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previous record label: erstsolo		there are 46 titles on erstwhile in stock. they are listed below.		next record label: esp-disk’

$13.25

new to stock as of
april 18th, 2008

threads:
circuit-bending
electro-acoustic-improvisation
minimalism-drones
experimental-instruments

erstwhile (usa) #erstwhile 053 cd

toshimaru nakamura / english “one day” compact disc

ong time (20:39)
plant signs (20:01)
the color of (15:58)

click the play button to hear an excerpt of "plant signs"

april 2008 release ; the first recorded “pairing” of toshimaru nakamura and the english duo of joe foster & bonnie jones ... three extended pieces of cracked-electronic detritus, recorded (much like the majority of masayuki takayanagi’s output) at kid ailack hall in tokyo (by taku unami, no less) ...

tense, edge-of-your-seat music focusing on hysteresis-heavy patterns in the upper ranges ; state-of-the-art electro-acoustic improvisation at it’s finest ...

erstwhile press release...

toshimaru nakamura / english (joe foster / bonnie jones) one day
erstwhile 053
total time: 56:38

toshimaru nakamura is one of the most distinguished and original voices in the world of electroacoustic improvisation, with a vast body of work built up over the past decade. the duo of english, joe foster and bonnie jones, formed in 2004 in seoul, and have developed their aesthetic ever since, whenever possible given their bi-continental status (foster lives in seoul and jones in baltimore). in the summer of 2007, the trio played together in tokyo for the first time, one concert followed by one day of studio recordings, and the latter became "one day".

since 1998, nakamura has been exploring the possibilities of his no-input mixing board in contexts ranging from solo to collaborations with keith rowe, sachiko m, sean meehan, klaus filip and axel dörner. nakamura was a prominent presence throughout the amplify 2002 box set, appearing on five of the seven cds, and an integral part of the good morning good night, erstlive 005 and 4g releases. currently in preparation are an erstsolo release, as well as a duo cd with brilliant vocalist ami yoshida.

foster began improvising in the portland scene in the late nineties, beginning long-term partnerships with bryan eubanks and j.p. jenkins. in 2002, he moved to seoul, and has become an integral part of the burgeoning scene there. he’s had a number of superb self-released discs over the last few years, most notably his solo “ethics”, his duo with kevin parks (”ipsi sibi somnia fingunt”), and two duo english releases with bonnie jones. a third english release is in preparation for fall 2008 release.

jones was born in south korea, raised in new jersey, and currently resides in baltimore. her instrument of choice is the circuit boards of digital delay pedals, and her primary projects are english and a duo with andy hayleck. besides the aforementioned english releases, she also has an essential solo 3” on emr (vines) and an untitled duo cd-r with hayleck.

in the summer of 2007, jones visited foster in south korea and did a series of shows there and in japan, both as english and in other combinations. while they were in tokyo, they made time in their schedule to spend a day recording with nakamura, and “one day” documents the results, as captured by recording engineer taku unami. three lengthy improvisations showcase a unique collective aesthetic, dense and organic, pointillistic but rough, focused but not overly polished. the gorgeous textures of the design come from original drawings by baltimore artist erin womack.

$13.25

back in stock as of
may 3rd, 2008

first in stock on
april 18th, 2008

threads:
electro-acoustic-composition
musique-concrète
field-recordings
playback-music
site-specific

erstwhile (usa) #erstwhile 052 cd

graham lambkin / jason lescalleet “the breadwinner • musical settings for common environments and domestic situations” compact disc

listen, the snow is falling (8:00)
there and back (4:00)
e5150/body transport (9:00)
soap opera suite (6:06)
lucy song (6:00)
two states (7:00)
there and back again (2:13)
the breadwinner (7:00)

click the play button to hear an excerpt of "listen, the snow is falling"

april 2008 release ; the long-awaited collaboration between graham lambkin and jason lescalleet - their symbiotic modus summed up nicely in this (creepy) image ::

composed at lambkin’s upstate-ny residence (which, by album’s end, turns out to be the third member of the ensemble here), “the breadwinner” sits very comfortably next to lambkin’s recent/head-scratchingly excellent “salmon run” - in that (despite it’s appearance on what is otherwise a label dealing exclusively in improvised music(s)) it is a suite of tape-music pieces constructed out of what would initially appear to be rather banal recordings of daily rituals & environmental disturbance - yet their arrangement & construction (utilizing, from the thick sound of things overall, much of jason’s slown-down tape-loop processes) works beautifully in portraying a clear narrative flow making this more of a linear suite (we’ve walked in the front door - in the hallway -now we’re in the basement - the bathroom - the room upstairs with the piano - the attic - the washroom - out in the yard - away) than a mere collection of unrelated pieces ...

a couple of months on in my appreciation of “salmon run” and i still don’t have a clear/concise catch-all set of adjectives i can use to properly describe it’s staying power - and this one is even more obtuse ; leaving an even thinner strand of clues as to it’s overt form/function (check back early 2009) - i will say that these guys are on their own here ; wading deep in waters uncharted by just about everyone else ; even if i wasn’t immediately swept up by the sheer beauty of this record (listen to the sound-sample), i’d have no qualms highly recommending spending a night or two at lambkin’s haunted villa ...

ps. the lovely lp of robert ashley’s “private parts” - in case you were wondering why it looks so damn familiar ... a red herring ? perhaps ...

erstwhile press release...

graham lambkin / jason lescalleet
the breadwinner
erstwhile 052
total time: 49:19

graham lambkin/jason lescalleet - microphone, tapes, casio sk-5

graham lambkin and jason lescalleet are both highly respected artists, with small but intensely hardcore followings. since 2001, they've been gradually moving closer towards realizing a collaborative project, and the breadwinner is the results of two years of recording, reworking and polishing.

lambkin first entered the public consciousness at 19 when he formed his band the shadow ring, in folkestone, a small town in kent, england. the band was memorable and built an rabidly passionate fan base because of its sui generis approach, blending elements of folk, noise, cracked electronics, and surrealist poetry, while radically changing the overall formula with each release. a decade of increasingly skewed and inspired work culminated in 2003's i'm some songs, constructed long distance as lambkin had relocated to the us in 1998. over the last few years, lambkin has primarily worked under his own name, most notably with 2007's brilliant salmon run, a precursor to the breadwinner.

lescalleet has gradually and painstakingly built a compelling discography over the past decade. he uses reel-to-reel tape decks to explore the textures of low fidelity analog sounds and the natural phenomena of old tape and obsolete technology. he is one of a growing list of master producer/musicians, whose skill lies as much in reworking, assembling and mastering the material available as in creating it (or helping create it) in the first place. he has worked with such wide-ranging artists as ron lessard, joe colley and phill niblock, and has released a string of superb solo discs in mattresslessness (cut), electronic music (rrr) and the pilgrim (glistening examples). this is his second release for erstwhile, after 2001's forlorn green (w/greg kelley), and his third is already in preparation, a duo with bhob rainey, planned for release in early 2009.

the material for the breadwinner was recorded at lambkin's house in upstate ny, over two recording sessions. the duo treated the entire building and its surrounding grounds as a studio, welcoming in outside sounds, which were later kept or eliminated as they felt appropriate. the subtitle on the front cover is "musical settings for common environments and domestic situations", layering numerous submerged fragments to find beauty in everyday life.

"jason lescalleet's influence was palpably present long before the average joe knew how many l's were in his last name (or could successfully google it). he spun tape loops with nmperign from the get-go, frequently signified the endings of his characteristically foundation-shaking performances by hurling a nearly indestructible, hundred-pound peavy amp across the stage, and provided the bulk of the "disaster" in legendary drummer laurence cook's "disaster unit 2000". but as the smoke cleared and the peavy met its demise in a white-walled room, it became apparent to an awful lot of people that lescalleet was making some amazing music; beautifully constructed symphonies of decay born of an intimacy with items and ideas lesser minds might discard: tape machines, lo-bit samplers, the tedium of everyday life. his ability to evoke powerfully complex emotional experiences from such muck made a collaboration with graham lambkin practically inevitable.

composer walter marchetti once made a statement to the effect that he was seeking to reach the "bottom" of music. some more diligent attention to this task might lead him to the music of graham lambkin. already marking out a glorious bottom with his former band, the shadow ring, lambkin has pursued a music so removed from prescribed aesthetics that one is flooded by the beauty it seems to ruthlessly avoid. he puts the mundane to tape and carves out its horror, its sweetness, and its unsettling ambivalence. shrouded in a disarming naiveté, the music leaves the listener ill-prepared for its very adult take on being-in-the-world. we are fortunate that humor can be so black, that we may surrender happily and willingly to an experience not many artists are willing or capable of delivering." - bhob rainey

$13.25

back in stock as of
april 18th, 2008

first in stock on
october 24th, 2007

threads:
digital-musics
electro-acoustic-improvisation
live-electronic
harsh-noise

erstwhile (usa) #erstwhile 051 cd

r/s “one (snow mud rain)” compact disc

(20:27)
(14:10)
(16:31)
(6:51)

click the play button to hear an excerpt of "(14:10)"

october 2007 release; a coruscating, corrosive (alliteration is fun...) collaborative work jointly composed/executed by marcus schmickler and peter “pita” rehberg.

it’s not all brimstone / hellfire throughout; the second piece devolves into subdued spectral smear after smacking us around for a bit with its fully-rectified stammer (which reminds of recent whitehouse more than anythings else...) ; other spots introduce jittery, off-axis grains that echo florian hecker’s recent work with wave geometry... but yes, for the most part this is the kind of ddd infighting that the two are known for in improvisational contexts (think marcus’ role in his duo w/thom lehn, peter in ktl...)

regardless of their modes of employ, these two are master frequency-range craftsman; both are in peak form throughout. highly recommended.

erstwhile press release...

r/s (peter rehberg / marcus schmickler) - one (snow mud rain)
erstwhile 051

peter rehberg: computer
marcus schmickler: digital synthesizer, computer

peter rehberg (pita) and marcus schmickler have been two of the leaders in the electronic revolution of the last fifteen years, both on their own and in collaboration with others. one (snow mud rain) is the first duo cd from these two long-time friends and associates.

rehberg co-founded the massively influential mego label in 1994, and soon after began recording under the name pita. his first solo release, seven tons for free, came out in 1996 and was a kick in the teeth to all those who heard it, melding noise with techno in a blend the wire called ‘wilfully difficult’, a crucial formative statement for the then nascent eai world. since then, he’s continued in his ever-difficult path, both as a solo artist (get out, get down), and in groups such as ktl, rehberg & bauer, mimeo, and fenn’o’berg. recently, he’s been primarily focused on working with dance and performance pieces, with dacm, ktl and on his own, and now runs the editions mego label by himself.

schmickler has been involved with numerous projects over the past decade, including the seminal collective kontakta. while rooted in electronic music, schmickler also has a background in contemporary composition, having studied under prominent stockhausen collaborator johannes fritsch. as a solo artist, schmickler has created important works such as wabi sabi, sator rotas and param, as well as five cds under the name pluramon, including the just-released the monstrous surplus. he also has some long-standing electroacoustic collaborative projects, most notably with synth whiz thomas lehn, both in duo and in trio with keith rowe, and a gorgeous duo with pianist john tilbury, as documented on 2005’s variety. schmickler’s new solo release altars of science will be released later this month on the rehberg-run editions mego label.

rehberg and schmickler met up in march 2007, in schmickler’s piethopraxis studio in cologne, for two days of recordings. despite having barely worked together as a duo previously, the results were so successful that after two days, the record was basically completed. this is obvious when listening to the finished product, as a rawness and energy that hearkens back to the explosive power of early mego bursts from the speakers, further enhanced by the remarkable density and clarity of the recording.

$22.01

back in stock as of
april 18th, 2008

first in stock on
june 15th, 2006

threads:
electro-acoustic-improvisation
experimental-instruments
minimalism-drones
guitar-themed

erstwhile (usa) #erstwhile 050 cd

toshimaru nakamura / keith rowe “between” double compact disc set

two discs!

disc 1:

vienna (34:51)
july (24:35)

disc 2:

13630 khz (8:48)
lausanne (41:21)
amann (20:11)

click the play button to hear an excerpt of "july (24:35)"

2006 release, covering spring-summer 2005 studio & live recordings from the duo of keith rowe on guitar & “electronics” (not sure entirely but i believe we’re hearing glimmers of laptop in there as well...) and toshi nakamura on his now-trademark™ “no-input mixing board” - their second release together on erstwhile

erstwhile press release...

1-1, 2-1, 2-3 recorded by christoph amann at amann studios, vienna on july 2, 2005. 1-2 recorded by christoph amann at amann studios, vienna on july 1, 2005. 2-2 recorded by masaki hatsui at theatre arsenic in lausanne on april 30th, 2005.

keith rowe guitar, electronics
toshimaru nakamura no-input mixing board

mixed and mastered by toshimaru nakamura
produced by jon abbey
cover painting by keith rowe
inside photo by yuko zama
design by friederike paetzold

thanks to people in: prauge: pavel klusak, petra bidlasova; vienna: boilly roisz, dieter kovacic; lausanne: marie jeanson, theatre arsenic; sion: mr. jean; geneva: dolmen associates (daniela, fred, patrick, steve); phil durrant for “it’s gonna grain”

$22.01

back in stock as of
april 18th, 2008

first in stock on
june 30th, 2007

threads:
electro-acoustic-improvisation
playback-music
musique-concrète
beat-research

erstwhile (usa) #erstwhile 049 cd

erik m / dieb13 “chaos club” double compact disc set

(1:22)
(0:28)
(2:22)
(0:51)
(1:01)
(4:09)
(2:52)
(2:51)
(1:22)
(0:12)
(2:18)
(1:21)
(1:35)
(3:48)
(0:44)
(0:33)
(0:22)
(2:29)
(1:35)
(4:09)
(0:50)
(0:06)
(2:52)
(1:31)
(2:20)
henri (2:49)
benoît (1:29)
edward (1:27)
mitchell (1:59)
aleksandr (3:31)
waclav (3:39)
gaston (6:04)
michel (1:13)
otto (3:13)
felix (3:21)
helge (4:31)
brosl (40:40)

click the play button to hear an excerpt of "(2:22)"

neat, jump-cut/concrète-styled turntable pieces jointly improvised by dieter “dieb13” kovacic & erik m... a surprisingly rhythmic affair, with more than a few long sections of plundered drum solos & breaks. two discs; the first containing 25 shorter, untitled jabs which “can be played from start to finish or randomly”, then a second with 11 slightly longer pieces & a meditative 40-minute lead-out groove-piece.

this is about as far away from the christian marclay/”third mind”-style “happy accident” turntable collage; the music is rife with editorial flourish & razor-sharp real-time interaction. excellent stuff; one of the more immediately appealing entries in the erstwhile catalogue in recent times...

erstwhile press release...

erikm/dieb13 chaos club
erstwhile 049-2

erikm turntables, mixer, 3k-pads lp
dieb13 turntables, mixer, klopfer

erikm and dieb13 are two of the most prominent and well-respected experimental turntablists in the world, both working in a wide range of contexts, from the classical world to club djing. over the last two years, they have begun frequently working as a duo, and chaos club marks their first duo recording together.

erikm, from marseille, burst onto the scene in the mid-'90s as a virtuoso turntablist. since then, he has gradually shifted his output into a more abstract vein, often abandoning the turntables entirely. chaos club marks a rare return to the turntables for this unpredictable musician, whose previous recordings include collaborations with voice crack and günter müller (as the quartet poire_z), jérôme noetinger, the late luc ferrari, christian fennesz and many others, as well as numerous solo recordings including frame, sixpériodes and the just released variations opportunistes.

dieb13, from vienna, who uses a range of names for performing including his real one, dieter kovacic, is a immensely talented turntablist, as demonstrated by his solo work (records on mego and charhizma), as well as his collaborations with burkhard stangl, efzeg, and many others (releases on erstwhile, durian, hat art, grob, charhizma, for 4 ears, absurd).erikdieb recorded quite a bit of material for this project, five concerts plus an amann studios session. from this all-duo material, each musician made his own cd mix, stamping their own personalities back onto the combined material, and the results are chaos club (which is actually spelled with a copyright symbol in place of the first 'c' and a copyleft symbol in place of the second 'c', sadly not translatable to text as of yet). the eyecatching design is the work of erstwhile designer friederike paetzold, created entirely from envelope security patterns.

$20.61

back in stock as of
april 18th, 2008

first in stock on
october 18th, 2006

threads:
film-video
electro-acoustic-improvisation

erstwhile (usa) #erstwhile 048 dvd

avva “gdansk queen” digital versatile disc

gdansk queen

erstwhile press release...

toshimaru nakamura no-input mixing board
billy roisz video mixing boards

avva is the duo of toshimaru nakamura and billy roisz, based in tokyo and vienna respectively. avva stands for "audio video/video audio", referring to the working method of the duo. nakamura produces the music using the internal feedback from his no-input mixing board, roisz uses that as the basis for her optical moving patterns, and nakamura has a tv monitor showing roisz' output, so the whole process is circular and created in real time.

since 1998, nakamura has been exploring the possibilities of his no-input mixing board in contexts ranging from solo to collaborations with keith rowe, günter müller, sachiko m, andrea neumann, john butcher and sean meehan. nakamura was a prominent presence throughout the amplify 2002 box set, appearing on five of the seven cds, and an integral part of the good morning good night, erstlive 005 and 4g releases. he has released two superb duo projects in 2006, aluk (w/ klaus filip) and the stunning double cd between (w/rowe).

roisz has been manipulating live video in various combinations since 2000, with such musicians as dieb13, christof kurzmann, and efzeg. she specializes in feedback video and video/sound interaction, exploring the links and gaps between seeing and hearing, images and sounds. roisz has released around fifteen individual music videos, including one on the sonic fiction compilation on index and on the efzeg cd boogie (grob). gdansk queen is her first full-length dvd.

nakamura and roisz first worked together as part of the feedback: order from noise tour in the uk in the summer of 2004. they felt such an affinity for each other's working methods that they formed the avva duo, and have toured in both europe and japan. gdansk queen consists mostly of edited live recordings, as well as two pieces which were mail collaborations (the audio done by nakamura in tokyo, with the video later composed in real time by roisz in vienna). nakamura and roisz are ideal partners, their audio and video feedback combining to become far more than the sum of their parts, resulting in a mind-melting experience in which boundaries are constantly created and then destroyed. the design combines a cover photo from dieter kovacic with stills from the dvd in an elegant oversized jewel box.

$13.25

back in stock as of
april 18th, 2008

first in stock on
october 18th, 2006

threads:
electro-acoustic-improvisation
digital-musics

erstwhile (usa) #erstwhile 047 cd

ami yoshida / christof kurzmann “a s o” compact disc

a s o

erstwhile press release...

ami yoshida voice, microphone
christof kurzmann lloopp, clarinet

ami yoshida and christof kurzmann are both well-respected artists within the international community, each performing in a wide range of contexts from abstract to pure pop. both are best known for their long-running duos, yoshida for cosmos (with sachiko m) and kurzmann for schnee (with burkhard stangl). this project finds them in far less comfortable territory, and a s o is the outcome of two years of hard work.

ami yoshida strives to create a pure sound, abstracting her voice until it becomes almost completely unrecognizable. she created her unique style with no conventional training, initially inspired by meredith monk. cosmos and astro twin (with utah kawasaki) are her two longest-running projects, and their split release won the 2003 ars electronica award. she has also recorded as a solo artist, most notably tiger thrush (imj), a kaleidoscopic catalog of 99 fragments. her small catalog almost exclusively finds her working with other tokyo-based musicians; a s o is one of her first releases to break that formula.

kurzmann has been a prominent part of both the vienna and (more recently) the berlin scenes over the past decade. as an organizer, he cofounded the phonotaktik festival, helped begin the prominent rhiz club in vienna, and runs the prestigious charhizma label. since moving to berlin in 2001, he has organized countless shows, including the berlin half of amplify 2004: addition. kurzmann has been an essential part of many erstwhile-related live events, in tokyo, berlin and the just concluded erstquake 3 in nyc, and was the first to work at amann studios for an erstwhile release, beginning a crucial relationship for the label.

a s o contains recordings from the first meeting of yoshida and kurzmann in march 2004. the collaboration was a difficult one, partly because of their wildly different backgrounds and partly because of the communication issues due to their language differences. four translators helped the project along over the course of the two years it took to make this record (taku unami, toshimaru nakamura, yuko zama and kae uchihashi). although it was a long and complicated journey, the end result is very organic and accomplished. a s o contains an extremely broad range of abstract approaches from both artists, resulting in a wildly different soundworld from any of their previous recordings, and has been beautifully captured as always by recording engineer christoph amann. the impeccably minimal yet lush cd design is by hirozumi takeda, utilizing images provided by asuna.

$22.01

back in stock as of
april 18th, 2008

first in stock on
june 15th, 2006

threads:
electro-acoustic-improvisation
guitar-themed

erstwhile (usa) #erstwhile 046 cd

the four gentlemen of the guitar “cloud” double compact disc set

perfect grass (23:47)
deformed veil (38:15)
yellow cloud (62:25)

click the play button to hear an excerpt of "perfect grass (23:47)"

just a superb set from the penultimate eai “super-group” of oren ambarchi, christian fennesz, toshimaru nakamura, and keith rowe; each invited to the table on account of their prior association with the electric guitar (with nakamura, the wrench-in-the mechanics that he is, defaulting here to his main instrument; the “no-input mixing board.”)

moments of fennesz-ian wash and bits of oren’s bass-heavy sine-bursts peek out from between the cracks, but for the most part the set is a veritable festival of micro-detail; those fond of rowe and nakamura’s duo work will be in familiar ground, albeit with a much fuller range and a near-constant ground-hum of tonal blur.

of the 50-odd erstwhile titles yet, this is most likely the best bet for getting your initial toe wet... the others will come naturally ...

erstwhile press release...

the four gentlemen of the guitar are:

keith rowe: guitar, electronics
oren ambarchi: guitar, electronics
christian fennesz: guitar, computer
toshimaru nakamura: no-input mixing board

keith rowe, oren ambarchi, christian fennesz and toshimaru nakamura are four of the most prominent and influential musicians in experimental music today, each with extensive discographies and distinctive styles. in mid-2004, they formed the four gentlemen of the guitar (4g), and played a series of shows in europe and canada, three of which are contained on cloud. the underlying concept of 4g is to unite four artists who each began their musical explorations as guitarists, keeping that mindset as a crucial underpinning of their work as they've each explored increasingly abstract territory, both with and without guitars.

rowe's history has been well documented at this point. having mostly performed within amm until the late 90's, he's since been involved in a wide range of projects, including a slew of the most prominent erstwhile releases. he's the cornerstone musician for the label, and the 4g grouping was his idea.

ambarchi is making his erstwhile debut (except for the 7 guitar disc in the amplify 2002 box set). born in sydney in 1969, he has been performing live since 1986. his recent work as a solo artist on touch is very well known and respected, and he's been working with rowe in various small groupings since 2000. ambarchi is also co-organiser of the what is music? festival, australia's premier annual showcase of local and international experimental music.

fennesz, known to a wider audience for his studio-constructed records like endless summer and venice, is also a superb collaborative improviser, as documented on projects like fenno'berg (w/ jim o'rourke and pita), wrapped islands (w/ polwechsel), live at the lu (w/ rowe), and erstlive 004 (w/ sachiko m, otomo yoshihide, and peter rehberg).

since 1998, nakamura has been exploring the possibilities of his "no-input mixing board" in contexts ranging from solo to collaborations with rowe, günter müller, sachiko m, andrea neumann, john butcher and sean meehan. nakamura was a prominent presence throughout the amplify 2002 box set, appearing on five of the seven cds, an integral part of the good morning good night and erstlive 005 releases, and will be releasing the much-anticipated follow up to the highly acclaimed weather sky cd with rowe in early 2006.

there have been two larger group releases featuring three of these four musicians, afternoon tea (ritornell) has rowe, ambarchi and fennesz, and the 7 guitar disc on the amplify 2002 box has rowe, ambarchi and nakamura, but the 4g project is the first time all four have performed together. cloud contains three performances (from vand'ouevre, paris and victoriaville) from their seven city tour in may/june 2004, totalling over two hours of music. the widely differing aesthetics of the four musicians meld fluidly, forming hovering, delicate masses of sound. the packaging meshes rowe's striking cover painting with friederike paetzold's eyecatching design.

|| the four gentlemen of the guitar ||

at the centre of this project is the guitar, perhaps the world's most ubiquitous instrument. here we are looking at its extended possibilities - that is to say rather than summing up guitar-ness in a picasso-like way, we would be more interested in mondrianesque extensions.

christian and toshi, although both guitar players, have performed in public mostly on instruments that have become physical and musical extensions of the guitar. in my case, along with oren, we preserved the basic form of the guitar, obviously exploring its "non-guitarlike" possibilities, but always maintaining its essential "guitar-ness".

how might a japanese, an australian, an austrian and an englishman with very different musical and artistic personalities explore in real-time the world's most global instrument, incorporating boomerang loop stations, digital effects, mixing boards, computers etc.?

the quartet form "at first was a medium that allowed four gentlemen amateurs to converse musically"*, and from haydn's time became the appropriate medium that produced music of the deepest personal expression and contemplative profundity.

so here we have four gentlemen, the guitar, a conversation between the analog and the digital, the north and the south.

keith rowe

* "the string quartet" a history, paul griffiths

$13.25

back in stock as of
october 24th, 2007

first in stock on
july 18th, 2005

threads:
electro-acoustic-improvisation
digital-musics

erstwhile (usa) #erstwhile 045 cd

julien ottavi / dion workman “misenlian” compact disc

misenlian (55:01)

superb minimal electro-acoustic sound-drift from these two sigma-affiliated composer/performers. dion’s set at the 2004 intransitive festival was a feat of sensory deprivation / overload (he played in complete darkness; it was incredibly loud; alpha states were reached.) his work here, in tandem with julien ottavi, has the same effect at any volume/light-level ...

erstwhile press release...

julien ottavi / dion workman - gnu/linux operating systems and free audio software.

julien ottavi and dion workman are two of the most extreme of the younger wave of sonic explorers, pushing the boundaries of sound and art. ottavi hails from nantes, france and workman from new zealand, but their overlapping concerns and aesthetics have drawn them together, and misenlian contains the results of their initial collaborations.

julien ottavi studied sound and photography at the art school of nantes. he is a founding member of formanex, an electroacoustic quartet performing graphic scores from the 20th and 21st centuries, including works by cardew, cage, wolff, feldman, brown, and ralf wehowsky, as well as the founder of the nantes-based experimental music organization apo33 (responsible for running the label fibrr among numerous other activities). his most notable previous release is the superb solo cd nervure magnétique (sigma editions, 2003).

dion workman began his career in the improvised rock trio thela, along with dean roberts and rosy parlane. after thela split up, workman and parlane founded sigma editions in 1998, beginning an exploration of electronic music that has continued to this day. workman is a meticulous composer, with a feldman-like sense of development in his pieces, best represented on disc by the perfectly sculpted ching (antiopic, 2003), a work which won him the 2003 max brand prize from the austrian cultural forum.

workman was introduced to ottavi's work in 2001 by parlane, who suggested that ottavi record for sigma editions after seeing him play in london. later, workman invited ottavi to play a series of us shows, where they performed solo sets on the same bill and grew to be good friends. after being invited to record as a duo for erstwhile, ottavi came to the us for a month in 2003 and the two performed and recorded constantly. based in workman's brooklyn apartment, the duo literally improvised for days at a time - when they slept, the computers continued to generate sound, with changes in the puredata patches triggered by microphones placed outside the apartment - and intermittently recorded the results. ottavi and workman directly followed up this intense recording period with several long-duration live performances, each set lasting between 3 and 6 1/2 hours. by the end of ottavi's stay in the us, the duo had amassed approximately fifty hours of recorded material, which they later selected and shaped into misenlian.

misenlian unites workman's glacial, continuous pacing with ottavi's love for challenging the limits of dynamic range, resulting in a single remarkable piece as jarring and unsettling in its own way as the fluorescent colors of the cd packaging.

(cc) some right reserved.

this work is licensed under a creative commons license.

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erstwhile (usa) #erstwhile 044 cd

tetuzi akiyama / günter müller “points and slashes” compact disc

///./// (5:56)
.//..//.. (16:00)
/./..././ (3:29)
../../../.. (4:54)
//.///.// (5:22)
././././. (5:50)

erstwhile press release...

tetuzi akiyama - tape-delayed electric guitar
günter müller - ipod, electronics

over the past decade, swiss-based günter müller has collaborated with many of the most prominent tokyo-based musicians, recording cds with otomo yoshihide, taku sugimoto, sachiko m, masahiko okura, and toshimaru nakamura. points and slashes is the latest of these, a duo collaboration with guitar wizard tetuzi akiyama.

it's impossible to pin down akiyama, a musician of diverse interests and activities, with a brief description. he has been playing electric guitar since he was 13, and formed his first improvising band ten years later, in 1987. in 1994, akiyama formed the hikyo string quartet to play avant-garde classical music. since 2001, he has released a wide variety of solo guitar projects, filtering the blues through morton feldman on the stunningly gorgeous relator, shaping resonant feedback on resophonie, and showing off distorted john lee hooker-style chops on don't forget to boogie. he has also released collaborative cds with martin ng (oimacta), tim barnes/masafumi ezaki (futuro), jason kahn/utah kawasaki (luwa, ailack), and utah kawasaki/masahiko okura (bject, object 4), and is currently busy with as-yet-undocumented projects with alan licht, oren ambarchi and donald miller.

müller continues to distance himself from his roots as a more traditional percussionist, currently incorporating such electronic devices as minidiscs (since 1998) and an ipod (since 2002). he's been involved with innumerable projects and other musicians over the past twenty-five years, including long-term musical relationships with jim o'rourke, voice crack, erikm, steinbrüchel, jason kahn, tomas korber and philip samartzis. müller has released more than twenty records on his own for 4 ears label, as well as others on grob, rossbin, cut, charhizma, creative sources, and list. points and slashes is his sixth project for erstwhile, following the world turned upside down, la voyelle liquide, poire_z +, time travel, and tint. an integral contributor to the erstwhile aesthetic, müller is the only musician to take part in each of the five amplify festivals.

müller and akiyama first played together in the what is music? festival in melbourne, australia in 2002. they later performed in auckland, tokyo and nyc, before recording points and slashes in april 2004 in tokyo. points and slashes comprises six distinct pieces, warm and comfortable, yet still challenging the listener at every turn. friederike paetzold's strikingly minimal design is inspired by the work of the italian 'spatialist' artist lucio fontana.

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erstwhile (usa) #erstwhile 043 cd

keith rowe / fennesz “live at the lu” compact disc

live at the lu (43:29)

erstwhile press release...

keith rowe - guitar, electronics
christian fennesz - computer

keith rowe and christian fennesz are recognized as two of the most prominent and influential musicians in experimental music. however, despite their joint participation in the 12 person mimeo collective, their commercially released work has rarely intersected, which is why live at the lu, a document of their first duo show together, is so revealing.

rowe's history should be familiar to anyone following this area of music. having mostly performed within amm until the late nineties, he's since been involved in a wide range of projects, including a slew of the most prominent erstwhile releases. he's the cornerstone musician for the label, and is co-curating the upcoming amplify festival in cologne and berlin, amplify 2004: addition.

fennesz, known to a wider audience for his studio-constructed records like endless summer and the recently released venice (touch), is also a superb live laptop improviser, as documented on 2003's live in japan cd. as a collaborative musician, he's been involved in projects like fenno'berg (w/ jim o'rourke and pita) and wrapped islands (w/ polwechsel), and will be touring this summer in a quartet with rowe, oren ambarchi and toshimaru nakamura.

recorded in may in 2002 in nantes, live at the lu finds the two musicians revisiting old pathways, further exploring territory they've separately mapped on records such as the crypt, harsh, and hotel paral.lel. together they construct a soundworld that is jagged yet bright, stark and jarring, but in the end, somehow still soothing. rowe's cover painting is deeply symbolic, rife with subtle references, many of which are fleshed out in friederike paetzold's brash pop design.

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erstwhile (usa) #erstwhile 042 cd

sachiko m / toshimaru nakamura / otomo yoshihide “good morning good night” double compact disc set

good morning (30:12)
good afternoon (7:59)
good evening (25:34)
good night (37:20)

erstwhile press release...

free improvisation has rarely seen significant new movements as influential as the small group of tokyo musicians once labeled as "onkyo". sachiko m, toshimaru nakamura and otomo yoshihide are three of the scene's driving forces (along with taku sugimoto), and on good morning good night are documented together as a trio for the first time.

sachiko m is best known for her innovative use of the sampler, extracting pure, piercing sine waves from the device's built-in test tones and forging an original and much-imitated sound. more recently, she has expanded her palette through the use of contact mikes. sachiko has worked extensively as a solo artist, as well as in groups such as cosmos, filament, and i.s.o., and in duo with toshimaru nakamura. she won the 2003 prix ars electronica, along with ami yoshida and utah kawasaki, and also founded and runs the groundbreaking amoebic label.

since 1998, toshimaru nakamura has been exploring the possibilities of his "no-input mixing board" in contexts ranging from solo to collaborations with keith rowe, günter müller, sachiko m, andrea neumann, and the duo project repeat (with drummer jason kahn). nakamura was a prominent presence throughout the amplify 2002 box set, appearing on five of the seven cds, and will be recording the much-awaited follow up to the highly acclaimed weather sky cd with keith rowe later this year.

otomo yoshihide's prolific career has been unified by a primary objective: the investigation of the nature of sound from every conceivable angle. in the mid-90's, he explored the limits of sample-based turntablism, predominantly through his band ground zero, as well as in collaborations with christian marclay and yamatsuka eye. over the last few years, otomo has become increasingly interested in minimal wave-based electronics, as heard in his filament, i.s.o, cathode and anode projects. other projects which he is currently involved in include his new jazz quintet, as well as an ongoing duo project with martin tétreault. otomo has also composed many soundtracks for movies, and has written numerous articles and essays for japanese music publications.

while these three musicians have worked together in countless configurations in recent years, good morning good night is their first meeting as a trio. recorded in august of 2003, the double cd contains essentially the full recording sessions, four tracks totaling over 100 minutes. good morning good night is a very conscious step in a new direction, an attempt to create a "vertical" music (as opposed to most music, which moves in a linear, horizontal plane). the pointillistic placement of sounds by these three masters of delicacy results in a music that exists somewhere between foreground and background listening. friederike paetzold's design is inspired by james turrell's work, and features four different covers for the four tracks/times of day, which the listener can fold according to their preference.

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erstwhile (usa) #erstwhile 041 cd

keith rowe / axel dörner / franz hautzinger “a view from the window” compact disc

magenta / black (36:25)
cadmium yellow / turquoise (21:09)

erstwhile press release...

keith rowe - guitar, electronics
axel dörner - slide trumpet
franz hautzinger - quartertone trumpet

trumpeters axel dörner and franz hautzinger transcend many of the aesthetic and geographical factions that have evolved over four decades of european free improv, contributing their gorgeous tones to a wide variety of contexts. on a view from the window, they join forces with the intensely focused keith rowe, one of the scene's founding fathers, and explore the abstract limits of their respective palettes.

rowe's history should be familiar to anyone following this area of music. having mostly performed within amm until the late nineties, he's since been involved in a wide range of projects, including a slew of the most prominent erstwhile releases. he's the cornerstone musician for the label, and is co-curating the upcoming amplify festival in cologne and berlin, amplify 2004: addition.

dörner hails from cologne, and has been living in berlin since 1994. he is one of the busiest musicians in the european improv scene, working in projects ranging from free improv ensembles like the territory band and the electrics to more abstract ensembles such as phosphor and lines. he recently put out a superb trio disc on creative sources with boris baltschun and kai fagaschinski. this is his second project for erstwhile, following the self-titled duos with kevin drumm, released in 2001.

hautzinger, based in vienna, has recorded numerous projects for grob, including the solo gomberg, a duo with derek bailey, and absinth (a quartet with werner dafeldecker, sachiko m, and john tilbury). he has worked with an impressive diversity of musicians, including gil evans, john cale, christian fennesz, otomo yoshihide, butch morris, phill niblock, lou reed, and the temptations. this is his first project for erstwhile.

a view from the window was recorded in a single day in vienna in november 2003 by christoph amann, superbly as always. photojournalist yuko zama was in attendance for the sessions, and became drawn to the glimpse of sky visible through one of the studio's windows. she took dozens of pictures from different angles, and her fascination inspired rowe to title the record after the cardew quote (see below), and to paint a more "optimistic" version of one of her photos for the front cover. a view from the window captures these three musicians paring their signature sounds down to their essences, with the occasional plaintive trumpet cry or subtle radio snippet emerging from the delicate intertwining.

"...it is impossible to record with any fidelity a kind of music that is actually derived from the room in which it is taking place - its size, shape, acoustical properties, even the view from the window..." - cornelius cardew, towards an ethic of improvisation.

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erstwhile (usa) #erstwhile 033-040 cd

“amplify 2002: balance” septuple compact disc and dvd set

seven discs and a dvd!

disc one (outside festival shows)

thomas lehn / toshimaru nakamura (13:12)
günter müller / tetuzi akiyama / nakamura (19:20)
christof kurzmann / nakamura (24:08)
lehn / nakamura / taku sugimoto (13:20)

disc two (studio sessions) - günter müller / toshimaru nakamura - tint

.tint (4:51)
..tint (4:58)
...tint (15:11)
....tint (13:25)
.....tint (10:20)

disc three (festival):

cosmos (sachiko m/ami yoshida) (24:35)
keith rowe / lehn / marcus schmickler (39:29)

disc four (festival):

müller / otomo yoshihide (36:10)
lehn / schmickler (39:41)

disc five (festival):

burkhard stangl / kurzmann / sugimoto (24:00)
rowe / nakamura (31:49)

disc six (festival):

stangl / müller (33:43)
nakamura / sachiko (21:30)

disc seven: (seven guitars):

seven guitarists: rowe / akiyama / oren ambarchi / nakamura / otomo / stangl / sugimoto (cornelius cardew - treatise pp. 82-84) (38:25)
seven guitarists (improvisation) (31:03)

dvd - balance beams

"balance beams” (109:00)
5.1 surround sound audio-only versions of the rowe/lehn/schmickler and müller/otomo sets
three short individual features based on the three nights of outside festival performances that discs 1 and 7 were chosen from
including keith rowe discussing with the other guitarists how he believes a musician should approach performing the graphic score of cardew's treatise.

price went down a bit on this one... now a better deal than ever.

erstwhile press release...

thomas lehn - analogue synthesizer
toshimaru nakamura - no-input mixing board
tetuzi akiyama - amplified acoustic guitar
günter müller - ipod, minidisc, selected percussion, electronics
christof kurzmann - g3
taku sugimoto - electric guitar
sachiko m - sinewaves, contact mike
ami yoshida - voice
keith rowe - guitar, electronics
marcus schmickler - digital synthesizer, computer
otomo yoshihide - electric guitar, turntables, electronics
burkhard stangl - acoustic and electric guitars, electronic devices
oren ambarchi - guitar, electronics

the amplify 2002: balance box set has been designed and assembled to recreate as much as possible the experience of being in tokyo in late october 2002 for the week-long whirlwind of music and camaraderie revolving around the 2002 amplify festival.

the annual series of amplify festivals began in 2001 in nyc, followed in 2002 by the event documented in this box. amplify returned to nyc in february 2003, and the next amplify will be in cologne and berlin in may 2004, co-curated by keith rowe and jon abbey. the festivals are closely tied to the erstwhile label, and are designed to showcase an ambitious amount of music within a short time period, demanding increased attention and focus from both the musicians and the audience. this box set aims to convey at least part of the intense atmosphere created by amplify's climate of total immersion.

the amplify 2002: balance box set contains over seven hours of music on seven cds, consisting of:

1) eight of the twelve sets from the festival itself, which took place over three nights at star pine's cafe in kichijoji, tokyo.

2) two cds compiled from the smaller club shows which took place before and after the festival itself, organized by toshimaru nakamura and taku sugimoto, including an entire disc by the all-star guitar septet of keith rowe, tetuzi akiyama, oren ambarchi, nakamura, otomo yoshihide, burkhard stangl and sugimoto.

3) a studio recording by the duo of günter müller and toshimaru nakamura, recorded that same week. this disc has been carefully sequenced and constructed, and is essentially a regular erstwhile release contained within the larger box.

the box also features a dvd by filmmaker jonas leddington and a 52 page, full-color booklet with photography by yuko zama and twenty separate essays by many of the people involved in the festival.

leddington's dvd contains a 109-minute visual document titled "balance beams," which is built around the festival itself and includes structured excerpts from all twelve sets, commentary from the musicians, behind-the-scenes footage, as well as images and sounds from tokyo. footage of the stangl/kurzmann set includes cuts of viennese filmmaker michaela grill's schnee video, as it was shown live in tokyo.

the dvd extras include 5.1 surround sound audio-only versions of the rowe/lehn/schmickler and müller/otomo sets, as well as three short individual features based on the three nights of outside festival performances that discs 1 and 7 were chosen from, including keith rowe discussing with the other guitarists how he believes a musician should approach performing the graphic score of cardew's treatise.

the box set is a limited edition of 800 copies, and will not be reprinted.

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erstwhile (usa) #erstwhile 032 cd

matt davis / phil durrant / mark wastell “open” compact disc

open (18:27)
fist (23:30)

erstwhile press release...

matt davis: field recordings, electronics, trumpet
phil durrant: software synths and treatments
mark wastell: amplified textures

mark wastell and matt davis met and first played together in a workshop led by eddie prévost in london during the spring of 1996. soon after, wastell was invited to join chris burn's ensemble, in which he played with phil durrant for the first time. subsequently, phil and mark worked together in the quartets assumed possibilities and quatuor accorde, documented on rossbin and emanem cds, respectively.

the debut trio concert by davis/durrant/wastell took longer to organise than any of the participants could have anticipated, due mainly to matt's temporary relocation to barcelona. the three musicians didn't come together until august 2000, for a concert at all angels in west london. this was an all-acoustic incarnation: trumpet (davis), violin (durrant) and cello (wastell). a recording of this concert was issued on wastell's confront label as a limited edition cd-r, now long out of print.

when davis returned from spain in early 2002, the trio began to rehearse on a regular basis. arising from these intensive rehearsals was a new group aesthetic and a shift in focus from acoustic to electronic-based material. by this stage, durrant had developed a personal language using software synths and treatments and wastell had begun investigating a sound source comprising what he refers to as "amplified textures", into which davis' newfound interest in field recordings and electronics fit perfectly. open documents this exciting period in the group's evolution, with enough groundwork having been laid to develop a strong and unique musical identity but without the all-too-identifiable sound of a group overfamiliar with itself.

open was recorded in two sessions at lmc sound in march and may 2003, both superbly engineered by tom wallace. it represents the first recording of durrant exclusively using a computer, and points to a new direction for the london scene, one more organic and less directly rooted in the free improvisation of the 1980's. open largely consists of tiny, connected events, never drifting into excessive caution, always taking risks and ceaselessly pressing against the overhanging silence.

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erstwhile (usa) #erstwhile 030 cd

keith rowe / john tilbury “duos for doris” double compact disc set

cathnor (70:14)
olaf (45:32)
oxleay (17:29)

erstwhile press release...

keith rowe: guitar, electronics
john tilbury: piano

keith rowe and john tilbury most likely need no introduction to anyone reading this. since 1981, they have performed together within the legendary improvising ensemble amm, as well as in numerous other contexts, both improvised and composed. duos for doris marks their first meeting ever as a duo.

rowe co-founded amm in 1966 with eddie prevost and lou gare, but has widened his focus in recent years to include many new and challenging contexts. these include his telepathic rapport with toshimaru nakamura (documented on weather sky, as well as a second studio recording to be released on erstwhile in 2004), steering the ambitious mimeo electronic orchestra, an ongoing series of works with oren ambarchi, and a trio with thomas lehn and marcus schmickler (documented on the kaleidoscopic rabbit run). he has also continued his ongoing solo explorations, most recently releasing a superb 3" disc on sound 323.

tilbury is one of the preeminent contemporary classical pianists, releasing impeccable recordings of skempton, wolff, cage, and most notably a four disc box set of the complete morton feldman solo piano ouevre, capped by the gorgeous for bunita marcus. as an improviser, besides his more than two decades in amm, he has also released projects with sachiko m, werner dafeldecker, franz hautzinger, and with mimeo, the epic hands of caravaggio.

tilbury and rowe first met each other in 1965 when both were asked by cornelius cardew to perform treatise for a bbc broadcast. they have enjoyed a fruitful professional relationship ever since, in the scratch orchestra, various music now and cardew groupings, performing christian wolff and john cage pieces, and most notably, in amm since 1981. they met in nancy, france at the ccam studio in january 2003 (on the same stage where amm had recorded fine in 2001) in order to record for the first time as a duo, with melancholy in the air due to the passing of john's 95 year old mother, doris, two days earlier. her loss, along with the perilous world geopolitical situation, hung as almost tangible events in the air, deeply affecting the atmosphere during the recording. the more than two hours of music presented here (selected from the three hours they recorded) is close to perfect in its conception and its arc from beginning to end, remarkable for totally improvised music. the understated, intricate beauty and modesty of the work belies its complexity. the cover painting is by rowe, inspired by l.s. lowry, a well-known british landscape artist and a favorite painter of doris'.

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erstwhile (usa) #erstwhile 029 cd

günter müller / otomo yoshihide “time travel” compact disc

matsushima 89 (5:24)
basel 95 (6:13)
lisboa 98 (10:30)
victoriaville 01 (8:23)
nancy 01 (8:10)
sydney 02 (7:53)
tokyo 02 (4:20)

erstwhile press release...

günter müller: ipod, minidisc, selected percussion, electronics
otomo yoshihide: electric guitar, turntables, electronics

günter müller and otomo yoshihide are deeply respected musicians who have known each other for more than a decade. time travel documents their initial meeting as a duo.

swiss native günter müller utilizes a range of electronic devices, influenced by his roots as a percussionist. he's been involved with numerous projects and other musicians over the past two decades, including long-term musical relationships with jim o'rourke, voice crack, taku sugimoto and erikm. müller has released many records on his own label, for 4 ears, including his recent solo debut, eight landscapes. time travel is his fourth project for erstwhile, following the world turned upside down, la voyelle liquide, and poire_z +. müller is the ultimate collaborator, relinquishing virtually any claim on a signature sound in an attempt to maximize the potential of each individual project.

otomo yoshihide's prolific career has been unified by a primary objective: the investigation of the nature of sound from every conceivable angle. in the mid-90's, he explored the limits of sample-based turntablism, primarily through his band ground zero, as well as in collaborations with christian marclay and yamatsuka eye. over the last few years, otomo has become increasingly interested in minimal wave-based electronics, as heard in his filament, i.s.o, cathode and anode projects. other projects which he is currently involved in include his new jazz quintet, as well as an ongoing duo project with martin tì©treault. otomo has also composed many soundtracks for movies, and has written numerous articles and essays for japanese music publications.

müller and otomo first met in matsushima, japan in 1989 at a show müller was doing in an abandoned quarry with his band nachtluft. otomo had driven four hours from tokyo to see the performance, and afterwards they met for the first time. they've since collaborated in a handful of contexts, most notably the filament 2 record on for 4 ears, with the trio of müller, otomo and sachiko m. time travel was recorded in october 2002, just before the amplify 2002 festival, and marked their first meeting as a duo. time travel consists of seven focused, distinct pieces, which combine to create a unique sense of time, slowly but constantly developing and filled with intricate details. friederike paetzold's gorgeous design is based on vector distortions of the world time zone map evoking the effects of frequent flying.

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erstwhile (usa) #erstwhile 028 cd

jérôme noetinger / erik m “what a wonderful world” compact disc

trees of green (4:20)
red roses too (4:27)
bloom for revox chili peppers (6:52)
skies of blue (2:18)
clouds of white (2:34)
bright blessed day (3:58)
dark sacred night (9:20)
colours of the rainbow (2:22)
pretty in the sky (7:52)

erstwhile press release...

jérôme noetinger: electroacoustic devices
erik m: 3-k.pad ƒ system, md, turntables

jérôme noetinger and erikm have been focal points of france's experimental-music underground since the early '90s. they've explored concepts of context and copyright along parallel paths, converging only rarely. what a wonderful world documents their initial meetings as a duo.

noetinger founded his seminal label metamkine in 1989, intent on keeping the musique concrète tradition alive and vital. as a musician, he has worked in such varied contexts as mimeo, an ongoing duo with lionel marchetti, and in the pioneering multimedia performance group cellule d'intervention metamkine. the latter ensemble typically attains a level of sensory overload that must be experienced, rather than described, for full effect, combining as it does noetinger's electro-acoustic improvisations with live film-processing by christophe auger and xavier quérel.

erikm burst onto the scene in the mid-'90s as a virtuoso turntablist. since then, he has gradually shifted his output into a more abstract vein, often abandoning the turntables entirely. what a wonderful world marks a rare return to the turntables for this unpredictable musician, whose previous recordings include the superb les sculpteurs de vinyl, three cds as part of the supergroup poire_z (along with voice crack and günter müller), and the solo recordings zygosis, frame, and monofacemirror.

in october 2001, then again in april 2002, noetinger travelled to marseille to record with erikm, the first time they'd ever worked as a duo (the only previous meeting of any kind was a large grouping at the end of a festival in 1996 in london, which brought together all the separate participants). over the following months, noetinger and erikm painstakingly edited and shaped the material into a coherent whole, flavoring their complex, abstract electronics with insistent repetitions and field recordings, creating instant concrète-- each individual idea as carefully constructed as the impeccably chosen first and last sounds.

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erstwhile (usa) #erstwhile 027 cd

keith rowe / thomas lehn / marcus schmickler “rabbit run” compact disc

1 piece split into 42 segments
designed to be played either linearly or randomly

erstwhile press release...

keith rowe: tabletop guitar, electronics
thomas lehn: analogue synthesizer
marcus schmickler: digital synthesizer, computer

keith rowe, thomas lehn and marcus schmickler are three of the most prominent names in the european experimental world, each with their own distinct history and discography. all three are members of the all-star electronic orchestra mimeo, and in late 2001, they began performing occasionally as a trio, eventually resulting in rabbit run.

rowe, best known for his groundbreaking work with amm, has recently been pursuing numerous other projects. some of the most exceptional documents of this recent work include weather sky (w/ toshimaru nakamura), the hands of caravaggio (with mimeo and special guest john tilbury), an ongoing series of works with oren ambarchi, and the forthcoming double cd of duos with his longtime sparring partner john tilbury, duos for doris (erstwhile, out in may), as well as his continued solo explorations, recently documented with a superb 3 inch disc on sound 323.

lehn's unique command of the analogue synthesizer has established him as one of the most exciting musicians on the european festival circuit. his considerable range of ideas and approaches have been showcased in small groups such as konk pack and toot, in energetic duos with gerry hemingway and marcus schmickler, and in an ultra-minimal trio with radu malfatti and phil durrant.

schmickler has been involved with numerous projects over the past decade, including the seminal collective kontakta. while rooted in electronic music, schmickler also has a background in contemporary composition, having studied under prominent stockhausen collaborator johannes fritsch. as a solo artist, schmickler has created important works such as wabi sabi, sator rotas and param, as well as three cds under the name pluramon, with a fourth to be released in 2003.

rowe, lehn and schmickler gathered together in june of 2002, in schmickler's piethopraxis studio in cologne, for two days of recordings. the results were rabbit run, which is two records in one: a single 41 minute piece designed to be played linearly, and the same piece subdivided into 42 shorter tracks, designed to be played on random shuffle, creating a unique record with each play. the cover painting is by rowe, in his unique pop-art style, subsumed by cologne designer heike sperling into a startlingly original design.

$13.25

back in stock as of
october 24th, 2007

first in stock on
december 18th, 2003

threads:
electro-acoustic-improvisation
experimental-instruments

erstwhile (usa) #erstwhile 026 cd

andrea neumann / burkhard beins “lidingö” compact disc

approaching lidingö (11:02)
lidingö (24:06)
bron (4:09)
loffe (7:40)
remembering lidingö (5:51)

erstwhile press release...

andrea neumann: inside piano and mixing desk
burkhard beins: percussion and strings

andrea neumann began her musical career as a pianist, but has since reduced her instrument to strings, resonance board and metal frame. she also utilizes electronics to manipulate and amplify the sounds, some of which would be otherwise inaudible. because the original inside-piano frame is very heavy, she had a new, lighter one specially constructed for her (by bernd bittmann). neumann has released superb collaborative discs with toshimaru nakamura (recordings on rossbin), annette krebs (charhizma), ignaz schick (zarek), and has a much-anticipated trio cd with sachiko m and kaffe matthews forthcoming on the japan improv label.

burkhard beins started as a rock drummer, gradually moving on to pieces for taped material and percussion. since 1988, improvised music has been his primary focus, in projects such as perlonex (zarek), activity center (2:13), and in duo with keith rowe (zarek). beins is also part of the sealed knot, a trio with rhodri davis and mark wastell, whose second cd is forthcoming on meniscus. while neumann and beins have worked together extensively as part of the all-star octet phosphor (potlatch) as well as other small groups, lidingö is their first duo release.

neumann and beins initially met in 1995 after beins moved from london to berlin and attended one of neumann's concerts in a small club. over the next few years, both beins and neumann became integral parts of a constellation of like-minded musicians in berlin, collaborating in constantly changing group configurations with the intent of redefining their musical language. this led to a process of musical purification involving many factors, including more precise decisions about placing musical material into the silence to more closely examine it, questioning the relevance of its qualities, when and why to begin or end a sonic event, and how long or short a moment of silence should be. in short, this group of musicians were rethinking structure and form for themselves from the ground up.

recorded in july 2002 in a studio in berlin (by rainer robben), lidingö consists of loosely linked improvisations, forming a musical travelogue. the two musicians employ their impressive arsenal of precisely scraped, bowed, plucked, and rubbed sounds to conjure memories, both real and imagined, of the small swedish island that lends the recording its name. the artwork showcases erstwhile designer's friederike paetzold's modern twist on historical photos of lidingö.

$13.25

back in stock as of
january 12th, 2008

first in stock on
december 18th, 2003

threads:
electro-acoustic-improvisation
guitar-themed
playback-music
plunder-phonic
digital-musics

erstwhile (usa) #erstwhile 025 cd

burkhard stangl / dieb13 “eh” compact disc

eeeh (7:17)
eehe (9:11)
eehh (3:15)
ehee (6:59)
eheh (4:37)
ehhe (4:15)
ehhh (8:34)
heee (2:10)
heeh (3:27)
hehe (15:56)

erstwhile press release...

burkhard stangl: acoustic & electric guitars, electronic devices
dieb13: turntables, portable computer, portable gramophone

burkhard stangl and dieb13 are both integral members of the increasingly prominent viennese improvised music scene, coalescing around the activities of the durian and charhizma labels.

stangl explores the full range of the guitar, from quiet, melodic plucking to atonal walls of noisy drones. this range and adaptability has allowed him to become a ubiquitous presence on record over the past few years, in the collective projects polwechsel (recordings on erstwhile, durian and hat art), efzeg (grob, durian), and sssd (grob), in duos and trio with christof kurzmann and taku sugimoto (erstwhile, slub, musica genera), and solo (durian, future release on charhizma).

dieb13, who uses a range of names for performing including his real one, dieter kovacic, is a immensely skilled turntablist, as demonstrated by his solo disc (charhizma), and his recorded work with martin siewert, boris hauf, günter müller, jason kahn, werner dafeldecker, and uli fussenegger (durian, grob, for 4 ears).

stangl and dieb first met at a living room concert of efzeg in vienna in 1999. since then they have been continously collaborating in various groups, as well as both participating in billy roisz's videos with soundtrack works. eh documents stangl and dieb's initial work as a duo, and will be complemented by billy roisz's visuals in live situations.

eh was recorded by christoph amann in his studio in vienna (his third project for erstwhile, after schnee and wrapped islands) in december 2001. eh explores a constantly shifting tableau of guitar and electro-acoustic sound, utilizing a kaleidoscopic range of approaches, framed by lulling intro and outro pieces in which stangl's melodies both battle and meld with dieb's noisescapes. the instruments used, from viennese contraguitar and portable gramophone to electric guitar, electronics and computer, encompass over a century of musical history. the source material for the design comes from viennese artist billy roisz, utilizing extreme closeups of old shellac records to create the proper gritty ambience.

$13.25

back in stock as of
april 18th, 2008

first in stock on
december 18th, 2003

threads:
electro-acoustic-improvisation
digital-musics

erstwhile (usa) #erstwhile 024 cd

cosmos “tears” compact disc

i (24:29)
ii (18:09)
iii (12:09)

erstwhile press release...

sachiko m: sinewaves (1, 3), contact microphone on objects (2)
ami yoshida: voice

sachiko m and ami yoshida, both from tokyo, met in 1997 and formed the duo of cosmos the following year.

sachiko m has developed a unique style utilizing a memory-free sampler, creating pure, piercing sine waves with the device's built-in test tones and noise. she has also recently begun exploring the use of contact microphones, as documented on the second track of tears. sachiko has worked extensively as a solo artist, in groups such as filament, i.s.o., and hoahio, and in duo with toshimaru nakamura, as captured on do (erstwhile). she also founded and runs the superb amoebic label.

ami yoshida strives to create a pure sound, abstracting her voice until it becomes almost completely unrecognizable. in 1997, she released a duo cd, spiritual voice (1040), with tamaru on electronics. cosmos is the first project since then to feature her prominently, although she appears on otomo yoshihide's cathode and ensemble cathode projects, and her solo pieces are a highlight of the 10-cd japan improv box set.

though both women reside in tokyo, cosmos only perform together occasionally, so each meeting is very special. tears is taken from two of those rare encounters, in september 2001 and february 2002. sachiko and ami incrementally build an atmosphere of fragile, yet deeply focused, intensity, forging a symbiotic fusion between human and electronic expression.

$13.25

back in stock as of
october 24th, 2007

first in stock on
december 18th, 2003

threads:
electro-acoustic-improvisation
digital-musics
guitar-themed

erstwhile (usa) #erstwhile 023 cd

polwechsel / fennesz “wrapped islands” compact disc

framing 1 (12:22)
framing 2 (4:59)
framing 3 (7:51)
framing 4 (4:46)
framing 5 (8:94)
framing 6 (4:41)
framing 7 (7:22)
framing 8 (2:30)

erstwhile press release...

john butcher: tenor & soprano saxophone, feedback tenor on #2 and #6
werner dafeldecker: double bass, computer, acoustic guitar
christian fennesz:computer, acoustic guitar, synthesizer
michael moser: cello, computer
burkhard stangl: acoustic & electric guitar, electronics

the predominantly viennese quartet polwechsel have exhaustively explored the grey areas between composition and improvisation, electronic and acoustic, jazz and classical for much of the past decade. austrian christian fennesz, while initially a guitarist, is primarily known for his abrasive yet melodic laptop explorations on labels such as mego and touch. wrapped islands documents the much-anticipated first meeting of these two driving forces of contemporary music.

bassist werner dafeldecker and cellist michael moser co-founded polwechsel in 1993, joined by guitarist burkhard stangl and trombonist radu malfatti. the microscopic textures they explored were quite unusual at the time, and proved to be very influential on later waves of 'lower-case' and 'microsound' musicians. they released their self-titled debut disc on georg gräwe's influential random acoustics label in 1995 (later reissued on hat art). radu malfatti left the band in 1997 to concentrate exclusively on his own musical ideas, and was replaced by saxophonist john butcher, who has been a crucial part of the band ever since, on polwechsel 2 (hat art), polwechsel 3 (durian), and wrapped islands.

christian fennesz is possibly the most prominent of the current onslaught of laptop musicians. he burst onto the scene in 1995, with instrument, a record of deconstructed guitar compositions, and has since explored various combinations of guitar and laptop, melody and distortion, improvisation and postproduction on projects such as hotel parai.lel, plays, and endless summer (all on mego). he’s also an integral member of the all-star electronic orchestra mimeo and the laptop trio fennoberg.

in january of 2002, the five musicians gathered in christof amann's viennese studios for three days of recordings, from which wrapped islands was assembled. while the first three polwechsel releases almost exclusively contain compositions, wrapped islands is fully improvised. the warmth and depth of the music induces an illusory simplicity, with different details and passages emerging to the surface with each listen, all of which is superbly paralleled by friederike paetzold's eye-catching design.

$13.25

back in stock as of
october 24th, 2007

first in stock on
december 18th, 2003

threads:
electro-acoustic-improvisation
experimental-instruments
circuit-bending
playback-music
plunder-phonic

erstwhile (usa) #erstwhile 022 cd

poire_z “(plus)” compact disc

bottle_bow (25:52)
kick-off_knock (13:28)
cable-stitched_calypso (18:40)

erstwhile press release...

günter müller: minidiscs, selected percussion, electronics
norbert möslang: cracked everyday-electronics
andy guhl: cracked everyday-electroncs
erik m: minidiscs, sampler, fx
otomo yoshihide: turntables, guitar, electronics (on 1)
sachiko m: sampler with sine wave (on 2)
christian marclay: turntables (on 3)

poire_z, the quartet of günter müller, voice crack and erikm, has been performing together since december 1998. in the summer of 2000, they began a series of performances which included a different fifth member each time. these guests have included keith rowe, martin tétreault, lê quan ninh, florian hecker, and kevin drumm in addition to the three excerpted sets which make up +, featuring otomo yoshihide, sachiko m, and christian marclay.

günter müller, a swiss percussionist who is increasingly focused on electronics, has worked with a wide range of musicians over the past two decades, including richard teitelbaum, taku sugimoto, jim o'rourke, dieb 13 and butch morris. many of his projects are documented on his groundbreaking label, for 4 ears, including the initial poire_z cd. swiss duo voice crack (norbert möslang and andy guhl) have been playing together since 1972. since 1983, they've been working exclusively with "cracked everyday-electronics", modifying and/or abusing small household machines in order to produce extreme, unique noises. france's erikm burst onto the scene in the mid-'90s as a virtuoso turntablist. since then, he has gradually shifted his output into a more abstract vein, sometimes even abandoning the turntables entirely in favor of a minidisc and sampler, as he does here.

as reflected in the arresting cd design by frequent voice crack collaborator alex hanniman, the quintet recordings presented here tie together multiple threads from these musicians' careers. otomo yoshihide, sachiko m and müller recorded as a trio on filament 2 (for 4 ears); erikm participated in otomo's superb les sculpteurs de vinyl project, as documented on memory & money (stupeur & trompette); pioneering turnatablist christian marclay first recorded with müller in 1992, and has an ongoing duo project with erikm, as well as a trio which adds dj olive; otomo yoshihide and voice crack recorded the acclaimed bits, bots and signs (erstwhile).

+ is poire_z's third cd, following the self-titled debut on for 4 ears, and presque_chic (sonoris). the guest musicians' distinctive personalities define each track, infiltrating