...and every love find its beloved one.

alonso sánchez coello
retrato de las infantas isabel clara eugenia y catalina micaela de habsburgo

the years of warmth are soon to be unfolded;
the stranger comes and endless time begins
when earth and sea into sweet love are molded,
the queen will wake from dreamland's origins.

novalis - henry von ofterdingen

(for matthew)

weaving the feathers of a blackbird with breath and strings

nayoro from the solitude of ravens - 1977

kanazawa from the solitude of ravens - 1977

wakkanai from the solitude of ravens - 1975

noboribetsu - 1979

noboribetsu - 1979

noboribetsu - 1979

noboribetsu - 1979

noboribetsu - 1979

nayoro from the solitude of ravens - 1976

(photographs - masahisa fukase)

—

at once a voice arose among
the bleak twigs overhead
in a full-hearted evensong
of joy illimited;
an aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small,
in blast-beruffled plume,
had chosen thus to fling his soul
upon the growing gloom.

- thomas hardy - the darkling thrush

—

stephen vitiello with eighth blackbird
magic if/iea - 2008

—

darkling i listen; and, for many a time
i have been half in love with easeful death,
call'd him soft names in many a mused rhyme,
to take into the air my quiet breath...

- john keats - ode to a nightingale


(... many thanks to tarrl morley for the masahisa fukase inspiration & to james prochnik for directing attention to the darkling thrush)

till her breath warmed his face

tarrl morley

new review of colin andrew sheffield's signatures by jim haynes in the wire magazine, right next to giancarlo toniutti's stunning new cd qwalsamtimutkw?italuc'ik (and now he almost did make himself into hemlock needles, it is said) sound-field for rattle-harp

....there's plenty of preamble when it comes to this album from colin sheffield. this artist works reductively with appropriated material, and this is a label that is dedicated to works evoking avian life and their environment. signatures presents an opaque set of recordings through that conceptual lens in these four monochromatic tracks of suspended drone and din. the flattened layers of the first three tracks have the gravity of thick grey concrete, occasionally arcing into curved surfaces and bulging masses. while it's hard to categorise any of these sounds as birdlike, they are impressively physical renderings of a minimalist ethos. the album's finale "breath of day" is considerably lighter, with a sustained tone burst that resembles the church organs from touch's spire series. sheffield directs us toward heaven: and in casting our eyes upward, there's the chance we might spot a rare bird soaring in the sunlight.

other fine reviews:

hardformat
textura
bagatellen
just outside
vital weekly
tokafi

darkness moves:

- svarte greiner - penpals forever - digitalis limited - 2008
- svarte greiner - kappe - type - 2008
- svarte greiner - man bird dress - smtg limited - 2008
- elegi - sistereis - miasmah recordings - 2007
- elegi - verde - miasmah - 2009
- jacaszek - treny - miasmah - 2008
- mark peter wright - a quiet reverie - resonance fm - 2009
- andrew chalk (as ferial confine) - first, second, and third - siren records - 1986/2008
- john luther adams - in the white silence - new world records - 2003
- loren chasse - exfolia motors - unique ancient tavern - 2000
- loren chasse - fantasy apparition - s'agita recordings - 2002
- loren chasse (of) - quartz pond - jewelled antler - 2004
- loren chasse, phil mouldycliff, colin potter, keith rowe - debris field ambient wash - icr - 2006
- tim hecker - an imaginary country - kranky - 2009
- the hafler trio - how to slice a loaf of bread - phonometrography - 2003
- celer - tropical - mystery sea - 2008
- celer - cursory asperses - slow flow - 2008
- the jewelled antler library - porter records - 2008
- steve roden - ice - 2009
- steve roden - a slow moving boat - new plastic music - 2008
- machinefabriek - dauw - dekorder - 2008
- stephen vitiello - stephen vitiello with eighth blackbird - magic if 2008
- apm - sprint mill - icr - 2008
- alexander knaifel - blazhenstva - ecm - 2008
- dale lloyd - aionios the fundament - mystery sea - 2004

title from thomas hardy's tess of the d'urbervilles