Jez riley French ....'in place': February 2010

forthcoming....

forthcoming:

may 18th-19th: field recording workshop, malmo, sweden

june 13th-20th: field recording workshop with Chris Watson & Jez riley French, Iceland

22nd june - 2oth august 2013: audible silence: the tate, sleeping and waking' - headphone piece exploring the hidden sounds of the Tate modern building, Tate modern, London

september 6-8th: field recording workshop with jez riley french & chris watson, norfolk, uk - places available

october 4-13th: installation (room tones / littorals), Spazioersetti galleria, Udine, Italy

october 11th: resonant terrain walk, castletown, portland as part of the b-side symposium

december 6-8th: field recording workshop with jez riley french & chris watson, norfolk, uk - places available

jez riley french - ‘instamatic: snowdonia’

a document of listening, simply

6 tracks focusing on fence wire recordings & listening to the wind

available as a limited edition, full size taiyo yuden cd mounted on an art card + additional postcard

Review by Daniel Crokaert from 'The Field Reporter' website:

In his Instamatic series, Jez riley French invites us to share his moments of fortunate listening like they are, without make-up nor intellectualizations, retouches or alterations of the source, except a careful selection and probably a bit of equalization… A hike within some magnificent natural region of North Wales, namely Snowdonia, led Jez to look particularly into the wind, that wind which speaks to us, while sweeping at the same timeendlessly across ever changing landscapes… that air which circulates, lifts, makes particles, objects and surfaces vibrate, suggesting their outlines and concrete features…

But, far more than a report about a physical truth, the work quickly switches over to the extra-ordinary, underlining a very personal way of experiencing, of giving another dimension to things, and our environment… Vast palette of amplified metallic resonances of fences planted in the isolation of a still preserved nature…agitation, vibrations, ferruginous supplications…a whole universe stands out, and submits to the laws of another one…a unhurried play of echoes and reflections coming out of the insignificant, and which reminds us constantly that our perceptions are fluctuating, eminently subjective, and tributary of their “captation tools”, but that they can also be the starting point of unexpected emotions… “There’s an aesthete within us all “ seems to be, roughly speaking, what Jez whispers to us.

Through his care, his methodical record, his sense of listening, the creation of his own range of microphones, Jez acts like a revealer, a non-standard intermediary… “Snowdonia” succeeds in closing our eyes slipping us into a long travelling through shaggy herbs, dishevelled by an insistent breeze – a Malickian scene… Just next to us, trembling & bending wires, streaking the rust tones of a jaded vegetation…pebbles shrouded in history shape long grey veins studding the country as far as the eye can see…in the faraway, the shadow of hills asleep, peaceful guardians of a permanent sight… In our ears, clicks, muffled murmurs of cold metal, aeolian moan, all the tense sensoriality of the world…

“Snowdonia” ends up ringing like the name of a mythical place where one has rendezvous with the other-worldliness…that other-worldliness, disguised under common appearances, here finely caught, and alongside which we often pass by in total indifference…

Sunday, 21 February 2010

2 new releases - highly limited editions

. Michael Pisaro / Greg Stuart - 'July mountain'

. point engraved edition eg.p05

. limited edition 3inch cdr mounted on art card

'July mountain' for Greg Stuart & Jez riley French:

---- Field recordings made by Michael Pisaro in the Santa Susanna and San Gabriel Mountains, Placerita Canyon, Santa Clarita, Topanga, Val Verde, Los Angeles, Marina del Rey, and Santa Monica, 2006-2009.

---- Percussion recorded by Greg Stuart in Columbia, South Carolina, 12/09-01/10.

.---- pdf download of the score can be found here

. this remarkable composition combining 20 mono field recordings & 84 percussion parts is a significant addition not only to Michael's catalogue of works but also to the deeply fascinating exploration of scoring for field recordings.

below is a photograph by Michael taken during one of the field recording trips & a photograph by Greg of the woodblock used during the recording of some of the percussion parts:

new release - highly limited edition

. point engraved edition eg.p04

. Limited edition full sized Taiyo Yuden cdr mounted on art card.

1) Beacon NY

2) Union station, Washington DC

3) Train from Washington DC to Penn station NYC

. 'standing sitting' presents 3 extended compositions for subtly treated field recordings of an art space, a train station & a train journey. Anne's work with field recordings shows a simple, yet richly evocative grasp of the nature of the spaces we inhabit & I am very pleased to be releasing these pieces on Anne's first solo edition.

Tuesday, 2 February 2010

river recording by Grant Finlay (using JrF hydrophones)

from Grant:

Hi Jez,
The hydrophones arrived last week and I've had a chance or two to use them. They've worked out great so far, love the high output and low noise factor. Sound much better then my previous h/p's too...
Here's a recording from my local river: http://soundcloud.com/grantfinlay/kerikeri-river-hydrophone-recording-31-01-10

Regards,
Grant Finlay.
http://grantfinlay.com/
http://naturesounds.co.nz/