Shadow Time

We are very proud to release the first compositions of John Barner called Shadow Time. These were never meant to be released on an album, only for performance, but we are very happy to make this happen. See John's notes below about the thoughts and process behind the making of the record.

Notes on Shadow Time

From 1995 until 1999, I was regularly commissioned to produce music for live events. Often, at the time the music was commissioned, I did not know how the music would feature in the event, or indeed, even what the event would be—be it a play, poetry recital, or modern dance performance. The music provided the soundtrack to those events and likely some more that I either do not recall or did not myself attend (for example, after completing these notes, I recalled one piece was commissioned to accompany a local artist who was simply painting live in front of an audience). Upon receiving a commission, I made only three stipulations: 1.) that the music not be recorded, or included in any planned recording, of the event; 2.) that the recording I provided of the music only be played during the event for which it was intended, and; 3.) that the recording I provided of the music be destroyed after the event concluded. I did not receive—and refused to accept—any payment of any kind for the commissioned music nor was I credited, directly or indirectly, in any promotional or programmatic materials for the events themselves. These rather unusual stipulations arose out of something that a group of fellow musicians and I were actively debating, something which we described at that time as disposable music. The idea was that, in order to capture the full emotional resonance that a piece of music was capable of inspiring in a listener, it should be consumed live, with as little context and description as possible, and ideally never heard again. I don’t know if I believe that today or not. Over the years, the recordings have become very important to me: they document my first forays into recording electronic avant-garde music. They were produced cheaply, utilizing rudimentary sampling technology, hand-spliced tape loops, analog synthesizers, a digital piano, a single Shure SM58 Vocal Microphone, and an 8-track recording device that I barely knew how to use and was malfunctioning most of the time. There are minimal overdubs. There has been no mastering. As far as I know, I possess the original recordings of all of these pieces and, until now, they have not been heard in their entirety since the events for which they were commissioned. They possess no individual names. They are only Shadow Time.

John Barner
Athens, Georgia
September 2017

"Building a community..."

Today's teaser just needed to have some visuals. It started as something simple and then became what is not atypical for this group. Watch, listen, enjoy. Series drops tomorrow (as long as technical glitches do not get in the way).

Bonsho Music Video Release!

Tomorrow we are releasing the new album, A Quiet Place, by This Line. To support its release we are happy to present the first video produced for it. Check out Bonsho on Vimeo and be sure to follow-up by streaming and buying the album on Bandcamp tomorrow! 

A Quiet Place

There's a new album from This Line coming Friday and with it we have a preview trailer! 

Hear every track from the new album and look for a new video later this week. Album will be available on our Bandcamp page Friday!

#RHVIGNETTE

Radiohead did a call out for some original video work and we obliged. 

Little Things...We Keep

Originally publishing by Anobium on August 7, 2013.

The soda cost fifty cents. But the machine dispersed whatever flavor it wanted no matter the selection.

In Duane’s dreams he was an air force pilot. He was never really sure why an air force pilot. Nothing came to mind that allowed recounting. But it was the air force. He wanted to be in the air. Doing important things. Doing dangerous things. He wanted to be someone to write home about.

He thought of this every morning while standing at the pop machine deciding which to select even though he knew it wouldn’t matter. It was a risk to not select. Even if the selection was meaningless.

On this morning in particular he received a Mello Yello. It was not what he wanted. Not his choice.

Across the lunch room sat Sophie. She had a Diet Coke. Duane wanted a Diet Coke. Sophie was someone Duane had ogled since his employment started eight years ago. In that time he had said maybe five words to her and usually by accident, actively choosing to speak with her was a burden he couldn’t bear.

But now she had something he wanted.

What should he say? How could he approach the situation? He watched her reading. Diet Coke sweating on the table. Unopened as far he could tell.

One foot after the other he began to walk in her general direction. Pretending to be sidetracked by the minimal library encased in the lunch room, he used it to buy time, shifting between the books and Sophie.

Her book’s cover was turned away from him. He thought he might use it as a conversation starter, but without that he thought maybe he could pick another book and go with it. But none of the spines looked appealing. He didn’t want to pick any of them up. He imagined reading them if he had in fact achieved his dream of being an air force pilot, but as he was not, these could not do.

A shuffling of Sophie. Packing up her things.

“Excuse me?” Duane spoke with a stutter to illicit certain sympathy, hoping Sophie would not remember that he never stuttered before.

Sophie turned. “Yes? Oh, hi!”

Hi! Hi! Duane could not think of what he wanted to ask. The words didn’t move up from his bowels.

“Can I help you with something?”

Mouth opened slightly. Saliva on the tongue. “Did you want your Diet Coke?”

Sophie’s face shifted. “Um…”

“I got Mello Yello today. I really didn’t want Mello Yello. Of course, if you really wanted Diet Coke I couldn’t dream of taking it, but since you hadn’t opened it I assumed you may have gotten the wrong drink as well.”

This entire series took an intense amount of time as Duane had to remember to stutter a significant amount to produce the desired effect without overdoing it so that he would just sound like a jumbling mess.

“Oh…umm…sure. No problem. I was going to drink it at my desk, but Mello Yello will do just fine by me. Give me a kick. Get more work done.” She smiled as if trying to sell this line of thought to herself. Duane wasn’t sure. “Here.” Sophie picked up the Diet Coke and handed it to Duane. He took the soda and gave her his in return.

With that, Sophie picked up the rest of her things and made her way to the exit.

*

Sophie didn’t know what to make of Duane. She remembered him vaguely. His absent quality made him interesting. He was the only guy who had not found her interesting.

The only man at a distance.

*

When no one was looking, Duane sketched airplanes on his rolodex. Planes he wanted to fly. Planes he knew existed.

*

From time to time, Sophie walked by and caught a glimpse before Duane realized she was there. She never made notice of what she saw. Never drew attention to her actions. For all she knew, Duane was a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

For all he knew, he didn’t exist.

*

On the morning of April the 2nd fire broke out in the observatory. People ran, the fire fighters attended, the cleanup crew came to pick up the pieces. Duane stayed at his desk not knowing anything had happened. As Sophie walked by to collect her things she wondered how he was back already, calm and composed like everything was as it should be.  All in its right place.

*

In the days to come they would all go back to their normal routines.

Sophie couldn’t stop thinking about Duane.

Duane couldn’t stop drawing planes.

*

The following Monday, Duane got up from his chair. He moved amongst the work flows deliberately touching the seemingly ordered randomly. He was conscious. On fire with thought. He looked at Sophie and then shot through the exterior window.

*

Sophie told the police everything she knew about Duane. She confided her love to them and his lack of reciprocation. During all this time she had never once noticed Duane. Never once found him fascinating.

But now he was in Sophie’s mind, being recalled with a rhythm maintained by the twirling of her hair.

No Way Out

New film out today in support of the track No Way Out, which appears on the new album from This Line - Murder in the Dark. 

Stream and download the new album at American Residue Records: americanresiduerecords.bandcamp.com/album/murder-in-the-dark

Murder in the Dark Album Release

We are really excited to announce that as of today This Line has a new album and a new video. This has been long in the mix and we are really excited for more people to finally listen. Check out the new video below! Stream and download the album at Bandcamp.

Paul Fonfara and the Ipsifendous Orchestra

Recently we interviewed Minnesota composer Paul Fonfara (maker of the above Kickstarter campaign) for an episode of The White Whale that should be out next week. Paul is not unknown to the worlds of CyNar, as we did a number of live films and music videos for his band the Painted Saints a few years back. 

What many may not know is that this year he was recipient of a grant to fund his development as a composer. This project is coming to a conclusion at The Cedar  with Jim White and Brass Messengers on December 5th.

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If you know Paul's work you know he is a unique in crowds of complacency. Never wanting to dumb it down or limit his natural inclinations in the musical arena, he is going forth into narrative storytelling with the same considerations - hoping that what is normal for him could become normal for cinematic sensibilities. 

As part of the show he has also been amassing some incredible artwork and a host of players who should really help bring this multimedia extravaganza to a head as Paul performs the entire album with films playing at the head.

If you are interested check out the record on Soundcloud and support his current Kickstarter campaign to help offset some of the costs not covered by the grant.

#PM15

If you follow our social media accounts you'll know we are spending this weekend amongst audio greats at Podcast Movement. First time visiting this particular conference, and already excited for the next one. Yes, they have it set.

This kicks off a couple busy weeks as we are continuing to put out The White Whale every Sunday, have some work for other shows in the mix and are playing participant to the 24-hour Radio Race from KCRW next weekend. Yes, we have asked ourselves what we are doing. Too fun to take that reality check. 

If you are new to our podcast as of #PM15 please take a listen in whatever order you please. First season is chronological, but as conversation of the records and films speaks to listening and watching in whatever order you please we have designed each episode to be part of a larger whole that can be heard unto itself.

Cheers to all following and participating in this crazy business. We are having fun. If looking for us tonight we will probably be mixing some radio somewhere in the ether. Feel free to steal attention. 

Keep Moving Forward

There is a lot of work on the horizon as we round the corner of summer into August. Not only is The White Whale's first season wrapping up in a couple weeks, but we're honored to be contributing to a few other productions for which we are long-time fans.  

After the season ends we'll have a slight break. An album collecting original music from the first season is being whittled down. Something we're excited to release, but there is a lot to go through.

We'll also have some one-off productions covering the work of people we love. That's a secret we will hold for now though.  

Second season is already under-way as well, though it's subject is still ours to tell. While its approach and aesthetic will be much in line with the first season, this is also going to be a very different experience and very different story. Much more dealing with a particular perspective of the last half century and how it changed the world. Pretty rich and cool stuff. Not a story we imagine you have heard.

What else? What else? 

Surely there is more, but the audio world seems enough to highlight for the moment. We just released the newest music video from Scott Wooldridge, something many years in the making, and have a few other tricks up our sleeve in that end. There may be some fiction we wish to visualize as all this audio work is really presenting new worlds and wouldn't mind finally releasing some new photography from the last few years. See if we find the time.