jeremy bible & jason henry
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PRESENT/ Ound (Abgurd)~russia (08) Marker (Gruenrekorder)~germany Shpwrk (Experimedia)~us Vryashn (Gears of Sand)~us Vector (Experimedia)~us Glare (Resting Bell)~germany |
FUTURE/ Magnet (Gruenrekorder)~germany (09) Vryashn (re+) (Infraction)~us Spcsession (demoing) |
Jeremy Bible & Jason Henry installation @ Cleveland Museum of Art this Saturday
This Saturday June 20th at Cleveland Museum of Art’s Summer Solstice Unveiling Event will debut the first iteration of Bible & Henry’s multi-channel generative installation. A piece developed specifically for Cleveland Museum of Art’s unveiling event.
For this project sounds were collected from the Cleveland Museum of Art’s galleries and construction site. These sounds were then edited and processed into 108 audio files of varying lengths from 5 seconds to 4 minutes with corresponding silent files. During the installation these sounds will be broadcast from 10 small independent and wireless device/speaker configurations placed throughout the new gallery space. Each of these channels play the sounds in varying orders creating a generative immersive sound environment. A virtual aural eco-system.
More details regarding the installation will be posted at some point after its debut.
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Unveiled (For Ten Tiny Speakers), 2009
Jeremy Bible & Jason Henry
(Akron and Canton, Ohio)
This sound-art installation features recordings from the Cleveland Museum of Art construction site and galleries, processed for generative arrangement through ten independent speakers to create an immersive aural ecosystem.
Please visit http://jbjh.experimedia.net for more information on the piece and the artists.
Jasper TX
|| Gothenburg, Sweden || http://myspace.com/jaspertx || Miasmah, Kning Disk, Fangbomb, Fenetre, SMTG Limited
Besides being one half of the rather amazing post-rock duo De La Mancha, Jasper TX’s Dag Rosenqvist has released a number of carefully drafted and very well received solo recordings with labels such as Miasmah, Kning Disk, Fangbomb, and Lampse. His work is primarily guitar driven soundscapes covered in layers of drums, voices, organs, toy pianos, field recordings, and effects. Comparisons have been made to artists such as Fennesz, Aidan Baker, and Machinefabriek, with whom Rosenqvist has done two collaborations. In 2009, he followed 2008’s “Black Sheep” album on Miasmah with a new record titled “Singing Stones” on Fangbomb and the collaboration with Anduin on SMTG Limited. This will be Jasper TX’s first ever US dates.
Anduin
|| Richmond, Virginia || http://smtgltd.com/anduinore || SMTG Limited
Anduin’s Jonathan Lee creates dark, pulsating ambient electronics soaked in layers of synths, samples, and field recordings. He has collaborated with a number of international artists including Svarte Greiner, Jasper TX, Stephen Vitiello, Noah Saval, Xela, Gareth Davis, and his own experimental band Souvenir’s Young America. His live shows and gallery instillations include a variety of self-made sets, collected props, and hidden lights. In 2009, he has 3 new releases: a live collaboration EP with Svarte Greiner, “The Bending Of A Light” LP with Jasper TX, and a new full length titled “Abandoned In Sleep,” all of which are on SMTG Limited.
Jeremy Bible & Jason Henry
|| Ohio || http://jbjh.experimedia.net || Infraction, Gruenrekorder, Experimedia, Abgurd, Gears of Sand, Resting Bell, Smallfish, Audiobulb
Sound artists Jeremy Bible & Jason Henry collaborate to fuse elements of musique concrete, acoustic, and electronic music. By means of conceptual, experimental, and algorithmic recording and processing techniques the duo seek to expose a synergetic relationship between real world found sounds, acoustic instrumentation, and electronic sound design. The duo’s creative amalgamation of these elements have created a moody and growing body of sound works.
Tanner Menard
|| New Orleans, Louisiana || http://tannermenard.archaichorizon.com || Install, Archaic Horizon, Friendly Virus, Kafua, Experimedia, Loose Filter Music
At the age of 11, Menard composed his first works for piano. For nearly 20 years he has composed and curated experimental sound works and installations both for electronic media and orchestral ensembles. In 2002, his world was permanently altered by his experience working with Naut Humon, the well known curator and then label owner of Recombinant Media Labs in San Francisco. There Menard discovered the aesthetic world of ambient, experimental, and minimal electronica. Menard’s music has appeared on the radio, on tv, in plays, at art galleries, and in major concert halls across the world. In 2005 Menard served as an artist in residence at Arizona State University where he collaborated with Jeph Jerman, Gary Hill, and Daniel Bernard Romain for his installation, “Envyronie”. Menard is rapidly becoming known for his work as an internet artist and publisher combining blogging, music creation, conceptual art, installation, remix and international collaboration.
Original Motion Visuals by: CHiKA
|| New York, NY || http://imagima.com/ || Modul8, Korg, Experimental Television Center, Forward Motion Theater
CHiKA is a live media artist working in the international VJ and experimental music scene. Her performances vary from minimalist geometric patterns to unique compositions overflowing with a variety of forms and color. She has performed at The Museum of Modern Art, The Hammer Museum, Mutek, The Mapping Festival, Decibel festival, Platform Bohenstrasses, Theatre Maisonneuve, Asia Contemporary Week, San Francisco Art Institute, Remix Hotel Miami, Eyebeam, Monkeytown, The Issue Project, Galapagos Art Space, Tonic, Eyewash and numerous private parties, festivals, events, galleries and night clubs. She is currently resident VJ at monthly event “The Future is beautiful”. Her work was featured at Club Chroma and on Joost and Eyewash 3 DVDs by Forward Motion Theater.
Wednesday July 8th, 2009
@ Now That’s Class
Show starts at 10pm / $5 (goes directly to the artists)
11213 Detroit Ave.
Cleveland, Oh
216-221-8576
http://myspace.com/nowthatsclass
Brought to you by:
))) SMTG LIMITED (((
http://smtgltd.com
Experimedia
http://experimedia.net
Bent Crayon
http://bentcrayon.com
EVENT PAGES AND SAMPLES:
http://www.last.fm/event/1099209
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=89290771481
A sound art installation piece created by Jeremy Bible & Jason Henry for the Cleveland Museum of Art’s new gallery unveiling event. The piece will be featured on “display” in the new galleries on June 20th.
Unveiled (For Ten Tiny Speakers)
Jeremy Bible & Jason Henry
Akron/Canton, OH
jbjh.experimedia.net
Recordings from the CMA construction site and galleries processed for generative arrangement through ten independent speakers to create an immersive aural eco-system.
Sommeil: A Concert for Sleep (curated by Tanner Menard)
http://tannermenard.archaichorizon.com/?page_id=510
Opening in New Orleans April 11th.
Coming Cleveland in July @ Ingenuity w/Jeremy Bible & Jason Henry & visual artist Chika.
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Akron Film Festival
April 2-5 2009 at the Akron Art Museum
http://www.akronfilmfestival.com/
Experimedia is supporting this years Akron Film Festival through contributions and volunteering.
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April Fool’s (re)vision @ Annabell’s Akron
http://tinyurl.com/dhmzm2
Wednesday April 1st 2009 10-2
Jeremy Bible & Jason Henry will present a mix of some outsider sounds between 10-11 followed by Foundsound’s Someone Else.
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Last Wednesday (re)vision @ Annabell’s Akron with Experimedia
Wednesday April 29th 2009 10-2
Every last wednesday of the month Experimedia’s Jeremy Bible & Jason Henry present an eclectic mix of outsider sounds 10-12.
e/i magazine has put posted an experimedia label profile
read it here
Ian Hawgood contributed a detailed list of his favorite albums of the year to portuguese online magazine bodyspace.net. His contribution is almost halfway down the page.
A gift of sorts. This was first heard on electronicexplorations.org podcast number 050…but I wanted to make it available on its own as well. As I mentioned we are very excited about the upcoming release schedule. Here is a little preview mix with bits from the next seven Experimedia CD releases featuring sylive walder, ian hawgood, jason/shinobu, offthesky + billy gomberg, ryonkt, jonas ruchenheaver, and carlos suárez sánchez.
Tracklisting:
00:40/ sylvie walder - the most abstract to date (expcd007)
06:40/ ian hawgood - north india in 1998 with my dad (expcd008)
11:50/ jason/shinobu - his head had beams like star beams (expcd009)
19:20/ offthesky + billy gomberg - they were at the beach (expcd010)
23:32/ ryonkt - sora [excerpt] (expcd011)
29:20/ jonas ruchenhever - birds flew here once [excerpt] (expcd012)
36:48/ carlos suárez sánchez - o discurso da diversidade (expcd013)
Wanted to wish everyone a Happy Holidays and Happy New Year. 2008 has been a great year and I wanted to thank everyone for their support. 2009 is poised to be an even better year…with a release schedule we are really excited for….the relocation of the Experimedia offices and studio…and even more time our hands to dedicate to our endeavors. Here is to a fantastic creative production 2009 for everyone. Thanks again to all those who have supported us over the years.
Along with including Experimedia in his thanks to labels who maintained a challenging dimension in his 2008 Review for TheMilkFactory, Max Schaefer also rated Jeremy Bible & Jason Henry’s album Vryashn #5 in his top 20 of the year. That also puts us in TheMilkFactory’s top 20 overall. Thanks to Max and TheMilkFactory!
San Francisco, California based record shop Aquarius Records (est.1970) has been stocking Experimedia titles as of recently and their descriptions make some very flattering comments/comparisons regarding our releases. Thanks Aquarius (Jim Haynes).
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Jeremy Bible & Jason Henry - Shpwrck [expcd005]
We’ve picked up another title from the Ohio based field recordists / audio collagists Jeremy Bible and Jason Henry, after being suitably impressed by their earlier album Vectors. The title alone to Shpwrck offers unsettled maritime references, and the lulling pace of lugubrious half melodies and creaking metal does little to alter the course down to the bottom of the ocean. The opening track is effectively simple repetition of a haunted melody, with all of the tape oxidization and murk that makes for a successful Disintegration Loop for William Basinski. Bible and Henry introduce quiet cracklings which sporadically make themselves known, sort of like embers popping in the aftermath of a fire. This combination is so effective, immediately other sublime works with seaworthy themes come to mind: Nurse With Wound’s Salt Marie Celeste, Elegi’s Sistereis, or the Philip Jeck / Gavin Bryars / Alter Ego redux of The Sinking Of The Titanic. More recognizable instrumentation comes to the forefront throughout the rest of the album, with twinkling bells and flutes contrasting next to a dystopian blurt of a post-Cosey Fanny Tutti trumpet with matching bellows from huge metallic objects being struck and then twisted into a deep, dark ambient smear. There’s even some piano which alternates between maudlin impressionist gestures and angry minor key strikes. For all of the baroque objects which litter the descent way way down, Bible and Henry coax an even surface of atmospheric shadow and tactile grit into the mix. A very fine collection of work that is also quite limited. 150 copies, we believe.
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Jeremy Bible & Jason Henry - Shpwrck [expcd005]
Jeremy Bible and Jason Henry are two Ohio based sound artists, who draw heavily from field recordings from the rust belt and obfuscate them into seductive, occasionally dark pieces of fizzing ambience. The details of decaying leaves from the artwork of Vectors immediately translates into the opening passages of Vectors, as a tactile crackling nestles into a womblike drone. The soft crunch could easily come from Loren Chasse’s meditations on broken earth and crumbled leaves, but they could be confused for the vintage turntable collages of Philip Jeck. But as the passages for layered tones and variable loops begin to articulate themselves against the tactile grit of those aforementioned sounds, Bible and Henry showcase themselves more as digital sculptors closer to Aidan Baker and Tim Hecker. Their looping repetitions progressively appear as a slowly generative kaleidoscope with cross-hatched smears, refracted distortions, and slightly eerie abstracted noises, all set against a static electrical hum. Flickered haunted melodies appear and disappear amidst thobbing metallic drones, 8-bit distortion and post-Fennesz fizzing ring modulation before seamlessly shifting into an obfuscated field recording. On one occasion, a blustery chorus of blackbirds breaks through the shimmer and pixelation; on another, the two include the modulated Doppler effect of cars roaring past along a freeway, recalling the Hafler Trio’s revelation that God told him to record the sound of cars passing by. Limited edition to 150 copies, or thereabouts.
Kind of last minute but I will be djing a set of experimental dance music (lots of Raster-Noton type stuff) at Tek-Know?’s weekly (re)vision at Annabell’s in Akron tonight (Wednesday) at 11:30pm. Its going to be loud, hard, rumbling, and glitchy. (my acoustic pads in my studio were falling off the wall from the bass while I was preparing last night).
Come check out the sounds coming from Berlin label Raster-Noton during my set as we may be bringing them to the area in June.
http://www.raster-noton.net/
10:00-11:30 _ 1 Auxy (minimal techno / house) Tek-know?
11:30-12:30 _ *special set from* Jeremy Bible (Raster Beats) Experimedia
12:30-1:30 _ N:Coder (Koala Tea/Konkrete Jungle)
1:30-close _ Nate Thomas (Breaks Syndicate/New Ascension)
Re(visi0n) @ Annabell’s Lounge presented by Tek-Know?
http://www.myspace.com/annabellsbarlounge
782 W Market St
Akron, OH 44303
(330) 535-1112
http://www.myspace.com/tekknow
http://experimedia.net
from: textura.org
Jeremy Bible & Jason Henry: Vryashn
Gears of Sand
“On Vryashn (a stripped-down version of “variation”), prolific duo Bible and Henry present two long-form settings that at times unfold so glacially they mimic the physiological slowdown that occurs during deep sleep (in the creators’ own words, “(t)he common theme for this body of work is the sensation of dreams within dreams, …(s)pecifically a dream of being surrounded by snow, becoming numb and falling asleep only to awake in the rain in another dream and location”). The two incorporate “water line pipes, wine glasses, rain on a window, and a garage lamp” into the recording but piano is the dominant sound source, though the pair uses digital processing to stretch some of the instrument’s notes into infinity and layer them into heaving, cloud-like masses. In “Vryashn 1,” a largely untreated piano motif bounces across the surface of the windswept trails that escalate and decompress behind it until the sounds coalesce into a singular rumbling mass that calls to mind Charlemagne Palestine in the brick-like solidity of its clustering. Immense piano-generated swathes of haze introduce atmospheric ripples of fog and rain as the now-melded mass heaves like the exhalations of a sleeping behemoth. The half-hour “Vryashn 2” follows without interruption, immediately introducing a textural roughness absent in the opener. Muffled noises—human or animal—emerge alongside foghorn-like bell tones that pierce the early morning harbour mist. There’s an unhurried feel to the piece’s development but there’s also ample activity and detail in play, and part two—presumably abetted by field recordings—exudes a real-world quality that the comparatively hermetic first part eschews. Chain-like sounds clatter amidst rippling noise patterns as “Vryashn 2” gradually gains some semblance of rhythmic definition when the first part’s blurry piano swathes and bouncing motif re-appear to progressively wrest control from the textural treatments. Using a minimum of means, Bible and Henry create in these two pieces fully-formed soundscapes that while long in duration never feel as if they should be shortened, and consequently Vryashn proves to be an excellent showcase for their particular brand of experimental artistry. -December 2008″
Some illegal digital bootlegs of some Experimedia releases are starting to surface around the outer regions of the internets! Flattering in a way. So if your one of those people who dont like to support artists directly or you think $10 is too expensive for a nice custom packaged CD (with free bonus download when ordering through experimedia.net) or $5 is too much for a digital download or you want more for free than the free releases we already have available (on resting bell and experimedia)….there is now an alternative for you!
Review of Vryashn by Stephen Fruitman for sonomu.net
The present reviewer must confess to having no idea of this duo´s
track record, but artistically at least it looks like a case of the old
ketchup-effect: nothing, nothing for a long time and then suddenly,
splat! Five releases on three different labels, including their own, in
a matter of a few short months.
Vryashn is presented as an “avant-garde sound experience” intended
for deep listening. A tad generic as a description, but then the two
extended pieces on this album really need no further introduction or
setting of the scene. What Bible and Henry have created speaks for
itself, and it does so softly and with great authority.
I fell for the first piece directly. In its slow, organic growth it
displays compositional maturity and dexterity. Vast grainy spaces shift
as viola and cello sway back and forth, the elements become integrated
and build a perfect whole. I am almost sad to have it come to an end.
It is a space for quiet contemplation and reflection, as sparse and
sacral as a Zen garden.
Initially I found myself indifferently disposed toward the second,
half-hour long piece, which would seem to be an altogether different
animal than its predecessor. Instead of floating in glorious statis, it
is more of an off-kilter collage; this must be the “avant-garde” bit
promised by the press release. I´m still not really enjoying myself -
until around the seventeenth minute when what sounds like an orchestra
schooled in nothing but holy mininalism begins to swell and we are back
in territory much more familiar and, to be honest, much more worthwhile
your time.
Having also recently heard Bible and Henry´s “Marker” on
Gruenrekorder, I know they are dedicated field recordists, but I prefer
their talent at creating mood, sustaining techniques, sounds bleeding
into one another, shifting colour. And the first seventeen minutes of
that second track simply seem out of place on Vryashn. Excise it and
you have what in my opinion is one of the most polished musical moments
of a year quickly approaching its end.
This months issue of e-zine Textura.org features spotlights Experimedia as pone of its Ten Favorite Labels of 2008. Other labels include 12k, Hyperdub, Hypnos, Infraction, Kning Disk, Mismah, Schole, Spekk, and U-Cover. (Two labels from Stark County Ohio!!) There are also reviews of Experimedia releases by Asymmetrical Head, Koen Park, and Illusion of Safety.
Read it here. textura.org
Can anyone translate for us by any chance?
A review by Tobias Bolt on Queitnoise.org
2008-10-21 - Review - Jeremy Bible & Jason Henry
Jeremy Bible & Jason Henry - »Marker« (Gruenrekorder)
Field
Recordings und akustisches Instrumentarium sowie deren ausgiebige
Bearbeitung bilden das Fundament für »Marker«, dem vorliegenden ersten
Part eines zweiteiligen Albumkonzepts auf Gruenrekorder. Dessen Urheber
sind Jeremy Bible & Jason Henry, ein, milde ausgedrückt,
veröffentlichungs- freudiges Tonkünstlerduo aus Ohio, deren zu Beginn
etwas distanziert wirkenden Klangraumentwürfen man sich idealerweise
mit Kopfhörern und viel Aufmerksamkeit nähert.
Denn gleich die
ersten drei der insgesamt fünf Stücke umfassenden CD präsentieren sich
als jeweils knapp viertelstündige, ziemlich spröde Skizzen. Diese
machen es, düster pointiert und oft mit ein wenig zu auffällig
arbeitenden rhythmischen Loops durchsetzt, einem nicht immer leicht,
fokussiert zu bleiben. Nur allzu schnell verliert man sich in den
weitläufigen Nebenhöhlen aus bis zur Unkenntlichkeit herangezoomten
Sounds, tackernden Rhythmen und Field Recordings von Alltagsgeräuschen.
Eine merkwürdig faszinierende, ausgedehnte Klangschattenwelt, die
langsam vorbei zieht und erst mit dem vorletzten Track »Glacr«
emotional greifbarer wird.
Dieser bietet fein geschwungene,
hypnotische Ambientflächen mit sanften Geräuschbruchlinien.
Gletscherspaltenmusik, die mit unverhohlenem Hang zum Symphonischen
angenehm an die besten Momente von Biospheres Breitwandepos »Substrata«
zu erinnern vermag. Versöhnlich schließlich auch der Ausklang, in dem
sich bereits zuvor verwendete Ausschnitte aus Talkshows zwischen
melancholisch verkatertem Gitarrengeplonker verflüchtigen. Ich sag es
mal so: ein seltsames Album, bei dem es sich durchaus lohnen kann, über
gewisse anfängliche Unnahbarkeiten hinwegzuhören.
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English Translation//
Field
recordings and acoustic instruments as well as extensive treatment
thereof are the groundwork for »Marker«, the first part of a two-piece
album concept for German label Gruenrekorder. Creators are Jeremy Bible
and Jason Henry, a duo from Ohio. At first their sounds act a bit
reserved so earphones and a high attention level are definitely
recommended when the first three of overall five tracks present
themselves as roughly 15-minute long brittle outlines. With their
sometimes gloomy punchlines and slightly predominant working
rhythm-loops it’s not always easy staying focused. Quickly one can
loose oneself in the spaciously burrows built of nearly unrecognisable
sounds, rattling rhythms and field recordings of everyday-sounds. A
strangely fascinating sound-twilight-zone is passing by and it is not
until the fourth track that it becomes more emotional tangible. This
one features delicately carved hypnotic ambient surfaces with gentle
rupture lines of distant noises and an avowedly disposition to the
symphonic - which reminds of the best moments of biospheres epic work
»Substrata«. Eventually the album closes in a relaxed conciliatory
atmosphere where details from talk-shows dissolve between melancholic
hung-over guitar-chords. Let me put it that way: a strange and
beautiful album, that definitely will reward a closer examination.
The October issue of Textura features reviews of three recent albums by Jeremy Bible & Jason Henry. Also if you are on the Textura mailing list there are some Experimedia triva questions with Experimedia releases as prizes. Keep an eye on Textura next month as well for further exciting Experimedia coverage.
“Vector, Shpwrck, and Marker are naturally complementary recordings from Ohio-based sound artists Jeremy Bible and Jason Henry that fuse found, acoustic, and electronic sounds into abstract material of pointedly evocative design. The Experimedia releases are distinctive on a visual level too, with the releases’ discs tucked away in tall, three-panel packages whose photographic imagery parallels the duo’s sonic approach by magnifying natural imagery to degrees of near-abstraction (leaves on Vector, charred wood on Shpwrck); though more conventional in dimensional terms, Marker’s cover imagery is similar in tone to the Experimedia packages. The concept even extends to the releases’ allusive and distancing song titles (e.g., “Alska,” “Rtn,” “Vctr,” “Glacr”).
Four of Vector’s six pieces are in the twelve-to-fifteen-minute range, so the material has ample opportunity to develop. Apparently, acoustic sounds such as piano, cello and voices comprise part of Vector’s sonic palette but, true to genre form, the processing manipulations are so thorough they lessen the recognizability of said elements. The gloomy dreamscape “Alska” wends through Philip Jeck territory when sounds of gouged vinyl and industrial noise loop incessantly alongside phantom winds and sheets of distorted noise. It’s followed by “Fndt,” an industrial mass of metallic, static-soaked rumble that writhes and heaves for a queasy fifteen minutes, and “Flck2,” where waves crash through layers of granular grit prior to the emergence of aviary chatter, traffic sounds, and percussive knocking. Multi-tiered waves crest and fall throughout “Rtn,” after which Vector grows increasingly nightmarish as it works through the brief “Vctr” and convulsive machine noise of “Lmp.”
Shpwrck is not only broader in its stylistic range but, in some respects, the easier listen of the two. Though three pieces still exceed the ten-minute mark, half are under eight minutes and, while there’s no diminishment of abstract character, the overall sound design is sometimes less dense and therefore easier on the ears. The framing pieces, “Shpwrck1” and “Shpwrck2,” suggest that the recording would make a natural companion to Mesoscaphe, the recent work by Mathieu Ruhlmann and Celer whose nautical focus is the thirty-day 1969 Gulf Stream voyage of the Ben Franklin submarine. One would expect Shpwrck to sound darker by comparison, given the violent fate intimated by the title, but in fact only parts of it are bleak in spirit. The two “Shpwrck” tracks are, in fact, rather peaceful settings of muffled tonal drift, with rustling percussive clatter a constant companion to foghorn-like tones that pierce the shadowy haze. Blustery trumpet smears in “Dstromsh” recall Toshinori Kondo’s playing on Paul Schutze + Phantom City’s Site Anubis, and the track itself is an apocalyptic nightscape that would sound perfectly at home on Schutze’s recording. Elsewhere, crowd chatter humanizes the gloomscapes “Yetisltk” and “Yetiatk” while “Sphotnblp,” “Luupn,” and “Cldstrct” concentrate on tinkling bell tones, reverb-heavy piano, and curdling string atmospheres respectively.
Marker is very much sonically in keeping with the other two, despite the fact that it’s issued on Gruenrekorder, a label more known for its field recordings output than experimental electronic music-making. Much like Vector, the hour-long Marker features four extended settings (fourteen minutes apiece) and a shorter outro. As before, field elements (e.g., children’s voices, radio talk show conversations) and natural sounds (e.g., cymbal percussion) swim in thick electronic baths amidst alien noises of unidentifiable character. The release rarely resembles music of any conventional kind and is clearly geared towards the listener weaned on heavily abstracted soundscaping. The industrial soundscaping of “Ast” unfolds in a queasy ebb-and-flow that feels akin to a turbulent dream-state, after which phantoms drift through an industrial wasteland in “Fragmnt.” The recording’s finest moment arrives when Bible and Henry navigate vast expanses of frozen tundra during the vaporous epic “Glacr,” a slowly heaving mass of ambient cloud formations whose immensity overshadows all that’s come before. The tranquil closer “Indnt” is almost as appealing, despite being the complete opposite of “Glacr” in so many ways. Even so, ending the album with gentle guitar shadings and restrained atmospheric textures (including a re-appearance of the earlier talk show snippets) is a smart move on the creators’ part given that it’s the last impression the listener takes away when the recording’s done. File all three releases under “immersive headphones listening.”
The interesting blog site Amphibious Andromeda by Ricardo Bloch which posts a photograph and sound for each day of the year…has used a fragment of the piece ‘frgmnt’ from Jeremy Bible & Jason Henry’s album Marker on the German label Gruenrekorder.
Another very flattering review of Jeremy Bible & Jason Henry’s album Vryashn on Gears of Sand…this time by the respected uk print magazine The Wire.
“2008 is shaping up to be a busy year for the Ohio duo - three albums have appeared over the last few months, and another four are scheduled before the end of the year. And if they’re all as immersive and incantatory as Vryashn, we’re in for a treat. Schematically, this record is as simple as it gets - two lengthy, sonorous tracks clocking in at a total of 50 minutes - but the closer you look, the more complex things get, with looming, viscous currents offset by a seductive parade of pattering detail. Fluttering piano notes pierce shifting planes of texture, catspaws of white noise skip across the swell, and Echoplexed flurries float, like distant birdsong, back and forth across the threshold of audibility. Vryashn reveals a perfect balance between fluidity and architecture before disappearing into a haze of chiming bells.” - The Wire
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Max Schaefer put together an eloquently written review of the Jeremy Bible & Jason Henry album ‘Vryashn’ for the respected ezine themilkfactory. Thanks to Max and themilkfactory for the very kind words and support!
The two suites of ambitious, sweeping sounds that express but never wholly manifest themselves here, superimposed as they are in layers to infinity, were inspired by the shifting perspectives and hallucinogenic detail of dreams. The mind reels in the declamatory breathlessness and multilayered incantations, out of which slip assiduous sonic close-ups that are soon swallowed by depersonalized electronic shadows, and which return hereafter only as distorted or transformed traces that haunt and push the works further still.
The duo’s approach is anything but radical. They draw heavily from piano and a slew of musical and non-musical instruments, which are then subtly treated through a laptop. It becomes exceptional owing to its almost shocking organizational smoothness that belies the multiplicity of its sources and therefore highlights how ambient music has internal collage logic at its centre.
Some very substantial and evolving electronic sluicing abounds on Part II, ranging from petite fog exercises, with blurred piano chords winking like stars, post-industrial roughness and rippling textures to drones that arc deep into the night sky. Things progress slowly but eventfully; and eventually gently-contoured textures sweep in and then oxidize, while faint striations and distressed electronics obscure the background and create an atmosphere of unexpected menace. Before the work ends, another turn of logic finds its place, as some digital flutter and micro-sonics swell into a fecund, almost celebratory whole. Few albums so thoroughly and unapologetically apply themselves to such a trenchant aesthetic and then manage to mine so much from it.
4.2/5