Various Artists: Translations Of Opacity - For Michelangelo Antonioni

catalog number: and.p33
artist: VARIOUS ARTISTS
title: Translations Of Opacity - For Michelangelo Antonioni
format: MP3
info: http://www.and-oar.org/pop_andp33.html

Happy Holidays everyone!
A free gift, just under 2 hours in length!
Enjoy.

Isobel Clouter & Rob Mullender: Myths Of Origin

catalog number: and/32
artist: ISOBEL CLOUTER & ROB MULLENDER
title: Myths Of Origin - Sonic Ephemera From East Asia
format: CD
info: http://www.and-oar.org/pop_and_32.html

Jumping back a bit in the catalog sequence,
I had to delay this one a little longer, but I'm very
happy to say that it is now available and ready to ship!

Andrea Borghi: Selected Works: 2001 - 2006

Relaunching the online catalog in free mode with a debut solo release
from yet another fine Italian sound artist, Andrea Borghi.
This collection highlights Borghi's monolithic electronic oeuvre circa
2001 to 2006. www.and-oar.org/pop_andp32.html

and/OAR interview: Andrea Gabriele (Mou, Lips!)

Corey Fuller talks with Andrea Gabriele of 'Mou, Lips!'
about life and the latest CD entitled "Untree"
released on the mOAR division of and/OAR.

*This is the first of an ongoing series of artist interviews
revolving around the latest releases on the and/OAR label,
conducted by sound artist Corey Fuller.

Andrea Gabriele is a musician, sound designer, software developer
and events curator. He has played music since 1994 with electronic
devices, acoustic instruments and all the sounds around.
He composes original music and sound design for videos,
commercials, exhibitions and realizes interactive audio video
installations.

Andrea has worked for brands such as MTV, BMW, Breil, Pirelli,
Tudor, Arena, Heineken, Ballantyne Cashmere etc. He has
released records with the band Tu m' (until 2003), next as
'Mou, lips!' , since 2003 as Pirandèlo together with Claudio Sinatti
and Marita Cosma, and with many other projects from
experimental to disco music.

Andrea's shows, featuring real time audio video interaction, have
been presented at the main electronic arts festival around Europe
(Netmage, Peam, Avril.dot, Dissonanze, Sintesi, Kals'art, Sprawl..),
and events like Venice Biennale. His records are distributed world
wide.

Together with Luigi Pagliarini, Andrea is the main curator and
organizer of PEAM (Pescara Electronic Artists Meeting). He gave
lectures about sound design and interactive installations at art
schools such as Istituto Europeo di Design (IED) and Nuova
Accademia delle Belle Arti (Naba) in Milano. He works as creative
artist and events curator at Post Post Studio.

CF: Could you briefly explain your previous background and activities
leading up to Mou, Lips!?

AG: I grow up in Pescara, Italy. A small nice town in southeast Italy,
sun... sea... hills...food.. family... Started to study pop guitar and
electric bass at 12, and started to play with tape and everything
that could make sounds the same year. While doing my unconscious
experiments all alone, I became a bass and double bass player...
and I played many different kinds of music... from shit Italian folk
music, to pop rock, reggae, and lots of jazz and Latin music. Bizarre
jazz oriented remix of old songs was my main job as music player.

In '97 or '98 i started to play with the Tu m' trio, and knew more
about the experimental music world, so i finally realized that i wasn't
totally crazy after realizing a few records with Tu m'. Mou, lips! was
a duo with Emanuela De Angelis started right after this and I found
myself more free to do my own music. Next I kept studying music
and the experimental world where I found myself free to do my own
music... so records cames out.. gigs... and jobs and so on...
Now I'm writing you from my house here, where I live with my wife
and 3 year old daughter, and just back from Madrid where I did
music, sound design and sound generator software for a Rolex (....)
commercial event...

Tomorrow I need to wake up to take Joy to school... and next setup
an interactive audio video installation for an exhibition.. where a
drop of water generates everything and today Fiat asked me to play
a gig.... life is weird.... you never know what (will) happen the day
after... I could never imagine 14 years ago that it would be like this...

CF: How did you approach the composition of these songs?
Were your methods for 'Untree' a departure or a continuation of your
previous working methods?

AG: I made them a long time ago... so can't remember exactly the
method... I guess that usually I play and record lots of different
instruments and sounds... rearranging and "destroying" the original
mood on the computer. But the real story is that every track has
something deep and intimate... that I can't "simply" identify as
"sounds" made by "instruments"... They are made of "words".. each
of them remind me a very precise time and situation of my life...
they are my diary.

For example, there's one track that talk about 2 people very close
to me and it's an incredible story... One of them is very very old
and has a problem with depression (going from very happy
moments to big depression) and the other one is young and had
mental problems. And so, they were helping each other... in a very
natural and lovely way... I recorded a message on the answerphone
saying " please please please... come come come... com'n...
please... do it... com'n..."

Thinking to another track on my Pirandèlo record for Baskaru,
"Rebus Malrisolto" it's a totally different situation of me and Marita
living in a seaside flat in the spring time (that means lot of light
and flowers and great sea without a lot of people and lot of fresh
food) and we sang a few words we quickly wrote recording the
sounds with the headphones... having fun.... Why did i never
record those voices again in the studio, or try to make them more
in-tune and in the right tempo? Because... this way... there's more...
"love"?

CF: What roles does improvisation play in your music?

AG: Most of the tracks on the record are half improvised. I prepare
the material using various software and then play, play, play and
record... Improvisation is like nature...I'm thinking of plants...
they start to grow with seed, earth and water. Next they take
different directions due to what's happening around.

CF: Yes, your music does feel very 'natural' in that sense. The
structures and arrangements feel like they have a natural and
organic asymmetry to them. In structural terms, does "chance" or
"randomness" play any role in your music? If so, how?

AG: Well, as it's not written music, so I think so. Also there's a big
intimate and personal matter on my tracks, that sometimes come
out from titles or on field recordings that are stored on them...so
sometimes i see them like untouchable improvisations. It's like
writing on a diary for a writer maybe?...

CF: I'm equally curious of your wide array and selection of sound
sources/instruments used in the work. Did you consciously set
out to make an album with a wide variety of instruments and
sources or is this a case of what was simply "lying around?"

AG: :) I don't know... it's simply my way of doing music... I do
beats using my daughter toys... or use lead instruments to create
tunes... (harmony)... put what's supposed to stay in the
background on top... vinyls on loop... cheap instruments together
with hi quality sound processing... and so on... we could say it's
maybe close to a ready-made mood of doing things. I have lots of
unplayable instruments like old mixers or analog synths for
harmoniums... things that everyone who makes electronic music
would hate... broken guitars and mandolins and things like that...
that I always found useful... I guess they have something to say...
even one note..

CF: I'm particularly intrigued by the album title. What was your
inspiration or reason for this title?

AG: That was an Emanuela's idea. She took a lo-fi snapshot of a
small tree without leaves... so un-tree.... sounded good...

CF: Could you briefly explain your current projects and activities?

AG: After 10 years of being into experimental music I did many
different projects trying to keep my own voice safe... My actual
experimental music projects are Pirandelo and Symbiosis Orchestra,
but I also play disco music with Clap Rules or techno with
Mario Masullo, or electro pop with Ococo, and do original sound
design and music for fashion events.

Dino Bramanti 1969 - 2008

I was just informed by sound artist Andrea Borghi that his
friend and collaborator Dino Bramanti died of a heart attack
back in July... I was in contact with him myself over the
past year, but had not heard from him in a while.

Dino might be best known around the world as a member of
the group Sinistri who has released work on the Hapna label in
Sweden. There has been a collaboration release planned by Dino
and Andrea entitled "Quaalude" on and/OAR since last year,
but sadly I haven't been able to get to it before his untimely
passing. Plans are indeed still in the works for 2009.
"Quaalude" was a performance / installation that premiered
in 2002 at the Galleria C'Arte D'Identita' in Pietrasanta, Italy.
Here is Dino's bio (taken from the Sinisti website):

Dino Bramanti lived in Pietrasanta (Italy) where he was
born in 1969. His cultural background is a mixed affair
between classical humanistic education and
mathematical and technical studies. In 1988 graduated
at Liceo Classico in Viareggio and in 1996 took PhD in
Telecommunications Engineering at the University of Pisa,
working on statistical noise modelling. Being affected
since his teens by an endless appetite for recorded
sounds and musics (after being folgorated by listening
to Dead Kennedy's "In God We Trust, INC" in early
eighties), he soon started to explore and collect every
kind record he was able to find and bring home.

Self-taught musician on bass and trumpet, during the
90's he's been working as DJ in several clubs and radio
stations, mainly spinning jazz, black music, rock and
what's in between. Firmly persuaded that noise is not
such a bad thing as good engineers are used to depict it,
he started moving towards electronic sound composition,
digital signal manipulation and sample grinding, writing
and playing his own processing applications in Csound,
Supercollider and finally Max/MSP.

Current main work is focused on the concept of
de-composition/improvisation applied to live performance
for laptops and custom made music software. He's a
ghost member and collaborator of broken-funk combo
Sinistri and member of its cubist incarnation Sinistri++,
representing a playground for further experimentations
in the field of non-metric, non-linear music.
Additionally, he's carrying on the "Bonarosa" project with
Andrea Borghi, solo explorations as "Ampang" and he's
sharing his time between digital art works and the "work
as system"/software designer in the field of IP related
protocols for telecommunications industry.

Recent Works:
with Sinistri:
2005 - Timing The Instant C, track on Sonic Protest CD-R
2005 - Free Pulse CD, Hapna Records
2004 - Music for the DVD Mattino di T.Camaiani & G.P.Guerini
2004 - Norway Pulse, track on Cottage Industrial Vol.3 CD-R, Humbug Records with Sinistri++
2005 - live at Placard Festival, Bologna (Italy)
2004 - Black Pulse vs. White Space [for hidden musicians and real-time processing]
- live project, Raum, Bologna (Italy) as part of Desco Music live series. various:
2004 - Contribution in BAU - Contenitore di cultura (con)temporanea, #0
2003 - L'ospite ingrato, un'ossessione Medicea -- sound installation in Orizzonti-Belvedere dell'Arte,
Forte Belvedere -Firenze (cat. Skira) (with TIMET, M. Di Rosa and A. Bosshard)
2003 - Sonic Pills on Compilatione, TIMET
2002 - Quaalude, a quiet interlude - sound installation and natural sound generator -premiered in
Pietrasanta, galleria c'Arte d'Identita'. A CD release is planned on and/OAR in 2009.

My thoughts go out to Dino's family and friends.

DECIBEL 2008 / THE BIZ

Operations at a/O were on auto-pilot for a few days
while the writer/artist/curator TJ Norris was in town
for the Decibel festival. TJ and I were on a discussion
panel pertaining to the current state (and future of)
music writing, and we also attended other various events
at the festival. Unfortunately, I didn't take very many

photos and the ones I did take, didn't turn out very well.

Highlights for me included Akira Rabelais / Carole Kim (visuals),
William Basinski, OffTheSky, Tujiko Noriko, Kamran Sadeghi,
and Balún. There was also a discussion panel regarding
music licensing and monetizing music, while informative,
also proved to be dreadfully uninspiring since most of the
panelists were steeped in an old paradigm mindset…
My suspicions were confirmed when I asked a question
pertaining to the overstepping of jurisdiction of major labels
and organizations like ASCAP and BMI when it comes to
listening to the CDs we buy outside of our confined private
spaces, and the panelists not only tried to justify the stance
of the aforementioned organizations, but they also jokingly
refered to me as being “rebellious”(?)…

Hello? If we buy CDs, we should have the right to play them
just about anywhere we choose without getting threatened
with a licensing fee for doing so. Sending out minions to
search for CDs being played outside a particular environment
reeks of corporate fascism and should be outlawed because
it impinges upon individual rights. Playing a CD is not the same
thing as copying and/or giving it away on a blog without

permission, and while I think artists and recording labels should

receive compensation for their work, I also think that the

jurisdiction of organizations like BMI or ASCAP (in the USA)

should be thoroughly re-examined and revised. As it turns out,

one of the a/O artists has joined such an organization in Europe
that tries to charge a licensing fee even if a sample is featured
on a website(!) which is self-defeating and unproductive. I can

tell you that if such an organization tries to charge me fees for

promoting work that I spend money to release, then I will start

asking the artist for compensation fees, because so far, the

artists don't have to pay anything for the CDs I publish for them.

Apart from that nonsense, I had a fantabulous time at dinner
with Akira Rabelais, William Basinski, Carole Kim and TJ on
Saturday night, which was a very nice way to end the festival,
since TJ was heading back to Portland and I had to get back
to work, therefore skipping Sunday’s events.

Hitokomakura "Record Of The Week" at Bagatellen

Al Jones of Bagatellen kindly reviewed the Yasujiro Ozu project and

named it "Record Of The Week", which has subsequently stirred up

some much belated discussion/controversy about it:

http://www.bagatellen.com/?p=1983

Jason Kahn & Asher: Vista & Celer: Nacreous Clouds

catalog number: and/33
artist: CELER
title: Nacreous Clouds
format: CD
info: http://www.and-oar.org/pop_and_33.html





catalog number: and/31
artist: JASON KAHN & ASHER
title: Vista
format: CD
info: http://www.and-oar.org/pop_and_31.html

Seth Nehil & Matt Marble: Ecllipses

catalog number: and/30
artist: SETH NEHIL MATT MARBLE
title: Eclipses
format: CD
info: http://www.and-oar.org/pop_and_30.html

Dale Lloyd interview at Tokafi

15 questions to Dale Lloyd (9 actually - I didn't answer all of them)
http://www.tokafi.com/15questions/15-questions-dale-lloyd/

why listen to sound art?

Richard Lerman "Border Fences" installation

Note: This is partially written for people who are not very familar
with sound art and will hopefully spark some interest for further
investigation. I consider this an article in progress, so it is by no
means finished and will undergo periodic editing.
After the article is a short list of links for further research.
Thank you very much for your time.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------


With all the intense events that we read about in the news,
it seems apparent that basic survival remains the number one
priority for most humans, even in a world where it seems like so
many advances to alleviate such a concern have been made.
Granted, in many cultures where such advances have somehow
elluded them, they "make do" with what they have, which is all
any of us can do anyway, yet it must be noted that "advances"
for one culture don't always mean the same thing for another.

For those of us who have access to certain technology, and the
means to obtain it, we also have access to a staggering variety
of "personal inspiration resources" at our disposal as well. One
kind of resource that many of us turn to is music. That being
the case, one would have to wonder why a current era individual
would want to limit themself to just one or two types of music.

Fortunately, there has been a steadily growing number of people
who are tired of the old "music = commodity" paradigm and
have found themselves wandering far outside the societal box
in search of something that speaks to them in different ways
and in turn, opens their minds to alternative possibilities that
they never knew existed. Somewhere along the way, one will
eventually run into what is sometimes refered to as "sound art".
Other terms such as "avant-garde" or "experimental music"
have been used as well.

To clarify, I will paraphrase Wikipedia with the following
description: Sound art is a diverse group of sonic art practices
that considers wide notions of sound, listening and hearing as
its predominant focus. This might require a shift in perception
for a listener because at first it might seem very strange and
alien from what they were raised to think of as "music".
What the Wikipedia definition points to is a mindset that
considers all sound has having the potential of being enjoyed
as music (whether it's organized by humans or not). In this
light, anyone trying to proclaim that particular sounds are
"not music" are expressing an entirely subjective opinion.

As with visual art, there are many different levels of sound art
which can range from people recording and assembling sounds
in their bedroom, to people writing music for academically
trained ensembles to perform. It is not my intention to go into
the history of sound art. Instead, what I would like to bring
attention to is why people listen to sound art, and for those
who have not yet delved into much of it, briefly discuss why
one would even want to listen to some of it.

The reasons for listening to sound art are more numerous
than one might realize. It can provide a particular "spice" to
our personal atmosphere, a "soundtrack" for various aspects
of our lives - our moods, imagination, creativity, and leisure
activities (i.e. reading, hobbies, etc) that no other type of
music might do. Of course, some artists reading this might
cringe at this utilitarian line of thought, but they should
understand that artists can't expect everyone to have time
to drop everything they're doing and sit inside a sound proof
room to completely focus on an artist's work. One beauty of
sound is that it doesn't have to prevent people from doing
other things while they are experiencing it. In fact, some of
my best listening comes when I am doing graphic design work,
and it obviously inspires what I'm doing as well.

So sound art should not appeal only to art professionals and
CD / record collectors. Nor should it go ignored by people
who've been raised to believe that anything without a beat
and melody is not music. In fact, some sound art does have
these traits, and many have used this as an entry point to
delve into more challenging work later. As a curator of a
recording label myself, it's been a personal mission to help
open people's minds and ears to listen to a wider variety of
sound than that which is officiated, sponsored and promoted
by corporate and academic establishments, and this goes
the other way around as well. Artists (or anyone else for
that matter) shouldn't feel embarrased to admit that they
pull out a Madonna CD right after listening to Francisco Lopez.
In fact, the semi-regular "office ambience" list that I post on
the a/O MySpace blog clearly illustrates what I'm talking about.
Bottom line: It's all good. It's all sound.

Further Research:
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_art
UBU Web: http://www.ubu.com/sound/
What Is Sound Art? - article and interviews:
http://emfinstitute.emf.org/articles/aldrich03/aldrich.html

Yuki Kaneko: Rut

catalog number: moar2
artist: YUKI KANEKO
title: rut
format: CD

"Rut" is a beautiful sparkling kaleidoscopic homage to the common
wonders of day to day life that displays Yuki's great talent for subtly
weaving together complex textures of electronic and acoustic sound
sources into cleverly abstract melodic musings. As with Sawako Kato's
debut release a few years ago on and/OAR, this will also prove to be
another perfect CD for Spring and Summer. Initially released on
Magic Book Records in Japan just a few months prior, this US release
of "Rut" is quite different in that it has been remastered with some
tracks being completely re-constructed and/or remixed, plus one of
the Magic Book tracks was replaced with a new one. In our
opinionated opinon, this is the quintessential version of Yuki Kaneko's
"Rut" and mOAR is very happy to make it available!
http://www.and-oar.org/moar_catalog_moar2.html


NOTES: Apart from some quibbles regarding minor pre-press
glitches which somehow managed to escape my critical gaze,
I'm still pleased with the overall outcome.
I had originally wanted to use uncoated stock for the digipak (like I
did for the Mou, Lips! CD), but having encountered a rather costly
printing problem trying to use uncoated stock for the oSone release,
I opted to play it safe and stick with a matte finish for "Rut".
The oSone release was reprinted on high gloss because at that time
I wasn't sure how matte stock would look. It wasn't until the
Jovanovic: Galiola CD was made (with the matte) that I realized that
it was a better than the average digipak stock.

Arsenije Jovanovic: Galiola, Works For Radio 1967-2000

Happy Spring!

At long last, after a split release with composer Ivana Stefanovic
in 1993 (on ORF), and a first solo release on Eric La Casa's La
Légende Des Voix label in 1994, and/OAR (in collaboration with
FO A RM Publications and Alluvial Recordings) is simply elated to
release a second solo CD of previously unreleased work by Serbian
composer/film, television and theatre director Arsenije Jovanovic!

From what sound like theatrical Fellini Satyricon-like extravaganzas

(although predating Satyricon by two years), haunting phantasmic

dronescapes, to near pastoral epiphanies of childhood and the

imagination of innocence, the dynamic range and mood of the
work presented here is impressive, and it's well apparent that he's

drawn upon his experience with directing for film, television and

theatre; however Jovanovic's mastery of composition, weaving

field recordings, concrete sounds, voices and instruments is still

nothing short of astonishing.

When presented with this work for a possible joint release by
Seth Nehil of FO A RM Publications, it was hard to fathom how
it had gone unreleased over the past 30 years. With the exception
of one track ("Prophecy Of The Village Kremma" which was used

in the film "The Thin Red Line"), the only way that people could

hear this work were if they had just happened to catch a rare

radio broadcast in Serbia (former Yugoslavia), France or
Italy, for which the works were created (hence the title), or if

they attended a festival where the music may have been

played.

And so it is my hope to open people's minds and expose Arsa
Jovanovic's work to a much larger audience of which it truly
deserves. Copies of his first solo release are still available in
the and/OAR Diffusion shop, so if you are not yet acquainted
with Arsa's work, now would be a great time to immerse yourself
in two collections of his work while copies are still available,
and at and/OAR prices.

www.and-oar.org/pop_and_all2.html

Best Wishes,
Dale

Yui Onodera feature article in Tokafi

Following the shorter article that appeared a week ago

at Tokafi.com, here is a feature length one:

http://www.tokafi.com/newsitems/sound-instrument/

new releases

Well, it seems I've fallen behind with announcing the latest
releases here on the blog, so I'm going to announcement them
all at the same time:


artist: oSONE
title: Passerelle
format: CD
division: and/OAR
http://www.and-oar.org/pop_and_29.html



artist: MOU, LIPS!
title: Untree
format: CD
division: mOAR
http://www.and-oar.org/moar_catalog_moar1.html



artist: JONATHAN BENHAM & CHRISTOPHER MCFALL
title: For Wings That Seldom Sleep
format: download
division: and/OAR
http://www.and-oar.org/pop_andp31.html

Wind [Patagonia] - voted album of the month

http://www.tokafi.com/newsitems/cd-feature-francisco-lopez-wind-patagonia/



There is also a nice article about Yui Onodera:
http://www.tokafi.com/news/yui-onodera-upcoming-soundartist-2008/