a r t i s t : Ethan Rose
t i t l e : Oaks
d a t e : 2008
l a b e l : Headz (HEADZ 125)
g e n r e : Ambient
r l s. d a t e : Dec/2008
t r a c k s : 09
b i t r a t e : VBRkbps
s i z e : 53,8 MB
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Ripper's note: This is the Japanese version, released on
Headz/Weather, including a bonus track called What Hands. The
domestic release is due out on Holocene Music on January 27th,
2009.
http://www.faderbyheadz.com/
http://www.holocenemusic.com/
http://www.ethanrosemusic.com
Portland-based, experimental electronic musician Ethan Rose
has plans to release his third and latest album for the
Holocene Music label on January 27th. Entitled Oaks, the album
was named after the Oaks Park Roller Rink, which Rose had been
visiting in the past year to experiment with the rink's
Wurlitzer Theater Organ. Says Rose: "The organ dates from the
1920s and was originally housed in the Broadway Theater in
downtown Portland where it was used to accompany silent
films." His interest in an old Wurlitzer is just the latest in
a stream of experiments Rose has employed over his career as a
musician, and which has also resulted in two past albums that
have excited followers of other neo-concrete musique
performers, including Matmos and their ilk.
http://www.madeloud.com/news/2945
When I was a kid I was scared of Oaks Park. It was just too
much to take in - carnies, fast rides, bits of cotton candy
floating aimlessly throw the air. It wasn't until much later
that I discovered that the park was, in actuality, kind of a
small, run-down, dump; a relic from another era. When I moved
back to Portland last fall, jobless and looking for some sort
of direction, I visited the park one afternoon by myself,
walking around on a cloudy day with just my iPod and a warm,
sugary elephant ear. And I just happened to be listening to
Ethan Rose.
Not many places like Oaks Park still exist in Portland.
There's barely a hint of modernity in the whole spot, save for
the inevitable ATM machines; the park is built on rickety
wooden rides, box cars and circus peanuts, ski ball and the
famous roller rink. Rose's music, on the other hand, is very
modern sounding, despite that fact that its usually rooted in
old technologies or instruments: music boxes, player pianos,
carillions. And just like his past work, Oh Wheels Rotating,
the first piece released from Oaks, maintains the same
balance: its gurgling, chiming sounds always seem rooted in
the present.
For his third full-length release (following the ambient
Spinning Pieces and 2006s Ceiling Songs, one of my favorite
records of this decade and a disc ex-Local Cutter Michael
Bryne really loved) Rose recorded Oaks using the giant
Wurlitzer organ installed near the skating rink. I'll let him
explain it:
Over the past year I've been coming out to the Oaks Park
Roller Rink to play and record the Wurlitzer Theater Organ
that is located there. The organ dates from the 1920s and was
originally housed in the Broadway Theater in downtown Portland
where it was used to accompany silent films. It is currently
played and maintained by Keith Fortune who has been involved
with the organ and the rink for the past fifteen years. I've
had the privilege of assisting Keith with organ repairs, which
has deepened my appreciation of the instrument. Musically
speaking, my primary interest with this organ has been to
bring its antiquated sounds into a modern context, essentially
treating it with the same sense of sonic reinterpretation that
I have brought to my previous works.
Like Ceiling Songs, On Wheels Rotating is a comforting,
temporal record. I keep on hearing new things after a few
spins, and I can't wait to see how the rest of Oaks stacks up.
Next time life leads me to Oaks Park, I've got a whole new
soundtrack to listen to.
http://localcut.wweek.com/2008/11/10/ethan-rose-on-wheels-
rotating-oaks-holocene-music/
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01-On Wheels Rotating [04:08]
02-Rising Waters [04:14]
03-Grand Marcher [04:32]
04-The Floor Released [06:46]
05-Fortunate [03:26]
06-Scenes From When [04:25]
07-Mighty Mighty [04:00]
08-Bottom [06:28]
09-What Hands [02:47]
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40:46 min