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In the liner notes, right in between friends and colleagues such as cut label head Jason Kahn (who released this CD) and Taylor Deupree (who published his music on a previous occasion), Joe Gilmore extends an affectionate thank you to „3.14...“. It could be a joke, if one didn't know about the importance that numbers play in this man's work. Numbers and algorithms, that is. Experiments with feedback systems, correspondance between organic motion and effect processors and the raprochement of music and graphics are at the heart of his art – or, speaking more generally, the convergence of computer-generated and human sounds. The most obvious example of this aim can be seen in rand()%, a 24hour radio station, sending out nothing but exclusively computergenerated music, which he helped to co-create (and which is currently on an unfortunate hiatus). How far has Gilmore man gone in making machines sing? Maybe not as far as many might think. „Mathematics and Philosophy are essentially the same thing“ a friend of mine used to say and consequently, many have approached his work with one question in mind: „Is there life inside the machine?“ In this context, composing and programming are not all that different and the appreciation of Gilmore's music remains restricted to the technical coup de main of making his laptops play as though they were breathing. Purveyors of this theory will find comfort and proof in the fact that tracks like „X-Null“ or „Lambda“, with their bleeps and cool respiratory gestations, are within arm's length of the ouevre of Rochdale residents Autechre. I have a strong feeling, though, that Gilmore cares little for these considerations. Of course, the subtitle of „On Quasi-Convergence and Quiet Spaces“ - „Five Improvisations for Solo Computer“ - leaves a lot open in terms of the composer's involvement in realising the tracks. And yet, the music seems less occupied with making computers play like humans than in finding out what makes our perceptive system decide what sounds organic and what doesn't. Even though they are built on gurgling and stuttering rhythms, metallic sustains and icey brushes, radio scramble and white noise, feedback and impenetrable patterns, alien noise and scattered tonal debris, there are uncountable moments of intense stillness and cheek-reddening romance to be found on this album. Closing track „U+221E“ especially begins with a synthetic cymbal rush, deforms like a soft candle burning down and smoothens out into a solitary drone which sublimates into a cloud of whisper. In the majestic minutes of this piece's dying embers, I couldn't care less about what kind of algorithm made this happen or how long Gilmore's machines must have worked to render the final mix. Instead, what occupied my mind was how a music constructed from such cold timbres could spark such a hot flame inside me.br> Needless to say, the answer to that question is a personal one. It leads back to one of the most basic tasks of any kind of art: To bring the individual into contact with itself. The fact that the music was performed by computers is nothing but a number in this respect. >Tobias Fischer, Tokafi, 1.2008
Britain´s Joe Gilmore is a sound artist and graphic designer, and his On Quasi-Convergence And Quiet Space is taken from a series of edited solo computer improvisation made between 2002 and 2004. These were incorporated with sound files culled from recordings exploring the acoustic properties of the Holy Trinity church in Leeds. The latter offer a certain atmospheric frisson to these pieces--one imagines the energies of centuries of murmured supplications, hymns and readings that have soaked into the architecture liberated into the air via these recordings. In contrast to labelmate Norbert Möslang´s album, On Quasi-Convergence works not so much as the mere data readout of a sound experiement but as a finely sculpted series of compositions.
British sound artist Gilmore can’t boast of the same discographical prowess exhibited by many of his Cut colleagues, but his sterling debut for Jason Kahn’s label banks some good coin for the future. Comprised of five improvisations for solo computer, immersion into On Quasi-Convergence suggests Gilmore has taken to heart valuable lessons learned during his brief tenures at Fällt, 12k and Entr’acte. Not just some randy act of software peddling, this record feels more like a statement of intent, a forensic probing into the very innards of silica incognita.
Shifts in climate occur all over the metallic terrain Gilmore maps out. The opening piece, “X-Null,” threatens to go nearly Jazzkammer on the spartan matrix, yet as suddenly recombines its prickly nettle static contours into less confrontational shapes, eventually softening the brittle edges in a volley of sparse digital trills and vibrating digital harmoniums. “Shunya” explores the kinds of barren, mouse-generated Tronscapes so beloved by the Fällt contingent: gently positioned blips and morse code sprites intersecting rising humid thermals of grey feedback. Gilmore demonstrates something of a flirtation for the pockmarked soundworlds of Morton Subotnick on the brief third piece, the sequel to which features respirating loops of what might be smeared bell defrosts that recall Taylor Deupree and Tetsu Inoue’s less abrasive moments, a generally lilting exercise that has a strangely becalming quality. Gilmore keeps the scarier superconductor monsters at bay during the closing “U+221E”, content with looping a series of muted faux chimes that ultimately assume quite a powerful sonic architecture. Much of today’s hardcore “computer music” tends to self-destruct in a corrosive display of plug-in virtuosity and ideated bankruptcy—credit to Gilmore for infusing no small measure of compositional mien throughout this engaging work.
The last couple of Cut releases tends towards the harsh side of the sonic spectrum and - except for the long conclusive track “U+221E” which is as hypnotizing as we can get, and verily desirable to these ears - this CD by Joe Gilmore is a fine specimen of that kind of experimental computer-ism that manages to sound fresh enough to erase any doubt about the fact that its creator is for real. A multidisciplinary artist and graphic designer, Gilmore has published his music on various labels (I recall a pretty lively split 3-inch with George Rogers on Entr'acte). He privileges a certain rawness as opposed to over-refinement, which is very helpful for the sounds to lacerate any chance of indifference and, better still, to cover quite a bit of extraneous chit-chat if you decide to isolate yourself and your walkman amidst the urban tribes that infest an already scarcely digestible social participation. A veritable festival of impractical frequencies, rusty impermanences, flexible grumbles, but also several moments of rewarding investigation of deeply convulsive, revolving figures that look for a stabilizing mechanism - which they usually can't find. Uneasy yet, at the same time, pretty accessible if you're well acquainted with problematic improbabilities. Many convergences, dearth of quiet spaces. Finding the latter ones within ourselves is the key to better penetrate Gilmore’s procedures.
Joe Gilmore is an English sound artist and graphical designer who starts working on his music in 1994.
On ‘Quasi-Convergence An Quiet Spaces’ gathers five tracks which are group improvisation sessions made in between 2004 and 2006 and edited in 2007.
The music generated by computer has a minimalist aesthetic that reunites few sounds. Yielding noises taken from short wave radio emmisions, sine waves, digital abstractions and drones.
The cuts are quite long and their structures are certainly repeated and created an hypnotic ambience. Also pieces like ‘1.0359 8247 9917’ showcase only a single concrete sound that rubs against a microphone.
Gilmore manipulates microscopic sounds with great skills keeping the tension and attention in the listener.
Joe Gilmore, once a member of Powerbooks For Peace and founder of rand()% (automated internet radio), shows how these things should be done. The material is taken from solo computer improvisations from 2002-2004 (mostly as a by-product of group improvisation), but edited in 2007. Of course it's hard to say what amount here is the raw improvisation and what portion is editing, but Gilmore does a fine job. Things buzz, beep, crack and cut in the truest fashion of microsound and beyond - meaning: louder (sometimes even Mego like) - in quite hypnotic pieces of computer music. Loud and vicious at times, but also ambient and minimal in 'U+221E', the closing piece of the CD. For those who love the lesser harsh noise on labels as Mego and Alku, this Joe Gilmore is something worth looking for, be it not entirely new, but a great work anyway.
5 sorgfältig überarbeitete Computerimprovisationen eines Klangkünstlers & Graphikdesigners in Leeds, wobei ‚1.0359 8247 9917‘ nur 57 Sekunden lang metalloid knarz, ‚U+221E‘ dafür über annähernd 20 Minuten komplexe Formeln in aleatorisches Summen und stupsende Impulse umsetzt und dabei den Stereoraum abtastet, so wie schon ‚X-Null‘ wie eine Zamboni jeden Winkel des Raumes sorgfältig poliert hatte. Gilmore hat sich mit dem obligatorischen Spektrum dessen profiliert, was Klangkünstler so machen. Er mischt in Projekten mit wie blir und Vend und ist Mitbegründer von rand()%, the world's first fully automated internet radio station which streams real-time generative music. Dem Zufallsprinzip huldigt er auch mit seinem Solo-Laptopprojekt #!/usr/bin/expect-f, das gänzlich ohne menschlichen Eingriff abläuft. Ich richte mein Drittes Auge auf einen Lichtfleck auf der Wohnzimmerwand und schnüffle zwischendurch immer wieder mal am öligen Firnissgeruch des Druckfarbcovers. Mfffh - FETT.
On Quasi-Convergence and Quiet Spaces is assembled from a series of edited solo computer improvisations executed between 2002-04. In December 2006 these recordings were revisited after producing similar soundfiles for a site-specific performance exploring the acoustic properties of the Holy Trinity Church in Leeds (UK). The material from these sessions was edited and shaped into a coherent whole during January 2007.
X-Null: The first track begins with several short statements, obviously electronically/digitally created. Then a swell of vibrating, b-movie like, drone, garnished with high frequency sizzles moves around. A kind of tension is built up by the relation between the beautiness and the harsh, lo-fi character of the texture.
Shunya: Panning left-right and back, fading in and out, some obscure square/triangle tones evolve to a buzzing, slightly distorted drone with interesting details in between, like machine/fan like textures.
1.0359 8242 9917: Mid-frequency crackles with faint resonance, just an interlude, lasting 56 seconds.
Lambda: Another composition out of square/triangle panning tones proves the release as a conceptual coherent one, without boring me.
Many sounds here (and throughout the whole release) remind me of the glory Commodore C64 and Atari days, which might be the reason why they have this charming impact on me.
U+221E: Starts with a bell like drone, which changes timbre and moves around partially from one ear to the other, consequently captures my attention but simultaneously makes me drifting away, by its pure, direct quality, using a not too vast band of frequencies. A throughout skillfully structured piece, one of the highlights of the release.
It seems Gilmore uses the computer as a real instrument/machine creating pure sounds, without processing them over and over again, which gives the release a charming, refreshing touch.
Joe Gilmore is an English sound artist and graphical designer who starts working on his music in 1994.
On ‘Quasi-Convergence An Quiet Spaces’ gathers five tracks which are group improvisation sessions made in between 2004 and 2006 and edited in 2007.
The music generated by computer has a minimalist aesthetic that reunites few sounds. Yielding noises taken from short wave radio emmisions, sine waves, digital abstractions and drones.
The cuts are quite long and their structures are certainly repeated and created an hypnotic ambience. Also pieces like ‘1.0359 8247 9917’ showcase only a single concrete sound that rubs against a microphone.
Gilmore manipulates microscopic sounds with great skills keeping the tension and attention in the listener. |