[releases] afe089lcd
edward ruchalski: territorial objects

Track List:

1.  Part One   3:54

2.  Part Two  3:19

3.  Part Three  2:51

4.  Part Four  5:06

5.  Part Five  2:08

6.  Part Six  3:00

7.  Part Seven  4:48

8.  Part Eight  2:36

9.  Part Nine  5:35

10.  Part Ten  2:42

11.  Part Eleven  2:20

12.  Part Twelve  3:10

13.  Part Thirteen  3:24

Description:

Edward Ruchalski is an american composer currently living in Syracuse, New York, where he teaches guitar. He has been commissioned by the Bang on a Can All-Stars, Helen Boatwright and Syracuse's Society for New Music.

Ruchalski has also been the recipient of two Individual Artists Grants from the Cultural Resources Council in Syracuse for his compositions Private Harmonies, a series written for motorized string and percussion instruments, and Kafka Resolution, written for speaker and percussion.

For the last ten years he has been creating sound installations, motorized string and percussion instruments and playable percussive sculptures.

His music has been released worldwide on labels such as Humbug, Pseudoarcana, Foxy Digitalis and Taâlem; he also contributed to many compilations.

We had the chance to listen to Ruchalski's music for the first time when his "Refined Localities Part One" MiniCD-R 3" was released by Taâlem in France a few years ago.

We instantly fell in love with his beautiful experiments and approached him. Edward proposed us a new work and the reissue of one of his older and out of print albums. We didn't have any doubt at all and steadily decided to release both of them on Afe... (please also have a look at afe090lcd).

"Territorial Objects" is his latest full-lenght work, a collection of thirteen untitled short pieces recorded during 2005-2006 with the help of Michael Burton and Matt Broad.

According to Edward's own words, "primary source materials used on the album include Michael Burton standing in Butternut Creek, playing cymbals, bells and artillery casings, sometimes using the water to vary the pitch of a cymbal or casing. Also, the two of us improvising on various drums and cymbals at Michael's house.

Secondary source materials consist of Matt Broad playing long single notes on his tin whistle. Additional source materials include field recordings, bells, guitar, toy piano, various old recordings of motor instruments and samples from two old keyboard compositions.

Source materials were transferred from minidisc to computer in order to create a library of sounds. Multiple copies of each sound were made so that variations could be created by envelope manipulation, filtering and pitch altering."

"Territorial Objects" is a complex and powerful work focusing more on the percussive and mechanical side of Ruchalski's music rather than on the droning elements.

The artwork for this release features original pictures taken by Paolo Ippoliti of Logoplasm.


Reviews:

"Territorial Objects" incorporates thirteen untitled tracks, mostly pretty short, in which Ruchalski traces moods whose temperamental contents - both concrete and symbolic - are often seriously charged. Helped by Michael Burton and Matt Broad, Ruchalski developed the pieces using cymbals, bells and artillery casings (!), to which the performers added water, field recordings, bells, guitar, toy piano and various samples. In this way, they generated a library of sounds on minidisc, from which they extrapolated the basic materials for the music, also by treating the primary sources with envelope manipulation, filtering and pitch transposition. All of the above should give you at least a faint idea of what this stuff sounds like: a mixture of ritual rhythms comparable to natural phenomena, powerful passages and slowly descending sonic sunsets engaging us in a rapture of sensual abandon, lifting our sense of belonging up to a too-soon-terminated climax, until the next picture appears. Everything assembled with careful consideration, typical of a purpose that doesn't necessarily appear like a propagation of the composer's ego. Beautiful and definitely recommended."
Touching Extremes [more]

"Italian entrepreneur Andrea Marutti has sent a few examples from his art-edition CD-R label Afe Records in Milan. Much to my great excitement, he's put in two records by Edward Ruchalski. We interviewed this modest NY State (Syracuse) genius in issue 13 of the magazine, and I personally can't hear enough of his mystical-magical soundworks, some using home-made instruments, all of them using imagination and strange narrative drivers behind the deft tape-splices. On "Territorial Objects" (afe089lcd) it seems we have one Michael Burton suspended up to his waist in the waters of Butternut Creek, playing cymbals, bells and other percussion. On "Dark Night" (afe090lcd), a solo work, Ruchalski does his best to realise in sound the beauties and mysteries of a New England night with all the visionary powers of a Ray Bradbury. My inner warlock is just itching to get these colourful beauties (orange and black respectively) slotted into an appropriate technical niche!"
The Sound Projector [more]

"...The method of rearranging and manipulating samples has because somewhat commonplace these days. Ruchalski separates himself from the average laptop practitioner, because of his ability as a composer. These pieces have the clarity and pacing of a narrative. The album as a whole reads as story with a beginning, middle, and end. The music changes as it goes. Cymbals are stretched to background drones at times, overlaid with clanking percussion. The mechanical elements are so tastefully employed that the field recordings blend perfectly, not sounding forced. Territorial Objects is a complex work, in that there are many sounds and ideas explored in each piece, yet it isn't weighty or unweildy. It's a journey well worth taking..."
Musique Machine [more]

"Territorial Objects" is a collection of thirteen short (the longest clocking in a 5:37) unnamed pieces recorded with the help of Michael Burton and Matt Broad... This entire album is ritualistic, rhythmic and unique, and range from feeling natural to feeling mechanized. In every track, hundreds of ideas and sounds are displayed and expanded upon, and it would be impossible to replicate even a tenth of this album. It took me a few spins to even scratch the surface of the individual tracks, and will take a few hundred more for me to be able to fully appreciate every individual sound. A fantastic album for the days when you just can't find the perfect CD to listen to."
Lunar Hypnosis [more]

"Before doing a bit of investigating, I have to admit Edward Ruchalski was not a name familiar to me. Apparently he currently resides in Syracuse, New York and has several releases in addition to this one. Before reading up on him too much though, I decided to listen to this release and let the music speak for itself. From the beginning of "Territorial Objects", I'm immediately reminded of David Jackman's work as Organum, with its characteristic metallic clangs and droning reverb, and some of Nurse With Wound's early work also comes to mind. These two comparisons in check, I have to say I got quite excited about this release very early into it... The last track stands out for how unsettling it truly is. The use of what I believe to be children's voices really gives it a creepy atmosphere, and in a non-cheesy way at that. It is an excellent way to end a release of this type. In fact I think if I had to pick one track as a favorite this would definitely stand out, even though this is definitely a release to be listened to from beginning to end - and maybe on a good pair of headphones as well..."
Connexion Bizarre [more]

"The first husk of "Territorial Objects" is its incomplete presence, a vague diaspora of field recordings that, owing to their fleeting and irregular nature, resonate a multi-colored space of non-totalizable fragments and encourage the listener to both engage and, to some extent, complete the place with their own imaginings. The second has to do with the delirium of these very field recordings and their relative organization around certain acts of repetition and the imaginary associations that are their result. The ensuing pieces toe a certain ritualistic line, which is much in keeping with Ruchalski's basic penchants, but on this occasion it is enhanced by overlaid and interruptive rhythmic motifs, and gently interjected tolling string and bell vibrations..."
Cyclic Defrost [more]