Suppedaneum Announces New Album from Joseph Clayton Mills

Chicago-based label Suppedaneum has just announced its newest release. It comes from label mastermind Joseph Clayton Mills and is entitled The Letter. As with all other releases on the label, it's a limited release and comes with a score for the piece. The press release for The Letter is as follows:

«The Letter» is a piece of music designed to approach disappearance. To create it, a single 22-minute recording, incorporating piano, field recordings, electronics, and voice, was transferred to one side of a Maxell Communicator Series C45 cassette. This initial cassette was then duplicated onto another cassette, which was in turn duplicated onto still another cassette, and so on. With each generation of this iterative process, a certain amount of deterioration was introduced in the audio fidelity of the recording. This procedure was repeated until 100 unique artifacts had been produced.

This limited-edition release comprises 100 unlabeled, hand-duplicated cassettes, each accompanied by a signed, dated, and numbered copy of the score that inspired the piece (“Abscission” 2015), a photograph, and a brief explanatory text. Copies of the release will be issued strictly in sequence.

Preorders are expected to ship in the final week of 2015.

You can hear excerpts from the album here. You can pre-order the album on the same page.

FRIV Festival Begins this Week

The annual FRIV festival begins this week in Poznan, Poland and will run from December 10th-13th at Centrum Amarant. FRIV festival is an improvised music festival that features musicians from Poznan itself and one or two other cities. This year, participants will come from Wieden, Austria. Artists will draw lots on the 10th to decide the groups that will perform.

The following musicians will represent Widen at the festival: Christina Ruf, Ahoo Maher, Agnes Hvizdalek, Matija Schellander, Klaus Filip, Arnold Haberl, Daniel Lercher, and Sara Zlanabitnig.

The following musicians represent will represent Poznan at the festival: Tomek Misiak, Paweł Doskocz, Borys Słowikowski, Robert Gogol, Barbara Wilińska, Patryk Lichota, Joanna Wabik, Maciej Janasik. You can see a schedule for the festival below.

FRIV festival will also host a screening of the film Poglos, which you can see the trailer for here. There will be a panel discussion as well featuring director Radek Sirko, Tomasz Misiak, Patryk Lichota, and Piotr Tkacz. You can find out more about the FRIV festival at their website or on the Facebook event page.

December 11th:
8pm-10pm:
duet –(Poz/Wien)
trio – (Poz/Wien/Wien)
quartet (Poz/Pozn/Wien/Wien)
duet – (Poz/Wien)

December 12th:
8pm-10pm:
trio – (Poz/Pozn/Wien)
duet –(Poz/Wien)
quartet(Poz/Pozn/Wien/Wien)
trio – (Poz/Wien/Wien)

December 13th:
6pm-8pm: Poglos screening and panel discussion
8pm-10pm:
quartet (Poz/Pozn/Wien/Wien)
trio – (Poz/Pozn/Wien)
duet –(Poz/Wien)

Visit the FRIV festival website for a more comprehensive schedule.

Stream New Albums From Ben Gwilliam and Richard Francis

Along with Marc Baron's Carnets, Glistening Examples has just released two new albums that can be purchased now both digitally and physically on CD. The first comes from Ben Gwilliam and is entitled Vestibül. Gwilliam had previously released albums on labels such as Consumer Waste, Entr'acte, and Mantile. This is his first for Glistening Examples. Gwilliam had this to say about the album:

Vestibül was conceived as a short series of listening studies in 2010 as my interest in the materials in my work was shifting towards the physical properties of sound media and the ensuing relationship between sound and image making. 

Recording took place over one week in early january 2011, working closely with NurNichtNur producer Berserker at his recording studio, several tape machines were sequentially recorded in solo and in arrangements. The same approach was made with other magnetic systems I employ producing something that was mixed in sections on an analogue system. 

Having had a break from the project after 4 years, I attempted to finish the work in late 2014, having had the dust settle on changes, thoughts and attitudes on sound. As I have shifted towards process even further, (to my ears) Vestibül bookends a body of work that has lead my music into new territories

The second new album comes from Auckland-based sound artist Richard Francis. The album was recorded between 2013 and 2015 and is entitled Combinations 2. Giuseppe Ielasi handled the mastering. You can stream both Vestibül and Combinations 2 in their entirety above or at Bandcamp here and here, respectively.

Listen to Morgan Evans-Weiler's Violin/Sine Now

Morgan Evans-Weiler is an experimental musician who hails from Boston. He runs a record label called Individual Lines and is also the musical director of an electroacoustic ensemble named Deleuzer. He released his newest album, Violin/Sine, last week and you can stream it in its entirety above. As the title suggests, the album features three compositions that solely the violin and sine waves. As the press release states, the pieces "juxtapose the very slow change of static fields with iterations of material that aim to alter the field." For more information on purchasing the album digitally or physically on CD, you can visit the album's bandcamp page here.

Glistening Examples Release Marc Baron's Carnets

Last year, Marc Baron released the incredible Hidden Tapes on Potlatch. Today, Glistening Examples has released its follow-up and it's entitled Carnets. You can hear album opener "2014" above. The press release for the album is as follows:

Just as Marc Baron's widely lauded 2014 CD Hidden Tapes marked a turn from saxophone improvisation to an embrace of what the Potlatch label referred to as "music for speakers" or, more elegantly, "sound diffusion," Carnets is not only another leap forward, but could easily be considered Marc Baron's masterpiece.

Carnets is a dynamic interplay of degraded magnetic tape and unsettlingly normal everyday recordings dating back to Baron's childhood, showcasing Baron's deftness in crafting compositions that leave the listener with more questions than answers. Attempts to pin down his methods are forestalled at every turn by the abstract yet suggestive nature of the pieces. Personal memories become a platform for a series of inscrutable, elegantly arranged compositions. Baron's misused tapes carry evocative resonances that linger hauntingly in the mind of the listener, begging to be heard again.

This record is the analog debut for Marc Baron, and his hand-constructed audio works sound completely alive on this vinyl pressing mastered by Jason Lescalleet. Each slab of 150-gram vinyl comes in a special black poly-lined dust sleeve inside a 300-gsm white-on-white art board, all lovingly protected by a polyvinyl bag. The front cover bears a striking photograph of a sculpture by French artist Loïc Blairon, something very intimate and personal for Marc Baron.  This album is truly something very special.

For those in Europe, Carnets will be available from Metamkine shortly and is currently available for pre-order from Penultimate Press. If you live in the U.S., you can purchase the record now from Forced Exposure. There are also limited edition versions of the record pressed on clear vinyl. You can purchase these from the Glistening Examples store. 30 such copies can also be purchased with a high quality print of Loïc Blairon's sculpture, signed by Loïc Blairon and Marc Baron himself. You can read more information here. The tracklist for Carnets is below.

Carnets tracklist:

1. 2014
2. 2008-2013
3. 1965-2015
4. 2015-Pastiche (le style n'est rien)

Cafe OTO Releases Live Graham Lambkin Recording as Part of New Digital Membership Service

About a month ago, Cafe OTO launched a new digital membership service that allows members to download digital copies of live performances taken place at the east London venue. For £100/year, you will be able to receive discounts on items in their online store as well as credits for three downloadable recordings each month. You can alternatively pay £10/month for the membership or pay for individual recordings at £6 each. More information on the digital membership can be read here.

Today, Cafe OTO has uploaded a live recording of Graham Lambkin that was taken last year. You can hear a snippet of the recording on the album page here. Make sure to check out the digital downloads archive for recordings from other experimental artists such as Kevin Drumm, Smegma, Rie Nakajima & Phill Niblock, and Ingar Zach (and other Tone Glow favorites like Kim Doo Soo and Diane Cluck).

Brian Olewnick's Just Outside Blog Returns

Earlier this year, Brian Olewnick announced his "virtual retirement from the music reviewing life." His Just Outside blog was an unquestionably important resource for numerous years. Considering the hiatuses of other blogs like Richard Pinnell's The Watchful Ear and Jesse Goin's Crow With No Mouth, Olewnick's announcement was all the more saddening. Today, Olewnick has revived Just Outside and if you visit the site, will notice a brand new review of Bryan Eubank & Stéphane Rives' fq (an album that I quite enjoyed as well).

On Facebook, Olewnick has pointed out that he had previously felt obligated to review albums that people had taken the time to send him  (particularly physical releases). Now, he will only be spending time reviewing records that "move [him] in one way or another." If you haven't already, make sure to add Just Outside to your bookmarks and/or RSS feed. Perhaps more than people may realize, voices such as Olewnick's are crucial for the vitality of this scene. Here's hoping more writers emerge and provide thoughtful insight on contemporary experimental music.

Reductive Journal to Release Fourth Issue, Hold Live Events

Reductive Journal is a free online text-sound journal featuring writing from various experimental musicians and composers. They will be releasing FOUR, their fourth issue, next week and it is currently available for pre-order here. This marks the first time that the journal will have a physical copy for one its issues. FOUR will be released as a 172-page book and contain writings from numerous people, including Ryoko Akama, Jürg Frey, Sarah Hughes, Joseph Clayton Mills, Manfred Werder, lo wie, and more. The first edition of this book will be limited to 262 copies. There will also be three live events held in the UK later this month in support of FOUR's release. Details about these shows/installations can be found below. More information on these events can be found here.
 

Nov 25th - Huddersfield, UK @ Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival

Works to actualise:
Jürg Frey: Floating Categories
lo wie: CLOUD SCISSORS
Manfred Werder: 6 scores

Performed by Ryoko Akama, Heather Frasch, Jurg Frey, Sarah Hughes, Bruno Guastalla, Manfred Werder, and Daniel del Rio.

Nov 27th - London, UK @ Hundred Years Gallery

Works to actualise:
Ryoko Akama: proposal_five
Danella Cascella: Rhythms and Song
Audra Wolwiec: between the sea and the sea
Manfred Werder: 6 scores

performed by Daniela Cascella, Heather Frasch, Sarah Hughes, Daniel del Rio, David Stent, Manfred Werder, and Ryoko Akama.

Nov 28th - London, UK @ Hundred Years Gallery

Saturday afternoon workshop and performance by three UK collectives—mumei, bore publishing, compost and height—to discuss and examine how text and sound integrate in their publishing works. You will have a chance to look into their archives and purchase some of their rare publications.

Performances and interpretations by Heather Frasch, Daniel del Rio, Sarah Hughes, David Stent, Manfred Werder, and Ryoko Akama.

Dromos Recordings Release Gil Sansón's Immanence, a Life and Announce Upcoming Releases

Dromos Recordings have just released Immanence, a Life, the new album from Gil Sansón. The album appears on the Makam sublabel, which was started to focus specifically on realizations of composed pieces. Immanece, a Life was composed by Sansón in 2011 and was realized by Andy Graydon, Anne Guthrie, Ben Owen, Michael Pisaro, and himself. The album was recorded in multiple cities—Berlin, Brooklyn, Valencia, and Caracas—from 2011-2014. You can hear an excerpt from the album above. The press release for the record is as follows:

"[...] My intention when writing the score for Immanence, a life was to engage with one of Deleuze's main concepts, the field of immanence, and the piece is directly inspired on his last published essay, written shortly before his death and bearing the name Immanence: a life.

Participants are instructed to create the material according to the instructions, which call for "an organic silence", "a decomposed sound", "a sound intended as a spell", and other options offering as many possibilities as limitations, yet no univocal meaning. The only directives that can be called strict are the ones regarding durations and dynamics, and even those are not strictly notated. Participants respond to these conditions by coming up with sounds that will then be assembled into the final work, in a process that somehow resembles the layering of compost. Given that the material provided by the participants is created without knowledge of what the other participants are doing, each participant can only know his/her contribution at any stage of the process. This ensures both the high level of subjectivity regarding the instructions in the score and the immanence on a field of sound that the score aims for, with events following their own logic according to the attraction of individual sounds by way of affective qualities of these sounds, and a general lack of aesthetic consensus that mirrors any common life. Unpredictable, but with a hidden structure supporting it."

- Gil Sansón, Caracas, January 18, 2014

Immanence, a Life comes with liner notes from Manfred Werder. You can read more information about the album and purchase the CD at the label's website here.

There are also many other releases coming soon on Makam. Before the year ends, Sam Sfirii will release −273.15°C. The album will be comprised of eight pieces, one for solo performer, a duo, a trio, etc. until finishing with an octet. Along with Sfirri, −273.15°C will feature performances from Taku Unami, Kieran Daly, Otis Elevator (a Daly pseudonym), Jun Fukasawa, Luís Godoy, António Lages Ribeiro, and Paul R. Statham. The album is expected to be released late November/early December.

Next year, a Taku Sugimoto release entitled solo for guitar 1 will be released. The piece will be realized by Cristián Alvear. Also expected is a new collaborative release from Tomas Korber and Jürg Frey. More information on these albums to follow.

Balloon & Needle Announce Normal, the New Album from Choi Joonyong, Kevin Drumm, and Hong Chulki

Korean record label Balloon & Needle have just announced the release of a new collaborative album from Choi Joonyong, Kevin Drumm, and Hong Chulki. The album is entitled Normal and was recorded in May of last year when Drumm visited Seoul. The album will be 48 minutes long spread across five tracks. You can purchase the album directly from the label soon. ErstDist will also  have copies available in a couple weeks.

In other news, a new collaborative album from Hong Chulki and Bryan Eubanks is coming soon and will be released on Celadon. The record is entitled Proper Motions. Hong Chulki posted a picture from the photo session for the album's cover art earlier this year, which you can see here. More information on that album to come.