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viewing 1 To 14 of 14 items
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CD
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ARBITRARY 020CD
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$14.50
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 4/26/2024
Just because Denseland take inspiration from the past, doesn't mean they're stuck in it. On their first album since 2017, their second for Arbitrary, the Berlin-based trio instead ventures slowly but steadily into unknown territory. Hanno Leichtmann and Hannes Strobl's dub-infused, bass-heavy rhythmic minimalism in combination with lyricist David Moss's sonorous yet deadpan delivery opens up a space that feels both claustrophobic and infinitely wide. Like previous Denseland albums, Code & Melody picks up on the sparse side of dub-enamoured post-punk, no wave, post-rock, adventurous electronic and improvised acoustic music and blends this with a vocal performance marked by a Lou Reedian cool, a confrontationalism à la Lydia Lunch and, occasionally, an experimentalism akin to Scott Walker. The result is as unique and ambiguous as the record's title: Musical formal rigor enters into a dialogue with poetic reflections on the beautiful mess that is the human experience. The record's starting point were multiple improvisational sessions between Leichtmann and Strobl. Strobl used his electric bass and electric double bass, whose characteristic sounds "were expanded through the use of special playing techniques in combination with live electronics," as he explains. After adding overdubs to some of the recordings as well as guest contributions on three pieces by Katharina Bévand on modular synthesizer, the resulting tracks served as the perfect backdrop for Moss's performance. The sounds that accompany them on Codes & Melody complement that seamlessly: This is both physical and cerebral music, rigid and flexible, obsessed with the dialectic of repetition and difference -- with moving forward.
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ARB 019CD
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Arbitrary presents Terrain Vague, the debut of Danish group Mesmer. The album is a series of (deconstructed) live-recordings taken from three live concerts. The sounds on this record are taken from two years' worth of sound research and creative outbursts with inspiration from field trips to the outskirts of Copenhagen. Intrigued by the auditive landscapes of places where nature and culture meet and challenge each other. Listening to the field-recordings led Mesmer to interpret the moods, musical qualities, and inherent energy of the sounds from these areas. Thus, creating melodies, harmonies and rhythmical structures that, together with the field recordings, paved the way for this album. Mesmer consists of the three musicians and composers Emil Jensen, Victor Dybbroe, and Anders Filipsen, who have been creating music together over the last 15 years in various groups. Mesmer is fascinated by how sound (and its absence) influences us as people and how the different natural and cultural environments create different musical scenarios. Recorded and produced by Mesmer, 2021 and 2022. Mixed by Mads Emil Nielsen. Mastered by Kassian Troyer at D&M, Berlin. Cover art, graphic design: Mesmer/Mads Emil Nielsen.
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LP
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ARBITRARY 018LP
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Chromacolor is one of those records that immediately feels like home even though it is hard to locate stylistically. Written and recorded by Hanno Leichtmann in Berlin and Madeira between 2020 and 2022, it draws on rhythmic minimalism as a guiding principle and might call to mind organic, instrument-based ambient music, but also incorporates jazzy moments as well as Annie Garlid's multi-layered vocals that permeate through these nine pieces. The foundation for Leichtmann's Chromacolor project was laid when the prolific Berlin-based producer, musician, and drummer borrowed a vibraphone and a Fender Rhodes from two friends. Combining their unique sonic affordances with those of a Guitaret, an electric lamellophone, he further expanded his sound palette by inviting other musicians -- Anthea Caddy, Sabine Vogel, Tobias Delius, Els Vandeweyer, Sabine Ercklentz, Mike Majkowski, Andrei Ladeishchikov, Oona Farchy, Gonçalo Caboz, as well as Rafael and Hugo Andrade -- to play small but vital parts in the production of the album. The opener "Kisses and Wine" masterfully sets the tone for an album that is as inviting as it is challenging. Working with relaxed repetitive rhythms, Garlid's anthemic vocals and a sprinkle of saxophone and flute tones courtesy of Delius and Vogel, respectively, as well as tender piano notes played by Leichtmann, it evokes a lot with only few means: a certain melancholy, but also an elevated atmosphere that feels both exuberant and restrained. Leichtmann's elegant study of the power of repetition, minute rhythmic shifts and subtle use of melodic and harmonic elements creates ambiguities and polyvalences like these throughout the entire record, up until its understated finale, aptly titled "A Beautiful Day" -- a drone-jazz piece, if you will, both longing and joyful. As an album, Chromacolor is hard to pigeonhole, but rich and rewarding. All it takes is immersing yourself in it. Mastered and cut by Kassian Troyer at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin Artwork: Hanno Leichtmann and Mads Emil Nielsen. Includes download code; edition of 300.
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LP
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ARBITRARY 016LP
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Desert Dictionary navigates sonic territories oscillating between language and landscape, between notation and noise. Voices responding and contributing to a complementary narrative, connecting personal memories, political considerations, and psychological effects of a landscape seemingly empty and quiet. Adjacent, beneath and intertwined a modular synthesizer score based on field notes -- a synthesized soundscape appearing as imaginary field recordings, at the same time resembling and unalike the place in question. The twelve contributions presented on the LP were recorded in South Africa over a period of three months in 2020 and 2021. These recordings occurred in various locations in Kimberley, Bloemfontein, Richmond/Northern Cape, Cape Town, Grassy Park, Krugersdorp and Johannesburg. The Desert Dictionary appears in four iterations -- a situation as part of Modern Art Projects South Africa's collection, a radio play (commissioned by Deutschlandfunk Kultur), a book edition (published by MAPSA), and the present LP. The LP version is based on the radio play and features the voices of Richard John Forbes, Maja Marx, Phala Ookeditse Phala, Victoria Wigzell, Tubatsi Mpochmoloi, Liza Grobler, Nkosinathi Gumede, Karlien van Rooyen, Mongezi Ncombo, Ivan Messelaar, Gerhard Marx, and Lindiwe Matshikiza. The synthesized field recordings -- translations of fieldnotes taken in the desert -- were recorded in Johannesburg and Berlin. Written and produced by Boris Baltschun, 2021-2022. Mastered and cut by Kassian Troyer at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin. Photo and map by Boris Baltschun. Graphic design by Joe Gilmore. Includes printed inner sleeve; includes download code; edition of 300.
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7"
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ARBITRARY 015EP
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arbitrary presents Dissolvè/Scillions by Antoine Hubineau. Derived from the same series of compositions, "Dissolvè" and "Scillions" are drawn from modular synthesizer recordings which have been reworked, treated and composed in the computer. "Dissolvè" is a mosaic which is in constant motion. The inner details are guided by an outer structure which act as a kind of rhythmic subtraction. It is destabilized to the point where it fractures, from the macro to the micro level; abstracting a filigree from the original rhythm. "Scillions" breaks an initial path into several directions which create new paths. Directional blur in harmonic motion makes it difficult to predict the outcomes. Contrary movements, synchronization, and desynchronization build and break the relations between these new paths. Finally, altered versions of these new directions give some familiarity, while adding to the ambient disorder. Based in Latillé (France), Antoine Hubineau works in the electronic music field, as a composer, musician, teacher and co-founder of the Sillages residency. His practice is focused on sound synthesis, which become alternately pseudo-acoustic instruments, abstract matter, and surreal spaces. In his compositions, he makes the most of the cracks between free pulsation and collateral rhythms, between harmonic stability and sound spectrum tearings. Written and produced by Antoine Hubineau, Saint-Etienne (France), 2020. Mastered and cut by Kassian Troyer at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin. Cover artwork by Morgan Cuinet. Layout by Mads Emil Nielsen. White vinyl; 45rpm; includes download code; edition of 300.
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CD
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ARBITRARY 014CD
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Arbitrary presents the third in the Black Box series of releases by Mads Emil Nielsen. The release, which showcases a more sample- and grid-based side of the Danish musician/composer's work, is part of a sequence of publications with music and audio originally made for theater, radio soundtracks and more. Black Box 3 is based on sound pieces produced for Sprækker (Cracks), a dance performance and installation in Denmark, 2021. The starting points for these pieces are improvisations recorded with contemporary dancers, in which Nielsen guides the listener through a corpus of synthesizer recordings, everyday sounds and radio archives. These original recordings were reworked for this LP and edited into the six tracks in early 2022. Written and produced, recorded and mixed by Mads Emil Nielsen, Copenhagen, 2021/2022. Acoustic sounds on Installation -- 2 by Victor Dybbroe. Mastered and cut by Kassian Troyer at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin. Graphic design by Mads Emil Nielsen.
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ARBITRARY 014LP
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LP version. Clear blue vinyl; includes download code. Arbitrary presents the third in the Black Box series of releases by Mads Emil Nielsen. The release, which showcases a more sample- and grid-based side of the Danish musician/composer's work, is part of a sequence of publications with music and audio originally made for theater, radio soundtracks and more. Black Box 3 is based on sound pieces produced for Sprækker (Cracks), a dance performance and installation in Denmark, 2021. The starting points for these pieces are improvisations recorded with contemporary dancers, in which Nielsen guides the listener through a corpus of synthesizer recordings, everyday sounds and radio archives. These original recordings were reworked for this LP and edited into the six tracks in early 2022. Written and produced, recorded and mixed by Mads Emil Nielsen, Copenhagen, 2021/2022. Acoustic sounds on Installation -- 2 by Victor Dybbroe. Mastered and cut by Kassian Troyer at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin. Graphic design by Mads Emil Nielsen.
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CD
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ARBITRARY 013CD
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Arbitrary presents Delirious Cartographies by composer, improviser, and synthesist Richard Scott. "These compositions capture aspects of my personal sonic experience of specific times and places. Extending beyond my usual work with analog synthesizer, these pieces open the doors and windows to the outside world, incorporating field and live recordings made in various locations and situations. Rather than intending any clear sense of narrative, these are molecular dialogues between elements and geographies which do not necessarily share organic points of connection, other than my own incomplete experience and memory of them." The final piece "6 Graphic Etudes" (included as digital prints) is intended as a set of visual/sonic sketches, each of which describes a discrete kind of movement or texture. These may have a variety of uses; as musical exercises, as scores, combined as parts of scores, or simply as stand-alone visual propositions/artworks. The pieces were composed between 2017 and 2021 at Sound Anatomy, Berlin, Spektrum Berlin, EMS Stockholm, NOVARS, University of Manchester University, Boliqueime, Portugal and the Electronic Music Studios University of Huddersfield. As well as various microphones, hydrophones and recorders, the instruments used on this recording are mostly analog and modular synthesizers: Hordijk Modular, Serge Modular, EMS Synthi A, various Eurorack modules, Buchla Thunder midi controller, Oberheim Xpander, Clavia Nord Micro Modular, CataRT and maxMSP, Rob Hordijk Blippoo box. On "Thunder, actually bicycles..." Axel Dörner plays a Holton Firebird trumpet with additional live-sampling via maxMSP and a controller interface developed by Sukandar Kartadinata. Written and produced by Richard Scott. Drawings by Richard Scott. Graphic design by Mads Emil Nielsen. Mastered and cut by Kassian Troyer at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin. Part of the Danish imprint's Framework editions. Includes six printed drawings as well as a text by Scott. CD version comes in a digipak.
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ARBITRARY 013LP
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LP version. White vinyl. Red cardboard folder, foil embossed; includes six prints and download code with a 17-minute digital bonus track; edition of 300. Arbitrary presents Delirious Cartographies by composer, improviser, and synthesist Richard Scott. "These compositions capture aspects of my personal sonic experience of specific times and places. Extending beyond my usual work with analog synthesizer, these pieces open the doors and windows to the outside world, incorporating field and live recordings made in various locations and situations. Rather than intending any clear sense of narrative, these are molecular dialogues between elements and geographies which do not necessarily share organic points of connection, other than my own incomplete experience and memory of them." The final piece "6 Graphic Etudes" (included as digital prints) is intended as a set of visual/sonic sketches, each of which describes a discrete kind of movement or texture. These may have a variety of uses; as musical exercises, as scores, combined as parts of scores, or simply as stand-alone visual propositions/artworks. The pieces were composed between 2017 and 2021 at Sound Anatomy, Berlin, Spektrum Berlin, EMS Stockholm, NOVARS, University of Manchester University, Boliqueime, Portugal and the Electronic Music Studios University of Huddersfield. As well as various microphones, hydrophones and recorders, the instruments used on this recording are mostly analog and modular synthesizers: Hordijk Modular, Serge Modular, EMS Synthi A, various Eurorack modules, Buchla Thunder midi controller, Oberheim Xpander, Clavia Nord Micro Modular, CataRT and maxMSP, Rob Hordijk Blippoo box. On "Thunder, actually bicycles..." Axel Dörner plays a Holton Firebird trumpet with additional live-sampling via maxMSP and a controller interface developed by Sukandar Kartadinata. Written and produced by Richard Scott. Drawings by Richard Scott. Graphic design by Mads Emil Nielsen. Mastered and cut by Kassian Troyer at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin. Part of the Danish imprint's Framework editions. Includes six printed drawings as well as a text by Scott.
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10"
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ARBITRARY 012EP
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Arbitrary presents the first in a series of remix collaborations and releases by Mads Emil Nielsen and Chromacolor, a project from the German sound artist and producer Hanno Leichtmann. Mads Emil Nielsen's "Constellation" (side A) was created by combining several granulations and textures based on a single short recording, extracted from improvisations made with the Buchla synthesizer at EMS, Stockholm -- combined with randomly looping orchestral samples, edited, and produced in his studio in Copenhagen. After having heard Nielsen's live performance in Berlin in 2017, Hanno Leichtmann suggested remixing various of his tracks including "Constellation" (Remix -- side B). For this rework, Leichtmann provides an ambient feel by working with various sources, all of which generate sound using vibrating metal plates in different sizes --including a Premier Vibraphone, a Fender Rhodes, and a Hohner Guitaret. Constellation written and produced by Mads Emil Nielsen at EMS Elektronmusikstudion, Stockholm and in Copenhagen. "Constellation Chromacolor Remix" written and produced by Hanno Leichtmann at Static Music, Berlin. Mastered and cut by Kassian Troyer at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin. Artwork by Karel Martens. 10"; CYK + Pantone print; includes download code; edition of 500.
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10"/CD
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ARBITRARY 011LP
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The Danish label/imprint arbitrary announces the release of Framework 3 by Mads Emil Nielsen. Framework 3 is the latest instalment in Nielsen's sequence of graphic scores and recordings. The series includes the Danish composer's own subjective translations of visual materials and sound pieces accompanied by visual notations. On this release he collaborates with Katja Gretzinger and Nicola Ratti. Raised in a family of architects, Nielsen has for several years been occupied with the question of "how do you intuitively sonify an image?" along with the complementary processes of translating sounds and music into illustrations and scores. In early 2019, he produced various drawings and sound pieces which formed the starting point for the three tracks on this 10" vinyl EP. The audio is derived from synthesizer recordings and basic electronic sound sources (sine waves, feedback, noise) and percussive loops combined with recordings made in the studios at EMS (Elektronmusikstudion, Stockholm). The audio material was translated by graphic designer Katja Gretzinger into a series of visual notations made while listening to the music. Gretzinger developed various symbols, forms and structures, such as points, bars, 3D balls, irregular patterns/"swarms" and regular patterns (vertical hatchings). These were combined with found image materials and cut-outs from old prints and layered with large geometric forms, which define the individual character of each of the three parts. The resulting 18-page graphic score is included in the release in the form of risograph printed sheets. Nielsen then invited musician Nicola Ratti, who is also trained as an architect, to create sonic re-interpretations of the graphic score. Ratti reinterpreted the imagery as a selection of sound elements positioned in a three-dimensional area; which he visualized as the space between the composer/artist, Ratti himself and the loudspeakers. Published as a limited edition art print folder; foil embossed cover, includes 18 single score sheets (risograph prints) and download code; Transparent vinyl, 10"+CD; edition of 250.
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2x10"
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ARBITRARY 010LP
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Danish musician/composer Mads Emil Nielsen continues his Framework series; a collection of open, hand-drawn graphic scores and recordings. The series includes Nielsen's own subjective translations of the visual material and sound pieces accompanied by visual notations, and collaborations -- in this case with Andrea Neumann, Jan Jelinek, and Hideki Umezawa. "Circles" is a dense, collage of synthesizer recordings made during a residency at EMS (Elektronmusikstudion), Stockholm. The first graphic score is an illustration in three parts, based on sketches and drawings made intuitively while listening during and after the recording process. "Framework Fragments" created in collaboration with Andrea Neumann is derived from live recordings made with electronics and inside piano, and is based on the second score. The piece was made by the two musicians improvising from the seven graphic score fragments, sequenced using individual timecodes and then edited by Nielsen into a more complex collage, following closely the structure of the original recording. Originally a four-channel composition, "Framework Fragments" was presented as part of the two artists' "Creepage Current" sound installation in Berlin, Copenhagen and Milan, 2018 and 2019. Nielsen then invited two artists to interpret the notation and score -- electronic musician Jan Jelinek and sound artist Hideki Umezawa. These recordings are included on the second disc. Jelinek chose to focus on the second part of the "Circles" score -- following its structure/timeline and translating the elements into three separated loops blending in and out, one after another, surrounded by additional sounds and random textures. Umezawa interpreted the "Framework Fragments" score. Various recordings based on his improvisations made with the Serge synthesizer -- once again during a residency at EMS (2019) -- were organized to ensure the sound material correspond to each element/score fragment. Finally, the material was re-arranged in detail and edited into the nine-minute composition. 45rpm, includes fold-out insert and download code; Disc one on white vinyl and disc two on transparent vinyl; Edition of 300.
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CD
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ARBITRARY 003CD
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arbitrary presents the 2020 remaster of PM016 by Danish musician Mads Emil Nielsen. Originally released as limited edition C30 tape on Plant Migration Records in 2014, the four pieces on Nielsen's first solo release are based on short orchestral and percussive samples manipulated by various synthesizer modules and effects processors. Variations are created by emphasizing different frequencies, harmonics, sections of short loops and the various surprises that result from the idiosyncrasies of each machine. This vinyl reissue is part of the Black Box series of releases with music and audio originally made for theater pieces, performances, installations, radio soundtracks, compilations, and remix collaborations. The series showcases a more melodic side of Mads Emil Nielsen's work, who, during recent years, has been focused on more abstract electronic/acoustic material -- such as his collaboration with Andrea Neumann and Framework series (graphic scores and recordings). Written and produced by Mads Emil Nielsen, Copenhagen, 2013. Originally released as limited edition C30 tape on Plant Migration Records (US), 2014. Remastered and cut by Kassian Troyer, with cover artwork by visual artist Dane Patterson. CD version comes in digipak; edition of 300.
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LP
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ARBITRARY 003LP
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LP version. Includes insert and download code; edition of 300. arbitrary presents the 2020 remaster of PM016 by Danish musician Mads Emil Nielsen. Originally released as limited edition C30 tape on Plant Migration Records in 2014, the four pieces on Nielsen's first solo release are based on short orchestral and percussive samples manipulated by various synthesizer modules and effects processors. Variations are created by emphasizing different frequencies, harmonics, sections of short loops and the various surprises that result from the idiosyncrasies of each machine. This vinyl reissue is part of the Black Box series of releases with music and audio originally made for theater pieces, performances, installations, radio soundtracks, compilations, and remix collaborations. The series showcases a more melodic side of Mads Emil Nielsen's work, who, during recent years, has been focused on more abstract electronic/acoustic material -- such as his collaboration with Andrea Neumann and Framework series (graphic scores and recordings). Written and produced by Mads Emil Nielsen, Copenhagen, 2013. Originally released as limited edition C30 tape on Plant Migration Records (US), 2014. Remastered and cut by Kassian Troyer, with cover artwork by visual artist Dane Patterson.
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