a r t i s t : Oren Ambarchi
t i t l e : Destinationless Desire
d a t e : 2008
l a b e l : Touch
c a t : TS05
s o u r c e : Vinyl
g e n r e : Ambient
r l s. d a t e : Jun/2008
t r a c k s : 02
b i t r a t e : VBRkbps
s i z e : 16,8 MB
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Touch Sevens Series of 7" Vinyl
7" vinyl was the quintessential format for popular music.
Today, it is an undervalued and mostly promotional medium,
used as a fetishistic signpost to a time of musical
authenticity and a "healthy" popular culture. It might seem
like another retrograde step to launch a vinyl series just as
the download format threatens to dominate, and indeed there is
an element of "the rear view mirror"... the generation of
Touch artists who grew up with vinyl [and cassette] still
feeling a strong emotional attachment to it. This series is
more than that... an overtly critical, non-digital statement
is supported by treatments of audio work which cannot be
applied to digital formats - the sonic texture, the use of a
locked groove, the A & the B and the additional dimension of
the visual counterpoint. As for the aspect of audience
participation, we choose not to specify the RPM on the label,
encouraging the listener to experiment with playback options
and personal preferences. An attempt to make music that works
at both speeds. The front cover might actually be the back
cover...
TS05 - Oren Ambarchi - Destinationless Desire
Released: 2008
7" vinyl only
cut by Jason @ Transition
artwork and photography by Jon Wozencroft
Electric guitars, organ, samples, bells, percussion and
motorised cymbal recorded at BJB Studios, Sydney with
additional overdubs made at home 2005-2007. Gratitude to
Fairport Convention and Boris D Hegenbart.
Oren Ambarchi is a composer and multi-instrumentalist with
longstanding interests in transcending conventional
instrumental approaches. His work focuses mainly on the
exploration of the guitar, "re-routing the instrument into a
zone of alien abstraction where it's no longer easily
identifiable as itself. Instead, it's a laboratory for
extended sonic investigation". (The Wire, UK).
The 5th instalment in the Touch 7" series is for our money the
most incredible of the bunch - with the always brilliant Oren
Ambarchi delivering two exclusive new tracks recorded in
Sydney between 2005 and 2007. Opening piece "Highway Of
Diamonds" develops around a fluttering organ loop and
immersive static, a radiant, sonically cushioned arrangement
that leaves you unprepared for the stark organ transmission
that breaks loose halfway through and takes the piece to a
much more sonically daring environment. It's beautifully
conceived and expertly realised at the hands of Ambarchi,
interweaving textures and barely perceptible undulations in
the most confident and original manner, once again stamping
out a brilliantly unique niche for Ambarchi somewhere between
the dense drones of sometime bandmates Sunn O))) and the more
ethereal, processed beauty of his label contemporaries BJ
Nilsen and Fennesz. Flipside track "Bleeding Of Shadow" is
just breathtaking - features almost 7 minutes of electric
guitar, samples, bells, percussion and a motorised cymbal in
the most exquisite fashion, making use of some ghostly
Fairport Convention recordings and creating the kind of
re-working last heard on the mighty "Plays" single from
Chrisitan Fennesz almost 10 years ago. With the record framed
by another oddly moving image by Jon Wozencroft - it's a
compelling proposition, and an utterly essential purchase. (Boomkat)
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01-Highways of Diamonds [05:54]
02-Bleeding Shadow [06:39]
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12:33 min