Touch Newsletter #304
Welcome to the Touch Newsletter #304. Save the date – Jon Wozencroft’s Soundseminar returns to Iklectik on Wednesday 29 November. This edition will feature a live performance from Bruce Gilbert. Further details and ticket links in the next Touch newsletter.
Claire M Singer’s new album is now available to pre-order. “Saor” will be released on 3 November – see below for further details. On Saturday 11 November, a concert celebrating its release will take place at Orgelpark, Amsterdam – tickets are now on sale.
Also on 3 November, The Tapeworm and Through The Looking Glasses are back at London’s The Horse Hospital for the third instalment of “Memorex” – an evening of music, memories and magnetic reels. The evening will be a seasonal sonic seance ghosted by Travis Elborough and featuring spirited conversation with Ruth Beyer and Caroline Wise, eerie acoustics by Kemper Norton and spooled spookiness from The Howling. Further info below. Tickets available from thehorsehospital.com
Youmna Saba’s first CD for Touch is now shipping.
Those of you lucky enough to have witnessed “Vox Interruptus” at Iklectik on 19 September can check out two tracks from that evening on a split digital-only release – details below.
Claire M Singer
“Saor”
TO:121
CD and digital – 9 tracks. Releases 3 November 2023. Buy “Saor” on Bandcamp. Mastered by Denis Blackham. Artwork: Jon Wozencroft. Photography by Ash Todd and Seàn Antleys.
1. Cairn Toul
2. Pressure
3. Càrn
4. Outside
5. Forrig
6. Stops
7. Braeriach
8. Above and Below
9. Saor
Claire M Singer has announced details of the first release in a triptych of albums. Saor [pronounced Sieur: meaning “free” in Scottish Gaelic] perfectly encapsulates Claire’s experimental approach to the pipe organ, exploring rich harmonic textures and complex overtones which create ever-shifting melodic and rhythmic patterns, conjuring visions of the Scottish dramatic landscapes which inspire her. It's her 3rd album for Touch, after 'Fairge' [2019] and 'Solas' [2016].
“Saor follows two narratives: my trekking across the Cairngorm mountains in Aberdeenshire through the granite plateaux, corries, glens and straths, and my exploration of the 1872 organ built by Peter Conacher & Coy, Huddersfield in Forgue Kirk, Aberdeenshire where many of my ancestors lie.”
Tracks that are directly influenced by the Munros of Scotland, such as ‘Cairn Toul’ and ‘Braeriach’, are both majestic and sublime in their scope, sitting alongside interludes that more generally allude to the instrument: ‘Stops’, ‘Pressure’, ‘Above and Below’.
When writing her first organ commission in 2006 Claire approached the instrument as a sound source rather than how it is conventionally played. She has never had a lesson in her life and developed her own way of playing, including using straws or chopsticks to hold down the keys so she can manipulate the wind through the stops. About 90% of her sound, she says, involves her having one hand or two on the stops – having a full physical relationship with the instrument, continuously tweaking and exploring the mechanical stop action as she progresses her melodies.
Much of the album was written or recorded in Claire’s home county, at Forgue Kirk in Aberdeenshire – a church she hadn't discovered before, in a remote spot, up a slight hill near a small cluster of houses. A friend recommended the organ to her and she later found out from her mother that many of her ancestors were buried there. “I had this weird stars aligning moment – during my residency at Forgue I spotted a gravestone propped up in the pews which was being restored, and it was Peter Forsyth, one of my relatives."
Across the album, tracks flutter, pulse and build into and imposing mass. Some suggest texture and weather, using electronic processing and distortion. Others rely on the organ itself for heady atmospheres, while Saor’s title track goes even further; recorded at Orgelpark, Amsterdam, an international concert hall for organists, it uses five instruments in layers that span four centuries. Claire also plays cello, mellotron and harmonium on the album, and there are contributions from strings (Patsy Reid), trumpet (Brian Shook), clarinets (Yann Ghiro) and French horn (Andy Saunders).
Saor is an adventure bringing the same sense of elation as the journeys Claire made on foot to the summit. “When I'm alone at the top of a Munro, I feel completely free. It’s the most exhilarating feeling to be up there with nature looking at this vast landscape. I hope Saor conveys how that feels, and carries people with those feelings.”
Saor is generously supported by Arts Council England, PRS Foundation's Composers’ Fund in partnership with Jerwood Arts, the Friends of Forgue Kirk, the Richard Thomas Foundation and Orgelpark, Amsterdam.
Buy on Bandcamp
Album launch concert – 11 November, Orgelpark, Amsterdam
Memorex – Bonfire of the BASF
The Horse Hospital, London
3 November 2023
Remember, remember the 3rd of November… A seasonal sonic seance ghosted by Travis Elborough and featuring spirited conversation with Ruth Bayer and Caroline Wise, eerie acoustics by Kemper Norton and spooled spookiness from The Howling. Illustration by SavX, of course. Further info and tickets: thehorsehospital.com
Caroline Wise has a life-long interest in the strange phenomena. A former owner of The Atlantis Bookshop and editor in the 1990s of The Occult Observer, she specialises in researching ancient goddesses, the mythology of London and spirit of place. Her books include The Secret Lore of London and most recently Here Comes the Candle: A Photographic Summoning of London Ghosts, a collaboration with the photographer Ruth Beyer.
Austrian-born photographer Ruth Bayer has work featured in many music and occult publications. Her photography books include Skipping to Armageddon - Current 93 and Friends, and Coil - Camera, Light, Oblivion (both Strange Attractor Press). For the book Here Comes The Candle - A Photographic Summoning of London Ghosts, Ruth re-imagined reported sightings of ghosts in various London locations and created images to accompany the accounts written by Caroline Wise. Ruth lives in London where she runs a long-established Gardnerian Wicca coven.
The Howling is a collaborative project started by writer Ken Hollings and sound artist Howlround devoted exclusively to their shared love of text, audiotape and Trash Aesthetics. An intense collision of spoken word and analogue tape effects, The Howling will perform tracks from their just-released second album, Incredible Night Creatures of the Midway. Its lead single ‘David Gest, Liza Minnelli, Michael Jackson and Elizabeth Taylor’ soundtracked Loewe’s SS24 Paris runway show, incredibly…
Praised by The Wire for ‘creating something moving, eerie and somewhat chilling out of almost nothing‘, Kemper Norton is a Brighton-based Cornwall-born musician who uses digital and analogue hardware and software, acoustic instruments, field recordings and traditional song to explore neglected or original areas of landscape and folklore. Recurring themes include the processes and narratives surrounding industrial and post-industrial Cornwall, and in particular the china clay pits of St Austell.
Described by The Guardian as ‘one of the country’s finest pop culture historians’, Travis Elborough is an award-winning author, whose books include Atlas of Vanishing Places and The Long-Player Goodbye, a hymn to vinyl records that inspired the BBC4 documentary ‘When Albums Ruled the World’, in which he also appeared.
Further info and tickets: thehorsehospital.com
Soundseminar
Iklectik, London
29 November 2023
The Answer is Gold
Sound Seminar by Jon Wozencroft, 29 November 2023, Iklectik Art Lab
Live performance: Bruce Gilbert
Save the date – further details and ticket link on the next Touch mailer…
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.
Youmna Saba
“Wishah وِشاح”
T33:22
CD and digital – 5 tracks. Buy “Wishah وِشاح” on Bandcamp. Mastered by Stephan Mathieu. Design and photography: Jon Wozencroft.
1. Akaleel أكاليل
2. Ba'oud بعوض
3. Al khayal الخيال
4. Ahad أحد
5. Tareeq طريق
“Wishah وِشاح” was written and performed by Youmna Saba. Recorded and mixed by Fadi Tabbal at Tunefork Studios, Beirut. Produced by Youmna Saba and Fadi Tabbal.
“Wishah” (“Veil” in Arabic) is a composition in five stages, written by Youmna Saba between 2021 and 2022, for voice, oud and electronics.
Following her previous solo works “Njoum” (2014) and “Arb’een (40)” (2017), this album marks a significant turning point in Saba's journey. Created after leaving Beirut and settling in Paris, Wishah reveals a profound shift in her musical expression, informed by rigorous research in the sonic properties of sung Arabic phonemes and their role in shaping synthesised electronic sounds.
The album employs a digital extension for the oud, a concept developed by Saba in her research project Taïma’. This device enhances the oud's sonic range, seamlessly integrating synthesised electronics. It also amplifies subtle, often overlooked sounds generated during playing, such as resonances and fingerboard friction.
The composition is organised into five distinct stages, each contributing to a process of gradual revelation. As the tracks unfold, they strip away layers of constructed emotions and perceptions that have been intricately woven over time, to expose a space that no longer exists. Wishah is a farewell to home.
Youmna Saba (Beirut 1984) is a musician, composer and musicologist. Her current research focuses on instrument and space resonances in different sonic and musical contexts. With four albums to this date, she has collaborated with musicians of different musical expressions such as Kamilya Jubran, Floy Krouchi, Mike Cooper and the Neue Vocalsolisten ensemble, and has taken part in numerous artist residencies. She is the laureate of the first sound residency at Quai Branly Museum, Paris (2022-2023) with her research project and installation “La Réserve des Non-Dits”, now on view at the museum; and a laureate of the music residency program at the Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris (2020-2021).
Buy on Bandcamp
drøne with Julia Mariko / Philip Marshall
“Vox Interruptus”
VI1
Digital – 2 tracks. Buy “Vox Interruptus” on Bandcamp. Mastered by Mark Van Hoen. Photography by Nico Van Hoen.
1. drøne with Julia Mariko - Vox Interruptus 19:49
2. Philip Marshall - Operattack 15:42
Recorded live at “Vox Interruptus”, 19 September 2023 at Iklectik, London. “Vox Interruptus” featured live performances by Jonathan Thomas Miller, drøne with Julia Mariko (soprano), The Howling and Dale Cornish. Philip Marshall was the DJ. Recorded by Isa Barzizza. With thanks to Iklectik and English Touring Opera.
English Touring Opera approached drøne to consider working with an opera singer to see if there were collaborative possibilities between score-based work and improvised experimental sound and music. After a rehearsal at Mountview, their HQ, with soprano Julia Mariko, all parties definitely felt there was something to work on and here is the first result… English Touring Opera are touring the operas that inspired this work at venues around the country until mid-November: englishtouringopera.org.uk
London-born Philip Marshall is a graphic designer working with record labels, musicians, cultural events and fashion brands. He is a co-founder of The Tapeworm cassette label which develops new ideas for a once-obsolete medium and which, since 2009, has released over 150 tapes. For “Vox Interruptus”, Marshall manipulated audio from random opera cassettes, played on a Sony WM-D6C through a Korg Monotron Delay into a Bastl Bestie.
Buy 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 198…
Guerrilla Audio
Long Wave
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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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