Special Interest

I recall my early exposure to Hands To, with immediate teenage reaction of "what a load of crap!!!". I just couldn't understand why anyone would waste their time on listening weak hiss of unaltered field recordings which make no sense. Crude and minimalistic sounds, never "brutal", never "heavy",...  Returning to his material years later, I experienced enlightenment. Whole nature of work seemed to have changed inside my brain. I could go on and on listening the analogue decay of sound of desert. Sound of trains. Sound of rocks, sand, dried organic materials.  No amplification, no fancy editing.

I must admit that my favorites are the releases where the cuts happen more often. One could perhaps make reference towards Chop Shop!? One thing happening for a while, until next thing starts to happen. Where Chop Shop is amplified sound with often somehow "urban" and machine feeling, Hands To is the opposite. Not amplified, with rural, natural and anti-urban approach. But still in end, I could file them under specific atmosphere. At least in my favorite works.

For the fans of Hands To early works, one can say that recent times has been great.
HANDS TO "artiment" 2xCDR on Impulsy Stetoskopu (poland) with original recordings dating back to 1989 to Big Body Parts label. It says that discs can be played separately or simultaneously. I'm a bit of stubborn meathead, and don't really like to be involved in artists work, and preferred to listen them separately. I have still feeling that mix these over eachothers could perhaps be even better?

HANDS TO "Flatline" 2xLP. This new Petri Supply edition sold by Hanson recently Some old versions been seen available for insane prices, but now this double 1-siders 12" thing available for tolerable price!

Flatline (12", S/Sided, Pic, Ltd, Whi + 12", S/Sided, Pic, L) Petri Supply, Incubator W3P4LP2 US 2009
Flatline (LP, TP) Petri Supply 37497 US 1990
Flatline (2xLP, S/Sided, Ltd, Pin) Petrified Stumps Flatline US 2001
Flatline (CDr, Album) AARC none US 2006
Flatline (12", S/Sided, Pic, Ltd, Whi + 12", S/Sided, Pic, L) Petri Supply, Incubator W3P4LP3 US 2009

I'm interested in any comments of his new works, or best of the old ones. With this kind of extensive discography, still a lot to go through....

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Jeph Jerman could be described as an electro-acoustic artist, an experimental musician, or an avant-garde performer.  But what Jeph is, in actuality, is a guide.  He guides us to listen to the animated voice of nature, and his works provide us with pathways to experience daily life in new ways.  Once the listener truly grasps the intention behind Jeph's creations, her life can never be the same again.
   "If people ask about what I do, I usually say that I am offering a chance to listen," Jeph explains. "For me, the important thing is listening. What happens when we listen?"
   Jeph doesn't actually create compositions, but, rather, captures and conjures the voice of nature. "Jerman is ultimately capturing 'found sound' that our ears can tune into each day if we are willing to slow down and really listen ... [He] re-creates a prehistoric time when sound was pure and unclassified."   As an example, in his "sound diary" from September 15, 1999, he details a field recording he captured of a moth:

Quote"a moth was laying in the dirt and pine needles next to the front door, flapping it's wings continuously. recorded the sound of it's wings slapping the ground/twigs alongside it. the moth continued to move it's wings in this way, slower over time, for several hours. i wondered if it was dying..."

   Jeph uses field recordings to capture nature's sounds, unaffected and unmanipulated.  Additionally, he also uses found objects – usually detritus of some sort – to conjure or coax their unique voices, allowing them to speak directly to the listener.  "[Jeph] has turned to acoustically playing natural objects - carefully chosen rocks, shells, driftwood, branches, seed pods, and pine cones," and "from these simple and often overlooked objects, he deftly coaxes minute and often unexpected sounds."  In The Idea of Wilderness, Max Oelschlaeger wrote that "wild nature ... will speak through a person if that person will but let natural phenomena have voice, and such a speaking will be as if literally true, alive, and organic."   Jeph lets nature have its voice, and presents it in such a way that it says something specific to each listener.  As he explains:

QuoteWhen placing this activity into a reproducible medium, it becomes the property, intellectual and otherwise, of the person listening. I guess what it comes down to is whether one believes in an objective viewpoint or not. I do not. I know that there is an objective reality, but human perception is most often closed to it.

   In this respect, Jeph is like a shaman, and his music is his language.  What he creates for us is a pathway to experiences every moment of our sensual lives in a different way – in the way that Jeph himself lives, when, as he explains, "my life doesn't need a soundtrack."   David Abram wrote of the role of the shaman in connecting his people to the land, in The Spell of the Sensuous, writing that "the primary role of such magicians ... is to act as intermediaries between the human and more-than-human realms ... shedding the sensory constraints ... periodically dissolving the perceptual boundary in order to directly encounter, converse ... with various nonhuman intelligences ..."   Abram explains the importance of this connection is that "By affirming that the other animals have their own languages, and that even the rustling leaves in an oak tree or an aspen grove is itself a kind of voice, oral peoples bind their senses to the shifting sounds and gestures of the local earth, and thus ensure that their own ways of speaking remain informed by the life of the land ..."
   Jeph seeks to eliminate his personality from the listening experience, to draw attention to the sound, explaining that "the idea called music is not separate from 'sound in general,' yet we have made it so by devising rules by which music may be ascertained or known. "    Perhaps the best way of avoiding these human-created rules is by removing the human hand from the equation, something Jeph consciously attempts, writing:

QuoteI began to find ways to lessen my control over what I was playing. I began finding sound that 'just happened' of much more interest to me than sounds that were meant to be expressive. I became enamored of very quiet sounds and began giving solo performances using only objects found in nature.

What he thus provides the listener with is a carefully chosen sensuous experience, whereby she may truly listen.  As Jeph explains, "music is in the listening, ... all sound is the same, namely a vibration, and our minds have separated one set of vibrations from the general over-all vibration and labeled it."  Music, for Jeph, is a judgment, one that his work strives to break down, to enable a more direct experience of nature.
   Through his music, Jeph challenges us to break down the barriers based on our rules of what music is.  In doing so he brings us to a closer connection to nature through sound.  But our guided journey does not end there.  Jeph is not through with challenging us, as listeners, on this issue alone.  Once we engage in this sensuous experience we are left with a larger challenge: how do we now perceive of nature, unbridled by the rules of aural perception?  In a review in The Sound Projector, Ed Pinsent wrote:

QuotePeople think nature is 'free' garbage, which they can pick up and throw away, because it belongs to nobody. We need a Jeph Jerman to help us appreciate the real beauty and value of some of nature's finest gifts...

   The greatest challenge in truly experiencing Jeph's work is met when trying to do so via recorded media on one of his dozens of cassette, CD and vinyl releases.  "The ideal situation for hearing this music would be simply sitting next to Jerman as he gently agitates his stones, his shells, and other natural forms."   While many of Jeph's recorded works can bring the listener on a mind-blowing and potentially consciousness-altering journey, the experience of seeing Jeph live is unequaled by the packaged, consumable format.  This is an issue Jeph is conscious of, one which is partially remedied by his recording of his albums in a live setting, whether before an audience or otherwise.
   I have been fortunate enough not only to see Jeph in a live setting, but also to record with him.  Jeph has performed before a small audience in my living room, and I have shared the stage with him at a gallery performance in Phoenix.  Additionally, we work together on recording projects on an ongoing basis.  His recordings, performances and the experience of working directly with Jeph have permanently altered my sensuous experience of nature.  This is a common experience and story told by many of Jeph's fans, and he has inspired countless artists to challenge their relationship with nature and with sound.

A big favorite of mine. I like almost all of his stuff, from the straight field recordings to his quiet improv stuff and including the free-jazz-rock things he did with Blowhole.

Some of the recent releases require quite a bit of effort to be enjoyed. I'm referring to the quiet improvisations with stones, twigs, seeds etc. There's many of these, done solo, as duos/trios and with the Animist Orchestra. One really has to concentrate on the subtle sounds and the slow patterns of emerging forms. And if you put the effort in, there is a reward waiting. Absolutely impossible to use as background music. The unprocessed field recordings (aarc tapes and others) are somehow easier, I find myself using them as instruments of relaxation. I put the tape in, maybe do some other things, let it play in the background. And then I suddenly find myself laying on the couch, just wondering about the beauty of it all.

But the most playing time here get the more "experimental" discs from last few years. Stuff like the Vinyl cd-r on AARC (reissued on Easy Discs). Vinyl albums played "acoustically" with cactus needles. Quite rough and nice, both the idea and sounds are intriguing. Or the Instability Studies cd on Anomalous. Vibrations and rattles from unstable systems, a sugarbowl with ill-fitting lid and objects placed on wooden planks fixed to motors and springs. Also the Metal drift cd-r (AARC and Fissür), field recordings of metal structures and other man-made debris.

The Bernhard Günter disc (Buddha with the sun face / Buddha with the moon face on Digital Narcis) which is based on sounds sent by Jeph is also very nice. Originally intended to be a J. Jerman release but the recording was too lo-fi for Günter's taste, so he took the sounds and made his own composition using them... In this case it worked nicely, although I would have liked to hear the original piece also.

Of the older Hands To recordings, I'm quite partial to the Egress LP (Anomalous). Sounds from nature but presented in rougher form than the newer stuff. Instruments crafted from parts of cacti, suprisingly rhythmic at times, almost like songs being played.

I forgot to mention, his recent release, "Cassette," a C-60 on Little Enjoyer, is stellar. Proof that he's doing stuff these days that can stand up to his greatest work.

One of the posters at ihatemusic made a little project for themselves to listen to 30 Jerman albums in 30 days, each day posting a review.  While Hands To would likely make a short list of all-time favorites, I still felt that was quite ambitious and arduous.  I know I wouldn't be in the proper headspace, for a month straight, to keep my mind open and listen attentively, as his work deserves.  You can read these reviews and comments HERE (http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ED7Z2S51) , as I compiled them for future reference.

What I look for in experimental music is a sort of inhuman naturalism like Hands To/Jerman. Jerman didn't become an influence until I was already getting into "natural sounds / atmospheres", but even the sloppiest recordings I've heard from him have been somehow inhumanly great.

My favorite recordings are on the "Shaketable" release. Just rattling sounds taken to a whole new, complex level. There's even a sugarbowl involved, which is amazing, as good music/sound to me is almost always very SUGARY.

More comments welcome on Hands To - primarily the CDs (SFO, Hands To Turn My Hands To, Nazha, Guru Means..., Circumscription).

Quote from: catharticprocess on December 11, 2009, 12:39:08 AM
I forgot to mention, his recent release, "Cassette," a C-60 on Little Enjoyer, is stellar. Proof that he's doing stuff these days that can stand up to his greatest work.

Is this actually out yet?

Quote from: bogskaggmannen on June 23, 2010, 11:50:55 AM
More comments welcome on Hands To - primarily the CDs (SFO, Hands To Turn My Hands To, Nazha, Guru Means..., Circumscription).

I keep looking at this post, wanting to comment, but I don't know what to say.

I really enjoy Circumscription.  The cover art somewhat tells it all.  Now that Francisco Lopez has Wind (Patagonia), I can almost see them as sister albums.  But then, why don't any number of other Hands To tapes make me feel the same way?  I have no idea.

Nazha is maybe the roughest, most crude HT CD.  I really enjoy it a lot.  There's a spirituality to it that really engages me.  This same mystic quality is present on almost everything Jerman does, but it is particularly poignant on this one.  The ghosts in his gear were maybe more active than normal when recording it.

SFO is dark, crumbly, succinct, near-monolithic, and noisy in a more traditional sense.  When recommended to me, it was encouraged to listen in a pitch-black room and very late at night.  I found it to be good advice.

Hands To Turn My Hands To has undeservingly received the least attention of the HT CDs I own.  I listen to it, and I forget.  That isn't necessarily a bad thing in the context I normally listen to Hands To.  It's not a strong resonator.  I should probably listen to it again, and then immediately put something to words, before I comment further.

Huh!!! Just finished listening JEPH JERMAN: For Henry F. Farny 1904...." CD on Trait Mediaworks (Lunde's label).
Amazing. What this appears to be, is sound of telephone wire, captured with contact microphone. You see photos of old style lines, which obviously react on wind and other things, and cord itself works like obscure sound reverb. 60 minutes of unedited long pieces (5) of this, which become hypnotic and amazingly textured.
It's hiss free digital recording, that captures the actual object, not just analogue tape hiss.

Quote from: FreakAnimalFinland on October 10, 2011, 07:51:02 PM
Huh!!! Just finished listening JEPH JERMAN: For Henry F. Farny 1904...." CD on Trait Mediaworks (Lunde's label).
Amazing. What this appears to be, is sound of telephone wire, captured with contact microphone. You see photos of old style lines, which obviously react on wind and other things, and cord itself works like obscure sound reverb. 60 minutes of unedited long pieces (5) of this, which become hypnotic and amazingly textured.
It's hiss free digital recording, that captures the actual object, not just analogue tape hiss.

Is it something like Alan Lamb's Primal Image? That one was constructed from recordings made by contact mic'ing a stretch of abandoned telephone wire somewhere in the Australian desert.

I don't have that release, but it sounds similar.

Off-topic:

Quote from: moozz on October 11, 2011, 12:01:39 PMIs it something like Alan Lamb's Primal Image? That one was constructed from recordings made by contact mic'ing a stretch of abandoned telephone wire somewhere in the Australian desert.

I haven't tracked down Primal Image yet, but Lamb's other "wire" release, Night Passage, is a favorite of mine. Highly recommended!

On-topic:
As with Peterson, I'm interested in any suggestions for starting points with the Hands To oeuvre...

http://www.selfabuserecords.net/catalog/cat-h.html

SFO is the first Hands To album I heard I think, still one of my favorites. Noisey textural cracks and twangs, lo-fi melodic hums, etc. The CD has a definite arc, almost story line. Artiment is great as well, made up of shorter tracks of raw crumbling and decaying sounds.

I think LP or CD releases are very good starts.  It is maybe obvious that CDR or tape may be less effort than "real album", but I guess someone should post the link to that site which goes through very detailed reviews of his work?

I have the Flatline 2LP in elaborate sleeve I'll sell. Played once,not really to my liking. Drop me a pm. Not looking for a fortune. I may have the Zabriskie Point cd's but would hve to check.

I always liked City of Worms more than Hands To. Haven't heard anything Jeph has done under his own name.

Quote from: moozz on October 11, 2011, 12:01:39 PMIs it something like Alan Lamb's Primal Image? That one was constructed from recordings made by contact mic'ing a stretch of abandoned telephone wire somewhere in the Australian desert.

Those Lamb albums are favorites.  Be sure to not forget the split/collaboration with the cellist, Sarah Hopkins.

Quote from: FreakAnimalFinland on October 13, 2011, 07:24:15 PM
I think LP or CD releases are very good starts.  It is maybe obvious that CDR or tape may be less effort than "real album", but I guess someone should post the link to that site which goes through very detailed reviews of his work?

http://ihatemusic.noquam.com/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=498

Hands To - Vinhilation (from a split lp with Eric Lunde, '89)
My first exposure to Mr Jerman's work, and the first impression was a very good one. However, as Dan Burke is credited both with gear and final mix I've often thought To place these particular Hands under Burke's far-reaching Illusion Of Safety umbrella. And it does indeed sound rather more polished and sedate, as befits a Mixmaster Burke working-over, than Hands proper. Grainy atmospheric fields roiling through one another in a somewhat sinister, subliminal haze, plus some fairly white-sheeted blasting for a good full middle interval - or, as it says in the sleeve notes, "Headphones are not recommended". (Note that the actual point of Vinhilation does not arrive until the platter is almost played out, so no worries there.) Discogs tells me this has been reissued with an early-collected-works thingy called Myasic, which looks kinda tempting.

Vinhilation had the misfortune of being simul-released (also apparently simul-recorded) with the one-shot wonder that was HOLEIST (on a split with Illusion Of Safety). Personnel were Jeph Jerman, Dan Burke, Eric Lunde. Holeist was a revelation at the time, and in fact enjoyed quite a lot of airplay on the Toronto college stations - the incredible "Soileth" in particular. "Worked out in alternating shifts by Jerman, Burke, Lunde", it sounds exactly that: brief concentrations on densely packed sound events, each separated by distinct silent intervals (or shifts). This manages to sound far more "industrial strength" than Hands To, Illusion of Safety, and Eric Lunde combined: really a full-on fully fleshed-out plunging into gaping, bellowing, flesh-less, hell-hole. "It would seem that my whole life is an endless exchange with HOLES."

Pardon me, would love to say more, but speaking of endless exchanges with holes I think it's about time to get vinhilated.

net re-release (grab the FLACs, you ninnies):
http://nostalgiedelaboue.bandcamp.com/album/myasic-vinhilation

"Myasic was originally released as one half of a split record with Mental Anguish, co-released by Big Body Parts and Harsh Reality Music in 1988. All recorded on cheap equipment in my bedroom studio. The final track was mastered with the cutting head vibrating vertically instead of horizontally, so most turntables won't play it.
Vinhilation was one half of a split record with Eric Lunde, released by Complacency in 1989. It was the first time i had used "professional" equipment, namely an Ensoniq Mirage, to do all the sampling. A clean recording using dirty sources."

JEPH JERMAN "a fidgety and excitable engine" will be out soon on Second Sleep.. i'm dubbing the tapes right now..

"Two compositions recorded in the sonoran desert using only detritus and cheap second-hand devices."

Interesting topic - and maybe in the meantime people have more suggestions concerning his discography. I have some JJ releases, but i feel kinda overwhelmed by the output.

on https://forcednostalgia.bandcamp.com/music there's lots of Hands To material to listen to online. It might be useful for other people as well.

Ah, how nice! The only Hands To I have are the three tapes on Sound Of Pig, Fingers Breath, Christage and Mose Wreck. I love all three of them, but I'd rank the first one as the best if I had to pick one. Comparisons are tough, but listening The Haters In The Shade Of Fire always makes me think of those three tapes.

Quote from: kh on July 15, 2013, 10:47:55 PM
JEPH JERMAN "a fidgety and excitable engine" will be out soon on Second Sleep.. i'm dubbing the tapes right now..

"Two compositions recorded in the sonoran desert using only detritus and cheap second-hand devices."

I've got this tape and it's very good. Very organic sounds that make the material almost "alive."

https://forcednostalgia.bandcamp.com/album/rough-music-the-hands-to-library-dvd-pre-order (https://forcednostalgia.bandcamp.com/album/rough-music-the-hands-to-library-dvd-pre-order)

QuoteWe know the format is "just" mp3 and we know you can get all the music files in the world for free *but* initiatives such as this are all about support and appreciation. Nothing else. Note too that the lossy format will hardly affect the nature of these (DIY) recordings/albums, most of them originally released as lo-fi cassette anyway.

Not sure I entirely agree with that reasoning but I think I'll be getting this.

To me it seems weird format for this moment when many computers are by default without disc drive.
I reserved few copies, but I have never adjusted myself to music listened with computer.

I know some people use dvd or blueray players as CD players so they can play anything. I'm in situation where data-dvd should be played on dvd player and listened from crappy TV speaker. Or computer, which I hardly ever do. For documentary purposes, should be good. But can't see myself listening such format too often.

Since the label already has a fair few of Jerman's old releases on their Bandcamp page the smart thing to do would be to upload the rest, even set up a dedicated Hands To page if they wanted. That way people could get the files in FLAC and the label could get "support and appreciation".

To those that may be interested, this just got reissued

http://forcednostalgia.bandcamp.com/album/rough-music-the-hands-to-library

It comes out to 35 euro, cost me 50 usd to have it shipped to USA

I'm waiting few copies to distribution. Not sure how many, if anyone wants mp3 discs, but well.... It's at least a lot of stuff.

Quote from: Andrew McIntosh on August 02, 2015, 07:49:21 AM
Not sure I entirely agree with that reasoning but I think I'll be getting this.

this.

Quote from: Andrew McIntosh on August 02, 2015, 12:46:47 PM
Since the label already has a fair few of Jerman's old releases on their Bandcamp page the smart thing to do would be to upload the rest, even set up a dedicated Hands To page if they wanted. That way people could get the files in FLAC and the label could get "support and appreciation".

and this.  Not sure how much I can trust someone with their philosophy and understanding of technology and platforms, but as usual, here we are.

Nice to see it collected, regardless.  How many more of these would it require to make a full Jerman (not including the free-jazz) collection?  46 albums has to be only scratching the surface.

I have copies of a collaborative lp that my duo/project, Ones, made with Jeph Jerman:

Ones/Hands - 1997-2005.

It's an LP in an edition of 250 composed of live improvs I made with Jeph in Seattle in '97 and also mail exchanges in 2004. This is a remastered version of a small batch CDr issued on White Tapes.

https://www.discogs.com/OnesHands-19972005/release/1962591

(the copies for sale on discogs are not mine but hey, grab them cheap while they're up)

Here's what Jeph had to say about this release:
   
"while in new york city in summer 2004, i met with my old friend daniel mitha. daniel was a frequent player during the anomalous weekly sessions. he suggested we do something together again. i eventually sent him a disc of various sounds recorded at home. he took these sounds and mixed them with recordings made years earlier, at aforementioned anomalous sessions...then he passed the mixture on to his friend nick phillips, who obviously ran the whole mess through some sort of magical device or process and viola! a mysterious and engaging little disc of oddly-displaced sounds. this will more than likely come out in greater numbers, in a different format, in the near future. one of my favorite results. it still sounds different every time i listen."

Anyone interested can reach me ongoingdiscipline@gmail.com

Quote from: bitewerksMTB on October 13, 2011, 10:05:36 PMI always liked City of Worms more than Hands To.

Can't say I feel the same way, but mainly because the Cow has long since ceased its mournful moo. At some points reminds of Zoviet France, if ZF were to trade in their ethnic preoccupations for more monochrome boiler room atmos, to revel in the drear and heaving rasp of gutted out, herniated, machinewerk. I freely associate the bovine excretions with names like Illusion Of Safety and PBK, in no small part on account of the epic and sprawling Step Into The Step...

https://www.discogs.com/ja/PBK-City-Of-Worms-Hudak-Illusion-Of-Safety-Step-Into-The-Step/release/1330799

...true industrial-strength wet dream, dense and ambitious conglomeration of head nodding sludge thunk n bludger, to rival the earlier mentioned Holeist for rockstar pantomime of "industrial music for industrial people".

From City Of Worms proper, my pick would be Crumnants, which is probably what inspired the above ZF-stuck-in-industrial-sludge comparison. In my mind's ear, a perfect time capsule of a certain period of sound, of determined interminable drear, and yet one that I've yet to encounter elsewhere.

Quote from: Johann on November 05, 2015, 05:10:56 PM
To those that may be interested, this just got reissued

http://forcednostalgia.bandcamp.com/album/rough-music-the-hands-to-library

Just came across this, like, just now. And... and... well, resistance was futile. Agree with all the questioning and all the agreement thus far expressed. It's quite a thing to feel simultaneously like sucker and glutton.

Flipping through some of the items from the same bandcamp and it is literally impossible to resist something like

Q'Ojfa
https://forcednostalgia.bandcamp.com/album/qojfa

Seriously.

New Jeph Jerman LP on White Centipede Noise. GREAT. Listened in couple of times and I was surprised how noisy it is. At times one could pretty much file it under harsh noise, but of course it's not all there is. I need to give it little more time to be able to fully write noteworthy review, but at this moment I can just conclude: Strongly recommended.

Quote from: FreakAnimalFinland on February 26, 2018, 06:48:00 PM
New Jeph Jerman LP on White Centipede Noise. GREAT. Listened in couple of times and I was surprised how noisy it is. At times one could pretty much file it under harsh noise, but of course it's not all there is. I need to give it little more time to be able to fully write noteworthy review, but at this moment I can just conclude: Strongly recommended.

Listen to enough Hands To and I'd think it fair to express surprise that anyone would be surprised at the noisy-ness! (Though I suppose in recent days surprise may be granted for things released under the Jerman name proper.) I don't yet have the lp, but the soundcloud samples are very convincing. If "harsh noise" is a stretch, then certainly not "harsh" nor "noise".

I prefer the Jerman stuff that isn't harsh noise actually.. Lofi rumbling, scrap iron or just unexpected combinations of strange electro/acoustic sounds. Saw him live last year and he played a great acoustic set with just some random object and a few small instruments.

I think we, or some of us, are speaking the same language, even if different words are being used. Wankers like Soddy would probably assign high scores for raw (a descriptor I admittedly toss about with rough abandon), where scores for harsh would be quite variable. The Hands To dvd library that everyone needs is entitled Rough Music, which sounds about right (will comment further when it's in my... exceedingly... grubby hands).

Not a fan of mp3's in general, but the Hands To Librarby collection DVD is essential. And yes, this stuff is foundational harsh noise and has been incredibly influencial for me. I've got a couple copies of the DVD coming in, some of the last from the label. Drop me a line if interested.

Listening to Debris by Jerman tonight: 3 track CD-R, has one of Jeph's decaying images on the front and a track list/description on the back. First track is a collection of the unused remnants of various cassette field recordings, rough sound and crackle...voices pop in and out of the mix but never stay long enough to impart any real message. The second says it's four track loops, it remains on the quiet side even at a high volume...wind interference and traffic noise (?) cuts through, nice rough sound, organic with hints of an electrical interference. I don't know i'd even suspect loops if it wasn't explicitly stated, but then again, to anyone who has even recorded an endless buildup of non sound on a loop tape with no erasehead  and played it back later it has a similar vibe, it's the sound of everything as it always is. 3rd track says it's malfuctioning machines, turntable and reel to reel...has a hissy quality to it, and kind of sounds like a tea kettle rattling away with micro sounds of the room, even at high volume the sound never really fills the room, it more so seeps in, blending with the environment of the listener. As shit gets going you begin to hear the tape sucking through the machines as the motors chuck and clank, a dense hum in the air. Raw rhythms seeping in underneath reminding me of some of Scott foust material or maybe xx committee. A highly enjoyable listen!

The White Centipede LP is my first exposure to this project. First thing, the packaging is great. Sounds like junk metal, but at some point the lp developes a brooding structure that is hard to decipher how it is made. Impressive.

First listen to the Bray Harp today, excellent LP, A side starts off with that rough noise that Jerman has come to be known for. Not to loud, not quiet, just moving through the landscape. Occasional metallic clink, interference, moving into a dense field of low end. B side is excellent junk noise, stands up there with early TNB. Nice close mic clank. No effects, it winds down into more of that rough sound field and ends. I'm excited to give it more listens...also came with a CD-R. Not sure if that was the label or Jeph direct, I haven't gotten time to investigate it yet. If it's different than the LP I'll report back. Packaging was excellent, tore up the sleeve pretty good. Collectors nightmare I'm sure! Hah. I think it was Careful Catalouge that added a note with the release that just cracked me up "To reiterate, there is a large piece of sandpaper on the front of this record. Multiple copies were shipped together from Germany. Abrasions are to be expected. Kind of the point here." hats off the White Centipede for bringing this one together.

Revisited the 2 CDs on Zabriskie Point this week and really enjoyed SFO. Did not care so much for Hand To Turn My Hands To..

Quote from: impulse manslaughter on April 01, 2018, 10:42:25 PM
Revisited the 2 CDs on Zabriskie Point this week and really enjoyed SFO. Did not care so much for Hand To Turn My Hands To..

Also re-visited these! Zabriekie Point - not huge discography for label, but really good stuff. Been browsing through early 90's Artware catalogues and even if it is "only" catalogues, damn it's good reminder how many labels out there who did handful of good items, but barely remembered these days among noteworthy labels.

Quote from: impulse manslaughter on April 01, 2018, 10:42:25 PM
Revisited the 2 CDs on Zabriskie Point this week and really enjoyed SFO. Did not care so much for Hand To Turn My Hands To..

Was just listening to the latter earlier today. Quite nice grab bag of competing episodic texture. Go nowhere defeatism, acoustic splatter-clack, road weary heel-drag, requisite bilge-loads of muffled flatulence plowing through the rough. Very Hands To sort of Hands To.

Jeph Jerman - 34°111'3"N 111°95'4"W
Glorious monaural recordings at an old disused windmill. The artwork seems a deliberate attempt to separate the work from classic "industrial" connotation, but the sounds are about as industrial as you can get... if by industrial you mean burnt out industrial ruins literally put to pasture. Thick, heavy metal clunking and clanking, unhurried, exploratory, semi-bemused sound recordist wandering around testing acoustic properties of steel thunking onto steel. The recurring image, for me, is of mic sunk deep into abysmal mine-shaft, or crypt, varied species of thunk nearly subsumed by receding low end reverberations conjuring spectral atmosphere verging on drone. Early on there actually is a droning passage delivered by, I'd guess, low-flying biplane. But for the most part sedate almost somber study in de-industrialized tranquility, funeral music for a once proud civilization mercifully laid to rust.

Jeph Jerman – Exploded View
Good and proper drone here, conjured from a range of rough n tumble sources. The lens on sources reveals innumerable cracks and fissures... the whole thing is a like a meditation on cracks and fissures, wrinkles and rumples, scratchings and scourings, rolled into willowing wisp of mid to low end rumble-burble. When the drone proper kicks in, it is principally of the whining industrial persuasion, machine-like drear rolling inexorably forward, though more tonal properties occasionally emerge. Perhaps concentrated listening is to be rewarded but as focus is dragged under the submerged convergence of drone and clutter conspires to drive the nodding attention into half-dazed lalaland, which is no bad thing!

Jeph Jerman and Steve Jansen – First Second
I wonder if the windmill on the cover is the same one from which the recordings in the above 34°111'3"N 111°95'4"W were taken. "Disused" would be putting it mildly, foregrounded by bleached skeletal remains on parched earth.  With Jansen contributing "tape, electronics" we're not getting quite the rough n ragged MO repped in the solo work, but fairly rich hollowed out drone that seeks to set off the Jermanian materials on hand. This feels like structured presentation in proper performance space, so lacking the intriguing acoustic phenomena of a solo joint, less at the mercy of the elements more turning them to our own unholy devices.


V. Sinclair – Dedication
Nothing to do with Jerman, but I just happened to be listening to this around the same time as the above three and it seemed a good complement. There's a fair bit more "composition" to this, but there are affinities as far as crumbling, rumpled scrap sources collaged together in apparent haphazard dishevelment, heavy emphasis on very raw, ragged, texture, with subtle ambient undertone lending melancholic undulation. Could be mellowed out TNB/Organum, great stuff.

Does anyone know if Jeph is still playing live? I would travel just to see a performance of his.
I checked his site for a mailing list or some method of staying updated too... will just have to keep eyes peeled.

Toured Europe w/ Tim Barnes about 6 months ago.. They did a great performance.

Is the Special Interest Jeph Jerman interview anywhere online? I felt I came across it before but I must've been dreaming. Would love to read it.

Best
Johann

Quote from: Johann on February 15, 2019, 05:44:10 PM
Is the Special Interest Jeph Jerman interview anywhere online? I felt I came across it before but I must've been dreaming. Would love to read it.

Best
Johann

Probably not. Should start to post old content online.. Have to see how it is best to do. Probably one interview at the time to site where not so much happens...

I would also love to read this interview, thank you.

https://special-interests.net/main/2019/02/17/jeph-jerman-hands-to-interview/

original interview appears with a lot without caps on. I recall it was some style choice...

Quote from: FreakAnimalFinland on February 17, 2019, 02:35:06 PM
https://special-interests.net/main/2019/02/17/jeph-jerman-hands-to-interview/

original interview appears with a lot without caps on. I recall it was some style choice...

Thank you!

Thanks for the link! Jeph is always a great interview. I would love to reread his interview in Muckraker from '95. It was my first exposure to him as a curious teen and the jewels dropped are heavy!

thanks for posting the interview

The Finger'd Remove

"Filmed and edited by Mexico City filmmaker Patrick Danse during No Idea 2016 in Austin, Texas, The Finger'd Remove is a collection of visual soundscapes featuring experimentalists Jeph Jerman and Tim Barnes."

https://youtu.be/svNU3WCHgBs

Very good, could have been easily half longer. Or more.

Thanks for posting. Nice to see some Jerman recording action.

Video can be quite different method of documenting how experimental sounds are made. Even merely saying "I use metal junk" can mean so many things. Almost from tin can shaker box, to location recordings with some huge object and anything between. If someone would say they used "wood" and "branches" on recordings, it would be kind of obvious, but that they would bring very specific dry little tree in car, drag it on street, hard surfaces where dry wood, all the little sticks etc, acts quite unlike many other kinds of "wood".

In a way, anyone who has been recording experimental acoustic sounds, most likely did a lot of things where action barely looks what you would associate with for example power electronics. Still results can be strange and a bit more "what is this?", "how was this done" -category. In a way, it's great seeing Jeph doing some source sounds, but perhaps it is that it visually/ aesthetically also belongs to art he does? If we'd see some cold anonymous death-industrial project driving bike with some junk metal dragging behind it... would it be neat or give amusing element to tracks that formerly didn't appear fun at all?

There is an upcoming book called: Listen: Jeph Jerman in Conversation with Aram Yardumian (https://www.amazon.com/Jeph-Jerman/dp/3982316634)

"This oral autobiography of the underground experimentalist also serves as a history of the 1980s tape and electronic music scene in the US

Since 1980, Jeph Jerman (born 1959)―sound artist, field recordist, percussionist and visual artist―has released over 200 sound works, under his own name, under the moniker Hands To and with countless collaborators, improvising with natural found objects, crude homebuilt devices, tape machines and occasionally traditional instruments. He now makes his home in Cottonwood, Arizona.
This book-length interview traces Jerman's life and work, from his earliest sound experiments, free rock and jazz units, and postal collaborations, to his more recent work with decaying matter and landscape. Illustrated with previously unpublished photos, this highly readable conversation also sketches the 1980s American home-taping and electronic music scenes in which Jerman was a key figure, convening a community of anti-luminaries such as G.X. Jupitter-Larsen, Eric Lunde, Mark Schomburg, Tim Barnes, Dave Knott and Dan Burke. Listen also includes a selection of Jerman's visual art."

For as much as I've heard from Hands To and Jerman, I know almost nothing about Blowhole.  When I heard them, after falling hard for Hands To, I wasn't ready for free jazz.  As I expanded into jazz in the past several years, I forgot about Blowhole.  I've been surprised to find little of them, even on youtube.  There are a few things, but considering the Blowhole catalogue, it's not great.  Maybe I'm not the only one who has forgotten about them?  As I was listening to Guerilla Jazz, I was picking up on Black Flag references, particularly in the guitar and bass, or whatever those things are that he's playing.  The track "Limited Resources" is a good example, but I heard it earlier in the album too.  Jerman is experimenting more on the drums than Black Flag did, but for much of the rest of it, The Process of Weeding Out comes to mind.  Is this common with Blowhole?  Has Jerman ever mentioned Black Flag in an interview?  Is it all coincidence, and I'm making personal, false associations?

Quote from: Eloy on November 18, 2022, 12:35:17 AM
There is an upcoming book called: Listen: Jeph Jerman in Conversation with Aram Yardumian (https://www.amazon.com/Jeph-Jerman/dp/3982316634)

"This oral autobiography of the underground experimentalist also serves as a history of the 1980s tape and electronic music scene in the US

Since 1980, Jeph Jerman (born 1959)―sound artist, field recordist, percussionist and visual artist―has released over 200 sound works, under his own name, under the moniker Hands To and with countless collaborators, improvising with natural found objects, crude homebuilt devices, tape machines and occasionally traditional instruments. He now makes his home in Cottonwood, Arizona.
This book-length interview traces Jerman's life and work, from his earliest sound experiments, free rock and jazz units, and postal collaborations, to his more recent work with decaying matter and landscape. Illustrated with previously unpublished photos, this highly readable conversation also sketches the 1980s American home-taping and electronic music scenes in which Jerman was a key figure, convening a community of anti-luminaries such as G.X. Jupitter-Larsen, Eric Lunde, Mark Schomburg, Tim Barnes, Dave Knott and Dan Burke. Listen also includes a selection of Jerman's visual art."

Book looks and feels very good. Photos and lots of text. I have yet to start reading as I just got it, but looks like something that can be absolutely recommended!