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A beautiful edition of only 150 glass mastered CDs in a clear poly sleeve with hand stamped cover and a 22 page full color booklet featuring photos, drawings, and text by Laura Steenberge, with additional text by Michael Winter, Rebecca Lane, and Catherine Lamb. "In medieval chant, music seems to have come from elsewhere. It is the angels that are singing, they said, like gourds hung up for purple martins. By the time notation started coming around, hundreds of chants were already hundreds of years old. New chants followed in their footsteps, trying to seem unwritten. In some monasteries, the monks sang for six hours a day. Through the daily toil of reenacting eternity, subtler shapes become audible. Sometimes the angels show up when the consonants are taken away, or some other change is made that renders the language unintelligible. Swedenborg said there are some angels who speak with U and O and other angels that speak with E and I, but that in the center, inmost heaven, language is made of patterns of numbers. The labor required to hear the angels is mundane and physical. Singing for hours a day sounds idyllic but also laborious. Singing for so long in such reverberant spaces, I wonder about the complexity of harmonics, combination tones or whatever other sonic artifacts that the monastic singers gained sensitivity to. In this collection there is a piece for one performer, a piece for two performers, a piece for three performers, and a piece for four performers. But even in the solo it is about relationships, as the two parts are created with the same breath. The demonic energy is in between things, the sounds cast shadows upon each other." - Laura Steenberge all music by Laura Steenberge Performers: Rebecca Lane - bass flute, voice Catherine Lamb - voice Julia Holter - voice Yannick Goudon - voice Evelyn Saylor - voice  

Laura Steenberge – Piriforms

Recorded the same year as the legendary Osaka Bridge was released, “Bill Wells Presents” is a document of a life changing tour of Scotland and its Highlands by Bill Wells and his friends Kazumi Nikaido, KAMA AINA, Maher Shalal Hash Baz and Tenniscoats. Brought together via Stephen Pastels’ Geographic Records, “Bill Wells Presents” is a reminder of the life affirming musical relationships that can form with the support of labels and funding bodies who act with open minds and hearts. “Bill Wells Presents” contains a condensed version of the Scottish tour, featuring previously unrecorded music from KAMA AINA, Kazumi Nikaido and new compositions written on the occasion of the Scottish tour by Tori Kudo.“Kazumi Nikaido was introduced to me by way of Koki Yahata who was working for the Japanese label P-Vine who had released Also In White (Geographic, 2002). When I toured Japan with Maher Shalal Hash Baz in 2004 Nikaido joined for a couple of the dates and also appeared on GOK (Geographic, 2009). When I first heard her he thought that she was a remarkable artist and mesmerising performer. Similarly, I met Takuji (KAMA AINA) while on the same tour; we did some recording together and he also played and recorded as part of the band in Tokyo. I knew about him previously as we were both on Stephen Pastel’s Geographic Records.That was also how I met and got to know the Kudo family and Tenniscoats. Regarding the music; this record is an attempt to make a condensed version of the full show that was played nightly on the Scottish tour. Everyone played different sets each night, though some were more different than others. However, as far as I know, the CD features the only recording (at Wick) of pieces which Tori wrote for Maher Shalal Hash Baz while on that tour.” - Bill Wells  --- Kazumi Nikaido - guitar, vocalsTakuji Aoyagi - vocals, banjo guitar, percussion, bassSaya - vocals, keyboards, pianoUeno Takashi - guitarReiko Kudo - vocalsTori Kudo - keyboards, piano, guitar, vocalsNamio Kudo - drums, percussion (Tolbooth)Mitch Mitchell - drums, percussion (Aberdeen & Wick)Robert Henderson - trumpet (Tolbooth)Bill Wells - keyboards, piano, bassTracks 1, 4,5, 10-14 & 23 recorded by Dave Lewis at the Tolbooth, Stirling on 13.4.2006Tracks 3, 9 & 21 recorded by Bill Wells at The Lemon Tree, Aberdeen on 16.4. 2006Tracks 2, 6-8, 15-20 & 22 recorded by Bill Wells at Lyth Arts Centre, Wick on 21.4.2006Tracks 1-3 written by Kazumi NikaidoTracks 4, 6 written by Takuji AoyagiTrack 5 written by John OxenhamTracks 7, 9, 10, 11 written by Saya & Ueno TakashiTrack 9 Trad arr. Saya & Ueno TakashiTracks 13 ,14 written by Reiko KudoTracks 12, 15- 21 written by Tori KudoTrack 22 written by Bill WellsTrack 23 written by Reiko Kudo & Bill WellsCover image by Jad Fair, design by Hannah Marine.Thanks to Jackie Shearer, Wendy Niblock, John the bus driver, Alasdair Campbell, William Wilson, Evan Henderson, Gordon Maclean, Koji Saito, Koji Shibuya and Thorsten Lütz.Bill Wells acknowledges the support from the Scottish Art Council’s ‘Tune Up’ award scheme. 

Bill Wells – Bill Wells Presents: Maher Shalal Hash Baz, Tenniscoats, KAMA AINA and Kazumi Nikaido Live in Scotland

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