Review: Dead Edits Present Stefan Weisser’s Editeditions & Contexts: A Forgery (lathe cut, CDR, visual/textual supplements)

Frans de Waard wrote a very thorough and kind review of this release in the Dec. 8 2015 Vital Weekly.

Extract below, full review at Vital Weekly: http://www.vitalweekly.net/1010.html

"Before I started to play this, I took out the original 7" (which as a true Z'EV fan I have!) and played that again, albeit only at 33 rpm (one can play this at any speed). Voices rotate in loops along with sounds of bottles being smashed and other sounds. Quite hypnotic music but it is not without variation. A fine record, but not something I would easily pick out to rework. Dead Edits, however, did.

For the lathe cut version, Edwards recorded the music from unamplified copy by placing a microcassette close to the needle; just that, but also picking up any other sound from the room, motors, and assorted other noise. All of this remains very quiet and one cannot recognize the original easily.

The CDR has much more audible pieces and here Dead Edits apply their more 'usual' process of playing their music in all sorts of strange manners, picking the sound from small speakers, lo-fi Dictaphones, cutting up mixes, adding their own voices and a constant cut-up. Unlike the original, which is very looping based, the music here is not entirely loop based. It's of course there, but the voice of Lunde plays an important role and effectively creates more poetry, in new contexts.

There is some excellent variation in these nine pieces, ranging from pure sound poetry to industrial loops and all of that in the best lo-fi musique concrete tradition—just as one would expect from Dead Edits.

An excellent release: much food for thought."

Dead Edits Present Stefan Weisser’s Editeditions & Contexts: A Forgery (lathe cut, CDR, visual/textual supplements)

Dead Edits are aiming to put the con in “conceptual recordings,” while also freely modifying Lautreamont’s edict, “plagiarism is necessary, progress implies it—and a sense of humor doesn’t hurt.” Before I cover what constitutes this release, I will note we not only received Z’EV’s blessing (and amused laughter) before proceeding but also received a set of 12 (printer here as six) previously unseen cut ups by the man himself, executed around the time of the original 7” release in 1983.

So, the contents. Lathe: I recorded, on microcassette, the sound of the needle moving as I played an unamplified copy of the original Stefan Weisser: Editeditions & Contexts 7”, with the needle’s contact providing all (any) original audio. By recording on tape, the audio quality (with factors including recording speed, noise of the playback motors, room ambience, and, eventually, playback speed when I played back the microcassette to dump it onto the computer) also was affected—as a result, neither side of the forgery matches up with the times of the original source material.

CDR: (further permutations of the source material: edited, cut, re-edited, recut. 

Visuals: First, Eric hand drew every single record “jacket.” That’s dedication. 

(you can't tell'em apart, can ya?)

He also hand traced the original record’s inserts, and performed reduplicative processes on another. If that weren’t enough, he made a Weissermobile (a nod to his own book, Short Bursts of Light, perhaps?) 

For my part, I photocopied several of the original inserts, at times with a sheet of crumpled wax paper between the paper and the copier face, and duplicated, enlarged, shrank, rotated, and layered the copies. I executed the same copying process with the original (clear) 7” vinyl, and then combined and permutated ~those~ two elements. Combined with Z’EV’s 12 previously unseen cut ups, the end result is a whopping 28 double sided inserts, (3/8” worth of graphics!) all printed on nice heavy stock cover paper. All of this is housed for easy containment in a stamped reel to reel box with relevant graphics on the interior of the box.

The release is in an edition of 20 numbered copies, of which 15 are for sale. The cost is $48 ppd in the United States, with variable shipping costs incurred by those outside of the United States. Please contact me at vertonen (at) earthlink (dot) net for information.
Thank you,
Blake

Bibletron Studies 9 x 3" CDR set now available

Such back to back releases are going to be far from the norm for this label, but since a major goal was to debut the release September 19 at the Milwaukee Noise Fest, I figured, let's keep rolling.

NVP04: Bibletron Studies 9 x 3” CDR box (three discs each by The Kingston Family Singers, PCRV, and Vertonen)

Dan Schierl, Bibletron creator, in his own words: “I began building Bibletrons when my modular synth work was getting too complex. By limiting an entire electronic instrument to what could be crammed into a hollowed-out Gideon Bible, it ensured that the result would be extremely primitive--no room for knobs on pots, wires and components in plain view.
”    

Before Dan went into production (a run of 20), he asked three artists for their feedback on the device--what worked, what was challenging--and to hear what they did with it.
    

Unsurprisingly, we three knew one another, and the idea was soon bounced to do a release that showcased the Bibletron’s capabilities. Each of us also included an insert that explains a bit about how we incorporated the Bibletron into our gear.

With sounds ranging from explosive noise to near silent crackles and hum to swimming percolating synth sounds, this collection of recordings represents both what we three artists do and the diverse possibilities of the Bibletron. 

I encourage you to explore more about the devices here:

https://www.facebook.com/bibletrons

The release is in an edition of 33 copies and is $22 ppd in the United States, with variable shipping costs incurred by those outside of the United States. Please contact me at vertonen (at) earthlink (dot) net for information.
Thank you,
Blake

Vertonen: Send The Call Out Send 2 CDR set now available.

I am pleased to announce the third release on ballast, Vertonen: Send the Call Out Send.

This release is the second in a series of longer form drone works I have been undertaking, although I would contend the second disc delves into more musique concrete directions.

The release also comes with a collection of texts, manipulated from the Biblical Book of Lamentations, tied together with a thread. These cards also feature hand-written texts that are my effort at translating/transcribing other, related, texts into an ancient alphabet.

The release is in an edition of 33 copies and comes in a silkscreened envelope with silkscreened CD sleeves. The release is $16 ppd in the United States, with variable shipping costs incurred by those outside of the United States. Please contact me at vertonen (at) earthlink (dot) net for information.
Thank you,
Blake

Two Recent Vertonen Reviews

Pleased to receive both a review of Cast Away, a cassette I did for Readymade Tapes Quality Since 1893, in the quietus and Frans de Waard's kind words in Vital Weekly about the newest ballast release, utterer.

highlights (for me) of each review below, and links to the full reviews as well.

from the quietus (the actual review is near the bottom of the page) re: the Cast Away cassette:
http://thequietus.com/articles/18165-rum-music-russell-cuzner-2

The release only states that the piece [on side one] includes recordings made at Elsie Paroubek's grave, but a Wikipedia search reveals the longer story of the missing five year old whose body was eventually found in the city's canal believed to have been strangled. The distressing tale makes sense of Vertonen’s choice of additions to the everyday ambience of the graveyard: an organ grinder solemnly plays linking to the last reported sighting of Elsie, apparently in awe of such a street entertainer as he moved his pitch with her and her cousins in tow; and incorporating the National Anthem of the Czech Republic refers to the nationality of Elsie's immigrant parents. These layers intertwine and decompose under a title that translates as "Is that you my dear?" to form a grisly sonic séance.
from Vital Weekly re: utterer:
http://vitalweekly.net/988.html

These five parts - distinct as they are, but cut as one piece, and in these pieces there is in general a static approach to the word 'drone', with very minimal changes in the effects that are used. Maybe these changes come from the original source material, but more likely from hand manipulations by Edwards. The third part is very short and acts as a bridge; the fifth part is the longest at almost thirty minutes and is the best part of it all: slowly changing within given parameters, along organ-like drone sounds. This is an excellent work for late night listening.

I have limited copies of Cast Away available at $7 ppd US. If you are overseas, please contact me at vertonen (at) earthlink (dot) net for shipping information.

thank you,

Blake

Vertonen: utterer CDR now available

I am pleased to announce the second release on ballast, Vertonen: utterer. It is a long-form drone work based on a ten-minute vocal drone that Anthony Dunn (vocalist for the doom metal band Sun Splitter) did.

The release is in an edition of 33 copies and comes in a silkscreened envelope with six double sided inserts featuring Anthony's artwork.

The release is $8 ppd in the United States, with variable shipping costs incurred by those outside of the United States. Please contact me at vertonen (at) earthlink (dot) net for information.

Thank you,

Blake

Vertonen: The Decay That Stays Behind Lingers Beyond sub-edition now available.

I picked up the screened sleeves today from Erin (Kill Hatsumomo) and she of course nailed it...I had asked her to make the sleeves look different from the regular edition, and she delivered.

This sub-edition (of 35 copies) was prompted by an overrun by the disc manufacturer, and it consists of the following four items: the two CDRs, the DVDR, and the 12 page booklet. The inside cover of the booklet is stamped, signed, and numbered.

These are $15 each ppd in the United States, with variable shipping costs incurred by those outside of the United States. Please contact me at vertonen (at) earthlink (dot) net for information.

Thank you,

Blake