shimmer
CD released on dOc recordings in 2004
SHIMMER from the swiss artist JASCH (catalogue
number 6) marks a new step in the development of dOc as it is the first
release without any involvement of label owner Pure (besides dOc8 "Die
Instabilität der Symmetrie" which was a cooperation with Cologne
based label Grob). It therefore stands for the label's conceptual shift
from a platform for documenting solo and collaborative live works to
a release possibility for like minded sound and video artists.
SHIMMER features a mixture of organic and synthetic characters that build crystalline shimmering layered sonic spaces. A constant flow of steadily evolving palettes of rich sound drifts from standstill to hectic, from recognisable instrumental timbre to digital fragments, constantly changing spatial perspectives and acoustic appearance. the most notable sound source for these eight tracks are recordings of string instruments, even though echoes of voices and traces of field recordings evoke an intimate exchange with the sonic materials used for this work.
All eight tracks were recorded during a 4 month time span in spring and summer of 2003. Most of the pieces are direct-to-disk live-recordings, a few were recorded in the studio. all pieces were improvised using custom made soft- and hardware and no edits were applied in postproduction. the main tools use process-based algorithms and open dynamic systems geared towards intuitive and instantaneous interaction.
JASCH is an active musician coming from the fields of improvisation with a background in jazz and electroacoustic music. He holds a degree in jazz doublebass and a masters in digital arts. He has been performing improvised, electroacoustic and audio/visual electronic works in a variety of settings in festivals and clubs all over europe and north america.
Beside his solo works he is member of DYAD, the critically acclaimed live project with american video artist Johnny Dekam, whose collaboration DVD with dOc label owner Pure is released just a the same time.
SHIMMER features a mixture of organic and synthetic characters that build crystalline shimmering layered sonic spaces. A constant flow of steadily evolving palettes of rich sound drifts from standstill to hectic, from recognisable instrumental timbre to digital fragments, constantly changing spatial perspectives and acoustic appearance. the most notable sound source for these eight tracks are recordings of string instruments, even though echoes of voices and traces of field recordings evoke an intimate exchange with the sonic materials used for this work.
All eight tracks were recorded during a 4 month time span in spring and summer of 2003. Most of the pieces are direct-to-disk live-recordings, a few were recorded in the studio. all pieces were improvised using custom made soft- and hardware and no edits were applied in postproduction. the main tools use process-based algorithms and open dynamic systems geared towards intuitive and instantaneous interaction.
JASCH is an active musician coming from the fields of improvisation with a background in jazz and electroacoustic music. He holds a degree in jazz doublebass and a masters in digital arts. He has been performing improvised, electroacoustic and audio/visual electronic works in a variety of settings in festivals and clubs all over europe and north america.
Beside his solo works he is member of DYAD, the critically acclaimed live project with american video artist Johnny Dekam, whose collaboration DVD with dOc label owner Pure is released just a the same time.
see at discogs
shimmer reviews
The first release on dOc not to directly involve label owner pure, Shimmer
marks the debut of a Swiss electronic artist whose work has hitherto
been presented mostly in gallery installations. A collaborator with
American video artist Johnny Dekam in the audiovisual project DYAD,
Jasch favours gradually accumulating effects, predominatly pure tones
and the occasional flash of humour. "Levity's Rainbow", for
example, suggests an appropriate counterbalance to 'gravity'. With a
degree in double bass and a Masters in digital arts, Jasch appears to
have sourced many of his sounds from bowed and plucked strings, their
presence being most noticeable on "Phenotype", which he then
manipulates via his own customised software. The results seethe and
hover, as only installation art can, waiting for someone to pass through
them.
The Wire | UK | 08/04 | 25.000
"...Suoni quasi interamente realizzati con strumenti a corda processati a computer fino a ottenere una polpa acustica dalle forme solo vagamente riconducibili alle originali... si dovrà risalire addirittura alle vecchie cose di Steve Roden per trovare musiche altretanto convincenti nell'ambito di riferimento..."
Jasch
Shimmer · CD Doc Recordings/Demos
È cosi difficile districarsi nella sterminata marea dei dischi realizzati con (o atrraverso) computer che quando si riesche ad acoltare qualcosa che va oltre la media dell'assoluta gratuità viene voglia di gridare miracolo. Stavolta però gli esclamativi saranno ben spesi: Questo CD dello svizzero Jan "Jasch" Schacher non è "semplicemente" bellissimo, è il migliore tra quelli ascoltati in ambito elettroacustico da molto tempo a questa parte.
I suoni di "Shimmer" sono stati quasi interamente realizzati con strumenti a corda (principalmente un cantrabbasso)e poi processati a computer fino a ottenere una polpa acustica dalle forme solo vagamente riconducibili alle originali: e fin qui nulla che non sia stato fatto almeno sette milioni di volte negli ultimi quarant'anni. Quello che rende l'album magico è quindi la maniera, il _senso_ che viene dato all'insieme. Su magmatiche stratificazioni di natura sommariament "ambientale", montanti e fosche, che unifomrano ognuna dell lunghe tracce si ergono altri suoni, altre musiche, altre progressioni, altre manie, como in un quadro che incrosta pian piano colori e volumi sovrapposti affogando altri, in una sorta d'inane corsa verso l'emersione. Il mood del discho ricorda da vicino quello che s'avverte nei lavori di John Wall, per quanto distanti siano le chartteristiche e le modalità di produzione dei due musicisti. Stesso il background jazzistico e "contemporaneo" degli autori e medesimo il feeling cupo e introverso di cui adombrano le musiche; ma laddove Wall adatta alla propria indole i suoni carpiti ad altri mantenendo un minimo di personalità e libertà a ciascuno di essi, Jasch construisce un monumento coerente solo a sé, piega la musica al suo volere, rende l'insieme un'esperienza non più di (starordinario) artigianato ma di esaltazione perosnalistica. Quello che ne deriva è letteralmente sorprendente: le minacciose perturbazioni di Archipetlia Auriculata e Shimmer, gli orrorifici movimenti di percussioni grattugiate di Java House PM, l'austera distruttività neoclassicista di Morphogenesis e Nanosphere Nenuphar, le inquitanti palpitazioni di Illicit Ripple e Phenotype e l'effettictica dub de Levity's Rainbow monstrano un autore capace come pochi altri oggigiorno di dare forma compiuta a un malessere perfettamente, quasi chiruricamente, osservato e analizzato.
Difficile prevedere la fortuna che potrà avere questo CD in un'epoca in cui tutto si parcellizza e frammenta, dalle uscite discografiche alle scelte della critica, dalle opzioni dei canali distributivi ai gusti del pubblico. Sarebbe un delitto però vederlo scomparire nel nulla perché si dovrà risalire addirittura alle vecchie cose di Steve Roden per trovare musiche altretanto convincenti nell'ambito di riferimento. (8) Stefano I. Bianchi
Blow Up | IT | 06/04 | 12.000
Hypnotisch ist das einzige Wort, was mir zu diesem Werk einfällt. Der Schweizer JASCH frickelt auf 8 Tracks mit Sounds vor sich hin, so dass es früher oder später einfach dazu führen müssen, dass man etwas wegtritt und in den Klängen gefangen ist. Vor allem Streichinstrumente, aber auch digitale Sounds und Field Recordings werden geloopt, durch Effekte geschickt und verfremdet, ohne dass dabei jemals das Gefühl des Chaos oder Der Unkoordiniertheit ensteht, auch wenn fast alle Stücke reine Improvisationen sind. Schön, dass es auch noch solche Improvisationsansätze gibt, die nicht in Noise und Chaos enden. (C:S:)
Black | DE | 06/04 | 5.000
Swiss based artist, Jasch, has been working as an electronic musician in the art world for some time now, providing haunting soundscapes for challenging visuals and installations. Shimmer is his debut solo release, bringing to the home what his sounds have brought to galleries around the world.
The opening track Morphogen is an ambient triumph, that takes the listener to an isolated place with distant radio echoes, strings of doom and crackles that fade in and out of the mix. Soaring sounds break through around the six minute mark before the gentle ambience returns, only to break down at the end to a discordant crescendo.
Unfortunately, Jasch peaks too soon, as the remaining tracks pretty much follow the same template. Only Levity's Rainbow breaks the self-imposed mould by providing perfect music to walk through cities by - distant urban ambience punctures the lonely sounds and shimmering distant strings.
As an example of art-house-tronica, Shimmer is the equal of its peers, but the weakness of the genre remains - much of the music does not work without the visual art to act as a counterbalance. It's also sadly predictable - start slow, build gently, big noise to wake you up then irritating sounds to finish. 5.5/10
http://www.barcodezine.com/revjaschshimmer01062004.htm
Der schweizer Klangkünstler Jasch, im Freejazz und der Elektroakustik beheimatet, bestreitet die erste Veröffentlichung des dOc-Labels, die ohne Beteiligung des Labelchefs Pure auskommt. Die vorliegende - optisch sehr düster gestaltete - CD "Shimmer" schließt auf ungewöhnliche Weise an die atmophärisch-flirrenden Streicherkompositionen Gjörgy Ligetis an, die man aus dem Film 2001 kennen dürfte, wobei er diese Geste der Neuen Musik konfrontiert mit konsequentem Postindustrialismus: sägenden Störfrequenzen, Klicken und Metallklirren, die sich über die Flächen legen. Hier werden keine bekannten Formen reproduziert, sondern als Arbeitsgrundlage für einen erstaunlich zeitgenössischen Soundtrack verarbeitet. Dekonstruktivistische Ausbrüche und Exzesse erwartet man indes vergebens: am Stück gehört, baut diese CD eine Spannung auf, die sich nicht löst - und somit weiter beschäftigt bis zum nächsten Hören. :ms:
http://www.ikonenmagazin.de/rezension/Indmai2004.htm#
Le long passif des musiques dark-atmosphériques et leur relative diffusion n'aura pourtant pas oeuvré à démocratiser le genre et à en diffuser les effets. Jasch explore dans ce domaine les marges les plus expérimentales, les formes les plus empiriques et tentent au détour de 4 longues pièces d'en définir les contours incertains. Doc, outre être le label de l'artiste Pure (travaux sur Mego, notamment) et en quelque sorte son excroissance, puisque les 5 précédentes productions du
label étaient de ce dernier. Dans les travaux du Suisse Jasch, il est ici question de Fields recording, de strates perturbées, de sources acoustiques, de fragments digitaux, de climats environnementaux et organiques, de populations de l'infiniment
petit. Une étude pour faire la lumière sur l'obscurité.
http://www.pastis.org/jade/jade.htm
http://www.xs4all.nl/~phosphor/newreleases.html
The Swiss artist Jasch holds a degree in jazz doublebass and a master in digital arts, bringing together two seperate worlds.
His latest release entitled Shimmer offers an electronic instrumental approach, where the jazz influences are hardly to be found. Jasch presents eight tracks, featuring beautiful sonic layers, created by custom made soft- and hardware.
Heading off with excellent sensitive strings, the album continues with high frequency pulses and warm electronic layers. The third and fourth piece seem to have a more mathematical approach or theme, in which repetition and rhythm are put into certain formulas, constantly changing, but in logical order. And maybe this is the jazz background that helps Jasch here. Each sound, is it electronic or acoustic falls in place. The recognizable intrumental timbres mix with digital fragments in a sophisticated way, creating constanstanly evolving musical palettes that keep the listener fascinated till the very end.
One of the most interesting elecro-acoustic outputs lately.
http://www.xs4all.nl/~phosphor/newreleases.html
From a Swiss artist comes this digital pastiche that touches many points hovering around with no chance of decisive definition. "Shimmer" is variegated and alluring; its timbral fluctuations remind of minimalism, tape composition a la William Basinski, impressionistic acousmatics. Jasch works without presumption, exploring concepts, trying to give cohesion to a mass of potentially straggling sounds; he certainly succeeds through surprising assignments and surefooted perspectives. Mostly made of malleable materials, this record keeps your interest level quite high and it's surely not likely to be used as background music
touching extremes dot org
Avant de recevoir ce CD, je ne connaissais pas le label dOc, pourtant il s'agit ici de leur sixième sortie.
Il s'avère que Jasch, un musicien suisse actif dans l'accousmatique et dans le free jazz, n'en est pas à son coup d'essai. Honte à moi qui n'ai jamais entendu ses travaux. Mais après l'écoute de ce shimmer j'ai grandement envie de combler cette lacune. Ses deux influences ont été généreusement fusionnées : sonorités concrètes répétitives sur une toile de fond d'instruments à cordes manipulés. L'album a été enregistré en 2003, dont la plupart des tracks en live. Une seule constante: l'improvisation sans post-production. Entreprise à risque mais qui ici est plutôt convaincante. Bien sûr, le style ne brille pas par son originalité, on s'approche même fortement de certaines compositions contemporaines des années 70, mais le CD est suffisamment intéressant pour qu'on s'y attarde quelque temps. Un bon album, pas indispensable, mais bien plus qu'anecdotique !
http://www.surrealsound.net/chroniques/j_011.html
Grollen und Grummeln im Digital Arts Lager
Neues vom dOc Label, doch dieses mal ohne die hörbare Beteiligung vom Labelboss Peter Votava aka DJ Pure.
Die Ehre, die erste Veröffentlichung auf dem Label zu haben, bei der Pure seine Finger nicht am Instrumentenpark hatte, wird dem Schweizer Jasch zuteil, welcher als Teil von DYAD erst kürzlich eine gemeinsame DVD mit Pure auf dOc veröffentlicht hat.
Angesichts dieser Referenzen in Form von “puren" Namedropping sollte klar sein, dass es auch bei Jasch streckenweise ganz schön finster zugehen kann. Auch wenn “Shimmer" kein klassischer Darkambient ist, sind die Klangräume, die hier erforscht werden, weit davon entfernt, als “hell und freundlich" charakterisiert werden zu können. Es grollt und grummelt im Bassbereich, dazu gruppieren sich permanent verändernde Klangschichten unterschiedlichster Herkunft (von völlig unidentifizierbar bis zu bearbeiteten Saiteninstrumenten und metallischen Objekten). 4/6
Sascha Bertoncin
http://www.triggerfish.de/magazin/home.cfm?p=7640&CFID=15373728&CFTOKEN=55359657
The Wire | UK | 08/04 | 25.000
"...Suoni quasi interamente realizzati con strumenti a corda processati a computer fino a ottenere una polpa acustica dalle forme solo vagamente riconducibili alle originali... si dovrà risalire addirittura alle vecchie cose di Steve Roden per trovare musiche altretanto convincenti nell'ambito di riferimento..."
Jasch
Shimmer · CD Doc Recordings/Demos
È cosi difficile districarsi nella sterminata marea dei dischi realizzati con (o atrraverso) computer che quando si riesche ad acoltare qualcosa che va oltre la media dell'assoluta gratuità viene voglia di gridare miracolo. Stavolta però gli esclamativi saranno ben spesi: Questo CD dello svizzero Jan "Jasch" Schacher non è "semplicemente" bellissimo, è il migliore tra quelli ascoltati in ambito elettroacustico da molto tempo a questa parte.
I suoni di "Shimmer" sono stati quasi interamente realizzati con strumenti a corda (principalmente un cantrabbasso)e poi processati a computer fino a ottenere una polpa acustica dalle forme solo vagamente riconducibili alle originali: e fin qui nulla che non sia stato fatto almeno sette milioni di volte negli ultimi quarant'anni. Quello che rende l'album magico è quindi la maniera, il _senso_ che viene dato all'insieme. Su magmatiche stratificazioni di natura sommariament "ambientale", montanti e fosche, che unifomrano ognuna dell lunghe tracce si ergono altri suoni, altre musiche, altre progressioni, altre manie, como in un quadro che incrosta pian piano colori e volumi sovrapposti affogando altri, in una sorta d'inane corsa verso l'emersione. Il mood del discho ricorda da vicino quello che s'avverte nei lavori di John Wall, per quanto distanti siano le chartteristiche e le modalità di produzione dei due musicisti. Stesso il background jazzistico e "contemporaneo" degli autori e medesimo il feeling cupo e introverso di cui adombrano le musiche; ma laddove Wall adatta alla propria indole i suoni carpiti ad altri mantenendo un minimo di personalità e libertà a ciascuno di essi, Jasch construisce un monumento coerente solo a sé, piega la musica al suo volere, rende l'insieme un'esperienza non più di (starordinario) artigianato ma di esaltazione perosnalistica. Quello che ne deriva è letteralmente sorprendente: le minacciose perturbazioni di Archipetlia Auriculata e Shimmer, gli orrorifici movimenti di percussioni grattugiate di Java House PM, l'austera distruttività neoclassicista di Morphogenesis e Nanosphere Nenuphar, le inquitanti palpitazioni di Illicit Ripple e Phenotype e l'effettictica dub de Levity's Rainbow monstrano un autore capace come pochi altri oggigiorno di dare forma compiuta a un malessere perfettamente, quasi chiruricamente, osservato e analizzato.
Difficile prevedere la fortuna che potrà avere questo CD in un'epoca in cui tutto si parcellizza e frammenta, dalle uscite discografiche alle scelte della critica, dalle opzioni dei canali distributivi ai gusti del pubblico. Sarebbe un delitto però vederlo scomparire nel nulla perché si dovrà risalire addirittura alle vecchie cose di Steve Roden per trovare musiche altretanto convincenti nell'ambito di riferimento. (8) Stefano I. Bianchi
Blow Up | IT | 06/04 | 12.000
Hypnotisch ist das einzige Wort, was mir zu diesem Werk einfällt. Der Schweizer JASCH frickelt auf 8 Tracks mit Sounds vor sich hin, so dass es früher oder später einfach dazu führen müssen, dass man etwas wegtritt und in den Klängen gefangen ist. Vor allem Streichinstrumente, aber auch digitale Sounds und Field Recordings werden geloopt, durch Effekte geschickt und verfremdet, ohne dass dabei jemals das Gefühl des Chaos oder Der Unkoordiniertheit ensteht, auch wenn fast alle Stücke reine Improvisationen sind. Schön, dass es auch noch solche Improvisationsansätze gibt, die nicht in Noise und Chaos enden. (C:S:)
Black | DE | 06/04 | 5.000
Swiss based artist, Jasch, has been working as an electronic musician in the art world for some time now, providing haunting soundscapes for challenging visuals and installations. Shimmer is his debut solo release, bringing to the home what his sounds have brought to galleries around the world.
The opening track Morphogen is an ambient triumph, that takes the listener to an isolated place with distant radio echoes, strings of doom and crackles that fade in and out of the mix. Soaring sounds break through around the six minute mark before the gentle ambience returns, only to break down at the end to a discordant crescendo.
Unfortunately, Jasch peaks too soon, as the remaining tracks pretty much follow the same template. Only Levity's Rainbow breaks the self-imposed mould by providing perfect music to walk through cities by - distant urban ambience punctures the lonely sounds and shimmering distant strings.
As an example of art-house-tronica, Shimmer is the equal of its peers, but the weakness of the genre remains - much of the music does not work without the visual art to act as a counterbalance. It's also sadly predictable - start slow, build gently, big noise to wake you up then irritating sounds to finish. 5.5/10
http://www.barcodezine.com/revjaschshimmer01062004.htm
Der schweizer Klangkünstler Jasch, im Freejazz und der Elektroakustik beheimatet, bestreitet die erste Veröffentlichung des dOc-Labels, die ohne Beteiligung des Labelchefs Pure auskommt. Die vorliegende - optisch sehr düster gestaltete - CD "Shimmer" schließt auf ungewöhnliche Weise an die atmophärisch-flirrenden Streicherkompositionen Gjörgy Ligetis an, die man aus dem Film 2001 kennen dürfte, wobei er diese Geste der Neuen Musik konfrontiert mit konsequentem Postindustrialismus: sägenden Störfrequenzen, Klicken und Metallklirren, die sich über die Flächen legen. Hier werden keine bekannten Formen reproduziert, sondern als Arbeitsgrundlage für einen erstaunlich zeitgenössischen Soundtrack verarbeitet. Dekonstruktivistische Ausbrüche und Exzesse erwartet man indes vergebens: am Stück gehört, baut diese CD eine Spannung auf, die sich nicht löst - und somit weiter beschäftigt bis zum nächsten Hören. :ms:
http://www.ikonenmagazin.de/rezension/Indmai2004.htm#
Le long passif des musiques dark-atmosphériques et leur relative diffusion n'aura pourtant pas oeuvré à démocratiser le genre et à en diffuser les effets. Jasch explore dans ce domaine les marges les plus expérimentales, les formes les plus empiriques et tentent au détour de 4 longues pièces d'en définir les contours incertains. Doc, outre être le label de l'artiste Pure (travaux sur Mego, notamment) et en quelque sorte son excroissance, puisque les 5 précédentes productions du
label étaient de ce dernier. Dans les travaux du Suisse Jasch, il est ici question de Fields recording, de strates perturbées, de sources acoustiques, de fragments digitaux, de climats environnementaux et organiques, de populations de l'infiniment
petit. Une étude pour faire la lumière sur l'obscurité.
http://www.pastis.org/jade/jade.htm
http://www.xs4all.nl/~phosphor/newreleases.html
The Swiss artist Jasch holds a degree in jazz doublebass and a master in digital arts, bringing together two seperate worlds.
His latest release entitled Shimmer offers an electronic instrumental approach, where the jazz influences are hardly to be found. Jasch presents eight tracks, featuring beautiful sonic layers, created by custom made soft- and hardware.
Heading off with excellent sensitive strings, the album continues with high frequency pulses and warm electronic layers. The third and fourth piece seem to have a more mathematical approach or theme, in which repetition and rhythm are put into certain formulas, constantly changing, but in logical order. And maybe this is the jazz background that helps Jasch here. Each sound, is it electronic or acoustic falls in place. The recognizable intrumental timbres mix with digital fragments in a sophisticated way, creating constanstanly evolving musical palettes that keep the listener fascinated till the very end.
One of the most interesting elecro-acoustic outputs lately.
http://www.xs4all.nl/~phosphor/newreleases.html
From a Swiss artist comes this digital pastiche that touches many points hovering around with no chance of decisive definition. "Shimmer" is variegated and alluring; its timbral fluctuations remind of minimalism, tape composition a la William Basinski, impressionistic acousmatics. Jasch works without presumption, exploring concepts, trying to give cohesion to a mass of potentially straggling sounds; he certainly succeeds through surprising assignments and surefooted perspectives. Mostly made of malleable materials, this record keeps your interest level quite high and it's surely not likely to be used as background music
touching extremes dot org
Avant de recevoir ce CD, je ne connaissais pas le label dOc, pourtant il s'agit ici de leur sixième sortie.
Il s'avère que Jasch, un musicien suisse actif dans l'accousmatique et dans le free jazz, n'en est pas à son coup d'essai. Honte à moi qui n'ai jamais entendu ses travaux. Mais après l'écoute de ce shimmer j'ai grandement envie de combler cette lacune. Ses deux influences ont été généreusement fusionnées : sonorités concrètes répétitives sur une toile de fond d'instruments à cordes manipulés. L'album a été enregistré en 2003, dont la plupart des tracks en live. Une seule constante: l'improvisation sans post-production. Entreprise à risque mais qui ici est plutôt convaincante. Bien sûr, le style ne brille pas par son originalité, on s'approche même fortement de certaines compositions contemporaines des années 70, mais le CD est suffisamment intéressant pour qu'on s'y attarde quelque temps. Un bon album, pas indispensable, mais bien plus qu'anecdotique !
http://www.surrealsound.net/chroniques/j_011.html
Grollen und Grummeln im Digital Arts Lager
Neues vom dOc Label, doch dieses mal ohne die hörbare Beteiligung vom Labelboss Peter Votava aka DJ Pure.
Die Ehre, die erste Veröffentlichung auf dem Label zu haben, bei der Pure seine Finger nicht am Instrumentenpark hatte, wird dem Schweizer Jasch zuteil, welcher als Teil von DYAD erst kürzlich eine gemeinsame DVD mit Pure auf dOc veröffentlicht hat.
Angesichts dieser Referenzen in Form von “puren" Namedropping sollte klar sein, dass es auch bei Jasch streckenweise ganz schön finster zugehen kann. Auch wenn “Shimmer" kein klassischer Darkambient ist, sind die Klangräume, die hier erforscht werden, weit davon entfernt, als “hell und freundlich" charakterisiert werden zu können. Es grollt und grummelt im Bassbereich, dazu gruppieren sich permanent verändernde Klangschichten unterschiedlichster Herkunft (von völlig unidentifizierbar bis zu bearbeiteten Saiteninstrumenten und metallischen Objekten). 4/6
Sascha Bertoncin
http://www.triggerfish.de/magazin/home.cfm?p=7640&CFID=15373728&CFTOKEN=55359657