Year-End Lists and Reflections

Notice Recordings' Year End “Best Of” List, 2010. And some reflections/reviews.

In no order :

EVAN LINDORFF-ELLERY :

Graham Lambkin / Jason Lescalleet - Air Supply (Erstwhile)

Once again these two (Gentleman) have created something completely unique, despite a similar textural palette used from Breadwinner -- (but maybe they can't help that). I am completely taken into and within these sounds. All the miniature atmospherics coalesce into something slightly industrious and unfamiliar while remaining mostly pastoral and domestic. Everything works in conflict and compliment. Furthermore, the compositional placement of sound is flawless to my ears -- certainly a subjective analysis -- but I feel every sound fares better based on what came before and what is to come.

Totally original and innovative yet folkish and firmly grounded in the "high-class" of the contemporary music tradition, whatever that is.

Rhodri Davies / John Butcher - Carliol (Ftarri)

Annette Krebs / Taku Unami - Motubachii (Erstwhile)

Harley Gaber - Indra's Net (Edition RZ)

John Cage / (Ulrich Krieger) - A Cage of Saxophones, Vols. 3 & 4 (Mode Records)

Although seeming a bit sonically disconnected from what John Cage might have intended, I'm sure that's far from an issue. The performances and sounds on this CD are complete perfection and a fantastic display of the saxophone's capabilities, especially on the Number Pieces. Fittingly comfortable amongst modern "contemporary" releases, and an interesting contribution to John Cage's recorded history.

John Cage / Terry Jennings (perf. by John Tilbury / Sebastian Lexer) - Lost Daylight (Another Timbre)

John Cage (perf. by Friedrich Gauwerky / Mark Knoop) - Etudes Boreales / Harmonies / 10'40.3'' (Wergo)

John Cage (perf. by Annelie Gahl / Klaus Lang) - Melodies & Harmonies (Col Legno)

I'm unsure how I feel about this release. The compositions presented, Six Melodies and Thirteen Harmonies (taken from Apartment House 1776), are some of my favourite Cage pieces, and their respective histories are fascinating. That's another story. I question, however, the choice of the Fender Rhodes as the "keyboard" accompaniment to Annelie Gahl's vibrato-less violin. Klaus Lang's playing is lovingly sparse and well-paced, but it at times displaces and isolates the violin's more homey, traditional sound. There are wonderful moments, however, which somehow work, such as during the nearly epic Harmony 5. I have conflicting feelings in the end. At times I feel that the monochromatic spherical shapes produced by the Rhodes allow the violin to freely wander throughout the remaining spaces -- and yet sometimes the Rhodes is so pure and unforgiving that the amorphous resonance of the sounds produced by the violin's wooden chamber have no reasonable place to go. Lastly, I feel the sequencing of the tracks is all wrong. Scattering Six Melodies into disconnected parts makes their small movements seem less like miniature fascinations with melody and more like fragments of something far greater. The disc is lovingly presented, very well recorded by Christoph Amann, and I have the utmost respect for approaching these pieces in this way. However, my issues still hold precedence.

Rolf Julius - Music For The Ears - ( Small Music No. 1 ) (Western Vinyl)

Michael Pisaro, Barry Chabala - Black, White, Red, Green, Blue (Voyelles) (Winds Measure Recordings)

John Butcher - Trace (Tapeworm)

This is why the cassette tape medium can often function so well. These are glimpses into Butcher's experiments with the saxophone body's resonance, controlled feedback and breathing techniques. I don't find these ready for the traditional LP format, but it's wonderful that they're available and moreover relegated to specific "sides" of physical media. Cassette tapes allow artists to put forth examples of experiments in sound without worrying about the conceptual baggage of the finished, often overworked LP, and this release is a fine example of that.

Eleh - Location Momentum (Touch)

Jana Winderen - Energy Field (Touch)

Infinite Body - Carve Out The Face Of My God (Post Present Medium)

Mark Fell - Multistability (Raster Noton)

Still confounding, monumental, arrogant and beautiful. Thanks for this one.

Oneohtrix Point Never - Returnal (Editions Mego)

Hecker - 3 Track 12" (Editions Mego)

Various - Monkeytek Hi-fi Volume 1 (Mississippi Records)

Ada Van Hoorebeke / L.R.J. Martens - De Eeuwige Jachtvelden (Cetacean Nation Cassettes)

Mirror to Mirror - Heart (Ekhein)

Talugung - Mole Crickets ( House of Sun)

Thoughts on Air - Mallo Yallo (Cloud Valley)

Harmonizer - [ Self-titled ] (NNA Tapes)

Thank you Jon Hassell for laying the other-worldly sonic groundwork for releases like this.

Marcel Türkowsky / Dolphins Into The Future - In Search Of The Miraculous / Fourth Possible Musics (Stenze Quo Musik)

My favourite tape of the year.

Tuluum Shimmering - Heart Of Sky Heart Of Earth (Housecraft Records)

During the past year I have been wholeheartedly enjoying an extensive (re)-discovery of the music of John Cage, exploring through and within his presence as a composer and an extraordinarily intelligent and warm individual. Thanks to such labels as Mode, Wergo, Hathut, and Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm (MDG), I have been provided enlightening and revelatory means to no end with this man's work. His compositions are as unending as the cosmos and as grounded as the roots below us. Thank you John Cage.

I didn't listen to a whole lot of new pop-oriented music, let alone anything "rock"-oriented this year. In the past, I tend to enjoy a great deal of Techno and some Dubstep, but even that was far from my musical radar for some reason. In this area, however, I was quite impressed by records from Broken Social Scene, Real Estate, Matthew Dear, Robyn, James Blake, Joy Orbison (extraordinary tracks from this one), and Oneohtrix Point Never (including Antony's gripping version of the track "Returnal" (not so much the Fennesz version), and Dan's amazing Games tracks with Joel Ford and Laurel Halo). I mean, seriously, I cannot stop listening to Strawberry Skies. Perfection.

Despite the complete rubbish in the current mainstream music industry, I am still hopeful for the state of things. Not sure why exactly.

TRAVIS BIRD :

Giuseppe Ielasi - Aix (Minority Records)

Expo 70 - Where Does The Mind Go ? (Immune Recordings)

Akira Rabelais - Caduceus (Samadhisound)

Jon Mueller - The Whole (Type)

Ashley Paul - To Much Togethers (R.E.L Records)

Thomas Koener - Nunatak • Teimo • Permafrost (Type)

Joshua Abrams - Natural Information (Eremite)

Friedrich Cerha - Spiegel (Kairos)

Corridors - Corridors (Sedimental Records)

Pikelet - Stem (Chapter)

Mike Reed's Loose Assembly w/ Roscoe Mitchell - Empathetic Parts (482 Music)

Early Winter Season sound compositions 2010

Tinmouth Church, Vermont

PLEASE NOTE

As of 9 November 2011 :

Most of these have been removed and/or expired. They are still available for free download/donation. Please contact us to work something out. noticerecordings [at] gmail [dot] com. Thanks !!

For the season, here are some compositions, both old and new, available for download.

More information, some photographs and hopefully more tracks to come, as well as our year-end lists and reflections.

~ Enjoy your holidays


For download from Evan Lindorff-Ellery :
1 Carillon Project (made using only recordings from a church Carillon sounding on Christmas Eve, recorded with a very poor quality digital camera, capturing video.)
http://www.sendspace.com/file/4zbdrt

2 Opera and Rain 2
http://www.sendspace.com/file/r5x6r6

3 Variation on a Counterpoint Christmas (made using only tracks from Counterpoint's Christmas album, directed by Robert DeCormier)
http://www.sendspace.com/file/t3mli1

4 Radiator in November 1206_215914
http://www.sendspace.com/file/lqdm78

5 Composition For Field Drones And Domestic Recordings
http://www.sendspace.com/file/rxe6cf

6 Recordings Together
http://www.sendspace.com/file/kvel7r

For download from Bird & Bird :
1 http://www.sendspace.com/file/ywp0rz

Merry Christmas

Tinmouth Church Carillon ; 24 December from Notice Recordings on Vimeo.

Winter season

Saturday morning snowfall along the Chicago River, near Notice Recordings' HQ, in the neighbourhood of Ravenswood.

Things slowed down towards the end of the summer and into Autumn, but all that should change soon. We should have some holiday download-only releases posted soon, the two aforementioned Godseye and Organ of Species releases listed below, and much more after the turn into a new year.

Update : Godseye, Organ of Species

In the works are two tapes by Brad Rose and Eden Hemming's Godseye project, and Scott "Cloud" Johnson's new alias Organ of Species. These should hopefully be available by the end of the year.

(Notice #14) : Godseye - "No More Cake Here" (C40)

(Notice #15) : Organ of Species - "Random Selection" (C30)

We also just noticed that Tomentosa has copies of Evan Lindorff-Ellery's tape "Conflicts and Interrelationships" (NTR002). This is sold out at Discriminate Music, and we don't have any copies left. So they're the last ones.

Look for more Lindorff-Ellery, on a forthcoming project with Travis Bird, featuring solo works, and on the solo tape "The Tea Merchant and His Atmospheres".

Here is a preview of the Godseye tape, as posted on Foxy Digitalis / Peyote Tapes :

Halves

Discriminate Music and Winds Measure Recordings' online shop is now selling the Jon Mueller cassette.

As previously mentioned, we are sold out.

Thoughts : Jon Mueller, Olivia Block in performance

In the Internet world, it’s been an eternity since I saw the Olivia Block/Jon Mueller in-store performance at Chicago’s Saki Records. In fact, it’s only been since last Saturday (16 October 2010), and because of the remarkable convergence of several really exciting elements, I’m still excited about it as I write this tardy review.

Saki is a relatively new shop that has been hosting a great series of in-stores, drawing such diverse and respected Chicago artists as Ken Vandermark and Zelienople. The store itself, it must be said, is very tempting—the ratio of items on the shelf to things items I would buy is by far the highest in the city, and doesn’t limit itself to any particular niche. The selection of modern jazz and improv, indie rock, garage, and experimental is equally weighed, and Saki simply seems to have the best of everything. So wandering the aisles in between sets was the icing on the cake here.

Notice has been fortunate enough to be involved in Jon Mueller’s extraordinary recent phase of work, culminating in the recent Type release of “The Whole,” an album that captures many facets of his art in such a complete and lucid way that it simply has to be considered essential. As a loose companion release, Notice’s “Halves” cassette finds Mueller working with the tape elements of his recent performances to craft some intricate and powerful drones. Both of these documents play into his live shows, which find extraordinary tension between a long drum roll and cassette drones.

Many of the reviews of “The Whole” have been extremely positive, but they must be reviews of the CD version, because they exclude mention of the CD remix by Chicago sound artist Olivia Block that comes with the LP. Block is another musician who is capable of extraordinary complexity and depth, and on her 30-minute remix of “The Whole,” she reorganizes the raw sounds used in Mueller’s recordings to create a completely different kind of piece. Gone is Mueller’s driving percussive attack and vocal incantations, replaced with an ever-changing dronescape—subtly and distinctively textured, well-paced, and essential on its own.

Both were captivating at Saki. Block created an extraordinarily immersive sound environment using multiple small speaker pairs and at least one boombox in addition to the PA. Like fellow Chicagoans Haptic, she deftly blurred the line between industrial and organic textures, punctuating the soundscape with plucked notes on autoharp. Mueller’s unusually long set featured the physicality, precision, and simplicity of his craft that never fail to create a memorable experience. Although they performed separately, there was a sense that both solitary, exacting artists were somehow connected, with both employing rigorous technique and organic development in addition to precise preplanned structures. Here’s hoping that leads both of them onward as they move into their next phases.

The North Sea distribution and availability

The North Sea's tape "Relinquished Sparks" has been seen recently around the internet being sold much higher than it should be. Before paying extravagant prices, please look for the distributors first and see if they have copies still. They need the support, not those with inflated prices.

http://www.discriminatemusic.com/noticerecordings.html

http://www.colourride.co.uk/notice_recordings.html

One day Boomkat might have The North Sea release, but that'll be another story.

Thanks

At times

Who held most of all went forth sister shelter above my terry cut of the feather without much satisfaction. I've not heard much from either ; their rooms are sought to behold a wealth of indignity and virtue. At least the mice have a festering sensibility to be so certain during these difficult times. I've nothing. Have to with is to close mine or yours -- the doors are open all times. But ever if we try oh so very hard, I'll say certainly there will be not an emptiness in my sight be the light is held in the

Jon Mueller : "Halves"

This release is now sold out. Please contact distributors for copies. Discriminate Music and Winds Measure Recordings' online shop should have a few copies, but *not yet*. In a week or so. Possibly more than those two ; we're still working it all out. Thanks to everyone who placed and order and your support ! More to come soon ...

(Notice #13) — Jon Mueller : " Halves "

Notice Recordings is very proud to release these pieces by Jon Mueller. For those who have been lucky enough to experience his recent live performances, you may have an idea of what to expect. Based on a simple setup featuring a bracing, undulating drumroll, layers of gleaming aural textures gradually accumulate within themselves, variegated by softly shifting rhythmic patterns. Such a body of sound translates well on magnetic tape ; the thick infrastructure of this music will only change with time and chosen methods of playback.

- Artwork by E. Lindorff-Ellery, packaging concept by Travis Bird. 3-colour letterpress printed on heavy stock.
- Insert comes in two halves : one side featuring metallic gold ink, the other side featuring metallic silver ink. These two halves meet and form a whole within the cassette tape case.
- An edition of 60.

- Pro-dubbed, imprinted clear cassettes.

Sound samples can be found here : Jon Mueller - Excerpt 01 by Notice Recordings
Jon Mueller - Excerpt 02 by Notice Recordings

Prices are 7.5$ North America / 10.5$ World. As always, please send payment to noticerecordings[at]gmail[dot]com. Please contact us for cash or trade orders or other arrangements...
SOLD OUT

We have a slight price increase this time due to a double print-run and significantly more time spent assembling and cutting the inserts. Normal prices to resume next time.

All orders will receive stickers, while supplies last. Letterpress cards featuring new artwork will be available in the future.

Thanks

Social media is annoying

Goddamnit.
Stop it.

Illusion of Safety, Travis Bird & Daniel Burke tour

Notice's Travis Bird will be embarking shortly on an East coast tour with Daniel Burke. The two will be playing some sets featuring Burke's Illusion of Safety project and some the eponymous guitar-based project, and the tour will be anchored by a headlining performance at the Sonic Circuits festival in Washington, D.C. and the Signal electronic music festival in Chapel Hill, N.C.


This will work mostly by working within different modes and combinations, and will feature the typical mix of composed and improvised pieces that the duo explore. Go see them if you're in the areas below--

Sep 16 2010

9:00P

Illusion of Safety at Robinwood Concert House Toledo, OH

Sep 17 2010

8:00P

IOS and TB & DB at the Shop Pittsburgh, PA

Sep 18 2010

8:00P

IOS and TB & DB at Fire Museum Philadelphia, PA

Sep 19 2010

10:00P

Illusion of Safety at Sonic Circuits Festival Washington, D.C., D.C.

Sep 20 2010

8:00P

Illusion of Safety at Bar Matchless Brooklyn, New York

Sep 21 2010

10:00P

Illusion of Safety at Existence Establishment Somerville, MA

Sep 23 2010

8:00P

Solo at Think Coffee on Mercer New York, New York

Sep 24 2010

7:00P

Travis Bird & Daniel Burke at Maya Gallery Greensboro, NC

Sep 25 2010

8:00P

Illusion of Safety at Signal Festival Chapel Hill, NC

Sep 25 2010

8:00P

Illusion of Safety at Nightlight Chapel Hill, NC

Sep 26 2010

8:00P

IOS and TB & DB at The Warehouse Cornelius, NC

Jon Mueller, Illusion of Safety at Reuben's Palace

Fire is conjured from areas of concentrated energy as are the visceral textures of Jon Mueller's confrontational live performances — teeming with shifting miniature aural activities.

Photograph taken last night at Reuben's Palace in Chicago. Although, unfortunately, Reuben was not present for the show. Also playing that night was Illusion of Safety, presenting one of his many intense, aggressively undulating modular synth experiments, featuring impromptu guitar playing by Travis Bird . IOS should have a live double-cassette release within a couple months.

Mueller's cassette release on Notice Recordings, " Halves ", should be released in a few weeks, along with an as-yet-untitled C90 from Ben Owen.

Much to come ; stay in touch.
All the best to you during this transitory period.

Neon Marshmallow Festival

Starting tonight

Yellow Crystal Star and Red Electric Rainbow. Two new tapes

#1 : (Notice #11) Yellow Crystal Star : " Pathway To Celestial Towers "

"The old wisdom is still here ; music is a bridge to timeless realities. This cassette was conceived not as the music of Yellow Crystal Star, but as a manifestation to point the way while being in transition. It is not intended to be a personal or emotional expression." Recorded while in Thailand.
- Artwork by E. Lindorff-Ellery, photograph by Mark Billings. 2-colour letterpress printed on heavy stock.
- An edition of 45.
- Pro-dubbed, imprinted cassettes with classic Notice attire.

Cover art is available using these links :
Larger cover

Full Insert

#2 : (Notice #12) Red Electric Rainbow : " Sky Underneath "

Full omnipresent aerial convergence throughout and within the skies below and above, from Dan Smith's prolific Red Electric Rainbow project. Although Dan is currently immersed in planning Chicago's Neon Marshmallow fest, he is still able to kick out the lengthy synth pieces that are his trademark — sparkling, simultaneously dense and airy, familiar and mysterious.

- Artwork by E. Lindorff-Ellery. Letterpress printed on heavy stock.
- An edition of 45.
- Pro-dubbed, imprinted cassettes with classic Notice attire.

Cover art is available using these links :
Larger cover

Full Insert

Prices are 6$ North America / 9$ World

Sale : Both for 10$ North America / 15$ World

Trades are welcome.

Thank you.

Bird & Burke video

Here is a quick montage video of the Bird & Burke duo peforming at WNUR last winter. An amazing day of fog rolling in over Lake Michigan , with chunks of ice and snow floating on the undulating surface. Kind of funny to see this during the summer.
Be sure to attend their performance at the Hideout tonight around 10PM. The new record on Complacency will be sold at this show !

Montage by Dan Burke, footage by Evan Lindorff-Ellery.

A quick excerpt of a "review" by Peter Margasak of the Offstrings record : "... the real-time activity is beautifully complemented by clouds of effects-enhanced harmony, drone, and texture. In some cases it's clear that a guitar is the main sound source, and in others it's much harder to be sure."

Offstrings performance at The Hideout

Almost forgot to mention the show at the Hideout coming up this Friday, which will support the new record on Complacency, mentioned below.

David Daniell
Mark Shippy
Travis Bird & Daniel Burke
Michael Vallera

The Hideout, 1354 West Wabansia
8$

That record will be for sale as well as some Notice Recordings stuff.

Complacency revival : "Offstrings" compilation featuring Travis Bird & Daniel Burke

Notice Recordings artists Travis Bird & Daniel Burke are featured on a great new guitar-based compilation called "Offstrings : Inventions for Guitar". This is released on Dan Burke's recently revived Complacency Productions label. It's very exciting to see this label active again, and we're looking forward to what comes from it.

Information from Complacency Productions :

Format : 180 gram colored vinyl LP. Edition of 500 with free download.
(100 clear, 100 clear & translucent blue, 100 translucent blue, 100 white & translucent blue, 100 white)
Catalog # : CR201001
Cost : $18 US ppd. $14 pre-orders until 7/29- $22 world ppd.

Music samples, other information and bios are available at the site. http://www.complacencyrecords.com/

Get in touch with them !
complacency (at) Complacencyrecords (dot) com

Dense Reduction on Digitalis Industries and on the radio (WHPK)

This tape is sold out at Digitalis. Please get in touch with Experimedia, Eclipse Records, Mimaroglu Music Sales or Discriminate Music to purchase one. We also have some copies that just came in. They are normal price. Get in touch.
Thanks !

Notice Recordings artist Dense Reduction is extremely honoured to have a tape on Digitalis Industries. Recorded specifically for the label and given to Brad while he was on tour in Chicago. Perfect for the summer heat. Integrates well into vegetation.

Information :

Dense Reduction ; "Fictive Agriculture" (C42)
A : Theoretical Township
B : A Prelude to Shade

Pro-dubbed, 2 panel full colour printed insert on metallic paper.

Excerpt from Digitalis promo :
"new organic sonar trails through hazy concrete forests. this is music that requires repeated listens to fully digest all the layers. things start off minimal and almost-melodic before bursting into a blown-out, churning mess. things go back & forth, covered in tape hiss and full of tonal warmth. it's like unsuspectingly tuning into lost radio transmissions from the past half-century, sending out maydays from a distant planet."

More information and samples, see here :
http://www.digitalisindustries.com/ltd153.html

ALSO, Dense Reduction will be on the radio with Dan Burke of Illusion of Safety and Travis Bird & Daniel Burke, as well as Evan Lindorff-Ellery. Any combination of those aforementioned artists is possible.
Dan Burke has cancelled. Joe Shriner will be playing with Dense Reduction, and from this grouping will come forth the new project MINT RUT. Thanks !

The radio station is WHPK and the show is called Pure Hype. It starts at 9:00. http://whpk.org/shows/pure_hype/

Poem : "Deep horizon"

by Gary Lindorff

Looking out across the gulf
Of our mistakes, accidents and crimes
I see a murky horizon
Blurred by the brine of a tear
That is taking its time
Gaining enough weight
To trail down my cheek.
The deep horizon of this grief
Is far deeper than I thought.
Was I foolish to come ?
Didn't I know that any space so hollowed
And left empty,
Even for an instant,
Fills with the tears of those
Who wept before us ?
Such a weight, such a gulf,
Such a deep horizon.
Even the crabs, the flattest of nations,
Cannot squeeze beneath
This mile-deep grief.
Fish roast in the sun
Like blackened shavings
Of silver and copper ;
In solidarity,
I mimic their down-turned mouths.

. . . Sickened by the smell of the air we have made . . .

I come here to wade knee deep
Into this ruined place
And try to feel what we've done,
But I can't even properly ask
A dead pelican for forgiveness :

But if our madness is our refusal to learn
From your sacrifice
Then our madness is our tomorrow.

What if we can't make it better
Unless we go away ?

. . . As you return to what you were
Before we called you "pelican",
Let us then return to what we were
Before we named you !
What was that ?
What were we anyway,
Before we named ourselves "chosen" ?