Browse by Label: SAMADHISOUND

Artist:	SYLVIAN, DAVID
Title:	Blemish
Label:	SAMADHISOUND
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	SAMAD 001CD

A new solo album from David Sylvian, featuring guests Derek Bailey & Fennesz! Mainly intended as a mail-order only release, this will have limited distribution... "His first since Dead Bees on a Cake. It is the debut release for his own Samadhi Sound label. David set aside a month to write and record the album while taking a break from the project that he and his brother, Steve Jansen, are currently working on. He has created an impromptu suite of songs for guitar, electronics and voice. The compositions were crafted from improvisational sessions captured live in the studio. Working almost entirely alone David has created an emotionally raw, minimal work, of immediacy and stark beauty. Although there are elements in his previous body of work that hint at the direction taken here the CD, entitled simply Blemish, appears to cover new ground in style, content, intensity of emotion, and in the seemly open ended nature of the compositions themselves. Adding to the intensity and air of experimentation is the presence of Derek Bailey. Three of the pieces included on Blemish were written with, and feature, the legendary free-jazz guitarist. The final track of the CD features a haunting electronic arrangement by Christian Fennesz."

Artist:	SYLVAIN/RYUICHI SAKAMOTO, DAVID
Title:	World Citizen
Label:	SAMADHISOUND
Format:	CD
Price:	$9.00
Catalog #:	SAMAD 002CD

"Some months back Ryuichi instigated the chain-music project. A chain letter in musical form, anti-war in origination. He originally asked me to write a set of lyrics for the project. Initially I felt apprehensive about taking on such weighty subject matter lyrically. In a very real sense this approach to lyric writing is the antithesis to my own. I also happened to be travelling at the time the request reached me so, reluctantly, I felt I had to turn it down. However, as the week wore on I found myself pacing the streets of London with the beginnings of an idea for a piece called 'World Citizen'. On my return to the US, I found the chain-music composition waiting for me. My immediate response to the piece was to repeat two lines at the heart of the composition, one of which was the phrase 'World Citizen'. The title resonated in a simple way. A necessary redirection of focus away from the national towards the global. That evening I penned the song 'World Citizen'. I recorded a one-take demo a week later and sent an MP3 file to Ryuichi to see if, in his opinion, the piece was worth pursuing. The initial response was muted. A few days later Ryuichi said that he liked the concept of World Citizen and wondered if we couldn't write a more pop orientated piece with the same title. After a few false starts Ryu sent a loop of a sampled piano. To this I composed and recorded the lyric and melody of the song and returned the files to Ryuichi. He passed them onto Harumi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi (Sketch Show) who made valuable contributions to the piece. It was at this time that Ryuichi called and suggested we record the version of 'World Citizen' I'd originally sent to him. We spent a week putting the piece together in NY with Skuli Sverrisson (Laurie Anderson) on bass, Amedeo Pace (Blonde Redhead) on guitar and Steve Jansen on drums. Ryuichi and I mixed the piece together in NY. The following week Ryuichi returned to the composition now known as World Citizen (I won't be disappointed)', finally making a connection with the song, completing it with rhythm, melody and producing the final mix." -- David Sylvian September 2003. "Sylvian and Sakamoto collaborated for the first time in 1982 when they wrote the double A side 'Bamboo Music / Bamboo Houses', but it was in 1983 that they scored a Top 20 hit with 'Forbidden Colours'. Since then both David and Ryuichi have forged successful ground-breaking careers which have left in their wake such album's as Brilliant Trees and Dead Bees On A Cake for Sylvian, and the score to The Last Emperor and most recently a Morelenbaum tribute album for Sakamoto. There are five tracks included on World Citizen, in a different running order and with completely different artwork to the package that was released late last year by Warner Music Japan. The final track of the CD features a remix by acclaimed remixer Ryoji Ikeda. The songs were recorded in New York and New Hampshire, USA in the summer of 2003. Sylvian and Sakamoto have not released a record together for 21 years, which makes this a very special release. World Citizen, with its powerful lyrics and excellent melody, is a must have for all Sylvian and Sakamoto fans."

Artist:	RABELAIS, AKIRA
Title:	Spellewauerynsherde
Label:	SAMADHISOUND
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	SAMAD 003CD

"Spellewauerynsherde: Spell. Wavering. Shard. Spell as in speaking, incantation, a digitally constructed matrix of words and voices, summoning up a strange, distant past. Wavering: the shivering of those voices as they dissolve and recombine in Rabelais... rich filtering systems, turning into pulsating, frequency rich drones. Shard: fragments, of voices, of ideas, of memories, of the past, brought back to life again. Spellewauerynsherde is built up from found sounds, field recordings of traditional Icelandic a cappella lament songs recorded in the late 1960s or early 1970s on Ampex tapes and then forgotten about. After discovering the neglected tapes, cleaning them up and digitizing them for a library, Rabelais became fascinated with the heartbreaking sadness of the voices and began to think of them as source material for a series of compositions."

Artist:	BUDD, HAROLD
Title:	Avalon Sutra
Label:	SAMADHISOUND
Format:	2CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	SAMAD 004CD

"Avalon Sutra is to be California-born American minimalist composer and pianist Harold Budd's last recorded work. Best known for his collaborations with Brian Eno, contributing his stunning piano work to key recordings such as 1980's Ambient 2: Plateau of Mirror, Budd has produced a series of remarkable minimalist compositions and recordings, including Pavilion of Dreams, The Pearl and The Room, which have earned him worldwide respect. Budd has collaborated with the Cocteau Twins' Robin Guthrie, Daniel Lanois, XTC's Andy Partridge and saxophonists Marion Brown and John Gibson amongst many others, and has been a major influence on the development of contemporary ambient and electronic music. Avalon Sutra (released as a 2 disc set) is a suite of short, heartbreaking ambient pieces, featuring Budd's delicate piano improvisations, lush string arrangements and warm electronic drones. The second disc ('As Long As I Can Hold My Breath') features a startling remix by LA based electronic composer Akira Rabelais, sending Budd's arrangements into Feldmanesque eternities of sound."'Avalon Sutra is Budd at the pinnacle of his creativity, a master of meditative beauty.' Marcus Boon.

Artist:	SYLVIAN, DAVID
Title:	The Good Son vs. The Only Daughter
Label:	SAMADHISOUND
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	SAMAD 005CD

"David Sylvian personally commissioned remixes of material from his critically acclaimed album Blemish, which was released in 2003. This album of remixes entitled The Good Son Vs. The Only Daughter includes innovative contributions from Burnt Friedman, Yoshihiro Hanno, Ryoji Ikeda, Akira Rabelais, Readymade FC, and more. One of the top 2 'Albums of the Year' for The Wire magazine in 2003, Blemish was heralded by many as an extraordinary work that cemented Sylvian's reputation of always challenging himself as well as his audience. The remixers involved in this project include some of the most creative and globally respected individuals at the forefront of musical experimentation and sound manipulation. Presented in a digipak, with artwork by Atsushi Fukui and design by Chris Bigg this release continues Samadhisound's commitment to creating beautifully packaged, stunning music."

Artist:	NINE HORSES
Title:	Snow Borne Sorrow
Label:	SAMADHISOUND
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	SAMAD 006CD

"Nine Horses' Snow Borne Sorrow is a collaboration between David Sylvian, his brother and frequent collaborator / drummer Steve Jansen (also formerly of Japan) and electronic composer / remixer Burnt Friedman. Lyrically and vocally, Snow Borne Sorrow continues the maturing darkness of Sylvian's last solo release Blemish -- songs of struggle, doubt and resolve, Bergman-like glimpses of the realities and difficulties of intimate relationship, flashes of light and humility and caustic words about the excuses our leaders manage to find not to 'love thy neighbor.' Snow Borne Sorrow was made with a cast of contributors, including Norwegian trumpeter and Supersilent member Arve Henriksen, Swedish vocalist Stina Nordenstam, who adds marvellously elliptical responses to Sylvian's vocal on the opening 'Wonderful World,' and Ryuichi Sakamoto on piano. On the title for the album Sylvian says: 'Winter provokes introspection. Even more so the long hard winters surrounded by that cushioning, muted, numbing whiteness. It can also be a time of enormous creativity, of resolutions, resoluteness, clarity and conviction.'"

Artist:	TOOP, DAVID
Title:	Sound Body
Label:	SAMADHISOUND
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	SAMAD 009CD

"David Toop's Sound Body hums and glows with life, five gorgeous morphing electronic tracks that continue Samadhisound's exploration of quiet, minimal, melodic music worlds created by the likes of Harold Budd, Akira Rabelais, Fennesz, Derek Bailey, David Sylvian and others. These remarkable soundscapes have only become possible in the twenty-first century, when improvisation, digital composing and mixing, and traditional music forms from around the globe all mutate and fuse in ways that surprise and delight. Journalist, musician and author, Toop has also recorded shamanistic ceremonies in Amazonas, appeared on Top Of The Pops with the Flying Lizards, worked with musicians including Brian Eno, John Zorn, Prince Far I, Jon Hassell, Derek Bailey, Talvin Singh, Evan Parker, Scanner, Ivor Cutler, Akio Suzuki and Jin Hi Kim, and collaborated with artists such as theatre director/actor Steven Berkoff. In 1998, he composed the soundtrack for Acqua Matrix, the outdoor spectacular that closed every night of Lisbon Expo '98. His first album, New and Rediscovered Musical Instruments, was released on Brian Eno's Obscure label in 1975; since 1995 he has released seven solo albums, including Screen Ceremonies, Pink Noir, and Black Chamber. He has also written four groundbreaking books on music, currently translated into seven languages including Ocean of Sound, Exotica and Haunted Weather. Sound Body is presented in a digipak with artwork and design by Chris Bigg, continuing Samadhisound's commitment to creating beautifully packaged, stunning music."

Artist:	NINE HORSES
Title:	Money For All
Label:	SAMADHISOUND
Format:	CD
Price:	$11.00
Catalog #:	SAMAD 010CD

"This mini-album is the follow-up release to the highly acclaimed debut album from Nine Horses Snow Borne Sorrow. Nine Horses is a collaborative project that brings together David Sylvian, his brother Steve Jansen (ex-Japan), and the well-respected Burnt Friedman. They have created a suite of remarkably poignant songs that are part social commentary and part self-analysis. Sylvian and his collaborators have never sounded better nor the material more immediate. Money For All is a mini-album that includes two brand new tracks ('Money For All' and 'Get The Hell Out'), one track previously available in Japan featuring Stina Nordenstam and reinterpretations of previous Nine Horses tracks remixed by Burnt Friedman."

Artist:	SYLVIAN, DAVID
Title:	When Loud Weather Buffeted Naoshima
Label:	SAMADHISOUND
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	SAMAD 011CD

"When Loud Weather Buffeted Naoshima was commissioned by the Naoshima Fukutake Art Museum Foundation on the island of Naoshima, Japan as part of the Naoshima Standard 2 exhibition which ran from Oct 2006 to April 2007. The composition is site specific. In fact, Sylvian has said that the work isn't really complete until the sounds of the town Honmura are incorporated into the listening experience. For the Samadhisound release of When Loud Weather... Sylvian has incorporated some of the sounds of the island into the final mix. While this obviously doesn't compare to the experience of listening to the work in situ, it goes someway towards creating an echo of it. In the process, Sylvian's created a piece which might find new and interesting interpretations in a variety of unanticipated contexts. 'I attempted to create a work that increased the awareness of other dimensions of reality while complimenting, contrasting, and extending those physically at hand. A multiple exposure, a layering, mapping reference points both real and imagined. The "loud weather" referred to in the title is in reference to the emotional life of the island complemented by its spiritual ancestry and its influence on everyday life.' This idea of the superimposition of landscapes and of a multi-layered dimensionality came about due to the fact that the Chichu Art Museum, located on the island and owned by the Fukutake Foundation, is situated beneath ground level and housed in that structure are four of Monet's water lily paintings. The 20th century French landscape of Giverny as seen through Monet's eyes housed beneath the earth of a Japanese Island floating in the Seto Inland Sea. There's even an interpretation of Monet's garden, incorporating many of the plants he cherished, close to the entrance of the museum. This release will only be made available in a limited edition format (a DVD digipak beautifully designed by our own Chris Bigg with cover art by Sachiyo Tsurumi) for a limited time after which it will be deleted from the catalog. As the Foundation have decided to make the audio a part of the permanent collection on the island it will be there that the work will remain accessible once the Samadhisound edition is ended. The recording was performed by an ensemble of musicians: Clive Bell, Christian Fennesz, Arve Henriksen, Akira Rabelais, and David Sylvian."

Artist:	JANSEN, STEVE
Title:	Slope
Label:	SAMADHISOUND
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	SAMAD 012CD

"Former Japan band member and regular David Sylvian collaborator Steve Jansen releases his astonishing solo album on Samadhisound this Autumn. On Slope, tension underlies the crisp rhythms and intricate programming, while a collection of distinctive vocalists draw out the sentiment and expression in his songwriting. As Jansen explains, 'with this album I approached composition attempting to avoid chord and song structures and the usual familiar building blocks. Instead I wanted to piece together unrelated sounds, music samples, rhythms and 'events' in an attempt to deviate from my own trappings as a musician.' The album features guest contributions from Sweet Billy Pilgrim, Thomas Feiner, Anja Garbarek, Nina Kinert, David Sylvian, Theo Travis and Joan Wasser (Joan As Policewoman). Presented as ever in a beautiful digipak featuring exquisite artwork from Australian artist Dan McPharlin and designed by Chris Bigg."

Artist:	FEINER & ANYWHEN, THOMAS
Title:	The Opiates Revised
Label:	SAMADHISOUND
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	SAMAD 013CD

"The Opiates opens like a journey: on 'The Siren Songs,' an anxious orchestra buoys the captivating baritone of singer Thomas Feiner. This sets the tone for an album that's stunning in its beauty reminiscent of Sylvian, The Tindersticks and Nick Cave -- and that once lay on the brink of disaster. While the album began as a group effort, the band dissolved in the two years it took to complete -- leaving Feiner to finish the project alone. Born in Gothenburg, Sweden, Feiner was the frontman of Anywhen throughout the '90s, working with a core group of Mikael Andersson Tigerstr�m on bass, Kalle Thorslund on drums, and Jan Sandahl on guitar. They released their debut LP, As We Know It, in 1993, and followed it with an eponymous album in 1996, produced by drummer and percussionist Michael Blair (Tom Waits, Elvis Costello). Originally recorded in 2001, The Opiates was to be the band's third full-length album, and its last. On the Scott Walker-like ballad 'Dinah and the Beautiful Blue,' Feiner tests his lowest register over the brooding strings of the Warsaw Radio Symphony Orchestra. Atmospheric ballads blend seamlessly with more traditional rock songs such as 'Mesmerene,' and the album's romantic impulses temper its intricate arrangements -- like the swirling woodwinds and delusional guitar of 'Postcard,' or the gentle woodwinds on 'Toy,' which echo Mark Hollis' self-titled album. This updated, re-packaged and newly mastered edition of The Opiates includes two of Feiner's more recent songs: 'Yonderhead,' and 'For Now,' which was also featured in the German film Love in Thoughts. For many this will be the first they have heard of Feiner, and it comes several years after Sylvian first heard the album, which he regards as a lost classic since it never came out in many territories. Sylvian recalls, 'The dark, brooding, romantic nature of the material and, in particular, the emotional gravity of Thomas' voice, came as something of a surprise to me as it was quite out of keeping with my listening habits of the time but I couldn't help but be drawn into its widescreen, color-drained, soundscapes.' Presented as ever in a beautiful digipak designed by Chris Bigg, featuring exquisite images of Jean Cocteau and Marcel Khill taken by Cecil Beaton."

Artist:	NAKAMURA, TOSHIMARU
Title:	Egrets
Label:	SAMADHISOUND
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	SAMAD 017CD

"To fans of free improvisation and the Japanese onkyo, or noise scene, Toshimaru Nakamura needs no introduction; to newcomers, the name of his instrument -- the no-input mixing board -- may sound forbidding, or mechanistic. But for over a decade, Nakamura has cultivated a world of tones from this unlikely instrument, making music both harsh and mesmerizing, humanist and expansive -- with something to lure in music fans of any stripe. 'Egrets has Toshi's signature minimalist stamp but sonically there's a lot more variation to this work,' says founder of samadhisound David Sylvian. 'I have great admiration for Toshi, for his sense of discipline, his risk taking, his openness, generosity and intelligence.' Two guests join Nakamura on this release. 'Semi' is a duo with guitarist Tetuzi Akiyama, who has collaborated with Nakamura for over a decade. 'Since we started to play together, we have been functioning as a unit to host guests to form a trio or quartet, sometimes larger. I think that has given a character to our duo. Observing ourselves, it seems like we don't play' on' each other so much. Instead, we reserve some room for other musicians and listeners.' Their duet is spacious, but complete; Akiyama's ringing acoustic guitar leaves wide spaces where Nakamura chatters and fizzes, quiet but busy like a bird circling a behemoth. By contrast, this was the first time Nakamura had worked with Arve Henriksen, the in-demand trumpeter and co-founder of the acclaimed electro-acoustic group Supersilent. They met at a 2009 session in London, which was organized by David Sylvian during the recording of his audio installation, When We Return You Won't Recognize Us. Henriksen recorded duo and solo performances for this project, which Nakamura pared down to breath sounds and instrument noises: we hear every exhalation and every click of the valves on 'Heater/Refrigerator,' while on 'Tane' the two banter vigorously, bubbling ideas from the guts of one instrument to the other. 'Egrets' is presented in a digipak with artwork and design by Chris Bigg, continuing Samadhisound's commitment to creating beautifully packaged, stunning music."

Artist:	BANG, JAN
Title:	...And Poppies From Kandahar
Label:	SAMADHISOUND
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	SAMAD 018CD

"Jan Bang's first album under his own name evokes a powerful sense of place -- but it's not a place you would recognize, or ever expect to find. A descendent of Jon Hassell's 'fourth world' concept, it sketches scenes of struggle and malice, in locales both primitive and urbane. As a producer, Bang stitches it together like a patchwork atlas and then makes the seams disappear: live recordings and studio constructions, old samples and new solos come together to form an exquisite whole. Bang recruits a cast of collaborators from Norway and beyond, who will be familiar to anyone who's followed his recent productions: trumpeter and vocalist Arve Henriksen, whose albums Cartography and Chiaroscuro were co-produced by Bang; the stunning vocalist Sidsel Endresen, whose captivating turn on 'The Midwife's Dilemma' grows out of a moan and a half-croak; and samadhisound founder David Sylvian, who wrote the titles for each piece and the album as a whole, setting these abstract scenes in a disruptive context. The sounds on ...And Poppies From Kandahar come from the studio and the stage, close-mic'd instruments and field recordings, the clank of a bottle and the grandeur of an orchestra. Says Bang, 'As a 'samplist' I collect sounds that may become useful in other situations. It�s much like collecting sand shells without knowing how to use them -- just keeping them because of their pure beauty.' The result transcends idiom or genre. A sample of guitarist Eivind Aarset clicks over humble handclaps on 'The Midwife's Dilemma'; trumpeter Nils Petter Molv�r solos over a melody by Robert Schumann. 'Self Injury' is a hybrid of live and studio tapes, where upright bass casts a pall over Arve Henriksen's monastic falsetto. And 'Passport Control' excerpts 'Gammler Zen + Hohe Berge' by Germany's Kammerflimmer Kollektief, marrying its urgent tempo to wary brass. The conclusion, 'Exile from Paradise,' is a performance of Sidsel Endresen's 'Undertow' that was taped at Punkt Festival 2008 -- and that features Jon Hassell on trumpet. 'To me, Jon is one of the most important philosophers of our time. I can hear his influence in a lot of peoples work, including my own.'"

Artist:	RABELAIS, AKIRA
Title:	Caduceus
Label:	SAMADHISOUND
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	SAMAD 019CD

"On his samadhisound debut, Spellewauerynsherde, Akira Rabelais crafted austere settings to found recordings of Icelandic songs of lament. His follow-up, Caduceus, is a different beast -- a study of guitar and extreme distortion that's both harsh and mesmerising. samadhisound founder David Sylvian describes it as 'caustically romantic': 'Akira's recording presents you with an auditory experience quite unlike any other. It's by turns a brutal and discomforting ride. Outside of the full-on audio assault, there's unsettling disquiet in its quietude. Once heard it won't be forgotten and for those seeking out recorded music that is transformative, experiential, this material has that potency.' To create the distortion, Rabelais wrote a filter by modeling sources such as fuzz boxes and old guitar pedals. Samples of AM radio also lurk in the mix. 'You can hear faint fragments of voice in a couple of places on the album. I used static concretely and as a data modeling source. It's exceptionally tasty... right up there with a wedge of Red Leicester and a well structured Nero d'Avola.' Several of the pieces on Caduceus evolved in multiple directions, and all but one of the tracks are presented in two parts -- for example, the opening and closing cuts, or tracks three and four. 'As with just about everything I do it's mostly a matter of listening and waiting for the tracks to reveal their intentions. The album came to have a cinematic quality in my mind's eye, something like a soundtrack to a Western by Cocteau and Chris Cunningham.' Listening suggests scenes -- the slow-motion gunfight, the hero's death, the peace of sleeping under the stars. But usually a soundtrack sticks to the background; few films could stand up to Caduceus' onslaught. Perhaps the most challenging release in samadhisound's catalogue, Caduceus is rigorous, uncommon, and essential. Its sonic rewards are matched only by the chance to grapple with the personality behind it, which is as mercurial as the title suggests."

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