billy gomberg “only the sun for our” c40 cassette

• heights
  
• well
  
• separates
  
• drag
  
  
• dress
  
• idle
  
• special
  
• off

students of decay press release...

sod94 billy gomberg “only the sun for our” c40 glacial excursions culled from synthesizer, piano and field recordings by brooklyn based multi-instrumentalist billy gomberg. wisps of melancholic melody adrift on murky waters. a beguiling collection that truly rewards repeat listens.

aquarelle “sung in broken symmetry” long playing record

• with verticals (10:37)
  
• a strange sweet woe (7:50)
  
  
• origin (10:30)
  
• the blue light was my baby (7:27)

pausal “autumnal” c31 cassette

• autumnal (1)
  
  
• autumnal (2)

students of decay press release...

sod87 pausal “autumnal” c31 gorgeous and expansive, “autumnal” is the second release by the uk duo of alex smalley and simon bainton following their revered debut on barge recordings last year. this two-part suite is full of heart-rending strings and bucolic, wistful arrangements. recommended for fans of stars of the lid, arvo pärt and labradford.

jefre cantu-ledesma “shining skull breath” long playing record

• distant star (for pete swanson) (5:39)
  
• cannibal hymn (1:29)
  
• shining skull breath (6:02)
  
• tigris and euphrates, moon of blood (1:26)
  
• diamond star (5:41)
  
  
• the honeybees in my heart (1:48)
  
• the first time i saw your face, ithought it was a dying star (6:54)
  
• beautiful thunderbolt (moon gazing in your skull) (2:44)
  
• witch head nebula (2:08)
  
• tender radiance (6:10)

jefre cantu-ledesma / paul clipson “within mirrors” digital versatile disc

• sphinx on the seine (2008) 9 min
  
• two suns (2005) 20 min
  
• constellations (2006) 7 min
  
• the lights & perfections (2006) 10 min
  
• corridors (2007) 25 min
  
• the phantom harp (2007) 21 min
  
• within mirrors (2008) 21 min

students of decay press release...

sod-63 jefre cantu-ledesma and paul clipson: “within mirrors” dvd many artists within the realm of electronic and ambient music combine film with audio. rarely however, do we find such a highly singular and symbiotic merging of the two forms as occurs in the collaborative efforts between bay area filmmaker paul clipson and founding tarentel member/root strata label owner jefre cantu-ledesma. clipson and cantu have worked aside one another for years, with clipson often providing visuals for tarentel’s live sets, and their history of working closely with each other is immediately apparent when viewing these collaborative works. as a filmmaker, clipson’s aesthetic draws heavily from a palette which includes and synthesizes the abstractions of the american avant-garde, such as stan brakhage, maya deren, and jonas mekas with narrative and formal tendencies from artists as diverse as chantal akerman, hiroshi teshigahara, and jose antonio sistiaga. cantu-ledesma’s scores run the gamut from bleary, post-shoegaze mantras, in which barely-there melodies are submerged with all manner electronically treated aural detritus, to hushed ambience that is almost eastern in its level of devotional pathos. combined, the sonic and visual elements of these works are at once overwhelming in their beauty, and supremely evocative in their ability to conjure for the viewer pure wonder at the beauty and frailty of the world around us. this volume collects several of the out of print dvd-r releases that jefre has released on the root strata imprint over the past few years, including “two suns,” “corridors,” “the phantom harp,” “the light and its perfections,”  and “constellations”, along with two new works, the eponymous film and “the sphinx on the seine” on professional dvds with menu design by c. spencer yeh and artwork by jefre.

the nether dawn “long shadow of a dream” compact disc

• runs the horizon (4:58)
  
• tent (for your health) (2:35)
  
• the warm ribs of home (5:32)
  
• forgotten drink (2am) (8:36)
  
• it will find out (6:35)
  
• long shadow of a dream (live @ aaron lawrence gallery, august 2006) (19:09)

taiga remains “crushed radiant deities” compact disc

• crushed radiant deities (14:35)
  
• neone (9:58)
  
• vistas (8:24)
  
• when the eyes alone can perceive it (16:42)

asuna / opitope “sunroom” compact disc

• photon (4:06)
  
• the water molecule (9:15)
  
• in the small train (5:11)
  
• mirage of a liquid (4:08)
  
• town and country (3:51)
  
• twilight (4:36)
  
• cricket, moth and frogs (4:01)
  
• cloud shadow in the night (6:46)
  
• column of air (2:52)

students of decay press release...

sod-21 asuna & opitope // “sunroom” this is the first collaborative full-length release by japan’s opitope, the duo of chihei hatakeyama (kranky, room40) and tomoyoshi date (flyrec), and asuna (spekk, headz). listeners familiar with opitope’s majestic 2007 release “hau,” or any of the more recent output by asuna, hatakeyama or date, will find much to love here. across the albums’ nine tracks, gossamer webs of treated sound (made from all manner of plaintive piano, rubbed strings, delicately picked guitars and evocative accordian, vibraphone and sampling) hover, resonate, ebb and disperse. paradoxical as it may seem, there is a painstaking effortlessness to this music. in some ways, “sunroom” feels like a perfect followup to “hau,” with one critical distinction. where that previous release, as with asuna’s wonderful “this” double disc and much of hatakeyama’s recent solo work, focused principally on textures and abstraction, here an added emphasis is placed on songcraft. ultimately, we might best situate these recordings alongside date’s 2008 masterpiece “human being,” as there is, to be sure, a similar playfulness, deftness of juxtaposition, accessibility, and sincere reverence to be found in the radiant compositions of “sunroom.” throughout the album’s duration, the masterful, capable hands of date, hatakeyama and asuna, craft miniature, effervescent gems of songs which swell and bloom like the changing of seasons or the passage of time in memory.

brendan murray “untitled” compact disc

• sleeprunning (8:38)
  
• from the melted past (7:44)
  
• (top floor of the parking garage 11:37 pm) (9:13)
  
• tangerine tree (3:29)
  
• i avoid the night (12:30)
  
• maybe okay (9:04)

students of decay press release...

sod-19 brendan murray never content to rest on his laurels, we have here a new stellar release from boston based composer/sound artist brendan murray, the followup to the acclaimed 23five release "commonwealth." murray's compositions tend to hinge upon drones and this eponymous record is no exception. that being said, this is a work which differs considerably from "commonwealth" or "wonders never cease" (murray's intransitive release from 2007). in brendan's own words: this record was recorded after a 6 month break from making solo music. commonwealth was a pretty big undertaking over a few years, and i wanted to see if i could take some of the long range deliberation out of my process and trust decisions that i normally rethink over and over. i also worked under a deadline for the first time. the six tracks represent the first real overhaul of my approach since i started. i found myself breaking a lot of self-imposed rules and working very quickly. i decided to incorporate recognizable instrumentation, mainly piano and guitar. i made some shorter pieces and use lots of different recording techniques to give each track it's own character while making it sound like a record. it definitely sounds like my music, but it's a more delicate in some places than anything i've ever released. i regard the ideas as refined and realized, but each track inhabits its own space, almost like chapters in a book. it's self-titled or untitled, depending on how you care to think of it. the images in the artwork could also work as symbolic titles. i have left that very open, because the titles of the pieces are purposely evocative. they are also rather personal and refer to specific moments in my life, whether real or imagined. i plan on making a couple of more records like this, as well as continuing to make large, complex pieces. i don't regard this as a detour. some people have told me that this music sounds dark, others have told me it sounds really paranoid. i think it's a weirdly optimistic record. cd (ltd.500)