I'm being well lushed out by this Area C double CD set. 'The Planetarium Project' is a fine collaborative effort between Black Forest/Black Sea, Eyes Like Saucers and Mudboy and is just gorgeous. The first CD unfolds in that pulsing, gently morphing languid way the classic komische/ambient kraut sounds of the 70s, (pioneered by bands such as Tangerine Dream & Cluster) did. See also the recent Emeralds stuff. My record collection is never too stuffed to take in more doe eyed pups such as this, the quality and richness of this floating astral tapestry, being woven lovingly as you listen, is of the highest order. I'm trying to eat a Chinese whilst reviewing this so if I bliss out and start just typing ecstatic MMMMMMmmmmnnMMMMMssssss everywhere then the juxtaposition of steaming duck & analogue floatyness has had me reach some kind of pleasure climax....oh hang on MMMMMMmmmmmNNNNnnnnnnWoooooo! I'm proper out in space with this one, the interstellar effects on track 2 are tremendous, it's like being stuck in a huge space probe, loads of woozy keyboards swooping & screeing all over the place whilst all this hypnotic bloopy stuff keeps happening. Then amongst some endearing rattly crackling, the 70s soft-cushion cosmic mantra returns, a calming drone soothes & settles whilst all forms of stellular lifeforms whizz by! This is totally one of the best things I've heard this week and I've not even time to investigate CD two. Brilliant!
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Sound clips for The Planetarium Project by Area C: on CD at Norman Records UK. CD, Sedimental, SED2CD054, £12.99.
Black Forest/Black Sea, Eyes Like Saucers and Mudboy Double full length cd release limited to 500 copies housed in a stunning and uniquely designed handmade hand assembled letterpress cardstock sleeve by discerning artist Amy Borezo at her Shelter Bookworks studio in Orange, MA.
We have been fans and have closely followed Providence’s Area C project for several years. It was simply a matter of time before we would release something by this dynamic artist and these special recordings presented themselves as the obvious choice. AREA C’S work has always appealed in its ability to be at once hypnotically accessible balanced by subtle and brooding dark elements under the surface. It recalls both post-rock elements as well as the more experimental works of classic 70’s German space rock groups. The live collaborations with the other Providence based artists push Area C's distinctive sound in compelling directions. This document represents over two hours of carefully selected music taken from many evenings of performances.
About The Planetarium Project:
In 2007, Erik Carlson of AREA C came up with the alt-Space idea as a way to explore interactions between sound and space in environments that are not normally viewed or used as venues for art. Its intent is to serve as a medium through which AREA C and other like-minded musicians could create new music that is inspired by and engages with unique architectural locations. An obvious first choice was the Cormack Planetarium, hidden within the slightly threadbare, Victorian-era Museum of Natural History in Providence, RI. These live performances – collaborations between AREA C and Black Forest/Black Sea, Mudboy and Eyes Like Saucers – became the basis of the Planetarium Project.
For each performance, AREA C and the collaborating artist composed a new, largely improvisational piece based on a visual score created by Carlson that corresponded to the planetarium display that he had designed with the planetarium staff, utilizing the planetarium’s Zeiss projector and some of their more antique equipment. Recorded in almost total darkness, these live performances mix in a palette of live instrumentation with samples from of a range of cosmic phenomena, including whistlers, bow shock, and kilometric radiation: all forms of radio emission produced by the magnetic fields of planets and other cosmic bodies. The Planetarium Project weaves these sounds into a fabric that plays between three sets of extremes: analog+digital, electric+acoustic, high tech + low fi.
The dome of the planetarium is filled with millions of tiny perforations. When projected light hits this surface, it produces a blurred effect, causing a slight optical shimmer: a low-fi way of mimicking the shimmer of distance we feel when viewing the real night sky. The music composed for the Planetarium Project was inspired by the way this domed room warps the sounds and images created here, while also wrapping the audience and performers within them.
The tracks:
“The Basin of the Heavens” AREA C + Mudboy (29:52)
“Messier Object 45” AREA C + Jeffrey Alexander from Black Forest/Black Sea (29:59)
“Cassiopeia” AREA C + Black Forest/Black Sea (30:13)
“Lesser Dog, Greater Still” AREA C + Eyes Like Saucers (31:36)
The alt-Space performances were funded through a grant from the Rhode Island State Council.