Hybernation - The Road to Realisation >
In September 2007 I took part in the Ars Electronica 'Goodbye Privacy' Festival in Linz, Austria, with the Mediashed project 'Spy Kiting'. Whilst I was there I took the opportunity to make a lot of field recordings, of public spaces, things I found in the hotel room and my journeys on the public transport systems. These sounds formed the basis of 'The Road to Realisation', which is made up of sixteen tracks in total. Some are purely field recordings at various locations around the city, some contain very small elements of sounds found to make percussive beats, and three of them were written whilst actually in Linz. There are 16 tracks in total and musical styles range from ambient and electronica through to minimal techno. I finished off all the other tracks in the subsequent two months upon my return.
The title of the works came about during a conversation about my time at Ars Electronica with my colleague Dr. Richard Wright, in which he said 'It was all part of the road to self realisation'. Upon further investigation I discovered the true meaning for 'realisation' is this: "[noun] 1. a musical composition that has been completed or enriched by someone other than the composer". I look at this to mean the people and the places of Linz itself, the sounds they made and the impact that they had upon me and my time there. I feel confident that this has been truly represented in the music, and hopefully will be reflected upon the listener.
I’m looking for a home for this album so if you can help, please drop me a line
here > thanks.
tracklisting >
1. st.magdalena
2. flugdrachen
3. metro q
4. cafe meier*
5. plaintive
6. a plundered lot
7. hauptplatz
8. heliotrope
9. the intangible rush**
10. postlingberg
11. donaupark
12. mozartkreuzung
13. the wisdom of an old man in the head of a boy
14. solarCity
15. kuckuckskind
16. the road to self realisation
coming soon >
artwork > downloads >
map >
Map of Locations
track by track sounds >
Along side synths and drums, the songs feature many noises from my sound archive along with lots of sounds taken from many hours of recordings made whilst in Linz:
st.magdalena > Recorded on Linz AG tram route 2 to Universität along Ferdinand-Markle Straße.
flugdrachen > Contains small sounds taken from sessions made by ska band The Big. Originally made as a soundtrack used in the film ‘Spy Kiting: Shoebury’ which was screened at Ars Electronica 2007 on the Mediashed stand part of the Spy Kiting Project.
metro q > sounds of shampoo bottles, ring bound writing pad, fire extinguisher, Damien Robinson clicking her fingers.
café meier > field recording from Café Meier on Pfarrplatz, plus random guitar riffs played by Simon Smith cut up and looped.
plaintive > spring drum, voice of Eulalia Sanchez, ironing board, typewriter, Doozer plugging in his guitar at Sundown, a scratched record.
a plundered lot > ironing board, a stone in the street, a hi-hat played by Northern Jon, birdsong, piece of metal street furniture
hauptplatz > field recording in Hauptzplatz with distant voices from a Radio ORF , presenter via PA system.
heliotrope > shampoo bottles, snare from The Rejects, random piece of metal, background noise from hotel bathroom.
the intangible rush > a coffee perculator recorded by deaf media artist Damien Robinson.
pöstlingberg > stones, end drum, hotel room furniture, birds, plastic bottle, yoghurt pot.
donaupark > ironing board, voices, typewriter, biros, sculpture, Lentos Kunstmuseum.
mozartkreuzung > field recoding next to the Mozartkreuzung tram stop, Landstraße.
the wisdom of an old man in the head of a boy > reed organ, the voice of Ed Rome, kalimba, baby, voices.
solarCity > field recording from solarCity, including ATM, purse, high heels.
kuckuckskind > mandolin harmonic, public library furniture, rim shot by Northern Jon, voices, squeaking shrink wrap.
the road to self realisation >
I’d like to thanks all the contributors over the last 8 years that have supplied environments and places to record and all the actions and random activities by people near and far that gave their time, effort and ingenuity to make and record so many wonderful sounds. Your work is now so intrinsically embedded in my work, that without you, these songs would just not be. Thank you.
links >
Simon Smith > here
Damien Robinson > here
Mediashed > here
Ars Electronica > here
The city of Linz, Austria > here