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CD
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CIRCA 211CD
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The Preservation label presents Map Of Circular Thought from Providence, Rhode Island's Area C. Area C is the music project for composer and multi-media artist Erik Carlson. Carlson has recently completed the soundtrack to a National Geographic documentary on New Orleans in the wake of the Hurricane Katrina disaster, and has worked on several projects for NASA's Space Grant Consortium along with numerous audio, multi-media and public art installations. Map Of Circular Thought follows several acclaimed works including 2009's The Planetarium Project, described by The Wire magazine as "inspiring." Map Of Circular Thought is a set of meditative, contemplative pieces -- a sonic rendering of the connection between memory and the present. Using minimal rhythm and melody to form constellations of fixed tones, these compositions burst with flickering sonic detail to create constant flux among the patterns he creates. The warm, analog sounds on Map Of Circular Thought -- made using guitar, organ, keyboard and a drum machine -- engage and play with states of consciousness in listening, and in particular found inspiration in the abstract dreamscapes of UK electronic pioneers Seefeel. Carlson also traces a line back to minimalist composers Terry Riley and Steve Reich, and shares a kinship with the transfixing qualities of more recent acolytes such as William Basinski and Philip Jeck. Map Of Circular Thought mainlines to the mind but is also a visceral, tingling thrill for the ears. This album is the second in a new limited edition CD series from Preservation called Circa. 300 copies only will be available of each release in the series and each will feature a design by Mark Gowing. Each design will be realized using a specially-created abstract alphabet of shapes, determined by artist, title and catalog number for something both fixed and random.
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2CD
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SED 054CD
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"In live collaboration with Black Forest/Black Sea, Eyes Like Saucers and Mudboy. Double full length CD release limited to 500 copies housed in a stunning and uniquely designed handmade, hand assembled letterpress cardstock sleeve by discerning artist Amy Borezo at her Shelter Bookworks studio in Western MA. We have been fans and have closely followed Providence's Area C project for several years. It was simply a matter of time before we would release something by this dynamic artist and these special recordings presented themselves as the obvious choice. Area C's work has always appealed in its ability to be at once hypnotically accessible balanced by subtle and brooding dark elements under the surface. It recalls both post-rock elements as well as the more experimental works of classic '70s German space rock groups. The live collaborations with the other Providence-based artists push Area C's distinctive sound in compelling directions. This document represents over two hours of carefully selected music taken from many evenings of performances."
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CD
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LVD 113CD
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"Haunt is a swirl of Farfisa organs, loops, stretched-out guitar, and the fragmented, fractured beats of an analog drum machine and tube amplifier static. The album was recorded by Erik Carlson & Jeff Knoch late 2005. What began as a plan to record a dual-Farfisa album (both Erik & Jeff are Farfisa aficionados) quickly and organically turned into much more. The two musicians convened and over the course of two brief sessions, spun out a sequence of songs whose repetitions and details hold much more than the surfaces first reveal. These spontaneous compositions emerged fully formed with barely a pause to switch tape, the only addition being a similarly inspired track recorded live on a radio performance in early 2006. The title, Haunt, refers to frequented places or states of mind, places we return to again and again, sometimes obsessively, sometimes in a somnambulistic trance. These are not ghost stories, but we can't deny the unexplained other's spectral presence (as in so many of AREA C's compositions). The title was originally inspired by a book of the same name by poet Keith Waldrop. Remnants of other times and places, outdated technologies, signals sent out but never received -- this is the bed over which Erik & Jeff layered their revolving organ lines and pulses. The results are mesmerizing."
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CD
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LVD 098CD
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"If you picked up Last Visible Dog's recent six-disc Invisible Pyramid: Elegy Box, you were treated to a 19-minute exercise in drone poetics, courtesy of Providence, R.I.'s Area C. His track, 'Chain Bridge,' led off the final disc of the set and proved that this relatively new voice in the drone scene was definitely worthy to sit alongside the likes of Ben Reynolds, Ashtray Navigations and My Cat is an Alien. As great as Eric Carlson's contribution was to the compilation, it was just a tease, preparing us for this, his debut full-length. The fact that Traffics + Discoveries was crafted primarily with guitar loops and effects pedals does not mean that you know what to expect from it before you even listen. The sounds that Carlson achieves with this palette are definitely not monochrome -- a broad spectrum of sound washes over you during the entirety of the album. There is never a dull moment, as each track takes on a separate dynamic realm and the songs themselves change shape, eliciting a stimulating listening experience."
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