Festival Les Borealis
25th November
Touch @ Beaux-Arts Ecole de Caen
26th November
Touch @ Les Borealis, Caen, France | 25th & 26th November 2008
Sound Art Symposium, South Hill Park, Bracknell | 1st November 2008
Installation: Chris Watson – Beyond Ol’ Tokai.
Panel discussion chaired by Mike Harding with Peter Cusack, Tony Myatt & Jana Winderen – Tipping Point.
Presentation & Performance: Jana Winderen.
For further information, visit South Hill Park’s website.
Touch 25 Live at Interzone, Utrecht, Netherlands | 24th October 2008
Touch 25
BJNilsen | Philip Jeck
[duet]
Pitchfork: Exclusive Track from Forthcoming Fennesz Album
Pitchfork are premiering an exclusive stream of “Saffron Revolution”, from Fennesz’s forthcoming “Black Sea” album, scheduled for release at the end of November [Touch # TO:76, CD and vinyl].
Pitchfork’s Mark Richardson writes: “… this lead track certainly keeps expectations very high. Beginning with some of Fennesz’ trademark neo-industrial gurgles, it folds in bits of guitar and strings rather beautifully, creating a cluster of sound that trembles, seeming to wait for something. And that something moves in gradually in the form of a massive cloud of distortion, a fine white mist of harmonics mixed with a dark undercurrent of rumbling bass. The tension between these elements is so well balanced, each individual element remaining in the mix even as the sound field becomes impossibly dense, that it’s no surprise that it takes a while to get it just right. And as it begins to draw down about five minutes in, you can’t help but wish that another full Fennesz album was following behind it. Soon.”
Preview “Saffron Revolution” on www.pitchforkmedia.com by clicking here.
Touch profiled in FACT Magazine, issue 27
FACT Magazine’s Kiran Sande conducted an extensive interview with Touch founder Jon Wozencroft for their August/September 2008 issue.
Sande writes, “Touch is an example to us all of what can be achieved with collaboration, commitment and an intelligent sense of restraint, or, more accurately, control. Twenty-seven after its inception, the singularity of Touch’s vision, and the multitude of ideas contained therein, is as remarkable as ever. Its history of responding to change, and seriously evolving, without ever giving in to the petty comings and goings of fashion, is infinitely admirable; in contemporary audio-visual art, its successful synthesis of style and substance is without parallel.”
The interview is now available to read online in the Touch Archive and also at www.factmagazine.co.uk, where it is illustrated with images from the Wozencroft archive and augmented by streaming audio samples from key Touch artists.
Published quarterly, and available for free from independent record stores and selected clothing outlets in the UK and Europe, FACT is a music and street culture magazine, comprising of features that fully dispense with spin – a platform for talented young musicians, artists, designers and more…
TO:40 – Fennesz “plus forty seven degrees 56′ 37″ minus sixteen degrees 51′ 08″”
Touch has reissued a digipak version of Fennesz’s first studio album for Touch, previously released as a jewel case in 1999. [There was prior to that a deluxe edition of 1000 copies in landscape art format, which sold out immediately.] It has been out of print for a couple of years. The audio remains the same, the imagery uses the location shots from the deluxe edition.
Touch # TO:40
CD – 8 tracks – 37:45
Track List:
1. 010
2. 011
3. 012
4. 013
5. 014
6. 015
7. 016
8. 017
This is Christian Fennesz’s 2nd solo full album after the highly acclaimed ‘Hotel Paral.lel’ (Mego 16). He also released ‘fenneszPLAYS’, a 3″ CD originally issued by Mego but now on Jim O’Rourke’s new label, Moikai. Fennesz has also made various contributions to compilation CDs, including the awesome ‘Surf’ on ‘DECAY’ (Ash International 3.9) and is a member of MIMEO, fixed line up orchestra alongside Keith Rowe, Kaffe Matthews, Jerome Noetinger, Phil Durrant, Peter Rehberg, Thomas Lehn, Rafael Toral, Gert Jan Prins, Cor Fuhler, Markus Wettstein, and Markus Schmickler. He has also released a live CD on Touch, # TO:CDR3. ‘plus forty seven degrees 56′ 37″ minus sixteen degrees 51’ 08″‘ was recorded in his garden in Austria in July and August 1999; the photographs in the booklet by Jon Wozencroft embroider this.
Touch Artists Playlisted in the October Issue of Mojo
An unexpected pleasure is to be found within the pages of the October 08 issue of Mojo magazine. Two Touch artists feature at positions two and three of the Mojo Top 10 playlist: Lawrence English’s “Organs Lost At Sea” and “Cima Verde” by Chris Watson.
Lawrence English’s album, “Kiri No Oto” can be found in the TouchShop. Chris Watson’s “Cima Verde” is available via Touch’s distributors, Kudos, and can be purchased via www.kudosrecords.co.uk. To purchase his Touch editions click here.
Philip Jeck, Jacob Kirkegaard Performing at Happy New Ears 13
The 13th Happy New Ears “festival de musique nouvelle” in Courtrai, Belgium runs from 13 September – 28 September 2008. Touch artists in performance include Philip Jeck, appearing on 20 September. The weekend before, on 13 September, there is a performance of Labyrinthitis by Jacob Kirkegaard. Jacob is also a member of the freq_out collective who present their freq_out 7 installation during the festival and also perform on the 13 September as THE FREQ_OUT ORCHESTRA.
Closure of Touch’s Local Post Office
In their wisdom, Post Office Ltd. have seen fit to close our local Post Office. For many years now, Touch has despatched goods using the Balham Sub Post Office in Balham High Road, London. They are throwing a party to say goodbye on 29th August 2008 at 1300 HRS.
Do come and help see them off and wish them all the best for the future. They have been fantastically supportive over the past 21 years+ and will be sorely missed.
Post Office Ltd. have behaved shockingly badly in their treatment of this Post Office, and the staff have our every sympathy. It has been a horrid time for them.
Bring a bottle to: Balham High Rd Sub P.O, 258, Balham High Rd, London, SW17 7AW
[You can read more about Post Office closures here and at Herry’s blog here]
Recovery
“Recovery” is a collector’s limited edition vinyl box set of 20 cover versions by 20 seminal electronic musicians and composers, issued by Fractured Recordings. Published as a numbered limited edition of 500, the box contains 10 double A-side 7″s, alongside unique cover designs by artist Graham Dolphin.
It is the result of an invitation, extended to a group of leading electronic artists, to create a cover version of a song from the past that holds a particular significance to them. The outcome is an extraordinary and unexpected series of tributes and appropriations of classic hits from the 70s, 80s and 90s, recorded by artists renowned for their inimitable style and seminal contribution to contemporary musical innovation.
Several Touch-related artists are included in this project: Fennesz, BJNilsen, Mika Vainio, Snd, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Ryoji Ikeda, People Like Us, and more…
“Recovery” is available to buy online at www.fracturedrecordings.com
TO:44 – Ryoji Ikeda “Matrix”
Double CD in gatefold wallet
2008 second edition, without postcards
Track list:
Matrix [For Rooms] (1999-2000)
1-01 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 (12:00)
1-02 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 (5:30)
1-03 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 (4:30)
1-04 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 (5:30)
1-05 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 (4:30)
1-06 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 (5:30)
1-07 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 (4:30)
1-08 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 (5:30)
1-09 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 (4:30)
1-10 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 (7:57)
.Matrix (1999-2000)
2-01 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 (3:02)
2-02 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 (2:24)
2-03 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 (1:00)
2-04 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 (1:27)
2-05 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 (3:34)
2-06 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 (2:42)
2-07 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 (4:55)
2-08 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 (5:22)
2-09 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 (0:59)
2-10 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 (5:32)
Matrix is the final element in a trilogy of CDs that began with +/- in 1996. When it was first released, +/- came like a bolt out of the white. Nobody had used digital recording processes to produce sound as pure, as intense and as exhilarating. Since releasing 0°C in 1998, Ryoji Ikeda has progressively refined and enhanced the distinctive sonic fields and microsounds that have strongly influenced post-digital composition, resisting the transitory cycle suggested by the term ‘Glitches’, creating compositions that probe deeply: our relationships to time and space, sound and light. Much of the time since 1998 has been spent touring with the Japanese performance group, Dumb Type, whose landmark show [OR] is shortly to be followed by a new presentation for which Ikeda has composed the sound, Memorandum. In January 2000, Ryoji Ikeda toured the UK with Zoviet*France. A closer connection to the 20 new recordings that make up Matrix can be found on the recent Touch 00 sampler, Matrix for an Anechoic Room, which came out in Spring 2000. That’s the only forewarning of what awaits you on putting the first CD into your player. The layers of sound that make up Matrix [for rooms] transform both the listener and the listening environment into another dimension. The dimensions change as you move about the space, or simply turn your head around the sound like surveying the angles of a building. Matrix has much in common with the work of La Monte Young, Tony Conrad, Alvin Lucier…, but poised closer to the imminent and auto-interactive virtual world we are promised, Ryoji Ikeda’s new work pushes the parameters of the drone to ask timely questions concerning our relationship to own perception, and to our existing living spaces.
The Guardian: “Click that dial!”
In today’s Guardian, Pascal Wyse and Alexis Petridis pick their favourite internet radio stations. Wyse writes: “Touch, an independent arts organisation that turned 25 last year, is home to artists such as Christian Fennesz, Biosphere and Chris Watson. Touch Radio features challenging and entertaining material, including field recordings, interviews and live performances. There are audio diaries from Chris Watson, where he illuminates his work as a wildlife sound recordist in the Galapagos Islands, taking in the Alcedo volcano. If you are truly tired of words by this stage, you will find an antidote in Touch Radio 10: The Bits Inbetween by Vicki Bennett, whose own show on WFMU, a glorious mashup, will leave you in a spin.
Frieze Magazine’s review of Adrian Shaughnessy’s “Cover Art By: New Music Graphics”
“… Shaughnessy’s book is not an act of mourning for a lost era of great cover art, but a celebration of those labels whose designs have thrived in the digital era. Foremost amongst these are Touch and Ghost Box. The identity of these labels has been defined by their cover designers, Jon Wozencroft and Julian House. Touch began in the early ‘80s, but its tactile aesthetic – it conceived of itself as an ‘audio-visual’ label – meant that it was never going to succumb to the digital tendency towards decoupling sound from images. Wozencroft’s cover photographs – austerely, impersonally beautiful shots – do not so much illustrate the music of Touch artists such as Fennesz, Oren Ambarchi and Philip Jeck as they set a tone for how it can be heard. …”
Click here to read the full review online at frieze.com
Atmospheres 2
Atmospheres 2 takes place at The Museum of Garden History in London, from May 8th to May 12th 2008. You can read about this in The Guardian and a preview in The Londonist here
May 8th
Alex Metcalf – Tree Listening
2030 Marcus Davidson
2050 Philip Jeck & Marcus Davidson
2115 Robert Hampson
2200 Philip Jeck
A review of the first day’s events can be read in The Londonist
May 9th
2030 Matt Davies & Simon Whetham
2110 Charles Matthews followed by Fennesz & Charles Matthews
2200 Fennesz
A review of the second day’s events can be read in The Londonist
May 12th
Hauntology:
presented by Jon Wozencroft and Mark Fisher
11.00 Opening of the event/doors
11.30 Introduction by Jon Wozencroft & Mark Fisher
11.45 Mark Fisher, Hauntology Now – you can read the text from this presentation here
12.30 Paul Devereux, Landscape and Perception
1.15 Lunch
2.15 Christopher Woodward, The End of London
3.00 Jon Wozencroft, Up the Ladder towards the Roof
3.45 Steve Goodman, Stone Tape
4.30 Open Forum
[6.00 – 7.30 Soundchecks]
8.15 The Caretaker
8.45 Kode 9 & The Spaceape
9.45 The Caretaker
10.00 Philip Jeck
Pics by Sheikh Ahmed (failme.net) can be found here
From Boomkat’s Digital Newsletter | 17th April 2008
“This is what we’ve been waiting for – the chance to finally present the epic Touch catalogue in digital format. The UK label has long been a favourite of ours and it’s hardly surprising with the sheer volume of quality releases, they almost seem infallible even, with rarely a dud record emerging from their hallowed company. Established in 1981 and adorned with some of the most gorgeous cover-art ever to grace a sleeve, Touch became widely known for its look, fashioned in part by the photography of Jon Wozencroft (who co-runs the label). These simple but devastatingly effective images became synonymous with their respective releases and the label became just as widely appreciated in the art world as in the world of experimental music. It’s the music itself though that has set Touch apart from so many other similar labels, and their roster still speaks for itself; Fennesz, Biosphere, Hafler Trio, Oren Ambarchi, Philip Jeck, Rosy Parlane, Jóhann Jóhannsson, BJ Nilsen, Chris Watson, Mika Vainio, Ryoji Ikeda – it reads like a veritable who’s who of contemporary experimental music. Many of these artists seem to have gravitated towards Touch to create their finest works – Fennesz with the seminal ‘Venice’ or Oren Ambarchi with the genre-bending ‘Grapes From the estate’ whereas others simply found a home they could grow with over many albums; Philip Jeck and Chris Watson for instance, but it is to Touch’s credit that they have managed to build a team of worldwide recording artists this flawless. To conclude, the Touch catalogue is a selection of work we have deep respect for and somehow manage to keep going back to again and again, it’s just that good. Take the time to explore deeper and you won’t be disappointed…”
You can visit the Boomkat website here.
Touch Artwork at The Norwich Arts Centre | February/March 2008
In February & March 2008, an event at Norwich Arts Centre, Norfolk, ‘DIY’, portrayed some of Jon Wozencroft’s Touch cover art. Here are 3 photos from the exhibition, which “explored the contemporary infrastructure for self-promotion and the appeal of the hand-made object.”
Chris Watson Live at Cabaret Voltaire, Zurich | 9th April 2008
Date: Wednesday 09.04.2008 19:00
Location: Cabaret Voltaire, Spiegelgasse 1, 8001 Zurich.
contact email fo reservations etc: info@cabaretvoltaire.ch / +41 43 268 57 20
website: www.cabaretvoltaire.ch
you can find an announcement in German here
Programme
1900 Chris Watson presents…
1945 Mike Harding Presents Touch
2030 Chris Watson Live
atmospheres 2 | 13th March 2008
atmospheres 2 takes place at The Museum of Garden History in London, from May 8th to May 12th 2008, with an introductory talk on March 13th [Royal College of Art, Jay Mews, London SW1]
An introduction to Hauntology. A sound seminar by Jon Wozencroft
6pm, Performing Arts Lab, Stevens Building
If you consider everything from self-help books to the philosophy of Adorno, it is clear that the driving pattern of the moment is towards personal reinvention. What is “faith in the future”? An early Easter celebration. All welcome!
