review – Trilogy and Epilogue (and/OAR) 2010 – by Clive Bell – The Wire

Michelangelo Antonioni: Trilogy And Epilogue
Various

and/OAR 2 X CD

“I am personally very reluctant to use music
in my films, for the simple reason that I
prefer to work in a dry manner, to say things
with the least means possible,” said
Michelangelo Antonioni in 1961, the same
period in which he shot the films
L’Avventura, La Notte, L’Eclisse and Il
Deserto Rosso. So, it’s appropriate that this
collection of 24 homages to those films,
following two previous and/OAR collections
dedicated to Ozu and Tarkovsky, contains
few obviously ‘musical’ elements:

Dale Lloyd and Marihiko Hara both feature tentative
pianos, and Kyle Bruckman plays cor
anglais on EKG’s fine track, but otherwise,
we’re in a workd of vast spaces, ambiguous
soundscapes, changing weather and
glowing noise.

Atmospheric works by Juan José
Calarco and Richard Garet could easily be
soundtracks in their own right. i8u (aka
France Jobin) is hyper minimal,
shifting curtains of colour just barely there.
Asher has possibly buried a string orchestra
in his back yard, while Tomas Phillips
melds chiming bells with intake of breath
(lifted) from an Antonioni soundtrack?).
Also excellent are Olivia Block with Adam
Sonderberg, and Pali Meursault’s filmic
concrète, a dream of trains with squeaky
window hinges. All these tracks are
consistent with one another, meaning the
collection works surprisingly well as a
straight-through listen.

And and/OAR,s Ozu homage came
accompanied by an online booklet of
photos and track info, but here the link
between music and films is never discussed,
which suits Antonioni fine. Stuck in our
memories, his images become the music’s
context. Its ambiguity fits them like a glove:
Monica Vitti’s bleak couplings, those
urban landscape where something or
someone is missing.

Clive Bell

review – Trilogy and Epilogue (and/OAR) 2010 – by Ron Schepper – Textura

Trilogy and Epilogue on and/OAR
Michelangelo Antonioni’s filmography offers such a rich source of imagery and
themes it’s a wonder no experimental music project has appeared until now
based upon it. All credit goes to and/OAR, then, for choosing the Italian auteur
as the third in its film director series (previous volumes honoured Andrei
Tarkovsky and Yasujiro Ozu), with the two-disc set, formally titled
Michelangelo Antonioni – Trilogy and Epilogue, focusing on L’Avventura (1960),
La Notte (1961), L’Eclisse (1962), and Deserto Rosso (1963). Antonioni is, of
course, the master of ennui and alienation whose works are populated by
wandering souls who either vanish altogether (L’Avventura) or co-exist but
with the littlest of connection to one another. Not surprisingly, he preferred that
his films be generally unencumbered by music’s presence, believing that his
stories would breathe better without such interference; in that regard, Giovanni
Fusco, whose music appears in most of Antonioni’s films from the late 1950s
to the early ‘60s, apparently declared, “The first rule for any musician who
intends to collaborate with Antonioni, is to forget that he is a musician!”

A few other background details are worth noting before turning to the contents
of the release itself, specifically Antonioni’s sensitivity to the importance of
natural sounds—what he regarded as the “true music” of a film—and the
pioneering electronic music that Vittorio Gelmetti contributed to Deserto Rosso.
Such dimensions of the director’s work draw a clear line connecting the artists
featured on and/OAR’s recording, all of whom in one way or another share like-
minded sensitivities to environmental sound and to the role of electronics in
current music-making practices. The set features over two hours of lower-
case, electro-acoustic works peppered with the kinds of pregnant pauses and
empty spaces that characterize Antonioni’s films. Some of the pieces (all
untitled) are heavily electronic in nature (Marc Behrens’ turbulent setting, Antti
Rannisto’s throbbing drone), while others inhabit an interzone where acoustic
instruments (clarinet, cello), natural sounds (industrial creaks, cavernous
rumbling), and electronic manipulations reside. The artists involved will be
familiar to those conversant with the microsound genre, with figures such as
Roel Meelkop, Ben Owen, i8u, Lawrence English, Steinbrüchel, Jason Kahn,
and Tomas Phillips taking part. The piece by Pali Meursault (with Ici-Même)
stands out as one of the settings that is most rich in outdoor sounds, with train
clatter, traffic noise, and bird sounds threading their way into the mix. Richard
Garet’s sub-lunar exploration sounds like the essence of La Notte and
L’Eclisse distilled down to a seven-minute form. Dale Lloyd’s brief piano
rumination arrives as a breath of fresh air amidst such abstractions, as does
Marihiko Hara’s at album’s close.

The package for the release includes two quotes taken from Seymour
Chatman’s 1985 book Antonioni: Or, the Surface of the World, one of which in
particular merits inclusion here for the clarity it brings to the director’s
approach: “Antonioni asks us to take a slow, steady look at the world around
us, to forget our ordinary preoccupations, and to contemplate that which lies
slightly athwart them.” Michelangelo Antonioni – Trilogy and Epilogue

ROOM40 – Various-10

ROOM40 – Various-10

On March 31st 2011, Room40 officially ends its tenth anniversary and to wrap things up we’re celebrating with a free 40 track sampler created by friends and family. It’s a summary of music and sound that has occupied our ears…past, present and future.

We’re very proud to offer work from as far away as Iceland and Antarctica. Pole to pole Room40 says thanks to all our supporters, friends and artists for such a great first ten years and we look forward to the next ten!

 

1. CHRIS ABRAHAMS – WATER
2. ASHER – UNTITLED
3. ANDREA BELFI  – POAOFBP
4. CANDLESNUFFER  – EUCLID’S FUDGE
5. JOHN CHANTLER – THE DRONING CHORD
6. RICHARD CHARTIER – RENDERED1_2009
7. CHIHEI HATAKEYAMA – FKPKC002
8. LEIGHTON CRAIG – ENDLESS BLUE SKY
9. GREG DAVIS AND BEN VIDA – TWO DOZEN WINDOWS
10. TAYLOR DEUPREE – LIVE:BRISBANE
11. DJ OLIVE – MONDAY
12. D.N.E. – VOLATILE
13. ERIKM – SOSSUSVLEI
14. BEN FROST – FEEDING
15. FRIEDL + VORFELD – BLAU
16. GLIM – FUSIBIL
17. KRAIG GRADY – BIMA
18. ERIK GRISWOLD – FROM HEAVEN ABOVE
19. DAVID GRUBBS – YOU COULD LOOK IT UP
20. GROUPER – HOLLOW TONE
21. KOEN HOLTKAMP – BROKEN CIRCLES
22. RAFAEL ANTON IRISARRI – DISTANCE
23. I8U – HIGGS
24. JEPH JERMAN – NO WORDS
25. ULRICH KRIEGER – CEPHEI
26. MINAMO + LAWRENCE ENGLISH – LUMINOUS
27. SCOTT MORRISON – BALLAD FOR VELIZY
28. PIMMON – LIMITED E COUNTRY
29. STEVE RODEN – ONE OF FORTY ROOMS
30. MARINA ROSENFELD – SWEETEST SENSATION
31. SEBASTIEN ROUX – MORE SONGS (EXCERPT)
32. PHILIP SAMARTZIS – DAVIS STATION
33. JANEK SCHAEFER – UNFOLDING HONEY
34. STEINBRÜCHEL – SAME
35. TENNISCOATS – TASMANIA: FOR A BAY
36. DAVID TOOP, SCANNER, IO3- LIVE AT OPEN FRAME
37. ZANE TROW – INITLED
38. TUJIKO NORIKO TRIO – HEARTGA LIVE
39. JAMES WEBB – PIGLET
40. XIU XIU – INGEBORG BACHMANN

Michelangelo Antonioni – Trilogy And Epilogue on and/oar

The third and perhaps final project in the film director series which began with
“Andrei Tarkovsky – Another Kind Of Language” and “Yasujiro Ozu –
Hitokomakura”. “Michelangelo Antonioni – Trilogy And Epilogue” focuses upon
the Italian auteur’s landmark “tetralogy” of films L’Avventura (1960), La Notte
(1961), L’Eclisse (1962) and IlDeserto Rosso (1963).

Antonioni was known for not being very keen to use music in his films,
partially because he wanted the films to tell their stories free from “additional
gloss”. Therefore music was sparsely used – if at all. Antonioni considered the
natural sounds or “background noises” of a film to be of enormous importance,
and considered them to be the “true music” of a film. Obviously Antonioni’s
view resonates with and/OAR since environmental sound has always been it’s
main focus, and is one of the reasons why he was chosen for this project over
other film directors. Composer Giovanni Fusco, whose music is (more or less)
featured in most of Antonioni’s films from the late 1950s to the early ’60s said,
“the first rule for any musician who intends to collaborate with Antonioni, is to
forget that he is a musician!”

Yet, there is another composer who Antonioni worked with, that this project
seeks to acknowledge and pay subtle homage to in addition to the director
himself; because if it were not for his inspirational and pioneering minimal
electronic music featured in “Deserto Rosso”, this project might not have
come together at all: Vittorio Gelmetti. Gelmetti’s electronic work consistently
came to mind during the planning stages of this project, and his influence can
indeed be heard throughout this release.

CD 1

01. TYLER WILCOX & COREY FULLER  7:05
02. OLIVIA BLOCK & ADAM SONDERBERG  6:37
03. MARC BEHRENS  6:24
04. ROEL MEELKOP  6:06
05. ADAM SONDERBERG  2:14
06. J. WINSTON PHILLIPS  6:17
07. ANTTI RANNISTO  3:40
08. BEN OWEN  6:32
09. LAWRENCE ENGLISH  5:08
10. ASHER  6:30
11. PALI MEURSAULT  (with Ici-Même)  6:36
12. EKG  (Kyle Bruckmann & Ernst Karel)  7:46

CD 2

01. DALE LLOYD  1:27
02. JUAN JOSÉ CALARCO  4:51
03. RICHARD GARET  6:57
04. ALAN COURTIS  4:13
05. LUIGI TURRA  6:11
06. I8U  6:17
07. STEINBRÜCHEL  6:54
08. GABRIEL PAIUK  6:52
09. JASON KAHN  5:33
10. FHIEVEL  6:02
11. TOMAS PHILLIPS  7:07
12. MARIHIKO HARA  4:04

TOTAL TIME: 2 hours, 17 minutes and 12 seconds.

buy on and/oar

ROOM40 Sampler – The Wire (2010)

An exclusive interwoven collage from the Antipodean imprint ROOM40, this free CD documents past, present and future sounds. Curated by Lawrence English with contributions from Chris Abrahams, Asher, Candlesnuffer, John Chantler, Mike Cooper, Leighton Craig, Greg Davis, Taylor Deupree, DJ Olive, DNE, Robin Fox, Reinhold Friedl & Michael Vorfeld, Ben Frost, Grouper, Chihei Hatakeyama, Tim Hecker, I8U, Rafael Anton Irisarri, Jeph Jerman, Ulrich Krieger, Erik M, Tujiko Noriko, Pimmon, Sebastien Roux, Matt Rösner, Philip Samartzis, Janek Schaefer, Steinbrüchel, Tenniscoats, Zane Trow, James Webb and Xiu Xiu.

Given away free to all print subscribers with this month’s September issue.

und transit on NVO 022 (2010)

NVO 022 christophe charles / i8u
unter den linden / und transit
on nonvisuelobjects

unter den linden

The “Grundton” of this 30-minute composition is the recording of the concert given at SND STUDIOS SHEFFIELD (UK) in March 2009, entitled “Why is there something rather than nothing?” by Mark Fell and powered with d&b speakers by Tony Myatt (MRC, University of York). The sounds of planes have been recorded in Mallorca (Spain) in 1987, and in Pilat (France) in 2009. This music comes after HCDC, composed in November 2008 after the death of Daniel Charles – his last days were darkened by breathing difficulties, hence the overall presence of the “wind”. The last five minutes were composed in 1987 with telephone bells, a silo and a Spanish garbage truck, under the name “unter den linden”. The piece is not related with Berlin, but with Jules Massenet’s “Sous les tilleuls” (from “Scenes alsaciennes” where bells are heard in a distance and thus modified by the wind), and evokes a peaceful atmosphere just before the bombs begin to fall.

Christophe Charles, September 2009


This world of ours is one relative world. Any number of other possible or actual worlds are conceivable. Each such world is able to reflect all the others without ceasing
to be the real world that it is of itself.

Nishitani Keiji

und transit

The conceptual framework of “und transit” was conceived while taking part in a 3 months artist residency in Krems, Austria (2008/09). While in transit (daily walks) to my studio, I was inspired by a particular passageway in Minoritenplatz.
Like most passageways, which are a means to an end – and are rarely treated as an end in itself – I was immediately struck by the loneliness and practicality of this space as well as the capacity of the users to ignore it on a daily basis. During the course of my residency I collected a number of field recordings in and around Krems, in order to create a series of soundscapes based on Minoritenplatz’s sound of emptiness through the means of a quadraphonic installation.
These compositions represent some of the pieces composed for “und transit”.

i8u (France Jobin)


Follow your bliss.

Joseph Campell

+

NVO 021
Tim Blechmann / Seijiro Murayama
347
NVO 023
asher / fourm
selected passages / set.grey