3
March 1, 2017 For Immediate Release SMALLTOWN SUPERSOUND TO REISSUE DEATHPROD’S TREETOP DRIVE (1994), IMAGINARY SONGS FROM TRISTAN DA CUNHA (1996), AND MORALS AND DOGMA (2004), OUT MAY 5TH PLAYING BIG EARS FESTIVAL ON MARCH 26TH AND NEW YORK ON MARCH 28TH “‘Morals and Dogma’ is heavy without harshness, threatening without theatrics, and it shudders inside a silence so large, it could only follow the end of the world.” Pitchfork on Morals and Dogma, “The 50 Best Ambient Albums of All Time” “[Sten’s] series of influenNal ambient albums – from 1991’s self-released (and charmingly Ntled) casseTe ‘Deep Throat Puke Orgasms’ to 2004’s massively acclaimed ‘final’ opus ‘Morals and Dogma’ rightly secured him a place among the great and good of experimental music.” — FACT Based in Oslo, Norway, composer Helge Sten has been cra]ing this music since the early 90s, a deeply atmospheric, grainy minimalism that slows Nme down and explores the very parNcles of sound itself. The Deathprod concept arose in 1991 when Sten realized his complex array of homemade electronics, samplers, sound processing and analogue effects – cumulaNvely known as the “Audio Virus” – could add a musical dimension above and beyond the merely technical. Almost obsolete samplers and playback devices distort and transform sounds into unrecognizable mutaNons of their former selves. The virus breeds layers of complex and overlapping sonic debris, creaNng a kind of cellular composiNon. Sten is a founder member of Norwegian improvising group Supersilent and has produced records by Motorpsycho, Susanna, Jenny Hval, Arve Henriksen and others. In 1998,

SMALLTOWN SUPERSOUND TO REISSUE DEATHPROD’S … › wp-content › uploads › 2017 › 03 › Deathp… · SMALLTOWN SUPERSOUND TO REISSUE DEATHPROD’S TREETOP DRIVE (1994), IMAGINARY

  • Upload
    others

  • View
    5

  • Download
    0

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

Page 1: SMALLTOWN SUPERSOUND TO REISSUE DEATHPROD’S … › wp-content › uploads › 2017 › 03 › Deathp… · SMALLTOWN SUPERSOUND TO REISSUE DEATHPROD’S TREETOP DRIVE (1994), IMAGINARY

March1,2017ForImmediateRelease

SMALLTOWNSUPERSOUNDTOREISSUEDEATHPROD’STREETOPDRIVE(1994),IMAGINARYSONGSFROMTRISTANDACUNHA(1996),ANDMORALSANDDOGMA(2004),OUTMAY5TH

PLAYINGBIGEARSFESTIVALONMARCH26THANDNEWYORKONMARCH28TH

“‘MoralsandDogma’isheavywithoutharshness,threateningwithouttheatrics,anditshuddersinsideasilencesolarge,itcouldonlyfollowtheendoftheworld.”

—PitchforkonMoralsandDogma,“The50BestAmbientAlbumsofAllTime”

“[Sten’s]seriesofinfluenNalambientalbums–from1991’sself-released(andcharminglyNtled)casseTe‘DeepThroatPukeOrgasms’to2004’smassivelyacclaimed‘final’opus‘MoralsandDogma’rightlysecuredhimaplace

amongthegreatandgoodofexperimentalmusic.”—FACT

BasedinOslo,Norway,composerHelgeStenhasbeencra]ingthismusicsincetheearly90s,adeeplyatmospheric,grainyminimalismthatslowsNmedownandexplorestheveryparNclesofsounditself.TheDeathprodconceptarosein1991whenStenrealizedhiscomplexarrayofhomemadeelectronics,samplers,soundprocessingandanalogueeffects–cumulaNvelyknownasthe“AudioVirus”–couldaddamusicaldimensionaboveandbeyondthemerelytechnical.AlmostobsoletesamplersandplaybackdevicesdistortandtransformsoundsintounrecognizablemutaNonsoftheirformerselves.Thevirusbreedslayersofcomplexandoverlappingsonicdebris,creaNngakindofcellularcomposiNon.StenisafoundermemberofNorwegianimprovisinggroupSupersilentandhasproducedrecordsbyMotorpsycho,Susanna,JennyHval,ArveHenriksenandothers.In1998,

Page 2: SMALLTOWN SUPERSOUND TO REISSUE DEATHPROD’S … › wp-content › uploads › 2017 › 03 › Deathp… · SMALLTOWN SUPERSOUND TO REISSUE DEATHPROD’S TREETOP DRIVE (1994), IMAGINARY

alongsideBiosphere,heelectronicallytransformedthemusicofNorway’sleadingcontemporarycomposer,ArneNordheim.MorerecentlyhecomposedmusicforHarryPartch’slegendaryinventedinstrumentsfortheColognebasedEnsembleMusikfabrik.

NowthecoretrilogyofDeathprodalbumswillbereleasedforthefirstNmeonvinylanddownloadonMay5thviaSmalltownSupersound.CuttovinylbyRashadBeckeratDubplatesandMasteringinBerlin,theyformDeathprod’scompleteofficialcanon.

Americanaudienceswillbeabletoenjoytherichlytextured,hallucinatoryDeathprodexperiencethisspringwhenStenperformsliveinKnoxvilleatBigEarsFes^valonSunday,March26thandNewYorkCityatIssueProjectRoomonTuesday,March28th.

TreetopDriveOriginallyreleasedasalimitedediNonhandmadecasseTebox,thethreepiecesTreetopDrivecrystallizedDeathprod’sspecificmethodofcomposiNon,foundsoundsandtexturallayering.“TreetopDrive”1-3wererecordedliveinconcertin1993,directtotwotrackDATtapeattheTrondheimAcademyofFineArts.Theycombinetheprecisionofdigitalsampling,theunpredictabilityofhomemadeelectronics,andtheesoterictape-echosoundofHansMagnusRyan(Motorpsycho)’sviolin,defininganewspaceinwhichtoperformandcompose.ExisNnginavoidbetweenthearts,contemporarymusicandalternaNveculture,TreetopDrivewascompletedwiththerealizaNon“Towboat”,recordedatAudioVirusLABin1994andreleasedbythelabelMetalArtDiscolaterthesameyear.ThisaudiorestoraNonfromanearly1994mastermeansthealbumhasneversoundedbeTer.

ImaginarySongsfromTristandaCunhaTristandaCunhaintheSouthAtlanNcistheworld’smostremoteisland.Ifyouwanttovisitformorethanoneday,youhavetowaitayearunNlthenextboatarrivestopickyouup.Imagininglifeinsuchalonelyandcut-offenvironmentopensupaspaceforDeathprod’syearningsetofelectronicSOScallsthataredesNnednevertoquitereachoutthroughtheairwaves.ViolinbyOleHenrikMoe,whointroducedStentothewriNngsofaNorwegianexpediNontotheislandinthe1930s,wasrecordedintheforestoutsideOslo,manipulatedandtransferredtophonographicwaxcylinderstogiveanextradimensionofdecay.Thefinaltrackonthealbum,“TheContracepNveBriefcaseII”,wasrecordedliveinconcertbytheNorwegianBroadcastCorporaNon(NRK),andfeaturesfivevocalists,musicalglasses,amusicalsaw,thereminandlayeredelectronics.OriginallyreleasedonCDin500copiesin1996,thealbumhasbeenremasteredin24bit/96kHzhighresoluNonaudiofromtheoriginalmixtapes.

MoralsandDogmaMoralsAndDogmaisaritual.Tenyearsinthemaking,itcontainsfourpieces,recordedbetween1994and1997.ThisisDeathprodatfullintensity,featuringanevenmoreexpansiveandbillowingsoundasStentransformsandblendsthetexturesofviolins,sawandharmonium.Pieceslike“DeadPeoplesThings”and“Tron”wererevisednumerousNmes,eventhoughtheveryfirstversionsofbothwerechosenforthefinalsequencingofthealbum.BothOleHenrikMoeandHansMagnusRyancontributewiththeiruniqueapproachtotheviolin,whileMoeextendsthemetallicandtexturalqualiNesof“Cloudchamber”,uNlizingamusicalsaw.Theharmoniumon“OrgoneDonor’”wasrecordeddirecttocasseTebyHansMagnusRyan,andlatermulN-trackedwithdualviolinsatAudioVirusLAB.“Cloudchamber”islayeredwithelectronictreatmentsofthedecayandnoisefromaMaestroEchoplextape-echomachine,andalsolendsitNtlefromoneofthebeauNfullycra]edmicrotonalinstrumentsofHarryPartch.FirstreleasedonRuneGrammofonin2004,thishasbeenpressedfromthe2004originalhighresoluNonmaster.

DeathprodTourDates(firsteverUSshows):Sun.March26—Knoxville,TN@BigEarsFes^val[^x]

Tue.March28—NewYork,NY@IssueProjectRoom[^x]

Page 3: SMALLTOWN SUPERSOUND TO REISSUE DEATHPROD’S … › wp-content › uploads › 2017 › 03 › Deathp… · SMALLTOWN SUPERSOUND TO REISSUE DEATHPROD’S TREETOP DRIVE (1994), IMAGINARY

TreetopDrive(1994)Tracklist:01.TreetopDrive102.TreetopDrive203.TreetopDrive3

04.Towboat

ImaginarySongsfromTristandaCunha(1996)Tracklist:01.Burntwood02.StonyBeach

03.HotentoTGulch04.BoatharbourBay

05.TheContracepNveBriefcaseII(PartI)06.TheContracepNveBriefcaseII(PartII)

MoralsandDogma(2004)Tracklist:01.Tron

02.DeadPeople’sThings03.OrgoneDonor04.Cloudchamber

Downloadhi-resimages&albumart—hip://pitchperfectpr.com/deathprod/

Pre-orderDeathprodreissues—hip://smarturl.it/deathprod-bcamp

Deathprodonline:twiTer.com/Deathprodsmalltownsupersound.compitchperfectpr.com/deathprod

FormoreinformaNon,contact:SamMcAllister|PitchPerfectPR—[email protected],773-271-6844