Touch Newsletter #295
Welcome to the Touch Newsletter #295. Jon Wozencroft’s first sound seminar of 2023 at Iklectik has been rescheduled for Wednesday 3 May 2023, with a rare live set by Mark Van Hoen. Tickets on sale now – tickets for the previously announced date are still valid.
The first three tapes of 2023 from The Tapeworm are now available. Alvars Orkester was formed in 1987 in Johannishus, a small village in the south-east of Sweden, by Jan Svensson and Joachim Nordwall – young boys interested in the mysteries of psychic sickness, mental institutions, industrial music culture and the power of sound. “Nuthull” was recorded for Old Europa Café in 1990-91, but has remained unreleased until now. (Alvars Orkester’s “Interference”, released by Ash International in 2006, is also available on CD and DL.)
Lightning in a Twilight Hour release “Cryptic Lexis”, their second cassette for The Tapeworm. Recorded in late 2021 and early 2022 it features two long-form pieces connected by field recordings made in The Shetland Islands in 2019.
Ben Glas is an experiential composer based in Berlin. “Anonymous Sextet for Perverted Piano” is a conceptual performance piece that combines a traditional grand piano, six long-distance remote controlled vaginal/anal vibrators and the prolonged use of the piano’s sustainer pedal.
Now shipping: Carl Michael von Hausswolff and Chandra Shukla’s “Travelogue [Bali]”. The pair continue their intense globetrotting collaboration following “Travelogue [Nepal]” in 2020.
Soundseminar
Iklectik, London
3 May 2023
Jon Wozencroft: “The Angle of Light” + live performance by Mark Van Hoen. Projections by Nico Van Hoen. Further info and tickets: iklectikartlab.com
Jon Wozencroft developed his sound seminars in the late 1980s as a means of highlighting the potential of sound-related research and practice in art and design education. Primarily, the seminars promote the art of listening and seek to rebalance the dominant bias of visual culture which favours the eye over the ear. Listening both enhances one’s perceptual awareness and creates an oasis away from 24/7 non-stop media. The seminars underline the power of sound and music as catalysts for change in a context in which recorded music has been progressively devalued in the digital environment. Drawing upon forty years of working in music publishing and performance, Wozencroft moves the audience between and beyond genre classifications and makes connections where past present and future come alive in the moment.
Further info and tickets: iklectikartlab.com
Alvars Orkester
Nuthull
TTW#161
Cassette in an edition of 100 copies. Buy “Nuthull” on Bandcamp.
A1: My Aria
A2: Devour
A3: Unaware Strength
A4: Under A Nest
B1: New Year On Tape
B2: Champ The Chutney
B3: Quaky Meeting
B4: Grottans Vatten
Alvars Orkester was formed in 1987 in Johannishus, a small village in the south-east of Sweden by a group of young boys interested in the mysteries of psychic sickness, mental institutions, industrial music culture and the power of sound. For the first very creative years, Alvars was very active within the independent cassette culture scene releasing their stuff (that quite soon drifted from the industrialism inspired by Test Dept, TG, SPK and z’ev to an atmospheric, psychedelic and quite ambient version of noise) on small labels in Italy, Portugal, USA etc.
Joachim Nordwall writes: “1990-1991. In the middle of all teen confusion going on, me and Zwarre had a long creative time together. Recording every weekend, connecting with like-minded (or at least we thought so) people around the world and trading tapes with whoever. Our world was analogue synths, Party Zone late Friday nights on MTV, zines and out-there experimental music. By then, we had a few tapes out and had “Nobody Finds Nothing” being released on the Italian super-label (in our opinion) Biotope Art Organization. We were in the midst of something and recorded “Nuthull” for another Italian top level label called Old Europa Café. However, they did not like it and the tape was abandoned and forgotten. Then years and years later, close to present time, Zwarre was in touch with OEC for some reason and had the master returned.” – Joachim Nordwall, Gothenburg, 21 February 2023
Buy “Nuthull” on Bandcamp
Lightning in a Twilight Hour featuring Graziella Torrigiani
Cryptic Lexis
TTW#162
Cassette in an edition of 100 copies. Buy “Cryptic Lexis” on Bandcamp. Illustration: Bobby Wratten.
A: Confetti for the Flames
B: Out on the Coast the Spirits Are
Words/voice on B-side: Graziella Torrigiani. Produced by Ian Catt in association with Lightning in a Twilight Hour. Engineered by Ian Catt.
Lightning in a Twilight Hour release “Cryptic Lexis”, their second cassette for The Tapeworm. Recorded in late 2021 and early 2022 it features two long-form pieces connected by field recordings made in The Shetland Islands in 2019.
The wind through a gate on a Bressay hillside is mixed with cascading guitars and minimal electronic percussion on “Confetti for the Flames” and recordings of Bains Beach form the backdrop of “Out on the Coast the Spirits Are”. Paris based artist Graziella Torrigiani contributes words and voice to the latter, her text a direct response to the instrumental track.
Buy “Cryptic Lexis” on Bandcamp
Ben Glas
Anonymous Sextet For Perverted Piano
TTW#163
Cassette in an edition of 100 copies. Buy “Anonymous Sextet For Perverted Piano” on Bandcamp. Illustration: Stefan Fähler.
A1: Anonymous Sextet For Perverted Piano #1
A2: Anonymous Sextet For Perverted Piano #2
A3: Anonymous Sextet For Perverted Harpsichord
B: Anonymous Sextet For Perverted Piano (With A Little Help From My Friends Rendition)
Ben Glas (b. 1992) is an experiential composer based in Berlin. Through ephemeral compositions Glas’ work questions preconceived notions between the acts of passive hearing and active listening. In seeking to discover open ended forms of music and pragmatic listening perspectives, Glas’ compositions focus on the realms of subjective perception and cognition, via the use of acoustics, psychoacoustics and space as tools for sonic composition.
Ben Glas writes… “Anonymous Sextet for Perverted Piano is a conceptual performance piece that combines a traditional grand piano, six long-distance remote controlled vaginal/anal vibrators and the prolonged use of the piano’s sustainer pedal.
The six vibrators were strategically (and preparedly) placed atop of the strings of a various grand pianos (and one harpsichord), while random strangers around the globe connected to and operated the sex toys remotely. After the random and unwitting performers had befriended and synced-up with a catfishing account linked to the six individual vibrators and controlled by three different smartphones, they then sent vibrational patterns and pulses to stimulate their assumed target. The then-kinetic vibrators bounced, slid and bopped aleatorically through the tonal possibilities that the piano and piano’s soundboard itself permits. The piano’s sustain pedal was held down throughout the performance, elongating the triggered notes and the good vibrations.
All tracks on side A are performed by those unwitting performers, while side B’s single track was performed with (more than) a little help from my friends (Anonymous (1), Genesis Victoria, Harry Hudson-Taylor and Hayden Dean).” – Ben Glas, Berlin, 16 February 2023.
Buy “Anonymous Sextet For Perverted Piano” on Bandcamp
Carl Michael von Hausswolff & Chandra Shukla
“Travelogue [Bali]”
TO:122
CD - 5 tracks - 48:47. Release date: 24 February 2023. Buy “Travelogue [Bali]” on Bandcamp. Mastered by Denis Blackham. Photography by Jon Wozencroft + Travelogue. Design: Jon Wozencroft.
1: Kecak! (Sanghyang)
2: Rahajeng Semeng
3: Sekala Niskala
4: Gong Ageng
5: Ramayana Melukat
“Travelogue [Bali]” is the second in an ongoing series of collected international audio diaries (“Travelogue [Nepal]” was released by Touch in 2020). The premise is quite simple: the two meet at a mutually agreed upon destination along with the facilitation of something to record audio of these experiences on. The intent is to capture and augment these sonic documentaries of their travels which then are sculpted into soundtracks. This is done by sourcing the culture, environment, persons or events that make their voices available.
In February 2020, CM von Hausswolff and Chandra Shukla met in Bali, Indonesia, over the course of 9 days. Recordings were made at Pandawa Beach, Green Bowl Beach, Melasti Beach Ungasan, Uluwatu Temple, Pasar Senggol Gianyar, Pengosekan Kaja Ubud, Badung Market, Kintamani and Mt. Batur, Puri Saren Agung Ubud, Mandala Suci Wenara Wana (Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary) Ubud, Pura Tirta Empul Tampaksiring, Pandan Beach and Kelingking Beach Nusa Penida.
Buy “Travelogue [Bali]” on Bandcamp
Guerrilla Audio
Guerrilla Audio is a series of audio raids by Simon Fisher Turner.
guer·ril·la
ɡəˈrilə/
noun
noun: guerilla
a member of a small independent group taking part in irregular fighting, typically against larger regular forces.
Each audio edit will be posted for 14 days and then removed from the site, although the information about each guerrilla activity will be archived, but without the audio. There will be two postings per month with the first (also featuring Klara Lewis & Rainier Lericolais) on 1st August 2015, so please check in regularly to listen to the latest offering. We are well into the fifth year and have just posted episode 183…
Guerrilla Audio
Long Wave
“Suspending time and immersing the listener in a widescreen of sound.”
Each month on the second Friday, Mike Harding and Bana Haffar present two hours of audio for dublab, Los Angeles.
You can catch up with the dublab archive on dublab.com, and for the entire Long Wave history (12 series so far for dublab and resonancefm) visit mscharding.net
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