(2 different cassette covers, both done by Jeremy Gordaneer)
Mark Molnar / Eric Craven : une gnobla en feu
Works in progress recorded in the winter of 2009
side i. Gravel Eaters
side ii. Petrograd Drift
Eric Craven – Drums, Live Loops, Skateboard, Electric Razors, Guitar.
Mark Molnar – Cello, Live Loops, Erhu, Busted Circuits, Pedals.
These are documents of our process while we were trying to figure out which way was forward
Notes:
I had returned to these recordings in the interest of remembering where Mark and I had left off. Also, I thought it might be possible take some of these rehearsal documents and make an edit that would be confounding through the intentional juxtaposition of ideas. After listening to some of what we had captured, I found the these recordings to be confounding enough on their own, to my ears anyway. It was hard for me to make edits that were less than 15 mins. I thought it might be fun to put together some of my favorite moments and share them on cassette. These are definitely ‘works-in-progress.’ Part of what I have enjoyed about compiling some of these sessions was the how much the process is visible. The parts that work… are mostly satisfying because you can hear us getting there.
A few notes on the process:
Musical:
– we worked on some themes
– we gave our selves challenges (what would it sound like if we tried sound like the wu tang but didn’t borrow any musical ideas from them, or Scorn with out any of their gear or Ivan Shapovalov with out a meta narrative)
– we seemed to feel compelled to fill the space with as much sound as possible and when we debriefed it was usually to discuss how we might add more elements.
– pasta was prepared and eaten
Technical:
– I recorded our practices with one stereo microphone
– I made an edit that was too long and passed that to Mark
– Mark cut the edit down to two 20 minute sides of a cassette tape
– Mark made different choices that I would have made and I am always happy to trust Mark’s judgement (but there is some beautiful mostly solo cello that we are missing out on)
Mark and Eric have been working at stuff together since meeting in 2002.
If your curious, listen to this live set from October 26th, 2007 at the Avant Garde Bar in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, (captured on a hand held recorder by Jean-Francois Blanchette)
it was great to practice at the rap machines.
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