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viewing 1 To 4 of 4 items
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GREYFADE 010LP
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$31.00
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 5/9/2025
interius/exterius is a striking new addition to the evolving catalog of Berlin-based composer Catherine Lamb, whose deep explorations of harmony, temporality, and collective resonance have made her a defining voice in contemporary experimental music. Developed through a close collaboration with New York's Ghost Ensemble, this long-form chamber nonet unfolds through finely calibrated tuning, deep listening, and continually shifting sonic intention. The work's title reflects its central organizing principle: tones move in "interior" and "exterior" directions, shifting between inward balance within the ensemble and outward expansion towards new harmonic possibilities. The result is a piece that is simultaneously precise and open, crystalline and fluid -- attuned to the interplay between individual agency and collective form. Scored for flute, oboe, accordion, viola, cello, four- and five-string contrabasses, harp, and hammered dulcimer, the work investigates how collective intentions or focal points allow various and sometimes unusual sonic pathways to emerge in an ensemble context. In an "interior" direction, tones balance inward, reinforcing the equilibrium of the collective, while in an "exterior" direction, tones radiate outward, inviting subtle changes in texture and a broader field of interaction. This interplay of interiority and exteriority extends beyond dynamics or articulation. interius/exterius took shape over a series of intensive workshops between composer and ensemble, supported in part by Chamber Music America's Classical Commissioning Program. The harmonic material of interius/exterius is derived entirely from the harmonic series of a theoretical 10Hz fundamental -- an inaudible frequency whose overtones define a resonant, interlocking lattice of sound. This base-10 tuning system allows every pitch to be understood in relation to its spectral position, creating a shared harmonic language among the performers. Ghost Ensemble's performance reveals the otherworldly sonorities that arise from this structure, as shifting alignments, phasing relationships, and gradual timbral transformations guide the music's unfolding. Lamb's compositional language is deeply shaped by her studies with composer James Tenney and Dhrupad musician Mani Kaul, as well as her ongoing engagement with microtonal performance practice. Her interest in musical perception and psychoacoustics positions interius/exterius as both an inquiry into the nature of harmonic space and a lived experience of collective attunement. Ghost Ensemble -- known themselves for championing the work of Pauline Oliveros -- are perhaps, then, ideal collaborators, bringing both profound sensitivity and intuitive fluency to Lamb's music. With interius/exterius, Lamb and Ghost Ensemble have achieved a collaborative work of rare clarity and conceptual depth -- simultaneously precise and open, crystalline and fluid, exquisitely attuned to the interplay between individual agency and collective form.
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LP
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GREYFADE 006LP
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$27.50
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 4/18/2025
The sophomore release from vocalist Theo Bleckmann and electronic musician and producer Joseph Branciforte, LP2 is a follow-up, companion piece, and elegant evolution of the shared musical language first developed on the duo's debut, 2019's LP1. Branciforte and Bleckmann return with a meticulously crafted album of even greater scope and complexity, further dissolving the boundaries between improvisation and composition, live performance and studio production, human and machine-generated sound. The first sound one hears when putting the needle down on LP2 -- a granular skein embroidered with the barest silhouette of a melody -- is a moment typical of the collaboration between Theo Bleckmann and Joseph Branciforte: one is never quite sure where the human ends and the operations of machines begin. The album, in its concentrated 42 minutes, proves that the palpable sonic chemistry heard on Bleckmann and Branciforte's debut was no fluke. The duo has built on LP1's successes -- alloying Bleckmann's otherworldly vocals with Branciforte's extended electronic palette and obsessively detailed production -- but they have also broken new ground in both textural invention and compositional scope. Whereas LP1 was recorded spontaneously -- with no premeditation and minimal post-production -- the sessions for LP2 proceeded somewhat differently. The pair also allowed themselves the use of studio overdubbing, occasionally adding additional instrumentation to their improvisations after the fact. One hears fleeting moments throughout the album when the dream logic of free improvisation and the premeditated nature of orchestration converge: a vibraphone doubling a meandering vocal line, or a stack of voices outlining an intricate chord progression. These moments reveal the duo's willingness to experiment with structure and form, while maintaining the spontaneity that made their first album so compelling. LP1 and LP2 also serve as fitting bookends to the Greyfade label's inaugural series of releases.
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LP
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GREYFADE 002LP
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$27.50
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 4/18/2025
Originally released in 2021. The first volume in an ongoing collaboration between composers Kenneth Kirschner and Joseph Branciforte, From the Machine explores the application of software-based compositional techniques -- including algorithmic processes, generative systems, and indeterminacy -- to the creation of new music for acoustic instruments. Featuring members of Flux Quartet and International Contemporary Ensemble. Although digital approaches to music-making are most closely associated with the use of electronically generated (or modified) sound, computer-based composition opens up a vast space of possibilities beyond timbre, into fundamental questions of basic musical structure. This collaborative project between composers Kenneth Kirschner and Joseph Branciforte sets out to explore some of these possibilities by adapting techniques from electronic composition -- including algorithmic processes, generative systems, and indeterminacy -- to the creation of new music for acoustic instruments. From the Machine, Vol. 1 documents two pieces that were composed using non-linear software techniques, translated into traditional musical notation, and performed by acoustic ensembles: Kenneth Kirschner's "April 20, 2015" for piano and two cellos and Joseph Branciforte's "0123" for low string quartet. Recorded by pianist Jade Conlee and cellists Mariel Roberts and Meaghan Burke, the acoustic adaptation of "April 20, 2015" brings a new level of nuance and a heightened sense of drama to a piece originally composed without the human performer in mind, while preserving the expanded sense of rhythmic, harmonic, and structural possibility that Kirschner unearthed in the digital realm. "0123" was recorded by a distinguished ensemble consisting of violinist Tom Chiu (Flux Quartet), violist Wendy Richman (International Contemporary Ensemble), cellist Christopher Gross (Talea Ensemble), and double-bassist Greg Chudzik (Talea Ensemble). An entryway into Kirschner and Branciforte's ongoing experiments with digitally mediated chamber composition, From the Machine, Vol. 1 also represents a point of departure for the Greyfade Label as a whole, which seeks to be a vital outpost for algorithmic and process-based music in the coming years. Whatever novel results lie ahead, Kirschner and Branciforte's first release provides a model for a music that is elaborately constructed, exactingly realized, and deeply personal all at once.
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GREYFADE 005LP
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$27.50
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 4/18/2025
Originally released in 2022. A beautifully meditative and architectural set of loops for solo piano, Filters is the solo debut of pianist and composer Phillip Golub (b. 1993). Approaching the concept of endless repetition through the lens of his delicate and expressive pianism, Golub's loops unite the austerity of the systems-based with the infinite variety and imagination of live performance. The process of manual repetition resembles for Golub a kind of ritual, rather than merely a technological process. It is the act of participation in an entity unfolding over time that interests him. He explored different durations and performance contexts, sometimes quietly performing a loop or two as guests arrived to a recital hall, other times programming afternoon-length performances in which each loop extended to durations of 45 minutes or more. He even experimented with orchestrating the loops for various mixed chamber ensembles. For the recording of his debut solo album, however, Golub wanted to distill the timeless quality of these pieces into a piano-only, LP-length experience. In summer 2019, while in Los Angeles for work on an opera with Wayne Shorter and Esperanza Spalding, he scheduled time to record on a privately owned and beautifully maintained Steinway D. Golub then edited together his favorite sections of these extended performances to construct the final album versions. Structurally, each loop proceeds by ordering two internal sections into larger patterns. While the harmonic and formal dimensions of Filters are meticulously controlled, some aspects of the compositions are left intentionally open. There is no explicit rhythm specified in the composition, for instance; the approximate timing of each event is indicated with space-time notation. Filters is intentionally designed to work in many contexts. Although the structural integrity and endlessly variegated details of these loops reward focused listening, they never demand it. This is also just beautiful music to get lost in.
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