.

yui onodera: suisei

moljebka pvlse: driftsond

christopher willits + ryuichi sakamoto: ocean fire

sigur rós: heima

steinbrüchel: basis

new music:

-yui onodera: suisei

2007

so far, one of my favourite discs of 2007

-moljebka pvlse: driftsond

gears of sand, 2007

blissful and melancholic guitar drone composed by mathias josefon.

-christopher willits + ryuichi sakamoto: ocean fire

12k, 2007

willits: guitar, computer and sakamoto: piano, computer. a wonderful disc sound-wise, and graphic-wise (superbly designed by taylor deupree).

-sigur rós: heima

dvd, 2007

some definite problems with editing and camera tricks, but a great film all the same, esp. the intimate acoustic moments and landscape photography.

also includes a track by chris watson from his weather report, and some field-recording work by him (and jana winderen).

-steinbrüchel: basis
room40, 2007
(basis is based on recordings of acoustic instruments. all sounds were processed and layered into compositions by steinbrüchel. through this processing steinbrüchel revealed hidden structures and melodies and isolated them, creating new melodic and organic textures without losing the soul of the original.
the four tracks interlude 1 - 4 are based on guitar recordings from happiness will befall by lawrence english, released on cronica in 2005. these 1 + 2 are also based on guitar recordings, this time taken from ben frost's 'theory of machines', released on bedroom community in 2006. the track falter draws on piano recordings by bernd schurer and was originally presented as a 5.1 surround installation at leerraum in berne, switzerland, in november 2005.)

-phil mouldycliff: written on water
icr, 2007

with 2 very fine tracks including the spirit of place, with manipulated field recordings.

-stephan mathieu: the sad mac
headz, 2004

how did i go so long not hearing this i wonder?, one of his best discs.

-stephen vitiello: bright and dusty things
new albion, 2001

-alio die & yannick dauby: desendre cinq lacs au travers d'une voile
aqua, 1998

-christina kubisch: armonica
semishigure, 2005

-olivia block: change ringing
cut, 2005
combining electronics and acoustic instruments.

-michael cashmore: sleep england

dutro/jnana records, 2006

melodic songs on electric guitar and bass.

-meursalt: sleeping debris
students of decay, 2007
(solo moniker of shaun falconer, a musician based out of glasgow. employing bowed guitars and piano, falconer coaxes frail webs of cascading drones and beautiful swelling timbres into evocative mantras which hang thick in the air like fog.)
not unlike the work of scott tuma, steven r smith, richard skelton, or the blithe sons.

-stars of the lid: carte-de-visite
s/r, 2007
unreleased tour cd

-sylvain chauveau: nuage
type records, 2007

-klimek: dedications
anticipate, 2007

-machinefabriek + leo fabriek: fabriek + fabriek
s/r, 2007

-tenniscoats: tan-tan therapy
hapna, 2007

some fine tracks

-steve roden: four possible landscapes
trente oiseaux, 2000

so strange and delicately made

-francisco lópez: lopez island

elevator bath, 2007

-tim hecker: norberg
room40, 2007

-ben frost: steel wound
room40, 2003/2007

(since his earliest days, ben frost has been fascinated by the cinematic qualities of the guitar. his output to this point has hinted at this, but with steelwound he makes a bold statement of intent. finding his way to a deserted stretch of johanna beach along the great ocean road (victoria, australia) in early 2003 frost set up a remote studio at a derelict cabin overlooking the icy waters of bass strait. with a constant wind flowing off the sea his only companion, frost started work on a series of improvisations that would eventually become steelwound. a few months go by and frost has made his way back to civilization. he begins editing the masses of treated guitar from the johanna beach improvisations and before long a theme takes hold - one that very much reflects the isolation of the environment where the tracks were created. each of the pieces on steelwound is a epic journey, coloured with a deep sense of filmic narrative and suggested dialogues. the textural quality of the works, laced with field recordings and lost vocal fragments, sketches out the emotional soundscapes frost had unwittingly gathered during his time at johanna beach. each piece is a splintered fragment in time - a forgotten memory beautifully rediscovered in a moment of introspection.)

magic hour two, images of heaven

images of heaven, 2007
magic hour number two by m swiezynski

(starring mouse and midnight [les chats],
the lightowlers, langston and arthur de eriomém)

shot using a nd filter, drone techniques, 6 actors, the setting sun,
and shooting methods devised for shooting such actresses as greta garbo and marlene dietrich
all titles from francis a yates' the art of memory

dedicated to the late friend and actor mr. midnight (le chat)

( as defined dreams of moments sometimes )

antonella de messina: the annunciation, 1476

determined moments from recent dreams
określane momenty od niedawnych snów
since a short time defined moments dreams
zaczynając od (od czasu; od tego czasu, jak) krótki czas określał sny momentów
from beginning ( since; from this time, as defined dreams of moments ) short time (sometimes)
od rozpoczęcia ( zaczynając od (od czasu; od tego czasu, jak); od tego czasu, jak (ponieważ) określał sny momentów ) krótki czas (czasem)
from beginning from ( beginning ( since; from this time, as ); from this time, as ( as defined dreams of moments sometimes ) ) short time (sometimes) ( ):

(jonathan coleclough)
-torch songs · jonathan coleclough & andrew liles
-one hour as sixty million years
-husk · jonathan coleclough & murmer
-long heat · jonathan coleclough & lethe
-makruna · minya
-leaves on the track · jonathan coleclough & colin potter (on intransitive twenty-three compilation)
-jonathan coleclough · bass communion · colin potter
-beech for john and miho · jonathan coleclough & tim hill
-beech · jonathan coleclough & tim hill (on infernal proteus compilation)
-period (with track by colin potter called periodic)
-low ground · jonathan coleclough & colin potter
-halant | heat | beech
-sumac · jonathan coleclough & andrew chalk
-cake

(with hopefully more someday)
((mr. de eriomém will be on vacation for a few days, and no posts, happy t.g.))

rue de vaugirard, 1909 at yale

m swiezynski: rue de vaugirard, 1909, 1998

recent screening at yale university school of art (november 5, 2007) of an older video by the unrecognized polish film-maker.

this video was originally shot on 16mm, then transferred to video, then back to film and finally to video again (under the spell of lucier's i am sitting in a room). slowmotion techniques were used for visual accuracy, and a contact mic was placed on the screen to decipher the many colours and textures.

the original footage was of trees and a fountain, all within range of: a. a place of worship, and b. the california st cable car with its lovely drones. the idea (failed) was to record the city in a way that it might have been perceived by atget if he had been here, or by the cable car tracks themselves.
and in addition; a process of looking at the present as if it was an image from an old book (an atget book for example), or from an old film. to dwell in the past so that you can no longer see the world around you as it is, but as it was or could be, to be modern and archaic at the same time.

było ciemno, gdy noc w cieniach (pogrążona), it was dark as night in shadows

joseph cornell: box with bird's nest and oak galls
cornell study center
from joseph cornell navigating the imagination

dirty skylight window (or rainy day effect dim light)-
then very conscious of mechanics of light coming thru
or by a table very bright...

stained hands with black ink not minding

(page 15)


-also a sequence of being on a couch and looking out
as though over a river at night & up at the constellations
-but as though they were seen in a picture book

(page 19)


standing gazing into open space rural- exquisitely
quintessential atmosphere of indian summer light...

-this one fragment best recalled mystical- akin to
eakins' painting of the scull tower

(page 50)


same very pale blue a gauzy opaque smoke grey- mass
overheard something from last night's dream almost
forming an image- soft mystical light on things helped
by the dirty windows

(page 56)


last night- a dream sequence about observing the city
in some phen. light- color- old + new- an image too
much to grasp in words- children looking out with me
something flowered from a large window frame

(page 67)


dream remembered- the sublime ones
too elusive detail only- large slices of snow

(page 68)


incident of a batch of pencils being sharpened much
lost

(page 76)


brace of dreams into clear
catching a rabbit looking more like a fox
in hand goes to sleep
wakes up close-up
turns into my hand

(page 79)


field mouse
dream of mouse
live coals walking right into them unscathed

(page 93)


i go into the modest dwelling- "business" of a
labyrinthine wandering through the rooms...

beaut. music was going on non-vocal- one cd not
discern the source-

(page 103)


całe pozycje od joseph cornell's dreams zredagowany przez catherine corman
(tytułują od strony 4)
alt. title: to był ciemne jak (ponieważ) wieczór późny w cieniach

certain (of) the good humour of the duck

duck hunter falls out of boat; drowns , goop joe's poultry pages by joseph cornell (made for his family) on view at the sfmoma

humour and the sublime. the noise was quite rambunctious at the cornell show, so i put on my headphones and i persuaded my ipod to act randomly by blindly pushing the buttons, and she chose to play akira rabelais/harold budd's as long as i can hold my breath, which i was very thankful for.

navigating the berlin alexanderplatz

the first image from rainer werner fassbinder's berlin alexanderplatz, 1980

joseph cornell: navigating the imagination by lynda roscoe hartigan

this week (and last), i was able to aquire two of the greatest items imaginable, (and to see the joseph cornell exhibition at the sfmoma).
both this film and cornell's work have been guiding lights for me over the last 15 years or so (berlin alexanderplatz has been one of my favourite films, that i have never seen), and it is nice that they both arrived simultaneously.
mark lapore, one of the most inspiring teachers i had, would always say that reading about andy warhol's films was the biggest influence on his own work and aesthetic, even though he had not seen the films until later on in his life. that the idea of warhol's films was so overwhelming for him (of course seeing them later on, further inspired him), has always been such a beautiful concept for me, and berlin alexanderplatz has been that unseen film for me.
more posts to come on each as i spend more time with them.

(please excuse this old pole's uncouth english, it is not his native language...nor is polish)

13 images of walking through fog from werckmeister harmonies (some related to the young death trilogy)

béla tarr: werckmeister harmonies, 2000

shot length: 3.2 minutes

one of the many long walking shots found in werckmeister harmonies, and, not unrelated to movements/moments found within gus van sant's young death trilogy, esp. gerry, 2002:




shot relates to tarr's 5 minute shot in werckmeister harmonies (half of which is spent on walking) found 1 hour into the film, with jános and the professor walking.

shot length: 3.75


nearing young death:















shot length: 7 minutes


(13 images to cross through the fog of harmonies of werckmeister, something related to the young trilogy of the death)