Monthly Archives: August 2009

Warning: Fake Biosphere “Solar Systems” Release

Touch, Biosphere’s Geir Jenssen, his label Biophon Records and his publishers Touch Music would like to warn fans of a release by another artist who has decided to assume the name Biosphere, too…

Touch strongly advise fans of Biosphere to avoid buying this release. Any official Biosphere releases will be announced on Touch’s site or www.biosphere.no.

Biophon Records writes: ”We have noticed that there is some confusion on an album release called Solar Systems by an artist using the name Biosphere. Please be aware that this is NOT a Biosphere release. It’s a cheap Trance album (German style…) written by somebody we believe is Canadan. and released by the Canadian label Hopeful Tragedy Records.”

Touch in Norway: Ultima and Numusic festivals | 9th-13th September 2009

September sees Touch artists travel to Norway to take part in two festivals.

Ultima ’09, the Olso Contemporary Music Festival, includes performances by Hildur Guðnadóttir [13.09.09] and “Noise and the imagination”, a discussion between Jana Winderen, Ole Anton Engen (Health and Welfare department at Oslo City Council) and Touch’s Mike Harding [16.09.09]. Jana also gives a live performance, ‘Blind Field Recordings’.

Meanwhile, at Stavenger’s Numusic Festival, Philip Jeck is performing and in discussion with The Wire, Fennesz plays live [all 10.09.09], and Biosphere performs a “set of newly arranged club classics” [11.09.09].

www.numusic.no
www.ultima.no

Chris Watson’s “A Problem With Noise” on the BBC iPlayer

Wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson investigates the man-made noise pollution which is becoming increasingly invasive in our lives and in our environment, affecting both humans and wildlife. He explores what noise is, the impact of man-made noise and the possible long-term consequences if we don’t turn the volume down.

In the oceans, increasing levels of background noise is disrupting long-distance communication among whales. On land, studies of Great Tits have revealed how birds near busy roads sing at higher frequencies than those in nearby quieter woodlands.
In 1996 the European Commission issued a Green Paper which stated that an estimated 20 per cent of all EU citizens were exposed to noise levels that scientists and health experts considered to be unacceptable, at which most people become annoyed, sleep is disturbed and health may be at risk. Noise is a health issue as well as a nuisance. Recent studies have demonstrated excessive risks of hypertension in people living near airports, even when asleep.

Following the Green Paper, the European Commission issued a directive for member states to map noise levels of major cities. Today, noise, like air and water pollution, is an environmental issue which governments and policy makers cannot ignore.

Chris discovers that education is the first step in taking personal responsibility when he explores the potential damage of exposure to loud music in public venues or on personal listening devices.

Presenter: Chris Watson
Producer: Sarah Blunt

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 9:00pm Thursday 20th August, this show is now available on the BBC iPlayer, for a week.

www.chriswatson.net
“A Problem With Noise” on the BBC iPlayer

The Suffolk Symphony – Touch Takes a Trip | 15-24th August 2009

From August 15th – 24th 2009, Touch was away on a residency at The Aldeburgh Music Festival [curated by Faster Than Sound]. We are working on a new project, The Suffolk Symphony.

Faster Than Sound presents The Suffolk Symphony by Touch, featuring Philip Jeck, BJNilsen, Jon Wozencroft, Mike Harding and Philip Marshall.

8pm – 11pm, Saturday 22 August
Hoffmann Building: Britten Studio and Jerwood Kiln Studio, Snape
Tickets: £10.00
Box Office: +44 (0)1728 687110
Book tickets online

Faster Than Sound bring more imaginative experiments with sound and image to the Snape Proms with The Suffolk Symphony, a specially commissioned residency and new work by leading sonic and visual production company Touch. Inspired by the historic coastline of Aldeburgh and its surrounding area including Aldeburgh Music’s Snape Proms and its history, Touch will create a new audio-visual symphony from scratch, using only locally sourced sounds and images. Beginning on 16 August, Philip Jeck, BJNilsen, Jon Wozencroft, Philip Marshall and Mike Harding will go on a week-long treasure hunt to unearth old records, field recordings, home-made sounds and images to create a new multimedia Suffolk Symphony, culminating in its first performance on the 22 August.

Following the offer of an Aldeburgh Residency by Faster Than Sound’s creative producer Joana Seguro, Mike Harding responded with the idea of creating a new multimedia work purely from locally sourced sound and image. Mike and BJNilsen went on an exploratory field trip in May to make initial field recordings which are being made into vinyl to be used in the performance.

The artists are already busy exchanging ideas in preparation for the residency in August, with Jeck drawing inspiration from the work of Benjamin Britten, especially his Simple Symphony, and Jon Wozencroft planning to describe the special place of Aldeburgh on film, shot in real time during the residency.

Directed by Mike Harding with sound by Philip Jeck and BJNilsen and images by Jon Wozencroft, the whole week was documented for an interactive website by Philip Marshall. The residency featured workshops and presentations by Philip Marshall and Mike Harding, including interviews with the other artists and a Touch showcase, culminating in the performance which will take place in the recently converted industrial space of the Hoffmann Building.

The interviews by Mike Harding during the residency included a discussion with his partner Jon Wozencroft about his vision for Touch, now nearly 30 years old, and an assessment of the changes which have occurred in that period. Philip Jeck discussed his work, particularly the method behind his live and recorded output, which eschews conventional instrumentation. BJNilsen assessed how field recordings have developed as source material for his work, and Philip Marshall described the way artists communicate their ideas online and how this affects the relationship between them and their audience. Each interview lasted for one hour, including a 15 minute Q & A session.

www.fasterthansound.com
www.aldeburgh.co.uk
Book tickets online