John Duncan

[Otomo_Hava]

"John Duncan is an artist who has lived and worked in Los Angeles, Tokyo and Amsterdam, currently lives and works in Bologna. His body of work includes performance art, installations, contemporary music, video art and experimental film, often involving the extensive use of recorded sound. His music is composed mainly of recordings from shortwave radio, field recordings and voice. His events and installations are a form of existential research, often confrontational in nature."

http://www.johnduncan.org/

[acsenger]

It'd be good to read recommendations about his albums as I'd like to get to know his music but don't know where to start. I only have his LP with Michael Esposito and Z'ev; I've heard it once so far and liked it.
Are the 2 Vinyl-on-Demand boxes (with his early works) worth getting?

[impulse manslaughter]

Riot is a classic album, great material.. I also like Dark market Broadcast & John See Soundtracks. Some of the other material i have or heard is a bit hit and miss.

[Bloated Slutbag]

John Duncan is not someone I've listened to much recently. (Will agree with most of those beforementioned.) But I do recall quite liking Incoming (assisted by Christophe Heemann, with additional contributions from Max Springer) and The Crackling (with Max Springer). The former actually gets to quite the severe levels of drone-frieze at times; could probably sit in the drone thread if the shit weren't so goddamned loud. The latter finds atmospheric elements flipping back-and-forth with the familiar drone, a very finely textured piece of work not at all the crackle-study one might anticipate in the title.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

VOD boxes are great! Maybe that first box is something that out of 3 LP's you just need 2... but no complaints really.
I think Riot certainly is essential and John See Soundtracks CD is good for anyone into female sex sounds in noise muzak...!

[FreakAnimalFinland]

Been listening JOHN DUNCAN "First Recordings 1978-1985 V1.2" 5x LP +7" on Vinyl On Demand. It slightly overlaps with previous Duncan box what one could confuse with this. That was 3xLP+dvd set titled "First Recordings 1978-1985". Basically both sets are different. Only that 3rd LP of previous one has short edits of several tracks what appear longer here. Even in full almost 30 minutes length!

And while 2nd LP of first box was pretty useless radio-show piece, on this 5xLP box you find some of the very best Duncan works! No matter how old the idea of composing with short wave radio, I just like that very much. Rusty and grim industrial feel present in many recordings is amazing.

Not only that, but more acoustic/organic works dating back to late 70's... Damn! Percussive stuff kind of Z'ev type, and droning stuff previously on LAFMS just great.

5 LP's is a lot to go through, but I'm still having this feeling, would it be better to have more affordable CD's releases documenting these old tapes in their full uncut form?

[impulse manslaughter]

I recently asked Duncan if he was interested in a reissue of the 'Pleasure Escape' tape as i love his 'Blind Date' piece but i guess it's not going to happen.

[acsenger]

Listened to Duncan's The Nazca Transmissions LP and the Duncan/Michael Esposito/Z'ev There Must Be A Way Across This River/The Abject LP. I liked both very much, although perhaps Duncan's solo LP is better. It's very well done abstract electronic music, sometimes mysterious, at other times a massive block of sound, all carefully constructed. The collaborative LP is also good, and even the spoken word (which I normally don't really like) on side A fits the music well (too bad it's hard to understand what's being said as the music is louder). Again, the record is in the realm of "sound art", with some harsher moments here and there. Nothing revolutionary, but well done.

[london]

I really like his live side on the Journey Into Pain compilation.

[Dom America]

If anyone is looking for the recent boot tape, let me know. We have a few at the store.

[bitewerksMTB]

I saw a JD performance once. He ran 8mm films with a DAT of short-wave static. It was pretty good; a couple of punk gals sitting in front of me giggled at a scene of a man having a birthday cake candle shoved into his cock but they walked out on the female bondage footage.

[Johann]

From IDEALism site

Edition:

300 black vinyl 23 €
100 splatter (transparent/blood red, 60 iDEAL mail order copies, 40 artist copies) 33 €

This release of RIOT is the one that I have always wanted to hear. This is so much more than a re-release: the original 8-track master has been re-recorded and re-mixed, with other tracks recorded at the time and excluded from the first LP that are now added here, thanks to Daniel Araya at EMS in Stockholm who managed to get a working model of the long-obsolete machine that the master was recorded on, turning the impossible to a done deal. All of them have now been mastered as I originally intended, in this LP sounding exactly as they always should have.

The cover art is also vastly superior: a photo from the first version of RAGE ROOM, far more effective than the hand silkscreened cover that I was forced to accept in a version that was already seriously compromised. This time it's perfect.

AND it gets even better. Mastered and cut expertly by Rashad Becker and pressed in black vinyl, iDEAL could easily have stopped there but no -- a splatter vinyl limited edition version is available as well!

If there is any one must-have release that defines my work in sound, this is it.

- John Duncan, March 2018.

Price includes shipping worldwide

Saw this and thought I'd share in case someone else hadn't, exciting news!

[cr]

Thanks a lot for the information! Exciting news indeed.


Can anyone comment on the Bitter Earth LP and the Mantra/Ursonate CD from 2016 and 2017?

[Johann]

Thanks a lot for the information! Exciting news indeed.


Can anyone comment on the Bitter Earth LP and the Mantra/Ursonate CD from 2016 and 2017?

I own Bitter Earth but wouldn't feel comfortable commenting on it at the moment, i'd Have to give it another spin to unjar my memory. It is song based, and contains only covers.

Mantra/Ursonate: vocal drone, breaths are edited out (or at least kind of), the edits are rough giving the piece a different feel than your straight forward drone. Mantra is simple yet effective, the use of panning across the two channels creates quite an organic feel...buzzing, clicking, and deeply unsettling. Duncan does not create a mantra of peace and oneness, rather an otherworldly experience that surrounds the listener (I am listening on headphones) and would likely fill the room. As the piece evolves the tone begins morphing towards a tonal quality (similar to a horn, this is in a way the second movement of the piece) while the rest of the "voices" swirl underneath. There seems to be some electronic processing occurring besides edits, especially as you move into the third movement of Mantra, the voice disappears or breaks down completely engulfed in a short wave esque static, dense low end and the sounds of a room (?). In the 4th movement, the electronics give way to a powerful swell of voice (-breath) It almost has the quality of a didgeridoo, various voiced parts are layered to create the presence or feeling of a choir, it feels religious in a sense, like passing between spaces...fans of Rudolf E.ber, and more psychologically jarring work like recent G*Park should remain on the lookout. Ursonate is a Kurt Schwitters piece performed with the assistantance of others. Trills explode into choral drones, the power of the piece again mirrors the spiritual. A very compelling early piece of sound poetry beautifully and respectfully reinterpreted. Duncan remains true to the original, yet brings his own unique vision. A must for those that love sound poetry and a great start for those still unsure.

For those interested I have noticed that it is available in full for streaming on John Duncan's Bandcamp page along with other works by him, including collaborative efforts (for free).

[acsenger]

Great to hear Riot is being reissued. His first LP, Organic, is also due to be reissued in April: https://www.superiorviaduct.com/collections/upcoming/products/john-duncan-organic-lp

I'll pick up both as I don't know Duncan's early works at all. Looking forward to hearing them.