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C​.​5

from Middles by Richard Francis

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Richard Francis / Jason Kahn / Bruce Russell
    'Dunedin' CD
    CMR-27
    Released by CMR, New Zealand, 2013

    Liner notes:
    "Recorded 28th January 2011 at Dunedin Public Art Gallery. Richard Francis: modular synthesizer, computer; Jason Kahn: analog synthesizer, radio, mixing board; Bruce Russell: analogue electronics. Recorded and mixed by Jason Kahn, 2011. Thank you to Lynda Cullen."

    REVIEWS

    "Fantastic all-electric three way that sees Bruce Russell of The Dead C (on analog electronics) joined by Richard Francis on modular synth and computer and Jason Kahn on analog synth, radio and mixing board: recorded live on January 28th 2011 at Dunedin Public Art Gallery in New Zealand, this is a single 38 minute improvisation that feels environmental in scale but with a heady synthesized aspect that makes for a ghostly metal machine music. Three distinct voices make for a bafflingly beautiful combination, with odd almost-melodies that feel like the F/X from a 1960s Supermarionation production soundtracked by Joe Meek going up against the kind of massive UFO touchdown aspect of MEV or CCCC and some supremely invasive alarm tones that have all the flesh-penetrating third ear aspect of Bernhard Gunter or Maryanne Amacher. Whenever Bruce is involved there's always a great non-technical garage band approach to wrassling electricity into caveman submissions and at points this feels like the scientific power trio of your dreams. A great set, highly recommended."
    Volcanic Tongue, Scotland, 2012

    "2011 saw one of the most-travelled players in the modern improv scene, the Swiss based American Jason Kahn, take his analogue synth and radio set-up to Australia, where he recorded this slightly unlikely trio with the cloudy fiend recordings and synths of Richard Francis and the analogue electronics of The Dead C's Bruce Russell. This result is a neat aggregate of the three musician's approaches. Dense layers of fizzing but never aggressive noise are punctuated by repetitive scribbles of loose feedback and flailing distortion. Throughout the mass of intense interactions, patterns begin to emerge, evolving into new forms again before there is time to get used to them, continually forcing the music to evolve into something always slightly removed. It's a subtle affair, with much happening just below the surface, and the music requires a fair amount of concentration and engagement."
    The Wire, UK, 2013

    "C'est à l'occasion d'un séjour néo-zélandais de Jason Kahn (synthétiseur analogique, radio, table de mixage) que ce concert du 28 janvier 2011, en compagnie de Richard Francis(synthétiseur modulaire, ordinateur) et Bruce Russell (électronique), à Dunedin, a été enregistré.
    Si Francis avait déjà collaboré (séparément) avec l'un et l'autre de ses partenaires, la rencontre des trois univers avait tout de même de quoi intriguer... et l'improvisation de moins de quarante minutes, cachée ici sous une bien sévère pochette, comble largement les attentes : non seulement en dépassant la contemplation atteinte dans le duo avec Kahn (paru en 2009 chez Monochrome Vision), mais en proposant également une interaction différente de celle arrangée avec Russell pour Garage Music (sur Alone at Last).
    Variées, les textures – poussiéreuses ou électriques, vibratoires – que le trio génère se mêlent, se couvrent puis s'imbriquent, dans un mouvement de propulsion auquel on ne se soustrait pas, immergé que l'on est dans ce flux complexe. Délicatement puissante, évoluant au rythme des faisceaux qui traversent son épaisseur, crachée de trois turbines sensibles, cette musique fait mieux que satisfaire, elle conquiert."
    Le son du grisli, France, 2012

    "Like I say elsewhere in this issue, I am a big fan of music from New Zealand (although missing out on Gate that is), and recently Richard Francis and Bruce Russell did a book on the music scene from that country (see Vital Weekly 856), which prompted me to play the entire catalogue of Corpus Hermeticum again. Francis and Russell also work together musically, see for instance their release 'Garage Music' (Vital Weekly 828). Here we have a thirty-eight minute concert they did with Swiss/American musician Jason Kahn, with whom Francis also worked before - it's a small world. Francis brings a modular synthesizer and computer to the table, Kahn his analog synthesizer, radio and mixing board and Russell analog electronics. Of course all of this is improvised, but this sounds really tight together. Of course things sustain a lot around, like a wheel once set in motion, it will go on and on. Perhaps it's the nature of the instruments that make this maybe easier, but it's still a matter of action and reaction. People responding to what others are doing. Each brings his own trademark sound to the table, all of which are different but also close to each other, which makes this a nice somewhat more louder drone work, with bleeps from the synth, long form drones, radio static and all of such sounds, swirling in and out the mix, with some static sounds going on and on, slowly changing color and shape. An excellent concert that night, in 2011, in Dunedin. Definitely one to release indeed. Maybe a bit more info on the cover wouldn't hurt, I thought. Three masters of electronic improvisation at work."
    Vital Weekly, The Netherlands, 2012

    "Quittons l'Australie pour Dunedin en Nouvelle-Zélande où a eu lieu cette étonnante rencontre en janvier 2011. Un court (mais excellent!) enregistrement live en compagnie de Richard Francis (synthétiseur modulaire, ordinateur), Jason Kahn (synthétiseur analogique, radio, table de mixage) et Bruce Russell (électronique analogique). Cette fois, nous n'avons qu'une seule pièce, où les trois univers électriques s'accommodent merveilleusement. Une strate de boucles obsédantes qui donneront le tempo tout au long de la pièce, tissant ainsi un fil conducteur difficilement perturbé, une autre de larsens, une de crépitements radiophoniques, quelques fractures momentanées de bruit blanc, rose, etc. La pièce improvisée ici se fait dans un équilibre étonnant, il s'agit d'un long flux continu qui n'est cependant pas exempt de ruptures (sautes d'intensités, puissance réduite ou augmentée brutalement), les trois musiciens et leur univers sonores respectifs sont différents et variés, mais ils parviennent tout de même à créer une entité sonore qui a quelque chose de monolithique. Le continu et le discontinu, l'un et le multiple, le divisible et l'indivisible, l'ordre et le chaos: voici une manière sensible et musicale de répondre à des dilemmes métaphysiques. Musicale et bruitiste car le trio joue là aussi avant tout sur les imperfections de chaque machine, sur les défauts, les détritus et les défaillances techniques et acoustiques des instruments apportés. Une très bonne performance plutôt dense et riche, où l'on s'immerge facilement dans cet univers sonore particulier et envoutant, mais aussi très intense. Recommandé."
    Improv Sphere, France, 2013

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from Middles, released December 20, 2013

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Richard Francis Auckland, New Zealand

Richard Francis is a sound artist working with electronics, feedback and field recordings. He has released solo and collaborative albums on Senufo Editions, Entr’acte, Glistening Examples, The Tapeworm, Korm Plastics, Banned Production, Aufabwegen and so on. He also runs a small publishing press called Buried Sound. ... more

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