stephen parsick: cambrium (vcs-3 & arp 2600)

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Ik beloof dat het de laatste shameless plug is voor vandaag ...

Ik heb al eerder een thread geopend met hetzelfde onderwerp maar toen ging het om een opname van een concert dat ik op 13 december 2008 in het Planetarium te Bochum in Duitsland had gegeven. Er was ook een link naar de weblabel Extended Moment waar je een paar stukjes muziek kon beluisteren.

Het project is inmiddels -- volgens de natuurlijke evolutie, zou ik zeggen -- uitgegroeid tot een officiele cd die op 1 october a. s. gaat verschijnen. In tegenstelling tot de CDR-on-demand die van het Bochum concert verkrijgbaar was en is (en de download versie, respectievelijk), gaat het hier om een live concert dat ik op 29 mei j. l. heb gegeven naar aanleiding van de jaarlijkse "Nacht der Klänge" die door de universiteit te Bielefeld in Duitsland wordt gehouden. Hier mocht ik "cambrium" aan een publiek van ruim 500 mensen presenteren en de muziek in een geheel donkere zaal spelen.

Ik heb voor deze cd niet alleen maar een ARP 2600 met sequencers gebruikt om alle geluiden op te wekken maar vier weken vóór het concert kreeg ik toevallig een EMS VCS-3 Mk. 1 (een Putney) die ik natuurlijk zo meteen voor het concert ging inzetten om uitgebreide electronische soundscapes live te improviseren. Daardoor heeft de muziek een hele andere sfeer gekregen dan de muziek van Bochum, wat helderder en minder dreigend.

Bert Strolenberg (www.sonicimmersion.org) schreef er trouwens een recensie van:

"The biggest part of the dark dronescape music on “Cambrium” was played live by Stephen Parsick during a concert at Bochum planetarium on December, 13th, 2008, although the concept and the shape of the music had been in his mind for a couple of years.For the music, Stephen extensively used the Arp 2600 synthesizer for creating both layered drone textures and immersive soundscapes next to wide range of weird sound effects, which were all to visualize the hatching and development of new life forms, the core concept of the album. Thick layers of expansive drones, short sequenced passages and slowly moving, dense atmospheres make up the core of this album, although the title track sounds a tad lighter with its flowing impact. This is night music to be absorbed with dim light or your eyes closed and headphones on. Be immersed!"

Ik denk dat geeft je tenminste een indruk van wat je staat te verwachten.

Je kan de cd direct bij mij bestellen (hij kost 17 Euro inclusief opsturen in de EU en Paypal). Stuur me graag een privébericht als je belangstelling hebt.

Dat was het voor vandaag. Bedankt voor jullie attentie (en geduld),

Stephen.

 

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Hier een recensie, geschreven en vertaald in het Engels door Sylvain Lupari (merci beaucoup, Sylvain):

"The least we can say is that Stephen Parsick is in a shady period where the atonal forms of a tetanized music seem to be far from its conceptual priorities. In the same stride as Debris, although less heavy and more atmospheric, Cambrium - Music For Protozoa is a more psychedelic than structured musical journey, depicting the microscopic universe which surrounds us on atonal movements mixed to heavy and full of life musical structures of a reverberant life. Recorded in concert on May 29th, 2009 at the University of Bielefeld for the annual night of sounds, this last realization of the German synthesist is a sound reflection of an effervescent microbiological world. A surprising musical journey where the microscopic life bubbles towards ARP 2600 and VCS-3, synths known for their warm tones to facets as astral as hallucinogenic.

Emerging softly from meanders of a boiling life of metaphoric streaks, Proterozoikum floats in a spectral universe where choirs and caustic breaths flavor a micro organic life of strange luminous parasites who tie themselves to knot as sound jellyfishes. Strange laughter of ash blond witches emanate from this context where subjacent life reigns with color palettes proper to Stephen Parsick. The first stammerings of a world out of control appear on DNA Sequence opening. Spasmodic sequences which collide in a strange merged ballet to dance in a dislocated way such as marionettes that we imagine to be germs, or enzymes, which converge on some point of entry.

An abstracted dance for a microbiological world which spreads its tones among structures so ambient, atonal and atmospheric as we hear on Ekectric Soup Kitchen, Amoeba, Medusa and Radiolaria and lively structures animated by sequential pulsating rhythm as on Tribolite who dances under somber stratas by an arrhythmic flow and the title track which merges on heavy reverberations, while the heaviness’s and the reverberates roundness’s of Urge to Live are similar to the sound vividness of the last Ramp; Debris.

Cerebral journey, abstract or sound exploration of an underlying life, Cambrium - Music For Protozoa presents us a Stephen Parsick in great shape who brings us where he wants to, either to the borders of a spiritual journey where the stellar merges marvelously to a sonorous world that only Parsick can define with a multitude of organic tones which can easily survive in both worlds.



Sylvain Lupari (Phaedream) from Guts Of Darkness

The French Magazine of Dark & Experimental Music"

 

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Hier een recensie, geschreven door Phil Derby / www.electroambientspace.com (bedankt, Phil!):

Stephen Parsick “Cambrium: Music for Protozoa”
(CD 2009)
10 tracks, 67.45 mins

Fans of Lustmord’s Where the Black Stars Hang should immediately seek out Stephen Parsick’s Cambrium: Music for Protozoa. Continuing on his quest for the ultimate “doombient” sound, Parsick delves ever deeper into the dark crevasses. “Proterozoikum” jumps right into the blackness, a swirling vortex of emptiness put to sound. This would be the perfect soundtrack to a bleak sci-fi film. This is hardcore dark ambient and white noise, with normal musical conventions conspicuously absent. “DNA Sequence” bubbles and churns with a bit more brightness as punchy percussion lends just a touch of electronica to the mix. Back to the stuff of nightmares we go with “Electric Soup Kitchen,” dark and dank. Song titles like “Primordial Glurp”, “Trilobite”, and “Amoeba” aptly portray the primitive yet futuristic sound. I prefer the ones with just a bit of structure to hang onto, like the momentum-building pulsations of “Trilotbite” and the restless electronic buzzing undercurrent of the title track and “Urge to Live.” The latter reminds me a lot of the dark, industrial take on Berlin school that Redshift created on Down Time. If you like dark, organic ambient from Robert Rich or Steve Roach, you will love Cambrium.

Bedankt voor het lezen,

Stephen.

© 2010 Phil Derby / Electroambient Space

 

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Dat viel net de electronische brievenbus in (geschreven door Bob Rusche/X-Rates op KINKFM). Hartelijk bedankt daarvoor, Bob:

Stephen Parsick – Cambrium; Music For Protozoa

Stephen Parsick is a busy man. Apart from his solo career he is also a member of [‘ramp]. Debuting in 1998 (as RAMP) with Nodular (444 Oscillators) on Manikin Records they obtained themselves a place between the so called Berliner Schule (Berlin School) sound. Cosmic space sounds with sequencers , a bit like the old Tangerine Dream. Together with Frank Makowski [‘ramp] made a couple of excellent albums where one could hear the evolution to a more and more darker sound, and the invention of the term Doombient. Makowski and Parsick split up, and Parsick took the name [‘ramp] with him.

Solo became Parsick more active and produced a string of cd’s and cdr’s. One of these solo albums was Hoellenengel, which in sound was some sort of combination between Vangelis and Lustmord. The cdr’s were all deep and dark ambient, or doombient…..and most in a limited edition of just 25 copies.

And now 2 new cd’s saw the light of day, one new [‘ramp] (Debris) and a new solo disc called Cambrium; Music For Protozoa. I picked the solo album for this review, but the fact remains that both albums are the work of Stephen solo. And this work is amazing. On Cambrium you will experience a journey through dark space. Actually it’s a nice combination of the old [‘ramp] and the newer dark sound. And we are talking analogue here: the ARP 2600 synthesizers and sequencers, the Putney synth, various analogue processors, and some digital sampling systems. Occasionally the sound of a delicious sequencer , but it’s too dark and too slow to be Berlin School. It’s the combination between these both worlds that makes it all so exciting here. Where most dark ambient acts make music from graves is this music from space and makes it one of the best electronic albums of the past year.

Every electronics and space lover should have this album, this is space music as it should be; doombient. And mark the words in the booklet: Thanks for buying this album and even bigger thanks for not uploading it illegally on the internet. It can be obtained by sending Stephen an email through the website. You won’t regret it…



www.parsick.com

 

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Ik heb inmiddels een paar uittreksels op soundcloud geplaatst opdat jullie een indruk krijgen van wat je staat te wachten:

http://soundcloud.com/doombient-music/cambrium-excerpts

Veel plezier ermee, geniet ervan (of niet),

Stephen.