kahn / korber / weber | zürcher aufnahmen (LBT039) cd

jason kahn (analogue synthesizer, percussion), tomas korber (guitar, electronics), and christian weber (contrabass), are no strangers to tasteful restraint. over the course of their vast discographies they have exhibited an almost militant approach to a curiously compelling form of stasis -> allowing their meticulously assembled pronouncements to unfold over a carefully monitored period of time before a cessation or modification is considered. this  type of music making demands the listener’s full attention for it’s the detail that propels narrative.
edition of 500


published: january, 2007

aaron siegel | the cabinet (LBT038) cd

rest assured, discerning listener. on the cabinet, aaron siegel’s debut record of solo percussion, the composer, sound artist, and sometime side-man to anthony braxton deftly sidesteps the self-indulgence to which the genre is all too often prone, opting to showcase not only his formidable technical chops but his equally impressive sense of restraint, good taste, and rigorous regard for formal structure. the formula is deceptively simple: the cabinet consists of twenty-one tracks of solo percussion, each clocking in at precisely two minutes. from these simple, elegant building blocks, siegel constructs a dense mosaic of textures, intensities, and timbres that proceeds with inexorable logic.
get to know aaron: www.aaronsiegel.net
edition of 500.

published: july, 2006

play sample | buy

the circle remains unbroken. we started and now conclude the year with a recording from this chicago-based viola, percussion and bassoon trio. if you picked up the EP (lbt031) and enjoyed it, i can assure you, the ardent supporter of all that is refined, that the good (read: resonant, caustic and focused) times roll on. disc housed in a black digipak with images by nick butcher so sinister that when he claims to have chunks of guys like francis bacon in his stool, you’d better believe it.
edition of 200.

published: december, 2005

a document of a rendezvous involving four outstanding musicians. the album they produced is surprisingly reserved and dare i say, a bit somber.
a forty minute exchange between players who know when ‘not to’, better than most. with: fred lonberg-holm, cello (boxhead ensemble, vandermark 5); guillermo gregorio, clarinet (hat hut); glenn kotche, percussion (wilco, on filmore); and jason roebke, contrabass (tigersmilk).
recorded by michael krasner at truckstop. artwork by joseph mills.

published: january, 2006

deubt recording from the duo now known as mouths.
singing bowls, vibrating drums and a synth so cold
it could re-freeze the polar caps. a minimalism that patiently builds from a whisper to muted holler. transfixing to say the least.
edition of 200.

published: august, 2005

part of a series of compositions for solo tam tam dedicated to the memory of artist, writer and musician roger sutherland. the familiar is once again rendered alien in the capable hands of wastell. rich in resonance and absolutely essential listening.
housed in a die cut sleeve with hand screened art
by nick butcher. edition of 200.

published: september, 2005

a truly fine and austere statement from our favorite electric troubadour, greg davis and the percussive fog known as steven hess. decisions is a collection of real-time processed percussion, of aural snapshots, really -> the photo is taken by hess and developed by davis. not unlike radian in a blender
on puree.

published: june, 2005

a long form drone-based work rooted in profound darkness; birthed from the omnipresent hum of imminent demise. extreme marketing jargon for a record that wouldn’t need it if everyone owned a copy. feel the force simultaneously glue and blow you out of your chair. disc housed in slimline dvd case with striking hand screened art.
co-production with twenty hertz (UK).

published: april, 2005

here is how touching extremes feels about it:
after only 11-plus minutes of engrossing soloism recorded in an abandoned grain silo, one is left asking for more. though civil war is a trio, each one
of the members plays a short improvisation all alone: amy cimini's viola is beguiling and forceful, her harmonics spectacularly jinxed; adam sonderberg's metal/percussive shrieks come directly from the university of harshness, while the resonance of katherine young's bassoon closes this 3-inch CD
with a cross of corporeal immanence and ethereal majesty. concise and excellent. ‘ (touchingextremes.org)

published: march, 2005

recorded in 1993, this is one of francisco's most sensual pieces. a natural high-end mist is contrasted by a dense, majestic and unrelenting bass rumble that sounds like swarms of its namesake engulfing you in a warm aural glow.
wasps is the ideal gateway drug for the uninitiated
to begin their journey through francisco’s immense catalog of published works.

published: august, 2003

this disc features music commissioned for the play the empire builders by boris vian. consisting of three long tracks, the music is quiet and meditative, due in part to the fact that it is a soundtrack, and to support the plot and action of the play. this plot and action though is not about comfortable ambience. rather, the sound clearly identifies the play's themes of paranoia, rising tension, and escape. the soundtrack focuses on the psychological turmoil that the play addresses via its characters. the quiet and dark spaces explored on the recording are a successful quest in transmitting the unspoken fear, the unknown, and the doom of complacency experienced by the characters, making the recording able to stand on its own beyond the physical viewing of the play. with: sam dellaria, wolfgang fuchs, steven hess, eric la casa, aram shelton, adam sonderberg, brendan walls, alexander wallner.

published: april, 2003

a perplexing solo piano recording from 1999 that was issued and then fell out of print. available again -> but in a drastically reconfigured form. hamilton cut and assembled his original recorded improvisations into compositions. some edits are noticeable, most are not (the former is to help keep the context correct). a retelling of history from the not-so top quality recordings engineered by sonderberg/dellaria. imagine boulez, satie and a tape machine were to somehow be rendered down into a tasty bouillon cube and dissolved in a cup of hot water that was consumed by greg hamilton. in addition, a lacerating solo organ piece - ala '60s john cale - concludes this modern day classic of musique concrete.

published: early, 1999. recut, assembled, and republished: mid, 2002