|
|
|
|
viewing 1 To 23 of 23 items
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
LP
|
|
R 017LP
|
$22.00
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 6/29/2018
2018 repress, originally released in 2016. Recital present the first album of American Gamelan composer Daniel Schmidt (b. 1942). Schmidt, who emerged in the Bay Area music scene in the 1970s, wove the threads of traditional Eastern Gamelan music together with American minimalism (repetitive music). Schmidt was (and is still) a prime figure in the development of American Gamelan music -- studying and collaborating with Lou Harrison, Jody Diamond, and Paul Dresher. He currently is a teacher at Mills College, teaching instrument building. The recordings on Flowers date from 1978-1982, selected directly from Schmidt's personal cassette archive. It holds two studio tracks, along with two live performances. The first track, "Dawn" (commissioned by composer John Adams), employs an early digital sampler provided by Pauline Oliveros. It holds the sound of a string quartet. The nature of this piece is breathtaking, an ocean of strings pulsing beneath the gliding bells of the gamelan -- such a lovely interplay. Furthermore, the title track, "Flowers", features the addition of a rebab, a traditional bowed instrument, which reels through the piece, netted and taught. The final two works are strictly gamelan compositions. "Ghosts" is a dynamic piece; rife with dexterous euphoria, it well displays the skillset of the percussionists heard on the LP. The closing work, "Faint Impressions", is a somber elegy. Demonstrating the fragility and grace possible with the gamelan; sounding almost as an evening piano sonata. In My Arms, Many Flowers is a unique document from an under-represented movement of American new music. An account of the curious beauty and woven emotions hidden within resonating pieces of metal.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP+CD
|
|
R 045LP
|
$24.00
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 5/4/2018
Recital present the newest record by Canadian composer Sarah Davachi. Currently working on her PhD in Musicology at UCLA, her trajectory has been unorthodox. Hailing from Calgary, Alberta, which, if you've never been there, doesn't really scream "avant-garde" (Calgary is the rodeo capital of the world). It is important and interesting that she chose to study esoteric music; as Sarah could have easily been a cowgirl or a concert pianist had her ingrained love of synthesis and sonic phenomenology not taken the wheel. There are few people that have the diligence and resolve to take their time with music... especially in a live context. Recital label head Sean McCann: "The first time I saw Sarah perform, I presumptuously told her that her music reminded me of my favorite Mirror albums (the exceptional project of Andrew Chalk and Christoph Heemann). Sarah was not familiar with Mirror, so the compliment was initially lost on her. Years back I was in the same situation when a review compared my music to Andrew Chalk, who was unknown to me at the time. So I felt a kinship in our magnetic drift towards unspoken and clustered beauty." Let Night Come On Bells End The Day follows the release of her "sound-wheel" LP All My Circles Run, which examines the isolation of different instruments. Let Night Come On, recorded mainly with a Mellotron and electronic organ, feels like a return to the nest. Burrowed in the studio, Davachi was the only performer on this album. She both splays her compositional architecture and re-contextualizes the essence of her early output. She chiseled careful and shadowed hymns; anchors of emotion. Two pillars of this album are "Mordents", which may hints of her love for progressive rock music -- and "Buhrstone", comparable to a somber funeral march of piano and flutes. These two examine punctuations of early music, gently plucking melodies and movements. The three other compositions are tonal works, blowing slow jets of lapping harmonics. Includes three 9"x9"photo-prints by Davachi; Includes CD; First edition of 600.
Sean McCann: "I find it hard to separate 'At Hand' from filmmaker Paul Clipson, who made a melancholic film for this piece of Sarah's. A fitting title for Sarah and Paul's relationship -- frequently working in orbit of each other, meticulous and tactile. I cherish this track as a memory of Paul."
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
R 041LP
|
Recital present the first vinyl LP by composer/event-maker Charlie Morrow. Toot! Too culls performance recordings from 1970 to 2014. It focuses on his "Wave Music" series, which are compositions based around swarms of like-instruments; i.e. sixty clarinets, conch choruses, and army of drums and bugle horns, etc. The 1978 piece, "100 Musicians With Lights", was performed at dusk in Central Park. One hundred players (brass, reeds, percussion) congregate and march in spiral formations, playing their instrument with penlights attached to them. The piece dissipates and ends as each player marches through the park to their respective homes. The sound is fascinating; a tape recording made by an audience member swirling and dancing through the performance. Charlie is an organizer: one of instruments, with the pieces that landed on this LP and dozens more; one of events, through decades of public solstice celebrations across the world; one of publications, including New Wilderness Audiographics and EAR Magazine; and, one of friendships as Charlie has kindly introduced me to many fascinating players in this quirky game of ours. He views networking as an art form, always connecting friends with other friends, building a larger web for everyone to dance throughout. Label owner Sean McCann on the release: "In working on this LP over the past years, Charlie Morrow and I have become close. It has been a joy to have him in my life. At the age of 73, he is determined and creative and as positive as ever. Each time we speak, new projects arise -- like a mysterious soup boiling up fresh aromas. One of my favorite memories with Charlie was us staying up 'til the wee small hours of the morning drinking a bottle of sweet potato shochu, me listening to him tell funny and poignant remembrances. I am happy to share these lovely recordings, just a pinky toe in his artistic footprint, but wow, such a gorgeous toe!" Includes 20-page, 8.5x11" color booklet with scores, writings, and photographs; Includes download coupon; Edition of 500.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
R 042LP
|
The fourth LP in Recital's Loren Connors editions/reissue series. Pretty As Ever is a beautiful collection of Loren's guitar ballads, dedicated to his wife Suzanne. It includes the "Pretty As Ever" and "Trinity" suites, from the out-of-print album Sails (2005), alongside the complete Little Match Girl (2000). This album falls in line with the other LPs Recital has published, Airs (2015), Lullaby (2016), Evangeline (2017)... as hopeful and careful as a heartbeat. This LP includes "Woman of Sorrows", a 6″x9″ 12-page art-booklet of illustrations by Loren, unpublished until now. It also includes with Loren's rendering of "The Little Match Girl", a tragic tale written by Hans Christian Anderson. Remastered for vinyl by Sean McCann. Edition of 500.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
R 036CD
|
Sean McCann on Ian William Craig's Durbē: "Ian shared this live performance with me in January of 2017, while I was living in London for work. I fell asleep countless times whilst listening to this, day and night. After some arm twisting Ian agreed to let me publish it. He had not planned on releasing it officially. Durbē embodies the most elegant and meditative aspects of Ian's music. Live, Ian's music is able to stretch and fold and soak. These long-form takes show how purely structure and melody rotate within him. In the fall of 2016, Ian performed these recordings in a 14th-century Latvian church. This environment kissed Ian's cheek that evening, and he sang in top form, ascending into the rafters." Six-panel wallet encasement, with photography by the artist; Edition of 200 (one-time pressing).
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
R 039CD
|
Trajectories is the second full-length album by Michael Vincent Waller, featuring pianist R. Andrew Lee and cellist Seth Parker Woods. The album is presented on Sean McCann's Los Angeles based label, Recital. Michael Vincent Waller is an American composer based in New York City. His music has been described as lyrical and introspective, drawing inspiration from impressionism, post-minimalism, and world music. The work situates these familiar elements within decidedly unconventional and individual frameworks. Waller's practice has been cultivated through private study with La Monte Young, Bunita Marcus, and with Elizabeth Hoffman as an undergrad at New York University. He has since collaborated with a number of noted soloists and ensembles including S.E.M. Ensemble, Ensemble Dedalus, String Noise, and members of the FLUX Quartet. In 2015, Phill Niblock's XI Records launched Waller's acclaimed two-disc recorded debut, The South Shore (XI 136CD), which compiles a number of solo and chamber works spanning 2011-2014. Pianist R. Andrew Lee is renowned for his performances of minimalist work. He has released 12 albums, predominantly long-form piano recordings, on his label Irritable Hedgehog -- including November (2013) by Dennis Johnson, which was selected by Time Out New York as the best classical recording of 2013. Cellist Seth Parker Woods has established a diverse career that straddles the worlds of classical, contemporary, electronics, and performance art. He worked with artists ranging from Heinz Holliger, G.F. Haas, and Klaus Lang to Peter Gabriel, Sting, and Aldo Tambellini. Recital is a label started by Los Angeles-based composer, experimental musician, and audio engineer, Sean McCann. The label is dedicated to modern classical and experimental music. Established in 2011, Recital has released work by Annea Lockwood, Loren Connors, Daniel Schmidt, Ian William Craig, and Sean McCann. The CD edition includes photography by Phill Niblock and liner notes by "Blue" Gene Tyranny.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP + BOOK
|
|
R 035LP
|
Eric as Alain. Philosophical trimmings as unabashed art. Satire isn't mean, it's about being funny. Get in on the joke. Eric as Homer Simpson. Includes 88-page artist's book; Softbound: 8.5″ x 11″. Edition of 170.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
R 038LP
|
This Floating World is the newest solo work by Roger Eno since 2008. This Floating World holds rustic and melancholic piano works, as grey and mossy as a country cottage. Recital label head Sean McCann on Roger Eno: "I hear the LP chiming from the dark corners of a pub, soaking in the damp wood like spilled ale. I first fell in love with Roger's music through his 1985 debut album Voices, which cradled many rainy and caffeinated mornings when I was living in San Francisco years back. He played on the infamous Apollo - Atmospheres & Soundtracks (1983), and recorded a theme for the Dune soundtrack (1984). String pads and veils of reverb pour through those processed tracks. I later rediscovered Roger Eno in a different light with his 1997 album The Music of Neglected English Composers. A playful and beautiful album of chamber pieces guised as the works of forgotten (and fabricated) composers from the past century. His compositional sensibilities remind me of my favorite recent English composers... Hobbs, White, Bryars, Skempton, etc. This Floating World feels like a hybrid of these two styles, a melding of both his ambient and 'prelude'-esque compositions. Warm and feathered furniture music. In our communication Roger has been a real charmer, ending every email with 'Roger and out.' A curious fellow, with a knack for tracing the understated beauties of this world." Includes brief stories written by Roger in a 12-page booklet, alongside his photography. Edition of 500.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
R 037CD
|
Joan Of Arc is a project conceived by Eric Schmid and Sean McCann, running in line with St. Francis and St. Paul. This series of CD and pamphlets, writings bounded together with unbounded audio elements. Schmid and McCann roped in professional vocalist Christina Stanley to sing the last piece, which is a tip to Ulises Carrión's "Hamlet, For Two Voices", pulled from Friedrich Schiller's Maid Of Orleans (1801). Matthew Sullivan dusted off his pain tongs and sent over some sounds to re-actualize the past in fine fashion. This album is a conversation with/examination of the past. An epic poem, The Story of Joan of Arc (1796), by Tim Weidmann is included, which is impressively deep and detailed and beautiful -- along with a philosophical lead by young writer Jack Kahn, softly read by Mattea Landry as the first track of the disc. CD housed in a 50-page pamphlet; Edition of 200.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
R 031LP
|
A collection of recordings by the Italian sound and concrete poet Arrigo Lora-Totino (1928-2016). His place in the history and development of poetical intermedia is undisputed. Out Of Page holds fourteen voice-based tape works made from the years 1968 to 2000. While there is some use of cut-up tape manipulation, the artistry truly lies in his performance of the sound plays. Multi-tracking is utilized and Arrigo's nebulous voice paintings splat and click and glide. His bold expression is inspiring to me: it leads by example in encouraging the pulling of oneself further into their art. Sean McCann on the record: "I was staying at a hotel in San Francisco when I awoke in a sunfilled room to an email from Giovanni Fontana telling me that Arrigo had passed away. I was saddened by the departure of such a creative man, yet proud to be working with and perpetuating his legacy." Includes 16-page pamphlet with score excerpts, artwork, and program notes written by Totino, and an essay written by Giovanni Fontana; Restored and mastered by Sean McCann; Edition of 310.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
R 028LP
|
Security Besides Love is the first vinyl album from Philadelphia artist Gabi Losoncy. This album is an account of the artist's life. The first side voyeuristically and objectively documents Gabi's external experiences and habitats; in this instance, a conversation heard while riding public transportation. The second side of this record turns back in on the artist herself with an associative monologue, in which an understanding of her own artwork is examined. It is fair and honest and walks through the whole house leaving windows open. There is a small piece of film which separates, seemingly, Gabi's daily life and her artwork. It is quite inspiring. Understanding this can instill the same mysterious allure into your own trials and leisures. Losoncy is a part of Good Area with Allen Mozek. Comes with artist's bumper sticker; Edition of 300.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
R 033LP
|
Recital present a reissue of Dick Higgins's Poems And Metapoems, originally released on cassette by New Wilderness Audiographics in 1982. Label head Sean McCann on the reissue: "Since the beginning of Recital, I have been trying to publish the work of Dick Higgins. He is a chief figure in my artistic world, a hero of mine. And now, with the assistance of Charlie Morrow, it has finally happened. The first vinyl album ever published of Higgins! Many know Dick Higgins as the father of intermedia, a key player in the birth of fluxus, and the owner/operator of the fabulous Something Else Press. His own poetry is what stirred me. Namely, his book Foew & Ombwhnw (1969), which contains one of my favorite of his works, 'Moments in the Lives of Great Women,' along with other lovely poems (some included on this LP). This recording is of Dick himself reading his own poetry. Poems And Metapoems begins with a voice/tape manipulation piece from 1962, while the rest of the collection employs only language manipulation. Alike a cantor, each word is delivered perfectly with strong warmth. His ability to relay pattern-based poems into sonics is impressive. This album was recorded in 1982, and contains the reading of poems written between 1958-1980. Originally published as a cassette tape by New Wilderness Audiographics, which is nearly impossible to find now. The audio has been remastered and cleaned up for this edition. Dick lived large and was a busybody. All the faucets were running within him, handles broken off. Always pulling to mesh painfulness with playfulness, heart-warmth with heartbreak, comedy with tragedy etc. It is this plurality that Higgins encourages us to spark and flourish." Includes a 16-page pamphlet of notes and poetry by Higgins and an essay on both Higgins and New Wilderness Audiographics by Charlie Morrow; Edition of 470.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
2LP
|
|
R 022LP
|
2016 release. Music For Public Ensemble is the first full-length album by Sean McCann since 2013's Music For Private Ensemble (R 005LP). Three years in the making, Public Ensemble employs the talents of many Recital allies; a mélange of voices and instruments: violin, viola, cello, contrabass, piano, bass clarinet, tenor saxophone, flute, trumpet, trombone, clarinet, pedal-steel, koto, electronic keyboards (organ, Farfisa, harpsichord), percussion, other sounds, tape, and a lamp. Many of the pieces include recited text; reflections stemming from McCann's book Pacifics (R 014BK, 2016). The narrative is meaningless or meaningful. Produced and arranged by McCann in Los Angeles, California. Personnel: Ben Baker Billington, Andrew Chalk, Kayla Cohen, Ian William Craig, Maxwell August Croy, Sarah Davachi, Hank Doyle, Matthew Erickson, Scott Foust, Rob Frye, Celia Hollander, Seth Kasselman, Graham Lambkin, Gabi Losoncy, Rob Magill, Sean McCann, Erica McLachlin, Dave McPeters, Nour Mobarak, Allen Mozek, Tom James Scott, Zachary Paul Schwartz, Troy Schafer, Cameron Stallones, Nick Storring, Matthew Sullivan, Lillian Paige Walton, and the Rose-Paste Chorale, featuring: Kayla Cohen, Maxwell August Croy, Morgan Fox, Spencer Grady, Ursula Grady, Benjamin Lovell, Greg Manata, Erica McLachlin, Crystal Myslajek, Matthew Sage, Paula Schanes, Zachary Paul Schwartz, and Alex Twomey. Includes a 12-page pamphlet with texts, program notes, and artwork; Includes download coupon; Edition of 500.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
R 030CD
|
In celebration of five years of Recital, the label presents Cellar Volume 2. 20 unreleased tracks from friends and family of the label. Features: Roger Eno, Adriano Spatola & Gian Paolo Roffi, Barbara Bent & The Berkeley Gamelan, Andrew Chalk & Daisuke Suzuki, Peter Friel, Karla Borecky, Ian William Craig¸ Giovanni Fontana, Alex Twomey, Loren Connors, Charlie Morrow, Graham Lambkin, Michael Vincent Waller, Nour Mobarak, Isolde Touch, Sarah Davachi, and Idea Fire Company. Glass-mastered; Housed in a six-panel wallet with a four-page booklet; Edition of 500.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
R 020LP
|
"Epigenetic Poetry is an anthology documenting the sound works by the Italian sound poet Giovanni Fontana (b. 1946). These pieces, dating from 1968 to 2014, are scarcely available; culled from cassette magazines and art-book compendiums, along with two unreleased recordings. Fontana has been a pioneer of Italian visual poetry, sound poetry, and experimental theater since the mid-1960s. Together with peer Adriano Spatola, Giovanni worked on the publication Tam Tam (founded in 1972). He also rode in the same wagon as Arrigo Lora-Totino, splicing, pasting, and folding the compass of Italy's intermedia. In one light, Fontana's voice erects a brutal and guttural effigy of man, primitive and hermetic. Yet, stepping to the side, one can see the thin strands of support bolstering such combustibles. As chested-strings of a piano, Fontana strikes firmly across the resonating spread of discovery and acceptance. In addition to voice; jaw-harp, guitar, whistle, piano, and harpsichord are featured in these recordings, though the musical elements are secondary to the voice. Mouth, throat and even nose ('Poema a naso' features a microphone inserted in the nostril) take the stage-light. The interconnection between Giovanni's visual and audio artwork is significant. Words twist and dissolve; blotted with ink, soaring across an empty score. This album acts as a frame for these 14 pieces, which can be seen as they are heard, spilling from speakers as letters meeting paper." -- Sean McCann. June 2016. Edition of 315. Includes 16-page 9"x9" pamphlet with three critical essays, score excerpts, artwork, and program notes written by Fontana. Includes download code.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
Book
|
|
R 014BK
|
Sean McCann presents his first book, Pacifics. An excerpt from the book: "Always the hours of dawn his cream pastes its lettuce Black: The bedding circles sauces in day-board singes picked just-fine. Light Glides, carved fresh its hues reliving a hampered gloomy due, to soft-lit love slowing the support of overcast of whispering ivory absences and rose fat. In small-town exits, her regret set his ill-health. Lead was Noble with her sapping fan of ear, with my own winter a cedarwood you face, Lapping on grapes. Pearling raining on houses speaking pearl and wine and nightly Is Sophie and trickling anyway, Exerts the rain and cloth very before acting. Cream-like impressions among her much raining, Enters seaweed capping off suns, hooked a Well Recital of consumption. Either coppery, red to the raining jet of wildly left ribbons. This green our cloth of led towards the bricks. All possible in that detuning globe- flash gone lover's fading a dead different, flowering petal-blue. Spheres Pouring-pouring from owners in An over potion the oven very-slow. West cellars; or farm-lit Pouring coppery, moaning far ribbons flapping anyone soy The lobsters mist but rose in keeps on gushing her urn. Fortunately, night cordially implies, a true Silver of sapphire too green and red and but who's swimming - and fishing. A singeing into You pearling green, coffee-tongued richness by the shore out Never befell ripping too that chewy, argued water. a fallacy bitter of their History the favorite is obscurity, a pointy take are to white the bouquet, ever in texture but the fruity, gaps wording a crock you sapphire doesn't orchestra ever the snow by growing minutes I ribbon coppers oven and now retire on the cliff anyway, pedestal been it the paaare their call hard sapphire cut or spend smoker his petaling Pacific" Second Edition; Softbound book; 65 pages; Edition of 100.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
R 004LP
|
2013 release. An edited and remastered issue of a tape by the Idea Fire Company quartet, originally released in 2005 - Scott Foust, Karla Borecky, Jessi Swenson & Meara O'Reilly. Rags To Riches is a live record documenting pieces from 2003 through 2005. It showcases some top-shelf unreleased works; "The Whole World," "Metropolis," and "The Bitter End." Older material is also included; a fierce version of "Artificial" from 2005's Stranded, as well as the notorious "Cycle-19." Additionally, there is a beautiful voice-based rendition of "Some Of Us" by Idea Fire Company comrades' The Shadow Ring. All these pieces exhibit a contemplative and well-informed use of electronics, radio, and voice interlaced with spoken title announcements in French, punching typewriter passages and audience dialogue. Their mechanical and uncompromising aesthetic is pronounced, as Rags To Riches reminds us all why Idea Fire Company are such an important contemporary outfit. Edition of 285. Includes color insert with an essay by Scott Foust.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
R 012CD
|
2015 release. A CD reissue of the long unavailable international sound poetry compilation LP, Voooxing Poooêtre. Originally released in 1982, this collection was assembled by Italian sound poet Enzo Minarelli (who has also curated releases on Slowscan and Baobab, in addition to operating the 3Vitre imprint). Comprised of voice works from the 1970s to the early 1980s the collection spans a wide geography; Eastern Europe, France, Italy, Spain, and America. Including text-sound staple Bernard Heidsieck, Dada artist Klaus Groh, Italian artists Agostino Contò and Adriano Spatola (Edizioni Geiger), along with more unknown sound recordings from artists Giovanni Bignone and Grupo Texto Poetico, in addition to works by Minarelli himself. An appealing showcase of some less-prolific sound poets. The recordings have been retransferred from the original 2 inch tape, yet an inherent "home-recording" quality is prevalent in most pieces, which in a sense adds character and becomes part of the art itself. "When you listen to these sound poems, you will notice that they don't look so old as they appear. Many of the pieces anthologized were made in mid-seventies, at the beginning of the eighties, and yet, despite almost four decades, they still explode their power of communication. Why? This is one of the great intuitions caught by sound poets, when one works into this apparently untouchable but really concrete, physical material of orality, vocality, or vocorality to use a neologism of mine, without being limited by the monopoly of meaning so typical of the written language, it keeps himself inside a safe area, an ever-green mix of words and sounds, of phonetics and linguistics, of notes and noises which make it similar to the Dorian Gray of sound poetry!? Re-editing Voooxing Poooêtre, means to re-affirm the validity of the vocorality as a practice of research, that sort of freedom which allows the polypoets to experiment, to move even more and more forward the border of the vanguard." -- Enzo Minarelli, 2015. Edition of 500. Housed in a six-panel wallet, including a 24-page booklet reproducing the photos, scores, and writings from the original LP. Comes with a new foreword written by Enzo Minarelli in 2015. Also includes the works of: Rod Summers, Giovanni Fontana, Richard Kostelanetz, Vladan Radovanovic, Peter R. Meyer, Tibor Papp, Santo S.A. and Jean Jacques Lebel.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD/DVD/BOOK
|
|
R 016CD
|
Romanzi Nelle I is a stunning new work by Italian sound poet and artist Enzo Minarelli (b.1951). Romanzi Nelle I takes inspiration from the sacred work of Abraham Abulafia (1240-1291), the Jewish mystic and father of linguistic permutation. This edition fully documents the piece, containing audio, video, and literary content. It is rare to get to examine a composition so closely, and I have found to it be an important exercise. Enzo's years of work as a performer and curator come to shine here, and the rainbow of human range is examined - the transposition of meditation, massaging the depth of euphorias, and flipping the coin to paint the curls of despair. A fascinating experience delivered to those who are interested in sound and concrete poetry. Excerpts from book: The Prototype of Permutation: "It is not his life [Abulafia], however challenging it may have been, to have attracted me, but his very original theory of permutational study applied to nouns. If we consider permutation as a creative act, immediately it comes to mind the poetry of Brion Gysin who in 1960 does exploit it in operational terms, although it must be added that his way of permutation was the direct result of programming a computer made by an English student, Ian Sommerville, escaped from Oxford University to take refuge at the Beat Hotel in Paris, where he met Gysin. The same observation must be made for the experience called Tape Mark I (1961) and Tape Mark II (1963), by Nanni Balestrini, where the hardware makes the linguistic choice, or Tag-Surfusion (1996), by Jacques Donguy. They are, in essence, the same kind of texts, acutely called by Max Bense, 'stochastic', as the machine decides for the author. Abulafia, on the other hand, draws his series of permutation, studying the language from its inside, it is the prototype of permutation, the first motionless motor, and without tricks or deceptions, he sets up manually, only with the help of pen and paper, the whole universe of permutation, organizing a constant, linguistic change through a relentless swirl of terminology. Not necessarily, he begins from codified words, but often he takes fragments, syllables, groups of arbitrary monemes that he himself develops and twists exponentially, applying mathematical rules. The declared aim of his exercises is the divine ecstasy." The Primitive Simplicity Of Vocorality: "Romanzi Nelle I is an untranslatable title because it consists of the Italian anagram of my name and surname, in perfect Abulafia style, in its non-sense it means a lot. If it is possible to pursue the writing of the book of the books as Mallarmé was dreaming, moreover I believe I can point at the sound of the sounds, the word of the words, that is the primitive simplicity of vocorality, the big bang of the linguistic explosion, the first sonic imprint. For word, it is not to be understood the comprehensible term, but the arbitrary union of nouns after an eruption, the clinamen, the random fall of syllabic fragments because 'we have to let the letters the chance of continuing to be read [heard], despite the existence of the words' according to a great insight of Rabbi Yosef Razin." Edition of 200. Includes: Hardbound, 71 page, full color book - CD of the 2015 rendition of Minarelli's "Romanzi Nelle I" - DVD holding the original 2013 performance.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
R 001LP
|
2012 release. Recital's inaugural release, Vanity Fair, is Sean McCann & Matthew Sullivan's debut collaboration album. A fitting introduction to the ethos of Recital; the desire to turn a new page or to more accurately project what is significant and engaging in contemporary music. McCann speaks about the album: "Matt and I had often talked about collaborating, as our musical understandings and interests align. Both drawn to minimalism and graceful ambience, we would trade tidbits and slivers of ideas casually over coffee or wine. For the better part of a year, we procrastinated our theoretical project, which in retrospect allowed our ideas to ferment. So when it actually came time to pop the cork and record, everything fell right into place. What manifested in the studio was lush and enchanting. The pieces are quite varied, and range from the majestic to the tormented, occasionally synthesizing an almost humorous blend of the two. Presenting a manipulated animal and glockenspiel march, a chamber string and glass rhapsody and a somber harp and phone ballad - it challenges the listener and expresses the development of both acclaimed artists. It is a timeless, refined effort, that both Matt and I are very proud of." Edition of 560.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
R 013LP
|
2015 release. Recital presents Idea Fire Company's Lost at Sea. Lost At Sea imagines the Idea Fire Company as a bar band on a small cruise ship. There are approximately 40 passengers aboard. Around 2/3 of them are in the lounge for the nightly Idea Fire Company performance. Most of them seem more interested in drink than in music. The ship has become lost and seems to be endlessly circling, Well stocked with booze and food, etc., the ship continues on. Idea Fire Company, armed with only a piano, trumpet, radio and synth provide the nightly entertainment. Lost At Sea is certainly the sister of the also piano-heavy The Music From The Impossible Salon (2011), but Lost At Sea has an air of weary optimism replacing the bleak sadness of Impossible Salon. For almost thirty years, Idea Fire Company has carved their own path, or dug their own hole, depending on your view, through the ever-changing world of underground music - Still violently committed to the avant-garde and to new forms of beauty, still romantic, still idealistic. In the old days, this sort of commitment was better appreciated. As a number of people have said over the years, every Idea Fire Company records sound different, but they all sound like Idea Fire Company. Includes a 4″ x 6″ postcard and download code. Edition of 400.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
R 007CD
|
2014 release. Annea Lockwood (b. 1939, New Zealand) has been an active member of the sound art world for over 50 years. Known prominently for her "Glass Concerts", exploring the sonic temperaments of glass; her "Piano Transplants", a performance piece where a piano is lit on fire or partially buried; and "Sound Maps", detailed audio studies of rivers in the United States. She has received international recognition for her unique relationship with sound. Lockwood has taught at a number of universities, most notably at Vassar in New York, where she taught since 1982. Although recently retired, she is still constantly engaged in her art, recording and composing from the world around her. Ground Of Being presents four pieces ranging from 1996 to 2013. Unlike her "Sound Map" albums, which often work environmentally, Ground Of Being tells a more detailed story. It's a moving series of memories, or a collection of different dreams. Annea has a keen connection with the resonances of the Earth; whether it be the detail of water sloshing, the reverberation of a voice in a room, or that of acoustical instruments. With these natural resonances in her palette, a unification of all sounds is formed. For example, the piece "Dusk" (2011) juxtaposes recordings from vents on the bottom of the ocean together with transposed bat calls. Additionally, on Lockwood's composition "Ear-Walking Woman" (1996), performed here by Lois Svard, prepared piano acts as a microcosm of the world of sound - A box with treated strings; a smaller reflection, yet still limitless in its ability to produce frequencies and dynamics. The notion of sound as an extension of the physical realm is brought to mind. The aural temper of water, of wood, of rocks, of wind - Lockwood brings all into focus for our consideration. Edition of 500. Housed in a six-panel wallet, with an insert of writings by Annea Lockwood.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
R 018CD
|
"In 2013, I was living in California working as programmer and would talk to 'our friend Eric [Schmid]' on the phone every few days - he's always liked talking on the phone and I liked it then because I could take breaks from work and it was also nice to talk with our friend who was living in New York. He left a year and a half before I did just after the beginning of our final semester at school. He'd returned to the city to finish school shortly after I left to go to work. From August 2014 to October 2015 we were both living in New York. On one of our phone calls he talked about an idea for art production that involved recording all his phone calls. At the time a lot of his calls would come directly after he had emailed a poem to me because he wanted feedback. I think that this CD comprised of all of the voicemails found on his phone dating from the years 2010-2015 is a response to that idea. 'We have a calling to redeem weakness in the moment and to treat this indeterminate material as the solution to psychic stabilization,' he once said. Recently when I played him some recordings I had been working on he reminded me that I had expressed discomfort at his proposal to record all of his phone calls, so he did not do it. I know that his poems had altered the way that I corresponded with him through email and text and the nature of communication over the phone seemed in that sense less productive. The voicemails that are found on a phone are the result of an undirected editing process over time and the production of an album from them is the result of an automatic export process - a found form. I like to think about the voicemails in relation to our friend's bag sculptures and poems. What is the bag? We say: a vessel, something of the kind that holds something else within it. He reminds me that in this context it may be fruitful to make reference to Dieter Roth's Flat Waste, the various vagaries of life, self-portraiture, and auto-biography." -- Michael Pollard, 2016. Edition of 200 copies. Glass mastered CD, housed in jewel-case with four-panel insert.
|
|
|
|