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Amplify 2020: Quarantine Festival – The Dominion of Din

 
A new radio piece created especially for the Amplify 2020: Quarantine Festival – As the world has increasingly been forced into isolation, Amplify and Erstwhile Records boss, Jon Abbey, began planning an online festival of newly recorded pieces from sound artists around the world. At the invitation of Penultimate Press’s Mark Harwood my contribution is number 156 in the series.

The Dominion of Din is a radio play made out of recordings from a single fixed perspective over an eighteen-year period. It is created entirely from field recordings made out of the rear window of my flat. In essence, it’s a catalogue of exterior sounds that have annoyed, disturbed or angered me over the years living at this residence – and sounds that have largely disappeared during lockdown. My go-to method of dealing with nuisance noise is to record it. A sort of recording banishing ritual. The hope being that one day I will be able to utilise these sounds in some way, converting these sources of irritation into something positive.

The piece includes now familiar soundmarks such as the daily delivery of beer barrels to the local pub, the shattering of glass bottles as they are emptied into recycle bins at night and the weekly maintenance of neighbours gardens that always seems to require extensive use of a leaf blower no matter what the season. More irregular sources of nuisance noise appear in the form of workmen erecting scaffolding, magpies nesting on the side of the house, drunken outdoor singalongs, overflowing guttering and a faulty burglar alarm that didn’t stop for three days solid over one memorably torturous bank holiday weekend. The irony is that on the only occasion that these sounds have ceased for any length of time I’ve spent several weeks doing nothing but listen to them over and over again.

The pub has made use of this time to create a beer garden at the back of our flat now so at least I have fresh impingements on my peace to look forward to as things begin to return to normal.

Source sounds recorded in Glasgow between 2002 and 2020.

Composed between May 20th and June 20th, 2020.

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The Dominion of Din

 

Originally created for the Amplify 2020: Quarantine Festival – As the world was increasingly forced into isolation, Amplify (and Erstwhile Records boss) Jon Abbey began planning an online festival of newly recorded pieces from sound artists around the world. At the invitation of Penultimate Press’s Mark Harwood my contribution is number 156 in the series.

The Dominion of Din is a radio play made out of recordings from a single fixed perspective over an eighteen-year period. It is created entirely from field recordings made out of the rear window of my flat. In essence, it’s a catalogue of exterior sounds that have annoyed, disturbed or angered me over the years living at this residence – and sounds that have largely disappeared during lockdown.

My go-to method of dealing with nuisance noise is to record it. A sort of recording banishing ritual. The hope being that one day I will be able to utilise these sounds in some way, converting these sources of irritation into something positive.

The piece includes now familiar soundmarks such as the daily delivery of beer barrels to the local pub, the shattering of glass bottles as they are emptied into recycle bins at night and the weekly maintenance of neighbours gardens that always seems to require extensive use of a leaf blower no matter what the season. More irregular sources of nuisance noise appear in the form of workmen erecting scaffolding, magpies nesting on the side of the house, drunken outdoor singalongs, overflowing guttering and a faulty burglar alarm that didn’t stop for three days solid over one memorably torturous bank holiday weekend. The irony is that on the only occasion that these sounds have ceased for any length of time I’ve spent several weeks doing nothing but listen to them over and over again.

The pub has made use of this time to create a beer garden at the back of our flat now so at least I have fresh impingements on my peace to look forward to as things begin to return to normal.

Source sounds recorded in Glasgow between 2002 and 2020.

Composed between May 20th and June 20th, 2020.

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Choses Contraires

 
I am very pleased to have been invited to take part in a new radio show collaboration with French sound artist Elen Huynh this month. The first 15 minutes of the show was collaged together by Elen from my archives – the remaining 45 minutes is all new collaborative material created by passing recordings back and forth online over the past month or so.

You can hear the show live on LYL Radio this Tuesday, 16th June. More details below:

Choses Contraires
LYL Radio – 16/06/2020 • 9PM – 10PM (CET)
WITH ELEN HUYNH & MARK VERNON

Elen Huynh nous propose d’écouter 1 heure de composition sonore et vocale faite avec son invité Mark Vernon, artiste radio et producteur basé à Glasgow, pour sa dernière Choses Contraires de la saison.

The show has since been archived so you can now listen using the player above.

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Un-augmented Humans with Renato Grieco

 
New radio documentary series ‘Un-augmented Humans’ kicks off with a first episode devoted entirely to me. The show is produced by Italian sound artist Renato Grieco (AKA kNN) who I first came across through his collaborative project Double Goocher Shop with Matthew W Hopkins that was aired on Radiophrenia last year. Renato is a thoughtful and insightful host and focuses on our shared passion for the medium of tape, sound effects records, radio art and several recent projects along with audio excepts and exclusive tracks. The programme will be broadcast on Fango Radio on the 1st June at 7pm CET. Listen live on Fango Radio.

This show has since been archived on Mixcloud. Listen again using the player above.

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Separated by Glass

 

A special guest mix created for Lullabies for Insomniacs. See below for full playlist.
Bryan Lewis Saunders – The Glass Window (‘87 Dreams of a Sociopath’ DL / Surrism Phonoethics)
Luc Ferrari – Il etait une fois (‘Photophonie’ LP / Transversales Disques)
Bryan Lewis Saunders – The Photograph (‘87 Dreams of a Sociopath’ DL / Surrism Phonoethics)
Kate Carr – Your Summer Can Now Grow My Plants (‘Heat’ Cassette / Hasana Editions)
Toshiya Tsunoda – Wind Whistling (‘Scenery of Decalomania’ CD / Nature Strip)
06) Leland W. Sprinkle – Performs on the Great Stalacpipe Organ at Luray Caverns (‘Site of Sound: Of Architecture & The Ear’ CD / Errant Bodies Press)
Christoph Heemann – Untitled (track 4) (‘Rings of Saturn’ / Dom Bartwuchs)
Blue Chemise – Violet (‘Daughters of Time’ LP / Students of Decay)
Janek Schaefer – Minneapolis Office Max Messages (‘Location Stories’ CD / Stichting Mixer)
Tom White – José Garcia Martin’s Garden (‘Run Amok’ CD / Glistening Examples)
Drew Mulholland – Delian Stone (‘Three Antennas in a Quarry’ 10” / Finders Keepers
Ezio Piermattei – Untitled (‘Gran Totto’ DL – Chocolate Monk)
Maria W Horn – Ave (‘Kontrapoetik’ DL / Xkatedral)
Benedict Drew – Notes on the Anxiety of a Record Running Out (‘Notes on the Anxiety of a Record Running Out’ 7” / Foam)
Mattias Gustafsson – Måndag Morgon kl. 05.30 (‘Frusen Musik’ CD / Careful Catalog)
Theodor Koch-Grünberg – Witchdoctor’s Song During A Night Sickness, Brazil, Northern Amazon 1912 (‘Okkulte Stimmen – Mediale Musik: Recordings Of Unseen Intelligences 1905-2007’ CD / Supposé)
Scanner – While His Piano Gently Weeps (‘Conversations With The Anthony Burgess Cassette Archive (1964-1993)’ LP / Sub Rosa)
Chris Watson – El Divisadero (‘El Tren Fantasma’ CD / Touch)
Soft Tissue – Glass (‘Soft Tissue’ Cassette / Penultimate Press)
Drew Mulholland – Return to the Desolate Shore (‘Three Antennas in a Quarry’ 10” / Finders Keepers)
Jack Sutton – Jack Sutton Contacts Dead Airmen (‘Okkulte Stimmen – Mediale Musik: Recordings Of Unseen Intelligences 1905-2007’ CD / Supposé)
Arne Juul Jacobsen – Rejse Til Abstraktionernes Land / Journey To The Land Of Abstractions
(‘Danske Båndamatører / Danish Tape Amateurs 1959 – 1976’ / Institut for Dansk Lydarkæologi)
Roy Claire Potter & Kieron Piercy – Adjrust (‘Conversations With The Anthony Burgess Cassette Archive (1964-1993)’ LP / Sub Rosa)
Aphex Twin – Matchsticks (‘Selected Ambient Works Volume 2’ CD / Warp)
Gregory Whitehead – The Respirator (‘The Pleasure of Ruins and Other Castaways’ CD / Staalplaat)
Andrew Chalk – The Arkay Stream (‘The Cable House’ CD / Faraway Press)
V/Vm – Grandmum and Dad’s 50th (‘Family Audio’ CDR / Lucky Kitchen)

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Strange Air on Clyde Built Radio

A riveting new mix welded together for Glasgow’s latest radio station Clyde Built Radio.
 
Listen live at 11am this Sunday here.
 
Full playlist below.
 
This show has since been archived and can now be heard using the player above.
Strange Air Jingle
Marja Ahti – Coastal Inversion (‘Vegetal Negatives’ LP / Hallow Ground)
Henry Jacobs – Ocean (‘Around The World With Henry Jacobs’ CD / Important Records)
Nurse With Wound & James Worse – The Creptile Lickbug (‘Au-Delà’ LP / Meakusma)
Bryan Lewis Saunders – Different Ways of Talking (‘87 Dreams of a Sociopath’ DL / Surrism Phonoethics)
Fog – Conversation With Angles (‘Undersound’ CDR / Self Released)
Christian Mirande – Leaving Mildenhall (‘Trying to Remember a House’ CD / Glistening Examples)
Vito Acconci – Track 3 (‘For Your Ears Only’)
Melanie Clifford – Ceiling Fans (Unreleased)
Henry Jacobs – Playground (‘Around The World With Henry Jacobs’ CD / Important Records)
Chris Watson – Rue Grimaldi Remixed (‘Conversations With The Anthony Burgess Cassette Archive (1964-1993)’ LP / Sub Rosa)
Jérôme Noetinger – Rappel / Le Cabestan Orphelin (‘dR’ CD / Éditions Piednu’)
Mark Vernon – Ill Fitting Rooms (Unreleased)
Open Corner – Styrofoam Plate Still Life (‘Empty Pool To No One’ CD / Recital)
Negativland – True False (‘True False’ CD / Seeland)
Ernst Karel – Stanserhorn—Kälti (‘Swiss Mountain Transport Systems’ CD / Gruenrekorder)
Timothy Shortell – Ville D’Aulnay (‘Windows’ CD / Überkatze Studio)
Drew Daniel – Phonecall (‘Family Audio’ CDR / Lucky Kitchen)
Christof Migone – SevenSixOne-FourEightFourOne (‘Sound Voice Perform’ CD / Errant Bodies Press)
Henry Jacobs – Get a Tape Recorder (‘Around The World With Henry Jacobs’ CD / Important Records)
Hanna Hartman – Fracture (‘Gattet’ CD / Firework Edition Records)
Mathieu Serruys – Glove (‘Skin / Glove’ LP / B.A.A.D.M.)
Melanie Clifford – Ceiling Fans (Unreleased)
Strange Air Jingle / Credits

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Paper Gestures

Glistening Examples / GLEX2002 CD/DL (2020)

New limited edition CD release on Jason Lescalleet’s Glistening Examples imprint.

Paper Gestures was originally created as an 8-channel sound work at EMS, Stockholm in 2019. This stereo version was made especially for this limited edition CD release and download on Glistening Examples. The piece is based upon field recordings made across Norway over a 13-year period including sounds of military exercises with tank fire, a road surface stripping machine, breaking panes of glass, high speed trains, ultrasound recordings of stomach noises, wind whistling through vents on the Oslo underground, sliding wardrobe doors, microwaved popcorn, soap suds, bee hives, hand bells and bicycle races.

Composed from field recordings made in Oslo, Lillestrøm, Deset, Eidsvoll, Risør, Øysang, Røros and Trondheim, Norway between 2006 and 2018.

A diffusion of the 8-channel version of Paper Gestures was premiered at Café Oto, London in March, 2020.

Created with the support of EMS, Stockholm and Creative Scotland.

Exterior artwork by Barbara Breitenfellner. Interior artwork by Tian Miller.

Reviews:

“…guides the listener across some kind of eerie garden into an echo-laden world…as the boundaries between spaces melt away…”
Claire Sawers, The Wire magazine

Reviews in Full

“Glasgow sound artist Mark Vernon has been finding ways of connecting people for years. There’s a passage on his website that gets a deep nod from this listener: “Radio as an artform has an ability to create a sense of community amongst a disparate and geographically isolated set of listeners whilst generating the excitement and energy implicit in a live broadcast.” The radio that Vernon describes is a thrilling blend of plays, oral histories, odd music and scores.

Besides running Glasgow station Radiophrenia for two weeks each year since 2015 (with Barry Burns) and organising Lights Out listening events around Scotland, Vernon’s also a solo artist. His latest album Paper Gestures was assembled last year in Stockholm and is comprised of field recordings made over 13 years in Norway.

The bee buzzing on opening track “Permea” guides the listener across some kind of eerie garden into an echo-laden world where microwave popcorn bursts and a computer keyboard taps away with urgency. Later there are swooshing cars on “Dirigible Delusions” as if we’ve been led to a motorway overpass before sinking underground to listen in on air whistling through the vents in the Oslo Metro. Vernon grants access to various worlds – a whirring photocopier that’s maybe sat idle now in an empty office; a summary buzz of bird chatter that lulls us into a calm state before a more sinister Predator-style creature clicks into earshot. Melodies drift in sometimes too, often sounding far off, as the boundaries between spaces melt away.”

Claire Sawers, The Wire magazine, July 2020

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Paper Gestures – CD release and 8-channel night at Cafe Oto

New CD/download out now on Jason Lescalleet’s Glistening Examples.

 

Paper Gestures was originally created as an 8-channel sound work at EMS, Stockholm in 2019. This is a stereo version created especially for limited edition CD release and download on Glistening Examples. The piece is based upon field recordings made across Norway over a 13-year period including sounds of military exercises with tank fire, a road surface stripping machine, breaking panes of glass, high speed trains, ultrasound recordings of stomach noises, wind whistling through vents on the Oslo underground, sliding wardrobe doors, microwaved popcorn, soap suds, bee hives, hand bells and bicycle races.

Composed from field recordings made in Oslo, Lillestrøm, Deset, Eidsvoll, Risør, Øysang, Røros and Trondheim, Norway between 2006 and 2018. Created with the support of EMS and Creative Scotland.

Exterior artwork by Barbara Breitenfellner. Interior artwork by Tian Miller.

To order or for more details visit here.

8-Channel Night at Cafe Oto

Featuring the debut presentation of Paper Gestures in 8-channels as part of a surround night at Cafe Oto also including performances by Kate Carr and Tom White.

Cafe Oto, Tuesday, 3rd March, 7.30pm. £10 / £8 Advance / Members free

More details here.

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Sonomama Sessions #1

Sonomama Sessions
(sonomama, jap. = ‘as it is’)

19.30, Saturday 25th January, Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow

The Sonomama Sessions are open gatherings/happenings around various themes ranging from the arts, to ecological or spiritual understanding.
Most of the times there will be featured guest artists/speakers, always there will be a nice atmosphere and poetic impulses to be followed.

Performing:
Mark Vernon
Ronan Whittern
Angus Macdonald
Cyril Lamar

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Fieldwave tape – out now

 

I have a track on a new cassette compilation called Fieldwave that is just out now. You can buy copies of the limited edition tape or download ithere.

Fieldwave is a new compilation from Nonclassical that unearths compositions with field recording at their heart. Curated by DJ and sonic adventurer Nick Luscombe (Late Junction, Musicity), it highlights a new wave of sonic artists incorporating natural sound into their work.

The idea for this new compilation series is to reflect a burgeoning area of sonic creativity that has gone from very niche to something much more commonplace. As a DJ at BBC Radio 3’s Late Junction, Nick would receive music every day that contained some element of field recording. Many of the artists contained within have received airplay on Late Junction as well as on Late Junction and other experimental programmes. The release features sound artists Kate Carr, Mark Vernon and Hojo+Kraft, singer-songwriter Daren Hayman (Hefner), and accordionist Tuulikki Bartosik.