Artist : Alva Noto
Title : For
Genre : Electronic
Year : 2006
Date : Jun-26-2006
Bitrate : VBR kbps
Tracks : 09
Label : Line
Source : CDDA
Length : 65:14 min
Size : 88,4 MB
Tracklist:
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01.counter 02:01
02.transit 12:41
03.station remo 09:20
04.gulf night 06:36
05.flashforward 07:43
06.jr 04:30
07.odradek 09:37
08.wall anfang 06:26
09.alva noto.z1 06:20
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65:14 min
PRESS RELEASE
LINE is proud to present the latest full length project by German sound/video/installation artist Carsten
Nicolai (Alva Noto). Nicolai (b.1965, Karl-Marx-Stadt, Germany) fuses sight and sound in minimal
installations and sculptures. His work suggests the atmosphere of an alchemist's laboratory where
sound is converted into frequencies, pitches, pops and pulses. Working outside the bounds of
representation and art history, he often composes arrangements using signal tones and the sounds of
communication data. These arrangements are released under the name alva noto in the music field
where he is also known. Prior to working with sound, he originally studied landscape design.
His performances and installation works have been shown in museums and galleries around the world
including recently at the Tate Modern (London, UK), Centre Pompidou (Paris, France), YCAM
(Yamaguchi, Japan).
1. counter - for elfriede jelinek - 2005
2. transit -for suchan kinoshita - 2005
3. station remo - for tvpow (contains samples of tvpow) - 2004
4. gulf night - for peter roehr (contains samples of peter roehr) - 2004
5. flashforward - for ernie and bert - 2005
6. jr - for katsushika hokusai - 2000
7. odradek - for jhonn balance - 2004
8. wall anfang - for jeff wall (contains samples of jeff wall) - 2000
9. alva noto.z1 - for john cage (contains samples of ulrich krieger/burkhard schlothauer/reihnhold friedel)
- 1999
This alva noto CD brings together disparate recordings created thoughout the last four years, unified
under a theme of dedication. All nine studies share the history of being made specifically for someone
or for a project that for one reason or another remained open ended.
"wall anfang" for example, opens with a the voice sample "there must be a reason why it is so clear in
my mind." When we realize the person speaking is pioneering contemporary Canadian photographer
Jeff Wall, we may understand the rising high tone that intoduces the track as the immitation of a
photo-flash warming up to be triggered. The track was originally prepared for a documentary about Wall,
who became famous for his large scale light boxes that cast white light evenly through his photographs.
Like this balanced light, the track presents a purity of thought, that spirals inside and out, the voice of
Wall breaking only impartially this conjecture of sound, while adding an atmosphere of introspection and
study to the piece.
The percussive, almost marimba like sounds of the track "jr" echo the woodcutting of Japanese
printmaker Katsushika Hokusai, (whose work Wall allegorized in his photograph A Sudden Gust of Wind
(after Hokusai),1993). The stark, poised three point intervals of sound bring to mind the intricate and
equisitely considered compositions of Hokusai╣s style of Ukiyo-e │pictures of the floating world.▓ Jhonn
Balance╣s premature death in 2004 gave way to multiple dedications to his life and music by people
who took influence from his activities in Coil. The track "odradek" was originally prepared for the tribute
record ...It Just Is (In Memoriam: Jhonn Balance). Nicolai worked with Balance when commissioning
him for the award winning release 20' to 2000 a CD set for the last 20 minutes of the year 1999.
These diverse engagements come to rest within this release. Like the image that seals the font cover
of the CD, that depicts liquid oscillating with various frequencies, we are reminded that sound can
give form to image and to thought and that it may continue to resonate in absences, particles, or
processesïuntil a point of final closure. ï Andrew Cannon www.alvanoto.de
http://www.12k.com/line/