempéries et d’ondes accidentées onctueuses. A savourer. Roland Torres

via Silence and Sound

“When the Days All Tip from Nests and Fly Down Roads” reviewed by Ambient Blog

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This is the second release in Crónica’s ongoing Corrolaries series, a collection of works resulting from a collaborative residency curated by Simon Whetham in Mooste, Estonia (the first was this one by Yiorgis Sakellariou).
Released as a Name-Your-Price download, they are a perfect way to discover the various ways that environmental recordings can be transformed into sound art soundscapes.

‘When the Days…‘ is constructed from Field recordings made in Mooste and its surroundings, “which was especially appealing for the contrasts between nature and derelict and abandoned structures from the soviet area. My aim was to convey the atmosphere I was absorbed in, wandering around in solitude in the landscape almost devoid of human presence.”
And that atmosphere is perfectly captured!

Environmental sound recordings can be used to re-create a certain atmosphere, if you record them well and leave them as close to the source as they can be.
But that is not the purpose of these projects, of this album. When listening to them, you hear music, not just sound.
That’s precisely what Edgar Varèse meant when he defined ‘music’ as ‘organized sound’.

via Ambient Blog

LIA + @c’s “Transcendence 115”

TRANSCENDENCE 115 from Lia on Vimeo.

In anticipation of the upcoming release of @c’s new album “Three-Body Problem”, LIA has created a video for track 5, 115 (Transcendence), that features Angelica V. Salvi in the harp.

“Three-Body Problem” is currently available for pre-order.

“Positions” reviewed by Westzeit

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“Three Modulators for Trombones” eröffnet diese Platte, eus Stück das 15:32 Minuten lang ist und in der Lage, deine Vorstellung von Musik komplett über den Haufen zu werfen. Weil auch physische Bewegung zum Konzept der Komposition gehört, wäre es nur zu interessant, einer Liveaufführung beiwohnen zu können, wo doch schon die Konserve so eindrucksvoll das Aufeinanderzu — und Voneinanderweg-Gehen — hier allerdings im eher metaphorischen Sinn — verdeutlicht. Verschränkungen klagender Nebelhörner, durchweg in tiefsten Lagen, fürwahr “mindblowing”! Der Holländer Tellinga arbeitet auch in den anderen Stücken von “Positions” mit Raumerfahrungen, so lässt er in “Truth, Exercise for a Listener” die Spieler (Posaune und Kontrabaß) durch das Publikum laufen. Wobei die Zuhörer nicht davon in Kenntnis gesetzt werden, dass die performance schon begonnen hat. “Positions, for those involved” kommt ganz ohne Musiker aus — hier wird allein das Publikum zum Akteur. Großartige KonzeptKunstMuzik, die verblüffenderweise auch als Aufzeichnung sehr gut funktioniert. Karsten Zimalla

“Against Nature” reviewed by KindaMuzik

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Stijf van de schrik overeind schieten, met de stuipen op het lijf gejaagd. De gordijnen in of een snoekduik makend naar de stereo om de kwelling de nek om te draaien… Het kan verkeren met Against Nature van Simon Whetham. De verzameling fieldrecordings van de maximale noisy soort wordt dan ook niet samengebald gebracht of meeslepend narratief langs een vloeiende lijn. Whetham hort en stoot en de voortdurende onrust houdt je waarschuwend op je qui-vive.

Against Nature presenteert geen verdichte Anemone Tube-wolken of statische drone, zoals Carl Michael von Hausswolff die kan projecteren. Simon Whetham richt zijn microfoons als telescopen op die plekken waar geluid ongemakkelijk wordt. En blijft. Daar componeert hij mee, meer nog dan met de klanken of tonen zelf. Er zit weinig muzikale logica in; dit is geen natuurlijk gegeven qua componeren, laat staan luisteren.

Het gaat Whetham om de akoestische vingerafdruk van een plek, die hij wil vangen. Ook richt de geluidkunstenaar zich op rupturen, deconstructies en vestigt hij de aandacht op handelingen. Wat hij doet, is een activatie van de ruimte in geluid; schraap, schuur, kras, enzovoorts. Ook volgt hij die beweging, dat ‘in gang zetten’, op door extreme versterking, inclusief de nodige vervormingen, al dan niet via de elektronische weg. Doel: geluidkunst die verwarring, mogelijk ook het nodeloos ingewikkelde, en vooral het ongekende probeert te verkennen. Daar is niks tegennatuurlijks aan, maar de uitnodiging tot reconstructie die van deze aleatorische composities uitgaan, is zodanig het tegenovergestelde van vloeiend dat het Whetham ook niet zal verbazen als maar weinigen zijn puzzel willen leggen. Sven Schlijper

“Gamelan Descending a Staircase” reviewed by Revue & Corrigée

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Dans cet album, le compositeur lituanien Arturas Bumsteinas annonce clairement par son intitulée l’oeuvre procède de deux sources. La source sonore réside bien sûr dans l’utilisation des gamelans indonésiens, enregistrés au Musée ethnologique de Dahlem, à Berlin. La source d’inspiration, elle, fait référence à um tableau de Marcel Duchamp, Nu descendent un escalier nº 2 (1912), qui offre une décomposition du mouvement dans un esprit cubiste. Celle-ci est ici traduite par lá déstructuration do matériau sonore, plongeant laudateur dans un univers à la fois luxuriant informel et erratique, d’une cinquantaine de minutes.
La version digitale de cet enregistrement est agrémentée d’un second titre d’une douzaine de minutes, Sad Young Man on a Train, renvoyant à une oeuvre, éponyme, de Duchamp. Le matériau en est ici le clavecin préparé, les sonorités déstructurées y étant-tendues par une sort de drone… Pierre Dur

New in the Corollaries series: Simon Whetham’s “Contact”

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This is the third release in the series Corollaries that will span 2016, compiling works resulting from Active Crossover: Mooste, a cross-cultural collaborative residency curated by Simon Whetham and hosted by MoKS, in April and May 2015. All works are composed from material compiled in a collective archive during the project.

Contact
noun
ˈkɒntakt/
1. the state of physical touching.
2. the action of communicating or meeting.

It is thought that objects are relatively unaffected by time, in some way atemporal, whereas human action is temporally unstable or ephemeral. Perhaps to test this theory, to counter it, we need to intervene, to cause objects to vibrate, to resonate, to act.

When causing an object to make sound, to resonate and vibrate, or even when listening to it, we are in some way allowing it to speak. But in this, are we making audible an internal sound from within ourselves? Or at least making audible an intended action? If so, then which voice is the one that is heard — that of the object or that of the intervener?

What then occurs when a number of creative individuals respond to a space and the objects within?

There would undoubtedly be some dialogue, a conversation between all those present, even if being included simply means listening and experiencing the events unfolding. This may even be the initiation of a dialogue that continues infinitely, being transferred between the individuals, the objects and the space, and from them to other individuals, objects and spaces.

In this work, you will hear dialogue such as that described above, but in listening to the piece, you will also be part of that dialogue. You will have emotional responses, interest and disinterest as the conversation unravels, and you will of course have questions, but do not allow yourself to be frustrated by this. After all, the conversation has just begun…

Composed by Simon Whetham.
Composition combines recordings of performative group activity in southern Estonia during the international art residency Active Crossover: Mooste, April-May 2015.
Mastered by Miguel Carvalhais.
Cover photo by Eamon Sprod.