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LP
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RM 481LP
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Norman Westberg is perhaps best recognized for his truly individual approach to guitar with the band Swans. His playing with Swans has influenced a generation of musicians across genres. His particular approaches to that instrument, in creating both harmony and brute force, have challenged and ultimately informed a great many players. His new solo record, After Vacation, is his first full-length to come in the wake of the final Swans outing in its current configuration. More importantly it is also the first record to see Westberg move beyond a more performative mode of single take composition. After Vacation sees Westberg significantly expand his sonic palette. He opens up the tonal and harmonic possibilities of his instrument in unexpected and profoundly beautiful ways. His guitar, as singular source, becomes transformed through a web of outboard processes. He transforms vibrating strings completely, taking singular gesture and reshapes it through webs of delay, reverb, and other treatments. Moreover, he finds a new sense of space and dimension with these recordings. After Vacation has a decidedly more topographic sense. It charts out the dark contours of places unseen but imagined. It traverses a divergent range of places in search of an ever-opening compositional approach. The results are in excess of anything Westberg has created previously. His melodic capacities come to the fore; matching his distinctly personal approach to the textural qualities of his instrument.
From Norman: "This is the first recording that was not done in my 'one take; it is what it is' method. For me, this was like jumping into the pool with a blindfold on! Due to this shift, After Vacation is something of a collaborative record with the very capable and caring Lawrence English, acting as producer for the sessions; taking my sounds and weaving them into finished pieces. I listen to them more as stand-alone stories, rather than my usual style of bouncing conversation. The title After Vacation came from the feeling that something was changing. Not that playtime was over, just that last week was fun and all, but now is a good time to move around into something more realized."
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CD
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RM 473CD
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From Lawrence English: "A few years ago, my dear friend and bandmate Jamie Stewart and I were talking about Swans. I started to mention how much I admired the utterly personal approach to guitar that Norman Westberg had developed on those early records and moreover how that had blossomed out so richly on this latest incarnation of the band. During the course of the conversation Jamie mentioned a CDR that Norman had passed to him, which collected a few pieces of solo work that Norman had been working on. I was instantly curious to hear these pieces and started to track down the recordings online. After some investigating I found Norman's CDRs available through an Etsy shop he had set up. I ordered one and a couple of weeks later, after I'd listened to that first CDR non-stop for a few days, I ordered all the others I could get my hands on. The first solo work I heard from Norman was this recording, Jasper Sits Out. I was instantly struck by the textural sensitivity he managed to create with nothing more than a guitar and some modest pedals. He managed to find a depth in what was a very limited palette and that impressed me greatly. The connections to his work with Swans was clear, in that his trademark relation to tonality was present. Instead of relying on volume to achieve this sonic state though, Norman's solo practice relied on a sense of swaying harmony and orbiting loops to create a tonally dense sound world that was very much personal, but overtly invitational to the listener. Jasper Sits Out, the title referencing the Westberg family mascot who has now sadly departed, reflects Norman's interest in minimal structures and the processes of iteration that are formed through the manipulation of looping fragments. Creating almost tidal surges across these pieces, Jasper Sits Out speaks to his abilities to contour sound in time. The lead track for example is truly oceanic in that is has a remarkable tidal flow of strumming textures that seem to sink below one another in an effortless wash of textural density. I could not be more pleased to be able to share this music through Room40. This edition comes completely remastered and features a bonus piece recorded exclusively for this edition. I encourage you to listen deeply."
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CD
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HG 1605CD
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Anyone who has experienced Swans live on one of their recent tours will know who Norman Westberg is: the almost stoic, tall man, who coaxes rhythmic sounds from his guitar with an incomparably minimalist power and elegance. The play on words in the title can be applied to Westberg's own musical work, because whereas Swans are hard to surpass in terms of brute force, the artist's solo work is much more subtle, and therefore also quieter. The resulting juxtaposition between the dense metropolis of New York, where The All Most Quiet was recorded, and the album's minimalistic strains, open up virtual spaces for attentive listeners. The opening, nearly twenty-minute title track begins with a lucid echo-like and extensive sound that seems to expand spatially and then contract again. At the same time the piece is evocative of lighting effects: mostly the music is slightly cool but rather bright. Individual beams break open or darken the mood. The consistent subtlety of the collages provokes the increased attention of the listener and every sonic shift is consciously perceived. The track "Sound 2" begins with atonal and slightly bumpy delays, which become increasingly confused and develop an unpleasant undertow. It is a kind of clamorous minimalism combined with an ability to conjure up sounds from a guitar that hardly sounds like guitar that makes Norman Westberg's music so unique.
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LP
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HG 1605LP
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LP version. Anyone who has experienced Swans live on one of their recent tours will know who Norman Westberg is: the almost stoic, tall man, who coaxes rhythmic sounds from his guitar with an incomparably minimalist power and elegance. The play on words in the title can be applied to Westberg's own musical work, because whereas Swans are hard to surpass in terms of brute force, the artist's solo work is much more subtle, and therefore also quieter. The resulting juxtaposition between the dense metropolis of New York, where The All Most Quiet was recorded, and the album's minimalistic strains, open up virtual spaces for attentive listeners. The opening, nearly twenty-minute title track begins with a lucid echo-like and extensive sound that seems to expand spatially and then contract again. At the same time the piece is evocative of lighting effects: mostly the music is slightly cool but rather bright. Individual beams break open or darken the mood. The consistent subtlety of the collages provokes the increased attention of the listener and every sonic shift is consciously perceived. The track "Sound 2" begins with atonal and slightly bumpy delays, which become increasingly confused and develop an unpleasant undertow. It is a kind of clamorous minimalism combined with an ability to conjure up sounds from a guitar that hardly sounds like guitar that makes Norman Westberg's music so unique.
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CD
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RM 474CD
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Room40 continues the publication of a series of editions from American guitarist and composer Norman Westberg with a remastered and expanded edition of the previously self-released MRI. Best known for his work with the seminal outfit Swans, Westberg's output beyond that group is sprawling and restless. His name recurs and ripples through many interconnected micro-histories surrounding New York City's music and art scenes. From appearances in film works associated with the Cinema of Transgression to his participation in bands such as The Heroine Sheiks and Five Dollar Priest, Westberg's name is woven deeply into the fabric of New York from the early '80s on. MRI is the result of Westberg's encounters with the heavy medical scanning technology after recognizing his diminished hearing. "I started to notice a loss of hearing in my right ear," Westberg explains, "and decided that it was high time that I had it checked out by a professional. The audiologist confirmed the uneven hearing loss and recommended an MRI. The purpose of the MRI was to make sure that there was not something other than my own aural misadventures causing the uneven loss." This work is a coda to this experience. Recorded in 2012, it is a collection of reductive rolling guitar pieces that are embedded strongly in the American minimalism tradition. The newly mastered and post-produced edition also features a brand-new piece, "Lost Mine," recorded in 2015 as an echo of the processes that led to the original recordings. It follows Room40's reissue of Westberg's 13 in late 2015. From Lawrence English: "Norman Westberg's guitar playing with SWANS has influenced a generation of musicians across genres. I can personally attest to how his particular approaches to that instrument, in creating both harmony and brute force, have challenged and ultimately influenced my own sonic preoccupations. What Norman has created with his solo works is an echoing universe of deep texture and harmonic intensity. His solo compositions generate an affecting quality that drives the listener towards reductive transcendence."
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CD
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RM 472CD
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Room40 inaugurates its series of works by American guitarist and composer Norman Westberg with 13. Best known for his work with the seminal outfit Swans, Westberg's output beyond that group is sprawling and restless. His name recurs and ripples through many interconnected micro-histories surrounding New York City's music and art scenes. From appearances in film works associated with the Cinema of Transgression to his participation in bands such as The Heroine Sheiks and Five Dollar Priest, Westberg's name is woven deeply into the fabric of New York from the early '80s on. His debut release with Room40 is 13. Originally recorded in 2013, 13 has previously only been available in an ultra-limited handmade edition of just 75 copies. The Room40 edition of 13 has been completely remastered and edited and is available in an elegant physical edition. A note from Lawrence English: "Norman Westberg's guitar playing with Swans has influenced a generation of musicians across genres. I can personally attest to how his particular approaches to that instrument, in creating both harmony and brute force, have challenged and ultimately influenced my own sonic preoccupations. What Norman has created with his solo works is an echoing universe of deep texture and harmonic intensity. His solo compositions generate an affecting quality that drives the listener towards reductive transcendence. His guitar, as singular source, becomes transformed through a web of outboard processes. He transforms vibrating strings completely, taking singular gesture and reshapes it through webs of delay, reverb and other treatments. To me, these works echo many of the concerns of American minimalism and sprawl towards the work of bands such as Stars of the Lid. Norman has created a very dense and powerful statement of intent with these recordings and I couldn't be more pleased to have some small part in helping to share them."
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LP
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HG 1501LP
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Art edition; limited to 100 copies. Each record contains a numbered and signed 8.5 x 8.5 inch two-color linoleum reduction print of Jasper. Norman Westberg, near-constant guitarist for Swans since 1983, is also known for his work with Jarboe, Lydia Lunch, Foetus, Algis Kizys, and many others. Since the start of the so-called no wave scene in the early '80s in NYC, Westberg's unique and often very reduced guitar sound has been highly acclaimed. Jasper Sits Out is Westberg's first solo album on vinyl. It is a document of his exploration of guitar sound and texture. The two tracks are home-recorded and -produced and give the listener an intimate view into the artist's inner spectrum. "A soundtrack for inner debates": Side A beautifully utilizes layered guitar textures that flow in a mesmerizing crescendo, evoking a sensation akin to floating in the still waters of an ocean. Side B feels much more menacing and overwhelming, with its pummeling guitar crunch (doubling as percussion) transforming it into a sinking drone of sorts, constantly evolving as it rises and falls in variation. File under: drone/noise/loop/Swans.
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