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viewing 1 To 16 of 16 items
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2LP
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R-N 078LP
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2017 repress; originally released in 2007. Gatefold sleeve. Originals are unique, be they genetic codes or image and sound documents. Their copies are mere means of distribution. To secure these originals from misuse is increasingly at issue in the 21st century. The essence and potential of the copy, on the other hand, is mostly disregarded. In a world of constant reproduction, only the replication counts as original; the single object is a sheer copy of the prefiguration, which is abstract and becomes an icon. The uncountable number of multiplied images confirms the original, but immediately the copy withdraws and assesses its own value. By virtue of the mechanism of copying, the copy often contains mistakes and abstractions that differ from the original. These simplifications and deformations inherent in the copying process lead to a gradual loss of copies' connection to the original and result in a substantial change of meaning. Although there is still a source, the original message disperses in the white noise of reproduction. In the end, the observer can hardly discern whether the origin is part of the information transferred; whether there is still an integral material component of the original or if this can only be projected. This question remains unanswered. What finally remains is the process of copying itself. It becomes a creative tool by analytically accomplishing something new. The mutating copy provides space for development; he copy becomes original again. Xerrox is the self-contained project of Alva Noto, which, like his Transall series, is intended to be released in five parts. On Xerrox, Alva Noto works with samples from muzak, advertising, soundtracks, and entertainment programs -- sounds one hears randomly in everyday life in an ever-present and available kind of public domain. With Xerrox, Alva Noto manipulates these recognizable melodic (micro-)structures by the process of copying. He alienates them beyond recognition so the results manifest their connection to the original only suggestively. The original is copied to the original. Alva noto used several samples from these sources: Narita International Airport (Tokyo), AirFrance in-flight program, Lufthansa telephone wait-loop, Apollo Opéra Hôtel (Paris), Suizanso Hotel (Yamaguchi, Japan), 7-Eleven (Tokyo), Forma (London), Reaktor, kkmovie.com. Xerrox sample transformer designed by Carsten Nicolai and built by Christoph Brünggel. Mastered at Calyx Mastering.
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2LP
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R-N 103LP
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2017 repress; originally released in 2009. Gatefold sleeve. Alva Noto's Xerrox Vol. 2 undertakes an intense journey and affords the luxury to take its time. While Xerrox Vol. 1 (R-N 078LP, 2007) referred to the old world, with its tradition deeply rooted in classical music, Xerrox Vol. 2 tries to access a new world. It works with samples that have been gathered and developed in the USA -- the so-called new world -- where the album was almost completely recorded. The dramatic and dynamic approach of Xerrox Vol. 1 has been replaced by a structural density on Xerrox Vol. 2. Instead of working with individual musical entities, Vol. 2 instead develops a linear aesthetic that refers to musical strategies of film music. Hence there are no implicitly singular pieces, but open musical structures -- a journey without a predetermined target. The first four tracks of Xerrox Vol. 2 actually condense into one track, using samples of Michael Nyman and Stephen O'Malley. They combine to form a sort of soundtrack before fading away in a swell of reverb feedback. "Xerrox Sora" is a rudimentary piece from Alva Noto's collaboration with Ryuichi Sakamoto, which originates from and was performed as an encore during the 2004 Insen tour (R-N 076DVD, 2006). Continuing with "Xerrox Monophaser 2," the album creates a dense and interweaved complexity that only gradually unfolds its depth. While "Xerrox Teion" dissolves in the process of copying into another sample rate, "Xerrox Teion Acat" again tends to re-condense its quality. Xerrox Vol. 2 seems to be more playful than Xerrox Vol. 1; following the approach of a live set, it is not so much obligated to a theoretical concept. Therefore it intends to break a static framework before it gets too restricted. The 11 tracks of Xerrox Vol. 2 serve as documents of an immediately experienced time or as attempts to unfold in an endless space. In this sense, Xerrox Vol. 2 comes close to the idea of the Aleph-1 project (R-N 087LP), which tried to disappear rather than occupy an endless space. Mastered at Dubplates & Mastering.
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2LP
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R-N 159LP
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2016 repress; Double LP version. After a break following the 2009 release of Xerrox Vol. 2, Alva Noto continues his Xerrox series with Xerrox Vol. 3, titled Towards Space. This is a journey that started with Xerrox Vol. 1 (R-N 078CD, 2007), referring to the "old world," and Xerrox Vol. 2, heading "to the new world." Using the process of copying as a basis, the Xerrox series deals with the manipulation of data by means of endless reproduction. Due to the inherent vice of the procedure that becomes especially visible when copies are made from copies, everyday sounds are so much altered that they can be hardly associated with the source material anymore. As a result, entirely new sounds are created that, being copies of originals, become originals themselves. On Xerrox Vol. 3, a new aspect enters the scene. Inspired by childhood film memories from the 1970s including Tarkovsky's adaption of Solaris (1972) and La isla misteriosa y el capitán nemo (1973), based on Jules Verne's The Mysterious Island, the album shows Alva Noto's private side. With its very intimate atmosphere, it is a personal reflection of dreams, an imaginary journey through emotional landscapes or, as he himself puts it, a "cinematographic emotion of a soundtrack to a film that actually does not exist in reality." Alvo Noto further states, "I see Xerrox Vol. 3 as my most personal album so far. I have to admit that this emotional output is a surprise even for myself. It remains exciting how the last two albums of this series will sound."
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CD
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R-N 159CD
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After a break following the 2009 release of Xerrox Vol. 2, Alva Noto continues his Xerrox series with Xerrox Vol. 3, titled Towards Space. This is a journey that started with Xerrox Vol. 1 (R-N 078CD, 2007), referring to the "old world," and Xerrox Vol. 2, heading "to the new world." Using the process of copying as a basis, the Xerrox series deals with the manipulation of data by means of endless reproduction. Due to the inherent vice of the procedure that becomes especially visible when copies are made from copies, everyday sounds are so much altered that they can be hardly associated with the source material anymore. As a result, entirely new sounds are created that, being copies of originals, become originals themselves. On Xerrox Vol. 3, a new aspect enters the scene. Inspired by childhood film memories from the 1970s including Tarkovsky's adaption of Solaris (1972) and La isla misteriosa y el capitán nemo (1973), based on Jules Verne's The Mysterious Island, the album shows Alva Noto's private side. With its very intimate atmosphere, it is a personal reflection of dreams, an imaginary journey through emotional landscapes or, as he himself puts it, a "cinematographic emotion of a soundtrack to a film that actually does not exist in reality." Alvo Noto further states, "I see Xerrox Vol. 3 as my most personal album so far. I have to admit that this emotional output is a surprise even for myself. It remains exciting how the last two albums of this series will sound."
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CD/BOOK
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R-N 135CD
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The collaboration of the poet Anne-James Chaton, guitarist Andy Moor and musician Alva Noto is a dense and structured sound design, in which words, rhythms, and melodic loops inexorably blend. Anne-James Chaton reads almost a litany of portraits of people, built from lists of events and objective facts. The list is set in several languages, deliberately repetitive, and becomes a continuous bass line on which the music builds up. The electronic sound structures of Alva Noto perfectly complement the incursions of Andy Moor's experimental guitar playing. Gradually, the prose, the guitar and machines resonate, culminating in a powerful storm both musical and harmonious. The text consists of a collection of 20 portraits written throughout the last decade. These almost photographic sketches are fed from textual blueprints which met the author at some point in time: bank statements, subway tickets, restaurant and shopping receipts are rewritten in prose, composed in simple subject-verb-complements. Each piece of information becomes a sentence; all sentences are short and compact, and in fast succession, they gradually shape a story. Portraits of a nurse, a teacher, an educator, a singer, an astronaut, and many others are placed end to end. The assembly of parallel lives creates a continuous thread, providing a path to follow both extreme banality and great adventures. Actions, places and events are melted in the instance of a third person singular with no indication which is its true identity. It is a disturbance with many possible escape routes of dispersion and emergence. The listener encounters the speeches of German, English, Japanese and other languages, which introduce multiple shifts of meaning. The voice becomes pure sensation; in conjoint with the textures and improvisations delivered by the other musicians, it can submerge to the background and re-emerge again, being pure sonic material stripped off of its communicative function. The significance of words is lost in pure performance and proceeds as yet another texture in the sound. Format: book + compact disc, 128 pages, soft cover, limited edition. Published by Raster-Noton in collaboration with Centre d'Art Mobile (Besançon), Le Lieu Unique (Nantes) and Ibidem (Montpellier).
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CD
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R-N 133CD
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Alva Noto's (Carsten Nicolai) Univrs follows on from and develops the concept of the album Unitxt (R-N 095CD/LP). Whereas the focus of Unitxt was on the processing of rhythmic patterns ("unit" = unit of measurement, element) and information ("txt" = data, language), with Univrs the focus is on the conceptual differentiation of a universal language ("universum/universal" = unity, entirety). The 14 tracks on Univrs have evolved from a live context, hence, the approach is more continuous and dense. For the track "Uni Acronym," Alva Noto works again with the French vocal artist Anne-James Chaton. The track is based on a number of 208 three-letter acronyms (set in alphabetical order), creating a random narrative. The audio-visual performance of Univrs is based on the real-time manipulation of software-generated test images by audio signals. A customized hardware box triggers the video signal according to the value of the audio signal. The resulting color patterns change constantly without repetition. The visualization of Univrs (Uniscope Version) -- an expanded screen projection setup -- on a digital level combines a variety of modules demonstrating different methods of audio analyzing. The resultant signal processing is shown as a relay structure and is performed in real-time. Each module can be zoomed in on the expanded screen, enabling greater visual detail. The Univrs (Uniscope Version) was developed with the Touchdesigner software in close cooperation with Derivative in Toronto, Canada. Alva Noto would like to thank Anne-James Chaton for his on-going inspiration, Martin L. Gore for providing a sample for the track "Uni Rec," and Daniel Miller for advice and support. The album was mastered by Rashad Becker at Clunk, Berlin.
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CD
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R-N 096CD
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On the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the city of Mannheim, Alva Noto (Carsten Nicolai) and Ryuichi Sakamoto were invited to develop an audio-visual performance together with Ensemble Modern. The concept of the arising piece named "Utp_" is derived from the rasterized structure of Mannheim (built as an ideal city in the 17th century), also making reference to the musical history of the city. The result of the collaboration, like the other projects by Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto, Vrioon (2002, R-N 050CD), Insen (2005, R-N 065CD), Revep (2005, R-N 072CD) and Summvs (2011, R-N 132CD), is a synergetic mixture of electronic and natural sounds that is expanded by the potential of the classical instruments of Ensemble Modern. Utp_, the title of the new composition, is deduced from the term "utopia" and hence describes an approach that leaves space for further extensive associations. This is a re-release of the album as audio CD-only. Utp_ was previously released as a more expensive 2 disc set with a DVD & CD together.
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CD
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R-N 132CD
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2016 repress. Raster-Noton releases the album Summvs, the latest result of the unusual creative partnership between the Oscar-prize honored film composer Ryuichi Sakamoto and the fine artist and electronic music pioneer Carsten Nicolai aka Alva Noto. The name of the artists' fifth collaborative release Summvs refers to the Latin word "summa" (engl.: sum) and "versus" (engl.: towards), serving as a metaphor for the work being oriented towards a collaborative whole. Summvs is the last of a series of five releases that started with Vrioon (R-N 050CD) in 2002 and continued with 2005's Insen (R-N 065CD) and Revep (R-N 072CD) and Utp_ (R-N 096DVD) in 2007. Passages of sparse yet emotionally-charged and passionate piano solos are embedded in sine waves or reworked to establish new aesthetics of piano sound. Sparse percussions and throbbing bass pulses hover above and below -- the music being contemplative and minimal at the same time. The tracks "Microon I-III" contain recordings of one of the 15 pianos using a 16th tone interval tuning built by Sauter, Spaichingen/Donaueschingen, Germany. The original "Piano Metamorfoseador En Dieciseisavos De Tono" was designed by Julián Carrillo Trujillo. Thanks to the music department of Berne University of the Arts for making this instrument available. Included in the album are two cover versions of the track "By This River," originally written by Roedelius, Moebius and Brian Eno in 1977. In their instrumental versions of the song, Nicolai and Sakamoto create and investigate the song's appeal in both normal speed and slow motion. Ryuichi Sakamoto on piano and Alva Noto on electronics will present this fifth collaborative release live with a uniquely-styled visualization and a state-of-the-art technical setting and stage design.
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12"
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R-N 127EP
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12" white vinyl EP featuring 4 of the 11 tracks from the CD version of Cyclo.'s id.
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CD
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R-N 127CD
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A decade since its inception, Ryoji Ikeda and Carsten Nicolai are relaunching their collaborative project, Cyclo., a project that focuses on the visualization of sound and seeks to create a new hybrid of visual art and music. Both leading electronic composers/artists from Japan and Germany respectively, Ikeda and Nicolai release their second album (CD/EP on Raster-Noton), that will later be followed by a publication with an extensive presentation of their visuals. Since the beginning of the Cyclo. project, the artists have developed a database of sounds composed to produce visual responses when analyzed in real time with the help of stereo image monitoring equipment. Phase and amplitude of stereo signals can be illustrated graphically: the audio elements are constructed through the minute editing of frequencies (often beyond the physical range of human hearing) and selected by the artists for their visual characteristics when analyzed. Through processes of composition, editing and experiment, Cyclo. is amassing an "infinity index" of sound fragments. In building this archive, Ikeda and Nicolai transcend the usual dynamic whereby image acts merely as a functional accompaniment to sound. Instead, the audio element in the process is subservient to the desire and appetite of the image. This record purposefully remains unmastered, in order to retain the waveforms as originally visualized through an XY phase scope. For listening, please do not convert the tracks into a compressed format such as mp3.
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CD
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R-N 065CD
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2016 repress. Originally released in 2005, this is a re-press of Insen by Alva Noto (aka Carsten Nicolai) and Ryuichi Sakamoto. Their debut album Vrioon (R-N 050CD) released on Raster-Noton in 2003 was voted "Record Of The Year, 2004" in the electronica category by The Wire, and particular interest was shown in Nicolai's creation of a new synergy of acoustic piano and digital post-production that had not been witnessed before, in his approach and interpretation of Sakamoto's piano clusters. The strict splitting of the composition process on Insen (piano: Sakamoto; production and additional sounds: Nicolai) reminds one of the debut album. However, this record carries a kind of "transcendental aura" of an early morning meditative exercise, but at the same time avoids the field of new age philosophy. Enriched by new elements, this "high-tech meditation" follows a consistent line. On Vrioon, Nicolai's typical sinus sounds counterbalanced Sakamoto's piano accords. On Insen, Nicolai works directly with the piano sounds. He dismantles Sakamoto's recordings with a "surgeon-like precision" into micro-loops, into its atomic elements. Starting with these atoms of sound, he creates a new basis for form, compressing floating, rotating rhythm with harmonic sequences, with melodic counterpoints, and laying it underneath the piano tracks. This makes Insen appear more of a complex experience, although the time-stretched flow, or even the clear lines of the piano stay untouched. From the sleeve notes one can learn that the album was a dedication to certain people. Created far away from these people, Insen might be a kind of dialog. It definitely represents a diary of a stay over several months at Leon Feuchtwanger's Villa Aurora, where a large part of the production as well as the final mixes were completed. The themes and the track titles directly refer to that place, to the times of the day, and the events there. Even the colors of the album cover reference the emotions and atmospheres experienced at Villa Aurora. Only the track "Berlin" was recorded later, with Nicolai and Sakamoto together, during a session at Nicolai's studio in Berlin. As a reference to that place, one can hear a flock of birds singing in the background of the recording. "Aveol" closes the album also seen as a diary, with a mysterious beauty. The evolution of piano recording and digital post-production were pushed the furthest on this track. The combination reached its (temporary) final point.
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2x12"
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R-N 087LP
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2x12" release. Originally released in 2007; a co-release with iDEAL Recordings, Aleph-1 is a project by German sound-sculptor, Carsten Nicolai aka Alva Noto/Noto. Aside from his sound works under those pseudonyms, Aleph-1 is electronic music with an acoustic sound aesthetic that was especially developed for the iDEAL Recordings label. The concept of Aleph-1 derives from the theories of the mathematician Georg Cantor, who was teaching in Halle, Germany, a city to which Nicolai is deeply connected with through his family. The sound pieces of Aleph-1 deal with the idea of infinity in terms of structure and length. Without actual beginning or end, they fade in and out. The pieces have a very logically-constructed nature of overlapping tracks, which never seem to be the same, thus could be extended into infinity. The album consists of eight rhythmic circles, based upon acoustic material, at first sight very minimal but always carrying pulse and melody. Music you can lose yourself in. For a deeper knowledge of the term "Aleph-1," here's a short definition: in 1884, the term "Aleph-1" was introduced by Georg Cantor into the mathematical world. Since then, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, combined with a number, has been used to represent the cardinality (or size) of infinite sets. The Aleph numbers differ from infinity, commonly found in algebra and calculus. Alephs measure the sizes of sets; infinity on the other hand, is commonly defined as an extreme limit of the real number line, or an external point of the extended real number line. While some Alephs are larger than others, infinity is just infinity. Housed in a heavyweight gatefold sleeve.
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DVD
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R-N 076DVD
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Originally released in 2006. In 2005 and 2006, three major tours in support of Insen (2005) led the artists Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto around the world. The Insen Live DVD is a document of this project. Recordings for the DVD took place at Casa da Música, Porto, Portugal, on June 11th, 2006 and at the Sonar festival 2006, Barcelona, Spain, on June 15th, 2006. Besides material from Insen, the DVD contains previously-unreleased tracks such as "Xerox" and "Barco." The DVD is in Dolby 5.1 surround sound, and comes in a cardboard cover with special laser engravings. The booklet contains 15 full-color photos and texts by Rob Young and Michael Bracewell. Format: DVD, NTSC, region-free.
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CD
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R-N 078CD
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2016 repress; originally released in 2007. Originals are unique, be it genetic codes or image and sound documents. Their copies are mere means of distribution. To secure these originals from misuse is the main issue today. The essence and potential of the copy mostly is disregarded. We live in a world of constant reproduction, where only the replication counts as original, the single object is a sheer copy of the prefiguration, which is abstract and becomes an icon. The uncountable number of multiplied images confirms the original, but immediately the copy withdraws and assesses its own value. By using the technique of copying the copy, it also often contains mistakes and abstractions that differ from the original. These simplifications and deformations inherent to the copy process lead to a gradual loss of its connection to the original and results in a substantial change of meaning. Although there is still a core of the actual source, the original message disperses in the white noise of reproduction. In the end, the observer can hardly differentiate if the origin is part of the information transferred. If there is still an integral material component of the original or can this only be projected... these questions remain unanswered. What finally remains is the process of copying itself. It becomes a creative tool by analytically accomplishing something new. The mutating copy provides space for development -- the copy becomes original again. Xerrox is the new, self-contained project by Alva Noto, which like his "Transall" series (Transrapid, Transvision and Transspray) is intended to be released in five parts during the next years. On Xerrox, Alva Noto works with samples from muzak, advertising, soundtracks and entertainment programs. These sounds we hear randomly in everyday life and thereby they become an always-present and available public domain. With Xerrox, Alva Noto manipulates these recognizable melodic (micro) structures by the process of copying. He alienates them beyond recognition so the results manifest their connection to the original only suggestively. In this respect, the original is copied to the original. Alva Noto used several samples from these sources: Narita airport Tokyo, in-flight program Air France, telephone wait-loop Lufthansa, hotel Apollo Paris, Suizanso hotel Yamaguchi, Seven-Eleven Tokyo, Forma London, Reaktor and www.kkmovie.com.
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CD
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R-N 072CD
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2016 repress, originally released in 2006. The EP Revep is a continuation of the collaboration between Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto, and offers a previously-unreleased extract of this musical exchange which started with Vrioon (2002) and found its temporary end with Insen (2005). Similar to its predecessors, Revep breaks the rules of traditional acoustics -- the separation of sound and noise -- in a mysterious manner. "You hardly can go further, hardly can get deeper into the structure of sounds -- in order to discover a beauty never heard before." --Tim Lorenz, Groove. In contrast to both predecessors, Revep presents "Ax Mr.L.," a track where the artists fall back on an already renowned composition by Sakamoto -- the theme music to the movie Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence with David Bowie, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Takeshi Kitano from 1983. 20-minute EP, housed in a fold-out digipak.
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CD
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R-N 041CD
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Originally released in 2001. For the occasion of a New Forms series of concerts in 1999, Ryoji Ikeda and Carsten Nicolai did their first joint performance at Galerie Für Zeitgenössische Kunst Leipzig/Germany -- the project Cyclo. was founded. Between 1999 and 2001, files had been exchanged, material was collected and tracks were made. Cyclo. makes digital quality a priority on their tracks. Selective use of automated processes, like the overlapping of loops and their falsification through wrong calculation or incorrect condensation, algorithms, errors, and the translation into rudimentary rhythmic constellations, is the result of their work. The error itself becomes the topic of this first release from Cyclo..
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