ARBOR
145; 12"EP
CLOAKED LIGHT / PALE BLUE SKY SPLIT
 |
Working together, but
differently. Clear Of,
shows Cloaked Light working within a new mode; an expanded temporal
sensitivity through field recording and discrete static chords.
Slow movement- revealing growth and decay at the subtlest thresholds;
disappearing music with a heavy presence, a shifting sense of space,
not in the room, but of the room. Pale Blue Sky’s Someday, Sometime
approaches a similar expansion of perception and unobscuring blur.
Through tape manipulation, the inner workings of tonal relationships
are placed under focus; extending time to reveal new moments; widening
the view. Distorting to understand; a reorienting pause.
Originally conceived to coincide with the Cloaked Light / Pale Blue Sky
California tour with Pedestrian Deposit, Infinite Body, Earn, and
Mirror to Mirror in January 2010; a testament to a common point and
it’s different trajectories. Approaching the possibility.
Mastered by Pete Swanson; cut at 45 rpm. In an edition of 400
copies with glossy jackets and inner sleeves.
sample: cloaked light 'clear of,'
(excerpt)
sample: pale blue sky
'someday, sometime'
(excerpt)
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ARBOR
140; 7"EP
RYAN GARBES REAL SUGAR
B/W THE LIGHTS
 |
Ryan Garbes is the drummer of
Iowa City bands such as Wet Hair, Dunebuggy, Trash Dog, and formerly
Raccoo-oo-oon. His recordings under his own name represent a unique
brand of solo multi-track recording with a seamless integrity; through
a skillful use of instrumentation and recording technique, Garbes
eschews notions of low fidelity for songs reminiscent of traditional
American garage rock produced in the haze of an early 90’s UK
aesthetic. Genuine pop songs, cloaked in a comforting wash
of reverb, as if Lou Reed had done a record for Creation; more ecstatic
than obstructed Garbes’ voice is a refreshing one outside the continuum
of contemporary four-track bedroom pop. In an edition of 300
copies with full color sleeve and printed labels by Ryan.
sample: the lights
(excerpt)
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ARBOR
138; LP ALBUM
CONCERN CÆSAREAN
 |
As
Concern, Gordon Ashworth has explored drone music through an inspection
of the textural components of acoustic instruments and recording
processes. On Cæsarean
the palette presented is a singularly precise one. Using simple
sources (piano, clarinet, banjo, shrutti box, and acoustic guitar),
tape processing (1/4” and cassette), and reverberation, Ashworth crafts
delicate tape music through transforming repetitions and obscured
fidelity. The emotional and physical presence of Cæsarean
is overwhelming; sounding simultaneously natural and alien.
The instrumentation and field recordings are both stripped of their
defining characteristics; creating a balance between the harmonic
characters of both, a pure transformation empty of excess and
desire. Time held in suspension. Released on compact disc
by Slow Flow (Japan). In an edition of 500 copies with black and
white reverse board jackets and printed labels.
sample: mending
(excerpt)
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ARBOR
137; 12"EP
PALE BLUE SKY SHADES OF GREY
 |
Pale Blue Sky is the new project
from Mike Pollard (formerly Treetops). Shades Of Grey is the project’s
genesis; a long considered transition uniting the organic drone-work of
the former project with compositional structures. The recordings
embody a delicate sense of distance; staring out at the moving
landscape obscured by the mediation of the window. Through
blurred fidelity the origin of melody is placed under microscopic
inquiry; an exploration into the moment of tonal interaction.
Pale Blue Sky utilizes repetition and non-linear movements, attempting
to reconcile simplicity, form, and sentiment through modes of
difference. Placing focus on spatial concerns, as well as emotive
potential, the five songs contained within are each different
embodiments of the possibility of the transformative decay of
remembrance. An ephemeral glimpse; the moment has already passed.
For quiet, distanced listening. Mastered by William Hutson, cut at 45
rpm. In an edition of 400 copies with full
color glossy jackets, printed inner sleeves, and printed labels.
sample: fleece
(excerpt)
sample: interlude (drift)
(excerpt)
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ARBOR
134; C44 CASSETTE
MIRROR TO MIRROR A PERSONAL
REALITY
 |
Alex
Twomey’s Mirror to Mirror project continues a long standing tradition
of Southern California artists focused on introspection and slow
simplicity. Inspired by long roads and large open spaces; as well
as their place within the daily repetition, finding sense within the
nonsense. Light washes of painterly composition; evolving
harmonies transform, turning in on themselves. The first track, ‘Laughing and Understanding’
, was developed last winter on the California tour with Infinite Body,
Pedestrian Deposit, Earn, Cloaked Light, and Pale Blue Sky. In an
edition of 150 copies with professionally duplicated/imprinted
cassettes and cardstock covers.
sample: laughing and
understanding (excerpt)
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ARBOR
133; 7"EP
COPPER GLOVE SURVIVING THE
GARDEN OF HATE
 |
Copper Glove, the new project
from Baltimore’s Door (formerly Earth Crown; who shared splits with
Secret Abuse and Kites on past Arbor releases), shows a further
progression of his one man industrial-noise synth unit. In
opposition to his former work, Copper Glove is more mindful of
composition; utilizing tone generators and processed synthesis and
vocals to present a dense cut up analog form of industrial concréte.
Door’s nihilistic optimism carries itself with a sense of
effortlessness; ideological aggression, a pure translation. With
focused energy, the noise of the machine continues as man controls
it. The city is destroyed but we can still live here,
forever. In an edition of 300 7”s with silkscreened covers with
white ink on metallic black paper and printed labels by Door.
sample: protogenerator
(excerpt)
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ARBOR 099; DOUBLE 7"EP
CARLOS GIFFONI
THE ABSENCE OF ESSENCE
 |
Carlos Giffoni’s heavy
synthesizer work recalls the crushing, massiveness of early industrial
music. Completely consuming the air around it with heavy vibrations and
total deprivation. These four tracks rip holes through the sonic
barriers, loud and powerful but with entrancing subtleties and discreet
builds. The nature of the 7” format does not harm Giffoni’s work which
normally exists in extended lengths; instead very succinct and
unwavering compositions result: creating four vignettes of grey
industrial zones. As the person responsible for No Fun Productions and
the No Fun Fest, this Brooklyn transplants presence in the current
progression of the genre is undeniable. In an edition of 400 2x7”(one
on white vinyl and one on black) sets in foldout gatefold sleeves with
art by
Maya Miller of Heavy Tapes/Religious Knives.
sample: lift (excerpt)
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ARBOR
098; LP ALBUM
OUTER SPACE
 |
John
Elliott’s Outer Space project is a laboratory for electronic
investigation. Acting as a continuance of the studies of mid 20th
century electronic music composers such as Nik Pascal and Laurie
Spiegel, Elliott’s music is deeply indebted to the inner workings
of
the electric signal. Acting almost as a meditation, through the
simple gesture of translation Elliott’s process begins to reveal
itself
as electricity is converted into acoustic pressure and potential; the
melody of physics. The six recordings on the album are each a
microcosmic view into Elliott’s practice; a keystone,
illuminating his
solo practice as well as his work as a member of Emeralds. Composed and
recorded over the past three years without the use of digital
synthesizers and arpeggiation; a record closely connected to a personal
path, attempting to make sense, to understand one’s
journey.
Mastered by Keith Fullerton Whitman; pressed in a second edition of 350
copies on black vinyl with full color gloss covers and black and white
printed inner sleeves.
sample: scanlon (excerpt)
video: memory bomb
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ARBOR
094; LP ALBUM
SAM GOLDBERG HAVING HAD FORGOT
 |
Having Had Forgot
marks a distinct departure from Sam Goldberg’s past recordings,
both his lush electric guitar and synth work as well as his
borderline-pop project Radio People. Having Had Forgot
features Sam working with a rotating ensemble of Midwestern musicians
(Tiger Hatchery’s Ben Billington, Mike Forbes, and Andrew Young;
as well as J. Guy Laughlin, Ben Osbourne, and Jeff Host; for a total
palette consisting of acoustic and electric guitar, field recording,
percussion, synthesizer, saxophone, double bass, and clarinet). The
result is eight careful, delicate songs; varied in instrumentation, but
presenting the same elegant consideration of mood and contemplation as
his solo works. Private music from a young man; a contemporary offering
in the tradition of ensemble records on Windham Hill from William
Ackerman and Mark Isham; the opportunity of actualizing personal
moments through various actors and the unique textures they are each
able to contribute to the whole. In an edition of 500 records with full
color jacket and inner sleeves.
sample: floorless
sample: dalmatian coast
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ARBOR
075; LP ALBUM
SECRET ABUSE THE IMMEASURABLE GIFT
 |
“The Immeasurable Gift”
is a testament to cathartic possibilities and the role of
creation/release as a means of understanding. Recorded throughout the
past three years in a variety of locations and personal moments;
encapsulated by a common, unrelenting concern. Beautifully delicate,
elegiac melodies concealed within curtains of dense electronic ambiance
reveal themselves like the light at the end of the tunnel; a signifier
of the temporary vessel form. Balancing recklessness with care and
coming to terms with the inevitable; encountering the man on the
shoulder, reminding us that we are all just weary travelers. In an
edition of 425 records in full color proprinted cardboard jackets with
printed labels and an insert; all design by Jeff Witscher.
sample: carefully
opening the window
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ARBOR
052;
7"EP
C. SPENCER YEH / SICK LLAMA
SPLIT
|
The malformed
compositions of C. Spencer Yeh and Sick Llama come from opposing
spectrums of noise music, though their similarities are undeniable.
Whether it be Yeh’s solo piece for violin or Sick Llama’s gunked tape
work, the spirit of improvisation shines through. On Yeh’s track, the
churning sounds of metal scrapes and light tinges, like crossed
electric static and growing, buzzing drones are the result of one
violin. His unique approach to the instrument marks him as one of the
most exciting improvisers today whether it be with his solo work or
through his work in Burning Star Core. Sick Llama’s untitled piece is
one of his most concise and interesting tracks; crushing and dirty with
the hiss of tape static. Coming from the stoned mind of Heath Moreland
of Fag Tapes, the expected tape aesthetic is transferred to vinyl with
a compilation of cut up compositions, evoking a series of mystery sound
sources. In an edition of 400 7”s in proprinited fold over sleeves with
art by Maya Miller of Heavy Tapes/Religious Knives.
sample: sick llama- untitled (excerpt)
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