MATTHEW FLORIANZ – ONBEGONNEN
Dutch sound designer Matthew Florianz (currently working in the UK) presents what could be called an ‘evolving album’. Onbegonnen (or: not started) is a collection of ‘archived music, experiments, stepping stones, live recordings, hard to find and unfinished work’ (ironically, none of these are literally ‘onbegonnen’).
The album collects four tracks (32 minutes) coming from different periods, three of them previously unreleased. Onbegonnen can be downloaded for free (or better: name your price). But there is a good reason why streaming via the Bandcamp app (which is possible if you purchase it for 0.50 GBP or more) is a better way to play it. The ‘least streamed’ tracks will be replaced regularly, which could mean that over time the album tracks may be completely replaced. If you only play the offline version, these plays are not counted so your plays have no impact on the result.
Downloading the album has an added bonus obviously: With its future changes your album will grow bigger and bigger over time – provided you don’t do as Matthew does and do not delete the tracks.
With this in mind, one could say that Onbegonnen is a kind of ‘generative’ album, but in a way that (as far as I know) no one else has thought of before.
ARTHUR KING – UMN (UNKNOWN MOVIE NIGHT)
Performing a live soundtrack with an existing movie is not exactly new – it already existed in the era of silent movies. But most of these re-invented scores are composed to align with the movie timing.
Not in the case of the Unknown Movie Nights in Los Angeles, where the audience as well as the musicians do nót know beforehand which movie will be screened. That must take the improvisation skills of the musicians to a next level: not only do they need to react to the other musicians, but also to what happens on the screen at the same time!
These remarkable improvisations are always performed by Arthur King. Not, as you might expect, an individual, but an ever changing array of artists revolving around guitarist Peter Walker. For each UMN, the music is perfomed by a different collective.
The movies are selected (and introduced) by a guest curator. There were quite a few well-known titles in the past – to name a few: Run Lola Run, Drive, Koyaanisqatsi, The Red Turtle, Jurrassic Park, and Edward Scissorhands. Often, the performance is recorded and (parts of it are) released as a soundtrack recording (without the movie obviously).
The most recent release is the performances for Five Summer Stories – a surf movie from 1972 I am not familiar with. It is released simultaneously with the UMN version of March Of The Penguins.
Even without the movie as a reference, the recording for Five Summer Stories is an exciting trip through various emotions, with a nice Krautrock-ish atmosphere. Along Peter Walker, the performing artists in this case are Mark Kimbrell, David Ralicke, Chuck Soo-Hoo and Joel Virgo.
Note: this soundtrack is not yet available at the time of writing (scheduled for October 11), so for the time being below is the 2022 selection for Koyaanisqatsi.
MICHAEL J. SCHUMACHER – LIVING ROOM PIECES
Thanks to Brian Eno’s visionary work, most (ambient music) listeners are familiar with the concept of Generative Music: music that is different every time it is played and never repeats itself in the same way twice.
By definition, generative music cannot be released on fixed media. Brooklyn-based composer Michael J. Schumacher found a different approach: his Living Room Pieces is released on a RaspBerry Pi computer in a beautiful custom-made case.
Living Room Pieces is a ‘long-form composition designed for living spaces’, based on a seven-day structural cycle, twelve hours per day. This does not mean that these twelve ‘on’ hours are constantly filled with sound: silent spaces are important parts of the composition and can last between about ten and thirty minutes.
The sounds are constructed from a library of 7.000+ sounds, altered by computer algorithms controlling volume, panning, delay, speed, effects and other parameters. Rest assured: no part of the piece will even be the same twice.
This device ‘serves to reframe one’s sonic environment’ and is intended ‘to enrich one’s sonic environment, and provide an endless source of contemplation, discussion and inspiration’ – just like a painting may do.
But – as expected – you’ll have to have rather deep pockets to be able to enjoy it: Living Room Pieces is released in a very small edition of 10, which are available for 300$. This is a second edition: the first 10 were released in 2021, but in a different (black) casing.
Living Room Pieces will be available on November 15 from Chaikin Records. From that day a livestream will also be available which will be active every day between 0 and 23 EST until December 31, 2024.