Articles
2010 Artist Picks
Francesco Tristano
Albums
36
Access To Arasaka
Aeroplane Trio
Christian Albrechsten
Gilles Aubry
Andreas Bick
Wil Bolton
Caroline
Chaim
Scott Cortez
Dead Voices On Air
Margaret Dygas
F. Gerard Errante
Seren Ffordd
Field Rotation
Marcus Fischer
The Ghost of 29 Megacycles
Tania Gill
Gord Grdina Trio
Herion
Hummingbird
Ironomi
Yoshio Machida
Machinefabriek / Liondialer
Phil Manley
Matta
Mem1
me:mo
Miko
Momus
Moshimoss
Roger O'Donnell
orchestramaxfieldparrish
Cédric Peyronnet
Resoe
Danny Saul
Dirk Serries
Shedding
Clive Tanaka y su orquesta
Robert Scott Thompson
Two People In A Room
Undermathic
Wires Under Tension
Clive Wright
Compilations
Joachim Spieth Selected 6
Playing with Words
Reconstruction of Fives
20 Centuries Stony Sleep
EPs
Balmorhea
Clara Moto
d_rradio
Deepgroove
Kyle Bobby Dunn
Fear Falls Burning
Hammock
ptr1
Quiroga
Sawako
Gilles Aubry:
s6t8r
Winds Measure Recordings
Swiss sound artist Gilles Aubry, based in Berlin since 2002, uses field recordings, computer programming, and electronics as a basis for his sound installations, recordings, and radio pieces. His three-part s6t8r is a site-specific piece based on recordings made inside rooms within the now-empty Stralau 68 building, which formerly operated as a venue for experimental music in Berlin. The space is hardly silent, however, as the sounds of trains passing by on a nearby bridge are prominent in the mix. A steady train-generated thrum persists throughout the opening part's first five minutes, until its abrupt cessation allows the material to reposition itself for a subsequent battery of hollowed-out emissions and smears. A low-level rumble inaugurates the second part until it's joined by a louder flow of white noise, whose sudden onset is much like a valve being opened. Subtle transformations ensue as the gaseous sound becomes a high-pitched stream of whistles punctuated by intermittent clatter. The third part finds the train sounds re-emerging, asserting themselves once again as a forceful presence, until the work quietens as it enters its final minutes.
Throughout the forty-two-minute recording, Aubry keeps the material at a steady pitch that, while generally loud, never rises to an uncomfortable, ear-splitting level. The work's constant mutations in character ensure that one's attention doesn't stray, and one comes away from the work with an appreciation not only for the acoustical resonance of the building's room spaces but a sharpened awareness of how a physical space functions as something alive as opposed to static. Adding to the appeal of the release (300 copies available) is a distinctive letterpress sleeve presentation.January 2011