ica.org.uk: "This month's Experiment is a prologue to the 12 year anniversary celebrations for the Raster-Noton label taking place at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (London) on 30 May. Let us steer you through the complex sound and sheer bliss electronics of the Raster-Noton, mages of electronic composition, leftfield beats and dance floor frontiers.
First up we have a very early recording artist on the Raster-Noton label: William Basinski. We also have an exclusive interview from the infinitely productive sound artist Carsten Nicolai, two exclusive Raster-Noton tracks, Alva Noto's Haliod Xerrox Copy and a Raster-Noton super mix" Download here
The Experiment: "A monthly podcast commissioned by the ICA and presented and produced by Kevin Quigley and Jim Hammond."
Raster Noton is a German record label specialiced in minimal electronic mausic. They provide lots of mp3 files via their homepage, but unfortunately it's not indicated if it's a full track or just a snippet. below you will find all files which are at least 3 minutes long.
Keith Moline in THE WIRE: On their latest album, the prolific Italian duo of Rossano Polidoro and Emiliano Romanelli cut and layer shimmering loops of their own 'secret orchestra', the music's textural sensuality and panoramic expansiveness setting it apart from the sterility of most post-Oval glitch output. Sounding entranced by the ghosts, shadows and refractions throw up by their laptops, Tu m' fashion a variety of shifting soundscapes over the album's 64 minutes, from the Steve Reichian "Glamour" to the flaking, crumbling pianos of "Bye". Despite the extremity of the duo's processes, the lush sonorities of the 'orchestra' shine through like rays of sunlight reflected in mirror shards.
bbc.co.uk: "Alva Noto is the operating alias of Carsten Nicolai, who, together with Frank Bretschneider and Olaf Bender, form the musical triumvirate that is Raster Noton Archiv Für Ton Und Nichtton. The label releases a spectrum of electronica that ranges from abstract to ultra-minimal. The roots of much of its output, together with its frequently attractive packaging, might be traced as much to fine art movements like Minimalism and Suprematism as the musical futurism of Detroit techno or Kraftwerk's negotiation of the man/machine interface.
Insen is heir to Vrioon (2003), Alva Noto's collaboration with Japanese multi-instrumentalist Ryuichi Sakamoto. Both represent something of a departure from the ascetic bent of their peers. Both explore the potential for interaction and tension between electronic and acoustic instrumentation, the latter taking form in Sakamoto's piano. This relationship lies at the core of Insen and continues Vrioon's cool melancholia in subtler, even more streamlined fashion. If each part of the marriage were isolated into constituent parts, they might prove too clinical or precious, but together a delicate vibrancy is created. The air-borne reverberations of the acoustic piano combine, impact and dissolve with digital loops, prods and waverings." Read more
As an excercise preceding the writing of Play, Larsen spent time as a group improvising around some of their favorite melodies from Autechre albums. This experimental excercise slowly evolved into song writing and suddenly songs were coming out of the air with Autecherian melodies filtered through climactic Larsen arrangements."
"Founded by sound composers themselves, Frank Bretschneider (Komet) and Olaf Bender (Byetone), these gentlemen were joined by multimedia artist Carsten Nicolai (noto) in 1999 creating a powerhouse attention to detail with award-winning minimalist design, both exquisite and practical, based on geometries and various architectural structures. Aurally immersed, Raster-Noton is the house that invented the explosion of microsound. I took some time to catch up with Olaf Bender just prior to a performance at the Sensoralia Festival in Rome. " Read the whole interview
German minimal electronic label Raster Noton was featured in THE WIRE #238. The whole article is availible as a PDF file here. Some Raster Noton downloads here.
Z'ev (born Stefan Weiser) straddles the nearly unbridgeable and highly volatile gulf between the art world and the music industry. Acclaimed as one of the world's best and most original percussionists, Weiser began recording in the late '60s in a handful of psych-out projects. By the late '70s, he took on the Z'ev moniker to explore the "spatial poetics" of the polyrhythmic clamor he had established with his hand-built percussive instruments. His dozens of collaborative projects expanded to include work with John Cage, Glenn Branca, The Hafler Trio, Psychic TV, and Rhythm & Noise.
"Futurism was an international art movement founded in Italy in 1909. It was (and is) a refreshing contrast to the weepy sentimentalism of Romanticism. The Futurists loved speed, noise, machines, pollution, and cities; they embraced the exciting new world that was then upon them rather than hypocritically enjoying the modern world’s comforts while loudly denouncing the forces that made them possible. Fearing and attacking technology has become almost second nature to many people today; the Futurist manifestos show us an alternative philosophy.
Too bad they were all Fascists."
In addition to co-running Germany's influential Raster-Noton label/collective, Komet [Frank Bretschneider] has released works on a number of respected labels worldwide, including: Mille Plateaux, 12k and Raster-Noton. He describes his work as follows, "I like precise, short, impulsive sounds; clean sine waves and white noise, which are both simple and clear."
Bovine Life [Chris Dooks] has been collaborating musically through a 56k modem via his web-based label Social Electrics since 1999. His past collaborators have included, among others, Janek Schaeffer, Alku and The Third Eye Foundation.
Aaron Dillaway, Nathan Young and John Wilson are the trio named Wolf Eyes. They talk about their early days in music, their town, their labels and “Degrassi, the Next Generation.” They say “at this point, we’re not as loud as we could be.”
