Disquiet – Page 626 – Listening to culture. Playing with audio. Sounding out technology. Composing in code.

Small Box, Big Sound

A live modular synthesis performance by State Azure

August 22, 2018November 9, 2020 / By Marc Weidenbaum

In the expanding realm of live synthesizer performance videos, even the more informed among us sometimes can’t see the ensemble forest for the module trees. Despite the assembly of knobs and cables in this video, uploaded by State Azure, the activity is limited to just two pieces of equipment packed into a tidy little box in the foreground, two little modules designed for the manipulation of sound. The slight twists and adjustments on State Azure’s part align in various ways with interstellar spaciousness, wind chime chill, and dusty static, though by no means are all the correlations self-evident. There’s an understandable disconnect between how something so small can make something so vast, something so compact can make something so internally varied and vibrant. But still, watching those manipulations unfold in no way diminishes the elegance of what transpires sonically. It’s a graceful series of maneuvers that direct the sounds from start to end.

This is the latest video I’ve added to [my YouTube playlist of recommended live performances of ambient music](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAgCxRbmR1MJxihgJkCPEnehAPvjoF71-). Video originally posted at [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HY0ngSByU6g). More at [stateazure.bandcamp.com](https://stateazure.bandcamp.com). State Azure is based in Southampton, U.K.

Fence Filter

Noise and not noise

August 21, 2018August 22, 2018 / By Marc Weidenbaum

There is noise, and there is noise. The “and” suggests an “or,” a binary, but it is, of course, more of an ear-of-the-beholder situation. The sheer antic nature of the five-minute recording “hcsr.pananenanap” by darreichungsform, both track name and artist name seeming like error codes from an unfamiliar operating system (an association not out of whack with the audio itself), is both inviting and distancing. The randomness of the music has the vibe of chunky white noise, all panic-inducing, and yet, if you settle in, also invigorating. In addition, buried within it are bits of evident melodic and tonal activity, stepwise melodies and wormy synth sounds and other treats. It’s a bit like how the glimpse of someone’s yard can be taken in if you time the way your eye catches the spaces between the slots of the fence that separates you from it. Of course, the foremost separation here is aesthetic. The noise is like a blustery day: if you accept it on its own terms, there is beauty to be had.

Track originally posted at [soundcloud.com/darreichungsform](https://soundcloud.com/darreichungsform/hcsrpananenanap).

Stasis Report: Now On Google Play Music ✚ Spotify

Five tracks (four new, one archival) added to the ambient playlist as of August 19, 2018

August 19, 2018August 19, 2018 / By Marc Weidenbaum

The latest update to my Stasis Report ambient-music playlist. It started out just on on [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/user/dsqt/playlist/1YhR54cjP640J92AOxaoel?si=kDLQAGomSnKEqaMTBllKvg). Now it’s also on [Google Play Music](https://play.google.com/music/playlist/AMaBXylvMU-QFhCR1_vMgMgwndCq6WD-bq1MPNrUfZ9zXbCPE5IGbMj8aWwsLhjdTtH0QbKDa5dZkKizJ2pUmTHJ4Ib9Ws1_5A%3D%3D). The following five tracks were added on Sunday, August 19.

✚ “Bread and Wine” is from the score by **Peter Gabriel** to the 1988 Martin Scorcese film *The Last Temptation of Christ*. It’s one of three films that Gabriel — once upon a time the lead singer of the progressive-rock band Genesis, and later a formidable part of the foundation of MTV’s vision of pop culture — has scored. The soundtrack release is titled *Passion: Music for the Last Temptation of Christ*. Another of Gabriel’s is *Long Walk Home: Music from Rabbit-Proof Fence*, the 2002 film. In both cases he chose a title other than the film’s for his score’s release. The third, his first, is *Birdy: Music from the Film*, from 1984. They’re all of note right now because they finally appeared on streaming services this past Friday, August 17. It was the same day the estate of the late Prince released almost two dozen albums across streaming services, so the news got a bit buried. The first two had a big impact on me. *Birdy* came out my last year of high school (I remember hearing his music in the background as a local news TV station’s film reviewer talked about the movie, and I recognized it as Peter Gabriel’s immediately) and *Passion* my last year of college (we were fresh off the debate about cultural appropriation that had surrounded Paul Simon’s *Graceland*; Gabriel had the grace to release an album of the material his score drew from, *Passion – Sources*).

✚ “Self-Recognition (For Pauline Oliveros)” is from *Diminution* by **Leila Abdul-Rauf**, released on Malignant Records in mid-April of this year. Abdul-Rauf lives in the San Francisco Bay Area: [malignantrecs.bandcamp.com](https://malignantrecs.bandcamp.com/album/diminution).

✚ “Scraped (Kara-Lis Coverdale ‘Serpentine Rework’) is off the three-cut EP *Arborescence {remixes}*, based on the “Serpentine” track from the 2017 album *Arborescence* by **Úlfur**. The EP also includes remixes by Oren Ambarchi and Alex Somers. *Arborescence {remixes}* was released in July on the label Figureight. Úlfur is an Icelandic musician now based in New York. **Kara-Lis Coverdale** is based in Montreal, Québec: [ulfur.bandcamp.com](https://ulfur.bandcamp.com/album/arborescence-remixes).

✚ “Lapis Lazuli” is from *Lady’s Mantle* by **Jake Muir**, who is based in Los Angeles. It was released in July on the label Sferic, which is based in Manchester, England: [sferic.bandcamp.com](https://sferic.bandcamp.com/album/ladys-mantle-5).

✚ “Anno / Four Seasons: Meadow (Spring)” is from *Anno: Four Seasons by Anna Meredith & Antonio Vivaldi* (“in which original pieces of work by the classical-electronic composer are intertwined with Vivaldi’s Four Seasons”) by **Anna Meredith** and **Scottish Ensemble**, and in the case of this track some birdsong as well. The record will, no doubt, be considered alongside Max Richter’s 2012 reworkings of the same Vivaldi music, *Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi – The Four Seasons* (Deutsche Grammophon). It’s worth wondering if the attraction ambient-minded composers find in “The Four Seasons” is related to the merits of the original composition itself, or to the background-music reputation it has garnered over the years, or some combination thereof. Meredith is based in Camberwell, UK, and the Ensemble in Glasgow. The album came out last week on the Moshi Moshi label: [annahmeredith.bandcamp.com](https://annahmeredith.bandcamp.com/album/anno-four-seasons-by-anna-meredith-antonio-vivaldi-ft-scottish-ensemble).

Some previous [Stasis Report](https://open.spotify.com/user/dsqt/playlist/1YhR54cjP640J92AOxaoel?si=kDLQAGomSnKEqaMTBllKvg) tracks were removed to make room for these, keeping the playlist length to roughly an hour and a half. Those retired tracks (by **Adam Bryanbaum Wiltzie**, **Ekin Fil**, **Sarah Davachi**, **Jet Jaguar**, and **Rezzett**) are now in the [Stasis Archives](https://open.spotify.com/user/dsqt/playlist/7wQclXEfiEJ20KNIONJXGw?si=5RmtEbbSQcKNbK1ho2Vyog) playlist. (Note: one track on the Spotify list isn’t on the Google Play Music version, because it isn’t showing up on the service: Simon McCorry’s “The Third Stone,” off the album *Song Lines*.)

Disquiet Junto Project 0346: Drum Machinations

The Assignment: Make a beat with new drum machine sounds provided by other Junto musicians.

August 16, 2018August 17, 2018 / By Marc Weidenbaum

Each Thursday in the [Disquiet Junto group](https://disquiet.com/junto/), 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 Monday, August 20, 2018, at 11:59pm (that is, just before midnight) wherever you are on. It was posted in the afternoon, California time, on Thursday, August 16, 2018.

Tracks will be added to [the playlist](https://soundcloud.com/disquiet/sets/disquiet-junto-project-0346) for the duration of the project.

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

**Disquiet Junto Project 0346: Drum Machinations**

The Assignment: Make a beat with new drum machine sounds provided by other Junto musicians.

Major thanks to Matt Nish-Lapidus and Jason Wehmhoener for having helped put together this project.

Step 1: Last week in the Disquiet Junto, musicians made beats for their own imaginary drum machines. The beats appear at the start of each of the participating tracks in the week’s SoundCloud playlist, here:

https://soundcloud.com/disquiet/sets/disquiet-junto-project-0345

In addition, there may be some other tracks with beats in the Lines discussion, here:

https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0345-sample-time/

Step 2: Check out the tracks in Step 1. Choose one track whose opening drum machine sounds hold the most appeal for you. Then confirm the track is downloadable. If it isn’t, either get in touch with the musician who made it, or choose another track.

Step 3: Make an original piece of music employing the sounds from Step 2.

Six More Important Steps When Your Track Is Done:

Step 1: Include “disquiet0346” (no spaces or quotation marks) in the name of your track.

Step 2: If your audio-hosting platform allows for tags, be sure to also include the project tag “disquiet0346” (no spaces or quotation marks). If you’re posting on SoundCloud in particular, this is essential to subsequent location of tracks for the creation a project playlist.

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

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

https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0346-drum-machinations/

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

Step 6: Then listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow Disquiet Junto participants.

Other Details:

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

Title/Tag: When posting your track, please include “disquiet0346” in the title of the track, and where applicable (on SoundCloud, for example) as a tag.

Upload: When participating in this project, post one finished track with the project tag, and 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’s important for this project that your track is set as downloadable, and that it allows for attributed remixing (i.e., a Creative Commons license permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution).

Linking: When posting the track online, please be sure to include this following information — as well as the name of the individual whose beats you’re using, and a link to that source track:

More on this 346th weekly Disquiet Junto project (Drum Machinations / The Assignment: Make a beat with new drum machine sounds provided by other Junto musicians) at:

https://disquiet.com/0346/

Major thanks to Matt Nish-Lapidus and Jason Wehmhoener for having helped put together this and the preceding project.

Serrated Ambient Music

A live performance on one instrument by Tom Hall

August 13, 2018August 13, 2018 / By Marc Weidenbaum

This gorgeous, pulsing, lightly fractured, seven-minute video of serrated ambient music performed entirely on an Elektron Digitakt was posted by Tom Hall late last year. In it, rapidly cycling bits of noise turn from sharp slivers to lush texture, from harsh to comforting, and back again. The pace is either anxious or genteel, depending on where you ear focuses. Does it attach to the internal motion of these micro-moments, bits of noise and drone churning past each other, or does it fix itself on the underlying big picture, a peaceful tonal space in which stasis is the ruling structure?

This is the latest video I’ve added to [my YouTube playlist of recommended live performances of ambient music](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAgCxRbmR1MJxihgJkCPEnehAPvjoF71-). The video was first posted on Hall’s [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlmZnhz6Op8&index=5&list=WL&t=0s) channel last October. More from Tom Hall, an Australian based in Los Angeles, at [tomhall.com.au](http://www.tomhall.com.au/), [instagram.com/tomhallsonics](https://www.instagram.com/tomhallsonics/), and [soundcloud.com/thall](https://soundcloud.com/thall). His album *Spectra* was recently released on the French label [Elli Records](https://www.elli.media/releases/tom-hall-spectra/).