Saitensack
(Edition Telemark - 314.01) LP $21.00 (Out-of-stock)
Long-time improv and foundational musician’s “string-bag” develops new ways of playing the violin and viola. With an approach more stripped down than other experimental violinists such as Tony Conrad and Takehisa Kosugi, Essel does not modify or amplify his instruments. Strings are not pressed by fingers but rather damped. Only through bowing are they excited to complex free vibrations, sometimes harsh and noisy, at other times reminiscent of uilleann pipes with cracking and breaking like in yodeling. Saitensack focuses on the origin of tones out of the noise, zooming into the very character of string instruments. Side A features an overtone-rich performance from 1994. Side B has a harsher 1999 recording. Printed innersleeve with a Saitensack discussion transcript. Edition of 500
Zeitfalten
(Edition Telemark - 314.05) 2xLP picture disc $50.00 (Out-of-stock)
Music for tape machines by this Darmstadt-based composer, where the tape is led around a guide between the record head and the playback head of a Revox A77 reel tape recorder, which replays after nine seconds and adds to the input sound. Optionally, the tape can be led to a second A77 where it is replayed once again and selectively re-added to the input. Essel adds sediment of sound where every auditory event returns again and again, distorting and diminishing over time. Since its introduction in 1988, Zeitfalten has gone through a number of setups utilizing different sound sources. This edition collects four recordings: Suite I (1989, viola and voice), Messages (1990, radio signals), Reportage (1994, pre-recorded voices) and Falten (1996, two tape machines without external input). While Suite I is an environment with almost no control exerted over the replaying process, a mixer was added for the other three setups. Gatefold PVC sleeve, two large stickers, liner notes. Edition of 100