Brent Fariss/Bill Thompson - august/september (sh 008)

$8 (postage paid in the US, please add $3 for international orders)

PRESS RELEASE

"Although Brent and I have know each other for years, performed on each other's pieces, written works for each other, and played within the same ensembles, until the first AMODA Performance Series, we had never written a piece together. We enjoyed it so much, we decided to write a complimentary work. The first work (august) employed a modified rondo form with an inverted climax pattern, focusing on spectral interplays between the electronics and bass, complex timbres creating combination tones, and the contrasting of dry and treated field recordings relating to white noise. september makes use of similar elements (field recordings, white noise, combination tones, timbral interplay) but with a completely different form…in many ways it acts as a polarization of august's elements and design." - bt

Brent Fariss - prepared contrabass, electroacoustics, field recordings
Bill Thompson - live electronics, amplified percussion, field recordings

Recorded at The Loft.
Audio production by Alex Keller at singular audio (singularaudio.com).
Design by Travis Weller (spiraco.com).

1. august originally performed at the Austin Museum of Digital Art's Performance Series #1.

2. september originally performed at the ThomFariCraw Loft Series #9.

- Contrabass prepared with metal foil, contact mics, wires, paper clips, and marshall amps!
- Field recordings of cicadas at high lonesome. Sound walk by Thompson and Leah.

Thanks to Alex Keller, Travis Weller, Rick Reed, Todd Simmons, Dr. Russell Riepe, Dr. David Pino, Dr. Pete Stollerly, Clark Crawford, Josh Ronsen, Holland Hopson, Jacob Green, John Ertel, Nathan Wood, Cory Allen, Josh Russell, Trey Smith, Abraham Normal, Blair Randall (for the loft & the paper clip), Brandon Young, Cathy & Vincent Fariss, Katie & Ryan Thompson, Don & Tammy Fariss, Dolores & Lee Fariss (for the cymbal and dolores & the bluebonnet boys), Joe & Betty Crawford at High Lonesome, Dan & Blake at End of an Ear, AMODA, the Austin New Music Coop, the Gates Ensemble, Austin Music Network, all the cicadas in North & NorthWest areas of Austin, and everyone else who came to our shows to give support.

REVIEWS

BRENT FARISS & BILL THOMPSON - AUGUST/SEPTEMBER (CD by Spectral House)

This is my first encounter with both Spectral House as well as Brent Fariss and Bill Thompson. The first plays 'prepared contrabass, electronics, field recordings' and Thompson plays 'electronics, amplified percussion and field recordings'. Both studied composition at Texas State University in the mid 90s, and they cross lines of modern composition, electronics, noise and free improvisation. As far as i understand both pieces on this release were commissioned by an arts organization to be played live but the result were thus nice that they decided to go into the studied to do a full, good studio recording of it. Rightly so, because this is music that deserves to be heard. In 'August' things start at the long drone end, with a wall of electronics, but gradually over the course of this piece, things move towards letting the instruments be heard as such and even ends with a desolate bowed string. The second piece, 'September' works along less well defined lines, and is more an open ended collage form piece of music, moving through various textures, both electronically and acoustically. Both pieces are great works from the world where composing and improvising meet up. No doubt we'll be hearing more from them. (Frans de Waard, Vital Weekly # 556)