There is a feature on Chris Watson in today’s edition of The Guardian by Pascal Wyse. The full text can be read here

A not-to-be-missed event takes place on 20th January 2007 in York, England.

Featuring Fennesz, Philip Jeck & BJNilsen, organists Charles Matthews & Marcus Davidson, and soloists John Beaumont, Robert Millner & Amy Moore. Prior to the main concert, there will also be an installation by Leif Inge, featuring a 4 hour version of his installation using Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor [He stretched the piece, with no pitch distortions, by using either the Snd or the Common Lisp Music software.]

www.spire.org.uk

From the “Moments of 2006” section in The Guardian, Pascal Wyse reports on Carl Michael von Hausswolff‘s performance at Touch 25 Live at The Bedford Arms, London, on 17th October 2006

TRACKS is a project that explores contemporary sound culture and its connections with the past, via a series of meetings, talks, workshops and performances. The project, curated by Daniela Cascella, is part of the Contemporary Arts Programme of the British School at Rome directed by Cristiana Perrella.

On Tuesday 7 November at 9pm, TRACKS will present an evening dedicated to Touch, the London-based audiovisual project which celebrates in 2006 its 25th year of activity. In the first part of the evening, Daniela Cascella and Nicola Catalano will go through the history of Touch by means of a choice of music excerpts from the label’s back catalogue, beginning with the early cassettes published in the 1980’s. A live performance by Swedish musician BJNilsen will follow.

Sainsbury Lecture Theatre, the British School at Rome, via Gramsci 61, Rome

Sunday, 8 pm – SHARE
Share @ Reboot

For the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Touch, Phill Niblock & Jacob Kirkegaard will present their first concert together ever. It’s Halloween eve.

For this concert Niblock & Kirkegaard will be playing some of their solo works simultaneously; Jacob Kirkegaard: excerpts from “4 Rooms” & “Der Hollentrichter”, Phill Niblock: ‘Bells & Timps”, “Aomori Water”, “Trains”

An extraordinary, magical night. Thanks to all who attended who helped make it so.
Photos by Sheikh Ahmed can be seen here and by Scott McMillan here

SightSonic Festival, York, presents Touch 25

Since 2000 SightSonic has presented an annual programme of digital art works by leading international artists. For 2006 SightSonic joins forces with Touch, one of the UK’s leading experimental labels, to celebrate the label’s 25th anniversary. The Touch 25 programme features Touch artists from around the world including Biosphere, Rosy Parlane and BJNilsen, and a welcome return to the festival by Christian Fennesz. We are also presenting a unique opportunity to hear about Touch, its artistic vision, curation, its technical realisation, its use of web technologies and design in a Touch 25 Conference. The conference will include talks and presentations by label curators Jon Wozencroft and Mike Harding, presentations by artists Christian Fennesz, Phil Jeck, audio mastering engineer Denis Blackham and web designer Philip Marshall.

We are also delighted to feature a unique UK performance by Ryoji Ikeda, presented in multi-channel sound at the National Centre for Early Music. Ryoij Ikeda is Japan’s leading electronic composer/artist. He focuses on the minutiae of ultrasonics, frequencies and the essential characteristics of sound itself. For SightSonic he will perform an exclusive audio-only performance of pieces from his last four releases on Touch. [Tony Myatt]

Touch celebrates its 25th anniversary with an evening of live performances in London on Tuesday 17th October 2006. The evening commences at 2000 Hrs.

Appearing live will be:
Fennesz
Philip Jeck
Rosy Parlane
CM von Hausswolff
Touch 25 inc. DJ: Jacob Kirkegaard

The Bedford Arms
77 Bedford Hill, London SW12 9HD
020 8682 8940 www.thebedford.co.uk
[Northern Line Tube/Main line from Victoria or London Bridge]

The Bedford Arms has won many awards and has excellent food and beer.
Numbers are restricted, so we advise you to purchase now to avoid disappointment.

The Art of Pop, presented by Jarvis Cocker, includes an interview with Jon Wozencroft. The 30 minute radio show can be heard here

Jacob Kirkegaard and Oren Ambarchi are appearing at this year’s Norberg Festival. For more information, you can visit the festival website here. Also showcased is the 13th anniversary of Ash International, featuring Alvars Orkester | Leif Elggren | Carl Michael von Hausswolff |

BJNilsen | Jana Winderen | The Ash International Sound System

As part of the Ars Electronica festival, Spire will be appearing for their 7th live event at the monastery of St. Florian in Austria on 2nd September 2006.

Appearing will be Charles Matthews on the Brückner Organ, joined by resident organist Robert Kovács, Christian Fennesz and Philip Jeck. In a short while will be posted the full programme for this event.

Spire continues its live events closing the Holland Festival in Amsterdam on Saturday.

Concertzender in Amsterdam are broadcasting a Spire radio special tonight at 1800 CET time.

6-7pm, Saturday 17th June, 2006
Curzon Soho, Shaftesbury Avenue, London W1

Fingertips , a live music film event, by Tereza Stehlíková, with an original soundtrack performed live by Philip Jeck

Vertigo is a unique project which champions innovation & diversity in form and culture for independent film and the moving image. Through its magazine, website and special events, Vertigo engages audiences, educators, students and practitioners, introducing new work and critical debate. Its latest issue is launched tonight and is available for sale after the event and at the cinema anytime.

On Monday June 12th at 2215, more tracks recorded at Leeds Spire Live are being played on BBC Radio 3, including Charles Matthews playing tracks from the Robertsbridge Codex.

More highlights are being broadcast on Radio 3 at 2215 on June 12th 2006. If you miss it, you can listen on the Listen Again page: search for ‘Mixing It’.

Spire Live in Geneva has received an Honorary Mention Digital Musics at the 2006 Ars Electronica. This item is still available from the TouchShop

This weekend sees further Spire Live dates – the first in the UK

12th May: Leeds Town Hall

Main Organ: Charles Matthews & Marcus Davidson
Soloist: Robert Millner
Fennesz
BJNilsen
Installation: Leif Inge

13th May: St. George’s Church, Jesmond, Newcastle Upon Tyne

Main Organ: Charles Matthews & Marcus Davidson
Soloist: Robert Millner
Fennesz
Philip Jeck
BJNilsen
Further information can be found here

Philip Jeck is to perform at the ICA [upstairs in the bar area] as part of the Cut & Splice festival. Joachim Nordwall from Alvars Orkester will be DJing as Touch continues its series of events to celebrate 25 years. The whole event starts at 2000 and more information can be found here.

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.