Squarepusher on Guitar

By Aphex Twin interpreter Simon Farintosh

/ By Marc Weidenbaum

After releasing [a remarkable collection of Aphex Twin transcriptions](https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nxqX6Rpgccjb7deQswfkOLDVWKc18wy7g) for classical guitar earlier this year, Simon Farintosh has now tackled some music by Aphex peer Squarepusher. The track “Tommib” originally appeared on Squarepusher’s 2001 album *Go Plastic*. It’s brief, not even a minute and a half, though its placid pace and lilting melody extend time a bit. In Farintosh’s hands, the original synthesizer piece takes on an even more folk-classical feel, the lilt even more clear — a bit Spanish, a bit Celtic, but still all Squarepusher. I [interviewed Farintosh](https://disquiet.com/2021/02/03/simon-farintosh-aphex-twin-guitar/) about the Aphex Twin transcriptions back in February. He explained at the time: “I think that in a sense, every transcription is a cover. … The reverse is not true, however.” What he’s getting at is that there is more to a transcription than tracing the main melody and mapping out the chords. His work gets at the inner workings of the piece. Listen to the original to compare:

Video originally posted at [youtube.com](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNLecjLPOzI). More from Farintosh at [simonfarintosh.com](https://simonfarintosh.com/).

Frédéric Tentelier’s Silences

As exhibited on On Établit un Temps, On Creuse un Épais

/ By Marc Weidenbaum

There are numerous elements in “Du clos de l’ouvert” and “Se pencher sur la forme d’un fil, I,” the two tracks made available for streaming from Frédéric Tentelier’s *On Établit un Temps, On Creuse un Épais*. The album was released earlier this month by Hitorri, a label from Tokyo, Japan. The accompanying text lists its contents, “field recordings, Fender Rhodes, organs, banjo, objects,” and judging by these two pieces, “objects” should come first in the list, so flush is the album with sounds that while not identifiable are contraindicatory of any sort of standard issue instrument. Instead there is a subtle chamber music of cracks and thwaps and creaks and knocks, with drones and bell tones and bits of melodic suggestiveness in between. And higher still on the list of materials should be “silence,” because beautiful as the source audio scraps are in combination, what really makes them work is how much space there is between them and within them, how the slightest sound is allowed full center-stage presence, and how any two bits might be separated by a significant lull. The silences are so prominent that even when they are absent, the music is heard against them as a backdrop. When sounds quiet down, they aren’t merely quiet. They are exposing the silence around them.

Album originally posted at [hitorri.bandcamp.com](https://hitorri.bandcamp.com/album/on-tablit-un-temps-on-creuse-un-pais).

Current Favorites: “In C,” New Davachi, Live Scanner

Heavy rotation, lightly annotated

/ By Marc Weidenbaum

A weekly(ish) answer to the question “What have you been listening to lately?” It’s lightly annotated because I don’t like re-posting material without providing some context. I hope to write more about some of these in the future, but didn’t want to delay sharing them.

▰ “In CV”: not just Terry Riley’s “In C” performed [on modular synthesizer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ea2zLXFY1C4), but with a module specifically designed to play it. (via Jason Wehmhoener)

▰ Sarah Davachi has announced [*Antiphonals*](https://sarahdavachi.bandcamp.com/album/antiphonals) for release this coming September. For now there is one track, “Rushes Recede,” overlapping waves giving way to something more expressly gothic and churchly:

▰ I missed the Robin Rimbaud show last weekend, and am digging this [13-minute video excerpt](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9X9Ex7Q__o&t=1s) of the full performance: pulsing minimalist beats and haunting voice (or voice-like material). Submerge:

Disquiet Junto Project 0495: Protip Etude

The Assignment: Share a tip for making music or working with sound, and record a track that employs it.

/ By Marc Weidenbaum

Each Thursday in the Disquiet Junto group, a new compositional challenge is set before the group’s members, who then have just over four days to upload a track in response to the assignment. Membership in the Junto is open: just join and participate. (A SoundCloud account is helpful but not required.) There’s no pressure to do every project. It’s weekly so that you know it’s there, every Thursday through Monday, when you have the time.

Deadline: This project’s deadline is the end of the day Monday, June 28, 2021, at 11:59pm (that is, just before midnight) wherever you are. It was posted on Thursday, June 24, 2021.

These are the instructions that went out to the group’s email list (at tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto):

Disquiet Junto Project 0495: Protip Etude

The Assignment: Share a tip for making music or working with sound, and record a track that employs it.

This is a sort of project we do on occasion. Last time we did was back in mid-December of 2020. It’s a great way to share experiences: to teach at the same time you’re learning. A virtuous circle, if you will.

Step 1: Think of a musical/sonic tip or technique you want to share with others. It might be something newly acquired, or it might be an old habit.

Step 2: In sharing the tip selected in Step 1, record a short piece of music that employs it.

Seven More Important Steps When Your Track Is Done:

Step 1: Include “disquiet0495” (no spaces or quotation marks) in the name of your tracks.

Step 2: If your audio-hosting platform allows for tags, be sure to also include the project tag “disquiet0495” (no spaces or quotation marks). If you’re posting on SoundCloud in particular, this is essential to subsequent location of tracks for the creation of a project playlist.

Step 3: Upload your tracks. It is helpful but not essential that you use SoundCloud to host your tracks.

Step 4: Post your tracks in the following discussion thread at llllllll.co:

[https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0495-protip-etude/](https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0495-protip-etude/)

Step 5: Annotate your tracks with a brief explanation of your approach and process.

Step 6: If posting on social media, please consider using the hashtag #disquietjunto so fellow participants are more likely to locate your communication.

Step 7: Then listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow Disquiet Junto participants.

Additional Details:

Deadline: This project’s deadline is the end of the day Monday, June 28, 2021, at 11:59pm (that is, just before midnight) wherever you are. It was posted on Thursday, June 24, 2021.

Length: The length of your finished track is up to you.

Title/Tag: When posting your tracks, please include “disquiet0495” in the title of the tracks, and where applicable (on SoundCloud, for example) as a tag.

Upload: When participating in this project, be sure to include a description of your process in planning, composing, and recording it. This description is an essential element of the communicative process inherent in the Disquiet Junto. Photos, video, and lists of equipment are always appreciated.

Download: It is always best to set your track as downloadable and allowing for attributed remixing (i.e., a Creative Commons license permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution, allowing for derivatives).

For context, when posting the track online, please be sure to include this following information:

More on this 495th weekly Disquiet Junto project — Protip Etude (The Assignment: Share a tip for making music or working with sound, and record a track that employs it) — at: https://disquiet.com/0495/

More on the Disquiet Junto at: https://disquiet.com/junto/

Subscribe to project announcements here: https://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/

Project discussion takes place on llllllll.co: [https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0495-protip-etude/](https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0495-protip-etude/)

There’s also a Disquiet Junto Slack. Send your email address to [twitter.com/disquiet](https://twitter.com/disquiet) for Slack inclusion.

The image associated with this project is by AKT.UZ, and used thanks to Flickr and a Creative Commons license allowing editing (cropped with text added) for non-commercial purposes:

[https://flic.kr/p/2bRbXCv](https://flic.kr/p/2bRbXCv)

[https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)

Mount Brunswick Hike Footage

And the sonic culture of YouTube forest walks

/ By Marc Weidenbaum

When I posted my [two-minute footage](https://disquiet.com/2021/06/18/redwoods-trail-june-2021/) of a recent redwood forest hike, I mentioned how YouTube is full of far longer journeys. I wanted to share another example of what I’m talking about. This video (not by me) is an hour straight (with a tiny bit of editing) of a walk at Mount Brunswick in British Columbia. The location is beautiful, and the footage fairly high resolution, as high as 1440, which isn’t 4K but will certainly do. Right from the start, the videographer’s footsteps are plainly evident. When walking, one isn’t quite aware of such sounds, because our brains largely blank them out, as they do any repetitive noise that should be ignored in favor of chance sounds that might provide evidence of danger or other reason for alert, if not alarm. That’s evolution for you. By 15 minutes in, the hiker’s breath makes itself heard, and by halfway through, that panting is almost as loud as the footsteps. While the footage remains breathtaking at times (take a look at the view at [50:01](https://youtu.be/aE1i5VLGFIg?t=3001)), we’re also plainly aware of the effort required to share it with us — it is breathtaking, quite literally, and anything but blissful. At times, the hiker pauses to look around, and in those moments birds might be heard cawing, but for the most part, the panting and foot stseps are our accompaniment. The video is titled “Mount Brunswick Virtual Hike No Music No Talking,” but of course humans can be present, can be heard, even when they’re not talking. I’m not posting this mention here as a critique of the video. Quite the contrary, it’s absolutely gorgeous, a generous act on the part of the individual who posted it. I am registering it as an interesting aspect of the culture of posting nature walks and, by extension, city hikes — that even when there is no talking, it is not as if the world beyond our own presence simply fills the sonic void.

Video originally posted at [youtube.com](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE1i5VLGFIg).