The Slightly Off Kilter Label

Active Crossover compilation on Cronica for free!

2012-03-03T08:46:00.000-08:00

> NEW RELEASE: VARIOUS ARTISTS "CROSSOVERS"

> http://www.cronicaelectronica.org/?p=065

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Crónica is very happy to present the new release in the Unlimited Series of editions, “Crossovers”, a compilation documenting a series of encounters that happened in 2011 during the “Active Crossover” project.

“Active Crossover” is a project initiated by Simon Whetham during a residency at the Polymer Factory Culturehouse, Tallinn, Estonia in 2009. During the residency he met and worked with many artists who were all working with sound and music in different and interesting ways, prompting him to exhibit the work he composed alongside work created by those he met and worked with throughout his time in Estonia and Latvia.

Performing at events a number of times during the residency became an integral part of the project, so when Whetham came to exhibit the works in the UK, each exhibition began and ended with a live performance event, drawing on a pool of diverse local artists and musicians. The format for each performance was that artists were organised into pairs, with one artist beginning to play solo, would then be joined by the second for a short collaborative crossover section, and then the first would end their performance, leaving the second to play their own solo piece.

Gathered on this compilation are a number of the crossover sections, where artists who had not met or collaborated before are captured performing together for the first time.

The project was supported financially by the Arts Council England, I Love West Leeds Festival and PRS for Music Foundation. Thanks go to those organisations, plus all at South Hill Park, Bracknell; Wolstenholme Creative Space, Liverpool; Millspace, Armley; Soundfjord, London; Vicki Laurie and family; Nina and Camlo Edge; Hannah Kemp and all of the artists who got involved, both included here and not…

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You can download “Crossovers” as AIFF or MP3 files directly from Crónica and free of charge.
http://www.cronicaelectronica.org/?p=065

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Tracklist:

1. Andi Chapple + Dominic Lash
2. Simon Whetham + Colin Potter
3. Simon Whetham + Jonathan Coleclough
4. Felicity Ford + Mark Durgan
5. Martin Franklin + Cheapmachines
6. Rebecca Joy Sharp + Philip Jeck
7. Simon Whetham + Antony Hall
8. Rodrigo Constanzo + Mark Pilkington
9. Anton Hunter + Igor Hax
10. Simon Whetham + Richard Ormrod
11. Simon Whetham + Rhodri Davies
12. Markus Jones + Ollie Dover
13. Ben Gwilliam + Phill Harding
14. Simon Whetham + Iris Garrelfs
15. Lee Gamble + Scanner
16. Simon Whetham + John Grzinich
17. Martin Clarke + Jo Thomas
18. Simon Whetham + Bela Emerson
19. Duncan Harrison + Paul Khimasia Morgan
20. Alexander Wendt + Slow Listener
21. Simon Whetham + Skjølbrot
22. Ekopleks + Bugbrand
23. Kathy Hinde + SJ Esau

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A lot of hard work is invested in these releases and in Crónica’s operations. We do not believe in DRM and we certainly don’t want to create any barriers between you and our releases, so, all of the Unlimited Releases will be free to download, but if you can, please consider to leave us a small donation for the benefit of both artists and label. Don’t forget to leave us your address, so that we can send you a thank you postcard in return.

For more information on Crónica's releases and events, go to http://www.cronicaelectronica.org

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Jason Kahn saturday 4th february 2012

2012-01-04T10:50:00.000-08:00

aural detritus presents:

JASON KAHN
Jason Kahn was born in New York in 1960 and grew up in Los Angeles. He moved to Europe in 1990, first living in Berlin until 1999 then moving to Switzerland. He is currently based in Zürich.
Kahn came of musical age in the late 1970's, playing drums in punk bands and later making many records for the Los Angeles-based SST label. He turned more to improvised music in the late 1980's, culminating with his move to Berlin where he spent many years playing as a drummer and percussionist in different projects of improvised music, as well as being a member of American composer Arnold Dreyblatt's group “The Orchestra of Excited Strings.”
In Berlin Kahn began working with electronics and composing. He started releasing solo CD's in 1998 on his Cut imprint, which ran from 1997 until 2007. Kahn also began exhibiting sound installations in 2001 and has since shown numerous works in museums, galleries, art spaces and public sites around the world.
Kahn collaborates regularly with many musicians, both in improvised settings and in the context of graphical scores which Kahn composes for specific groupings of players.
This will be his first tour of the UK.
http://jasonkahn.net

“There is no more protean improvisor in experimental music today than Jason Kahn.”
--The Wire

plus
PHIL JULIAN/DANIEL JONES
and
PAUL KHIMASIA MORGAN

Saturday 4th February 2012
The Grey Area Gallery, off Queens Road, Brighton, UK
prompt 7pm start
£tbc

Top 10 of 2011

2012-01-02T12:01:00.000-08:00

1. Adam Lygo’s Club Silencio with Kakopyge Quartet, Mass, Ever Orchid, Twofold and Duncan Harrison at Coachwerks Brighton in March.

2. First ever exhibition of paintings by Syd Barrett at The Idea Generation Gallery in London, April.

3. Staying three nights near the banks of Lake Naivasha, Kenya.

4. Daniel Spicer solo at Slightly Off Kilter atThe Caroline of Brunswick, Brighton in May.

5. July – Weasel Walter, Alex Ward and James Sedwards’ electrifying set at The Cowley Club, Brighton.

6. Hong Chulki & Choi Joonyong testing the structural integrity of the Upper Salon of The Caroline of Brunswick at aural detritus in Brighton in August.

7. Deepkiss 720 solo on saxophone, then self-built electric guitar at The Cowley Club, September.

8. Twin thrills of greenhouse acquisition at home and Diatribes at The Green Door Store, Brighton, November.

9. Participating in another of Simon Whetham’s Active Crossover events; also November.

10. Paris. See video above.

Active Crossover / Practical Electronica

2011-11-28T06:09:00.000-08:00

Taking place in two adjacent rooms at Brighton’s Phoenix Gallery, free events Active Crossover / Practical Electronica showcased two complementary yet disparate sound/visual artforms to a capacity audience.
Due to my practical involvement with Simon Whetham’s Active Crossover component of the evening, I unfortunately missed out on both programmes of Ian Helliwell’s Practical Electronica film screenings. I gather the first programme consisted of films by pioneering film-makers including Fred Judd, while the second was a collection of Ian Helliwell’s recent film work. I recommend you take a look at http://www.ianhelliwell.co.uk/ for more information. Plus you can still catch Ian’s gallery exhibition Practical Electronica which runs at The Phoenix Gallery until the 18th of December 2011.
The idea of Active Crossover concerts is to pair up musicians who have not played together before to perform “crossover” duets where one player begins; plays for about ten minutes; then the second player joins in; they improvise for ten minutes and then the first player drops out to allow the second to complete the performance playing solo.
The first of the Crossover performances was by Simon Whetham and Bela Emerson. Simon opened his laptop in the darkened room and began with a selection of placid field recordings. I’ve always been impressed by Simon’s unorthodox presentation of his own recorded material. Where other field recordists can perhaps rely on a purist, unmolested realtime document of events or phenomena, Whetham is unafraid of the jarring jump-cut, unusual juxtapositions, layering, surround-sound manipulation, (occasionally his day-job), and presenting the unrecognisable and surprising convergences. I didn’t recognise a lot of the sounds he used but could have listened to them eyes closed for a lot longer than this Crossover performance allowed. When cellist Bela Emerson joined in, she presented an unusually delicate palette of extended technique for the majority of their improvisation. Gradually, her more recognisable melodic bow work looped out from her electronics but in quiet, gossamer strands rather than the bold, wide brushstrokes she employed during a recent solo set I caught at the Green Door Store. By the time Simon Whetham finished his contribution, Bela was firmly in the familiar territory of her solo improvisations but still grasping a fragility of sound not usual in her solo work. A deeply immersive collaboration by a surprising yet rewarding combination of musicians.
While the first instalment of the Practical Electronica screenings began with the audience relocated to the next door red room, the white room was prepared for Duncan Harrison and Paul Khimasia Morgan’s performance. Harrison is no stranger to improvised groupings as he regularly tours with drone outfit Plurals, and in a duo with Ian Murphy, plus he has performed in Brighton with acts as diverse as The A Band, HUH 5PIN and Adam Lygo. Paul Khimasia Morgan has performed at a previous Active Crossover with Simon Whetham, (this leading on to their releases on con-v), and is similarly interested in improvising opportunities. Recently, he has participated in groupings including Ryu Hankil, Seijiro Murayama, Jez riley French, Patrick Farmer, Daichi Ishikawa and Daniel Jones.
Both musicians had prepared weird assemblages of objects, devices and instruments; Paul on a tabletop and Duncan on the floor. Duncan began this performance, kneeling amid his equipment, starting by amplifying his jittery utterances into a long duration loop device while scraping and striking various parts of his array of sonic objects. I noticed about a dozen cassette tapes ready for use in his pair of portable machines, and quite a few small metal objects in his arsenal. What’s more interesting than Duncan’s unusual choice of equipment though, is the way he seems to genuinely and quickly attain a trance state in which to perform. It’s a fidgety, shakey physical trance which I’ve sometimes witnessed and been mildly disturbed by. In this state, Harrison seems to be genuinely troubled and using performance as a way of venting...something. I’m not sure this is definitely his motivation though – you’d have to ask him yourselves. As Paul Khimasia Morgan crawled under his table to commence the collaborative section of the performance, Harrison proceeded to crawl away into the audience clutching one of his portable infernal cassette machines.
Khimasia Morgan then presented a lurid and angry set of loud, scraped stones and gritty sand sounds, rattling, mains hum, buzzing motors, incipient voltage clicking with flashing lights while occasionally throwing insubordinate or unsatisfactory objects from the performance area in a claustrophobic demonstration of ill humour. More than once, almost-silences were rudely punctuated by extremely loud and gritty outbursts or preprepared samples of his previous experiments digitally rendered into harsh distortion. Perhaps the psychological fallout of Duncan Harrison’s approach rendered Khimasia Morgan’s usually restrained output down into its constituent rancorous parts. More please.
As the audience dutifully upped and bombarded themselves with Ian Helliwell’s final selection of avant-film for half an hour, then good naturedly hauled themselves back into their seats for Alexander Wendt and Slow Listener, an almost tangible air of expectation filled the white room. During the films, Alexander Wendt had busily constructed a soundart installation of small speakers set upon the room’s stage riser, amplified by two microphones suspended from the ceiling, swinging in small arcs across each speaker. Wendt augmented the resulting pulses of Alvin Lucier-ish feedback with clean, digital chatter from his laptop. Minimal but effective lighting rendered some interesting silhouettes of the movements of the equipment and Wendt onto the walls as he set about his work of making (what seemed to be) tiny subtle adjustments to his sounds.
Slow Listener countered with terse analogue crackling and dark monosynth grumblings that evolved over quite long durations compared to the evening’s previous musicians and suited Alexander Wendt’s somewhat austere material extremely well. Solo, Slow Listener’s drones kicked up into a more brusque and eager gear until he abandoned all his electronics completely and finished his performance by coming out from behind his table armed only with an unamplified bowed cymbal.

photograph of Duncan Harrison's equipment by Paul Khimasia Morgan.

sok040 GIMLET EYED MARINERS - Dark Secret Love

2011-11-21T05:53:00.000-08:00

Gimlet-Eyed Mariners hail from Wiveliscombe, Somerset. The duo was conceived in early 2009, but various other projects involving its members delayed its birth until the late summer of that year, when the first official recorded session, Leopard Slugs, was cut. This session produced “In the Howling Storm” and the title track of their release, Dark Secret Love, on The Slightly Off Kilter Label.

The band was formed to create the kind of music and soundscapes that its members wanted to hear, but seldom could. The Mariners’ music can be categorised as electro-acoustic, acousmatic total-Improv, concerned primarily with colour, texture and dynamics, spontaneous interaction, and the organic, unpredictable evolution of each performance. Their improvisations start from scratch: the players never rehearse in the sense of working on a piece until it evolves into something “presentable”. In the studio they reject editing, over-dubbing and re-mixing: if a performance is not working, it will be abandoned, and the duo will move on to a new improvisation. Accidents are part of the adventure: they do not consider this approach as foisting unfinished “product” on the audience, but as an invitation to their listeners to join them on a journey of discovery.

An improvisation by the duo may incorporate hypnotic, densely-textured, multi-layered constructs, evanescent drifts of colour and insubstantial texture, mysterious and ambiguous sonorities, eruptions of viscera-endangering industrial noise, compulsive dance beats evoking music from the remotest reaches of the globe, or, often, all of these simultaneously.

Although they arrived at it from somewhat different directions, the two Mariners share a vision, and have a common admiration for musique concrete & electronic music pioneers like Pierre Schaeffer, Luc Ferrari, Pierre Henry, Delia Derbyshire, Daphne Oram and the great Tonmeister, Stockhausen.

Michael Fairfax is a sculptor and designer who studied under the tutelage of his grandfather, Ernest Berk, a pioneer of musique concrete, cutting and splicing recorded tape, toying with oscillators and generally playing around with sound. During his career as a public artist he created a number of sound-works using computer technology, before embarking on adventures in music in its own right, firstly with Tapes+Ashes and now with Gimlet-Eyed Mariners. The exploitation of sound as an improvised unit gives him the space and expansiveness that is the antithesis of public art.

Barry Witherden was also a member of Tapes+Ashes, and began tinkering with low-tech, tape-based collages when, in his late teens, he discovered Schaeffer and Henri. He is a freelance music journalist currently writing for The Wire, Jazz Journal and BBC Music, and has been a regular contributor to Jazz Review, The Gramophone and Classic CD. His writing has also been included in The Wire Primers: A Guide to Modern Music, The Rough Guide to Classical Music and The Guinness Who’s Who of Jazz. His inspirations include Morton Feldman, the early process/systems pieces of Steve Reich and the work of Chicago’s Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians.

© Barry Witherden, July 2011

Current Ten Titles:

2011-11-21T05:46:00.000-08:00

prices all include postage within the UK:

sok040 Gimlet Eyed Mariners Dark Secret Love cd-r £5 NEW!
sok039 Daniel Spicer engruntled cd-r £5
sok038 Martin Preston Vapour cd-r £5
sok037 Adam Lygo The Girl With The Leopard In Her Mouth 2 x cd-r SOLD OUT
sok036 Anthony Murphy Trio Blood Blister 1 x 5” cd-r & 1 x 3” cd-r SOLD OUT
sok035 PMT Frosty Lee / THFCKWT ep cd-r £5
sok034 Adam Lygo & EMB Live At The Musicbar 3”cd-r SOLD OUT
sok033 Ortolan Fragments cd-r £5
sok032 Simon Whetham undercurrent cd-r £5 LAST FEW REMAINING
sok031 EMB Nyama Choma Diode cd-r £5 LAST FEW REMAINING

Please Paypal slightlyoffkilter@hotmail.co.uk or email us for alternative payment arrangements and international mailorder, thanks.

right place right time

2011-11-11T14:46:00.000-08:00

Last friday, the 4th of november 2011, i blundered into the Green Door Store under Brighton Station in a state of post-work bewilderment to witness some amazing acoustic quiet improv courtesy of Diatribes.

This was the final night on a seven date uk tour for this grouping under the Diatribes moniker, (Cyril Bondi & d'incise being the lynchpins), featuring cellist Hannah Marshall, double bassist Dom Lash and percussionist Patrick Farmer.

The decision to perform acoustically was to prove an exceptionally good one as each player's output was equally discernable with no-one overpowering anyone else and i'm guessing making it easy for all players to listen to each other effectively. The audience very quickly settled into a quiet and very attentive state after loud, dense amplified sets from supports Bela Emerson and Noteherder & McCloud who utilized the venue's powerful PA system.

If i had to point out my particular favourite elements of Diatribes' improvisation, i would have to say i enjoyed witnessing Dom Lash's deliberate and fascinating bass playing for the first time, having heard him on just a handful of his substantial recorded output. Cyril Bondi, to whom i stood the closest, employed a large selection of tiny metal bells, chimes and cymbals, applying them to the head of his single large tom drum which sat neatly on a side table in readiness, and of course its always a joy to see the spectacle of Patrick Farmer who abused a pair of small hi-fi turntables by way of striking and dropping them, rubbing them with styrofoam, and even upending a cup of tiny stones, (perhaps filched from the beach earlier in the day?), from an upstretched hand. Beautiful, beautiful...

Bela Emerson produced a pair of dense, bucolic cello improvisations and Noteherder & McCloud wove a tapestry of drone electronics and extended saxophone technique including some guttural voicings through the sax in a kind of growling circular breathing attempt, nicely.

Thanks to Club Zygotic for putting this excellent show together.

Lambs Gamble and Deepkiss 720 pictures

2011-10-06T14:23:00.000-07:00

2011-10-06T13:58:00.000-07:00

SCOTT R. LOONEY & KLAUS JANEK [usa/italy]

Their music covers a wealth of sonic and textural landscapes in their interactions, with an emphasis on logic and contrasting concepts guiding the overall shape of the work. The resulting sound is meditative and ambient at times, yet hints at free jazz and electro acoustic improvisational influences as well.

ROBERT CURGENVEN [australia]
[Recorded Fields]

The starting point for composer Robert Curgenven's work is his Transparence dubplate, developed as part of the O'A.I.R. Artist In Residence program at O'Artoteca, Milan. The dubplate was created from feedback recordings that were run through the O' gallery space, resulting in a drone signal capturing the subtle resonances of the room.

"The best 12k/LINE release in ages, dark, Lynchian, eroded tape-loops and analogue menace"
- Boomkat

Both performances will feature the venue’s Grand Piano.

Plus an additional performance by

PAUL KHIMASIA MORGAN [uk]
[con-V, emgraved glass]

Paul Khimasia Morgan's uneasy solo improvisations employ brass objects, dc motors, natural materials and his own spoken word recordings.

www.auraldetritus.blogspot.com

Tuesday 8th November 2011
The Friends’ Meeting House, Ship Street, Brighton

Lambs gamble advance notice...

2011-09-02T07:21:00.000-07:00

LAMB'S GAMBLE
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lambs_Gamble/
Fritz Welch, Eric Boros and George Cremaschi's sideways frozen halfling with abstract crunch.
[Members of Vialka, Peeesseye and KRK].

NYOUKIS/ROBERTS/SPICER
Three way hoot-up with added juice.

DEEPKISS 720
Not inconsiderably arresting.

EMB
Vibrations and the sounds they make.

Monday September 26th.

8 till late.
The Cowley Club, London Road, Brighton
Members and Guests welcome.
£4 suggested donation.

Club Silencio weds 13th July

2011-07-04T12:05:00.000-07:00

no sign of the rapture, then...

2011-05-25T08:55:00.000-07:00

Slightly Off Kilter sat 21st may 2011 Caroline of Brunswick review

A breezy Saturday night in Brighton in the middle of the Festival. A plush upstairs salon bursting with experimental music aficionados. Beer. Nice Cornish ale on draught to start with. Unfortunately that doesn’t last long before the barrel runs dry and make do with a generic euro lager for the rest of the evening. urrgh. Oh well, luckily there’s no generic euro sound/poetry, (whatever that may be), on the bill for our entertainment this evening so lets proceed.

Tonight’s event is a four-way album launch for the latest releases on The Slightly Off Kilter Label; Daniel Spicer’s engruntled, Anthony Murphy, Adam Lygo and EMB’s 2-disc set blood blister, Adam’s solo 2-disc set The Girl With The Leopard In her Mouth and Martin Preston’s Vapour.

The running order is as follows; a grouping of Adam Lygo, Duncan Harrison & EMB; The Anthony Murphy Quartet and finally Daniel Spicer solo. An attempt to screen footage of some vintage 1990’s performances by Martin Preston was unfortunately derailed at the eleventh hour. Hopefully this will happen at the next Slightly Off Kilter event. Musical interludes were provided by Slightly Off Kilter’s house DJ Mr Stephen Drennan who has been augmenting SOK events for the last ten years. Stephen drew on his mammoth 7” vinyl collection and we were treated to tracks from Wild Man Fischer, late-period Captain Beefheart, and that’s where I stopped recognising stuff.

Adam Lygo carried out his glossolalic piece accompanied by Duncan Harrison on prepared, amplified acoustic guitar and the man known as Euphonious Murmur Blend on subtle electronics. Lygo’s vocal approach was alternately severe and overdriven and haunting and laryngeal. Both approaches benefitted from augmentation by digital reverb controlled by a masked Adam. The mask wearing added an element of both theatricality and unease. Meanwhile, Harrison wrestled with his acoustic guitar, worrying it with a small thumb piano and contact mics before severing its head completely while EMB seemed to do nothing at all for a long time until it suddenly became apparent to me that what I had at first taken to be a hum from the PA had turned into a crisp metallic drone almost without me noticing. A convincing stab at vocalese from Adam Lygo, particularly as I gather it was the first time he’d performed this material in front of an audience, with an intriguing sonic element.

I sensed that The Anthony Murphy Quartet (Anthony Murphy – prose, Adam Lygo – guitar, EMB - electronics, Jet – more electronics) were bent on making a bigger noise than Adam Lygo’s trio the moment Lygo strapped his guitar on for their set with a mischievous look in his eye. That and electronicist Jet’s gargantuan (for this small venue) laser theremin pulsing red in the exhaust cloud of a fog machine. And so they did, so much so that Anthony Murphy’s vocals were a little lost in the mix for the first few minutes despite being processed through Jet’s amorphous synthesisers. With the vocal levels corrected, Murphy’s prose became audible and his stories began a mighty tussle with Jet’s processing. After about ten or twelve minutes, Murphy capitulated to allow the behemoth of the instrumentalists’ digital outputs to crank up a gear and slowly chew the venue walls off. EMB produced a particularly disorientating church organ drone which crossed over from Terry Riley territory to what I imagine La Monte Young would sound like if he joined Sunn O))) (please let me know if this has already happened). The group created a wall of sound which grew in intensity until it imploded in a cloud of ash and static.

After a lengthy break to allow audience members the chance to recharge their glasses in the downstairs bar, no doubt braving the charms of the rock/metal karaoke activity going on down there, Daniel Spicer took to the stage. Armed with an amplified, processed violin, a couple of gongs and later a harmonica, Spicer presented one ten or so minute piece. His prose reminded me of Burroughs’ cut-up technique in part, but delivered in a smooth conversational way. Surreal perhaps, (not sure if he’d describe it that way) and attenuated with sudden gong, shouts or town cryer-like singing. Not without humour either: the line “that’s not a tea towel – it’s a stick!!” getting a big laugh. Despite it all potentially coming over as entertaining wordplay nonsense on first hearing, there were interesting references to The Rapture, Deep Heat, the church, natural history, clubland’s year zero 1989, and more. The violining is a psychedelic echo scrape and despite competence, had no folk reference whatsoever, although Spicer’s blues harmonica is just that complete with manic ape-like footstomping. Overall, Daniel Spicer is an engrossing and fascinating proposition, offering a strangely edifying glimpse into his own brand of post-ecstatic passementerie.

All four albums are available now direct from us at the following prices all including postage:
Daniel Spicer engruntled cd-r £5
Martin Preston Vapour cd-r £5
Anthony Murphy Trio blood blister 1 x 5” cd-r & 1 x 3” cd-r £8
Adam Lygo The Girl With The Leopard In Her Mouth 2 x cd-r £7
Please Paypal slightlyoffkilter@hotmail.co.uk or email us for alternative payment arrangements.

Gold Dust headphone concerts

2011-05-15T08:57:00.000-07:00

Gold Dust headphone concert at The Ceramic House, 75 Stanmer Villas, Brighton on Wednesday 18th May 2011 7pm £8/5 concs. Sound / Art performances by Joseph Young, Paul Khimasia Morgan, Neil Luck and Michalis Mavronas.

The final Gold Dust performance will feature performances by Joseph Young, Jon Aveney and Marcus Leadley. 7pm £8/5 concs. Saturday 28th May 2011 at The Ceramic House.

Organised by Joseph Young as part of Open Houses/Brighton Fringe Festival.

Slightly Off Kilter Poetry Series Launch!

2011-04-20T04:12:00.001-07:00

Club Silencio 5 - review

2011-03-16T07:46:00.000-07:00

In a recently, (regrettably), diminished performance area at Coachwerks, are squashed the table top tech of the five acts for the night. The rest of the space is crammed full of even more chairs than there were last time I was here. Good thing there are as a constant stream of experimental music lovers file in even before doors are officially open. Seated, this created a cosy, intimate environment.
First to perform are the recently expanded Anthony Murphy Quartet. No longer a trio; in addition to Murphy’s spoken word, Adam Lygo’s noise guitar and EMB’s zither and sampler combination is laser thereminist Jet. Jet’s contribution is substantial; not only visually, (his laser theremin is about six feet tall), but in having the ability to process Murphy’s vocals through his laptop, the Quartet have really hit their stride creatively. Their music is still improvised, Murphy’s poems still rigidly formatted but with a fourth element there is more space for everyone to relax a little more than was the case with the Trio. The resulting maelstrom of guitar clanging, organ drones, digital bit-mangling, manipulated voice and poetry moved dynamically and rhythmically through a twenty minute cycle of quiet/loud with propulsion and edginess.
After a short break while Jet breaks down his laser device, we are presented with his guitar/drums duo Twofold. An expanded live loop manipulation outfit utilizing guitar, bass, drums and vocals at various points of their performance, Twofold produce at times material reminiscent, (to me, at least), of Kid A-period Radiohead, or late 90’s Tortoise’s quieter moments; all with a dubby feel provided by the looped bass parts. It seemed that most if not all played parts were captured and then processed and looped by Jet’s bespoke digital processing equipment; many things were pitch shifted or sped up or down but occasionally a sound emerged that I was at a loss to recognise as an instrument. Intriguing. The idea of bringing the concept of the recording studio into a live performance is not a new one, but Twofold seem to have achieved it in a relatively portable and trouble-free way and thus given themselves the space to play with sonic ideas in real time.
Mass follow this with a more subdued performance than the one I witnessed late last year. Lygo again, this time paired with HRT member Russell. Both on guitar processed with various electronic devices. A more floating sound overall, more like a slightly more aggressive Invisible, (another Lygo project), performance rather than Adam Lygo’s trademark brutalist solo digital howl.
Up next is solo vocalist/visual artist Ever Orchid. Unfortunately, Ever is plagued by technical problems starting with incompatible cables for her projector, forcing her to rely on the screen of a laptop to display her exquisite visuals. Ever began with a piece composed of vocal harmony, soft wails and acoustic guitar backing; dark, brooding. Ever stood, cowled, behind her laptop in low light which overall looked great. Trouble soon raised its ugly head and after about two thirds of this first piece crackling started to become audible pre-empting a total cut-out of sound from the laptop. Ever continued to sing, ending the song and the audience seemed not to mind. The second piece passed without incident; this time a bed of multiple vocal parts allowed Ever to improvise a melody part. Mysterious surging synth noise and a clanking guitar sample were added as the piece progressed. The third piece, however, seemed to be too much for the ailing processor in the laptop. A jazzy upright bass sample and moving water sounds complemented Ever’s vocal and occasional violin for a couple of minutes before the soundfile gave up the ghost completely. Frustrating for Ever and for the audience who had been visibly enjoying the music up till this point.
Rounding off the evening was the ever-fascinating Duncan Harrison [pictured above] who conjured up a cacophony of close-mic’ed noises from a baking tray before ordering some ethereal drones from a four track tape recorder. I like his minimal use of delay as well – its easy to get carried away with certain effects, but Duncan uses all of his objects and devices in the same way a painter uses paint. Later, he uses a loop sampler to manipulate his vocal groans, huffs and tics; again in a very light and delicate way. The overall result of his actions, however, is far from delicate. A miniature dulcimer-like instrument is riffed and then processed to sound really, really dark. Other components follow: bells, gruff vocal incantation, a proggy synth/tape tone, overloaded signal, crackling, more vocal huff. And an abrupt stop all too soon. Classic Harrison. I could listen to his stuff for hours.

Our top records of 2010 Part 2

2011-01-14T09:13:00.000-08:00

The Sealed Knot and we disappear [Another Timbre] cd

Detail. Lots and lots of detail. Not a particularly insightful appraisal, that. My apologies; I’ll have to do better than that. Detail. That was my first impression of this album and to be honest, I’m still grappling with my words now having spent most of the last year listening to it.
The musicians are of an extremely high calibre: Burkhard Beins, Rhodri Davies and Mark Wastell. I’m assuming the music is improvised. Taut, complex, reactive improvisation. And prepared. Really well prepared.

http://www.anothertimbre.com/

Tim Blechmann / Seijiro Murayama 347 [Non Visual Objects] cd

This is a recording of a performance Blechmann and Murayama gave in Paris. Percussionist Seijiro Murayama’s distinctive technique of sawing/sounding an object while modulating its sound and frequency in various ways is heavily in evidence here. Tim Blechmann, by contrast, seems to limit himself to room noise, hiss, hum, static, feedback; almost sonic dust motes one minute and grey watercolour wash the next.

http://www.nonvisualobjects.com/

Bolide the universal omphalus [self released] cd-r

My favourite free playing unit of the moment. I gather that they think of themselves as a jazz outfit but that’s okay with me even though this release is about as far away from that pigeonhole as you can possibly get.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bolide/285710746803

Simon Whetham & Paul Khimasia Morgan grey area [con-V] cd

Yes, cheeky to include this but it was such a great experience making this recording and attending/performing at Simon’s Active Crossover exhibition at The Grey Area Gallery at the time that I felt I just had to.

http://www.con-v.org/cnvr22.html

Our top records of 2010 part 1

2010-12-22T09:37:00.001-08:00

Ryu Hankil becoming typewriter [Taumaturgia] cd-r

A recording featuring an interesting compositional use of silence. The middle of three tracks has the unsettling title ominous motel room but is in fact a short duration of digital silence. Well, motel rooms generally are usually pretty ominous or at least nearly all of the ones I’ve ever had the pleasure of staying in have been. Should we imagine we are alone in a motel room when we listen to this disc? Or is the recording of an unusually quiet motel room? Or was the track of digital silence recorded while Hankil was staying in the motel, or perhaps digital silence makes Hankil think of motel rooms...?
The first track; various accidents by vibrating speakers with 3 interconnected clockworks, spends its first half treading quite gently with scatterings of electro-acoustic sounds nicely paced, spidery in parts; trebly and mid mannered. Then around the halfway mark we are suddenly treated to what sounds like an oily robot fish leaping out of the water and flapping around on the bottom of our boat. This is Hankil’s trademark clockworks at full pelt. Five or six minutes of this robotic popping noise gives way to high pitched sine waves joined later by more random clockwork activity. Toward the end, the interplay between the mechanical soundings and multi-part high frequency sines/feedback is compounded by the addition of some mid range crackling. I’m really not sure how this was produced and as the only information we are given is the track titles themselves I shall not speculate further.
The second track; various accidents by vibrating speakers with interconnected mechanical clock parts is more robust in terms of demonstrating a broad range of sounds that the set up is able to generate. And it is more aggressive, too. Hankil includes a small amount of melodic information near the end of this much shorter piece. I think its apt to describe Hankil’s sounds as “information” as the dense clusters seem made up of far more than the sum of the parts. It’s like he is attempting to transmit data rather than compose music.
Its worth noting that the beautiful pen and ink drawing of a typewriter-headed figure sat on the edge of a bed in a motel room on the sleeve of this release was drawn by Hankil.
http://www.taumaturgia.com/

Michael Pisaro, Greg Stuart a wave and waves [Cathnor] cd

This has got to be one of my favourite pieces of music at the moment. Composed of many, many short recordings of Greg Stuart playing “...anything as a possible percussion instrument”, and made up of three sections; Part 1: A world is an integer, four minutes of digital silence and Part 2: A haven of serenity and unreachable. Michael Pisaro has cooked up a pretty complex and refined idea, realised by Greg Stuart whose extremely hard work he put into its realisation I don’t envy one bit. Based around the concept of the wave form, Part 1 emulates the sound of waves by “gradual accumulation and subtraction of sounds”. Part 2 is a rigorous and precise construction of one hundred wave events each of which “...last thirty seconds – there is a ten second overlap from one wave to the next”. So, to construct all this, Greg Stuart has seemingly spent a hell of a lot of time in front of his laptop. God help him if he edited it all down on analogue tape. No, that’s crazy. Who would do such a thing in this day and age? The effect of all this micro-recording and programming reveals a stunning composition where the music is heard without the albeit impressive technical aspects intruding. In terms of dense micro-sound, this is firmly in the same category as a live performance by John Wall I witnessed a couple of years ago where the detailed grain of the music captivated me entirely. All quotes are taken from the sleevenotes by Michael Pisaro.

http://www.cathnor.com/

Daniel Jones when on and off collide [Cathnor] 3” cd

Although Daniel is an improviser, (see his past and present activities with Loris, Tierce, Jez riley French, David Papapostolou and myself), whose primary instrument is turntable, this short piece actually strikes me as almost composed so controlled and deliberate is his delicate touch. The piece appears to be loosely structured in three parts; simply put: (what sounds to me like) turntable motor rumble followed by crackly voltage followed by more varied sounds possibly derived from the turntable mechanism itself. There is an interesting compositional use of silence bridging each of the segments, and the fidelity of the recording is very high so that at a reasonably loud volume the listener becomes enveloped in the low end material while those mid-point voltage crackles take on a surprising, almost physical aspect in the room. They made me jump on the first couple of listens and that’s a good thing. The duration suits the material very well, with good pace and balance that keeps the listener involved. Possibly this is thanks to the editing credited to Daniel’s colleague in Loris, Patrick Farmer. I would say that this release fits in well with the other titles in the Cathnor catalogue, (I’ve been a fan of this label since the Mimeo Sight release), thanks to its quiet presence and Daniel’s skilful and unusual use of turntable as sound source.

http://www.cathnor.com/

Forthcoming for 2011

2010-12-16T09:34:00.000-08:00

first up in the new year on TSOKL,
Gimlet Eyed Mariners a dark secret love cd-r

followed by 5 titles in our new Poetry Series (using the word "poetry" loosely):
Anthony Murphy/Adam Lygo/EMB blood blister 2 disc set (3" cd-r & standard cd-r)
Adam Lygo the girl with the leopard in her mouth cd-r in hand-made sleeve
Daniel Spicer [title to be confirmed] cd-r
Martin Preston chemical trespass cd-r
Paul Khimasia Morgan the marsh harrier cd-r & booklet

later in the year:
Sam Eden-Green & Paul Khimasia Morgan in faraday's cage cd-r
Best Left Alone iamistherea / Yvs cd-r

plus:
a release on engraved glass for Paul Khimasia Morgan
http://engravedglass.blogspot.com/

Ortolan Fragments out now!

2010-12-01T14:01:00.000-08:00

here's the pack shot.
edition of 30.
cd-r in jewel case with b/w sleeve and inlay.

to avail yrself of a copy, email slightlyoffkilter@hotmail.co.uk or Paypal the sum of £6 (inc. p&p) to same address.

Ortolan - Fragments

2010-10-26T03:56:00.000-07:00

This first release from our new "signing" (what a quaint old fashioned term) Ortolan is set for release in November. A mixture of found voice recordings, vintage Roland drum machine, no-input mixing board, feedback; stylistically jumping from doom metal to gabba to dark ambient (or so i'm told) Ortolan creates a brutal listening experience designed for soundtracking dark winter nights of apathetic window gazing. Named after the bird/French dish:

For centuries, a rite of passage for French gourmets has been the eating of the Ortolan. These tiny birds—captured alive, force-fed, then drowned in Armagnac—were roasted whole and eaten that way, bones and all, while the diner draped his head with a linen napkin to preserve the precious aromas and, some believe, to hide from God.
– The Wine Spectator

...our man Ortolan aims to provide a similarly coppery aural experience.

Club Silencio nov 2010

2010-10-26T03:27:00.000-07:00

Adam Lygo presents the fourth installment of his Club Silencio events at Brighton's Coachwerks venue on the 4th of November 2010.

Participants this time around include Lygo himself, HRT, Anthony Murphy trio, Euphonious Murmur Blend, Slow Listener, Duncan Harrison, Buick Lygo, Louise Baker...

Simon Whetham & Paul Khimasia Morgan

2010-10-26T03:21:00.000-07:00

SIMON WHETHAM & PAUL KHIMASIA MORGAN - THE GREY AREA (CDR by Con-V)

Before Con-V already released a MP3 by Simon Whetham (who is these days a lot in these pages) in collaboration with one Paul Khimasia Morgan. That was a live recording, which they liked very much, so they decided to return to the Grey Area Gallery when Whetham was back in Brighton. I am not sure what Paul brought to the table, but Whetham uses field recordings, radio transmissions and electro magnetic signals. The music is all quite softly recorded, so I had to put the volume quite a bit. I am not sure if its really necessary to do such thing this soft. But once you put the level up a bit, then you'll find some interesting improvised bits and pieces of indeed a grey area where improvised electronics, microsound buzz and humm and processed (?) field recordings meet up.

- Frans de Waard, Vital Weekly

Club Silencio (3) june 10th 2010 review

2010-09-24T01:41:00.000-07:00

A feast for the senses this one.
Buried in an unlikely residential area of Brighton, Coachwerks is a visually exciting venue. A converted bus depot / workshop, now a warren of small studios housing artists, printmakers, photographers, musicians and other varied creatives. The main performance space is vast and apart from having a proper dance floor fitted and a coat of gallery white on the walls, it looks pretty much the same as when it was used for mending coaches I imagine. I particularly like the way the light changes over the course of this evening due to the transparent roof of the main performance space. Cosy too, when the large clay oven is lit, heats up and the smell of freshly made pizza fills the space.
Let’s not dally; here’s what was served this evening:

Starters

Anthony Murphy Trio

A trio of a poet (Anthony Murphy), a noise guitarist (Adam Lygo) and improvisor (Euphonious Murmur Blend). Noises plus poetry/spoken word is not something Lygo/EMB have tried before, although they have tried many permutations of Noise guitar combined with noise(s) guitar over the last few years (releases on SOK and Hive Music and The Sound Projector)... This performance is their first as a trio, ahead of an album slated for release toward the end of 2010 I gather. From the evidence presented here; a restrained yet clouded backing of electronic murmurings, scrapes, hums, crackles and a smattering of zither, under the unprocessed clarity of Murphy’s stark, alliterative prose, the album should intrigue. Murphy’s stories involve pub settings, psychological flailing, parental responsibilities confronted, nature, fist fights, love, loss.....the usual literary collection of human curiosities, and even a bit of English civil war history. Will be interesting to see how this unit develops.

Hereharehere

Benefitting from the extra space afforded them by this good size venue, vocalists hhh stretch themselves somewhat tonight. The boy hare descends into primalism while girl hare soars, croaks and squeals to the point where, eyes shut, she backs away from her mic sending her amplified shadow slowly away. Boy hare seems unaware of this aspect of their performance, although he becomes bassier and more distraught in sympathy. A characteristically short set ends with girl hare away from us and herself in reveries completely unamped with boy hare clutching every oxygen particulate he can get his head to swallow. Completely engrossing.

Adam Lygo

Shadows on the wall side lit mask tics and fidgets birdlike
Guitar sounded with small fan alone was regularly repositioned about the prone guitar body
Tendons bubble around tan brow vein beaded brittle chord
Bedlam hum stopped short of fabric collapse caught weightless
Gilded sun bloom hydrogen flame

Mains

EMB

Only the second performance (version) of Euphonious Murmur Blend’s new composition For Uma Devi, a pseudo-psychotropic glittering tour de force manipulating sounds from a 1989 solo guitar piece into unrecognisable fragments of crystal lysergy. One moment shining; bell-like the next - worming away in a dark jetstream of lower mids. A trifle short at 13 or 14 minutes perhaps, but enjoyable nonetheless.

Duncan Harrison

Best use of a looping device in live performance i’ve yet seen i think. That’s a bold claim but seriously, this boy is good. Voice, drumstick, tubular metal cutlery holder from Ikea, perhaps the ubiquitous lime green Line 6 looping pedal plus some kind of distortion device. God alone knows what other electronic shicanery he had perched on that table; not a lot perhaps only one or 2 more unrecognisable devices but then its not the fx we’re interested in, by god, its what the hell’s he doing with it??? The big question for tonight. Whatever it is, its dark, physical, weird and scary. Scary in so many different ways; in a schlock horror way, a how come he’s so good way, a jesus i think he’s actually summoning something up here way, a do you think he’s okay way... And possibly the biggest potential. Watch him like a hawk.

Dessert

HRT

Heavy, striking drone-ambient 3 piece. Two immobile; seated, seemingly placid participants and the bass wielding clown-masked one muttering half-heard utterances, performing against a professional looking kaleidoscopic dvd backdrop wrought, it turns out, from Russia’s first commercial horror movie. Faces obscured; a subtle air of foreboding or menace? Or an attempt to introduce faintly comic reassurance? As the set progresses, the various electronic chitterings and evil samples get pinned down by a monotone bass part, the video backdrop becomes ever more lysergic and from time to time even, perhaps worryingly, vaguely erotic. The climax of HRT’s set involved the mystery men wandering off to James Joyce (i think) grinding out from a portable cassette deck. Highly recommended.

Adam Lygo’s Club Silencio (4) next due November 2010 at Coachwerks, Brighton.

next releases info

2010-08-25T01:56:00.000-07:00

next up:

sok033 Ortolan Bloody Fragments cd-r

sok034 Adam Lygo & EMB live at latest 3" cd-r SOLD OUT

sok035 Best left Alone Wurst / Frosty Lee ep 3"cd-r

more info soon

EMB video footage

2010-06-16T10:26:00.000-07:00

EMB live at The Gluerooms link:
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheGluerooms#p/a/A7A9A35D9FF53A84/2/-OohZXogKfs

Club Silencio

2010-06-16T10:20:00.000-07:00

Adam Lygo presented his third Club Silencio event, this time at Coachwerks in Brighton last week.

Music from Adam, HRT, Duncan Harrison, Hereharehere, EMB and Anthony Murphy trio.

Sculpture by Buick Lygo.

Here's a handful of photos taken by Graeme at Coachwerks.

I'll sort some proper reviews of the music to follow soon.

Splitting The Atom review

2010-06-02T03:56:00.000-07:00

Club Zygotic presented an all day event of “eclectronica”, as they describe it, over two stages at The Hydrant in Brighton, providing off-kilter music fans of all stripes a viable destination on a Bank Holiday Sunday otherwise haunted by the spectre of the England-Japan game.

Ian Murphy & Duncan Harrison
I saw Ian Murphy in duo with Dylan Nyoukis at Active Crossover II earlier this year, but Duncan Harrison’s name is new to me. Playing through the main PA with their backs to the audience, they quickly set up a dense, high volume set of electronic modulations from seemingly very little equipment. Ominous for the most part. Mr Harrison wrestling with a microphone searching for feedback. Glass smashing sounds appeared through the mug of filtered repeats in a satisfying way. Moving drones at work; darkly psychedelic possibly. A great start to the proceedings and certainly set the tone well.

Adam Lygo & EMB
Formerly an improv/noise guitar duo approaching ten years vintage, Adam Lygo & EMB now resort to using the guitar as a starting point only. Adam Lygo uses his guitar flat on a table, sounding its strings with a small fan and modulating the resulting drone with a series of processors while EMB forsakes his guitar completely to rely on effecting a number of samples taken from a 1989 recording of his solo guitar.

Remedial Queen Of England
Girls beating the boys at their own game. Craven guitar-bashing resulting in spectacular, full spectrum drone.

Slow Listener
Slow Listener seems to me at least, to be about maintaining the equilibrium of pure tone relationships. He needs strength and stamina to keep physical control of multiple devices constantly on the brink of collapse. Like a juggler, he keeps his eyes on many things at once; skilfully adept at manipulation.

Noteherder & McCloud
Annoyingly, I missed these guys’ set somehow but my last experience of their electronics / sax improv attack left a good impression.

Crayola Lectern
Proggy, Robert Wyatty. A flautist. “Proper” music played on “proper” instruments and not experimental in any perceivable way. Well, that’s how it seemed to me. Sorry, not my cup of tea.

Earth Creature
Boy/girl noise duo it seems. Boy on electronic devices; girl on theremin, vocals and pink boilersuit. Fantasy songtitles could be: “I Am Looping My Theremin”, “I Am Producing An Unholy Racket”, “I Am Lying On The Floor...”, “I Am Screaming Pointlessly”, “I Have Removed All My Clothing And I Am Now Running Around The Venue Scaring The Audience”. Brilliant.

The A Band
Empty flailing. Fantastic. If you like the idea of watching a random group of freaks trying to make as much noise as possible, that is. A megaphone seemed to be the focus instrument as several group members had a go on it. You’ll probably have read about them in the wire recently so you’ll know what hype is all about; and no, the fella from ASC did not attend.

Bolide
In terms of seaside town analogies, if the A band are Sidmouth, Bolide are St Tropez. There’s an unlikely yet appealing aura of Beefheartian rigour mixed with electric-era Miles Davis’ cigarette butts. Sure enough its free, but its not empty flailing. They’re much more sophisticated, and presumably like to lean more towards louche jazz histories than freedom for freedom’s sake. I was also charmed by the variety of wind instruments used which leant the proceedings a vaguely North African flavour one moment and an Asian or Indonesian one the next. Plus there was nonsensical shouting off mic which was great. Exuberant. That’s a key word here.

Ian Helliwell
This film-maker and perhaps more specifically Artist certainly presented himself as such tonight. Perched mid stage with a self-built example of his “Hellitronics”, dubbed The Hellisizer, (a large item visually resembling a cross between something made by Don Buchla and a sideboard), resplendent in garish vintage polyester and 1960’s NHS specs, Helliwell cut a figure that could have been straight out of a Frans Haals painting if a time machine were handy, that is. His self-built knobular, analogue instrument, presumably the latest in Helliwell’s individual approach to the development of dc circuitry, disgorged a stream of multi-phonic moving tones; cracked sines and sawtooth waves, modulated arpeggiation; its synthesis, (and I won’t bore you with technical terms any longer), although simply produced, very otherworldly and somehow disconcerting.

Will of ViV
Vocalese, a bit of flute and what i would describe as an “homage” to Derek Bailey on acoustic guitar.

John Wall & Clive Graham
Shame they had to wait all night to play, it was around midnight as they took to the stage and by then the audience had diminished somewhat to a raggletaggle collection of drunken revellers all chatting, drinking and/or playing pool rather than giving their full attention to what should have been the focus of the event. Still, John and Clive took this Bank Holiday attitude in their stride and proceeded to give us a great experience of contemporary electronic composition.

Overall, a nicely varied bill which maintained momentum over the whole day. Plaudits to the boys from Club Zygotic for having the balls to manoeuvre the difficult logistics of events of this type. Same time next year?

Seijiro Murayama, Yoshikawa/Jones/PKM, Vitamin B12

2010-05-22T02:17:00.000-07:00

The Northern Tavern is a recently refurbed cosy little boozer near the Level in Brighton; usually quiet, unassuming localish haunt for post-work locals, darts players, the occasional karaoke-ers etc which on the evening of weds 19th may became the unexpected hub of brighton's experimental / improvising community for a few hours.
The evening began with a quartet improvisation of around 20 minutes by Daichi Yoshikawa on speaker cones, overdriven digital mixer and electronics; Daniel Jones using contact mic's and electronics, Seijiro Murayama's snare drum and event organiser Paul Khimasia Morgan on autoharp, sampler and objects. This quartet fashioned a quiet and minimal set with the electronicists' complementary chirruping lashed together by Seijiro's occasional hard hitting snare blows.
The Vitamin B12 followed with an acoustic performance featuring saxophones, ms10 synth, flute, devices, tape machines and accordian. Nice flow and a very beautiful quiet section about two thirds of the way in.
But it was Seijiro's solo percussion set comprising four compositions played out variously on vocals, serrated tube, amplified snare and bowed cymbal which really stood out. he created a truly immersive soundworld which despite the overall duration of the set (40 minutes) kept the audience on the edge of their seats and earned a huge ovation at its end.

more info on Seijiro Murayama concert

2010-05-04T13:53:00.000-07:00

SEIJIRO MURAYAMA
[FUSHITSUSHA/FRED FRITH/TOM CORA/KK NULL]

His approach is based on the attention to space and place, to the energy of the audience, and to the quality of silence in various levels. His solo is a kind of continuum with microscopic sounds. He uses a snare drum and a cymbal with brushes, sticks etc and air and contact microphones (in order to work on the edge of perceptions).

plus
DAICHI YOSHIKAWA
DANIEL JONES
PAUL KHIMASIA MORGAN
and special guests
THE VITAMIN B12

wednesday 19th may 8pm
at the northern tavern, 85 ditchling road, brighton, uk
£5 on the door / £4 in advance
tickets available from the northern tavern and edgeworld records

Adam Lygo/EMB performance review

2010-03-22T07:08:00.000-07:00

below is a link to a review of the recent live performance by Adam Lygo and Euphonious Murmur Blend at Brighton's Latest Musicbar by Anthony Murphy...

http://alternativemusic.suite101.com/article.cfm/experimental-music-in-brighton-uk

Ryu Hankil, Jez riley French, Patrick Farmer, Daniel Jones and more live

2010-02-26T13:48:00.001-08:00

aural detritus presents:

Thursday 18th March 2010
At Coachwerks, 19 Hollingdean Terrace BN1 7HB 01273 562658

an evening of improvisation with:

Ryu Hankil
[korea – Manual, uk - Cathnor] Modisti

Ryu Hankil was born in 1975 in Seoul, South Korea. He worked for about two years as a professional graphic designer. Hankil was a keyboard player in two famous Korean indie pop groups, but eventually left the groups because he was tired of typical music making and sounds. Then he started his own solo electro pop project, Daytripper, and released two solo albums, A Collector (2001) and Brownpaper (2004).

When he made Brownpaper, Hankil collaborated for the first time with the Korean noise/improvisation duo Astronoise. At that time, he saw a concert by Otomo Yoshihide, Sachiko M, Axel Dörner, and Taku Unami in Seoul. He changed his musical instrument and concentrated more and more on improvised music. Hankil has organised a monthly event called RELAY since 2005. He established his own publishing office called Manual, and releases improvised music and magazines.

Hankil uses clockworks as an instrument. He is interested in finding musical structures and so on in the vibration of objects. He focuses on using non-instruments--abandoned objects like old telephones and typewriters. FTARRI

Jez riley French

Jez Riley French is a Uk based artist whose work focuses on the exploration of detail via intuitive composition, extended field recording techniques and photography. Elements such as sonic architecture, audible silence and compositional arcs have evolved from French’s need to remain open to an emotive, intuitive response to situations and environments.

http://www.jezrileyfrench.blogspot.com/
www.myspace.com/jezrileyfrench
www.myspace.com/imeplace

Patrick Farmer, Daniel Jones

www.myspace.com/compostandheight
http://www.compostandheight.blogspot.com/
http://www.anothertimbre.com/
www.myspace.com/stringsandpingsandboingythings

“The slow loris, of course, is a notably sluggish primate hailing from southeast Asia. Loris, here, is Patrick Farmer (natural objects, e-bow snare, tapes, wood), Sarah Hughes (chorded zither, piano, e-bow) and Daniel Jones (turntable, e-bow, piezo discs, electronics) and if they move slow (they don't really) they're thinking fast, pace Wolff, and the results are gorgeous. Enormous range of sounds, very open feel. How to quantify except to say that the choices made, subtle to brutal (and there's a surprising amount of fierceness in play here) seem utterly apt. The various flutterings and spare piano that begin the second cut, "Sophie", for example; the way the e-bow (?) intersects them. Each piece unfurls at its own pace, each telling a lovely, sometimes harsh story. Beautiful work, highly recommended.”
- Brian Olewnick, Just Outside

Slow Listener

www.myspace.com/slowlistener

Slow Listener come from Brighton, but you couldn't guess from the music - he manages to produce a shockingly beautiful long-form pieces of hissing, degraded beauty which defies easy comparison although I guess the most obvious link would be to William Basinski, who shares a similar love for the slow and degraded sounds of old tapes. Slow Listener also has much in common with the Skaters (or side project Vodka Soap) or even Tim Hecker with the carefully harmonized clouds of gorgeous sound. Even the artist name itself gives a hint at what you might expect - this is slow music to be listened to slowly, you have to give it time and attention, you have to ignore the pace of the modern world for almost an hour and just listen. Cassette recorded drones trip over dense waves of tempered distortion and shimmering, hissing breaths - it is almost impossible to recognise exactly where the sounds are coming from but the source becomes unimportant, all that's required is the gorgeous sound itself which wraps us up in a blanket of alluring haze. Huge recommendation.
- BOOMKAT

Paul Khimasia Morgan

www.myspace.com/murmurblend

Rubbed stones, manipulated dc motors and amplified small movements.

..nice poise, nice control; confident recordings... Almost half-finished music, but its good.”
– Audition, the Sound 323 radio programme

Thursday 18th March 2010
At Coachwerks, 19 Hollingdean Terrace BN1 7HB 01273 562658

please note: performances start promptly at 8pm
Admittance £5

Active Crossover II at Grey Area Gallery

2010-02-22T14:08:00.001-08:00

Just a few words about Bristolian field recordist and composer Simon Whetham's Active Crossover II multi-disciplinary arts exhibition at the Grey Area Gallery in Brighton on until 28th Feb.

The launch event at the sanctuary cella featured unique collaborations between Dylan Nyoukis and Ian Murphy, Rowan Forestier-Walker and Jez riley French and Simon Whetham and myself. a great evening!

the wrap event at the gallery itself on sun 28th feb promises more great things this time from Joseph Young aka Field, Daniel Jones, Mike Blow and Simon Whetham.

The exhibition itself features two chambers featuring soundworks by Simon Whetham, Jez riley French and other sound artists and runs until the 28th feb.

EMB & Adam Lygo live performance

2010-02-22T14:00:00.000-08:00

2010-01-08T14:06:00.000-08:00

aural detritus presents The Sealed Knot

2010-01-02T10:48:00.001-08:00

Friday 22nd January 2010
At the Upper Lounge, Caroline Of Brunswick, 39 Ditchling Road, Brighton BN1 4SB
8pm start £5 entry.

Aural Detritus presents:
[in association with Sound 323 and The Slightly Off Kilter Label]

The Sealed Knot
Burkhard Beins [percussion], Rhodri Davies [harp], Mark Wastell [tam tam]

The Sealed Knot were one of the key groups in the wave of Reductionism which swept over improvised music a decade ago. They have continued to play together sporadically over the past 10 years, continually shifting their battery of instruments to explore new soundscapes. 2010 will unveil a new electro-acoustic version of The Sealed Knot.

Releases on Quakebasket, Confront, Another Timbre

“The music contains little silence but plenty of space and delicacy….that chamber music feel of acoustic instruments intertwining via simple systems to create little fragments of subtle beauty.”
- Richard Pinnell, The Watchful Ear

Paul Khimasia Morgan

Rubbing stones together, sounding brass objects and agitating copper under tension.

“...I quite like this; this is an untitled disc of Daniel Jones and Paul Khimasia Morgan....its two pieces that have got nice poise, nice control; confident recordings and shows two really good new musicians coming through I think. Almost half-finished music, but its good.”
– Audition, the Sound 323 radio programme on Resonance 104.4FM

Invisible

Celestial guitar processing.

“The trance-dream state of somnambulism. Adam Lygo's music as Invisible.”
- Neil Cheyney, Noise Is A Friend

EMB / Adam Lygo split last few copies

2009-12-16T14:32:00.000-08:00

just found our last remaining copies of this release in the office.
(see review in 2010 Sound Projector magazine)
if anyone wants a copy its £4 from us
by paypalling slightlyoffkilter@hotmail.co.uk
or email any enquiry to that address also.

this is what the item looks like:

silver cd-r in b/w sleeve + plastic wallet housed in oversized black "grit" jacket.

noise guitar from Adam Lygo

and psychotropic drone from EMB

Slightly Off Kilter 2010

2009-12-16T14:25:00.000-08:00

here's a brief list of our possible releases for 2010:

sok033 EMB haunted cities and minus degrees

sok034 Best Left Alone new improvisations

sok035 EMB & Adam Lygo cassette

sok036 Ortolan cassette

sok037 LLUSTRATIONS llustrations one

sok038 Tapes + Ashes (tbc)

more details as everything falls into place.....

EMB: "Another Bleak Mood" on English Wildlife comp

2009-11-19T10:31:00.000-08:00

English Wildlife comp features EMB

2009-11-18T12:23:00.000-08:00

We are very pleased to announce that some of our roster; including Euphonious Murmur Blend's track "Another Bleak Mood" are featured on a free download compilation cd compiled by The Sound Projector.

The comp is called English Wildlife and has contributions from Jupiterdogs, dsic, Hari Hardman, annalogue, 55 Blues, Susan Matthews, Tea & Toast Band plus Slightly Off Kilter representatives EMB, Bela Emerson and Adam Lygo.

Needless to say we are very excited about this and urge you to obtain your free download by simply purchasing a copy of the current The Sound Projector magazine (18th issue 2010), either directly from www.thesoundprojector.com or the Sound 323 website.

simon whetham - undercurrent sok032

2009-09-28T04:52:00.000-07:00

and here's the sleeve:

undercurrent by Simon Whetham sok032

2009-09-26T05:19:00.001-07:00

we are very proud to announce the release of undercurrent; a live recording from Simon Whetham on 1st October 2009.

this release comes in an edition of 50 units with artwork by Simon.
Packaged in standard cd jewel case with black and white digital artwork.

this title will be available direct from us or from the Sound 323 website for £6.00.

Best Left Alone?

2009-08-21T03:44:00.001-07:00

Forthcoming...Simon Whetham

2009-08-21T03:32:00.000-07:00

Described by Rinus Van Alebeek, organizer of Das Kleine Field Recording Festival in Berlin, as 'a novelist', Simon produces episodic and dramatic works, composing from field recordings he has gathered during numerous projects and international travels. Simon has worked with Scanner and Francisco Lopez and performed alongside Fennesz and Philip Jeck. His work has taken him to countries including Iceland, Mongolia, Brazil and Estonia, and he has had recording projects released through Entr'acte, Trente Oiseaux, Lens Records, Con-V and Gruenrekorder.Simon's release for Slightly Off Kilter is a recording from a performance at the Grey Area Gallery in Brighton in March 2009, and is published by Touch Music.

cd-r edition of 50 in jewel case; artwork designed by Simon Whetham.

Release date: September 2009.

http://www.simonwhetham.co.uk/

www.myspace.com/simonwhetham

The Sound Projector reviews us...

2009-07-27T13:47:00.000-07:00

Ed Pinsent gets his teeth into a selection of our recent output for your delectation at:

http://www.thesoundprojector.com/2009/04/25/atmos-asphyx/

sok026

2009-07-27T13:25:00.000-07:00

David Papapostolou / Daniel Jones / Paul Khimasia Morgan cd-r sok026
Edition of 30.

Available from Sound 323 or direct from us.
www.sound323.com

On this new release Papapostolou plays electronic devices, which he recently seems to have put to one side to focus more on playing the cello. Jones uses a mixer and turntables, while Morgan works with a sampler, wind chimes and other items.
The music is divided into three tracks that each retain a slow linear dynamic, the sounds used are mostly electroacoustic and have a grainy textural quality to them. Although there is not much silence to be heard there is a sense of calm to the music which here and there leads to some lovely moments. Near the end of the album, some nine minutes or so into the last track the musicians exchange lines of differing textures with each other in a manner that is as beautiful as it is hopelessly languid, with Jones (I think) delivering gently crunchy turntable sounds as the others let ripples and chirrups of electronic sound drift by in the background.

- Richard Pinnell, The Watchful Ear

Undercurrents

2009-07-27T13:16:00.000-07:00

Undercurrents:
Simon Whetham, Daniel Jones, Joseph Young aka field, Mike Blow
At Grey Area Gallery, Queens Road, Brighton Friday 20 March 2009

Mike Blow began his set by arranging repeating, pre recorded words like “passion”, “compassion”, “love” and so forth on his laptop, gradually processing them and then adding subtle tones and textures until the words slowly lost meaning and became indecipherable sonic artefacts. I initially found these changes taking a little too long to evolve for my liking with the repetition of the spoken words a little too much like an easy route to some kind of stereotypical sound-art trope. However, as the piece progressed, it gradually and unexpectedly took on the form of a mutant techno track with sullen sub bass and mysterious mid-tone activity. I must say I was somewhat surprised by this natural-sounding progression. Again, once this decision to morph into “dance music” had been made, Mike chose to rely on repetition to get his ideas across. Toward the end of his circa 25 minute set, he employed a mic’ed up home-made circuit-bent potted plant contraption which produced a variety of lo-fi electronic tones as he enthusiastically held his fingers down on its leaves in time with the beat.

Joseph Young aka Field also works with words, but in contrast to Mike Blow’s playback of recordings of spoken words, Joseph performed his own self-created texts in front of us; subtly amplifying his voice, mixing it to great effect with his i-pods and vinyl by means of a discreet lapel microphone. This was a canny approach as it allowed the very pleasing effect of being able to hear his voice both acoustically in the small gallery space and simultaneously mildly amplified, thus cementing its placement within the PA mix. It struck me that Joseph Young aka Field may work within a sound-art context rather than a specifically music-based one, although I had no opportunity to find out his intentions straight from the horse’s mouth, as it were, as he exited the venue quick sharp after packing up his equipment directly after the end of his set. (I have since had a look at his website and discovered that “current practice is concerned with the transformation of noise and the mapping of the urban landscape through sound”, which certainly tallys with his strategies later in his set). I have the impression as I write this, that he may have performed two distinct pieces, although it could equally have been one long piece as I recall no obvious gaps. The first (perceived) part was made up of a background of field recordings of crowds, high streets, shopping malls and the like emanating from a pair of i-pods while BBC sound effects vinyl records containing more speech based recordings were played over the top. While mixing these pre recorded outputs, Joseph was simultaneously reading texts from a large bundle of A4 sheets of paper. I can categorically say that no matter how hard I tried to make sense of his clear, well spoken delivery, in a kind of perverse, surreal, almost Joycian manner the writing seemed to be deliberately nonsensical, perplexing and impregnable. The second part of his performance reminded me of The Bohman Brothers’ performance at Instal a couple of years ago in which they presented a spoken piece entitled “Five Leaflets” whereupon they utilized their own bastardization of William Burroughs’ cut up technique to produce a novel and highly entertaining amalgam of texts from what sound like a Chinese takeaway menu and other anodyne free advertising they found in their letterbox one day. Joseph put his own spin on this concept by seemingly at some point in time prior to this performance having taken a stroll through Brighton’s North Laine shopping district while obsessively scribbling down every bit of signage he passed by, (shop names, parking signs, notices in shop windows etc), to most entertaining effect.

Daniel Jones is a sound maker concerned, at least in part, with silence and how silence interacts with quiet sounds, static noises, (and sometimes what sounds like actual static), and the low-level acoustic output of domestic electronic devices. Daniel’s kit this evening included a small mixing desk, a turntable conspicuously used without any records, a device that looked to me like a small telephone transducer and an i-pod or similar mp3 player. Or a mobile phone; I’m not certain - it was quite dark. So a fairly minimal set-up compared with the last time I saw Daniel play. For me, Daniel’s music suits this type of event; a small but attentive audience in a compact, non-reverberant low-ceilinged space with high quality sound reinforcement. The volume was not overpowering, but allowed the noisier sounds of the outside world, (a Friday early evening’s revellers fresh off the train heading into the centre of Brighton; and the inevitable ambulance and police sirens), to occasionally integrate into Daniel’s soundworld. Combining electronic micro hums, clicks, low register tones; particularly interesting when amplifying the ipod, Daniel’s approach was measured, deliberate and yielded compelling results. It’s tempting at this point to use the well-worn cliché “you could hear a pin drop” to describe the audience reaction to Daniel’s explorations; but so clear and well spaced were his gestures, if indeed Daniel had used pins and gravity as additional sound making tools I’m sure they would have been supremely audible.

Bristol based field-recordist Simon Whetham completed the evening’s entertainment. I understand that he was also responsible for organising the event. Armed only with a laptop with which to manipulate his selection of field recordings, Simon nevertheless set about constructing an absorbing 25 minute sound journey. I’m having trouble thinking of ways to describe Simon’s music so perhaps instead I should probably concentrate on describing how it made me feel. Personally, I am always ready for an immersive listening experience, and this Simon delivered in a big way. An interesting musical dynamic was created by his use of abrupt endings to each piece of field recording, rather than simply fading one recording over the next. There may have been elements of overlaying of separate recordings here and there although now I think about it, I couldn’t be absolutely sure I’m not imagining it. The nature of memory being what it is...
In a way, memory is a commodity that Simon Whetham deals in. While he was performing, the sounds he had selected put me in mind of the sounds of my own travels, the places that I have lived, and visited; I recalled the sounds, smells, past events, old friends...
A little bit of aural transportation far away from the everyday and the mundane detritus of modern living is to be encouraged in this day and age and I for one am really looking forward to being present the next time Simon performs in our city.

Simon’s performance is due to be released on The Slightly Off Kilter Label in September this year.

www.simonwhetham.co.uk
www.myspace.com/simonwhetham