Browse by Artist: PAUL, ASHLEY

Artist:	PAUL, ASHLEY
Title:	D.O.L
Label:	REL RECORDS
Format:	CD
Price:	$12.00
Catalog #:	REL 005CD

"D.O.L is the CD and full length debut release by Ashley Paul. At first D.O.L sounds like a minimalist psycho-acoustic experiment. Long sustained horn tones interweave with bowed bells and percussion. Subtle shifts in tone color encircle one another moving along and building, slowly and patiently. Yet also, a rough and aggressive quality exists in it, with ample bow sound and crackling electronic hiss. Shortly though, it becomes something very different with the entrance of Ashley's whispered singing, guitars, bells and reeds. She sings something resembling a song, in her understated vocal style, but it is a song you have certainly never heard before. Corrupt lullabies glide along with an odd, lop-sided sense of timing from section to section. Chaotic and crude sound bubbles underneath, with a mish-mash of guitars, reeds, keyboards, electronics and field recordings collaged in elliptical shapes forming harsh and unidentifiable sound clusters. Suddenly sustained harmonium and horns enter, droning and exiting. They overlap with pitches and tapes, which create beautiful upper harmonic patterns and combination tones. Occasional broken vibrato filled saxophone lines shine through, only to abruptly exit. The piece ends as it begins with droning bells, soprano saxophone and tape recordings, leaving one baffled in the best sense of the word. Ashley has been very active over the last year, performing with Loren Connors, Aki Onda and Greg Kelley; participating in a new work by Phill Niblock for soprano saxophone and bowed crotales (played by Eli Keszler), and performing consistently with Anthony Coleman in duo, trio and on his recent New World Records release. In addition, she performed as part of the USA premiere of Mauricio Kagel's masterpiece Der Schall at Merkin Hall in New York City. 'D.O.L' is packaged in a hand painted matte grey arigato pak, with a silver embossed design. Hand embossed with a unique 'white wax/diamond' seal on the back, with a vellum insert wrapping around the CD. All are hand made and designed by Ashley. Pressed in a one-time edition of 500."

Artist:	PAUL, ASHLEY
Title:	To Much Togethers
Label:	REL RECORDS
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.00
Catalog #:	REL 015CD

"Over two years in the making, To Much Togethers is the follow up album to Ashley's 2008 D.O.L release. Patiently crafted and paced, To Much Togethers continues on Ashley's unique path of 'song' style. Combining clattering strings (her custom green-box string set up), psycho-acoustic sustain and decay, bowed metal, expressive saxophone, subtle and ear grabbing sense of color, and distant voice, all slowly creating mood and thought provoking miniatures that succeed in fitting into no known forms. Lyrically focusing on surreal and repetitive images contrasted by both harsh, aggressive textures and quite moving and spacious moments. Conflicting and deep energies and spaces seem to co-exist in Ashley's world. To Much Togethers is a unique creation as Ashley moves deeper into her own individual realm, where she is truly on her own. As much an audible experience as visual, To Much Togethers is remarkably packaged, featuring drawings by Gayle Paul (Ashley's mother), whose intuitive creations compliment the feeling of the music. Custom assembled, and printed by Ashley Paul the striking 'LP style' red cover features multi layers of screening with a screen-printed black obi wrapped around the spine of the fold-out cover. The inside features another screened drawing by Gayle Paul with a green with black over-layed CD hub. The left side features a glued black folder containing two more inserts with screen printed drawings with liner notes, a metallic paper insert in addition to an oval 'wagtail' sticker, with full color on CD printing. To Much Togethers is a limited edition of 300 copies and marks the second full length album in REL's limited CD series."

Artist:	PAUL, ASHLEY
Title:	Line the Clouds
Label:	REL RECORDS
Format:	LP
Price:	$19.00
Catalog #:	REL 020LP

"Multi-faceted composer and performer Ashley Paul releases her new LP. A hyper-intuitive record, where off-kilter instrumentation meets beautifully crafted melodies to convey the very essence of 'musicality,' Line the Clouds contains 44.18 minutes of sonic paradoxes and dichotomies. Stirring up a zephyr of twelve blissfully cacophonous sounds -- singular moments of an indivisible whole -- the focus is on guitar, voice and saxophone, but Ashley also employs everything from flute, clarinet, guitar, bells, percussion and prepared strings in her melodic endeavours which simultaneously plugs in the ghost of American song. From 'Wide Expanse' -- where high-pitched reeds and whistles collide with richer tones and Ashley's fragile voice -- through the simple, sparkling beauty of the LP's title track -- with the guitar at the helm -- and the multi-vocal flutterings of 'Watch Them Pass,' there's also the freeing experimentalism and atonal clatter of 'Feb.21' -- a song which ably immortalises a feeling of stomach churning anguish -- and the album's gentle, abstract finale 'You're a Feeling.' This Brooklyn based artist is at the vanguard of the new wave of music currently rippling through the city where opposing strains of style and sound work in unison. Line the Clouds will be available in a limited edition LP available on colored vinyl in a custom sealed package with screen printed wraparound of Ashley's animal drawings, in addition to a digital version."

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