Touch Newsletter #310
Welcome to the Touch Newsletter #310. On 7 March, after nearly five years of nights at Iklectik Art Lab, Jon Wozencroft’s Soundseminar moves to a new venue, Theme Studio in Camden Town. Tickets are now on sale.
This summer The Tapeworm will celebrate its 15th anniversary. It opens the year with three new tapes now on presale, and a weekend of happenings in Athens.
“The Worm Rose of Athens” comprises two evenings of performances and an exhibition, in collaboration with Stellage. In performance: Marta De Pascalis, Jay Glass Dubs, Simon Pomery, Bethnal Greener, Alcibiades, Philip Marshall and venoztks. On the walls: Savage Pencil. 1 and 2 March at Stellage and KET. Further details on the weekend below. Tickets and information.
The Tapeworm’s first tape was 2009’s “Spool” by the much-missed Philip Jeck. To honour his memory, Jay Glass Dubs unwinds “Spool” in a new hour-long composition using Jeck’s tape as his primary sound source. “Respooled” is available to preorder now, with a special rose-coloured variant on sale exclusively at Stellage in Athens.
On “Home Recordings, 1978-1980”, UnicaZürn’s David Knight revisits recordings made with old schoolfriend Alan Clark under the moniker The Fast Set. Featuring artwork by Danielle Dax, full details on this tape can be found below.
Franz Kirmann appears under his Dj Salinger alias to deliver “Voyage Voyage Voyage”, a “subjective mixtape” celebrating 80s French pop, where the tracks are not played as-is but presented as they are felt by the artist. The result is a nostalgic trip – hazy ambient music fashioned from 80s synthpop hits. Imagine Fennesz or My Bloody Valentine playing Laurent Voulzy covers and you’re almost there… “Loveless non, Desireless oui!”. Further details below.
“The Worm Rose of Athens”
Stellage and KET, Athens, Greece
1-2 March 2024
Stellage and The Tapeworm present “The Worm Rose of Athens” – two concerts and an exhibition. In performance: Marta De Pascalis, Jay Glass Dubs, Simon Pomery, Bethnal Greener, Alcibiades, Philip Marshall and venoztks. On the walls: Savage Pencil. Tickets and information.
1 March 2024 at Stellage, Kipselis 49 — Bethnal Greener, Alcibiades (JGD x venoztks) and Philip Marshall. Starts at 18:00, free entry.
2 March 2024 at KET, Kyprou 91A — Marta De Pascalis, Jay Glass Dubs debuts Jeck Glass Dubs, Simon Pomery and venoztks. Starts at 18:00, 10 Euros.
1 March – 1 May 2024 at Stellage, Kipselis 49 — Reel Thing, a special exhibition of Savage Pencil’s artworks for The Tapeworm.
Tickets and information
tapeworm.org.uk
The Fast Set
“Home Recordings, 1978-1980”
TTW#164
Cassette in an edition of 100 copies. Shipping in early March. Buy “Home Recordings, 1978-1980” on Bandcamp. Artwork: Danielle Dax.
A: 78/79/80 Part One
B: 78/79/80 Part Two
David Knight writes: “In 1978 I started making experimental home recordings with my old schoolfriend Alan Clark. We both had Akai 4000DS reel-to-reels, which made for easy swapping of locations and ideas. We would meet most evenings to record – for the best part of two years. Much of the music on this tape comes from those experiments.
Some of my solo pieces on this cassette were on a compilation cassette I made for my friend Brad Day, who in 1979 was working at Beggars Banquet record shop in Earl’s Court. He happened to be playing it in the shop when co-manager Peter Kent walked in and asked who it was. From that I was offered a 7” release on the Axis label Peter was starting with his colleague Ivo Watts-Russell, and my first gig was organised at Mayhem Studio in Battersea, supporting Vice Versa. With another schoolfriend, Steve Player on guitar and Stylophone 350S, my 16-year-old brother Peter Knight on backing tapes and backing vocals, and me on VCS3 and vocals, we put a set together within a week. The filmmaker John Maybury projected Super-8 films over us at the gig, and suggested we call ourselves The Fast Set – as all three of us were rooted static to the spot with nerves. The name stuck, and it now seems appropriate to retrospectively apply that name to our previous untitled endeavours.
This cassette release is a ‘patchwork’ I constructed back in 1980 of the late-70s home recordings – both solo or with Alan. There were two projects back then – the experimental pieces, and the electronic ‘pop’ songs. This release consists of the former, which I feel age has been kinder to. The tapes had remained untouched for over 40 years until I baked and transferred them recently, so please excuse the hiss, distortion, pops, crackles, and wobbles, as I wish to maintain the integrity and home-made feel of the original recordings.” – David Knight, London, 10 January 2024.
London-based musician David Knight has been a member of/worked with: The Fast Set, Five Or Six, Shock Headed Peters, Left Hand Right Hand, Arkkon, The Amal Gamal Ensemble, The Stargazer's Assistant, and Lydia Lunch. He wrote and recorded with Danielle Dax throughout the 1980s, and currently works with Stephen Thrower (Coil, Cyclobe) in UnicaZürn.
Buy on Bandcamp
Jeck Glass Dubs
“Respooled”
TTW#165
Cassette in an edition of 100 copies. Shipping in early March. Buy “Respooled” on Bandcamp. Artwork: SavX.
A: Part I
B: Part II
The Tapeworm celebrates its 15th anniversary in 2024. Its first tape was 2009’s “Spool” by the much-missed Philip Jeck. To honour his memory, Jay Glass Dubs unwinds “Spool” in a new hour-long composition using Jeck’s tape as his primary sound source. This tape was commissioned for “The Worm Rose Of Athens”, two evenings of performances curated by Stellage, 1-2 March 2024, Athens. Written, recorded, produced and mixed by Dimitris Papadatos, Athens, 2024. With special thanks to Mary Prestidge.
Buy on Bandcamp
Dj Salinger
“Voyage Voyage Voyage”
TTW#166
Cassette in an edition of 100 copies. Shipping in early March. Buy “Respooled” on Bandcamp. Illustration: Noah Gamaury.
A1: Azur
A2: Regarde L’Océan
A3: Au Bout De La Nuit
A4: Encre Vide
A5: Chateaux D’Equateur
B1: De L’Eau Dans Ton Regard
B2: Plus Loin Que La Nuit Et Le Jour
B3: Elsa 1986
B4: Si Loin De Tout
B5: La Belle Vie
“L’idée nous est venu lors d’une conversation un peu arrosée dans un pub du sud de Londres avec Philippe du label Tapeworm” dixit François Kirmann Gamaury alias Franz Kirmann alias Dj Salinger – producteur français établi à Londres depuis plus d’une vingtaine d’années.
“Voyage voyage voyage” est une mixtape. Mais pas dans le sens traditionnelle du terme. Kirmann l’appelle une mixtape subjective, où les morceaux ne sont pas joués tels quels mais présentés tels qu’ils sont ressentis par l’artiste.
Un peu comme le DJ Vladimir Ivkovic qui ralentit certain morceaux sur ses platines pour en révéler un autre aspect, Kirmann zoom dans l’étoffe même des enregistrements, étire les notes et les sons à l’infini, pour en mettre à jour un sens caché, altérer notre perception de ces chansons qui peuvent parfois sembler un peu désuètes. Ici elles sont transformées en nappes fantomatiques et envoutantes qui évoquent un souvenir d’une période de sa vie, une trace sonore d’une époque un peu naive, qui revient aujourd’hui sous forme d’echo, une musique nostalgique trempée dans la reverb et la distortion.
Kirmann a grandit au Sénégal pendant les années 80 et il se souvient des étés de son enfance passé chez ses grand parents, les chansons à la radio, dans le bus du centre aéré, dans un Prisunic en Dordogne, où une fête de camping en Alsace: Catherine Lara, Elsa, Veronique Jeannot et bien sûr Desireless et son fameux tube “Voyage voyage”.
Les chansons sélectionnées pour la cassette ont toutes en commun une incitation au départ, une recherche de l’ailleurs, un amour perdu, un souvenir, les thèmes de predilection d’une certaine pop française que l’on nommait variété.
Ces idées d’évasion sont accentuées ici par le traitement sonore qui leur est appliqué. Les chansons sont paralysés dans le temps, figées dans le son, comme si l’on avait souligné certain passages dans un roman pour les détacher du texte intégral.
Distortion, écho, réverbération et autres effets sont appliqués et donnent à la musique et au son une qualité rêveuse et distante. Certains passages reconnaissables se dévoilent et sortent de la brume sonore, ils se révèlent plus net, d’autres sont noyés dans un brouillard imprécis, une musique proche de l’ambient qui enveloppe l’auditeur.
Kirmann: “Chaque track est basé sur une chanson de variété française des années 80, je voulais re-créer une impression de distance, quelque chose de lointain. Les morceaux deviennent des sortes de tapisseries sonores mais dont l’essence de la chanson originelle est toujours présente. Il y’a un roman de Patrick Modiano où les personnages lancent des avis de recherche pour la France à partir d’une station de radio d’un pays lointain. Le son est brouillé, les voix étouffées. J’avais un peu cette idée en tête de faire quelque chose de similaire, comme si les chansons étaient entendus sur un vieux poste de radio mais émises d’une station lointaine et d’un autre temps.”
Le résultat est un voyage nostalgique, une musique ambient et nébuleuse façonnée à partir de tubes synthétiques 80’s. Imaginez Fennesz ou My Bloody Valentine jouant des reprises de Laurent Voulzy et vous y êtes presque…
Loveless non, Desireless oui!
Buy on Bandcamp
Soundseminar
Theme, London
7 March 2024
As Yet Untitled
Sound Seminar by Jon Wozencroft, 7 March 2024
Theme, Arlington House, 220 Arlington Road, London NW1 7HE
JW writes: Usually, I don’t decide on the title of a seminar until as near as possible before the event, having gathered a long list of the recordings I’d like to play. And in this instance, after nearly 5 years of doing the nights at Iklectik Art Lab, the invitation to present one at a new venue, Theme Studios in Camden Town, is of course a special challenge and a leap into the unknown.
Experimental artists and musicians often use the get-out title, “Untitled”, to keep the meaning of a work open to interpretation. Understood, but I have always viewed this tactic as something of a missed opportunity, like a plain white sleeve or a room without a window.
However, the present need for new directions and the desire for some respite from the same-old/same-old needs a breathing space from our urge to name a phenomenon before it has had a chance to find its direction of travel. In other words, it is clear that “The next big thing” cannot and should not follow a formula that may have worked in the past. Discovery is often about difficulty.
Here the title comes with the prefix “As Yet…”.
Please read this for more:
kunstkritikk.com/what-is-not-to-be-done
The venue, Theme, is a studio space in Camden Town, London…
The full address is Arlington House, 220 Arlington Road, London NW1 7HE
Tickets now on sale
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 206…
Guerrilla Audio
Long Wave
“Suspending time and immersing the listener in a widescreen of sound.”
Long Wave has now moved to the second Tuesday of the month from 8am-10pm PST.
You can catch up with the dublab archive on dublab.com, and for the entire Long Wave history (14 series so far for dublab and resonancefm) visit mscharding.net
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