Monthly Archives: September 2017

Tone 58 | Philip Jeck – “Iklectik”

CD and download – 1 track
Sold out at source – digital available on bandcamp

Release date: 22nd September 2017

Artwork and photography by Jon Wozencroft
Recorded and mastered by Jeff Ardron of St. Austral Sound

The 6th in the series of limited edition compact disc live recordings (after Thomas Köner & Jana Winderen, Simon Scott, Bethan Kellough, Yann Novak, Robert Crouch) brings Philip Jeck live at Iklectik, London.

Philip Jeck studied visual arts at Dartington College of Arts in the 1970’s and has been creating sound with record-players since the early 80’s. He has worked with many dance and theatre companies and played with muscians/composers such as Jah Wobble, Steve Lacy, Gavin Bryars, Jaki Liebezeit, David Sylvian, Sidsel Endresen and Bernhard Lang.

He has released 11 solo albums, the most recent “Cardinal”, a double vinyl release on Touch. “Suite”, another vinyl-only release, won a Distinction at The Prix Ars Electronica, and a cassette release on The Tapeworm, “Spool”, playing only bass guitar. His CD “Sand” (2008) was 2nd in The Wire’s top 50 of the year. His largest work made with Lol Sargent, “Vinyl Requiem” was for 180 record-players, 9 slide-projectors and 2 16mm movie-projectors. It received a Time Out Performance Award. Vinyl Coda I-III, a commission from Bavarian Radio in 1999 won the Karl Sczuka Foderpreis for Radio Art.

Philip also still works as a visual artist, usually incorporating sound and has shown installations at The Bluecoat, Liverpool, Hayward Gallery, London, The Hamburger Bahnhof Gallery, Berlin, ZKM in Karlsruhe and The Shanghai and Liverpool Bienalles.

Philip Jeck has won the Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award for Composers 2009. A presentation ceremony took place at The Royal Institute of British Architects, London, on 9th November 2009.

He has toured in an Opera North production playing live to the silent movie Pandora’s Box (composed by Hildur Gudnadottir and Johann Johannson).He has also worked again with Gavin Bryars on a composition “Pneuma” for a ballet choreographed by Carolyn Carlson for The Opera de Bordeaux and has recently made and performed the sound for “The Ballad of Ray & Julie” at the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool.

Order Philip Jeck – “Iklectik” [CD (sold out) + Download] in Bandcamp now
www.philipjeck.com

TO:103 | Carl Michael von Hausswolff – “Still Life – Requiem”

Vinyl LP
Limited Edition 500

Release date: 20th October 2017

Written & recorded by Carl Michael von Hausswolff
Artwork & photography by Jon Wozencroft & Carl Michael von Hausswolff
Mastered by Jason at Transition

Conceptualised (2010–2013), composed and produced (2014–2017) by Carl Michael von Hausswolff in Palma (Majorca) and Stockholm. This musical piece consists only of sounds emitted and extracted from physical matter using emission spectroscopy as the sole basic technology. Acknowledgements to Linköping University (IFM), Sweden.

‘Still Life – Requiem’ consists of one piece with the same title and is divided up into two to fit the LP format. The piece is, as the title suggests, a requiem and it’s contents are solely composed by sounds captured from a specific physical solid state material. The composer has used a technique called ’emission spectroscopy’ whereby the frequencies generated from the material was analysed and transferred into, for humans, a listenable pitch (between 15 and 14000Hz). This captured organic sound material has been stretched, looped, equalised and composed to produce the recording.

A requiem is a piece of music dedicated to certain sole or several restless souls that wander our worlds looking for a place to call home. A requiem radiates calm, peace and perhaps comfort for tormented spiritual beings – it’s a piece dedicated to promote and insert tranquility and transcendence.

This requiem also provides the listener with a certain feeling of connection – perhaps a connection with the unknown and with the energy field clusters and mental abilities of post-mortem life forms that would be the incorporeal essence of a living being.

CMvH (born 1956 in Linköping , Sweden) has a long history within the communities of contemporary music and visual art. His first records was released in early 80s while the most recent saw the light just a few years ago (‘Squared’ [CD – Auf Abwegen, 2015]). In recent years he has been collaborating with Leslie Winer (‘1’ [LP – Monotype 2016]) and Hans-Joachim Roedelius (‘Nordlicht’ [LP – Curious Music, 2017]).

He has also instigated and curated the collective sound-installation ‘freq_out’ during 2003 – 2017, which includes artists such as Jana Winderen, JG Thirlwell, Finnbogi Petursson, Christine Ödlund and others.

Order Carl Michael von Hausswolff – “Still Life – Requiem” [VINYL LP] in Bandcamp now
www.cmvonhausswolff.net

TO:103 – Carl Michael von Hausswolff ‘Still Life – Requiem’

Vinyl LP – 2 tracks – 44:24
Limited edition of 500

Track listing:

1. Still Life – Requiem l
2. Still Life – Requiem ll

Written & recorded by Carl Michael von Hausswolff
Artwork & photography by Jon Wozencroft & Carl Michael von Hausswolff
Mastered by Jason at Transition

Conceptualised (2010–2013), composed and produced (2014–2017) by Carl Michael von Hausswolff in Palma (Majorca) and Stockholm. This musical piece consists only of sounds emitted and extracted from physical matter using emission spectroscopy as the sole basic technology. Acknowledgements to Linköping University (IFM), Sweden.

‘Still Life – Requiem’ consists of one piece with the same title and is divided up into two to fit the LP format. The piece is, as the title suggests, a requiem and it’s contents are solely composed by sounds captured from a specific, physical solid state material. The composer has used a technique called ’emission spectroscopy’ whereby the frequencies generated from the material was analysed and transferred into, for humans, a listenable pitch (between 15 and 14000Hz). This captured organic sound material has been stretched, looped, equalised and composed to produce the recording.

A requiem is a piece of music dedicated to certain sole or several restless souls that wander our worlds looking for a place to call home. A requiem radiates calm, peace and perhaps comfort for tormented spiritual beings – it’s a piece dedicated to promote and insert tranquility and transcendence.

This requiem also provides the listener with a certain feeling of connection – perhaps a connection with the unknown and with the energy field clusters and mental abilities of post-mortem life forms that would be the incorporeal essence of a living being.

CMvH (born 1956 in Linköping, Sweden) has a long history within the communities of contemporary music and visual art. His first records was released in early 80s while the most recent saw the light just a few years ago (‘Squared’ [CD – Auf Abwegen, 2015]). In recent years he has been collaborating with Leslie Winer (‘1’ [LP – Monotype 2016]) and Hans-Joachim Roedelius (‘Nordlicht’ [LP – Curious Music, 2017]).

He has also instigated and curated the collective sound-installation ‘freq_out’ during 2003 – 2017, which includes artists such as Jana Winderen, JG Thirlwell, Finnbogi Petursson, Christine Ödlund and others.

Reviews:

CUT AND RUN (UK)

Chain D.L.K.:

Solely using data from emission spectroscopy on physical objects, pitch-shifted into human hearing range, ‘Still Life – Requiem’ is one single thirty-one minute piece that’s been divided into two purely because of the limitations of the vinyl target format.

The result is a slowly undulating and very gently glitchy analogue hum and drone that feels like it owes as much to the variations in the electric innards of the recording equipment or the power supply than to the objects being analysed, though I’m sure scientifically this may be unfair. The most intriguing thing about this is how there are some higher-pitched elements that seem to have very short patterns that border on melody.

There’s a lot of ebb and flow here – louder, more harsh-edged parts at times, barely audible near–flat waveforms at others, (including near the beginning of the first part, where you begin to wonder whether you’ve accidentally paused the playback as you haven’t heard anything for a while).

Putting aside the science, it’s a very well-formed and interestingly textured undulating drone piece that’s really rather relaxing. The purity of the concept is to its credit and it’s a very enjoyable listen that becomes quite mesmeric when it has your attention.

ArtNoir (Germany):

Hört mal, ich spür etwas. Was früher in leicht anders formulierter Version in Kultfilmen für Lacher sorgte, das gilt auch heute noch für experimentelle Klangkunst. Der Schwedische Künstler und Musiktüftler Carl Michael von Hausswolff beweist dies im Extrem auf seinem neusten Album ‘Still Life – Requiem’ – ein Werk, dass vom Hörer körperlich und psychisch alles verlangt. Dabei ist die Tonwelt in diesen zwei langen Stücken mehr als zurückhaltend, versinkt sogar oft neben die Bereiche des Gewohnten und Hörbaren.

Aber genau dieses Experiment der Wahrnehmung hat Carl Michael von Hausswolff (dessen Tochter Anna von Hausswolff einigen von euch eher ein Begriff ist) mit dieser neuen Platte auch bezweckt. Die Grundsteine, welche für die lange Komposition ‘Still LifeRequiem’ gelegt wurden, basieren auf hörbar gemachten und veränderten Aufnahmen von konstanten Schwingungen fester Materialen. Das liest sich nicht nur abstrakt, es hört sich auch so an. Wie der verzettelter Drone eines Bienenschwarms in Verbindung mit verlorenen Geigenspielern, steigern sich schier unhörbare Frequenzen zu einem Muster.

Still Life – Requiem‘ ist keine einfache Platte, es ist ein Album, das man mit extremer Hingebung anhören muss und keine Angst vor kleinen Lautstärken haben darf. Denn Carl Michael von Hausswolff hat sich bei seinen Feldaufnahmen nicht beirren lassen und viele Stellen von dieser Komposition im Unmöglichen gelassen. Somit muss man wie ein Forscher in die Klüfte hinuntersteigen und Schicht um Schicht zwischen Umgebungsrauschen und Tinnitus freigelegen – kommt dabei aber einer Erlösung näher als sonst jemals. [Michael Bohli]

Loop (Spain):

Swedish composer and sound artist Carl Michael Von Hausswolff since the late 70s has been working on his sonic compositions using the tape recorder as one of his main instruments. As a conceptual visual artist he has been involved in performances art, light and sound through sound installations and photography.
This musician who works in Stockholm is well-known in the experimental scene and since 1980 he holds a threesome of solo releases and in collaboration with artists such as Hans-Joachim Roedelius, John Duncan, Leslie Winer, among others.
Still Life – Requiem‘ consists of a piece with the same title and is divided in two to fit the LP format.
This piece of music consists solely of sounds emitted and extracted from physical matter using emission spectroscopy as the only basic technology.
The composer has used a technique called ’emission spectroscopy’ so the frequencies generated from the material, were analysed and transferred for human listening.
This material was processed and composed to deliver two pieces of imperceptible and certainly enigmatic and dark sounds. With several layers of noise and intermittent signals and a drone that it holds in the background. [Guillermo Escudero]

Ondarock (Italy):

Gli oggetti hanno una loro vita e un loro linguaggio, per quanto inevidenti e misteriosi: non si tratta soltanto della nostra tendenza a umanizzare e attribuire le nostre facoltà percettive alla materia inanimata, ma di un vero e proprio potenziale energetico insito in tutte le cose. Sondare la natura sonorum al limite o al di sotto della nostra soglia uditiva è un ambito di ricerca pluridecennale che si intreccia con l’estetica lowercase, grammatica non-musicale in caratteri minuscoli.

Il concept del recente progetto del decano Carl Michael von Hausswolff si basa su un rigoroso approccio scientifico: attraverso il solo utilizzo di emissioni spettroscopiche, tecnologia messa a disposizione dall’Università di Linköping, il compositore svedese ha catturato le frequenze risultanti dal contatto con la materia e le ha trasposte a un’altezza percepibile. In seguito questi microsuoni sono stati manipolati con effetti di looping, estensioni e interventi di equalizzazione.

In piena regola si può dunque parlare di still life (non equivalente a ‘natura morta’) come titola la suite divisa sui due lati di Lp: al pari di un processo alchemico apparentemente impossibile, lo stato solido e tangibile diviene un flusso di onde sonore che ne attesta l’esistenza oltre la vista e il tatto. Il secondo titolo ‘Requiem’ è un’ulteriore suggestione atta a “irradiare tranquillità, pace e forse conforto per esseri spirituali tormentati”, entità che all’apparenza non abitano più le nostre prossimità ma che ancora si manifestano attraverso tracce minime, segnali che in pochi sanno captare e mettere in luce.

Ricollegandosi alle radicali indagini elettroacustiche di Bernhard Günter e al drone microtonale di Phill Niblock, ma con un approccio affine alla dark-ambient isolazionista, CM von Hausswolff contribuisce alla longeva serie Touch Tone con un’opera ermetica e subliminale dove forme essenziali affiorano brevemente dalla muta oscurità cui appartengono, riaffermando con voce flebile la loro esistenza più profonda e inosservata, un barlume invisibile che avvicina l’idea di un’anima universale della materia.

Touching Extremes (Italy):

It took me a good while before deciding to write about Carl Michael Von Hausswolff’s most recent investigation of the ‘beyond beyond’. Instances occur where the unembellished elucidation of a procedure denotes such a level of prescient acuity that a supplement of narrative risks to destroy both the integrity and the logical undermeaning of the outcome.

After the effective starkness of the composer’s lines (‘a connection with the unknown and with the energy field clusters and mental abilities of post-mortem life forms that would be the incorporeal essence of a living being’) it is impossible not to recall the ‘heavenly epic’ theories of numerous incoherent ‘scientists’, and silently chuckle.

The inability of recognising the reshaping of matter as the exclusive symbol of continuity inside an infinitude which remains unnerving for less than pragmatic specimens lies at the basis of today’s global cerebral wreck. Every body – including the apparently inanimate – is defined by a degree of intrinsic vibration. The combination of those frequencies is essential for providing elements of actual development; in this sense, adjectives like ‘inharmonious’ or ‘strident’ should not even exist.

Only the limitations of the individual brain/ear apparatus keep sticking quality labels and rules of acceptance on a collective counterpoint of unique existences. On that account, no one can afford to trumpet a correspondence with theoretical ‘superior entities’ designing a nonsensical flawlessness. There are none, until proven differently and the ‘proofs’ coming from sheer trust (or, more incisively, human delirium) are not acceptable.

An elementary truth inevitably hurts a dysfunctional mind. Isn’t it much better to rely on celestial bullshit? How to proceed otherwise in the daily struggle against the acknowledgement of one’s fundamental uselessness in the nominal ‘great scheme of things’?

In terms of mere ‘musical’ content, ‘Still Life – Requiem‘ stands up there with the finest work by the Swedish scanner. In just over half an hour we’re treated with chorales of reverberant quintessences and barely measurable signals from the innards of the audio spectrum, in accordance with Von Hausswolff’s interest in the abnormal ranges of audibility. The album begins and ends with the same sound; a genuine loop symbolising the stochastic cyclicity of transformation within the continuum of a merciless rationality.

All of the above is probably too hard to fathom for people in search of answers they’re never going to get. Von Hausswolff’s connoisseurs – plus listeners interested in John Duncan, Asmus Tietchens and the likes – need no further prattle but two words: compulsory listening. [Massimo Ricci]

Tone 59 – Claire M Singer ‘Fairge’

Claire M Singer – Fairge [Touch # Tone 59]
CDEP – 1 Track – 20:55
Limited edition in CD wallet

Written & performed by Claire M Singer
Mastered by Denis Blackham @ Skye
Photography & design by Jon Wozencroft

Recorded by Clare Gallagher at Oude Kerk, Amsterdam, 12th June 2017 on the transept organ built by Ahrend & Brunzema (1965). ‘Fairge’ was commissioned by Oude Kerk for ‘Silence’, a concert series curated by Jacob Lekkerkerker.

Following 16 months after Scottish artist Claire M Singer’s debut album comes the release of the beautiful and intriguing ‘Fairge’, meaning ‘the ocean’ or ‘the sea’ in Scottish Gaelic. ‘Fairge’ is a single 21-minute piece for organ, cello and electronics, composed, performed and produced by Claire and is very much a companion work to the title track on her debut album ‘Solas’ (Touch, 2016).

Commissioned by Amsterdam’s oldest building and parish church Oude Kerk, ‘Fairge’ premiered at the church in February 2017. Claire M Singer’s performance on the Ahrend and Bunzema organ, cello and electronics is truly captivating. The work very much encapsulates her signature style of expansive soundscapes full of intricate textures, rich overtones and powerful swells, emotionally resonating from beginning to end.

Fairge’ was written specifically for the Ahered and Bunzema organ and explores the precise control of wind through the pipes using mechanical stop action. This creates a lush harmonic backdrop against the harmonics and melody of the haunting cello.

“Oude Kerk were very generous in letting me have time to explore and really get to know the instrument. The work was developed over many visits sitting in the church until the very wee hours over the winter months, which was incredibly magical and inspiring. When working with mechanical stops and precisely controlling the amount of air that passes through the pipes it requires a lot of practice and exploration to learn each incremental sound the organ can make and what the quirks of the instrument can be. As every organ is unique, the piece will differ on other organs but that’s what makes writing and working with the organ so fascinating. The tuning is mean-tone temperament, which I have not worked with previously. With ‘Fairge’ I really wanted to show how special this relatively small organ is and the beautiful pallet of sound it can produce.” [Claire M Singer, September 2017]

Claire M Singer’s performance is truly captivating, with her signature style of intricate textures, rich overtones and powerful swells, emotionally resonating throughout.

She is playing two special dates supporting the band Low at Union Chapel, London on the 14th October and at Westerkerk in Amsterdam on the 16th October.

The work of Claire M Singer has been widely commissioned, exhibited and performed throughout Europe and North America. This includes acoustic and electronic composition, fixed media, multi-media, installations and live electronics.

Performances and commissions include Tate Modern London; Glasgow Cathedral; Chez Poulet Gallery San Francisco; XMV New York City; Fylkingen Institute Stockholm; Ceremony Hall Austin; Kunst-Station Sankt Peter Cologne; Muziekgebouw Aan’ t ij Amsterdam and the Barbican supporting Stars of the Lid.

Claire is also Music Director of the organ at Union Chapel and Artistic Director of the Organ Reframed festival.

In June 2017 she was a recipient of the inaugural Oram Awards from the PRS Foundation and New BBC Radiophonic Workshop for her innovation in sound and music.

Reviews:

ATTN:Magacine (UK)

Claire M Singer reveals that the ocean is present within Fairge. The title comes from the Scottish Gaelic word for ‘the sea’ or ‘the ocean’. Water ripples across the album cover. And with that, I am swept into thoughts of the water as her music gathers from layers of cello, organ and electronics. Those held organ chords trace the horizon line, shimmering as moonlight skates across it. Overtones bulge and recede like those tiny, transient waves that bring the entire surface into motion, fleeting to the point of illusory. And then, less materially, I feel the optimism of peering into the void, facing away from the frank and firm surfaces of terrestrial concern, absorbing a view whose flux is a rich, ever-renewing state of possibility, mesmeric for its absence of endings and limits. ‘Fairge’ is, after all, seemingly edgeless. Stereo space is not the breadth to which sound must abide but the mere brink of what my ears can perceive, and I imagine these drones to stretch far beyond what can be fathomed by the context of recorded audio.

And so as ‘Fairge’ rouses itself unevenly – upon wavering, almost discordant clouds of breath and shrill whistle – I take it that it is me, the listener, who is the cause of this bleary beginning, my hearing still soft and distant as I awake. The chords deepen. The detail starts to crystallise. Pitches begin to stabilise. ‘Fairge’ becomes less a cluster of unsympathetic hums, and more a single organism surging back and forth as a coherent whole as my mind starts to perceive it as such: the surface bristling with small cyclical movements, the low frequency depths surging between greater tidal changes. The longer I listen, the more I start to imagine the presence of voices within the flow, peripheral perception teased by those little quivers of water. And while the piece might technically be a mere 20 minutes long, it ultimately rolls out across eternity. Like a stretched out pop song, each chord is pitched as a heartfelt beckoning of the next, gifted movement from the interplay between longing and fulfilment. Again, the conclusion of ‘Fairge’ is rather a symbol of my departure. The ocean melts as my senses slip toward slumber; still present, but silent. It will still be there when I return.

Ondarock (Italy):

Con i suoi trentacinque anni di storia, Touch è sempre stato e ancora rimane uno dei principali avamposti per la scoperta di nuovi talenti della musica sperimentale e della sound art. Solo nel 2016 l’etichetta londinese ha dato alle stampe gli esordi su disco di due giovani compositrici emergenti della scena britannica: Bethan Kellough (‘Aven’, Tone 54) e Claire M Singer (‘Solas’, TO:101), entrambe interessate a favorire un dialogo spontaneo tra ambient/drone e neoclassicismo.

Il nuovo live in edizione limitata di quest’ultima, capitolo afferente alla serie Tone, è stato commissionato e registrato presso la chiesa parrocchiale Oude Kerk, ad Amsterdam, nel febbraio del 2017. ‘Fairge‘, termine del gaelico scozzese che indica il mare o l’oceano, è un breve quanto efficace studio sul rapporto tra tono continuo e composizione melodica.
Diversi autori contemporanei si sono dedicati al disvelamento del potenziale poetico di elementi essenziali come bordoni e onde corte, da Matthew Earle al radicalismo di Michael Pisaro, sino alla recente e affascinante raccolta di Chiyoko Szlavnics su Another Timbre (‘During A Lifetime’, 2017).

Prima ancora che l’interazione tra le due dimensioni sonore, Singer mette a frutto il loro contrasto netto: a tre minuti occupati da un lievissimo accumulo di linee statiche e convergenti, d’organo e di violoncello, segue una graduale moltiplicazione che sposta idealmente l’asse acustico centrale e lo propaga in ulteriori direzioni. Si genera così un equilibrio armonico tanto solido quanto aggraziato, un bilanciamento la cui esattezza risale agli albori della musica sacra, in cui l’intonazione di antifone e salmi già poggiava su un basso continuo, ma che si ricollega al presente in una distinta consonanza con le tessiture ambient degli Hammock e le sezioni d’archi dei Sigur Rós più estatici.

Ultimato in seguito a numerose visite in loco, oltre a rappresentare un lodevole esercizio di sintesi ‘Fairge’ ispira la lieve commozione di una luce pura che riveste una parete altrimenti spoglia – suggestione che può addirittura prescindere dalla specificità della sede cultuale, tanta è la sua immediatezza. [Michele Palozzo]

Exclaim (Canada):

Scottish contemporary composer Claire M Singer follows the patient beauty of her debut album, ‘Solas’, with this epic, nearly 21-minute single-track EP conceptualised around the Scottish Gaelic word for ‘ocean’.

‘Fairge’ continues Singer’s fascination with carefully textured drones and the gradual mutation and intensification of repetitive parts. With gripping deliberation, she thickens the organ-driven frequency spectrum with layers of electronics and cello over the piece’s majestic, undulating and swelling runtime. When a simple note-diving hook enters around the 11-minute mark, the sound has congealed so much that it’s hard to tell which instrument or combination is causing it, but the effect makes a most effective and chilling climax to the piece.

After this subtly roiled sonic ocean churns up those delicate whitecaps, the quelling comedown is long, soothing and rife with the attentively nurtured minute timbral warbles that make Singer’s music important to listen to on high end speakers. A compelling continuation of the instrumental conversation she started on ‘Solas’, ‘Fairge’ is ample evidence that this compelling new voice in minimalist modern classical composition has a lot more to say.

Chain D.L.K. (USA):

Described as a companion piece to the title track from her debut album ‘Solas’, ‘Fairge’ is one twenty-minute work commissioned and written primarily for the relatively small Ahered and Brunzema organ in Oude Kerk, Amsterdam’s oldest building. Long, sustained and mesmerising organ chords are decorated by the addition of modest and sympathetic cello and electronic layers to create a deceptively simple sonic carpet.

Occasional chord changes and a gradual sense of tonal shift that at times feels like a Shepard tone effect result in something that seems static at first, but which under the surface, is never standing still. A two-note pattern slowly reveals itself in the upper register that over time transforms into a plaintive unanswered call.

Seventeen minutes in, a gradual cessation begins in which the purest organ tones are slowly left alone in their own space, a fade which continues beyond our hearing into a final minute which is essentially silence.

Fairge is Gaelic for the ocean, and if this is an evocation of the sea, it’s a very calm, sedate and empty moonlit plateau.

It’s a bold and beautiful work that, on first listen, made me sign up to Singer’s mailing list with immediate effect, and want to check out ‘Solas’ at the first opportunity.

Artnoir (Germany):

Und jetzt zu etwas komplett Anderem: Eine 20-minütige Komposition für Orgel und Cello, ein kontinuierliches Anschwellen an Klangschichten, ein hypnotisches Stück Musik zwischen Experiment und Ambient. Was die schottische Künstlerin Claire M Singer mit ‘Fairge‘ vorlegt, ist genauso träumerisch und unwirklich wie geerdet und emotional. Knapp ein Jahr nach ihre Debütalbum ‘Solas’ wird der Kosmos dieses jungen Talents gefühlvoll erweitert und ist nicht nur für Denker interessant.

Fairge’ ist als Lied wie als Konzept eine Reise und beginnt in kompletter Stille. Ganz sachte lässt Claire M Singer die Instrumente in das Bewusstsein des Hörers treten und verfeinert die Töne mit Elektronik. Was zuerst wie etwas unheimliche Field Recordings wirkt, bläht sich mit jeder Minute zu einem grösseren Klangkörper auf und man bemerkt: Dies sind Orgelnoten, welche schier pausenlos gehalten werden. Schwermütig, aber immer zaubervoll vom Cello umgarnt, steigt man zusammen mit der sich steigernden Lautstärke in die Höhe. Und spätestens ab der Hälfte des Liedes findet die Katharsis statt.

Claire M Singer scheut sich nicht, meist eher veraltet anmutende Instrumente in experimentelle Formen zu bringen und mit wenigen Veränderungen in der Komposition extreme Wirkungen zu erzielen. ‘Fairge‘ ist somit eine ergreifende Erfahrung und sowohl für Leute perfekt, denen Anna Von Hausswolff immer etwas zu bedrohlich erschien, für die die Orgel im Soundtrack zu ‘Interstellar’ dann aber doch zu selten aufspielen durfte. Und wenn am Ende die Musik langsam wieder aus unserer Wahrnehmung verschwindet, so bleibt das Gefühl der Vollkommenheit. [Michael Bohli]

Westzeit (Germany):

Rockerilla (Italy):

La poetica della meccanica, un suono unico davanti al quale si abbassa il capo chiudendo gli occhi nel rispetto della bellezza. Claire M Singer suona l’organo, un particolare modello di organo fabbricato artigianalmente da Ahrend e Brunzema. Uno strumento che si trova, nella versione con 17 registri, anche nella prestigiosa Oude Kerk di Amsterdam, lì dove a Febbraio la musicista ha presentato per la prima volta questo lavoro dal vivo. Solamente una traccia, venti minuti che si espandono per una durata indefnita, travolgendo l’ascoltatore con immense ondate schiumanti commozione, la stessa che si prova guardando lo spazio sconfnato dell’Oceano, Fairge in lingua gaelica. MAGICO. [Mirco Salvador]

ambientlog.net:

Fairge (meaning ‘ocean’ or ‘sea’ in Scottish Gaelic) is a 21 minute composition for organ, cello and electronics written and performed by Claire M Singer.

The piece is commissioned by the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam (the city’s oldest building, now a museum), and was written especially for its remarkable Ahrend and Brunzema organ. “As every organ is unique, the piece will differ on other organs but that’s what makes writing and working with the organ so fascinating.”

Fairge‘ builds up slowly, starting from the sounds of the breathing organ pipes, then introducing an almost shy cello accompaniment gradually gaining confidence and moving to the foreground. Getting stronger and louder (like ocean waves in a storm) – a massive and impermeable sound dominated by the sound of the church organ – ‘a lush harmonic backdrop against the harmonics and melody of the haunting cello’.

The sound of a church organ in full power can make man feel humble and small, and so does this ‘expansive soundscape full of intricate textures, rich overtones and powerful swells.’

The wind through the pipes of this organ can be precisely controlled using mechanical stop action. When the piece ends – the ocean storm retreats – one can hear the last breaths of air leaving the church pipes: the powerful dominance gone and replaced by a feeling of uncertainty that creeps back in together with the surrounding silence. [Peter van Cooten]

Gonzo Circus (Belgium):

Groove (Germany):

Zum Abschluss der Kolumne und der Jahreszeit angemessen gibt es heuer wieder eine vollendete Schöpfkelle purer Transzendenz. Das Zweitwerk der schottischen Organistin und Komponistin Claire M Singer, Fairge (Touch), ist ein einziger langwelliger, von subtilen elektronischen Echos umflorter Orgeldrone, der in zwanzig Minuten von dunkel glimmendem zu brillant gleißendem Schönklang und wieder zurück führt. Diese erhabene Breitseite von Kraft und Anmut hat zwar enge Verwandte wie Charlemagne Palestines Schlingen Blängen, ist in der durchgehaltenen klanglichen Schönheit und Liebenswürdigkeit aber doch gigantisch.

Pfeiltasten Hoch/Runter benutzen, um die Lautstärke zu regeln.

P.S. Im Winter um die Jahreswende 2017/2018 wird Singer ‘Fairge‘ in verschiedenen europäischen Kirchen aufführen. Nicht verpassen!

Blow UP (Italy):

RNE (Spain):

El Nuevo trabajo de la artista escocesa Claire M Singer, ‘Fairge‘, llega 16 meses después de su debut.
Fairge’ significa ‘océano’ o ‘mar’ en gaélico escocés y es basta como él, una pieza única de 21 minutos para órgano, cello y electrónica, compuesta, presentada y producida por Claire, en gran parte un trabajo complementario al tema principal de su álbum debut ‘Solas’.
Fairge‘ fue encargado por el edificio más antiguo de Ámsterdam y la famosa iglesia parroquial Oude Kerk, en la que se estrenó en febrero de 2017.
Fairge’ encapsula el característico estilo de Claire con sus paisajes sonoros expansivos llenos de texturas intrincadas, ricos matices y potentes oleajes, que resuenan emocionalmente de principio a fin.
Fairge‘ fue escrito específicamente para el órgano construido por los famosos Jürgen Ahrend y Gerhard Brunzema y explora el control preciso del viento a través de las tuberías mediante acción mecánica. Esto crea un telón de fondo armónico exuberante contra los armónicos y la melodía del violonchelo inquietante.
Además de su carrera como compositora e intérprete, Claire es también directora musical de órgano de la Union Chapel y directora artística del festival Organ Reframed.
En junio de 2017, recibió los Premios Oram de la Fundación británica PRS y el New BBC Radiophonic Workshop por su innovación en sonido y música.

Loop (Spain):

After her debut album ‘Solas’ (Touch, 2016) the Scottish artists Claire M. Singer released her ‘Fairge‘ EP which in Scottish Gaelic means sea.
This work was commissioned by the parish church Oude Kerk (the oldest building in Amsterdam) and was specially composed for the Ahered and Bunzema organ.
Fairge‘ is a single 21-minute organ, cello and electronic track that starts very slowly with the pulsation of a chord, and then another is added producing a slight change of tone, as if it were the opening to an epic piece of work. The cello emerges timidly while the electronic layers are submerged as a backdrop.
The organ with its precious pipes is closer to heaven than earth and its music thrills for its heavenly and inspiring beauty. [Guillermo Escudero]

Beat (Germany):

Sogar eine so großartig pro- duzierte EP wie ‘Fairge’ kann nur ansatzweise die Klang-macht, Fülle und Zauberweltlichkeit vermit- teln, welche die Kompositionen von Claire Sin- ger auf ihrem liebsten Instrument und in ihrer bevorzugten Umgebung entfalten: Der Orgel der Londoner Union Chapel. Mit einfachen, mecha- nischen Mitteln – Pedale und Register, sparsame Akkordtektonik, das Fortschreiten im Tempo ih- res Herzens, abseits von Clicktracks und weltli- cher Zeit – scha t Singer eine Musik, die Ruhe und Kraft ausstrahlt, aus Limitierungen unge- ahnte Möglichkeiten extrahiert und zugleich vertraut und zutiefst mystisch anmutet. 21 Mi- nuten Kontakt mit etwas, das sehr viel Größer ist als wir.

Tone 59 | Claire M Singer – “Fairge”

CD and download – 1 track

Release date: 20th October 2017

Written & performed by Claire M Singer
Mastered by Denis Blackham @ Skye
Photography & design by Jon Wozencroft

Release date:
Barcode: 5050580677739

Recorded by Clare Gallagher at Oude Kerk, Amsterdam, 12th June 2017 on the transept organ built by Ahrend & Brunzema (1965). ‘Fairge’ was commissioned by Oude Kerk for ‘Silence’, a concert series curated by Jacob Lekkerkerker.

Fairge, meaning ‘the ocean’ or ‘the sea’, is very much a companion piece to Claire’s solo album, ‘Solas’ (Touch, 2016), about which The Quietus wrote: “…something very special indeed – each piece is timeless and genuinely magical” and Norman Records asked “Why have we had to wait this long for this excellent sound to be recorded and released?”

Order Claire M Singer – “Fairge” [CD + Download] in Bandcamp now
www.clairemsinger.com

Guerrilla 52

September 15th 2017 – Guerrilla 52

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Philip Jeck & Claire M Singer, Live at Meakusma | Belgium 9-11th September 2017

Touch Presents…

Philip Jeck
Claire M Singer
The Eternal Chord

The Friedenskirche, a church in Eupen, will be host to the “Touch Presents…” program, featuring two organ concerts by Claire M. Singer and The Eternal Chord and a live performance by Philip Jeck. Claire M. Singer’s 2016 debut Solas spans 14 years of her work in acoustic and electronic composition. Together with Mike Harding, she is also a member of The Eternal Chord, a project that focuses on the sonic power of the organ. Philip Jeck started working with record players and electronic instrumentation in the 80s and is renowned for his soundtracks, music for theatre and dance companies and solo concert work.

www.meakusma.org

Guerrilla 51

September 1st 2017 – Guerrilla 51

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