Fennesz and Philip Jeck appear as part of the next Touch 25 event in Prague, The Czech Republic, on April 13th. With films by Jon Wozencroft and Tereza Stehlikova, more information can be found here. The evening starts at 2000.

Events for Touch 25 can now be found here

Touch was conceived in 1981 and the first cassette magazine “Feature Mist” [see image below] was released in 1982, and to acknowledge this 25th anniversary we are hosting a series of live and web-based events throughout the period. News will be posted well in advance, so watch this space!

Here you can see a full catalogue of Touch releases.

Our first is a special offer in the TouchShop. Starting today, anyone who purchases 4 or more cds in the TouchShop will receive the lowest value item free of charge. Click on the link here and in the comment box when you place your order, include the code word “Feature Mist” to qualify for the discount. [Paypal users should deduct the net cost of the cheapest item from their total payment]. This offer applies for a limited period only.

Our second is a series of photographs by Jon Wozencroft which you can use for your desktop or as a screensaver. A folder of 20 jpegs at 72 dpi are available for 5 different monitor sizes. The folders were archived using a Mac with system 10.4.3, and are saved as zip files. You can unstuff them using Stuffit Expander [for Mac] [for Windows].

l 14″ ibook 1024×768 pixels
ll iMac 1280×1024
lll Powerbook [widescreen] 1280×854
lV 23″ monitor 1600×1200
V G5 1680×1050

Once you have downloaded these images, you can select the folder to act as your desktop image folder in system preferences/Desktop & Screensaver.
Here is a Touch 25 screensaver for your mobile phone. You can upload it via bluetooth or a data cable. It was tested on a Nokia. Click on the link, dust drag this image to your desktop and upload to your phone.

And here is a free ringtone for Touch 25. You can upload it to your phone in the same way as the screensaver above. Check out our CD of ringtones here

A new dance piece by Darshan Singh Buller – “Laal”, features a seven minute extract from Fennesz’s Spire Live in Geneva set. The world premier is at Sadler’s Wells on March 2nd 2006. This is his final piece as The Phoenix Dance Theatre‘s Artistic Director.

There will be various live events throughout the period to celebrate our 25th anniversary.

The first will be a label showcase with Philip Jeck at the ICA, London, on Friday May 5th 2006 as part of the Cut & Splice festival. Accompanying the live set will be a film, ‘fingerprints’ by Tereza Stehlikova. 2230-0100 HRS

Spire Live events can be found here

Live at the Norberg Festival, Sweden 28-29 July 2006

Alvars Orkester | Leif Elggren | CM von Hausswolff | BJNilsen | Jana Winderen | The Ash International Sound System.

Touch @ Oslo Konserthus

in the Small Hall :
1800-2000 Chris Watson

in the Main Hall:
2000-2100 Johann Johannsson + ensemble perform Virthulega Forsetar
2115-2200 Philip Jeck
2200-2245 BJNilsen
2300-2345 Fennesz
2345-0000 Milanos — Fennesz/Jeck/Nilsen Trio

Visuals: Jon Wozencroft, Tereza Stehlikova & Heitor Alvelos
Audio: Audun Strype

For enquiries or to reserve tickets, please contact the box office at Oslo Concert Hall: +47 23 11 31 11, or by email: billetter@oslokonserthus.no

A pdf in Norwegian for more info can be downloaded here

Masthuggs Church [GAS Festival]

Main Organ : Charles Matthews & Marcus Davidson
Soloist: Robert Millner
Fennesz
Philip Jeck
BJNilsen
Interval: Henrik Rylander & Leif Elggren

This event was recorded and broadcast by Sveriges Radio, on “Musik.nu”. A link can be found here, click on ‘webbradio’ (javascript), choose ‘P2’

Photos may be found here

Royal Holloway Theatre and InForm Theatre present “Hospitals and Other Buildings That Catch Fire” which uses music by Ryoji Ikeda [from the album “op.”], and BJNilsen [from the album “Fade to white”].

This smouldering story – dominated by a sick child – is told through a blend of new writing, physicality and puppets. Faeries, priests and nurses come along for the ride against a backdrop of fires and the burning need to talk things through. Blurring the line between fiction and reality, this is an arresting, non-linear theatrical explosion based in the heart of a heartless city.

For our German-speaking readers, there is a feature on Touch in the Swiss magazine Das NetzMagazin, which can be found here

Installation:
Title: The Golden Well
Visuals: Jon Wozencroft
Audio: Rosy Parlane – Iris [Touch # TO:58, 2004]

Display Cabinets:
Touch CDs/LPs/Books designed by Jon Wozencroft
Framed Photographs by Jon Wozencroft reflecting the best of his photography for Touch releases over the years

The Listening Eye

Domino can be found at AB, Anspachlaan 110, 1000 Brussels, Belgium

Pictures from the exhibition:

The Stockholm Effect No. 1
Live at Fylkingen, Stockholm, 26th August 2004
[Fennesz/BJNilsen/z’ev]

Fennesz – computer, piano & guitar
BJNilsen – computer
z’ev – bass drums

The recording has been divided into seven pieces for download.
They were mastered for easy reconstruction back to the original
uninterrupted performance.

Each track will be deleted at the end of each month and will not
reappear, so check back at the beginning of each month for the
new track to download. The files are compressed and will appear
as .sit files. You will need a suitable utility to decompress them
[eg Stuffit Expander]

Track 1 [4:26] – October 2004
Track 2 [2:51] – November 2004
Track 3 [4:04] – December 2004
Track 4 [3:39] – January 2005
Track 5 [2:39] – February 2005
Track 6 [3:08] – March 2005
Track 7 [2:55] – April 2005

Mastered by Denis Blackham at Skye Mastering

10th Sonic Acts Festival, Amsterdam

Chris Watson
BJNilsen
Philip Jeck
Fennesz
Jon Wozencroft visuals

Cathedral Saint Pierre, 5th September 2004. [Photo by Philip Jeck]

FENNESZ : PHILIP JECK : BJNILSEN aka HAZARD :
CHARLES MATTHEWS : MARCUS DAVIDSON
Main Organ : Charles Matthews & Marcus Davidson
La Petite Chapelle: Fennesz & BJNilsen
The Crypt: Philip Jeck

This was the very first Spire live event. See more info on the main Spire website

[Photos by Mike Harding]

[Photo by BJNilsen]

[Photo by Marcus Davidson]

Fennesz
Z’EV
BJNilsen aka Hazard
The Stockholm Effect [Fennesz/Z’EV/BJNilsen]

Visuals and installation : Jon Wozencroft

[Photos from the event by Cecilia Heisser]

You may have seen a release by Philip Jeck on the Belgian label Sub Rosa [‘Host’, Sub Rosa # SR194]. This release has been withdrawn. It was not authorised by the artist.

We have a new TouchShop, which is credit card secure, and has been redesigned. Although you have to go through the usual login procedure the first time, we hope you find it has been “sexed up” a bit and is more serviceable. It is certainly far easier for me to update, so hopefully the information there will be more accurate and more up-to-date than before. But of course any suggestions are gratefully received.

TouchShop

This new site has been designed by Philip Marshall, who has also designed the David Sylvian site.

Listening Eye offers 26 signed and numbered iris prints of photography by Jon Wozencroft. Many have been used for Touch artwork over the years; here they come as A3 size (420 x 297mm, inc. border), uncropped, on matt paper.

The pictures are dispatched by “signed for” special delivery in a poster tube.
They are signed and numbered by the artist in sequence, and cost ｣199 each including worldwide delivery.

The 26 selections are intended as a counterpoint to their sound origins, and removed from that context, what they may have in common is the idea of an “uninhabited space” that stands quietly apart… evoking a sense of place that is progressive rather than a temporary stopover.

If there are any other Touch images you think we should add to the site, please do let us know…

Happy browsing

The Grapewire has received a number of queries as to which music was played last to Björk’s San Francisco concert.

We are happy to share the information that it was a record from Touch called ‘Touch Ringtones’ and it includes 99 tracks consisting of 177 ringtones composed especially for this cd by artists such as New Order, Fennesz, Ryoji Ikeda, Gilbert & George, Mika Vainio, Mark Van Hoen, PITA, Hazard, Oren Ambarchi, Graham Lewis, Bruce Gilbert, AER, Zbigniew Karkowski, Hecker, Ake Hodell, Main, Chris Watson, Regina Lund, Elgaland-Vargaland, Francisco Lopez, Disinformation, Bigert & Bergstrom, People Like Us and many many others.