Excerpt: Steve Roden Excerpt: Lionel Marchetti & Yôko Higashi

VARIOUS | AU CLAIR DE LA LUNE
2 x CD | INFREQUENCY 005 | Edition of 500 | Duration 1hr 37min

"...earns its recommendation for bringing attention to a valuable historical document but also for being, on its own terms, an inspired and splendid conceptual recording. It's especially fascinating to witness what results when two such extreme audio poles—the earliest known recording and the vast potential of modern technological methods—converge." TEXTURA

"When you have the ability to gather up a selection of international artists of this calibre into one project you're clearly on top of your game...Uniquely superb through and through." SMALLFISH

"...the first offering from Bernhard Günter in two years...retains the fragile melodic line in the background as a reference point while exploring the recording's spectral – in both senses of the word – resonances, with extraordinary results. Striking just the right balance between intellect and emotion, it's as inscrutable and moving as the tiny fragment of history that gave birth to it." - Dan Warburton for THE WIRE


Nine internationally acclaimed sound artists create new compositions based on the earliest known recording of the human voice.

The original recording was made by Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville on April 9, 1860 using his own invention, the phonautograph, and consists of a series of scratches on a roll of blackened paper. Scott had never developed a way to play back his recordings and they went unheard for 148 years. In 2008, scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory converted the thin lines back into audio, allowing us to hear a woman singing a segment of the folk song “Au Clair de la Lune”.

The two CD compilation is a conceptual extension of breathing life back into this document through modern technology; deciphering a voice that was etched into a thin layer of oil lamp smoke, and featuring a diverse group of international contemporary composers, creating new works from this ten second piece of history.

Additional credits: Our sincere thanks to historians David Giovannoni & Patrick Feaster for their assistance in this project. The Édouard-Léon Scott recording is licensed by Firstsounds.org


CD1

STEVE RODEN - AUCLA IRDE LALU NE
LIONEL MARCHETTI & YÔKO HIGASHI - A SHORT STORY
SLEEP RESEARCH FACILITY - DARK SIDE OF THE LUNE
LANCE OLSEN - THE CREATURE THAT DRANK SOUND
STEPHEN VITIELLO & MOLLY BERG - CLAIRE SONG SUNG
CHRISTOPHE CHARLES - BREATHE

CD2

JAMIE DROUIN - SOOT AND PAPER
BERNHARD GUNTER - LES VOIX DU PASSE / CHANTENT L'AVENIR / CLAIR DE LUNE
YANN NOVAK - TIME FORGOT


Price $18US (includes international shipping)

YANN NOVAK | THE BREEZE BLOWING OVER US
CD-R | INFREQUENCY 006 | Edition of 250| Duration 38min

"...a glistening, precious sound work, unrivalled but by a handful of contemporaries. Novak has seemingly taken an obvious source sound, and with an exploratory and majestic treatment transmuted it into sonic gold." WHITE_LINE

"...as you reach the low-end bliss of the final stage you're left feeling exhilarated by this wonderfully self-contained piece. Looks greats, sounds amazing - what more could you ask for from contemporary minimalism? Superb." SMALLFISH


Recorded on one of the hottest days Seattle experienced in 2008, as well as the first weekend Novak spent with his partner, THE BREEZE BLOWING OVER US is based upon a simple recording of a fan beside their bed.

This is Novak's first solo release on Infrequency and an extremely fine example of his technique for transforming a simple environmental recording into a richly layered, and emotionally tense composition.

Price $12US (includes international shipping)

PAYMENT & DISTRIBUTION

Prices include international shipping and are processed through PayPal. Orders will ship out via postal airmail within 48 hours after receipt of payment.

INFREQUENCY products are also available from the following shops:

Experimedia (US)
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AMPL (Canada)
Staalplaat Germany)
Dense (Germany)


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DIGITAL RELEASES




VARIOUS | AU CLAIR DE LA LUNE (DIGITAL)
MP3 | INFREQUENCY D001 | Duration 55min

To expand upon our 2xCD compilation, an open call was made for artists to submit their own interpretations of the 1860 recording by Édouard-Léon Scott. This digital-only release from INFREQUENCY collects together nine exceptional submissions as high quality MP3s.

PHILIPPE JELLI
JIMMY BEHAN
VENUS VULTURE
THOMAS ANFIELD & DAVID BIRCHAM
RICHARD LAINHART
CIMARRON CORPÉ
SHIN ICHIRO A
ROB THEAKSTON
SIGHUP

NOTE: This is different content than our 2xCD release.

FREE DOWNLOAD (117MB zip file)*

*You will be re-directed to a zShare server


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REVIEWS

AU CLAIR DE LA LUNE

"...earns its recommendation for bringing attention to a valuable historical document but also for being, on its own terms, an inspired and splendid conceptual recording. It's especially fascinating to witness what results when two such extreme audio poles—the earliest known recording and the vast potential of modern technological methods—converge." TEXTURA

"When you have the ability to gather up a selection of international artists of this calibre into one project you're clearly on top of your game...Uniquely superb through and through." SMALLFISH

"...the first offering from Bernhard Günter in two years...retains the fragile melodic line in the background as a reference point while exploring the recording's spectral – in both senses of the word – resonances, with extraordinary results. Striking just the right balance between intellect and emotion, it's as inscrutable and moving as the tiny fragment of history that gave birth to it." - Dan Warburton for THE WIRE


THE BREEZE BLOWING OVER US

"...a glistening, precious sound work, unrivalled but by a handful of contemporaries. Novak has seemingly taken an obvious source sound, and with an exploratory and majestic treatment transmuted it into sonic gold." WHITE_LINE

"...as you reach the low-end bliss of the final stage you're left feeling exhilarated by this wonderfully self-contained piece. Looks greats, sounds amazing - what more could you ask for from contemporary minimalism? Superb." SMALLFISH


AUDITORIUM MUTEK

"About as polished and delicious as any ambient soundscaping gets...If you only buy one CD this year, then Auditorium Mutek would be the one that I would go for...hands down, one of the best releases of the year so far." WHITE_LINE

"A real voyage and I have to say that to have experienced it in the live environment must have been awesome. Another superb release from Jamie Drouin's Infrequency label." SMALLFISH


SNOWFIELD+REMIX

"The seven untitled tracks have a remarkable cumulative impact, the contrast between their tiny, crystalline details and the vastness of the landscape becoming ever more telling." THE WIRE

"A deep work of musical art...Quite superb from beginning to end and a must for lovers of Raster Noton, NVO, Line and other such labels. Highly recommended." SMALLFISH

"A tour de force...a worthy collection, that bursts with ideas." WHITE_LINE


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CONTACT INFREQUENCY

INFREQUENCY was established in 2001 by artists Jamie Drouin and Lance Olsen as a platform for small editions of minimalist soundworks. We also function as a companion label to Dragon's Eye Recordings (LA).

Join us at our Facebook page.




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ALSO AVAILABLE




NOVAK+DROUIN | +ROOM-ROOM
CD | HENRY ART GALLERY | Edition of 1000

2-channel versions of the installation at the Henry Art Gallery (Seattle) from February 7 - May 3, 2009. Now available from Dragon's Eye Recordings.