Review – 10-33cm (ROOM40) 2008 – by Textura

i8u – 10-33cm (MP3 by Room40) 2008
Two “lower-case” recordings by Asher and I8U make natural additions to ROOM40’s discography.

i8u’s 10-33 cm is as resonant as Asher’s Landscape Studies but wholly different in timbre. Inspired by ideas associated with String Theory, Canadian sound artist France Jobin (aka i8u) creates seven crystalline webs of shimmering, glistening tones and textures. Apparently, the measure 10-33 cm represents the theoretical size of the strings that constitute the universe, and, as Jobin explains,”Resonance is the vibrational pattern which determines what kind of particle the string is, and thus the type of particle is the movement of the string and the energy associated with this movement.” Don’t worry: listening to 10-33 cm requires no degree in Physics; one can experience it as pure sound divorced from its theoretical underpinning. Broached on purely sonic terms, the recording offers a wide-ranging series of explorations into microsound textures, rhythms, and tonalities with each of the spatial re-creations pursuing different pathways associated with the originating concept. Comprised of forty-six minutes of reverberant drones, rumbling tones, faint clicks, and softly crackling static, 10-33 cm could just as easily be a Line release as one from ROOM40.
Textura

Review – 10-33cm (ROOM40) 2008 – by Guillermo Escudero, loop

i8u – 10-33cm (MP3 by Room40) 2008

La artista sonora de Montreal France Jobin explora en “10-33 cm” la Teoría de las Cuerdas como primera fuente sonora. Esto trata del “patrón de vibración que define el tipo de partes que compone la cuerda es y de esta forma el tipo de parte que es el movimiento de la cuerda y la energía asociada con dicho movimiento”, en palabras de esta artista.
La música está en la frontera entre el silencio, zumbido y las partes granulares del sonido. Ciertos pasajes suenan como improvisaciones con una diminuta percusión a través de errores de lectura digital, pero la mayor parte del disco son drones con emergentes sutiles melodías.

-Guillermo Escudero

loop

Montreal’s based sound artist France Jobin explores on “10-33 cm” the String Theory as the primary source material. This deals with a “vibration pattern which defines what kind of particle the string is, and thus the type of particle is the movement of the string and the energy associated with this movement”, in her words.
The music blurs the border between silence, hum, and grainy particles of sound. Certain passages sound like improvisations with a diminutive percussion through glitches, but most of the disc are drones with emerging subtle melodies.

-Guillermo Escudero

Address: http://www.room40.org

Review -10-33cm (ROOM40) 2008 – by BGN, WHITE LINE UK

i8u – 10-33cm (MP3 by Room40) 2008

Another conceptually provocative piece from Canada’s France Jobin, operating under the name “i8u”. “10.33cm” purports to be directly influenced by String Theory, a kind of Music of the Spheres for the New Age, directly associated with the relative sound frequencies of the strings that make up the physical universe. Although largely unproven, and still theoretical, the concept of String Theory has captivated the minds and imaginations of many creative types, and here, Jobin tests the theory in sound.

What materializes is a complex and densely worked set of 7 pieces, named String 1, String 2, String 3, etc. each piece corresponding to a set of parameters initiated by the artist, relating to each string type. From this somewhat ambitious point of departure, we are treated to a rangy set of works that encompass everything from the shimmering tonalities of the opening piece,(that opens with a blister of static, the sonic equivalent of the background radiation of the universe) to the glistening, expansive ambiences as exemplified on String 3, and the more sharply focussed elements of String 2 and String 6, where Jobin systematically takes the listener on a series of sonically intriguing transitions and deformations, taking in the lower end of the auditory spectrum, with rich, reverberant cascades of sound. As an attempt at realising a theoretical concept , then perhaps 10.33cm is still in the elementary stages, but with all of the theoretical gesturing aside, this is a masterfully wrought set of minimalist ambiences, deep in scope, and ambitious in its execution, a technically perfect series that you (like myself) will return to again and again. Excellent.

-BGN.

Address: http://www.room40.org

Review -10-33cm (ROOM40) 2008 – by Frans de Waard, Vital Weekly

i8u – 10-33cm (MP3 by Room40) 2008

We haven’t heard lately of France Jobin, who works since many years as I8U. The seven tracks on this download only release all deal with the string theory, which is one of those scientific things about the Universe which I never understood – like I never understood Stephen Hawking either, not even his public friendly book about time. Perhaps Jobin does better, and the pieces here are build from sine wave like particles that are being processed in the digital realm. It brings us seven pieces of a highly microsound origin. Buzzing bass sound, high pitched peeping sounds, but never ‘loud’ and certainly never ‘noise’. This is text book microsound material, think Richard Chartier, Bernard Gunter or Roel Meelkop, but I8U certainly a strong voice of her own. Quite modern ambient, and very nice at that.

-(FdW)

Address: http://www.room40.org

10 -33cm on ROOM40 (2008)

10-33 cm | NET | ROOM40 | i8u

i8u’s 10-33 cm is a audio work of varied proportion and calculated shape. Based
on the ideas associated with String Theory, this latest offering from Canada’s
France Jobin is a compelling meditation on the nature of sound in time.

“10-33 cm is the theoretical size of the strings that makes up the universe.” Jobin
explains, “Resonance is the vibrational pattern, which determines what kind of
particle the string is, and thus the type of particle is the movement of the string
and the energy associated with this movement.”

With 10-33 cm, Jobin creates a shimmering mirror that reflects on our somewhat
limited understanding of these strings as they slip in and out of the dimensions
we are aware of. More so, each of the pieces suggests a visionary ‘vibration chart’,
that explores the possible resonances of these theoretic discourses.

Through sound, i8u’s explorations of String Theory are made almost tactile – a
refined bridge between rhetoric and creation.

string 1
string 2
string 3
string 4
string 5
string 6
string 7
download entire release

Review – Extract, Portrait of Soundartists(nvo) 2007 – by Heinrich Deisl, skug

V. A. : EXTRACT-PORTRAITS OF SOUNDARTISTS (NVO_011)
Das Wiener Label Nonvisualobjects legt mit “Extract. Portraits of Soundartists” als formschönes Buch plus DCD akustische Fährten Richtung Mikrosounds und schickt die Ohren auf Entdeckungsreise.
Stille: Spätestens seit John Cage eine ernstzunehmende kompositorische Praxis, von David Toop und anderen kontextualisiert, eine Art Gegenbewegung innerhalb experimenteller Soundart, die zum aktiven Zuhören zwingt. Die minimalisierten Soundcluster und -flächen gehen zwar schon als eigenständige Musik durch, dienen aber vor allem als Transportmedium, um die uns umgebenden Alltagsgeräusche musikalisch bewusster wahrzunehmen.
Bislang fehlte eine österreichische VÖ mit internationaler Relevanz, die sich ausschließlich mit derartigen Phänomenen auseinandersetzt. Nonvisualobjects war 2005 vom Musiker Heribert Friedl und dem Grafiker Raphael Moser gegründet worden. Von Anfang an hatte man sich dabei auf Sounds zwischen Installation, Ambient, Fieldrecordings und Stille verlegt, die Arbeitsmethode ist programmatisch: Reduktion. Experimente e-musikalischer Prägung stehen hier an, als Fluchtlinie sei etwa Bernhard Günter genannt.
Die 22 Tracks von Richard Cartier, Nao Sugimoto, Taylor Duprée, Steinbrüchel, Asmus Tietchens, Jos Smolders und klarerweise Günter und Friedl erforschen jene Klangfelder, die sich sozusagen hinter der Musik aufhalten. Mit der aus Montréal stammenden France Jobin aka I8U ist die einzige Frau auf dieser Compilation vertreten. Wenn auch in sich recht stringent, verzichtet dieser “Beginner’s Guide” auf überbordende Theoretisierungen sondern verlegt sich auf die Personen selbst. Ein löbliches Unterfangen, wenn man endlich mal erfährt, wie eben diese Musik entsteht. “Extract” zeichnet ein vielschichtiges Portrait der Künstler und ihrer interdisziplinären Herangehensweise, die sich vor allem an der Schnittstelle zwischen akustischer/visueller Präsenz/Absenz manifestiert. Dies passiert mittels Interviews, eigenen Texten oder biografischen Skizzen, dazu kommen selektierte Diskografien. Schließlich ist “Extract” reich illustriert mit Projektfotos, Grafiken, Zeichnungen und John Hudak liefert Comics ab. Ambitioniertes Projekt.
(heinrich deisl, skug)

Review of Mutek 2007 Nocturne 3 by TJ Norris, Igloomag

For the remainder of the night it was over to the cavernous Metropolis for a split venue/themed presentation. In the larger room were mostly the dance music, in the smaller space more experimental and quieter or quirky offerings. I tended to spend most of the earlier part of the evening alongside LA curator Robert Crouch watching the mostly female driven evening of music by the wash of heady and physical, cyclical and sensory sounds of I8U, the soft tweaky dissonance and ambient layers of Sawako and my first exposure to the vivacious Bubblyfish doing 8-bit renditions of Kraftwerk songs. The whole intimate space was filled to the gills with an audience craving a very contained experience. This all started with a helmet scream gaming match where two players stood side by side in a race that used their voices to drive motor vehicles. Noisey and fun.

Spellewauerynsherde Interpretations Various Sundry (2007)

June 2007

With the hope of being able to bypass the traditional commercial aspects of a recording label TRANS>PARENT RADIATION was formed in 2005 as a web-based sub-label of bremsstrahlung recordings. The releases are made available for free download for a period of time and then taken down and released as limited edition CDRs.

We are please to announce our first physical CDR.

TRANS001 Spellewauerynsherde, Interpretations Various & Sundry
Release date: 070621
Edition:100
Price: $9 ­ including shipping
Order direct: www.bremsstrahlung-recordings.org

Utilizing source material taken from found reel to reel recordings of Icelandic a capella lament songs made in the late 1960’s or early 1970’s 10 sound artists interpret these haunting sounds in their compositions. A CD LP by Akira Rabelais based on this source material can be found at Samadhi Sound. Reworkers include Fennesz, Kit Clayton, Taylor Deupree, Steve Roden, Stephen Mathieu, I8U and others.

The packaging includes a self-latching CD case created from a custom die-cut and the cover is hand stamped. It is a limited edition of 100 and will not be reissued. The CDRs themselves are labeled via the heat transfer process rather than inkjet printing to ensure text durability. The CDRs are silver on both sides. To view packaging click here

josh russell

 

Hmmm Remix (2007)

Hmmm Remix

Humans and computers.
Organic and digital.
Soothing and stimulating.

Ahypnotic assortment of styles and approaches of digital composition byelectronic artists around the globe; each artist remixing the same 5minute recording of an intimate group of singers humming together.Luminaries in the field such as:

Kathy Kennedy + David Gutnick, Hélène Prévost, Steve McLeod, Austistici, Thanos Chrysakis, Francisco Lopez,
Margaret Schedel, Jonas Olesen, Bryce Beverlin 11,  Magali Babin, Kim Cascone, Doug Van Nort and .i8u.

HMMM Remix Compilation is part of a multi-layered project by sound artist Kathy Kennedy. It will culminate in a sonic tsunami, an event that will take place on St. Laurent st. between Sherbrooke and Mont-Royal on sat.June 16, from 3:30-4pm. We hope to hear the voices of 5000 citizens united by the sound of humming. For more info about this spectacular endeavour see:
kathykennedy.ca

 

Extract -Portrait of Soundartists on nvo (2007)

EXTRACT-Portraits of Soundartists (book + 2 cd)
| CD | Nonvisualobjects | compilation

NVO 011 EXTRACT
EXTRACT contains interviews,
essays, photos, drawings
and 22 tracks by:

Keith Berry, Richard Chartier, Taylor Deupree, Heribert Friedl,
Richard Garet, Andy Graydon, Bernhard Günter, John Hudak, I8U,
Dean King, Dale Lloyd, Roel Meelkop, Will Montgomery, Tomas Philips,
Steve Roden, Jos Smolders, Steinbrüchel, Nao Sugimoto (aka mondii),
Asmus Tietchens, Toshiya Tsunoda, Ubeboet and Michael Vorfeld.