Touch Records: S&D

The guy who actually runs the label (who i won't name here) is known in experimental circles as one of the most shady label operators in the business.... Some of the stunts this guy has pulled on his artists are unbelievable... and still people work with him.......

I'd love to hear about some of these stunts, btw.

is that comp good then? i imagined it'd be dull to sit through

Someone who knew Robin mentioned "hey I hear you're going to New York soon"... you can guess the rest. Scanner left the label soon after that.

All i would say to Mr Concerned, is make sure you get EVERYTHING in writing......

I'm interested in learning a bit more. Came up in a conversation the other day, and it's shocking how uneducated I am.

Touch records have been advertising in the Wire as long as i can remember reading it, spring 1994,

Touch records are one of the foremost experimental record labels in the UK, alongside labels such FatCat and Leaf.

Chris Watson once of Cabaret Voltaire, has released many "Field Recordings" on Touch. Chris Watson appeared in the recent Cut and Splice festival, and this was broadcasted on Radio 3: Hear and Now.

Touch records are known from their cover artwork.

Fennesz next album is due in the summer on Touch it's called Venice. Fennesz was highly rated by many ILM folk when his last album was released in 2001 on [Mego], Endless Summer.

Googlism for: fennesz

fennesz is not one for the easy option
fennesz is one of the current electronic music darlings
fennesz is again content
fennesz is laughing all the way to the gallery opening
fennesz is absolutely beloved by the geekophilic rank
fennesz is off in his own head
fennesz is one of the city's many artists associated with the noted mego label
fennesz is one of vienna's foremost experimental electronic artists on the mego label
fennesz is spearheading a revolution in music
fennesz is van oorsprong gitarist
fennesz is door tal van muziekliefhebbers en critici geprezen als de mooiste elektronicaplaat van 2001
fennesz is one of the most acclaimed artists on the mego roster
fennesz is a very expressionist "one
fennesz is a member of fennoberg with jim o'rourke and peter rehberg
fennesz is the moniker of christian fennesz
fennesz is known for his subtle though occasionally noisy electronic music
fennesz is sinds het vorig jaar verschenen 'endless summer' veel groter geworden en dat rechtvaardigt als opwarmer voor het nieuwe album van
fennesz is the romantic of the much
fennesz is a composer of electronic music for electric guitar
fennesz is arguably the most esoteric of the artists associated with the austrian mego label
fennesz is the best
fennesz is part of the new guard of laptop manipulators dominating electronic music via vienna's mego label
fennesz is an austrian producer and guitarist who makes sublime
fennesz is known for remixing traditional pop tunes beyond recognition
fennesz is a pioneer of superchilled style
fennesz is known for taking pop tunes by mega
fennesz is no god
fennesz is referring to the laptop phenomena
fennesz is able with this album to present something new for the genre mixing noise elements with delicate melody and tonality
fennesz is "fennesz plays" 7"
fennesz is quite handsome
fennesz is what is
fennesz is one of the most innovative proponents of contemporary computer
fennesz is know
fennesz is a pointed comparison
fennesz is on
fennesz is just such a beauty spot on the face of pulchritude
fennesz is most welcome
fennesz is an austrian musician who began his career as an avant rock guitarist
fennesz is one of the most widely respected and imitated electronic musicians of his generation
fennesz is among its
fennesz is involved
fennesz is a fluid stream of
fennesz is presenting us with two forms of glitch
fennesz is actually pretty sedate here
fennesz is certainly carving out a
fennesz is possibly the most prominent of the current onslaught of laptop musicians
fennesz is a mutant post
fennesz is one of the lesser known figures on the austrian mego label
fennesz is really nice as well
fennesz is nothing like the wretched high llamas
fennesz is ilm's new poster boy it seems
fennesz is wonderful in its own right
fennesz is christian fennesz who has cd on mego and has worked with jim o’rourke
fennesz is a recording artist with releases on mego
fennesz is one of the most important and unique composers of our
fennesz is such a precious commodity
fennesz is the hottest thing around
fennesz is an austrian guitarist/keyboardist who uses his own custom
fennesz is operating with radically different tools
fennesz is an austrian
fennesz is a local electronic artist working with max and msp from a 3g poerbook only

(This is a genuine request, BTW, I'm not just being lazy and not doing research. I have to keep up my end of the conversation in certain situations and not sit there feeling like an idiot with my mouth full of teeth...)

anyways. Touch, an interesting label. some catalog gems to S:

Evan Parker & Lawrence Casserley Solar Wind - pre-Parker's E-A Ensemble sax + live processing action. sounds like Xenakis improvised in real-time. fantastic.

Mark van Hoen The Last Flowers from the Darkness - Locust main man solo. proto-triphop, live techno, Eno/Budd or Hollis-type ambience. much to savor here.

the only essential Hafler Trio albums (Mastery of Money, Kill the King)

Soliman Gamil - A Map of Egypt Before the Sands CD. ancient Egyptian music as imagined by modern musicians.

Ken Ikeda - Tzuki (Moon) - no relation. Vini Reilly-like electronics. very Japanese.

so, does this S/D also cover Ash International / Ash [R.I.P.], Tone, Alphaphone, and the bizarre OR label?

I'm not going to tell. But if you guess and you're right, I'll wink or something. ;-)

Hrmm, intriguing... maybe there is some substance to that "Fennesz is ILX's new poster boy..." rumour... (Just kidding! I do NOT even know Fennesz, so let's nip that in the bud.)

(Dammit, we came up with a song that would make the best ringtone the other day, but I promptly forgot it because HSA didn't have a guitar or a keyboard or anything I could actually make *real* music with at his house, and you can hardly work out a ringtone on an oscillator or radioastronomy equipment now, can you?)

I mean, HSA has dared me to go and tape the Metal Machine Mainframe back in the server room with a wonky bit of radioequipment and submit it to Touch and see what they think... ;-)

ha-hem. You're not doing a very good job of guessing, there, Ned.

Now then. I have reviewed all the current people on the list and profess myself slightly befuddled in that half the artist links didn't work. The only person who seemed a vaguely logical candidate was Mark Van Hoen, but I have to say I doubt it.

I can get that sort of thing in the radio systems lab next door (but not necessarily with Evan Parker blowing over the top of it).

I was going to say that it was odd, that he was listed on the front page, but that I couldn't find him in the drop-down thing. But then I looked, and he's on Ash International, apparently.

Is there a difference, and ifso, what?

SETI, whoever he is in real life?

He doesn't go by his real name, he goes under a moniker. I've all but given it away in the past, and no one cottoned on! Come on, Imber was a BIIIIIG clue...

And no, not SETI.

Damn, and he would have got away with it if it wasn't for you pesky kids...

(It was funny how this all came up. Joe and I went out with my friend/conspirator in the EBA last night, and we were sitting talking about computer noise, and Joe was talking about his stuff, and Jesse was all "Oh, have you ever thought of releasing any of your stuff on Touch?" and Joe just grinned and said "Yeah. I've been releasing records on Touch for about eight years now" - I guess you had to be there, but it was very funny.)

I was wrong after all. Shit!

Thanks for the info, guys.

the saxophone with real time processing was also done by lol coxhill in '78/'79 and its on digswell duets on emanem, which i really like.

might check the evan parker out.

[1] A cardboard box in which I keep the CDs, before you all start drooling over some mythical 25 CD set of shortwave radio interference and hippos burping.

Joe had Antiphony out the other night because apparently some of the artwork from it was nicked by an organisation, but I can't comment on that because it might get legal. I shall force him to play it at some point this weekend. (We'll see if he has to leave the room while I play his things the way I have to leave the room if he puts on The Lollies.)

"Oh that's so embarrassing - that was the period when I thought the 500-1500 MHz area of the spectrum was interesting! VLF horizontal line oscillation and 60Hz AC harmonics - what was I thinking?"

Can't see it, myself.

I heard this rumour last night, and I also heard that some tabloid newspaper was digging around, trying to research this, and trying to play it on the angle of "Talk Show Host Michael Aspel has this creepy nephew who RECORDS OTHER PEOPLES TELEPHONE CONVERSATIONS, the pervert!"

Experimentalist music is more fun that I ever guessed!

from the latest David Sylvian e-mail newsletter
Fennesz's new album, "Venice", featuring David Sylvian on Transit is out on March 15th. It will be released later with 2 bonus tracks in Japan.

Touch records have the tracklisting: Fennesz - Venice

Further info on Fennesz website - states a April 26th release in the UK.

Touch # TO:53
12 tracks: 49:05
Artwork & Photography by Jon Wozencroft
UK Release Date: April 26th

revived to ponder recent touch releases ...

am enjoying hildur gudnadottir's without sinking

.

interesting that they've started a new series of "art print + digital downloads" with an image that is probably the one i'd least want to put on my wall (it's from the inner sleeve of the spire sleeve, i think).

"spirit guide to low tech" is incredible huh?

yes. love that record. well overdue for a reissue.

the newish oren ambarchi comp is p excellent l8 nite weeded-out music

hahaha ooooooh not so much anymore

fennesz schtick has become not only dull but utterly dreadful in recent years. the best record he put out is that PLAYS single, in which the alleged "covers" of Stones songs sound nothing like the original. his take on "wall of sound" is so, so boring. rudimentary textures and predictable tonality. not much interesting at all, not even pleasant enough in that passive pastoral way. as far as glitch DSP "new music" is concerned there are loads of more talented electro acoustic sound artists out there with both more ideas and more chops.

rant over.

chops

jana winderen enveloping arctic fish drones omg omg omg

not sure if i like this so much bcuz i think the ocean & fish are so rad or if it really is ~this good~ but damn i hope other ppl listen 2 this

anyone been to the chris watson thing at kew?

also: jana winderen love seconded.

i havent but ive really enjoyed the stuff hes done for touchradio (journey south, sound of islay).

what i really want are some of the ash internation tapes - http://www.ashinternational.com/editions/ash_91_bj_nilsen_draught_1.html. lol @ only releasing 500 copies. of a tape ://///

Is there a new Biosphere album or have I dreamt that?

yeah theres a new one thats cd only iirc

revived again to ponder recent touch releases ...

New Jacaszek and Hildur Gudnadottir albums.

Heard the Hildur Gudnadottir album today and am in love with it.

Also - no mention on this thread of the Touch app, which apparently lets you stream their entire 30-year catalog. I downloaded it this evening - free.

http://youtu.be/XxdMFzae-mE

Thomas Ankersmit - Figueroa Terrace

one of the nicest things i've heard this year.

/thread plummets

I made a playlist of the last 5 years or so of Touch, steadily going through it to see which artists are jumping out at me. The aforementioned Hildur Gudnadottir is high on the list - all of her albums are great. Johan Johannson, Daniel Menche's "Hover," Sohrab, Jacob Kirkegaard... all good. And the Fennesz, Ambarchi, and Biosphere albums from this period are good too.

Most of the Touch catalog, I realize, is unfamiliar territory for me. Once I get through the last five years I'll probably dig into the 2000s, then back further if I have the stamina. It does get to be a bit too much to hear too many of these records in a row.

Enjoying Claire M Singer's "Solas" and Bethan Kellough's "Aven" after a bit of a break from Touch. Enjoying both, a lot. Have also ordered the Simon Scott recording on (related) Tapeworm.

Any thoughts on Touch Movements? (Mostly is it worth £33?)