Autor: ■davidwallraf

The Auditory Field: Political Acoustics – english translation

text

During the past months I translated three chapters from my book on noise to English. They form a part of the text that addresses the idea of an auditory field of the social that serves as a critical extension of the concept of the soundscape.

Transgressions: Noise and Violence

An introduction to the concept of auditory fields and the relations of noise, force and power in that field.

Ingressions: The Horror and Benefit of Silence

A critique of the discourse on silence that focuses on aggressive uses of quietness and the commodification of silence.

Delimitations: Music and Power

A historical sketch of the relations between power and music. Features Michel Foucault, Italian opera, castration and Muzak.

Unpleasant Knowns & L’Ombilic des Limbes

release

L’Ombilic des Limbes – new song on a single sided 10“ lathe cut disc. Limited edition of 30, shipping starts on 01/23/2023.

Unpleasant Knowns – a five song C20 tape. Austere pop songs with a noise-infection. Limited edition of 15. Starts shipping on January 23rd.

Also available on the 23rd of January: The World Can Be As Sad As It Seems set (sticker and postcard in a Covid-test biohazard bag) and special merch package containing 10“ vinyl, tape, sticker, postcard and a hand made collage (limited edition of five).

Compilations

release

During the past weeks some tracks I did got released on these compilations:

Released on November 25th, the third Rental Yields compilation by Front & Follow is now available. All songs are remixes, one artist ’steals‘ from another to generate ‚yields‘. The project raises money to tackle homelessness in Manchester. My contribution is a remix of the song Silent Night by Manchesters Opium Harlot, now titled Houses in Slow Motion.

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Out on Econore is Flag, featuring the song Fin du Monde, Fin du Mois (previously self released on the ‡ ‡ ‡ tape in 2021).

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Machina ad Noctem has released Landscapes and Emptiness: A Tribute to J. G. Ballard. 35 tracks by different artists, all inspired by the short stories and novels by the legendary Sci-Fi writer. My contribution draws on the 1974 novel Concrete Island. Using a recently acquired old Yamaha organ, I tried to evoke the feeling of being stranded on a median strip surrounded by motorways with only a stash of wine for sustenance.

Against Evil Company

recording

This summer I produced Philomena Lauprecht’s album Against Evil Company. She is an artist from Hamburg who recently moved to Berlin and also plays in the art-pop band Die Maßnahme. Against Evil Company is her first solo recording and I feel honoured by the trust she put into my abilities as a producer/engineer. It is availble as a tape on Philomena’s Bandcamp and will soon be released on Econore records.

Against Evil Company is a re-working of the songbook Divine and Moral Songs for Children, first published in the 1720 by Isaac Watts. It is a collection of little Hymns and Prayers that were recited as songs and poems to direct children onto the right path. Philomena’s re-interpretation of these songs confronts the influential and cognitive power of morality and religion. Against Evil Company is a grim tribute to the aesthetics of hymn-writing. It also contains a cover of Bruce Haack’s 1972 song Rain of Earth.