Browse by Label: TOUCH (UK)

Artist:	GAMIL, SOLIMAN
Title:	Ankh
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	LP
Price:	$11.00
Catalog #:	TO 014LP

Vinyl version of this 1990 Touch release. "This is the 2nd release for Touch by Soliman Gamil, after The Egyptian Music. Ankh is the Egyptian symbol of life, of fertility and of growth. From the rich tonality of 'Dance of Ka' to the exuberant 'Clown Dance', Soliman Gamil draws on ancient Egyptian culture to create soundscapes that transcend the stereotypes handed down from films like Cleopatra; in the process they also challenge the shrink-wrapped mentality of 'world music'. On Ankh, Soliman Gamil plays 17 different instruments on 15 new compositions written and recorded since the 1960s. The cover comes complete with full color artwork that features a painting by Panni Charrington."

Artist:	WATSON, CHRIS
Title:	Stepping Into The Dark
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	TO 027CD

1996 release, repressed! "Watson's lead instrument is the tape recorder. After working with Cabaret Voltaire and The Hafler Trio, he became sound recordist for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. He has since joined a film and video production company, working for BBC wildlife documentaries and occasional feature films. The 12 recordings on Stepping into the Dark contrast a windswept forest in Glen Cannich with the gathering conversations of rooks roosting in a churchyard in Northumberland. Other atmospheres include the heat and wall of sound found on the River Mara in Kenya, fishing bats on a mangrove pool in Venezuela, the ritual dance of snipe at dusk in the Northern Hebrides... a hydrophone at 5m. depth in the Moray Firth captures the signature whistles and clicks of bottlenose dolphins."

Artist:	SCALA
Title:	Beauty Nowhere
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	LP
Price:	$11.00
Catalog #:	TO 029LP

Vinyl version of this 1996 release. "This is the 1st release by Scala for Touch, followed by the now deleted CD Compass Heart. Scala were: Daren Seymour/Sarah Peacock/Mark Van Hoen/Justin Fletcher. When we first heard these songs on tape, both the sound and the intensity of the songs stuck us as being something very special, a meeting point between the atmosphere of Joy Division and the Aphex Twin... maybe? A new soundtrack to Jean-Luc Godard's Masculin Feminin... perhaps? But it's difficult to pinpoint."

Artist:	IKEDA, RYOJI
Title:	+/-
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	TO 030CD

This is the third edition of this timeless classic, originally released in 1996. Ryoji Ikeda is Japan's top avant-garde minimalist electronic composer, in the tradition of Alvin Lucier/The Hafler Trio/Bruce Gilbert/CM von Hausswolff/Panasonic, etc. +/- has a particular sonority whose quality is determined by one's listening point in relation to the loudspeakers. Furthermore, the listener can experience a particular difference between speaker playback and headphone listening. The sound signals can be thought of in the same way as spotlights. Lastly, a high frequency sound is used that the listener only becomes aware of upon its disappearance.

Artist:	VAN HOEN, MARK
Title:	The Last Flowers From The Darkness
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	TO 031CD

"The Last Flowers From The Darkness is a compendium of recordings by Mark Van Hoen from 1992-1996, charting the development from his early ambient works to the rich soundscapes of more contemporary electronica pieces like '1966' and 'A Glimmer...'. Followers of his work as Locust will find a more gentle and more melodic counterpoint to his dance-oriented pieces. Mark Van Hoen also records for R&S Records as Locust." Limited stock of this deleted item.

Artist:	HILMARSSON, HILMAR ORN
Title:	Children of Nature
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	TO 033.14CD

Repackaged re-issue of Children of Nature, the award-winning score to the award-winning 1991 film by Icelandic director Fridrik Thor Fridriksson. It is a lush and resonant lamentation, written by Iceland-native Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson (HoH), now resident of Denmark. HoH has collaborated with Current 93 and the Hafler Trio to name a few noteworthy artists. Hilmarsson says, "Children of Nature is a commemoration for those I have loved and lost." Both introspective and uplifting, the music is a series of miniature symphonies and extended interludes reminiscent of Arvo Pärt. The artwork includes numerous stills from the beautifully shot film.

Artist:	GAMIL, SOLIMAN
Title:	A Map of Egypt Before the Sands
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	TO 033.15CD

1997 release. "Soliman Gamil is a musicologist and composer who lived and worked in Cairo, Egypt. Born in 1924, his soundtracks for theatre and film have won international awards. His compositions are frequently used for radio and television. Soliman Gamil died in 1995. The Catalogue wrote in 1988: 'Instead of trying to create an atmosphere, this record reflects one. From the opening seconds of "Melody of Nile", you are there -- lying in the sand, lips sore, throat parched, staring at the huge river. Quite why this record works when so may other atmospheric records just irritate, I do not know. There are no traditional synth sounds or strange electronic wave noises, just really interesting sounds, alien tunes. The Egyptian Music is wonderfully refreshing.'"

Artist:	IKEDA, KEN
Title:	Tzuki (Moon)
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	TO 033.17CD

"Touch is proud to present the first release by Japanese sound artist Ken Ikeda. Having been recently featured in the Hayward Gallery's Sonic Boom exhibition for his collaboration with the Japanese video artist Mariko Mori, Tzuki (Moon) is Ken Ikeda's first CD release in his own right. Hypnotic sound-fields strangely reminiscent of early Durrutti Column. 'This work has as its purpose taking samples from old movies and, by erecting a memorial for the blanks between frames, communicating with the god of images and attracting that holy being. I will be happy if, by saying a mass for our ancestors, I can reconstruct the time of darkness and the energy of the universe and so reach the far ends of the space between frames. Honouring the place our outer eyes cannot see is most necessary for our present-day materialistic society and for our virtual value standards.' -- Ken Ikeda"

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, Günter Müller, Evan Parker, Toshimaru Nakamura and many more. He recently toured with Sunn0))), also contributing to their Black One album.

Artist:	IKEDA, KEN
Title:	Merge
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	TO 033.19CD

"Ken Ikeda is a musician and artist who has composed and recorded for David Lynch and for Moriko Mori, latterly as part of the Royal Academy's 'Apocalypse' exhibition in 2001. He featured as part of Sonic Boom, at the Hayward Gallery, London in 2000. He has released two albums for Touch. The first, tzuki [Moon] (Touch # T33.17, 2000), was strangely reminiscent of early Durrutti Column, hypnotic, dreamy and mystical. Here a darker side to his work unfolds; although retaining Buddhist notions of circles and cycles and other natural laws and influences, here he contemplates nature's shadowy side. The title, Merge, has as its root 'to drown' or 'immerse' oneself, its current usage with regard to convergence or (business) partnership not recorded until 1926 (OED). The double-edged nature of this recording is also reflected by its entirely different aspect determined by whether one plays it at high or low volume. These notions are further reflected in Jon Wozencroft's photography -- two small and uninhabited islands almost enveloped by the rising sea levels, juxtaposed with a view of New York's Upper East Side, taken from Central Park, skyscrapers swimming in the cloud cover..."

Artist:	VAINIO, MIKA
Title:	Onko
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	TO 034CD

A collection of sound installation pieces by Finland's Mika Vainio, best known for his classic Sähkö recordings and Panasonic membership. The focus here is on pure sound output, variant streams of electronics, amplified hum, abstract hoverings and repetitious clickery. No beats, pure waves, fully essential sounding experimental music aimed for repeat dosage and maximum pleasure. Beautifully packaged too. "It marks a departure from his previous work, more tranquil, symphonic even, but no less intense in its exploration of the post-digital landscape and its quest to reveal the grain of the one/zero life-form. Imagine the sounds that cellular patterns might make as they face the scrutiny of a high-powered microscope. Or the soundtrack to a road movie, filmed in the Arctic Circle in high summer. 'Onko' means 'Is It.'"

Artist:	JECK, PHILIP
Title:	Surf
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	TO 036CD

Repress of this 1999 release. "Philip Jeck is best known for his highly subversive work 'Vinyl Requiem' with Lol Sargent (a performance for 180 dansette record players, 12 slide-projectors and 2 movie-projectors). He has also worked extensively with the choreographer Laurie Booth, is a member of Slant and has had tracks released by Blast First (on the Deconstruct compilation) and The Soundworks Exchange (First Edition). Surf further explores his experimentation with loops and scratching. His methods leave much to chance; nothing is pre-planned or calculated. The seven tracks on this CD are surprisingly accessible: rhythms unfold from the miasma. Whilst highly original, there is a surprisingly antique feel to the sound: many of the samples, loops and scratches are taken from old vinyl records. Against nostalgia, Surf proves there to be vast potential in analogue recording processes, and by utilizing seemingly outmoded sources, Philip Jeck shows that you don't need a 24 track digital console and an enormous hard disk to make music that is both innovative and involving."

Artist:	WATSON, CHRIS
Title:	Outside the Circle of Fire
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	TO 037CD

"Chris Watson's second CD is a dramatic contrast to the spacious atmospheres of Stepping into the Dark (Touch 27, 1996). Featuring 22 close-up recordings of animals, birds and insect life, Outside the Circle of Fire enlarges our awareness of the sound universe, intimate with voices from the past. There is an intensity here that television pictures cannot conjure. These are the sounds of secret languages, particular events that have been recorded as close up as possible to try and reveal something of their individual beauty, rhythm, eloquence and sheer power. Several of the sounds would be inaudible or radically degraded more than a few meters from the animal. Yet others collectively use the acoustics of their habitat to modulate the message. They exist, however, whether we hear them or not -- close up details of signals that are beyond our reach outside the circle of fire."

Artist:	IKEDA, RYOJI
Title:	0º C
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	TO 038CD

2007 repress of the second full-length by Ryoji Ikeda on Touch (originally released 2001), following the highly acclaimed +/- (1996). Recorded and mixed at CCI studio in Tokyo, this release features two works in Ikeda's continually expanding electronic style. "OºC" is an exploration at the edge of one's perception -- an extension of +/- and the next step. "C" adds a velocity axis and a density axis to factors, Oº amalgamated numbers, structures, frequencies and sounds.

Artist:	REHBERG/BAUER
Title:	Passt
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	TO 045CD

"Five years ago, Faßt declared itself to be entirely made up of the 'mistakes' and system errors of the digital processes Rehberg & Bauer had used in its making, thus finding themselves at the front end of an emerging tendency in new music that came to be known as 'glitch'... frustratingly to those actively involved, because it freeze-framed the more critical dimension of such works into a genre that quickly became a gliché. Following Faßt and ballt, and originated live on their tour of Australia last year, Passt completes Rehberg & Bauer's trilogy for Touch; as such, it provides a window through which to monitor the progress (and atrophy) of this phase of development, now that the laptop seems as commonplace as the electric guitar. In 2001, surface abstraction is easily output. Passt therefore is an attempt to relocate this mode of music-making into something once again more progressive. Peter Rehberg (aka Pita) & Ramon Bauer (aka General Magic) run Mego in Vienna, Austria."

Artist:	BIOSPHERE
Title:	Cirque
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	TO 046CD

Touch is reissuing the classic Cirque by Biosphere, originally released in 2000. Quite unlike any other, Geir Jenssen's so-called "Arctic Sound" transforms the space in which it is played. Biosphere's music is an intimate reflection of the space and climate of Jenssen's Arctic base in Tromsö, Norway, but made universal. Adjectives like "glacial" and "remote" do no justice to the intense emotion of the music. 1997's Substrata showcased a sound whose dimensions evoked the luscious quality of Brian Eno's On Land, Arvo Pärt and even the best of Ennio Morricone. Three years later, Biosphere produced Cirque. Here, the shifting world of Substrata is fused with the liquid electronic rhythms of Biosphere's earlier work in techno. The outcome is almost addictive -- layers of detail reveal themselves as you listen and appreciate the convergences deep within the music, between classical and pop, the soundtrack and its voiceover. Cirque is inspired in part by the story of Chris McCandless, who, in April 1992, hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness, only to be found dead four months later having made a tragic error with his food supply. McCandless' quest represented ultimate folly, but to others, rare idealism in his solo rebellion of stepping off the treadmill to go living in the wild. Cirque reflects this idealism, but also the danger lurking in paradise. The music plays like a film, one scene dissolving into the next. Codas pinpoint the action like spotlights, and location recordings weave in and out of the sound giving it the dramatic tension of a great documentary. There is nothing old-fashioned, however, in the outcome. Cirque is future music. Cinema for the spirit.

Artist:	WATSON, CHRIS
Title:	Weather Report
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	TO 047CD

Repressing of Chris Watson's critically-acclaimed 2003 release, Weather Report. After working with Cabaret Voltaire and The Hafler Trio, Watson became a sound recordist for the UK's Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. He has since joined a film and video production company, working for BBC wildlife documentaries and occasional feature films. It is with this naturalist spirit and background that Watson applies his work, capturing sound footage that illustrates a deep understanding of silence, space, and ecological wonderment. Weather Report understands that the weather has created and shaped all our habitats. Clearly, it also has a profound and dynamic effect upon our lives and that of other animals. The three locations featured here -- Kenya's Masai Mara, a Scottish highland glen and an Icelandic glacier -- all have moods and characters which are made tangible by the elements, and these periodic events are represented within by a form of time compression. This is Chris' first foray into composition using his location recordings of wildlife and habitats -- in his previous releases, he was concerned with describing and revealing the special atmosphere of a place by site-specific, untreated location recordings. On Weather Report, he constructs collages of sounds, which evolve from a series of recordings made at the specific locations over varying periods of time, distilling vast, diverse arenas of sound into pointillistic sound-poems. As Sasha Frere-Jones wrote in Time Out New York in 1999: "Listen to your world. It may be more interesting than all the things you buy to escape from it."

Artist:	TORAL, RAFAEL
Title:	Violence Of Discovery And Calm Of Acceptance
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	TO 048CD

"Design by Jon Wozencroft, photography by Heitor Alvelos Considered by the Chicago Reader to be 'one of the most gifted and innovative guitarists of the decade', Rafael Toral has been developing in the last 15 years a unique sound world, having been as influenced by Alvin Lucier and Brian Eno as by Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine. Using the guitar as part of a complex electronic instrument, Toral has collaborated with Jim O'Rourke, John Zorn, Sonic Youth, Rhys Chatham and Phill Niblock and played in many European countries and in several states in the US. He's also a member of MIMEO, the electronic orchestra featuring Keith Rowe, Christian Fennesz, Peter Rehberg, Kaffe Matthews and many others. VDCA is a collection of ten small pieces crafted by Toral with extreme precision and care through the last seven years. Using guitars and analog technology, it can be described as Toral's best work, embodying all the directions he explored in his previous critically acclaimed records, Sound Mind Sound Body [Moikai, USA], Wave Field [Dexter's Cigar/Drag City, USA] and Aeriola Frequency [Perdition Plastics, USA] but taking them into new dimensions."

Artist:	NIBLOCK, PHILL
Title:	Touch Works, For Hurdy Gurdy And Voice
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	TO 049CD

Featuring the following works: 1. "Hurdy Hurry" (15:20, October 1999; Jim O'Rourke, hurdy gurdy [samples]). 2. "A Y U", aka "as yet untitled" (21:30, October 1999; Thomas Buckner, baritone voice [samples]). 3. "A Y U, Live", (21:30, October 1999/2000; Thomas Buckner, baritone voice [samples and live]). "Phill is a sixty-something New York-based minimalist composer and multi-media musician and director of Experimental Intermedia, a foundation born in the flames of 1968's barricade-hopping. He says: 'What I am doing with my music is to produce something without rhythm or melody, by using many microtones that cause movements very, very slowly.' The stills in the booklet are from slides taken in China, while Niblock was making films which are painstaking studies of manual labor, giving a poetic dignity to sheer gruelling slog of fishermen at work, rice-planters, log-splitters, water-hole dredgers and other back-breaking toilers. Niblock writes: 'In October 1999, I made a concert at Merkin Hall in New York, as part of the series Interpretations, produced by Thomas Buckner and the World Music Institute. The concert was shared with Ulrich Krieger, a composer and saxophonist living in Berlin. Normally, concerts in this series have two parts. Since Ulrich and I are collaborators for some years, we decided to interleave our works, and also to make a long concert. It was about three hours, nearly twice as long as is usual in this recital hall. I was preparing two new works for this concert. You guessed it, the pieces on this CD. The works are for hurdy gurdy, a stringed instrument played by cranking a resined wheel, and voice. I had met Jim O'Rourke some time before, and had asked him if I could make a piece using samples of his playing the hurdy gurdy. I recorded the samples in the studios of Robert Poss sometime in the winter of 1999. Tom Buckner and I had talked for some years about a possible piece. I asked him if we could do it for this concert. Later, he explained that he commissions works, so that was a pleasant surprise. When we were recording in Poss' studio, Tom was interested in doing some throat singing. I expected to work on these pieces during the summer of '99. I didn't, of course. I didn't start until two weeks before the concert date. I finished the voice piece on October 11, made the hurdy gurdy piece on the 12th and 13th. The concert was the 14th. On the hurdy gurdy piece, we hear only the samples recorded by O'Rourke. In the first version of A Y U, we hear only the original recorded samples of Tom Buckner singing. On the second piece, Tom recorded again in the studio, singing a line along (listening with headphones) with the first version of A Y U, and four channels of pitch shift were added to his live voice. He did this three times, for the entire length of the piece. Thus version one has twenty four voices, multitracked from samples. Version two has an added 15 tracks of the live voice. In each piece, I constructed some pitch shifted samples, and some of them were one and two octaves down. These were used along with the original samples as source material. There is not any other modification of the samples during the recording and mixing process.' [A review by Kyle Gann, published in the Village Voice, New York, November 9, 1999]"

Artist:	BIOSPHERE
Title:	Substrata 2
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	2CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	TO 050CD

2001 release, repressed! "Biosphere's 2nd release for Touch after Cirque is a double CD in digipak designed by Jon Wozencroft. The release consists of: CD1 -- Substrata: Originally released in 1997 on All Saints Records, this remastered version of Substrata contains 11 tracks with a total length of 55:20. '...by many (the undersigned included) considered to be the finest ambient album of the 1990s'. CDTwo -- Man with a Movie Camera: Contains 9 tracks, total length 53:32. The first 7 tracks consist of the soundtrack to Man with a Movie Camera [Verdov, USSR 1929], originally commissioned for the Tromsø International Film Festival in 1996, released here for the first time. The last 2 tracks, 'Endurium' and 'The End of the Cyclone', were originally released on the limited edition Japanese version of Substrata in 1997 -- they have never before been released outside Japan."

Artist:	LOCUST
Title:	Wrong
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	2CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	TO 051CD

"Mark Van Hoen's second for Touch after The Last Flowers from the Darkness. The instrumentation is purely electronic analog synthesizers, edited and manipulated in Digidesigns' Protools. Mark Van Hoen, who programmed and produced the LP, wanted to invoke some of the spirit of late '70s British electronic music, combining that sound with his now familiar brand of electronics for which he became known during the '90s. The fragility and unpredictability of vocalist Holli Ashton's personality and vocals, combined with the decayed and warped quality of the sound offer a warmth rarely found in such pure electronic music. Imperfections are the source of that warmth and there are several connections here between the late 70's (the period which first inspired Mark to make music) and the last few years. Electronic music in the late '70s was forced to become more inventive because the limitations of the instruments of the time needed the musician to craft each sound by hand, and the instruments often went wrong; out of time and out of tune. These same instruments were used on this album; there are no samplers, guitars or anything else but analog synthesizers and vocals on this recording. More recently, artists such as Ryoji Ikeda, Pan Sonic, and Hazard have sought to bring out imperfections in digital music, and those influences are here, too. Even the second CD, to be played simultaneously with the first is a 'misuse' of technology, yet it makes a beautiful sound."

Artist:	FENNESZ
Title:	Venice
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	TO 053CD

Restocked; universally acclaimed as one of the major releases of 2004! "Venice was recorded on location in the summer of 2003 and subsequently assembled and mixed at Amann Studios, Vienna in January/February 2004. Venice, the fourth studio album by Christian Fennesz, finds electronic music at a crossroads between its early status as digital subculture, and the feeling that there has to be something more, an emotional quality that rises above noise and moves towards melody and rapture. Includes the continuation of his collaboration with David Sylvian on the track 'Transit', following the success of their duo on Sylvian's 2003 solo album, Blemish.

Fennesz burst upon the scene with Instrument [Mego, 1995] and followed that up with a succession of ground-breaking and highly original solo albums. As The Wire wrote, 'he offers all the puzzles and adventures of experimental music, but with a more assimilable grasp of melody -- and a prominent role for the guitar', and to be sure, 'though the process may sound simple, it takes some skillful manipulation to simultaneously tug those heartstrings and poke them with tiny pins.' [Nick Phillips, City Pages, USA]. Fennesz has been active in film soundtrack work -- for Gustav Deutsch and his forensic view of cinema, film ist'... Live performances, improvised music within a modus operandi that adheres itself more to jazz than computer software... everywhere from Tokyo to Bratislava. Fennesz has also taken part in many collaborations: Fenn O'Berg, with Jim O'Rourke and Peter Rehberg [Mego], a duo with Rosy Parlane [Synaesthesia], and with Polwechsel [Erstwhile]. He has also been recording with Sparklehorse, the first fruits of this collaboration appearing on the recently released Spire [Touch # Tone 20]. He lives and works in Paris and Vienna."

Artist:	VAINIO, MIKA
Title:	In The Land Of The Blind The One-Eyed Is King
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	TO 054CD

"This is Mika Vainio's 3rd solo CD for Touch, after Kajo and Onko. Best known as one-half of Pan Sonic (Blast First), Mika is from Finland and now lives in Berlin. Generally speaking, contemporary musicians produce too much stuff. It is easy to do. But if you feel like sighing, 'Oh, it's another Mika Vainio CD', then Mr Vainio himself has anticipated such sentiments with the opening track, a 2 minute blast which sounds like an angry animal breaking free of its cage. What follows is probably Vainio's most accomplished work to date, a series of rich soundscapes whose beauty is always on the edge of darkness. Not wanting to bang a drum, anyone who has been invigorated by the work of Mika and Ilpo in Pan Sonic will be keen to hear these more pastoral takes on their more propulsive sound -- in places, being reminiscent of Artemyev's recordings for Tarkovsky films, in others, suggesting sound recordings of frogs and insect life. All framed by the distinct touch of Mika Vainio, who confirms his long?standing reputation as one of the most acute musicians of our times."

Artist:	BIOSPHERE
Title:	Shenzhou
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	TO 055CD

2002 release, repressed! "12 tracks. Design and photography by Jon Wozencroft. This is Biosphere's 3rd album for Touch, after Cirque [2000, TO:46] and Substrata 2 [2001, TO:50]." Named after the Chinese spacecraft, this is Geir Jenssen's deepest and most recording yet, the first 10 tracks based on the orchestral works of Claude Debussy. Dark Ambient at its most spellbinding (without all the negative connotations one might associate with the words "dark" and "ambient"!).

Artist:	JECK, PHILIP
Title:	Stoke
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	TO 056CD

Repressing of this 2002 release and Jeck's third release for Touch, after Loopholes and Surf. Stoke was made using Bush, Fidelity and Philips record players, a Casio keyboard and an Alba portable CD player. This record mainly consists of edits of live performances from England, Japan and Vienna. The notion of turntablism may be associated with flashy, deck-hopping scratch gymnastics, but the use of the record player as an instrument harks back to a less ostentatious tradition of music making. John Cage, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Pierre Schaeffer, and James Tenney recognized records and turntable mechanisms as malleable sound sources. In essence, sampling began with the real-time deployment of gramophones in performance by these artists and academics. Philip Jeck, like peers Christian Marclay, Otomo Yoshihide, and Martin Tetreault, legitimizes the turntable as a musical instrument.

Artist:	JECK, PHILIP
Title:	7
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	TO 057CD

Philip Jeck, who lives and works in Liverpool, studied visual art at the Dartington College of Arts in Devon, England. During the early 1980s, he drifted from painting and sculpture to music, and began working with old and discarded turntables. Though he's roughly a contemporary of Christian Marclay, recognition for Jeck came much later, beginning in 1993 with his massive installation "Vinyl Requiem", which incorporated 180 record players and multiple film projections. This is Philip Jeck's 7th solo album, and 4th for Touch, after Loopholes (1996), Surf (1998) and Stoke (2002). He has also released a collaboration with Jacob Kirkegaard, Soaked (2002), and a recording of a live concert he gave in Japan, Live at ICC (2001). He is currently touring with Jah Wobble & Deep Space, and is heavily featured on their latest album Five Beat (30hertzrecords, 2003).



       Philip Jeck writes: "All seven are edits of home and concert recordings (UK Germany & Belgium) using Bush, Ferguson, Fidelity & Philips record-players, Sony portable mini-disc and Casio keyboards. 'Bush Hum' was made from the amplified hum of a Bush record-player and delay pedal. 'Wipe' was originally made for a video by Marisa Zanotti."

Artist:	PARLANE, ROSY
Title:	Iris
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	TO 058CD

"Rosy Parlane lives in New Zealand; he began playing music with the avant-garde rock trio Thela. Thela released two CDs, Eponymous and Argentina on the label Ecstatic Peace! He subsequently began working with abstract electronic based music, both as a solo artist and as Parmentier with fellow Thela collaborator, Dion Workman. His full and intricate soundscapes are comprised of sample-loops, pianos, guitars, and field recordings manipulated via digital means. Parlane has released two solo albums on Sigma Editions, and a collaboration with Christian Fennesz on the Australian label, Synaesthesia [Live, SYN001]. Iris is the result of a concentrated period of activity and artistic development that will introduce Rosy Parlane to an audience hungry for innovative music. He both challenges and invigorates the current bias towards immersive sound, without ever losing sight of the human touch."

Artist:	NIBLOCK, PHILL
Title:	Touch Food
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	2CD
Price:	$16.50
Catalog #:	TO 059CD

Repressed! CD1: "Sea Jelly Yellow" [Ulrich Krieger, baritone saxophone]; "Sweet Potato" [Carol Robinson, bass clarinet, basset horn, and Eb clarinet]; "Yam Almost May" [Kasper T. Toeplitz, electric bass]. CD2: "Pan Fried 70" [Reinhold Friedl, piano]. "In the music of Phill Niblock, we are confronted with the aural equivalent of trompe-l'oeil. Apparently static clouds of harmonically dense material turn out to be not so static as they appear. What's more, one has the distinct impression that the music is changing spatially over time. How is all of this possible? The key is in Niblock's use of time. In his music, the experience of time is as very slow and continuous. There are no disruptive, discontinuous musical events to disrupt the flow of time. Time is suspended. Niblock's music gives the impression of having always been and continuing to be. Yet, this is not the idea of Being as stasis. Each time one feels tha Niblock's music isn't changing, one realizes that it is never the same, an yet, always the same. Being and Becoming as one. Moving Immobility. This is a music that breathes slowly and deeply. It changes its spatial form slowly, as a person who is in deep meditation changes the form of his body ever so slowly as he peacefully expands and contracts the walls of his chest cavity with each new cycle of inspiration/expiration." -- Gerard Pape. "Phill Niblock is a sixty-something New York based minimalist composer and multi-media musician and director of Experimental Intermedia, a foundation born in the flames of 1968's barricade hopping. He has been a maverick presence on the fringes of the avant garde ever since. In the history books Niblock is the forgotten Minimalist. That's as maybe: no one ever said the history books were infallible anyway. His influence has had more impact on younger composers such as Susan Stenger, Lois V Vierk, David First, and Glenn Branca. He's even worked with Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo on Guitar two, for four which is actually for five guitarists. This is Minimalism in the classic sense of the word, if that makes sense. Niblock constructs big 24-track digitally-processed monolithic microtonal drones. The result is sound without melody or rhythm. Movement is slow, geologically slow. Changes are almost imperceptible, and his music has a tendency of creeping up on you."

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:	BIOSPHERE
Title:	Autour de la Lune
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	TO 062CD

Fourth Biosphere release on Touch. "Widely regarded as one of Norwegian electronic music's most important artists, Biosphere's [Geir Jenssen] career spans nearly two decades, six albums, lots of remixes, various sound installations, commissions, soundtracks and even the odd Himalayan summit. Says Jenssen on his latest commission: 'Radio France Culture contacted me some time ago and proposed a commission that was to be premiered at the Le Festival de Radio France et Montpellier. I was granted access to Radio France's archives and given permission to use this vast source of audio material. I settled on this early '60s dramatization of Jules Verne's De la Terre à la Lune that totally captivated me. The story is quite amazing -- Verne wrote it in the nineteenth century; still he managed to describe a manned space flight in such detail one is stunned. In De la Terre à la Lune Verne describes a space mission that sees the astronauts launched from Florida and returning from space to land in the Pacific Ocean -- exactly the same procedure that the US space program would follow many, many years later. I have sampled bits and pieces of the dramatization's dialogue, coupled it with sounds recorded at the MIR space station and then incorporated it with my own compositions.' Following the original broadcast, Jenssen continued to work on the recording which now sees the light of day as Autour de la Lune, a 74 minute symphony made up of nine 'movements'. The propulsive opening sequence 'Translation' gives way to the crosstalk and scrambled communications of 'Rotation' and 'Modifié', before the listener is enveloped in a dense and seemingly endless space (the sound of zero gravity?). The circular flight of Autour de la Lune is Biosphere at his most expansive. Featuring a specially-commissioned painting by Tor-Magnus Lundeby, one of Norway's most prominent visual artists, this new release is set to compete with Brian Eno's 'Apollo' recordings as the definitive homage to the space age."

Artist:	Z'EV
Title:	Headphone Musics, 1 To 6
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	TO 063CD

"In 1967 Z'EV took a tape music class at the UCLA night school. The leader of the course was Joseph Byrd who was the founder and theoretician of the first electronic rock band; The United States of America. So while it's almost 40 years now that he has been involved in the production of electro-acoustic music, Headphone Musics marks the first release of a product exclusively featuring this form of music. All of the source material is drawn from the collection of cassette tapes Z'EV has amassed over the last 30 years -- sounds and soundscapes he has either recorded himself or witnessed, or tapes that have been given to him by various peoples on his travels or been received by him through the mail from fans etc. Technically he remains a bit orthodox in that basically he still plies the old tools of the tape manipulation trade in the current digital sphere. What this means is that he concentrates on editing, phase relationships, time dilation, and inherent and 3rd harmonic distortion as his only means of processing the information he is transforming. There is no looping involved, although #2 features a recording he made in 1984 using his controlled-skipping Lenco turntable. 'As Is As' is a live recording of a sound poem Z'EV produced and performed under the name 'S. Weisser' at a Sound Poetry Festival in 1976 at the La Mamelle art space in San Francisco. It was produced using 2 reel to reel tape decks, 3 cassette decks, and 2 microphones."

Artist:	JOHANNSSON, JOHANN
Title:	Virthulegu Forsetar
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	CD/DVD
Price:	$16.50
Catalog #:	TO 064CD

Breakout release from 2004, repressed! Double disc release: disc 1 = normal stereo CD. Disc 2 = hybrid DVD-Audio (both NTSC and PAL compatible, for world-wide use) with a high resolution 96 khz, 24bit 5.1 surround mix and a 96khz 24bit stereo mix. "Jóhann Jóhannsson is one of the most active participants in the new Icelandic music scene. This is his second album for Touch, after the highly acclaimed Englabörn [Touch # TO:52], about which The Wire said: '...expressive leitmotifs that unveil a profound sadness without ever wallowing in pathos' and Boomkat called it 'a work of rare beauty and ... a rare jewel'. Virthulegu Forsetar contains one hour-long piece for 11 brass players, percussion, electronics, organs and piano. It's presented as an ordinary stereo CD and as a DVD-Audio with a high resolution 5.1 surround mix. Virthulegu Forsetar is performed by the Caput Ensemble, conducted by Gudni Franzson, with Skuli Sverrison on bass and electronics, Matthias M.D. Hemstock on bells, glockenspiel and electronics, Hordur Bragason and Gudmundur Sigurdsson on organs and Johann Johannsson on piano and electronics."

Artist:	NILSEN, BJ
Title:	Fade to White
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	TO 065CD

Benny Nilsen writes: "Fade To White contains material from the making of 3 pieces which were created within a different season and then edited, re-arranged and re-mixed in the summer of 2004. 6 pieces contain outdoor field recordings from travels in mainly central Europe in 2003 [Gdansk/Poland, Narva/Estonia, Sarajevo/Serbia Herzegovina, Arad/Romania, Trieste/Italy], and static indoor recordings from 2004 Stockholm/Sweden, Brussels/Belgium, Amsterdam/Netherlands, Vienna/Austria, Geneva/Switzerland. I used acoustic and electrical instruments recorded in open spaces picking up the natural ambience, blending those with environmental sounds of nature and then arranged it in the computer, creating dynamic layers of sound that feed from one another." This is BJNilsen's 3rd album for Touch, after Land [Touch # Tone 17 - as Hazard] and Live at the Konzerthaus, Vienna [Touch # TO:CDR5]. He also recorded 3 Hazard albums for Ash International."

Artist:	BIOSPHERE
Title:	Dropsonde
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	TO 066CD

Biosphere is Norwegian composer and performer Geir Jenssen, and this is his fifth release for Touch. In the early 1990s he was a pioneer of so-called "ambient techno," but since then, he has refined his sound into something more magnetic and enduring. Dropsonde isn't a soundtrack like the interwoven Substrata nor an episodic journey in the way that Autour de la Lune is. Here Geir Jenssen is pushing new directions towards the jazz colors of Miles Davis and Jon Hassell, while re-invigorating the pulse and projection of his signature sound: a hypnotic combination of pleasure and dread. The spatial aspects some have dubbed "Arctic sound" but as Exclaim from Canada put it, "in order to climb higher, you must first go deeper." Jon Savage adds: "As with all of the Biosphere albums, the music draws you in and makes you want to listen and feel. Jenssen's work acts on a very emotional level, one that encourages you to drift away into a haze of images and scenes brought to you by the music, where spectacular beauty hides unseen danger. Intense and moving, but comforting and soothing at the same time." Just as a dropsonde (weather balloon) measures pressure, humidity, and temperature, this is synaesthetic, carefully-measured music. Liquid beats, samples as snapshots, and faraway speeches combine to produce a surprisingly deep human warmth.

Artist:	JECK, PHILIP
Title:	Sand
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	TO 067CD

This is Philip Jeck's fifth solo album for Touch. Sand was recorded live in Holland and England in 2006/2007 and edited in Liverpool in January, 2008 using Fidelity record players, Casio SK keyboards, a Behringer mixer and Sony mini-disc recorders. Following Philip Jeck's acclaimed collaboration with Gavin Bryars and Alter Ego on a new version of The Sinking of the Titanic, Sand is a set of seven new compositions that highlight Jeck's mastery of vinyl manipulation and personal and collective memories. During the past year, Jeck has refined and consolidated his unique sound, playing superb sets at the Faster Than Sound festival and at York Minster for Spire. Sand is at once elegiac, celebrational, mournful and uplifting. Those who have followed Jeck's development since his first release, Loopholes, will observe his return to the industrial textures that colored that collection, though here they are fused with his symphonic grace and continued development as a composer and live performer. Philip Jeck works with old records and record players salvaged from junk shops, turning them to his own purposes. He really does play them as musical instruments, creating an intensely personal language that evolves with each added part of a record. His is genuinely moving and transfixing music, where we hear the art, not the gimmick.

Artist:	PARLANE, ROSY
Title:	Jessamine
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	TO 068CD

This is New Zealand-based (and former Thela member) Rosy Parlane's second full-length release on Touch. His previous album, Iris (2004), was hailed by Jim Haynes in The Wire who wrote: "Jon Wozencroft's impeccable photography and design packages Rosy Parlane's Iris inside a predominantly blue package, inextricably linking the music to the emotional resonance of the color... He flushes his soundfields with cascades of digital fragments which he separates into two distinct compositional categories. On the one hand, Parlane stretches sounds from guitar, piano and organ into unrecognizable drones that swell into dense layerings, every once in a while coalescing into fluttering half-melodies. On the other, he emphasizes the textural qualities of those digital fragments, simulating the natural acoustics of ice crackling from trees in winter or the gentle patter of rain on a windowsill. When fusing these together by placing the textures against the backdrop of the drone, Parlane effectively builds pointillist sound environments with a profoundly human melancholia." With Jessamine, Rosy develops these themes, and continues to incorporate new musical elements from unconventional as well as orchestral instrumentation. To him, everything is an instrument: from household objects to nature sounds. But it is the human element which gives his work such a distinctive sound. Ranging from ambient to noise, he gives full rein to textures of living; to start, languid and mournful; later harsh and assertive. Jessamine is a magnificent follow-up to a classic Touch debut. Rosy Parlane: electric and acoustic guitars, piano, melodica, accordion, violin, trombone, snare drum, shimsaw, amplified sawblade, bowed metal, household objects, contact microphones, field recordings, radio, computer. Additional contributions by Marcel Bear, Tetuzi Akiyama, Lasse Marhaug, Anthony Guerra, Michael Morley, Donald McPherson, Matthew Hyland, David Mitchell, Stefan Neville and Campbell Kneale.

Artist:	NIBLOCK, PHILL
Title:	Touch Three
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	3CD
Price:	$22.00
Catalog #:	TO 069CD

This is Phill Niblock's third release on the Touch label. Phill Niblock is a New York-based minimalist composer and multi-media musician and director of Experimental Intermedia, a foundation born in the flames of 1968's barricade hopping. He has been a maverick presence on the fringes of the avant garde ever since. In the history books Niblock is the forgotten Minimalist. His influence has had more impact on younger composers such as Susan Stenger, Lois V. Vierk, David First, and Glenn Branca. Touch Three is minimalism in the classic sense of the word, if that makes sense. Niblock constructs big 24-track digitally-processed monolithic microtonal drones, and the result is sound without melody or rhythm. Movement is slow, geologically slow. Changes are almost imperceptible, and his music has a tendency of creeping up on you. The vocal pieces are like some of Ligeti's choral works, but a little more phased. He says: "What I am doing with my music is to produce something without rhythm or melody, by using many microtones that cause movements very, very slowly." These nine pieces were made from March 2003 to January 2005. They were all made (except "Sax Mix") by recording a single instrument with a single microphone. The recordings were direct to the computer/hard disk, most of them using a Powerbook G4, Pro Tools, an M-box and an external firewire drive. The resulting mono sound files were edited to remove breathing spaces, leaving the natural decay of the tone, and the attack of the subsequent iteration of the same tone. Each note was represented by several repetitions, perhaps ten for each tone, of about 15 seconds duration each. Each piece uses a few tones. A simple chord, perhaps. Additional microtonal intervals were produced in Pro Tools using pitch shift. The pieces were assembled in multitracks, usually either 24 or 32 tracks. The recording environment varied from a simple apartment in Berlin (Ulrich Krieger's) to a very large hall used for symphony orchestra performances and recordings, with a sizable audience space. The recordings were generally done quite closely miked. One hears only the sound of the instrument. There is no electronic manipulation in the recording, the editing of the tones, or in the mix. The only changes to the recorded tones are the pitch shifts to create microtones...the microtones are doing the work.

Artist:	NULL, KK
Title:	Fertile
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	TO 074CD

K.K. Null is legendary Japanese noise experimentician Kazuyuki Kishino, and this is his first full-length solo release on Touch, following his collaboration with Chris Watson and Z'ev in 2005, which Boomkat called "moving and atmospheric," and The Wire wrote "...a complex dramatic work from a strict economy of means." K.K. Null is a composer, guitarist, singer, mastermind of seminal noise group Zeni Geva and electronic wizard. One of the top names in Japanese noise music and in a wider context, one of the great cult artists in experimental music since the early '80s. Kazuyuki writes: "In June of 2006, I had the good fortune of visiting Darwin in the Northern Territory in Australia and explored in Kakadu National Park with some good friends. I took my digital recorder along with me and did some live field recordings there. First we encountered a flock of wild birds just beside the South Alligator River, and then we happened to find 'bush fire' flaring just beside the road we were on. I also had a unique opportunity to record a magnificent symphony orchestra of insects, frogs and birds in wetlands just before sunset. At that time I had no idea or no specific purpose for using these field recordings, and in the middle of working on this album (Fertile) in my home studio, suddenly came up with the idea of mixing these field recordings into some of the tracks that were unfinished. I felt comfortable with layering & mixing different sounds from different locations and times, digital and analog sounds into one piece. I like also the balance of spontaneity (field recording) and intentional act (studio recording)." After playing the guitar as his main instrument for some twenty years, K. K. Null has gradually moved towards a more electronic approach. In recent years he has concentrated his efforts on his solo & collaborative recordings, exploring the outer territories of electronica. His intense clashing waves of noise, structured electro-acoustic ambience, broken down rhythmics, scattered pitch sculptures and droning isolationist material could be described "cosmic noise maximal/minimalism."

Artist:	NILSEN, BJ
Title:	The Short Night
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.50
Catalog #:	TO 075CD

This is Sweden-born, Berlin-based BJ Nilsen's fourth album for the Touch label. Using location recordings, weather, birdsong and radio, Nilsen continues to map and explore uncharted territory. A follow-up to 2005's Fade to White, BJ Nilsen develops his work further, based on field recordings and electronics. This time he adds harsher yet clearer harmonies with musical elements to the compositions, creating a beautifully complex and detailed study. Recorded in 2006-2007 with mostly analog equipment, using up to 50 year-old tape machines, filters and generators that end up being the soft cushion in these cold location recordings. Location recordings from Mälaren, Stockholm, Sweden; Coombe Gibbet, Berkshire, England and Landakot, Vatnsleysuströnd, Iceland. Telefunken M10 and M5, Studer B67, Ferrograph Series 4, Bruel and Kjær Sine-Random Generator and Frequency Analyzers. Also Monowave, Sequential Circuits ProOne, Korg MS20, Esq1, MOTU 828MK2, Ableton Live, Logic Audio 6. Morin khuur on "Black Light" played by Hildur Ingveldardóttir Gudnadóttir of Hildurness.

Artist:	FENNESZ
Title:	Live at Revolver, Melbourne Australia 3.02.00
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$11.00
Catalog #:	TO CDR3

"Running time: approximately 17 minutes. Recorded on the recent Mego tour down under, this is Christian Fennesz' first live CD, his second release for Touch. Although it carries a CDR catalog number, this is not a CD-R. The CD will be manufactured at Universal, like all the other Touch CDs. The packaging will be the same as the Phillip Jeck and S.E.T.I. CDRs however- i.e. in a white wallet with a black and white sticker. This edition is limited to 1000 copies."

Artist:	NILSEN, BJ
Title:	Live at Konzerthaus, Wien 06_12_03
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$11.00
Catalog #:	TO CDR5

"Christian Fennesz has started curating a series of events at the Konzerthaus in Vienna as part of the 'generator' series of live performances held there each month. In early December he performed with Philip Jeck and BJNilsen (aka Hazard) as part of the Touch night, during which Jon Wozencroft also showed his films. All the concerts were recorded, and BJNilsen's becomes the 5th in the TO:CDR series." CD (wallet) -- factory manufactured.

Artist:	IKEDA, RYOJI
Title:	Formula
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	BOOK/DVD
Price:	$36.00
Catalog #:	TO FORMA001

"Book and DVD contained in clear plastic slip-case in numbered edition of 3000. [Book]: 186mm x 136mm, 96 pages, soft cover, with 62 full color and 34 monochrome illustrations [DVD]: features eight sound pieces from installation works and a 35-minute full video documentation of the formula [prototype] concert filmed in Tokyo. The DVD is an NTSC/PAL hybrid for world-wide use.

       This is the first complete monograph about the seminal work of Ryoji Ikeda. With superb attention to detail and layout, the publication documents the artist's latest projects and includes brand-new artwork especially produced for the book. At the same time, formula covers Ikeda's landmark concerts and installations; and his collaborations with, amongst others, celebrated artist/musician Carsten Nicolai, acclaimed performance group Dumb Type and famous architect Toyo Ito. All of the DVD content is only available here, with a 35 minute full video documentation of formula [prototype] concert filmed in Tokyo and 8 sound pieces from installation works.

       Not only the most complete Ryoji Ikeda catalogue, formula is an intimately-scaled minimalist artwork in itself, and an object of desire. How the book is held may cause the numbers and text, picked out in clear varnish on white page, to shimmer. Every aspect of look and feel has been considered by the artist's critical eye. His superlative production values are ever-present in the quality of the images and the finish. Only through repeated investigation does the publication begin to reveal its richness. Readers will be able to pore over the photographs, ponder the schematics and technical data, and enjoy the spacious listings of performances, exhibitions and releases. The artist's first-rate assembly of data, diagrams and video stills create moments of graphic intensity that make the white spaces of the pages surprisingly dynamic. The book is pure pleasure to hold.

       Formula [Book + DVD] reflects precise design and the artist's flawless selection of surfaces and materials. An exceptional publication, it provides a 'heightened sensory experience' in a similar way to his concerts, installations and sound works."

Artist:	ETANT DONNES
Title:	Royaume
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$11.00
Catalog #:	TONE 002CD

1991 release. "This is the 2nd CD released by Eric and Marc. The 4 tracks on this CD, Royaume, Matin, Quatre, Bleu, form the soundtrack to a powerful ritual carried out by brothers Eric and Marc Hurtado that celebrate the awesome force and forceful beauty of the natural world. The fantastic sounds you hear are sourced from the a series of field recordings made by Etant Donnes, but not in the manner of a wildlife documentary. The two brothers approach recordings as part of their whole performance ritual, with great attention to detail given to each context within which these sounds originate. The end result seems of another dimension entirely, but you realize that it is right here, surrounding you. Presented with a 12pp full-color booklet that includes poetry and stills from the film Royaume."

Artist:	VA
Title:	Light
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$11.00
Catalog #:	TONE 013CD

"4 new tracks from the 3 audio artists (Hazard, Fennesz, Biosphere) who make up the forthcoming Touch Tour [UK, May 2001]. All are exclusive tracks recorded specifically for this CD, released for the tour. Taking the everyday world as source material and inspiration, the three international collaborations between electronic sound artists and visual artists present a vivid introduction to the work of Touch, the ground-breaking audio-visual label, in its twentieth year. Hazard's compositions evoke extreme climactic conditions and the perception of time and space as experienced through sound. Filmic in scope, his environmental sounds take the listener to another place, sending images cascading through the mind and captivating in an almost hypnotic way. Fennesz uses guitar and computer to create shimmering, swirling electronic sounds of enormous range and complex musicality. Biosphere's music is an intimate reflection of the space and climate of his Arctic base in Tromso."

Artist:	TOUCH RINGTONES
Title:	Touch Ringtones
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	TONE 014CD

"99 tracks - 177 ringtones. The process of transferring made-to-measure Ringtones to your mobile phone is, at present, a fixed casino... Chart hits, 'celebrity' voices, action heroes, lame keyboard melodies... so the likelihood of hearing one of these on the 07.34 from Carshalton is, at present, remote, although the J range of Sony mobiles promise better things. However each of these has been composed with exactly this eventuality in mind. All the compositions included here are in one way or another intended to be experienced as isolated, personal interventions: low-res loops, creature calls, in low-res environments, with the branding of surprise. In whichever form you find them here, do sample and employ these humble suggestions... We assume you already agree that the cheap 'cheep cheep' tones of Nokia, Ericsson and the others leave a lot to be desired. But there is huge commercial possibility here, not least with the fact that these selections have not been motivated by database usage... this is far cooler, and the contributors have responded accordingly... With New Order, Fennesz, Ryoji Ikeda, Gilbert & George, Mika Vainio, Mark Van Hoen, PITA, Hazard, Oren Ambarchi, Graham Lewis, Bruce Gilbert, AER, Zbigniew Karkowski, Hecker, Ake Hodell, Main, Chris Watson, Regina Lund, Elgaland-Vargaland, Francisco Lopez, Disinformation, Bigert & Bergstrom, People Like Us and many many others, this release shows what is possible and how far behind the phone companies actually are.... despite their desperation to uncover new ways of selling the next generation of phones to an already saturated market."

Artist:	S.E.T.I.
Title:	Night Shift: Live In Brussels
Label:	TOUCH (UK)
Format:	CDR
Price:	$11.00
Catalog #:	TO CDR2