log_2024_02_29 //ย I Am All Ears #2
February 28, 2024

๐™„ A๐™ข ๐˜ผ๐™ก๐™ก ๐™€๐™–๐™ง๐™จ Episode Nr. 2 this time with three good reasons to dust off your tape deck, a poem, one little story about the capabilities of sound, a book recommendation and some more music.

๐™๐™–๐™ง๐™ž๐™™๐™– ๐˜ผ๐™ข๐™–๐™™๐™ค๐™ช & ๐™‹๐™–๐™ซ๐™š๐™ก ๐™๐™˜๐™๐™ž๐™ ๐™ค๐™ซ – ๐™ˆ๐˜ผ๐™‡ ๐˜ฟ๐™€ ๐™๐™€๐™๐™๐™€ (๐™๐™ง๐™ค๐™ช๐™—๐™ก๐™š ๐™„๐™ฃ ๐™ˆ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™™)
Farida Amadou performed with Aquiles Navarro at the closing of this year’s Transmediale. I got a ticket for this performance without knowing what to expect. It was one of the most honest performances I have seen in a long time. There is no recording available, but you can get an idea of how Amadou plays the bass by listening to the MAL DE TERRE tape, which is also available for streaming.

๐™Ž๐™ช๐™๐™š๐™ž๐™ง ๐™ƒ๐™–๐™ข๐™ข๐™–๐™™ – ๐™’๐™๐™–๐™ฉ ๐™„ ๐™’๐™ž๐™ก๐™ก (๐˜ฟ๐™š๐™› ๐™‹๐™ค๐™š๐™ฉ๐™ง๐™ฎ ๐™…๐™–๐™ข)
Suheir Hammad is an American poet, author and political activist, and the daughter of Palestinian refugees. I heard this poem 14 years ago and it was an anchor in a confusion about the perspectives of the left-wing Anti-Deutsche movement, which was an integral part of Bremen’s subcultural community. I still don’t know how to deal with this confusion, growing up as a German citizen but with the knowledge passed on by a father who immigrated from Lebanon. These days I am glad to be able to listen to this poem again. And perhaps it could be an anchor or even a starting point for someone else.

๐˜ฟ๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™–๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐˜ฟ๐™ค๐™ฏ๐™ฏ๐™ฎ – ๐™ˆ๐™–๐™œ๐™™๐™– (๐™Ž๐™ฅ๐™–๐™ฏ๐™ž๐™ค ๐˜ฟ๐™ž๐™จ๐™ฅ๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™ž๐™—๐™ž๐™ก๐™š)
It took me quite a while to grasp the LP, and it helped a lot to give the album space. Rather than listening to it with earplugs, it helped to listen to it through speakers that fill the room with hazy arpeggios, linear arrangements and a hidden layer of rhythmic structures. It’s strange, somehow we don’t hear anything we haven’t heard before, but maybe that’s the point. And Dozzy asks us to listen to what is there already instead of constantly searching for something new? The album is dedicated to his Aunt Magda.

๐™ˆ๐™–๐™ฉ๐™ฉ๐™๐™ž๐™–๐™จ ๐™๐™ช๐™ฉ๐™๐™š๐™ฃ๐™—๐™š๐™ง๐™œ – ๐™‹๐™„๐™€๐˜พ๐™€๐™Ž ๐˜พ – ๐™˜”’ / ๐˜ฟ – ๐™™”’ (๐™๐™€๐™‘๐™€๐™๐˜ฝ & ๐™๐™€๐™๐™€)
For this release, Matthias Ruthenberg began working with single note elements that he received from friends. Between 2020 and 2023 he asked them to record takes of different voices and instruments using telephones, tape- and field recorders.
The way in which the pieces are composed and edited refers to structural elements on urn-tombs (columbaria) in cemeteries as well as sound systems at raves.
A beautiful, textural collage of multiple timbres and, above all, a manifestation of friendship.

๐™†๐™–๐™ก๐™ž ๐™ˆ๐™–๐™ก๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™š – ๐˜ผ๐™ก๐™ก ๐™‡๐™ž๐™›๐™š ๐™‡๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™œ (๐™„๐™™๐™š๐™ค๐™ก๐™ค๐™œ๐™ž๐™˜ ๐™Š๐™ง๐™œ๐™–๐™ฃ)
I played one of her NTS shows a dozen times for our newborn child. Choral compositions and resonating bells were sometimes the only thing that made them fall asleep. Witnessing the capabilities of sound and frequency have been one of the most mesmerizing experiences as a parent. A fussy child soothed by the first choral tones, which at a certain moment turned into a profound cry every time. Followed by deep slumber as soon as the bell plates came in.
Kali Malone’s latest release reminds of this time when physical touch, whether bodily or auditory, is the simplest but most immanent form of communication.

๐™Š๐™ข๐™š๐™ฃ – ๐™’๐™ž๐™ก๐™™ ๐™Ž๐™ก๐™š๐™š๐™ฅ (๐™†๐™–๐™จ๐™๐™ช๐™–๐™ก ๐™‹๐™ก๐™–๐™จ๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ )
Sparse sound collages of minimal synth layers, field recordings of the urban Berlin soundscape, voice memos and whispered songs. Wild Sleep feels like an intimate play on a small stage and is the third reason to fix your tape recorder this month.

๐™Ž๐™ฅ๐™š๐™˜๐™ฉ๐™ง๐™š๐™จ ๐™„๐™„๐™„ – ๐™‚๐™๐™ค๐™จ๐™ฉ๐™จ ๐™„๐™ฃ ๐™๐™๐™š ๐™ˆ๐™–๐™˜๐™๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™š (๐™Ž๐™๐™š๐™ก๐™ฉ๐™š๐™ง ๐™‹๐™ง๐™š๐™จ๐™จ)
This issue of Spectres is a collection of different approaches to computational and algorithmic composition, cybernetics and neural networks. Coming from a background in landscaping, I was really intrigued by ร‰milie Gillet’s (founder of Mutable Instruments) process of sound search and its depiction through garden paths.

SPECTRES III at Shelter Press

๐™„๐™ก๐™ก๐™ช๐™ฃ – ๐™๐™๐™š ๐˜ผ๐™ฃ๐™˜๐™š๐™จ๐™ฉ๐™ง๐™–๐™ก (๐™๐™–๐™จ๐™ฉ ๐˜ฟ๐™ง๐™ž๐™ซ๐™š)
The label describes the release โ€œas a personal confrontation with intergenerational trauma. Decades of ignorance and damaging patterns can only be repaired through active intervention, eventually leading to self-acceptance and renewal through confrontation with pain and suffering.โ€ A journey worth a listen! Comes with a mixed bag of remixes. Though The Sugar N CreaMix by Victoria Messor is definitely something I would drop if I were DJing again.
Can’t wait to hear what comes next!

๐™๐™๐™š ๐™๐™ช๐™ฉ๐™ช๐™ง๐™š ๐™Ž๐™ค๐™ช๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™ค๐™› ๐™‡๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™™๐™ค๐™ฃ – ๐™‹๐™ง๐™š๐™จ๐™š๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™จ ๐™‹๐™ช๐™ก๐™จ๐™š ๐™๐™ž๐™ซ๐™š (๐˜ฟ๐™š:๐™๐™ช๐™ฃ๐™š๐™™)
These are recordings by the infamous Papua New Guinea producers The Future Sound Of London. Revisited DAT material from the 90s, so nostalgic, yet timeless. And this is a reminder for you to make backups of your music recordings! Or share with your friends! Or Me.

๐™ˆ๐™„๐™‰๐™Œ – ๐™ˆ๐™–๐™ง๐™™๐™ž ๐™‚๐™ง๐™–๐™จ ๐™Ž๐™ฅ๐™š๐™˜๐™ž๐™–๐™ก (๐™๐™š๐™›๐™ช๐™œ๐™š ๐™’๐™ค๐™ง๐™ก๐™™๐™ฌ๐™ž๐™™๐™š ๐™๐™–๐™™๐™ž๐™ค)
I heard this as I was returning from an amazing CTM weekend in Stockholm.
Mardi Gras is over now, but I let me land softly.

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