OJP024 : Hal vs Robert Edwin / Frame - Feat. Ryouko Aomasa

Art cover by A.L. from an HAL's video frame

OJP024 : Hal vs Robert Edwin / Frame - Feat. Ryouko Aomasa

Hal is the VJ who does all the videos of Robert Edwin (see OCD008, ODG006 , ODG027 and OJP016). 

Frame was realized using one of the many drawings of Robert, then cut and reworked into different parts to move, come  and go with the music specially composed by Ryouko Aomasa and Robert who also produced and mixed the song.

Frame is the single taken out of the 'Divine Fox Dance' album coming out on the beginning of February 2018.

The video: 

Digitally release on the 30of December 2017.

Track listing:

1) Frame



And in Bandcamp:

Happy end of the year and all the best fo 2018 from the Off Team!

Have a max of fun and good music in 2018!

ODG075 : Brekekekexkoaxkoax / Fuck Yeah There Will Be Lemurs

Cover art by A.L.

ODG075 : Brekekekexkoaxkoax / Fuck Yeah There Will Be Lemurs


F...Yeah There Will Be Lemurs is an hour long piece of collage of no less than 18 different types of lemurs screams while Animal Charm is a one minute hommage to Lisa Kucharski (a tape collage artist in Chicago, who stopped making tapes many many years ago). She would ask people to make animal noises, especially children.

Brekekekexkoaxkoax since 1996 has been a sound project by Austin-based artist Josh Ronsen that moves between instrumental, collaborative improvisations and solo electro-acoustic compositions. 

Video projections and performance art have also been conducted under this name. There is no common thread of reason which links all brekekekexkoaxkoax events. Instead, each one opens new methods of creativity, exploring new modes of internal (unconscious?) desire.

“Fuck yeah there will be lemurs” was created for the CD release show from Phonography Austin's first compilation release in 2017. 

Phonography is the practice of recording and presenting environmental sounds in all the diversity the word environment suggests. The brekekekexkoaxkoax contribution to the compilation was a close recording of 3,000 bees in a box, waiting transfer to their new hive in our backyard. It followed that the piece to be presented at the CD release show should also involve animal/insect sounds. Over 300 sounds were recorded or collected from scientific collections, including sounds from 18 different species of lemurs, which suggested the title. A recording made on a New York City side street separates the two sections of animal sounds.

“Animal Charm (For Lisa Kucharski)” began as an idea for the “Lemur” collage; I considered recording myself imitating animal sounds if I could not gather enough sounds suitable to the piece, and also considered making animal sounds live during the playback of the piece at the CD release party. An increasing focus of my performance art activities is audience participation, including cards and instructions handed out, and this seemed like a perfect idea to present at No Shame Theater, a regular night of performances open to the public. Pairs of animals were written on cards and handed out. People had to make the sound of their animal while seeking out the other person making that animal sound. Lisa Kucharski is an inventive sound artist and writer from Chicago who made a number of experimental tapes in the 1990s using a wide variety of techniques and strategies. Asking people to make animal sounds is something she has done, and the dedication is to thank her for the inspiration to try new activities in sound art.

Josh Ronsen

Digital release on the 22d of December 2017.

Track listing:

1: Fuck Yeah There Will Be Lemurs

2: Animal Charms

Player for Itunes which thinks it's cool to write Fuck You!:

And for the rest of the providers who think it's not cool:



And in Bandcamp:

OUC009 : Zicla / So

Cover art by Zicla, pic from Manuel Morre

OUC009 : Zicla / So

ZICLA

New music for prepared marxophone/zither, clarinet and electronics

Cao Thanh Lan (VN) – marxophone/zither, electronics

Gregor Siedl (AT) – clarinet, electronics

Zicla is a project by duo Siedl-Cao focusing on electro-acoustic compositions and composed improvisations for prepared marxophone, clarinet and electronics.

Clarinet and zither are commonly known for folk music across the globe. Using these two instruments in a new syntax evokes a familiar and at the same time foreign environment that draws the listener into a world of sonic exploration.

The clarinet´s microtonal soundscapes and noise structures interweave with particular sounds from the extended zither creating an unusual imaginary space, introspective moods, abstract microtonal dialogues and intriguing sound textures.

For more info, news, live, videos about Zicla and DUO Siedl-Cao, go HERE.

Lan Cao – piano, prepared zither, analogue synthesizer, electronics, composition - is a versatile musician encompassing a wide range of stylistic influences, with repertoire from classical to contemporary music and interdisciplinary works. She is an advocate of contemporary music and has earned a wide range of ensemble experience in numerous festivals. She is also active in the experimental improvised music scene with various projects and has been touring the world. Complete bio here.

Gregor Siedl – clarinet, saxophone, electronics, composition – was born in Vienna, Austria. He is deeply engaged in the field of experimental and improvised music. Through his explorations of extended techniques, preparations on the saxophone and the use of extra-musical instruments such as game-calls and water, he has developed a unique voice in music. Gregor won first prizes as best improviser at international music competitions XL-Jazz and Gent Jazz festival competition. He has been involved in experimental music, jazz, multi-disciplinary projects with performers, visual artists and artificial intelligence. He is a band-member of Junk Orbit, ZICLA, Parallel Asteroid, DOKO, Auralisation Ensemble, Osmosis Project and critically acclaimed European-Saxophone-Ensemble. He has performed all over Europe, Asia and South-America at international music festivals and concert venues. Complete bio here.

Cao Thanh Lan and Gregor Siedl have been featured at international festivals and concert venues around the world with their duo projects ZICLA and Parallel Asteroid.

With their two educational projects and workshops in collaboration with Domdom Center for Experimental Music and Art in Hanoi, Parallel Asteroid has helped developing the music scene, educating and inspiring young musicians in Vietnam.

Zicla live in Montevideo:

Digital release on the 1st of December 2017.

Track listing:

1: HAI

2: NAM

3: MOT

4: BA

5: SAU

6: BON

And in Bandcamp:

OJP022 : Mimosa / Mimosa

Art cover by Mimosa

OJP022 : Mimosa / Mimosa

Mimosa explores through their unique instrumentation, keyboard, vibraphone, and voice with processing, various paths of improvised music. 

Touching on classical, jazz, noise and ambient musical styles, this trio always performs at a high energy, feeding the ears with rich textures, harmony, and crashing tension, sucking anybody into their journey. The keys of Rieko create repetitive patterns putting the listener in a trance state using the extreme ends of the sonic range. While Els occupies the middle frequencies on the Vibraphone creating the texture that could be mistaken for electronics. Then the vocals of Natalie fit like a puzzle piece to lay noise, and melody with the right amount of electronic manipulation. 

This recipe makes for a stellar and highly addicting music. 

You can discover more music at their Bandcamp.

Members: 

Natalie Sandtorv – vocal, electronics, wikipedia, Soundcloud.

Els Vandeweyer – vibraphone, elsvandeweyer.com

Rieko Okuda – keys, website.

 Els, Rieko and Natalie

Members‘ Biography:

Els Vandeweyer is a Belgian vibraphonist, percussionist, and composer currently living in Berlin. After studying classical percussion in Antwerp and jazz vibraphone in Brussels and Oslo, Els co-founded the IMI Kollektief, whose critically acclaimed album Snug as a Gun was released on Clean Feed in 2006. Today, Els plays regularly in Berlin, including solo performance, group improvisation, and contemporary music (including a performance of Xenakis’s Rebonds b at the A L'ARME! Festival in Berlin). Recently, her composition Landscape, a 25-meter-long textile that functions as a mobile graphic score, was performed in Berlin as part of the Kontraklang series on contemporary music. Current projects include a duo with Fred Van Hove, Quat (with Fred Van Hove, Paul Lovens, and Martin Blume); Mimosa (with Rieko Okuda and Natalie Sandtorv); Metal Illusion (a shadow play with Rieko Okuda), Spin Track (with Olaf Rupp and DJ Illvibe), and participation in two orchestras (Pascal Niggenkemper´s Vision 7 and the Serenus Zeitblom Oktett). 

Rieko Okuda is a pianist and a composer. She began with Classical music from the age of 3, in Japan. In her young age, she attended to Kaizuka city Piano Competition, and got the first prize. Later then moved to USA to study and learn Jazz music. She fell right into the Jazz scene in USA, performing with some of the great American Jazz musicians (Bob Mintzer, Jon Faddis, John Fedchock etc.) Also, she got interested in Free Jazz and Improvised music scene while she was in Phliladelphia. She performed with the great improvisers includes Marshall Allen (from San Ra Orchestra), Elliott Levine (recorded with Cecil Taylor), and Calvin Weston (recorded with Ornette Coleman). She has performed in Jazz Festivals throughout her stay in USA. Her interests in Improvised music led her to move to Berlin and perform with various musicians. Currently, she performs with Audrey Chen, Els Vendaweyer, Susanne Zapf (from Sonar Quartet), Yuko Kaseki, Axel Dörner, ect. She also performs at several experimental festivals: XChange Festival, Experymental Festival, and Art-Sound Festival to name a few.In 2014, she got to work with Japanese Pop Artist, YUZU. She arranged the song called “Amenochi Hareruya,“ which awarded Japan Record Award 2014. 

Sandtorv studied jazz, improvisational music and electronics at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo and at Griegakademiet in Bergen. She is known for her exploration of different expressions within improvisational music in solo projects and with various ensembles. Sandtorv bring the experimental concept of improvised meetings between innovative vocal artists. In 2015 she released her first solo album Pieces Of Solitude. She performed a duoproject in 2015 together with the British multi instrumentalist Steve Beresford at the Blow Out! festival in Oslo, Norway. Sandtorv is the initiator of the concert series Playdate in Bergen and Jugendjazz in Ålesund. In November 2015, she released her first solo album Pieces Of Solitude on the Va Fongool label. 

Digital release on the 24th of November 2017.

Track listing:

1: Mimosa, Pt.1

2: Mimosa, Pt.2

3: Mimosa, Pt.3

And in bandcamp:



You can buy their cd at their live gigs, all handmade!

OJP023 : Haco - Kent Macpherson - Megan Berry - Jeremy Mayall / Wild Sonic Blooms

Cover art by Paul Bradley

OJP023 : Haco - Kent Macpherson - Megan Berry - Jeremy Mayall / Wild Sonic Blooms

Wild Sonic Blooms is a collaboration between Haco San, the famous Japanese composer, vocalist, electroacoustic performer, sound artist, and founding member of After Dinner (1981-1991) and Hoahio and 3 New-Zealander artists and teachers from the Wintec school of Media Arts Waikato Institute of Technology. 

They invited Haco San to perform a semi improvised one hour set which was the base for a video performance at Ramp Gallery, Hamilton, NZ - 11.12.2016, by Jeremy Mayall, Kent Macpherson, Megan Berry, and Haco. 

Kent worked with Haco first in 2012, where she was invited to collaborate with him as part of the Spark international festival of music, media, arts and design. They performed the work 'BugLoop' in Hamilton New Zealand. A multimedia sound art improvisation centred on water as its source. You can watch the full experience here.

As part of his 2016 research outputs, Kent applied for a research grant to bring Haco to NZ once again to collaborate with a larger group of musicians. They spent 2 days in Studio A at the school of music (Wintec), recording over 6 hours of music. Also 2 live performances were realised on the same day and captured on film. The afternoon performance is the recording you are experiencing through this release.

Haco San

Haco is a Japanese singer, composer, multi-instrumentalist and sound artist, known for her work with After Dinner and Hoahio, among others.

Following formal studies in acoustics, electronic music and recording technology in 1980, Haco came to international attention fronting the group After Dinner (active between 1981–1991). 

Haco released her first solo album in 1995, and embarked on her first solo European tour a year later. More recently, Haco has worked with various groups and has recorded or performed with countless other artists, such as Otomo Yoshihide.

In addition to her more conventional album releases Haco has also worked in the fields of sound art or curating exhibitions and installations and establishing the sound art project View Masters. Visit her site here.

Kent

Kent Macpherson is a Hamilton based sonic artist, composer, researcher and audio technology lecturer (Wintec). His research practice includes capturing found and unfound sound, improvisation, performance and electroacoustic composition. 

His sonic art practice utilises contact microphones and hydrophones to capture the sounds emitted by large resonating structures such as bridges, turbines, aerials and buildings. His most recent sonic artwork ‘The absent sense’ is currently exhibiting in China.
He performs as a member of the avant classical soundscape ensemble ‘Dr Mesmers Private Army’ playing keyboards and octave guitar. Read more here.

Jeremy

Jeremy Mayall is a Composer/Producer/Performer originally from Hamilton, NZ. He likes to refer to himself as a “Creative Collaborator” and was the Mozart Fellow (composer-in-residence) at Otago University for 2014-2015.

His most recent work has been focussed on the exploration multimedia, multisensory, interdisciplinary projects. Various collaborations have included musicians, dancers, poets, silks performers, theatre practitioners, scientists, perfumers, bakers, authors, sculptors, filmmakers, pyrotechnicians, lighting designers and visual artists. Read more here.

Megan

Megan Berry is a composer and performer based in Hamilton, New Zealand. She has released two albums with her indie-folk band, The Heartbreak Kids. She teaches Music Theory, Performance and Songwriting in the Music Department at the School of Media Arts, Waikato Institute of Technology.

Wild Sonic Blooms Trailer from Kent Macpherson on Vimeo.

Performers:

Kent Macpherson – octave guitar, keyboard, laptop

Jeremy Mayall - keyboard, turntable, iPad

Haco - vocals, electronics, howling pot, found sounds

Megan Berry - vocals, fx, samplepad

"Wild Sonic Blooms"

Music composed and created by:

Megan Berry, Haco, Kent Macpherson, and, Jeremy Mayall.

Recorded live at Ramp Gallery (Dec. 2016)

Sound Mix - Dan Edgar Reese

Thanks to:

Wintec Music Department / David Sidwell / Brad Morgan / Wintec School of Media Arts /

Wintec Research Office / ACLX / Ramp Gallery

Made possible with the support of Wintec Research Fellowship 2016

Digital release on the 17th of November 2017.

Track listing:

1: Wild Sonic Blooms, Pt.1 - Floraison
2: Wild Sonic Blooms, Pt.2 - Saku
3: Wild Sonic Blooms, Pt.3 - Pua Pua
4: Wild Sonic Blooms, Pt.4 - Bloom

And in Bandcamp:

OCD036 : Adrian Lim-Klumpes / Yield (Preludes & Fugues for Piano)

Covert art By Briallen Lim-Klumpes

OCD036 : Adrian Lim-Klumpes / Yield (Preludes & Fugues for Piano)

Known as the frontman of critically acclaimed post-jazz bands, Triosk, 3ofmillions, and currently, Tangents, Adrian’s sound has been described as:

“ exceedingly lyrical; pianist Adrian Klumpes has found a path to the ‘sparkling water cascading down from some clear waterfall’ sound Miles Davis so admired in Bill Evans' playing” (Pitchfork)

Yield is a new collection of captivating tracks, showcasing Adrian’s unique ability to develop improvised ideas into fully rounded and complex works. 

The 52-minute album is a selection of performances captured in one six-hour session on

a Steinway piano and is awash with his signature blending of minimalism, lyrical piano, jazz harmony and electronics to create polyphonic textures that shift in mood from track to track.

Adrian describes Yield’s exploration of solo piano composition as, in part, a homage to Bach’s piano work ‘The Well-Tempered Clavier’. Certainly, with its arrangement into paired preludes and fugues, and its multi-layered harmonies, the album speaks to a classical piano tradition, yet equally we hear the influence of modern pianists such as John Cage, Bill Evans, Philip Glass, Harold Budd and Chris Abrahams.

The tracks on Yield were created in pairs, designed for the listener to hear corresponding echoes between pieces. 

The first pair of tracks, Watch and Follow , begin with a gentle, spacious melody, highlighted by glistening electronic accents. Then what are controlled washes of color in Watch become urgent brushstrokes in Follow, as the motif is taken over by pulsing rhythms and a driving tempo. 

Similarly the various pairs on the album; Caution and Chase, Wait and Rush, Process and Control, Move and Remain, reveal both the delicacy and expressiveness of Adrian's playing

alongside his skilful manipulation of the different shades that come from dramatic shifts in dynamic expression and tonal color.

To listen to the album in full is to be led through a narrative of tension and resolution. 

Across the ten tracks of Yield, Adrian explores a range of emotion, from feelings of violence, loneliness, and pain, to those of peace, warmth, tenderness and fragility. 

Yield is an album which, like a kaleidoscope, reveals new colors and dimensions with each

listen. 

Fans of his previous solo work Be Still (Leaf Label, 2006) will be satisfied by his continued push at the boundaries of post-classical, post-jazz aesthetics, and new listeners will be enchanted by their transportation into Adrian’s evocative aural world.

A great review in The Sydney Morning Herald here.

More info, bio and news about Adrian's work and bio here.

Prices

World shipping CD €15,00 EUR

A nice review from Norman records here.

The video of 'Move':

Adrian Klumpes - Move (Official Video) from James Vernon on Vimeo.

I leave Mandy Stefanakis in Musictrust.com telling you her first encounter with the album:

“Don’t venture too far in a car whilst listening to this incredible album lest you find yourself in a quite different modus operandi from which it is pleasingly difficult to return.”

"The titles of tracks are a series of verbs, action words, though some are more active, Chase, for example, than others, such as Remain. But the titles are just a tiny reminder to the listener of the kinaesthetic and temporal nature of music and if one could suggest an overall theme here, this is it – the whole body/sound/mind gestalt utterly envelopes one – which is why I got lost. On Caution, for example, Lim-Klumpes speaks of the two improvised layers drowning the listener. The two voices are at extreme ends of the piano, the growly bass notes entering first. Adrian has digitally manipulated their pitch so that they become ever so slightly raised or lowered even in the one sound. He also adds echo so that sounds connect with each other. He enhances the ring of the upper notes in this way, where harmonics do not naturally provide such resonance as with lower tones, and builds both, so one really does feel utterly immersed in sound. Indeed, sound invades the body completely."
Read the complete review here!

Adrian and his Steinway

The liner notes written by Adrian himself can be downloaded HERE.

Yield is part of a larger project of twenty-four preludes and fugues in every key.

Physical and digital release on the 10th of November.

Track listing:

1: Watch
2: Follow
3: Caution
4:Chase
5: Wait
6: Rush
7: Process
8: Control
9: Move
10: Remain