contrast by form and materiality

in progress…

Ian and Sherry in our main Bristol office

Readers of our blog may remember that we recently had a new environmentally friendly skylight put in our main office to reduce the need for artificial lighting.

As we have underfloor heating throughout, our office is floored using Chauncey’s Tectonic boards (what else?).  Sadly though, our Tectonic boards have suffered two and a half years of us rolling our office chairs around on it plus the recent building work and were in dire need of some TLC!!

Friday was chaos as we had to move all the desks, files and computer equipment into the other office.  (Actually, I say ‘we’ but James and I very sensibly took the day off!)

Justin & Chris (from JB Flooring) gave  the floor a right good sanding on Saturday (thanks lads!) and then applied one coat of Treatex plus the hardener using a roller.

James and I then came in early on Sunday morning (!!) and rollered on a  second coat of Treatex Matt – again with the hardener!  A marital dispute was nearly in the offing as I had left the windows open for airing and then applied Treatex to that end of the office (oops!).  James manfully tiptoed across it in his size 12 working boots and I quickly tried to stretch and re-roller those bits!  Fortunately, Treatex is very forgiving and the office floor now looks 100% better – no worn patches under the chairs!

Of course, we are now promising ourselves that we will be role-models by carrying out the necessary on-going maintenance and not let the floor get into a state again!  All it needs is a weekly wash with the Treatex Wash & Care and an occasional re-apply of Treatex Hardwax oil when we have been especially frantic on our castors – not difficult or time-consuming really.

If you want to know more about maintenance of wooden floors look at this page on our website.

If you want to know more about Hardwax Oils vs. Water based Lacquers we have a new page so look here for some important information as to which you should choose.

Mary xx

2562 - Unbalance

As coisas estão começando a minguar para o dubstep, que já não parece mais tão sólido como antes. Simultaneamente a uma evidente redução do estilo à uma formula, em 2007 a cena entrou no grande circuito enquanto todos esperaram ansiosos pelo Untrue do Burial, a Skull Disco fez seu status de aposta para o futuro do gênero, a Punch Drunk fazia a cena de Bristol reconhecida. Em 2008, parecia que as coisas iam ser diferentes e tudo começou a seguir uma nova direção. Começou-se falar em wonky, UK Funky e a introdução de techno, enquanto Hudson Mohawke, Rustie, Zomby, Skull Disco e até mesmo a Hyperdub começaram a mostrar que as coisas deviam mudar. E mudaram: 2009 quase não ouviu clichês em dubstep.

Dessa rápida introdução, vale tomar um destaque a Unbalance, novo disco de 2562, projeto do holandês Dave Huismans. O músico fez uma das maiores revelações nesta cena com o lançamento de Aerial, atestando mutações no gênero ao evidenciar a influência de dub techno na cena. Unbalance, mantém a mesma direção, olhando adiante. Porém, dessa vez, parece haver menos distinção autoral para justificar as conquistas recentes do gênero.

Unbalance é repleto do bom e velho dub techno, mas com sua palheta de sons líquidos e metálicos enquadrados numa lógica dubstep. Flashback abre o disco com esta proposta e a tardia Superflight parece propor o mesmo. O som da Tectonic é logo reconhecível e são evidentes os ecos de Martyn e Flying Lotus, que se juntaram ao selo neste ano. Aqui, o dubstep é mero pretexto para algo muito mais evoluído, que destaca camadas rítmicas, ecos e teclados baleáricos.

2562: Divulgação (www.last.fm)

Por outro lado, o toque de grime, como nos teclados de Like a Dream e no baixo quase wobble da música soam fora de lugar. Com certeza um dos destaques do álbum, essa faixa soa como uma aposta no dubstep à moda antiga, quando ainda preso à vertente do hip hop inglês.

Unbalance transforma-se em algo muito rico ao seguir esta linha. Huismans parece ainda acreditar no dubstep como sonoridade, ainda que reconheça sua evolução em algo distinto, principalmente pelas mãos de nomes citados acima. E parece uma proposta clara, sugerindo dupla interpretação ao título. Afinal, não é de des-balanço que se fala ao considerar as batidas complexas e múltiplas deste disco; ao mesmo tempo em que sugere as variações de uma estrutura que parecia justamente engessar-se conforme passou a ser aceita?

2562 é o nome do projeto de dubstep do produtor holandês (Haia) Dave Huismans. Ele gravou a partir de 2004 sob os pseudônimos de Dogdaze e A Made Up Sound, mas só ganhou reconhecimento maior em 2007, quando lançou pelo selo Tectonic, do produtor Pinch, alguns singles que ganharam rapidamente atenção por parte de admiradores tanto de dubstep quanto de techno (Kameleon/Channel One, Channel Two/Circulate). Aerial, seu primeiro LP, saiu em 2008, com ótima recepção da crítica especializada, e em outubro desse ano veio seu sucessor, Unbalance. (RG/TF)

* # *

Como toda música eletrônica voltada para as pistas, o dubstep sofreu mutações severas. É admirável pensar que há pouco mais de um ano o que predominava no estilo era um sotaque dub-techno fortíssimo, muito utilizado e ampliado pelo próprio 2562. Curioso mencionar também que quase ninguém seguiu as tendências inovadoras e múltiplas arquitetadas pela dupla Dusk e Blackdown no álbum Margins Music. Pelo contrário: nesse ano vimos uma invasão maciça de DJ’s emulando sons de computador e de brinquedos eletrônicos, transformando o dubstep numa outra coisa (o wonky). Pois o wonky tratou de tirar toda a graça da crescente cena eletrônica inglesa: batidas sem criatividade unidas a barulhinhos infantis, primários, que talvez funcionem bem nas pistas, mas fora delas não possuem qualquer valor. Eis que depois de tanta baboseira somos obrigados a confrontar com City Limits Vol. 1 de Silkie, que demonstrara ótima ginga para construir suas batidas em singles anteriores, mas que acabou por arruinar o dubstep com seu disco de estreia: sax e guitarras nos arranjos, fazendo as faixas parecerem trilha lounge de restaurante chique. Pouco antes, Martyn lançara seu primeiro LP e surgia mais uma pequena decepção: aquele que parecia ser o mais sagaz de todos os produtores fez um disco morno, que só comprovava o quanto o dubstep não funcionava num long play (salvo as já sabidas exceções: Burial, Kode9, Dusk + Blackdown).

Porém, os mais recentes lançamentos dentro do que podemos chamar de dubstep, pós-dubstep, ou qualquer outra coisa subjacente a isso, apontam para uma revitalização, uma renovação do que parecia morto em meados desse ano: Three EPs de Shackleton e Unbalance de 2562, dois álbuns que estudam com minúcia a batida 4/4 contemporânea – o primeiro utilizando samples e o segundo criando um som completamente sintético. E como definir a música de Dave Huismans? Talvez esta seja a síntese perfeita do dubstep, pois nela podemos encontrar traços dos melhores produtores do gênero: a batida quebrada de Pinch, seu patrão de gravadora, o sintetizador pesado de Kode9, os acordes aéreos e ecoáveis de Martyn, e o perfeccionismo e detalhismo característicos de Burial. Ao mesmo tempo, há tantos aspectos de outras vertentes da eletrônica, como house, techno e garage presentes nas faixas que seria difícil classificar com precisão Unbalance. Até o maldito wonky aparece aqui (“Like a Dream”), mas utilizado de forma bastante dosada e consciente por Huismans.

Unbalance é tão bom, mas tão bom que é tarefa árdua destacar uma ou mais faixas – todas parecem indicar direções diferentes para a eletrônica e para o próprio trabalho do 2562 –, assim como é válido dizer que é um disco para todas as horas (manhã, tarde, noite), todos os tempos (sol, chuva) e todos os tipos de audição (caixas ou fone). Estamos diante de um álbum vanguardista na eletrônica, ao nível do melhor de Aphex Twin, Autechre, Metalheadz, 4Hero, Burial, Shackleton: um álbum que cava fundo, que inventa batidas, arranjos e, por pouco, sons. Mais ainda: um álbum que melhora a cada audição. (Thiago Filardi)

* # *

Não é muito complicado descrever em linhas básicas o que torna tão excitante e singular a música praticada por Dave Huismans em seu projeto 2562. É um dubstep de andamento ligeiro, com linhas de grave discretas que funcionam como espinhas dorsais e nada além disso, contratempos e/ou chocalhos fortes na suingueira do 2-step e uma depuração de meios e motivos soberba. Muitos acreditavam que aquilo que ligava o 2562 a um feeling techno eram os acordes amorfos e inesperados típicos do Basic Channel que apareciam em Aerial, seu primeiro álbum, mas se há alguma ligação mais decisiva é justamente essa relação entre andamento, precisão nos médios e senso de economia.

A passagem do primeiro para o segundo álbum não mudou a configuração geral. Apenas os motivos tornaram-se mais coloridos, mais discerníveis, e consequentemente de maior apelo. Mas se isso, a princípio, aproximaria o som do 2562 da média dos produtores de dubstep, a depuração e o notável senso de progressão das faixas ainda torna o projeto de Huismans totalmente singular dentro do gênero. Ainda que os motivos transpareçam de forma mais clara e grudem mais na cabeça, o fio condutor é ainda o ritmo e a evolução de cada faixa.

Unbalance se constrói em dois movimentos. Primeiro uma parte mais direta, festiva, acachapante, que vai desde o começo na faixa introdutória e culmina com a absoluta “Unbalance” no meio do disco, e uma segunda mais versátil, com estratégias mais distintas, que apontam para um interesse em outros modelos de composição. “Flashback”, a segunda faixa do disco, trabalha com dois “temas”: um é apenas um sinal agudo e outro é uma progressão de acordes quase-glitch, certamente gasosa, que serve como fundo melódico para as variações rítmicas executadas com enorme cuidado de timbre e colocação. “Lost” se baseia numa voz feminina repetindo em eco algo como “jo-way” com notas mantidas que lembram órgão. “Like a Dream” tem um motivo que evoca sinos tubulares, num primeiro momento de motivo melódico mais definido. Aí chegam “Dinosaur” e “Unbalance”, sem dúvida o centro pulsante do disco. A primeira trabalha com diversos barulhinhos e chiados intermitentes e uma linha de graves mais chamativa, com um ch-ch-ch chacoalhante de contratempo pra fazer a alegria de qualquer pista de dança. Quanto a “Unbalance”, é talvez a faixa mais imaginativa até agora de Huismans. Ela começa com uma longa introdução ambient climática que explode numa batida genial, que picota os sons percussivos só deixando a parte de ataque de caixa e contratempo, produzindo um efeito rico e intensamente suingante, justamente por conta desse “desequilíbrio” orquestrado pela supressão do decaimento e da sustentação na emissão do som. Fácil uma das faixas do ano.

Dali até o final, Unbalance aposta em novas estratégias. Faixas como “Yes/no” e “Who Are You Fooling?” optam por utilizar construções rítmicas mais intelectuais, daquelas que se esperam de um Autechre, por exemplo. O que se perde na carnalidade do dançável se ganha na aventura da percepção. “Love in Outer Space” vai por outro caminho, usando bateria eletrônica vintage e linhas de sintetizador que aproximam o som do 2562 da gratuidade do wonky (é também a melodia mais discernível de toda a obra de Huismans com seu projeto numérico; talvez ela estivesse até mais à vontade se fosse lançado sob o pseudônimo A Made Up Sound, o outro projeto mais ativo do produtor). “Escape Velocity” fecha o disco ainda em outra chave, próxima do house climático do 808 State no começo (“Pacific 202″, por exemplo) ou de coisas do Lemon Jelly.

Uma parte 2562 “clássico”, outra parte um 2562 apontando para diversos outros campos de interesse do artista por trás do número. Mas não há conflito. Nas duas, Dave Huismans dá enormes provas de seu fôlego de artista para criar batidas originais e ampliar seu escopo. Um discaço, que não deixa nada a dever em relação a Aerial. Reafirma o talento e ainda transita com autoridade por novas paragens. (Ruy Gardnier)

* # *

O fato de que os dois grandes lançamentos de dubstep do ano remetam a seus produtores mais relevantes demonstra que algo no gênero começa a enfrentar não exatamente um ocaso, mas uma espécie de crise da entresafra. O fato é que Shackleton e Dave Huismans, responsável pelo codinome 2562, produziram algo distanciados dos cânones do gênero, selando de vez seu caráter aventureiro e inovador. Ao que tudo indica, ao invés de mergulhar na auto-referência, eles partiram para a experimentação “de fundo”, por assim dizer, isto é: graves profundos, clima soturno e um ritmo semelhante a um 2 step reprocessado com timbres digitais já não lhes bastam mais. Assim como Three EPs, Unbalance manifesta um grau de novidade que indica a transposição do dubstep para um terreno independente de definições e sonoridades – como ocorreu por exemplo com o jazz… Assim como a música de Eno hoje é considerada sob uma gama de rótulos (ambient, eletronica…), e isto decorre não da filiação a um gênero mas de seu approach experimental, Shackleton e Huismans investem na autonomia, imprimindo outra conotação ao gênero. Mas não é o que ocorre nem em Three EPs nem em Unbalance, dois álbuns de um frescor inigualável e, o mais interessante, promissor.

Unbalance encerra uma unidade estética rigorosa. Na contramão da grande maioria dos lançamentos recentes, que não sei porque cargas d’água vem apresentando uma aceleração insana do dubstep, Unbalance trabalha basicamente com andamentos super ralentados.  A ousada construção rítmica, sempre imprevisíveis, lança mão de compassos compostos e, como procedem a maioria dos produtores, se esmera na elaboração dos desenhos melódicos dos graves, mas não se esgota ai: uma série de camadas extremamente básicas se entrelaçam criando momentos únicos que muitas vezes não se repetirão. Em uma forma musical basicamente repetitiva esta característica sobressai admiravelmente, pois cria a coesão entre dois elementos díspares, a saber: a repetição hipnótica e a modulação tensa e imprevisível, que a todo instante surpreende com um novo elemento. Junte-se a isso, a predileção por uma timbragem seca, com sons que variam da martelada até sons que lembram areia e limalhas caindo sobre uma superfície de aço. Trabalho de pesquisa, “laboratorial”, característica compartilhada com Shackleton. O resultado é seco, de alguma forma sutil e, sobretudo, estranho.

Apesar desta característica geral, cada faixa de Unbalance leva consigo uma entonação própria, como se Huismans estivesse abrindo portas, delimitando novas direções. “Unbalance” talvez seja a faixa que melhor exemplifique essas características me talvez seja a grande faixa do disco. Mas medir o restante por ela é covardia. Após uma introducão ambient acachapante, eclode uma das batidas mais refinadas e impressionantes da eletrônica dos últimos anos, composta por tambores e intrumentos de percussão inspirados em madeira e ferro, além dos ecos e tremulações retiradas do dub. Das faixas do ano, com certeza. Mas temos também outra faixas impressionantes. “Who are you fooling?”, com seus tambores e variação rítimicas imprevisíveis, incluindo a “maquinazinha” que emite estáticas e só aparece no final da faixa; “Flashback” com a sacação genial de manipular a sonoridade repetitiva de um CD arranhado – inclusive uma das poucas faixas do álbum que remetem diretamente a um 2step; a percussão “férrea” de “Yes/no”, a levada deliciosa, um quê de Burial, de “Lost”, a quebradeira e os teclados funky de “Love in Outer Space”… A única nota negativa, mas nem tão negativa assim, é pra acelerada (e adequadamente intitulada) “Escape Velocity”, que parece comungar com uma certa exigência que ronda o universo da música eletrônica por maior “dançabilidade” do dubstep. É bacana, mas é também a mais banal do álbum.

Huismans já habitava o panteão da eletrônica contemporânea com o ótimo, mas já superado, Aerial. Ocorre em Unbalance uma mudança arriscada e digna da maior atenção. Alguns poderiam notar: um retrocesso, haja visto que ele retoma elementos do dubstep de 2006… Mas eu acho que o que ele retoma é o espírito aventureiro que parece se dissipar conforme o gênero derruba barreiras, conforme ele desafia também a “audibilidade”. Unbalance é um álbum difícil, fato. Mas eu penso cá comigo que, reiterando a comparação com o jazz, o dubstep está se configurando naquilo que foi o Kraut na década de 70 e o pós-punk nos 80: uma plataforma de experimentação multiforme que possivelmente derivará formas musicais também experimentais e desbravadoras. E é neste contexto que Unbalance adquire o estatuto de obra-prima. (Bernardo Oliveira)

It seems that people all over the world are warming to Chauncey’s Timber Flooring. We were very excited last month when Mike took an order for a new customer in Yokohama, Japan. Mike coped magnificently with the language barrier and managed to communicate important information and advice about our Prefinished Continental Matt oiled solid oak board! Well done Mike.

Of course we have enquiries from all over the globe. Our Beach House boards are popular in Florida, USA with several follow up orders received since their first delivery.

Our customer in Zurich, Switzerland are currently fitting a large project of our Tectonic Regency Aged Oak over underfloor heating while using our matching Regency solid board for the stair treads. I can’t wait to see the photos!

Our largest order in the past year was for The British Embassy in Baku, Azerbaijan where they laid our FSC Tectonic Oak. They liked it so much that they are also fitting a top-notch restaurant with the same flooring!

We are in the process of securing an order for a private residence in The Channel Islands. This customer made the journey all the way from Jersey to visit our showroom!

With other enquiries from The Isle of Mann, Guernsey, The Republic of Ireland and France, the best of British, Chauncey’s Timber could floor the world!

Sherry

Enjoy the video project I did for my intro class.

Part of the fun of blogging is checking out other people’s blogs. Wednesday I was on “The White House Blog” (www.whitehouse.gov/blog), which opened with these words: “Today the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act became law…a victory decades in the making and steeped in blood and pain.” The law adds federal protections against crimes based on gender, disability, gender identity or sexual orientation.

“I remember when Matthew Shepard was murdered in Laramie, Wyoming,” reflects A. Beck, Education Director for Phoenix Theatre and Founder/Director for QSpeak Theatre (which writes and produces works about “what it is like to live as an LGBTQ young person in the Valley today.”)

Shepard, a 21-year old gay college student, was savagely beaten, tied to a fence and left to die in October of 1998. Beck recalls: “Growing up in a small, rural community in Nebraska, this crime felt very close to home. It was only a few years earlier that Brandon Teena was murdered in my home state for living as a transgendered teen.”

After Shepard’s murder, Moises Kaufman and fellow company members from Tectonic Theater Project in New York, repeatedly traveled to Laramie to interview residents. They also studied court documents and media coverage of the event—which they refer to as “a watershed historical moment in civil rights in America.” The result was the 1999 play “The Laramie Project.”

Last weekend Beck, along with a member of the Tectonic Theater Project, led a three-day workshop for 19 local youth ages 14-22. My 16-year-old Lizabeth was among them. She’s always been deeply moved by works with social justice themes—such as Rent (which addresses HIV/AIDS, homelessness and substance abuse) and Urinetown (which addresses scarce resources and their unjust distribution).

We’re fortunate to have several local theater companies that tackle these types of works. Two of our favorites from last season were Columbinus by Stray Cat Theater in Tempe (which addressed the tragedy at Columbine High School in Colorado) and Closet Drama by Chyro Arts Venue in Scottsdale (which addressed religious extremism and sexuality). Lizabeth shared with me that she enjoys these types of works because they allow her to explore issues that people sometimes have a hard time talking about.

On October 12th we had the privilege of participating in a one-of-a-kind theater event as Tectonic Theater Project presented “The Laramie Project Epilogue” at the Lincoln Center in New York. We saw one of more than 120 simultaneous readings of the work presented at universities, stages and theaters nationwide—including the University of Arizona in Tucson and Arizona State University in Tempe—which included a live feed of remarks and discussion occurring in New York before and after the reading.

If you’ve never seen the Laramie Project (or even if you have), you’ll have the opportunity this spring when Greasepaint Youtheatre, which is now affiliated with Phoenix Theatre, presents the piece. It’s a great opportunity to witness the fine art of social justice, and to see the unique approach to theater—called “moment work”—that makes this work so powerful and unique.

But you won’t have to wait that long to enjoy a piece of controversial theater in the Valley. Scottsdale Community College Theatre Arts and ImageMakers Theatre Club are debuting a new work called “Distracted,” written by Lisa Loomer and directed by Randy Messersmith. SCC describes the work as “a fast-paced and disarmingly funny look at parenting in the age of the Internet and Ritalin.” 

For location and show dates/times, visit www.scottsdalecc.edu/news/distracted or call the Theatre Artists Studio at 480-423-6359. (Please note that the show contains strong language and mature content, and is therefore not recommended for students under age 16.)

If you’ve seen the Laramie Project and/or the Epilogue, I’d love to read your comments about the works. Also let me know if you have comments to share after seeing “Distracted.”

Tomorrow I’ll continue the theme of theater and social justice by sharing resources for parents, students and teachers who want to learn more—and tell you a bit more about QSpeak Theatre.

I’ll also share reminders about shows that close soon—so you can get out there and see them before it’s too late—and about weekend ticket specials.

As always, I invite you to send comments about the shows you recommend and the deals you are finding out there!

Lynn

Coming Soon: Childsplay, Valley Youth Theater and other family-friendly theater companies

Part of the fun of blogging is checking out other people’s blogs. Wednesday I was on “The White House Blog” (www.whitehouse.gov/blog), which opened with these words: “Today the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act became law…a victory decades in the making and steeped in blood and pain.” The law adds federal protections against crimes based on gender, disability, gender identity or sexual orientation.

“I remember when Matthew Shepard was murdered in Laramie, Wyoming,” reflects A. Beck, Director of Education for Phoenix Theatre and Founder/Director for QSpeak Theatre (which writes and produces works about “what it is like to live as an LGBTQ young person in the Valley today.”)

Shepard, a 21-year old gay college student, was savagely beaten, tied to a fence and left to die in October of 1998. Beck recalls: “Growing up in a small, rural community in Nebraska, this crime felt very close to home. It was only a few years earlier that Brandon Teena was murdered in my home state for living as a transgendered teen.”

After Shepard’s murder, Moises Kaufman and fellow company members from Tectonic Theater Project in New York, repeatedly traveled to Laramie to interview residents. They also studied court documents and media coverage of the event—which they refer to as “a watershed historical moment in civil rights in America.” The result was the 1999 play “The Laramie Project.”

Last weekend Beck, along with a member of the Tectonic Theater Project, Kelli Simpkins, led a three-day workshop for 19 local youth ages 14-22. My 16-year-old Lizabeth was among them. She’s always been deeply moved by works with social justice themes—such as Rent (which addresses HIV/AIDS, homelessness and substance abuse) and Urinetown (which addresses scarce resources and their unjust distribution).

We’re fortunate to have several local theater companies that tackle these types of works. Two of our favorites from last season were Columbinus by Stray Cat Theatre in Tempe (which addressed the tragedy at Columbine High School in Colorado) and Closet Drama by Chyro Arts Venue in Scottsdale (which addressed religious extremism and sexuality). Lizabeth shared with me that she enjoys these types of works because they allow her to explore issues that people sometimes have a hard time talking about.

On October 12th we had the privilege of participating in a one-of-a-kind theater event as Tectonic Theater Project presented “The Laramie Project Epilogue” at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York. We saw one of more than 120 simultaneous readings of the work presented at universities, stages and theaters nationwide—including the University of Arizona in Tucson and Arizona State University in Tempe—which included a live feed of remarks and discussion occurring in New York before and after the reading.

If you’ve never seen The Laramie Project (or even if you have), you’ll have the opportunity this spring when Greasepaint Youtheatre and QSpeak Theatre (both affiliated with Phoenix Theatre) present the piece. It’s a great opportunity to witness the fine art of social justice, and to see the unique approach to theater—called “moment work”—that makes this play so powerful and unique.

But you won’t have to wait that long to enjoy a piece of controversial theater in the Valley. Scottsdale Community College Theatre Arts and ImageMakers Theatre Club just debuted a new work called “Distracted,” written by Lisa Loomer and directed by Randy Messersmith. SCC describes the work as “a fast-paced and disarmingly funny look at parenting in the age of the Internet and Ritalin.”

For location and show dates/times, visit www.scottsdalecc.edu/news/distracted or call the Theatre Artists Studio at 480-423-6359. (Please note that the show contains strong language and mature content, and is therefore not recommended for students under age 16. There are just a few shows and the venue is small–so check on tickets right away if you want to be in on this!)

If you’ve seen The Laramie Project and/or the Epilogue, I’d love to read your comments about the works. Also let me know if you have comments to share after seeing “Distracted.”

Tomorrow I’ll continue the theme of theater and social justice by sharing resources for parents, students and teachers who want to learn more—and tell you a bit more about QSpeak Theatre.

As always, I invite you to send comments about the shows you recommend and the deals you are finding out there!

Lynn

Coming Soon: Childsplay, Valley Youth Theatre and other family-friendly theater companies

Yong Ju Lee +Brian Brush

photographed by Yuan Tang

GSAPP 2009

Label: Tectonic
Catalog#: TECCD006

Tracklist:

1. Intro
2. Flashback
3. Lost
4. Like A Dream
5. Dinosaur
6. Unbalance
7. Superflight
8. Yes/No
9. Who Are You Fooling?
10. Narita
11. Love In Outer Space

Buy here

Recommended!

With ‘Aerial’, 2562 created an album that felt as a pulse check of EDM in 2008 – something that felt inviting, welcoming and cheerful, with a perfect mixture of melancholic melodies and danceable rhythms and techniques. A process that has evolved a lot since then. With new releases in the same field by Martyn, Untold, A Made Up Sound (another alias for 2562) amongst a whole lot of producers getting into the same sonic scenery as 2562 himself.

One thing that makes Dave Huismans’ (2562) music so special, is the lack of external influence – what I mean is the disregard of current trends as well as a steady and consistant high quality output without a lot of hassle. The release schedule is sparse and slow, but once something is out it gets a tremendous amount of support from almost every big DJ worth dancing to.

‘Unbalance’ is a suitable name for an album that manages to intensify the music with utilising just that one word – the whole context and content of the album soars of unbalanced rhythms, patterns, sounds and structures. It’s very hard to define how Huismans manages to do it, but think of Shed being from both Bristol and Amsterdam and you might get a diffuse picture of it.

With ‘Intro’ getting the sonic pace in place, the three directly following tracks are very consisting and true to Huismans sound. They manage to somehow float together, with just enough variations to keep the sense of them being four separate tracks. The production skills are unique here, there are so much going on you can’t stop wondering how he actually managed to create these tracks.

‘Dinosaur’, being the fourth track, the whole pace is shifted into a more direct groove. Chopped up samples and melodies might scare some of the listerners off, but if the extremely concentrated beat gets the space it needs, the track displays some of the most talented productions this year. Five or six melodies goes through a large range of variations, until they finally meet and gets locked into each other – just to be brought apart again to get accompanied with new beats and shifted percussions. At the end, everything goes quiet, and the “glue” of the track comes through – a atmospheric recording of a transtation, harbour and roadwork lying steady as a foundation of the track.

The title track, ‘Unbalance’ displays a very daring experimental sound. Leaning towards early Tempa-dubstep and even more Bristol influenced darkness, 2562 elevates the album into something different. Being unprepared of how the album might sound, I would never have guessed that a track like this would be the title track. Electricity and a very visual sound defines this track, combined with a steady pulsating beat and a tremedously precise bass line that fills up all the space that the melody leaves for all the other elements. Haunting percussion and rhythmically advanced patterns are maintained throughout, being more consistent than the previous four tracks – but the increased tempo is very welcomed as early as this for an album. Just enough the keep the attention of the listener and placed perfectly as a fifth track.

As for the rest of the album, 2562 takes the previous variations and combines them in different way. There are absolutely no track that feels as something being placed on the release just to make up for an album – they have all different moods, grooves and spaces. The one thing I appreciate the most is how the album always seem to keep itself together, going from all sorts of places and experiments. The consistency is always there, which makes it interesting and fun to listen to.

This is one of the best albums of 2009, don’t miss out!

My favorite tracks:

Unbalance

Ok, I’m going to try to update this a bit more frequently.  HAHAHAHA.  I’m funny.  Anyway, it’s been awhile and thought I’d write a little.

So last entry had me speaking of female friends–THAT’S DONE.  Yep.  Pretty fast.  Along that same vein, I’m done with online dating.  Forever.  I completely and totally nuked all my accounts (three…which is ri-goddamn-diculous).   I decided I had given it all a pretty fair shake, but it just isn’t for me.  The big question at this point is: “How The Balls Do You Meet Someone Now?!”

This is a question that I do not have an answer for…so I’m not even going to attempt.  I think I’m just kind of done with the whole dating/relationship stuff for awhile.  I’m just going to enjoy work and friendships and not stress about it.  I have a tendency to over-think things (anyone who reads this blog knows this about me), so I’m just removing myself from that particular element of over-analysis.

–

/gearshift

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This next week is the anniversary of the murder of Matthew Shepard.  The Tectonic Theatre Project (http://tectonictheaterproject.org/Tectonic.html) is mounting an updated version of “The Laramie Project” entitled “The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later” to honor Matthew, to show how the Laramie community is still affected and recovering,  and to show that hate crimes are still very much a part of our culture and society.  There have been staged readings springing up around the country, which is wonderful to see…and Dallas is no exception.  I’ll be heading over to the Dallas Theater Center (http://09-10season.dallastheatercenter.org/) on Monday.  This will mark my first theatrical outing in the Dallas area and I’m pretty excited.  Members of Tectonic will be there, including Moises Kaufman, who came to SMS (jesus, probably right around 10 years ago) to talk with the students.  I was present for that and had the pleasure of meeting Moises afterwards through my mentor (and a friend of Moises).  It’s thrilling to see that he continues to do exciting and important theatrical works.

There is a part of me that hopes that after seeing “Laramie”,  the spark inside of me will be ignited again.  There’s something missing in me right now… I think I’m starting to miss theatre.  I sure it’s probably because I have a LOT more free time these days and trying to figure out ways of filling the hours during my evenings and weekends, but I think I do miss it.  I thought after living in Chicago and working with my own theatre company (and several others), that I’d “gotten over it”.  But…No.  I think I miss going to rehearsal.  I certainly miss the people.  I miss the collaboration (when it’s good).  Wacky.  Apparently, I had to move to Texas to figure that out.  I might be slightly retarded.

I think I need to poke around at a few different theatre companies around town and try to find some that are doing works that I’m interested in…see how they stack up and then I’ll think about getting involved again.   The problem is I have these preconceived notions of what the theatre scene is like here in Dallas…and they aren’t good ones.  I hope I’m just being pessimistic and will be surprised.  SURELY there’s some cool stuff going on around here…I think every city has pockets of cool…otherwise our world would be on fire…right?  RIGHT??

Eh.  We’ll see I guess.  I’ll think positive.

Other news…Look what I had made for me!

Remix Magazine posted my review of a new electronic record from Seattle’s Jeff “Lusine“ McIlwain this week. Along with that, I’ve also been writing some brief pieces for PopMatters’ Short Takes section. Links and some downloads after the jump.

Ghostly International issued Lusine’s A Certain Distance earlier this week — it’s a sleek serving of electronic pop and techno sometimes infused with conversation bits and odd loops. Check out my review here. Visit XLR8R to download album closer “Cirrus,” a micro-sized symphony that builds on the scant elements that open it, only to cap off A Certain Distance in an ambient haze of abrupt loops and snappy synth melody. Update: You can also find album track “Gravity” (and a great deal more) over at Modyfier, a site I haven’t visited in a long time, and I’m looking forward to checking out what I’ve missed.

My writeups of The Gentleman Losers’ record and the new Tectonic Plates collection went live at PopMatters. The opening few seconds of the former is a real treat — “Honey Bunch” is buttery smooth, coated with flickering pedal steel guitar and wobbly tremolo from the get-go. You can listen to all of The Gentleman Losers’ Dustland when you click to read my review.

Tectonic Plates, Vol. II is another mighty assortment of dubstep and the like from Pinch’s label, Tectonic (read my Orlando Weekly piece on the first installment here). Pinch is going to be in NYC next Friday night for Dub War — check that out if you’re in the vicinity, and Benga & Skream will be on hand for 9/19’s Trouble & Bass event at Le Poisson Rouge. 2562 makes a couple of appearances on Tectonic…II, and he just completed a free mix for Fact Magazine — grab that one here. As always, thanks for reading.

It’s been some time since I’ve posted a dubstep release. I thought it would be fitting to post about 2562’s delicious 2008 album Aerial, released on the lovely Tectonic label. Lots of rolling bass, coupled with a broken beat atmosphere. Just listen …

If you like this, be sure not to miss his other releases, especially Love in Outer Space / Third Wave.

For more information:

- Last.fm

- Discogs

- MySpace

Download Aerial.

Download Love in Outerspace / Third Wave.

posted by admin.

Sometimes continental land masses need to get cozy, and the importance of organized nonsense…

heartbeats for giant rocks.

This morning I happened across news that a magnitude 7.8 earthquake (2009’s biggest thus far) experienced at the Southern reaches of New Zealand caused the land mass to lurch Westward towards Australia by a whopping 30 cm (12 in./1 ft. for the metric-impaired). (read: original article). The good news is, having been centered out in the middle of the ocean, the enormous quake (New Zealand’s largest in 80 years) caused no harm nor any major damage. The better (or rather, cooler) news is that in conjunction with its immense power and New Zealand’s position atop a tectonic plate boundary, the action “twisted” the country’s South Island tip (and thus the country) closer to its neighbor, Australia by a distance normally covered in hundreds of years.

Now I understand that Australia and New Zealand have long been affiliated—have been close. Historically, culturally, geographically, in funny accent quotient and overall weirdness factor, it’s an obvious fit. In fact, I have met about as many people who don’t know the difference between the two, Commonwealth nations than those who do. Sad, but true. Chalk it up to being on the other side of the equator, often out of season, often in the dark and generally too far away from the ignorant masses that carry the Western culture monopoly in the Northern hemisphere. But, if anything a past decade’s worth of meeting and getting to know many a good Kiwi and a fine Aussie has hammered home to me, it is that there is a friendly, but fiercely guarded difference. In fact, much like I or most any of my national brethren would bristle (politely) at being unwittingly (or even wittingly) misrepresented as American, Australian and New Zealand nationals are likewise in disfavor of being mistaken for one another.

So you will excuse me a snicker if I get a kick out of recent proof that your two countries are getting antsy and overly anxious to be geologically close. It’s cute. If you think of the lifetime of these glacially-paced, tectonic movements as that of a long and thorough romantic coupling, what Australia and New Zealand have just witnessed is the moment at the junior high dance where both parties finally clue-into each other’s mutual urges, gaze into each others’ eyes, and completely unsure, frightened and misinformed, the overzealous boy-suitor’s hand spasmodically, involuntarily leaps onto the unsuspecting, ribbon-haired, freckled girl’s adolescent breast. It is innocent, endearing, but at this stage of nascent romance, a huge step. Which begs the question, what’s your move now Australia? The prissy, reflexive slap to defend and define your honor? The polite but awkward and potentially crushing soft letdown? Or are you the type of girl that doesn’t mind skipping to second base?

the male of the species undertakes its ornate mating ritual for the benefit of the female.

And yes, I’ve cast you as the girl in this metaphor dear Australia—and don’t think that isn’t intentional, just proper thanks for your lovely ladies and your practice of drowning the rest of us in your easily-branded, über-macho human exports. However, both New Zealand and Australia ought to seriously consider the implications of the Pangea-ic road they appear to be going down. Heed the example of the aforementioned Canada, lest either of you wake-up spooning for eternity with the United States and knocked-up with Alaska.

* * * * *

Recently, I was having a protracted chat with a dear friend about icon design. This topical matter had flowed quite naturally from an earlier conversation about industrial design. And I surmise, that with this particular friend, future discussions (along with past ones) will traipse the territory of software design, architectural design, fashion design, design, design, design. That’s just how life and verbiage work around J. Schmidt.

Of course, such impractical, heady, world-fix-it talk tends to stick with me. I haven’t much else to do these days. Luckily it wasn’t long before I stumbled across mention of the whimsical, but conceptually ambitious, Dollar ReDe$ign project in the NY Times online. I’d often been victim of the staid, monotone, heg(d)emonic uselessness of American paper currency, long wondering when it would be updated and rendered more sensible with good design. For all its residual pomp and sentimental ties to an uppity formal classicism in illustration, at least contemporary Canadian money has the sense to color-code. An overhaul of the American brand is definitely overdue, and what better time to pursue good design than the present? Kudos to Richard Smith for laying out a forum that seizes the current zeitgeist of change stateside and creating an open competition. Flickr-up the results here.

The sober re-analysis of how we better convey iconographic information with better design led me to think about information graphics or infographics. Now, this is a fairly common segment/design-thought crevice for me to fall into. I have stumbled here in the dark many times before. The day job tends to keep me around signage and way-finding and other graphic extensions of someone, some company’s, some place’s ultimate brand (their architecture). And naturally, should I find architecture (in its most idyllic light) to be this unrelenting process of refining an idea until not one designed, physical-world misstep occurs, it follows that the exacting practice of taking essential information and enhancing it to complete understanding with the simplest, most powerful graphic possible would be of fascination. Of course, by the time my famously curt attention span has swam around this world of icons and infographics for several days, I am a bit spent. While there are many a fine outpost churning-out relevant, design-enhanced data (for instance, the wonderfully named always with honor, or this cat who graphically mapped his understanding of the complexities in Spike Jonze’s film, Adaptation), I found myself most intrigued by this set of Nonsense Info Graphics by Chad Hagen.

It is one thing to bring good design to the essentials—no shortage of skill or artistry is required for doing a good job of it. But to make nonsense sing with the authority of meaning, that probably demands an ounce of magic.

Nonsense Chart No. 1

Nonsense Chart No. 3

I started reading 1 Chronicles yesterday which is quite a recap on the Bible up to this point. And since it was written that way, 1 Chronicles 1 returns to the geneologies of Genesis and mentions occassional qualities or stories of the people mentioned. Then, I came across 1 Chronicles 19, which mentions a dude named Peleg who lived during the time the earth was divided.

Immediately, Pangea popped into my mind. Could this be some kind of reference to some sort of rapid continental drift? It seems here that something drastic happened quick enough and on such a large scale that it just had to be mentioned. Although there is a possibility this could be mention of people separating from each other.

On top of that, when God made land in the Creation story in Genesis, God says to let the waters be gathered into one place so that land can spring up. This also goes to give a giant peice of land idea rather than our earth having always been this way.

So I was chatting with my friend Stefan about all of this and the more we talked the more I wanted to look into it. So after a quick google, I found an amazing article about a Catastrophic Plate Techonic Theory. And while I don’t speak geology too well, this Biblical theory makes a crapload of sense. I encourage you go go give it a read:

Catastropic Plate Tectonic Theory

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA) The rocks of Deskati in north-western Greece’s prefecture of Grevena – a European Destination of Excellence –  have attracted the interest of geologists around the world as they tell the geological history of the earth and were the basis for the development of the tectonic plates theory.  Deskati and the greater region of Vounasa are among the nine geo-wonders in the Pindos Mountain Range that were the subject of a scientific conference held in the Prefecture of Grevena aimed at their promotion into tourist destinations. The rocks of Deskati were created 700 million years ago when the ancient super continent Pangaea (meaning “all earth” in Greek) broke up to form the European and African continents. Later they were submerged into the Tethys Ocean that existed between the continents and united the region of today’s Britain with China.  The nine geo-wonders of Pindos include the heavily deformed limestone rocks at Mt Tsourgiakas and their small waterfalls, the gorge of Portitsa, the Pierced Rock formed as a result of erosion, Vasilitsa and its multicoloured rocks, the villages of Dotsiko and Mesolouri with their 30-million-year old coral reef and the village of Monachiti with its 50-meter wide vertical rocks. Meanwhile, the Aliakmon River Gorge is currently being studied by scientists from the United States, the UK, Serbia, Italy and Greece in an intense effort to have its geological data recorded considering that by the end of the next decade it will be flooded as soon as the construction of the Public Power Corporation (DEI) “Ilarion” Dam is completed.  

Phenomenon at the picture occured because of plate movement on the earth.

Force give stress to plate, so the rock folded. This phenomenon is excellent

creation. Who created this? How does islam explain this?

Yong Ju Lee +Brian Brush +Leah Meisterlin

Spring 2009

GSAPP

http://www.leahmeisterlin.com/ornamental-connectivity