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... happy spring everyone !!! to commemorate our favorite season (and to help get this place back to some sort of workable condition) we're having a "spring cleaning" sale !!! please visit the spring (2013) cleaning page to view a list of (recent, mostly 2012) releases that we're now offering at reduced prices (while supplies last, no rainchecks, etc) ...
previous artist:
 nate wooley 
there are 14 titles featuring work/death in stock.
they are listed below.
next artist:
 workbench 
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 $6.72

new to stock as of
august 26th, 2011


threads:
harsh-noise
site-specific
modern-composition
electro-acoustic-composition
musique-concrète

 best of 2011 !!! 
chondritic sound (usa) #ch 245 cs

work/deaththe approach” c24 cassette

  • to humiliate

  • hands/knees
  • position and placement
april 2010 release (albeit scøtt’s own “improvededition, actually issued during august 2011) ; ... awesome channeling of crumbling tenement blocks & locked-down aspirations from scøtt reber, heard here working an aesthetic very much in debt to luc ferrari’s “presque rien” yet rooted in scøtt’s day-to-day rituals & observations ...
chondritic sound press release...

work/death - the approach c24 cassette (chondritic sound)

this is the slow build of anticipation and tension being the object of desire instead of the final release. a cascading river of sound as seen and heard by scavenging birds from miles above.

edition of 100.


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 $6.72 
... on sale for only ::
 $4.99 

back in stock as of
february 17th, 2011

first in stock on
june 27th, 2008


threads:
lo-fi
free-improvisation
harsh-noise
minimalism-drones

 spring cleaning !!! 
monorail trespassing (usa) #mt49 cs

work/deathour quiet times together” c20 cassette

  • pearly dew drops drops

  • self portrait in occupation dominick's former bedroom
monorail trespassing press release...
[mt49cs] work / death our quiet times together c-20

self-realizations translated through layers of soft, crackling harsh drones and air-raid signals, vocals underneath. working on his own, no attention to trends. for laying on the floor this winter.

edition of 100, color covers and glossy labels.

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 $11.76

back in stock as of
november 1st, 2011

first in stock on
august 16th, 2010


threads:
harsh-noise
modern-composition
electro-acoustic-composition
field-recordings
musique-concrète

 best of 2010 !!! 
semata productions (usa) #sem-018 cd

work/deathtender comrades” compact disc

  • the grey elk plummets to earth and then is lowered beneath it. (13:44)
  • like two little magnets. (7:04)
  • visions of luke in revelation. (9:47)
  • ascention of the many steps to porter square. (23:03)
july 2010 release ; ... after an immaculate string of work for his own tsol tape-label, scøtt reber here drops his debut full length cd for ricardo’s semata ...

consisting of a simply gorgeous mix of field recordings, mysterious sound sculpture-lineage motorized chug, washed-out mechanical hum, and subtle, yet unapologetically tonal compositions, scøtt has achieved a true, vital hybrid of sonic arts union-style process music, “traditionalmusique concrète, and deep, emotionally-charged chord-wrangling that never comes across as cloying or trite, keeping things grimy & gauzy, always wrapped in a patina of post-noise sensibilities...

four extended takes ; each with their own separate trajectory ; highly recommended !!!

ps. sit back, take a break, and listen to the entire 14-minute run of “the grey elk plummets” to your left ; hard one to excerpt given all of the slow, momentum-creeps, so i’ve left it intact. enjoy !!!
semata productions press release...

sem-018 work/death 'tender comrades' cd

providence, rhode island based work/death, operated by scott reber, is an intersection of musique concrete, electro-acoustic improv and composition, field recording, drone, harsh noise, physical performance, and the pop song. as the name suggests it is a labor of determination, focus, and quality accumulating over a lifetime. for the past 10 years he has synthesized sounds of the 20th century. his multimodal composition process navigates effortlessly between the intellectualist avant garde and the noise underground with its violent removal of musical structures. paraphrasing reber himself, "david tudor or alvin lucier as prototype wall noise via early mapping of crunch, crumble, cracks, crackle, ruptures, space, and moving air that would later be central to the rita, macronympha."

each work/death release, previously on labels such as hospital, monorail trespassing, ekhein, ect. gives the listener an entry point to his exploration of a time, location, frequency or state of anxiety. 'tender comrades' his first official full length is his strongest statement yet. unapologetic harmonic/melodic moves surfacing through and being submerged by waves of white noise. 'tender comrades' is drenched in sweat, performed with piano, upright bass, guitar, machine, midi programming, cassette manipulation, synthesizer, his body, hiss, crackle, melody, hope and possibility. this is harsh noise composition, conceptual high volume, the aurality of negative space, the physicality of sound - filling rooms, bodies. work/death exemplifies the subtlety of pain and the intensity of tenderness. garbage in. garbage out.

edition of 500: pro replicated compact discs housed in a deluxe full color digipak.

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 $7.56 
... on sale for only ::
 $5.62 

back in stock as of
october 16th, 2012

first in stock on
september 14th, 2012


threads:
electro-acoustic-composition
site-specific
experimental-instruments
playback-music
harsh-noise

 best of 2012 !!! 
 spring cleaning !!! 
three songs of lenin (usa) #tsol 14 cs

work/deathinterstitial” c20 cassette

  • simplified methods for imperfect messages - side one

  • simplified methods for imperfect messages - side two
september 2012 release ; ... companion-volume to “phone about to ring” - a nihilistic breed of pure machine-language, coded for cross-contamination, designed to appease our need for an automated / mechanized future ...
three songs of lenin press release...

tsol.14 work/death : interstitial c20

focused mechanistic studies of impulse, system failure and transmission capacities. reducing all personal language to on/off duration pattern-age over noisy channels. junk sound slipping against itself. side 1 is more minimal hollow klang of repeatedly closing doors. side 2 pushes dense chatter to where quantitative becomes qualitative. engineers at bell labs in the late 1950's struggle to teach a switching relay to imagine david tudor's 'rainforest'.

first new tapes in 2 years as well as first recordings using the small speaker array and resonant objects which have been the basis of recent live performances (ende tymes fest, buffalo noise fest, burning fleshtival iv, etc). each takes a specific direction while both explore the textures of rattling metal, shredded paper, and spatial diffusion.


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 $7.56

back in stock as of
october 16th, 2012

first in stock on
december 21st, 2010


threads:
harsh-noise
electro-acoustic-composition
machine-music
minimalism-drones

three songs of lenin (usa) #tsol 13 cs

work/deathmulberries ripen and rot” c30 cassette

  • untitled (1)

  • untitled (2)
august 2010 release ; ... ‘twas very nice of scøtt to produce just enough of these three, painstakingly labor-intensive tsol editions for the fine folks that shop here @ mms ... all three come in regular norelco’s, which he’s (somehow ... bucking the internal logic of time/space) manage to squeeze double-sided, thick-stock 8-panel booklets with a minimum of 3 passes of silk-screening per side ; it’s exactly this attention-to-detail (not to mention scøtt’s whole aesthetic framework ... and his innate skill & tact at composing & executing his music) that’s put him on top of the folks whose sporadic missives i look forward to with great anticipation ...

musically speaking, this is scøtt at the top of his game ; the two pieces herein both evoke absent desert plains inasmuchas rain-soaked tropical vistas ; there’s an inherent otherworldliness that’s only hinted at amidst the grit, fuzz, and debris of his chosen signal path & the thrill lies in excavating just enough to reveal it ... this, along with both of the other two fall 2010 tapes come highly recommended !!!
three songs of lenin press release...

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 $7.56

back in stock as of
october 16th, 2012

first in stock on
june 5th, 2009


threads:
minimalism-drones
harsh-noise
electro-acoustic-composition

three songs of lenin (usa) #tsol 10 cs

work/deathaccepting irreparable mechanics” c20 cassette

  • sterling departed (9:50)

  • all lost jewelry finds new home (9:50)
may 2009 release ; new work from scott reber ...

the two pieces here are both concerned with gain-based processes of “pastoral” source material (a series of what sound like casio chord progressions, although they were most likely recording on his korg ms2000) ; whereas the first creeps in amidst of a cloud of radio static dust (listen to the sound-sample) & goes right for the jugular, the second stays fairly subdued throughout ...

the whole thing has a devotional flair to it, coming across like a distant hymnal played in an abandoned church ... but that’s just what i’m reading into it. highly recomended !!!
three songs of lenin press release...

many blessings heaped
upon the head of the child

dog begets dog

though the names are the same
little else ever connects them

garbage in. garbage out.

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 $7.56

back in stock as of
october 16th, 2012

first in stock on
june 5th, 2009


threads:
field-recordings
site-specific

 best of 2009 !!! 
three songs of lenin (usa) #tsol 09 cs

ordinary machineryaccumulate and acclimatize” c30 cassette

  • accumulate and acclimatize (1) (14:45)

  • accumulate and acclimatize (2) (14:50)
may 2009 release ; purportedly scott reber’s “field recordings” project (hadn’t thought about that before, but it sticks) this batch of ordinary machinery materials casts out across the bleak urban dystopia of providence’s outer boroughs, yielding a pair of pristine captures of otherwise banal mechanical buzz and transformer hum ...

as with all of scott’s recent, self-released work, this comes as a cassette in a norelco box with an impeccably detailed double-sided j-card, coated in layers upon layers of silk-screened patternage ... lovely.
three songs of lenin press release...

in and around one building
saturday night. spring weekend

avoidance proximity
inch by inch scrutiny

no transmissions

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 $10.08

back in stock as of
october 16th, 2012

first in stock on
december 15th, 2008


threads:
site-specific
sound-art
field-recordings
modern-composition
harsh-noise

three songs of lenin (usa) #tsol 08 cs

work/deathfrom an inescapable circle” c44 cassette

  • build this together (21:48)

  • isolated and demoralized (21:51)
november 2008 release ; scott reber here upping the labor-intensive ante via his tsol editions ...

this one comes as a norelco-boxed tape (with a lovely, multi-colored screen-printed insert) housed inside a separate screen-printed fold-out cardboard sleeve (on which a number of brecht texts are carefully laid) ...

musically, scott’s depiction of these pieces as “covers” of lucier’s “i am sitting in a room” ring true (skipping of course past the introductory “dry” iterations right to the room-tone obliterated climax) ... tiny details from the initial pass through the tape deck are occasionally evident, but for the most part the constant whirr of the heating & electrical system(s) are brought to the fore ... excellent work.
three songs of lenin press release...

tsol-08: work/death - from an inescapable circle c44

pulled together for a print show in november on the theme of sustainability. nearly hnw take on a.lucier's 'i am sitting in a room'. considering how certain environments can enhance or destroy the things that exist in them. the sound of the space (where the show was and where i work) recorded and played back to itself. a-side sourced from a workshop to assemble jessica rylan's flower electronics touch sensitive noise generator. b-side lets the building assume industrial possibilities after humans have gone. life going nowhere. somebody help me. staying alive.

type ii high bias c44 with 2 color screen printed, four panel inserts and outer corrugated box. limited to 100, but less than half that left right now.

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 $7.56

back in stock as of
october 16th, 2012

first in stock on
june 6th, 2008


threads:
harsh-noise
minimalism-drones

three songs of lenin (usa) #tsol 07 cs

work/deathexcuse me but i think you dropped something” c20 cassette

  • comfort of corners

  • recollection of regrets
three songs of lenin press release...
tsol 07: work/death - excuse me but i think you dropped something

the place in my brain where i confuse the perspective between harsh & ambient. melodic moves surfacing through layers of saturation. dense textures and steel wool atmospheres resolving themselves in slow motion while standing in a corner. partial snapshot of recent live style. each tape includes a pair of found personal-sacred objects.

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back in stock as of
october 16th, 2012

first in stock on
june 6th, 2008


threads:
minimalism-drones
electro-acoustic-composition
plunder-phonic

three songs of lenin (usa) #tsol 06 cs

ordinary machinerystand while fields pass” c20 cassette

  • (no tracklisting)
three songs of lenin press release...
tsol 06: ordinary machinery - stand while fields pass

nocturnal urban acoustic ecology. returning to the threads of past radio work and a cdr from 2004, ordinary machinery is an attempted transcription of listening and environments (internal/external). after they've waved goodbye and driven away. waiting for the connection. walking cross lots. when did things stop? where did this headache come from?

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 $7.56

back in stock as of
october 16th, 2012

first in stock on
april 2nd, 2008


threads:
modern-psych
guitar-themed
minimalism-drones
lo-fi

three songs of lenin (usa) #tsol 04 cs

ten thousand thingsflat bed wreckers” c20 cassette

  • day off clocked in

  • sidewalk point of view
three songs of lenin press release...
04: ten thousand things - flat bed wreckers :

on going collaboration with geoff mullen. this installment leans towards open sky nz drone pitted against low gray city clouds. organ, midi, microcassette.

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 $7.56

back in stock as of
october 16th, 2012

first in stock on
april 2nd, 2008


three songs of lenin (usa) #tsol 03 cs

olneyville string systemolneyville string system” c20 cassette

  • feet are red like fetuses

  • everyone must wear blindfolds
three songs of lenin press release...
03: olneyville string system :

improv string trio conversations between cybele blue shift (violin), miriam black forest/black sea (cello), and myself (upright bass). teenage daydreams of xenakis and feldman. obsessive-compulsive inner ear itch/scratch.

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 $7.56

back in stock as of
october 16th, 2012

first in stock on
april 2nd, 2008


three songs of lenin (usa) #tsol 02 cs

work/deathle corbusier” c20 cassette

  • you think that i am ugly
  • but this is because
  • you are a philistine

  • garbage in. garbage out.
three songs of lenin press release...
02: work/death - le corbusier :

stare at the floor and wait until you leave the room.
focus on this point and have patience.
a440.

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 $11.76

back in stock as of
november 12th, 2010

first in stock on
october 13th, 2006


threads:
analogue-synth
anti-music
bedroom
brutal-prog
circuit-bending
experimental-instruments
free-improvisation
guitar-themed
harsh-noise
lo-fi
minimalism-drones
modern-psych
playback-music

 best of 2006 !!! 
rare youth (usa) #ry-02 cd

rare youth” double compact disc set

  • black pus - “ghrost”
  • furisubi - “sentinels”
  • kites - “riding the glass geyser”
  • mercy light - “fuck deke” (live at club in-zone)
  • jean cozzens - “drum practice”
  • james amoeba - “pearl skies”
  • siren cult - “celebrity couples”
  • amil byleckie - “the eagle’s summation”
  • area c - “circadia”
  • xerxes - “#4”
  • russian tsarcacm - “don’t ever touch me”
  • mucid cuspidor - “vile surmiine”
  • summer city - “hurry your ass”
  • alberich - “everything i’ve ever wanted”
  • blue shift - “twist taster”
  • feral children - “panic attic”
  • siege engine - “untitled”
  • i would eat that pizza - “i don’t know how to live my life”
  • haunted house - “gravediggers”

  • lucky dragons - “shimmering problems / on kitchen floors / outside of kitchen windows”
  • synb - “electric gladiators”
  • lazy magnet - “voyage of the universal harmony rainbow”
  • pedestrian deposit - “you will not treat me this way”
  • chris paddock - “4 t-shirts”
  • h2h - “liquid sky”
  • leif goldberg - “closet day to earth”
  • petal boat - “tiny kitten”
  • unicorn hard-on - “bird in hand”
  • what cheer? brigade - “disco bhangra”
  • red delicious - “soda”
  • byron house - “snake skein”
  • mairead donnelly - “black butterfly”
  • black forest / black sea - “old man chepachet”
  • total gym - “live at the mutiny”
  • workdeath - “i am failure beneath your love”
  • diego perez - “squid battles and dies”
  • god willing - “drawn edited”
  • teenage waistband - “beast”
first release (...after a 7” single and a cassette) on geoff mullen’s rare youth label - a double-disc compendium of contemporary goings-on in the providence, ri area, as compiled, lovingly, by geoff himself.

unlike many other providence “scene” compilations that feature, say, artists now signed to load; or artists that are friends with dom “prurient” fernow, this offers a pretty damn subterranean overview of what’s bubbling just underneath the surface of providence’s musical collective consciousness...
rare youth press release...
v/a : rare youth – new music from providence, ri

2cd compilation

here it is…a year in the making…a collection of new music from one of the most fertile and constantly changing locales in the union. featuring over two hours of music and spread out over thirty-eight tracks, rare youth brings together some of the most exciting artists at work in providence right now: work/death, kites, black pus, xerxes, heart2heart, russian tsarcasm, blue shift, lazy magnet, byron house, teenage waistband, black forest/black sea, unicorn hard-on, synb, leif goldberg, siege engine, lucky dragons and many many more.

sequenced to highlight the great diversity of musical stylings in this small town, this cd takes you on a smooth ride down the many colorful roads of: power pop psych noise, abandoned dronescapes, reckless free improvisation, emo power electronics, late night elven dance music, epic psych rock, shredded throat guitar doom, john carpenter-esque synth despair, witty no-fi punkish noise, genuine teenage love songs, total garbage, marching bands, etc. etc.

with the attention that providence has received for being a hub of louder-than-life, experimental music / art, this compilation tries to provide an updated snapshot of the current subterranean goings-on. it includes many of the artists who are responsible for bringing such acclaim and attention to this small community - brian chippendale (lightning bolt, black pus), mat brinkman, leif goldberg, jo dery, christopher forgues - while also highlighting some of the new and young artists who are taking things in different and exciting directions - russian tsarcasm, alberich, heart2heart, blue shift, summer city, byron house. there are also a handful of tracks featuring visiting artists (pedestrian deposit, brian miller and kevin shields…).

hand-packaged in a double-cd gatefold sleeve, with original illustrations and design by christopher forgues - aka cf, kites, paper radio, low tide, fantasy empire, etc. (his work can also be seen in comics anthologies kramer’s ergot, the ganzfeld, paper rodeo).

compiled and edited by geoff mullen.

edition of 1000 copies.

previous artist:
 nate wooley 
...and that's everything in stock featuring work/death.
(why not take a look at the previous and next artists?)
next artist:
 workbench 
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... this page was last updated on thursday, may 23rd, 2013 @ 7:25 pm