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CD/BK
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RM 4202CD
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Master field recordist Philip Samartzis spent one month in residency at the High-Altitude Research Station at Jungfraujoch, Switzerland. During this time, he turned his ears towards the subtle, but dynamic shifts of the environments around him. What revealed itself was a cascade of relational sound fields, co-existing and each effected by the macro environmental changes moment to moment. Atmospheres And Disturbances is a work of intense focus, of a deep listening into the spaces that exist at the fringes of audition and the fringes of human habitation. It is a record of porous experience, transposed and offered to you -- a chance to share the sonic fascinations of Samartzis in these moments.
From Philip Samartzis: "Atmospheres And Disturbances registers the changes in high altitude ecologies caused by increasing global temperatures. The composition is based on field work undertaken at the High-Altitude Research Station at Jungfraujoch, Switzerland where for four weeks I deployed various recording devices around the station, and in the surrounding alpine environment to register natural, anthropogenic and geophysical forces. The project provides new encounters of an endangered alpine environment to enhance the way we perceive and engage with notions of place, community, and environmental dissonance. During fieldwork I used different microphones to record a variety of acoustic, spatial, atmospheric, and vibration-based phenomena. Omnidirectional microphones registered wind, snow, and ice as well as social, material, and industrial sound emanating from the nearby train terminus and viewing platforms. Hydrophones were placed within water and ice to record geophysical sound resonating within the frozen environment of Jungfraujoch and the adjacent glacier. The recordings capture the pervasive presence of anthropogenic sound permeating throughout the landscape produced by tourists, transport operations and recreational sports. Accelerometers were attached to various surfaces and structures to record solid vibration generated by high-velocity wind, and the process of melting and freezing. The recordings produced by the accelerometers clearly express the stress and fatigue occurring within the material structure of buildings and infrastructure. Atmospheres And Disturbances is designed to place audiences deep inside an extreme environment to afford embodied experiences of an alpine ecology under duress."
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LP
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POS 001LP
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Deluxe U.S. vinyl version of an obscure Australian CD release by Samartzis. Luxurious quality production all around, #'d edition of 500 copies. "Dr. Philip Samartzis, a senior lecturer and coordinator of sound at RMIT in Australia, is not a novice to the experimental music scene. He was one of the founding members of the Australian avant-turntable/noise group Gum in the '80s, and has since been composing abstract electronic music, w/ previous releases on Synaesthesia, Dorobo, Staalplaat, and For4Ears. Samartzis' Soft and Loud is a modern day exploration of Japan's culture and identity through the guise of modern day musique concrete. Soft and Loud was conceived in the winter of 1999 in Tokyo, Japan and meticulously completed in Melbourne, Australia in August 2003, using specifically derived field recordings (that Philip had recorded) from Japan that detail the daily existence of many of its people. The digitally altered sounds of the Japanese subway system, electronic bird calls, the mournful calling of a chestnut salesman, to the digital wash of a Japanese stream cohesively offers a sense of serenity, and calmness as well as the loud, busy and chaotic nature of a country that appears often reserved and guarded. We, the listeners, become voyeurs to the country and experience the key characteristics of Japan that defines itself as a country."
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CD
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MORT PS
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"Philip Samartzis is a Melbourne based composer with a long history in experimental sound production and performance. He formed Gum in 1986 with Andrew Curtis releasing several albums and singles independently and through Korm Plastics (NL) and RRR Records (USA). Since 1995 he has primarily worked solo, releasing Residue (1998) & Windmills Bordered By Nothingness (1999) through Dorobo (Aust), both of which highlight his explorations in recording and processing acoustic and spatial environments through digital technologies. More recently Samartzis has extended his studio based techniques to incorporate live performance working both solo and in collaboration. Over the last two years he has performed with Kozo Inada, Gunter Muller, KK Null, Sachiko M, Voice Crack & Seiichi Yamamoto. The Mort Aux Vaches release by Staalplaat (NL) contains elements of these collaborative and solo performances."
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