First of all, thank you to people that came to my DJ show at BEAF in Bellingham, US last month. I've been asked about my playlist so here it is:

(album title/artist/label)
1. Fluersy Music / Takahiro Kido / PLOP
2. Cribas / Mono Fontana / Intoxicate Records
3. Brain Cloud / Joe Grimm / SPEKK
4. Sound of Sleep / Upsets / Upsets Recordings
5. " Aire Fresco" Sami Abadi / Tropicalismo Argentino / Inpartmaint Inc.
6. Khali / Alejandro Franov / Nature Bliss
7. Mapa / Uakti / Philips
8. Two things always happen simulaneously / Veno Tagashi / Commune Disc
9. Ripple / Fonica / PLOP
10. Whips / Wind-Up Bird / Music Fellowship
11. Lontano / Kyo Ichinose / Cubic Music
12. Englaborn / Johann Johannsson / Touch

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And below are the 2 new SPEKK releases. They are available through our mailorder now!


catKK015
label: SPEKK
artist: Joe Grimm
title: Brain Cloud
format: CD

Joe Grimm (aka The Wind-Up Bird) is a composer/performer based in Providence, RI (USA) known for his significant works on Music Fellowship label. The seed for this music was planted when I participated in one of Glenn Branca's 100-guitar symphonies. The sound was incredible: a deafening, electric choir incorporating so many voices that the each element was subsumed within the group sound.But I was struck even more by the unrealized potential in Branca's approach; the sound was separated into several identifiable voices, so that the impression given was of a conventional counterpoint-driven music. I wanted to make a particulate music that presented itself as a single mass of varying density, comprised of tens of thousands of individual events.Soon afterward, I began to immerse myself in the piano music of Charlemagne Palestine. I learned from him that when two notes share a particular frequency in their overtone series, that frequency can be made to sing out clearly -- a ghost tone, not played directly, but arising from the interactions among the directly played notes. I began to compose and improvise with this in mind -- I could sketch out desired pitches, and then arrange webs of lower pitches that coincided to produce those target pitches within their harmonic series.This music deals with overtones. I listen not so much to the direct-played notes; instead, I let my mind wander through the web of throbbing harmonics that arise as a result of their interaction. There are obvious sounds on the surface of the music, but eventually my ears penetrate beneath the surface to where harmonics overlap in countless reinforcements and cancellations. I love the glowing acoustic haze that seems to hover above the obvious notes, and the sustained ghost tones that emerge and recede within that cloudy texture.The Brain Cloud pieces are through-composed according to the principles of overtone confluence and particle density. There are no special electronics on these recordings -- the humming sounds are the result of the acoustical interaction of voices, violins, horns, and above all, piano (Brain Cloud III was recorded live with three pianos, each played by three people; 18-handed piano). The harpsichord interludes are solo improvisations for harpsichord, equalizer, and slight delay.

(text by Joe Grimm)

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cat KK014
label: SPEKK
artist: Mathieu Ruhlmann + Celer
title: Mesoscaphe
format: CD

An astonishing collaboration work by sound artists Mathieu Ruhlmann (Vancouver, Canada) and Celer (California, US).
The album 'Mesoscaphe' is a sound work dedicated to the 1969 voyage of the Ben Franklin, the naturally-propelled submarine created to explore the currents of the Gulf Stream, and the nature of the sea. Half of the sound is composed of original pieces of music, meant to symbolize a deepening human element culled from memory, from strings, pianos, and electronics. The other half of the sound is composed of natural field recordings, of the Ben Franklin itself, as well as the surrounding oceans and habitats, with the intention of providing realism through sound, just as if it were an actual document from the voyage, of the surrounding ocean. The artists exchanged their own original sounds with each other, allowing each artist to experiment and remix outside of their own sound sources, with the potential to apply our own sound methods to each others' sound sources, and develop the concept even further. Titles were made to coordinate with the movement of the voyage, creating their own story, in relation to the progressing sounds. The final result is a documented literary and audio interpretation of the voyage, from the perspective of 3 sound and visual artists, of the experiences and surroundings of the crew of the Ben Franklin, traveling for 30 days by the gentle glide of the Gulf Stream. We hope to bring attention to an important event in history, overshadowed by the moon landings, and for people to know the story of the revolutionary submarine that explored the nature of the ocean, challenged scientific development, and ended up in a salvage yard.

(text by Mathieu Ruhlmann + Celer)

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more info:
www.spekk.net


That's it folks! Enjoy the coming summer.