Out of stock
CD
Graham LAMBKIN-Jason LESCALLEET
“The breadwinner”
“Graham Lambkin-Jason Lescalleet-microphone, tapes, Casio SK-5. Graham Lambkin and Jason Lescalleet are both highly respected artists, with small but intensely hardcore followings. Since 2001, they’ve been gradually moving closer towards realizing a collaborative project, and The Breadwinner is the results of two years of recording, reworking and polishing. Lambkin first entered the public consciousness at 19 when he formed his band The Shadow Ring, in Folkestone, a small town in Kent, England. The band was memorable and built an rabidly passionate fan base because of its sui generis approach, blending elements of folk, noise, cracked electronics, and surrealist poetry, while radically changing the overall formula with each release. A decade of increasingly skewed and inspired work culminated in 2003’s I’m Some Songs, constructed long distance as Lambkin had relocated to the US in 1998. Over the last few years, Lambkin has primarily worked under his own name, most notably with 2007’s brilliant Salmon Run, a precursor to The Breadwinner. Lescalleet has gradually and painstakingly built a compelling discography over the past decade. He uses reel-to-reel tape decks to explore the textures of low fidelity analog sounds and the natural phenomena of old tape and obsolete technology. He is one of a growing list of master producer/musicians, whose skill lies as much in reworking, assembling and mastering the material available as in creating it (or helping create it) in the first place. He has worked with such wide-ranging artists as Ron Lessard, Joe Colley and Phill Niblock, and has released a string of superb solo discs in Mattresslessness (Cut), Electronic Music (RRR) and The Pilgrim (Glistening Examples). This is his second release for Erstwhile, after 2001’s Forlorn Green (with Greg Kelley), and his third is already in preparation, a duo with Bhob Rainey, planned for release in early 2009. The material for The Breadwinner was recorded at Lambkin’s house in upstate NY, over two recording sessions. The duo treated the entire building and its surrounding grounds as a studio, welcoming in outside sounds, which were later kept or eliminated as they felt appropriate. The subtitle on the front cover is “musical settings for common environments and domestic situations”, layering numerous submerged fragments to find beauty in everyday life. “Jason Lescalleet’s influence was palpably present long before the average Joe knew how many L’s were in his last name (or could successfully google it). He spun tape loops with nmperign from the get-go, frequently signified the endings of his characteristically foundation-shaking performances by hurling a nearly indestructible, hundred-pound Peavy amp across the stage, and provided the bulk of the "disaster" in legendary drummer Lawrence Cook’s “Disaster Unit 2000”. But as the smoke cleared and the Peavy met its demise in a white-walled room, it became apparent to an awful lot of people that Lescalleet was making some amazing music; beautifully constructed symphonies of decay born of an intimacy with items and ideas lesser minds might discard: tape machines, lo-bit samplers, the tedium of everyday life. His ability to evoke powerfully complex emotional experiences from such muck made a collaboration with Graham Lambkin practically inevitable. Composer Walter Marchetti once made a statement to the effect that he was seeking to reach the “bottom” of music. Some more diligent attention to this task might lead him to the music of Graham Lambkin. Already marking out a glorious bottom with his former band, The Shadow Ring, Lambkin has pursued a music so removed from prescribed aesthetics that one is flooded by the beauty it seems to ruthlessly avoid. He puts the mundane to tape and carves out its horror, its sweetness, and its unsettling ambivalence. Shrouded in a disarming naiveté, the music leaves the listener ill-prepared for its very adult take on being-in-the-world. We are fortunate that humor can be so black, that we may surrender happily and willingly to an experience not many artists are willing or capable of delivering.” Bhob Rainey
15,00€
Out of stock
2 CD
Graham LAMBKIN – Jason LESCALLEET
“Photographs”
Graham Lambkin and Jason Lescalleet stand side by side in the vanguard of contemporary sound exploration. Since the initiation of their collaborative endeavors in 2006, the duo have crafted a nice combination of audio vérité and musique concrète, together building a highly personal body of work. 2008’s critically acclaimed ’The Breadwinner’ illuminated the artistic potential found in mundane and commonplace circumstances. 2010’s ’Air Supply’ showcased a darker side, nudging the civilian themes of its predecessor into fields of pure abstraction.
“Photographs” brings Lambkin and Lescalleet back again to the questions of self and place. “Photographs” presents a monolithic reappraisal of heritage, both individual and shared, and reevaluates the geographic and societal influence inherent in formative memory. Recorded in Folkestone, England and Worcester, Massachusetts, “Photographs” invites the listener to journey through Lambkin and Lescalleet’s historical registry, places of birth, childhood haunts, locations of enlightenment and kingdoms of despair. “Photographs” welcomes the listener into the houses and homes of Lambkin and Lescalleet’s upbringing. It’s a meet and greet with family and friends, a traipse through ever-changing street scenes, and a document of a fading static past. But “Photographs” is not just a memorial to a time long since spent. Lambkin and Lescalleet take you there and back in celebration of their ancestry, breathing new life into each chapter and event. As a survey of origin and a major artistic statement, “Photographs” proves itself to be a worthwhile investment, and one that brings Lambkin and Lescalleet’s collaboration full circle. The beginning now knows its end, the final part has fallen into place, a plan has worked well and everything is perfect.
Housed in a deluxe UV-varnished 12-panel fold-out digipak, boasting copious site-specific pictorial data, “Photographs” sets the new gold standard for CD design presentation, and provides the music with lavish adornment. Mastered by Jason Lescalleet at Glistening Labs with a running time of over 95 minutes, “Photographs” is an audio/visual treasure trove whose richness and detail will give pleasure enough to last a lifetime.
“Photographs” brings Lambkin and Lescalleet back again to the questions of self and place. “Photographs” presents a monolithic reappraisal of heritage, both individual and shared, and reevaluates the geographic and societal influence inherent in formative memory. Recorded in Folkestone, England and Worcester, Massachusetts, “Photographs” invites the listener to journey through Lambkin and Lescalleet’s historical registry, places of birth, childhood haunts, locations of enlightenment and kingdoms of despair. “Photographs” welcomes the listener into the houses and homes of Lambkin and Lescalleet’s upbringing. It’s a meet and greet with family and friends, a traipse through ever-changing street scenes, and a document of a fading static past. But “Photographs” is not just a memorial to a time long since spent. Lambkin and Lescalleet take you there and back in celebration of their ancestry, breathing new life into each chapter and event. As a survey of origin and a major artistic statement, “Photographs” proves itself to be a worthwhile investment, and one that brings Lambkin and Lescalleet’s collaboration full circle. The beginning now knows its end, the final part has fallen into place, a plan has worked well and everything is perfect.
Housed in a deluxe UV-varnished 12-panel fold-out digipak, boasting copious site-specific pictorial data, “Photographs” sets the new gold standard for CD design presentation, and provides the music with lavish adornment. Mastered by Jason Lescalleet at Glistening Labs with a running time of over 95 minutes, “Photographs” is an audio/visual treasure trove whose richness and detail will give pleasure enough to last a lifetime.
26,00€