“Valentines” documents the first duo meeting between Kahn and Julian, recorded during Kahn's tour of the UK in 2012.
The initial idea was to meet and hopefully generate audio material that could then be used later as the basis for a composition. It seemed apparent that the three improvised pieces that makes up “Valentines” stood up well on their own merits without the need for further embellishment.
The session was recorded by John Macedo, who also conducted an interview with the pair about their approaches to recording and performing.
No overdubs, edited for length only.
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Jason Kahn / analogue modular synthesiser, mixing board, radio
Phil Julian / analogue modular synthesiser, computer
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Recorded at Goldsmiths University of London by John Macedo, 14th February 2012.
Available as a 320k MP3 or 16bit FLAC download.
Tracklisting:
1. Untitled - 18:48
2. Untitled - 6:35
3. Untitled - 17:11
Born 1960 New York. Moved to Europe in 1990 and is currently based in Zurich, where he is active as a musician, artist and writer.
Kahn's work with electronics involves chaotic feedback systems and placing his body in the circuit flow. Grabbing open leads with his hands makes and breaks circuits, causing the synth to overload or collapse. Various contact microphones and electro magnetic inductors and the synthesizer's own output via a mixing board are used to modulate the parameters of the synth, which oscillates between saturation and a brittle sputtering, like the death rattle of a machine on its last gasp. Live radio captures during the concert and recordings made in the performance space and its environs provide further working material for each concert. These performances are essentially site-specific works, improvising with the space at hand, both in the sense of its physicality and the sounds found there.
Among many others, Kahn has collaborated with Kevin Drumm, Jason Lescalleet, Norbert Möslang, Günter Müller, Axel Dörner, Tetuzi Akiyama, Toshimaru Nakamura, Magda Mayas, Mark Wastell, Oliva Block, Chris Abrahams, Arnold Dreyblatt, Alan Courtis, Ulrich Krieger, Sainkho Namtchylak Z'ev, Shelley Hirsch, Peter Kowald, Taku Sugimoto and Elliott Sharp.
Phil Julian is a UK based composer and improviser active since the late 1990’s principally working with modular electronic devices and computers.
Releases have appeared on labels including Superpang, fancyyyyy, Entr'acte, Harbinger Sound and The Tapeworm.
