Browse by Artist: AMBARCHI, OREN

Artist:	AMBARCHI, OREN
Title:	Stacte.3
Label:	BLACK TRUFFLE (AUSTRALIA)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.50
Catalog #:	BT 001CD

Originally released in 2000 on Plate Lunch as a limited-edition, vinyl-only album, Stacte.3 is now available on CD for the first time. Described by Wire scribe Jon Dale as "Alvin Lucier and Cluster collaborating for Mego," the concept of Oren Ambarchi's Stacte LP series -- now comprised of five volumes -- began in 1998. The first few Stacte LPs were self-released by Ambarchi and featured his earliest explorations of the guitar and its sonic possibilities after a period when he was known as a drummer in post-punk, noise and free jazz outfits. An idea was explored and investigated at length using a spontaneous approach, with Ambarchi treating each side of the vinyl like a canvas, slowly capturing a moment, patiently teasing every nuance and implication from each texture. His method allowed the listener to sink their teeth into something substantial over the course of the LP side's entire duration, resulting in an otherworldly, cumulative impact of patiently-unfolding compositions. The Stacte.3 release (especially the LP's second side), was a breakthrough for Ambarchi, and it defined the parameters for his subsequent projects such as 2001's Suspension and Grapes from the Estate from 2004, both released on the legendary UK label, Touch. Stacte.3 is an early glimpse of Ambarchi at his most raw and minimal, and it's a fascinating, integral listen in his catalog of sound works. Remastered in December 2008, with artwork designed by Stephen O'Malley.

Artist:	AMBARCHI, OREN
Title:	Persona
Label:	BLACK TRUFFLE (AUSTRALIA)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.50
Catalog #:	BT 002CD

Originally released on ERS in 2000 as a limited-edition (300 copies), vinyl-only release, Oren Ambarchi's Persona is now available on CD for the first time. Persona was recorded in February 2000, just a week after the Afternoon Tea collaboration with Fennesz, Pimmon, Peter Rehberg and Keith Rowe. Utilizing a raw and spontaneous approach like the Stacte series of solo releases, Ambarchi recorded the pieces on Persona at home in a day, using only his guitar, a handful of effect pedals, and a boombox as a monitor(!). Considered to be a "sister" release to Ambarchi's acclaimed Suspension album on Touch, the material on Persona was only heard by a handful of listeners. From the late '90s, his experiments in guitar abstraction and extended technique led to a more personal and unique soundworld and Persona was an early document of this direction. Here, the pieces are hesitant and tense extended songforms located in the cracks between several schools: modern electronics and processing; laminal improvisation and minimalism; and hushed, pensive songwriting. It recalls the deceptive simplicity and temporal suspensions of composers such as Morton Feldman and Alvin Lucier, and the physicality of rock music, stripped back to its bare bones, abstracted and replaced with pure signal. Remastered in December 2008, with artwork designed by Stephen O'Malley.

Artist:	AMBARCHI, OREN
Title:	Lost Like A Star
Label:	BO WEAVIL RECORDINGS (UK)
Format:	LP
Price:	$29.00
Catalog #:	WEAVIL 019LP

Originally released in 2007. Limited edition vinyl by the great Australian experimental guitarist, Oren Ambarchi. A Touch label recording artist, Oren has been making music since 1986, creating sounds from the guitar that one would not expect to hear. On this LP, two long tracks reside one per side, starting from minimal, low-frequency sounds to ever-growing drones of manipulated guitars... staggeringly beautiful! Limited to 650 hand-numbered copies.

Artist:	AMBARCHI, OREN
Title:	Triste
Label:	SOUTHERN LORD
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.50
Catalog #:	SUNN 046CD

"The recordings of Triste were previously available on limited edition LP (Idea label). This Southern Lord release combines the original LP recordings + some remix collaborations by Tom Recchion. It is available here for the first time in compact disc format. The Triste material is reminiscent of his work on Grapes from the Estate. Oren has transformed the guitar sound/tone into a dark, tonally extreme, percussive instrument. Imagine stripping Sunn0))), or Earth of all its distortion and layers, down to a singular pure immense tone. He then plays and arranges these subsonic tones melodically creating beautiful drone soundscapes. The sound of Oren Ambarchi could also be described as: glacial minimalism that will be of interest to listeners of experimental, ambient and avant garde sounds."

Artist:	AMBARCHI, OREN
Title:	A Final Kiss On Poisoned Cheeks
Label:	TABLE OF THE ELEMENTS
Format:	LP
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	TOE 095LP

"There is a vivid breadth to the guitar deconstructions of Australian Oren Ambarchi. Sometimes his work takes a delicate lilt; it can also dive into dark and deep pools of sound when he joins cowl-core ensembles Sunn O))) (with Stephen O'Malley) and Burial Chamber Trio (with Greg Anderson). Whether with those bands, solo, or in collaboration with luminaries ranging from Mike Patton and John Zorn to Christian Fennesz, he consistently reroutes his instrument into zones of arch, alien abstraction. A Final Kiss On Poisoned Cheeks offers a dizzying gaze straight into a chasm of extreme frequencies -- paint-peelingly high and bowel-churningly low -- all set atop a sub-strata of menace, angst, and contemplative beauty." Pressed on light-blue marbled, etched vinyl. B-side etching artwork by Savage Pencil.

Artist:	AMBARCHI, OREN
Title:	Suspension
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	TO 033.18CD

This is a reissue of the highly acclaimed 2001 album, Suspension by Australian musician Oren Ambarchi. He has released three albums for Touch: Insulation, Suspension and Grapes from the Estate. 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. As the title of this release 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. Ambarchi has performed and recorded with Martin Ng, Christian Fennesz, Otomo Yoshihide, Pimmon, John Zorn, Voice Crack, Sachiko M, Keith Rowe, Phill Niblock, G�nter M�ller, Evan Parker, Toshimaru Nakamura and many more. He recently toured with Sunn0))), also contributing to their Black One album.

Artist:	AMBARCHI, OREN
Title:	Grapes from the Estate
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	TO 061CD

"Oren Ambarchi's third solo project for Touch sees him reaching beyond the work for electric guitar that he's become recognized 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 humor 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."

Artist:	AMBARCHI, OREN
Title:	Intermission 2000-2008
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	TONE 040CD

Intermission brings together a range of material Australian sound artist 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 sound-world, 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 the first time. 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 '90s, 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 releases such as Grapes From The Estate (TO 061CD) 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 co-exist 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.

Artist:	AMBARCHI, OREN
Title:	Stacte Motors
Label:	WESTERN VINYL
Format:	12"
Price:	$9.00
Catalog #:	WEST 043EP

"Oren Ambarchi's Stacte Motors is the most recent addition to the Western Vinyl portrait series. Additionally, these pieces continue the Stacte series started in 1998 with Ambarchi's first self-released solo recordings. Similar to the 4 previous editions of the series, which explored one idea at length, Stacte Motors is an experiment in exciting instruments with a spinning motor with strings attached. The resulting recordings are metallic walls of minimalist drones, both fearless and dreamy."

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