Oren Ambarchi

CD – 4 tracks – 53:51
Artwork & photography: Jon Wozencroft
Mastered by Francois Tetaz at Moose, Melbourne

Track listing:

1. Salt – 5:30
2. Knots – 33:23
3. Passage – 6:41
4. Fractured Mirror – 8:20

On “Audience of One”, Oren Ambarchi presents a four-part suite which moves from throbbing minimalism to expansive song-craft to ecstatic free-rock. His previous solo albums for Touch exhibited a clear progression towards augmenting and embellishing his signature bass-heavy guitar tones with fragile acoustic instrumentation. Audience of One, while also existing in clear continuity with these recordings, opens the next chapter.
Remarkable in its confidence and breadth, but also in the sensuous immediacy of its details, this is the first time a single record has come close to encapsulating Ambarchi’s musical personality in its full range and singularity. The techniques and strategies developed in his refined improvisational work with Keith Rowe and his explorations of the outer limits of rock with Sunn O))) and Keiji Haino are both in evidence, alongside the meticulous attention to detail and composition of his solo works. And on the cover of Ace Frehley’s ‘Fractured Mirror’ which closes the record, Ambarchi even points to his roots as a classic rock fanatic, in an epic yet faithful version which extends the shimmering guitar patters of the original into a rich field of phase patters reminiscent of the classic American minimalism of Reich and Riley.

The album features a multitude of collaborators, who, far from appearing in incidental roles, are integral to the pieces on which they perform: on ‘Salt’, Ambarchi paints a hypnotic, chiming backdrop for Paul Duncan’s (Warm Ghost) vocals, and Joe Talia’s virtuoso drumming and driving cymbals are at the core of the epic ‘Knots’, in which Ambarchi, alongside a chamber arrangement by Eyvind Kang, weaves a net of frequencies and textures with the organic push and pull of a 70s psych jam, the bass response of a doom metal ritual and the psycho-acoustic precision of an Alvin Lucier composition.

On his previous records, Ambarchi’s signature guitar tone was the ever-present bedrock over which other elements sounded. At moments on Audience of One, this disappears entirely, as on the beautiful ‘Passage’, which, recalling the 70’s Italian non-academic minimalism of Roberto Cacciapaglia and Giusto Pio, is composed of overlapping tones from Hammond organ and wine glasses, Jessika Kenney’s voice, various acoustic instruments, and the delicate amplified textures of Canadian sound-artist Crys Cole. Rather than being provided by any particular sound, the unified feel of Audience to One stems simply from the unique, patient sensibility Ambarchi has developed over the last twenty years; abstracting musical forms into their barest forms, while somehow always managing to leave their emotive power intact. [Francis Plagne]

(A hi-res version can be downloaded here)

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12″ White Label vinyl + 320 kbps MP3 download of the tracks
Cut by Jason @ Transition

The third in the series of limited edition vinyl in the Tone 45 series. 100 copies only are available in the TouchShop…

Track listing:

Side One 33rpm
1. Live at Café Oto 14:29

Side Two 33rpm
1. Live at Café Oto 14:39

The third in the Touch white label series after BJNilsen – Vinyl [Tone 45.1] and The Sight Below – N-Plants_Remixes [Tone 45.2]. This was recorded live at Café Oto, London, on April 14, 2011.

Oren Ambarchi is a composer and multi-instrumentalist with longstanding interests in transcending conventional instrumental approaches. His work focuses mainly on the exploration of the guitar, “re-routing the instrument into a zone of alien abstraction where it’s no longer easily identifiable as itself. Instead, it’s a laboratory for extended sonic investigation”. (The Wire, UK). Oren Ambarchi’s works are hesitant and tense extended songforms located in the cracks between several schools: modern electronics and processing; laminal improvisation and minimalism; hushed, pensive songwriting; the deceptive simplicity and temporal suspensions of composers such as Morton Feldman and Alvin Lucier; and the physicality of rock music, slowed down and stripped back to its bare bones, abstracted and replaced with pure signal.

From the late 90’s his experiments in guitar abstraction and extended technique have led to a more personal and unique sound-world incorporating a broader palette of instruments and sensibilities. On recent releases such as Grapes From The Estate and In The Pendulum’s Embrace Ambarchi has employed glass harmonica, strings, bells, piano, drums and percussion, creating fragile textures as light as air which tenuously coexist with the deep, wall-shaking bass tones derived from his guitar. Ambarchi works with simple constructs and parameters; exploring one idea over an extended duration and patiently teasing every nuance and implication from each texture; the phenomena of sum and difference tones; carefully tended arrangements that unravel gently; unprepossessing melodies that slowly work their way through various permutations; resulting in an otherworldly, cumulative impact of patiently unfolding compositions.

Ambarchi has performed and recorded with a diverse array of artists such as Fennesz, Otomo Yoshihide, Pimmon, Keiji Haino, John Zorn, Rizili, Voice Crack, Jim O’Rourke, Keith Rowe, Phill Niblock, Dave Grohl, Gunter Muller, Evan Parker, z’ev, Toshimaru Nakamura, Peter Rehberg, Merzbow and many more. Since 2004 Ambarchi has worked with American avant metal outfit Sunn 0))) contributing to many of their releases and side-projects including their Black One album from 2005 and the recent Monoliths & Dimensions release. For 10 years together with Robbie Avenaim, Ambarchi was the co-organiser of the What Is Music? festival, Australia’s premier annual showcase of local and international experimental music. The festival hosted over 200 local and international performers. Ambarchi now curates the Maximum Arousal series at The Toff In Town in Melbourne and has recently co-produced an Australian television series on experimental music called Subsonics. Ambarchi recently co-curated the sound program for the 2008 Yokohama Triennale.

Ambarchi has released numerous recordings for international labels such as Touch, Southern Lord, Table Of The Elements and Tzadik. In 2003 his live release Triste received an ‘honourary mention’ in the Prix Ars Electronica digital music category.

Joe Talia is a drummer, percussionist and electro-acoustic performer based in Melbourne, Australia.

Never satisfied with containment to any one style or discipline, He plays drums, percussion, amplified objects electronics and tape machines. After studying improvisation at the Victorian College of the Arts, Talia went on to become involved in the Australian jazz and improv scene. As well as being a respected drummer, Talia also works in the realm of electro-acoustic music, both live and studio based. His debut solo work, in/exterior, a four part suite of musique concrète compositions, was released in 2006 and since then he has formed an electro-acoustic duo with composer James Rushford, together they have completed two albums, Palisades (sabbatical records 2009) and the upcoming paper fault line, a through-composed tour-de-force of instrumental concrète, blistering noise and contemporary classical virtuosity. He also has a long standing musical partnership with singer-songwriter Ned Collette, working as both a drummer and producer/engineer on Collette’s album Future Suture (Dot Dash 2007) and with Wirewalker, on Over the Stones, Under the Stars (Dot Dash 2009) and performing on several European tours. Talia is also member of the ARIA award winning Andrea Keller Quartet.

Talia has performed, recording and toured with diverse range of musicians and ensembles, including Oren Ambarchi, Robbie Avenaim, Anthony Pateras, Francis Plagne, Thembi Soddell, Sean Baxter, David Shea, Marco Fusinato, The Bartok Project, Rand and Holland, Erik Griswold, Adam Simmons, and countless others.

CD in Digipak
Artwork & design: Jon Wozencroft

Track listing:

1. Intimidator
2. Iron Waves
3. Moving Violation
4. The Strouhal Number
5. A Final Kiss On Poisoned Cheeks

Intermission brings together a range of material Oren Ambarchi has contributed to compilations and limited edition vinyl releases between the years 2000 and 2008. Highlights include two live recordings – an early, fragile solo guitar recording taken from a radio broadcast in 2000 and A Final Kiss On Poisoned Cheeks, his powerful 12″ recorded live in Vancouver in 2007 and originally released on Table Of The Elements. Additional tracks include Iron Waves an exclusive track in collaboration with vocalist Paul Duncan and Intimidator featuring Australian pianist/composer Anthony Pateras originally released on Southern Lord.

These are special anomalies in the Ambarchi canon but nonetheless feature the hallmarks of his unique soundworld, all underpinned by his trademark deep guitar tones and meticulous attention to detail. All tracks are newly remastered, many of which are available on CD for first time.

Track notes:

Intimidator Guitars and prepared piano recorded at Jerker House and Enormodome, Melbourne in 2006 Anthony Pateras: Prepared Piano. Originally released on the 2LP version of ‘In The Pendulum’s Embrace’ Southern Lord, USA.

Iron Waves Remix of Paul Duncan’s ‘Parasail’ from the ‘Above The Trees’ CD, Hometapes, USA Guitars, Bells, Cymbals recorded at Jerker House, Melbourne and BJB, Sydney in 2008. Previously unreleased.

Moving Violation Guitars recorded at Jerker House, Melbourne November 2005. A version was originally released on Touch’s 25th anniversary CD, Touch 25, UK.

The Strouhal Number Guitar recorded live at 2SER FM Sydney in 2000 by Tony Dupe’. Originally released on ‘Live & Direct’ CD Spunk/Preservation records, Australia.
A Final Kiss On Poisoned Cheeks Guitar recorded live at Vancouver New Music Festival Oct 17, 2007 by Gary Morgan Bells and motorised cymbal recorded at BJB, Sydney. Originally released as a limited 12″ on Table Of The Elements, USA.

All tracks remastered by Lachlan Carrick at Moose, Melbourne August 2009.

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7″ vinyl only
cut by Jason @ Transition
artwork and photography by Jon Wozencroft

Track list:

Side A: Highway of Diamonds 5:55
Side B: Bleeding Shadow 6:38

Electric guitars, organ, samples, bells, percussion and motorised cymbal recorded at BJB Studios, Sydney with additional overdubs made at home 2005-2007. Gratitude to Fairport Convention and Boris D Hegenbart.

Oren Ambarchi is a composer and multi-instrumentalist with longstanding interests in transcending conventional instrumental approaches. His work focuses mainly on the exploration of the guitar, “re-routing the instrument into a zone of alien abstraction where it’s no longer easily identifiable as itself. Instead, it’s a laboratory for extended sonic investigation”. (The Wire, UK).

7″ vinyl was the quintessential format for popular music. Today, it is an undervalued and mostly promotional medium, used as a fetishistic signpost to a time of musical authenticity and a “healthy” popular culture. It might seem like another retrograde step to launch a vinyl series just as the download format threatens to dominate, and indeed there is an element of “the rear view mirror”… the generation of Touch artists who grew up with vinyl [and cassette] still feeling a strong emotional attachment to it. This series is more than that… an overtly critical, non-digital statement is supported by treatments of audio work which cannot be applied to digital formats – the sonic texture, the use of a locked groove, the A & the B and the additional dimension of the visual counterpoint. As for the aspect of audience participation, we choose not to specify the RPM on the label, encouraging the listener to experiment with playback options and personal preferences. An attempt to make music that works at both speeds. The front cover might actually be the back cover…

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CD – 3 Tracks – 41 minutes

Oren Ambarchi continues his otherworldly investigations with “In The Pendulum’s Embrace”, a dark twin to his landmark 2004 album “Grapes from the Estate” [Touch # TO:61]. Returning again to the hallowed halls of BJB Studios in Sydney, Ambarchi expands the scope and range of his unique musical language, incorporating an even broader pallette of instruments and sensibilities. Despite the use of glass harmonica, strings, bells, piano, percussion and guitars, it’s startling that the world created is still unmistakably his own, and that there is such a cohesion of vision throughout the albums’s three lengthy pieces. With this record there’s an even more tenuous coexistence of fragility and density; sounds as light as air mingling with wall shaking low-end. The converted already know the kind of trance-inducing euphoria of Ambarchi’s music. Newcomers will be scouting the back catalogue…

Track list:

1. Fever, A Warm Poison
2. Inamorata
3. Trailing Moss in Mystic Glow

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CD – 4 tracks – 55:44

Oren Ambarchi’s third solo project for Touch [after Suspension and Insulation] sees him reaching beyond the work for electric guitar that he’s become recognised for, expanding his palette and taking his investigations into another sphere entirely. Grapes from the Estate features new instrumentation (strings, tuned bells, percussion and others that can only be guessed at), but the singular and unmistakable influence that Ambarchi exerts on these new materials is what makes it such an indelible work.

There is a reconciliation of his love of song-based music and his determination to deal in pure sound. The result is a work that truly eludes such arbitrary definitions. Grapes From The Estate is an all consuming experience that draws the listener out of an ordinary sense of time, into a world beyond it.

On more than any other release, his entire body of work to date can be experienced in a single statement. There are the seemingly random tonal structures that are such a large part of his vocabulary, the playfulness and humour of his formative noise schooling, his love of free jazz, of pop music, and rhythmic elements, perhaps subconsciously derived from his Sephardic heritage. Another outpouring of personal, intimate and enduring music from Oren Ambarchi.

Track list:

1. Corkscrew
2. Girl with the Silver Eyes
3. Remedios the Beauty
4. Stars Aligned, Web Spun

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CD – 6 tracks

Track listing:

1. wednesday
2. vogler
3. this evening so soon
4. gene
5. suspension
6. as far as the eye can see

Oren Ambarchi is a Sydney-based musician with a longstanding interest in transcending conventional instrumental approaches. He has worked with artists as diverse as Keith Rowe, Christian Fennesz, Sachiko M and Phill Niblock. Suspension is Ambarchi’s second release for Touch, after Insulation [Touch # T33.16, 1999]. Although continuing his explorations of the guitar, Oren has almost completely discarded the deconstructed, fragmentary approach to composition that he employed on 1999’s excellent Insulation. This disc is more akin to his remarkable Stacte series of LPs (treasure them if you have them, for they are all but gone), where compositions have the exploratory freedom, spontaneity and fluidity of improvised music, yet contain the determination, discipline and solidity of composers such as Alvin Lucier (of whom Ambarchi is an open admirer). As the title suggests, the listener is suspended in dense tonal fields or complete silence; adrift, never touching the bottom, never reaching the surface but continually held in the realm of the instant. Movement and flux contend with stasis and rigidity. Sounds continually unravel and solidify. These works are endless, eternal, never opting for obvious resolutions or easy destinations. Often beginning in abstraction, seemingly random and irregular pulses and tones coalesce and converge. All elements are part of a greater logic, which reveals itself through intense, immersive and repeated listenings.

Suspension is Ambarchi’s most total and completely realised effort to date.

Guitar recorded in 2000 at jerker house & big jesus burger
Mastered @ Country Masters by Denis Blackham.
Photography: Jon Wozencroft.

Oren Ambarchi is an electronic guitarist and percussionist with longstanding interests in transcending conventional instrumental approaches. Born in Sydney in 1969, he has been performing live since 1986. His work focuses mainly on the exploration of the guitar, re-routing the instrument into a zone of alien abstraction where it’s no longer easily identifiable as itself. Instead, it’s a laboratory for extended sonic investigation. He has performed and recorded with Martin Ng (Australia), Christian Fennesz (Austria), Otomo Yoshihide (Japan), Pimmon (Australia), John Zorn (USA), Voice Crack (Switzerland), Sachiko M (Japan), Keith Rowe (UK), Phill Niblock (USA), Günter Müller (Switzerland), Evan Parker (UK), Toshimaru Nakamura(Japan) and many more. He recently toured with sunn0))), also contributing to their ‘Black One’ album from 2005.

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CD – 11 tracks

Track list:

1. Préambule (0:16)
2. Murmur (3:47)
3. Snork (14:26)
4. Lungs (3:47)
5. Simon (2:42)
6. Strategem (5:01)
7. Study N°1 (3:20)
8. Study N°3 (4:37)
9. Concurrents (2:54)
10. La Notte (4:06)
11. L’Eclisse (5:52)

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