(Notes taken from PDF booklet available with download)

Current Obsessions

When approached to put together a release for Linear Obsessional I initially considered providing a long structured solo soprano saxophone piece. This would have excluded the greater part of my current activity and interest. In particular my aspiration to remove performance completely and publish little instructions on the re-creation and manipulation of sound experiences for further experimentation.

On the publicity postcard for the "Unclear" CDR I wrote: "It has sometimes felt that I have played the same tune for over half of my life, having involved myself with the continual refinement of the listening and sound making process and the application of ink or oil pastel on paper.

I have always had my doubts. I cannot see, and cannot conclude by logic, that there is any virtue in taking up the pen, an instrument or a brush. Also, I only recognise beauty on occasions, maybe tasting the air during a thunderstorm over Tarragona, or hearing the hiss of rain as it runs from the roof of the Duomo di Bergamo, or observing the special position of a special ankle in Slovenia, or the smell of a red rose in a Paris hotel room, or disquieting days in Clichy, or twilight throws of a dice amongst crepuscular stars.

I am not sure when an assemblage of words makes a poem, or when form in clay, stone or on canvas becomes art, or when the organisation of sounds creates music. I am often moved by the trivial and remain untouched by the sublime. And yet, these activities I find compelling. They become raptures. It is as things would be if beauty were to conquer both time and truth, banishing the lions of regret, obscuring further that that is already unclear."

Hyperbole! Maybe.

I have not reached the point where I can abandon the performance of music as periods where a saxophone is not available to play are met with a feeling of irritability at best. I have not attained a selfless state with an absence of any fetish for the material products of music but remain a hungry collector of recordings. I'm not planning to stop listening to Beethoven, but sound does not stop where the "music" ends.

Multiplicity

In 1984 100 cassettes were duplicated under the title of "Etwas Zu Essen". The material was recorded during a single day and I did not have the facility to multi-track.

In 2000 I produced the 1st edition of "The 52 Noisy Little Clouds". CDRs of solo saxophone inventions produced at a rate of one per week and delivered to 52 recipients. This was followed in 2009/10 with the 2nd edition. This was a more elaborate affair with each CDR presented in a box with photographs, postcards and other material. Again the premise was to produce a unique recording weekly, but in this instance additional "stock" material was incorporated and multi-tracking available.

"The Unclear" is an ongoing CDR project where only the title is preserved. Sometimes they are issued with the same material, but as pieces become redundant or a better example becomes available, a piece may be replaced.

These Recordings

All of the recording was completed over the period between 21st April 23:00 and 22nd April 23:00. The recordings were then edited and assembled over the following week prior to release. I use headphones a lot and would suggest that this is the best way of listening to these pieces. The greater part of âMalapert and Erraticâ use a selection and arrangement process using the equipment I know best (homemade percussion, game call). Each is presented with as much emotional detachment as I can manage. credits

released 05 February 2012

Performed, Recorded and Produced by Mark Browne between 21st April 23:00 and 22nd April 23:00 2012.

Mark Browne- Soprano and Sopranino Saxophones, Burnt Piano, Percussion, Game Call, Boiling Liquids, Synthesizer, Field Recording and Guitar

plus-circle Add Review

comment

Reviews