John Cage

Cage (and particularly his 4'33") was hugely influential with the theory behind the Sshhh project. In what was a (failed) campaign for an alternative Christmas number one single, it's now at 21 in the Top 40. I hope that a few more people investigate some of the ideas behind the piece rather than just see it as a subversive attempt to topple X Factor.

The remixes, by the way, are entertaining. I particularly like Herve's 'Tidies Up The Studio remix' where the silence is punctuated by the odd bit of background noise.

Available to download here: Cage Against The Machine

Central Station book

It looks really nice, doesn't it?

On FormFiftyFive

I have found the Glasgow's Central Station site/community hugely supportive over the past year or so. Given the standard of material on there, I've additionally been honoured to have had some work from my portfolio selected on its homepage and then was even more excited when there was talk of contributing to a book that they were producing [I'll update on that in a separate post].

What I wasn't aware of - something that explains the large number of views of an image from the Sshhh project in recent times - was that the site has also been publicising my work alongside that of some majorly talented artists. This nicely prompted an appearance on the wonderful FormFiftyFive for which I'm very grateful.

Karel Martens - Printed Matter

Beautiful looking book. Available via the following link: Karel Martens: Printed Matter

Central Station party

Glasgow's Central Station will be having a party on Friday which also acts as a launch event for the book which will be distributed from January 2011. I can't make it there [it's at the Sub Club complete with rum and Scotland's house champion Harri on the decks]. However, the book - which I will be getting sent at some point - does include one of the works I produced as part of the Sshhh project. So, yep, another book. Which is very nice.

Instead I'll actually be out for a few pre-Xmas drinks with my MA chums in Manchester to celebrate Irish finally doing the decent thing and leaving these shores*.

*Sorta



UPDATE:
A pic of us from the above at what seems to now be our 'regular' eating place. We asked the staff not to move the hazard sign for this. Oh, the glamour.

Various - Fünf

artist: Various
title: Fünf
label: Ostgut Ton, DE. (Distributed by Word & Sound, DE.)
date: 25.10.10

(Available via the following link: Funf)

Ostgut Ton releases this unique compilation of music crafted from field recordings made inside the two Berlin clubs Berghain and Panorama Bar. The concept and original recordings were made by the Berlin based producer Emika. Over a period of two months Emika created the recordings in the clubs while they were closed to the public and edited them into a library of sounds. The library was then given to all the Ostgut Ton artists, but also to club associates like DJ Pete aka Substance, Dinky, Cassy, Margaret Dygas, Ryan Elliott and Scuba using his SCB alias, to make music with. This release marks the celebration of the label's five year anniversary.

Emika's idea started from feeling the whole building resonating from the music being played, which lead to the question: which sounds exist here when there is no party? Intrigued by stories of how the club spaces and sound systems influence the resident DJ sets and productions, Emika was curious to explore what music could be made from the building itself. Berghain’s sound technicians Krischan Makswitat and Silvio König, helped to record the entire light rig including the strobe lights, which in itself sounds techno. Other interesting sources to record were the large cooling rooms used for storing thousands of drinks in bottles. The ventilation systems in these rooms make incredible sub frequencies mixed with the sound of the bottles vibrating against each other. The club also contains large swings made from metal which creak and moan at the slightest of movements.

In total the library comprised over four gigabytes of sounds, and the artists were not given restrictions on how to make music from the library. The tracks on this compilation consist of each artists signature production aesthetics and feature debut solo productions by our residents Fiedel (one half of seminal Berlin based outfit MMM), Boris and Prosumer’s long term production partner Tama Sumo. All together this release highlights the special and inseparable relationships between the label, club space, and collective of artists.

Noise book (update)

Just had word that my proposal for a chapter in the publication prompted by the Bigger Than Words conference was successful. So that's something to look forward to in 2011.

It will be amazing that this work will actually culminate in something in a book that ends up in a library.