artist: MICHAEL NORTHAM
title: Automnal 2003
catalog number: and/23
release year: 2006
format: CD
status: sold out
title: Automnal 2003
catalog number: and/23
release year: 2006
format: CD
status: sold out
Highly indicative of the nomadic life that international sound artist Michael
Northam has come to know over the past 5 or so years, this release
represents a sonic recollection of his life dispersed across a vast geography,
pinpointing three specific locations and moments from his long journey:
- Glacier du Trient, Switzerland / France
- Eagle Creek, Indianapolis
- Ils Grosbois, Montreal
At times, this hypnotic release presents meditative, invigorating, and eerie
translations of places and experiences in ways that only Northam can
poetically convey.
Originally dispersed among friends in 2003 as a limited edition "spontaneous
document" CDR, this work is now re-issued on CD so it can finally be enjoyed
by more people. And deservedly so.
Northam has come to know over the past 5 or so years, this release
represents a sonic recollection of his life dispersed across a vast geography,
pinpointing three specific locations and moments from his long journey:
- Glacier du Trient, Switzerland / France
- Eagle Creek, Indianapolis
- Ils Grosbois, Montreal
At times, this hypnotic release presents meditative, invigorating, and eerie
translations of places and experiences in ways that only Northam can
poetically convey.
Originally dispersed among friends in 2003 as a limited edition "spontaneous
document" CDR, this work is now re-issued on CD so it can finally be enjoyed
by more people. And deservedly so.
SMALLFISH (AUGUST 2006)
Automnal 2003 is an audio document capturing 3 moments / locations in time.
Glacier Du Trient in Switzerland, Eagle Creek in Indianapolis and Ils Grosbois
in Montreal. The artist travelled and moved studio 13 times in 3 years and
these locations formed part of the journey. Initially released as a limited edition
of 50 copies, and/OAR has seem fit to give them a new life with this beautifully
packaged release. The three tracks are deep, incredibly hypnotic soundscapes
that bear comparisons with the works of Gas, Kenneth Kirschner and, perhaps
more pertinently, William Basinski. There's a deep sense of melody throughout
each piece coupled with background sounds that add a little aural punctuation
but essentially it's all about the ambient tones that are conjured up. A magical
selection of tracks that place and/OAR and Mnortham firmly at the top of the
tree as regard to this form of minimalist music. Quite simply a wonderful
release that's recommended most highly. (Mike Oliver)
Automnal 2003 is an audio document capturing 3 moments / locations in time.
Glacier Du Trient in Switzerland, Eagle Creek in Indianapolis and Ils Grosbois
in Montreal. The artist travelled and moved studio 13 times in 3 years and
these locations formed part of the journey. Initially released as a limited edition
of 50 copies, and/OAR has seem fit to give them a new life with this beautifully
packaged release. The three tracks are deep, incredibly hypnotic soundscapes
that bear comparisons with the works of Gas, Kenneth Kirschner and, perhaps
more pertinently, William Basinski. There's a deep sense of melody throughout
each piece coupled with background sounds that add a little aural punctuation
but essentially it's all about the ambient tones that are conjured up. A magical
selection of tracks that place and/OAR and Mnortham firmly at the top of the
tree as regard to this form of minimalist music. Quite simply a wonderful
release that's recommended most highly. (Mike Oliver)
EARLABS (OCTOBER 2006)
My first (and somehow positive) impression was, that I didn't hear the
expected field-recordings of the stated locations, instead there are clusters of
long lasting tones, gently sweeping in space. I would not call it a drone-thing,
because it is so airy and fragile. Northam carefully adds some metallic sounds
which could be derived from field-recordings but I cannot say what kind of.
Later I recognize the sound of ringing church bells in the distance. The end of
this 32 minutes lasting first track "weave (glacier test)" is a fine highpass
filtered part.
The second and shortest track "creek (at nan´s)" deals with deeper
frequencies than before and again it sounds like field-recordings which I
cannot associate. Under the thick wall of the deep frequencies there are some
short metallic crashes and sizzles. Again Northam blends out with a highpass
filtered version of the sound heard before.
"ils grosbois (montréal)" the last of the three tracks is a very subtle, gleaming
piece. It starts with a field-recording, which could derive from walking through
the woods. Then there are more and more layers of long lasting bell-like tones,
which are falling on me like breaking through sun rays. Somehow I associate
here a very sunny, overwhelming beautiful place in the woods.
All in all I cannot complain about anything in this release, which is for me one
of the best at and/OAR. It doesn't matter that this recording has been re-issued
after 3 years, as it is a so ageless sonic pleasure.
(Sascha Renner)
My first (and somehow positive) impression was, that I didn't hear the
expected field-recordings of the stated locations, instead there are clusters of
long lasting tones, gently sweeping in space. I would not call it a drone-thing,
because it is so airy and fragile. Northam carefully adds some metallic sounds
which could be derived from field-recordings but I cannot say what kind of.
Later I recognize the sound of ringing church bells in the distance. The end of
this 32 minutes lasting first track "weave (glacier test)" is a fine highpass
filtered part.
The second and shortest track "creek (at nan´s)" deals with deeper
frequencies than before and again it sounds like field-recordings which I
cannot associate. Under the thick wall of the deep frequencies there are some
short metallic crashes and sizzles. Again Northam blends out with a highpass
filtered version of the sound heard before.
"ils grosbois (montréal)" the last of the three tracks is a very subtle, gleaming
piece. It starts with a field-recording, which could derive from walking through
the woods. Then there are more and more layers of long lasting bell-like tones,
which are falling on me like breaking through sun rays. Somehow I associate
here a very sunny, overwhelming beautiful place in the woods.
All in all I cannot complain about anything in this release, which is for me one
of the best at and/OAR. It doesn't matter that this recording has been re-issued
after 3 years, as it is a so ageless sonic pleasure.
(Sascha Renner)
REMOTE THOUGHTS (OCTOBER 2006)
and/OAR continues to impress me as a label with its varied, original and
extremely high quality release and it’s clear that owner Dale Lloyd takes a
great deal of care over every single release.
As such it’s always a pleasure to hear a new CD from such a quality imprint
and this release from Mnortham is absolutely sublime.
The three tracks that make up the 55 minute CD are audio snapshots of three
different locations in time and reflect the ideas and feelings the artist had
whilst relocating around the globe thirteen times in the just two years,
culminating in his arrival back home in Autumn 2003.
Prepare to be soothed and engaged by the work on offer here as there’s a
tangible sense of difference between the pieces, even though the approach is
roughly the same each time with processing of location recordings and found
sounds forming the main structures.
‘Glacier Du Trient, Switzerland/France’ is a light, breezy, yet discordant piece
that lifts you up with its high end drone sounds and insistent clicks in the
background which force you to pay attention. It’s hard tune it out and you’ll find
yourself listening to it in depth and discovering more and more resonant
frequencies existing than you imagined at first.
‘Eagle Creek, Indianapolis’ has a heavier, more oppressive tone and bears a
similarity at times to some of the work of Wolfgang Voigt under his Gas
moniker. Combined with the sound of cicadas in the background the organic
tone that drives the track forward gives you a palpable sense of a wide open
space inhabited by creatures of the night.
The final piece ‘Ils Grosbois, Montreal’ is the most haunting of the works here.
A mid/high-frequency drone that works with discordant layers resonates at just
the right level to create a sense of dislocation, gradually adding in subtle static
sounds and scratchy, gritty tones into the background. Again this give the track
a real sense of movement, driving it ever forward.
And it’s this sense of moving and never settling in one place that permeates
the whole CD… a feeling of transience captured for eternity on a piece of
encoded plastic.
That’s the magic of music and it’s certainly where the magic of this CD comes
from.
A delightful, beautiful and very personal piece of work.
and/OAR continues to impress me as a label with its varied, original and
extremely high quality release and it’s clear that owner Dale Lloyd takes a
great deal of care over every single release.
As such it’s always a pleasure to hear a new CD from such a quality imprint
and this release from Mnortham is absolutely sublime.
The three tracks that make up the 55 minute CD are audio snapshots of three
different locations in time and reflect the ideas and feelings the artist had
whilst relocating around the globe thirteen times in the just two years,
culminating in his arrival back home in Autumn 2003.
Prepare to be soothed and engaged by the work on offer here as there’s a
tangible sense of difference between the pieces, even though the approach is
roughly the same each time with processing of location recordings and found
sounds forming the main structures.
‘Glacier Du Trient, Switzerland/France’ is a light, breezy, yet discordant piece
that lifts you up with its high end drone sounds and insistent clicks in the
background which force you to pay attention. It’s hard tune it out and you’ll find
yourself listening to it in depth and discovering more and more resonant
frequencies existing than you imagined at first.
‘Eagle Creek, Indianapolis’ has a heavier, more oppressive tone and bears a
similarity at times to some of the work of Wolfgang Voigt under his Gas
moniker. Combined with the sound of cicadas in the background the organic
tone that drives the track forward gives you a palpable sense of a wide open
space inhabited by creatures of the night.
The final piece ‘Ils Grosbois, Montreal’ is the most haunting of the works here.
A mid/high-frequency drone that works with discordant layers resonates at just
the right level to create a sense of dislocation, gradually adding in subtle static
sounds and scratchy, gritty tones into the background. Again this give the track
a real sense of movement, driving it ever forward.
And it’s this sense of moving and never settling in one place that permeates
the whole CD… a feeling of transience captured for eternity on a piece of
encoded plastic.
That’s the magic of music and it’s certainly where the magic of this CD comes
from.
A delightful, beautiful and very personal piece of work.
TOUCHING EXTREMES (DECEMBER 2006)
Constantly working on the borders between nature and unconscious, Michael
Northam is one of those artists who is almost impossible not to appreciate.
"Automnal 2003" consists of three long haunting tracks that, according to the
composer, are "taken from three moments/locations" during the "re-collection
of my life dispersed across North America and Europe" (Northam relocated 13
times between 2001 and 2003; and I thought that my own four moves in five
years were a sort of record...). The album is full of magnificently sounding faint
luminescences, carriers of barely defined frequencies which contribute to a
state of perturbed serenity. Pseudo-aquatic emissions and environmental
subtleties mesh with what sounds like misshapen aural documentaries of life
in a termitarium; ghostly undulations and uncatchable harmonic constellations
put your head into their huge, yet impalpable hands to caress it until
acceptance becomes mandatory. At the end of the first movement I seemed to
perceive joyously tolling bells, filtered and processed to sound like they were
underwater, but maybe it was just an acoustic mirage. Yet, I felt such a
warmth in my heart at that very moment that I wished it would never stop.
(Massimo Ricci)
Constantly working on the borders between nature and unconscious, Michael
Northam is one of those artists who is almost impossible not to appreciate.
"Automnal 2003" consists of three long haunting tracks that, according to the
composer, are "taken from three moments/locations" during the "re-collection
of my life dispersed across North America and Europe" (Northam relocated 13
times between 2001 and 2003; and I thought that my own four moves in five
years were a sort of record...). The album is full of magnificently sounding faint
luminescences, carriers of barely defined frequencies which contribute to a
state of perturbed serenity. Pseudo-aquatic emissions and environmental
subtleties mesh with what sounds like misshapen aural documentaries of life
in a termitarium; ghostly undulations and uncatchable harmonic constellations
put your head into their huge, yet impalpable hands to caress it until
acceptance becomes mandatory. At the end of the first movement I seemed to
perceive joyously tolling bells, filtered and processed to sound like they were
underwater, but maybe it was just an acoustic mirage. Yet, I felt such a
warmth in my heart at that very moment that I wished it would never stop.
(Massimo Ricci)
AQUARIUS RECORDS (APRIL 2007)
As of spring 2007, the nomadic lifestyle of Michael Northam may land the
American born sound artist in New Delhi where he might manage a media arts
facility or he might take up the humble calling of a gardener in the south of
France, where he could find plenty of inspiration for his ecologically tinged
compositions. The excitement, fear, and instability of not really knowing where
housing might come from has been the existence for Mr. Northam for many
years now, and he's always managed to build an impressively cohesive body
of work through composition, performance, and exhibition. The Automnal 2003
disc was originally a self-published CD-R which Northam gave to his friends
and colleagues as a testament to the benefits, joys, trials, and failures to his
chosen lifestyle. During the 24 months between August 2001 and the autumn of
2003, Northam picked up and moved his studio 13 times across Europe and
North America; and the three extended tracks on Automnal represent three
particular places along that journey. The first track opens with a glassy drone
of sustained string vibration which sound remarkably like the more pastoral
tones of Phill Niblock. Aquatic rumblings and fluttering patterns emerge as
complementary elements to the Northam's droning infinitude that aptly fits
Northam's geographical subject, a glacier on the Switzerland / France border.
The second track is my favorite piece that Northam has created to date. With a
gaping low-end drone beautifully stacked with what seem to be choral
harmonics built from the environmental recordings of crickets near a stream,
Northam offers a breathtaking, nocturnal piece of activated ambience much
like Zoviet France's Shadow Thief Of The Sun or Gas' Konigsforst minus the
motorik rhythm, of course. For the finale of Automnal 2003, Northam presents a
sinewy vibrational hypnosis that's quite similar in frequency to the first track,
yet he manages to dislocate the bleary ambience with a subcutaneous stream
of crackle and static. A wonderful record!
As of spring 2007, the nomadic lifestyle of Michael Northam may land the
American born sound artist in New Delhi where he might manage a media arts
facility or he might take up the humble calling of a gardener in the south of
France, where he could find plenty of inspiration for his ecologically tinged
compositions. The excitement, fear, and instability of not really knowing where
housing might come from has been the existence for Mr. Northam for many
years now, and he's always managed to build an impressively cohesive body
of work through composition, performance, and exhibition. The Automnal 2003
disc was originally a self-published CD-R which Northam gave to his friends
and colleagues as a testament to the benefits, joys, trials, and failures to his
chosen lifestyle. During the 24 months between August 2001 and the autumn of
2003, Northam picked up and moved his studio 13 times across Europe and
North America; and the three extended tracks on Automnal represent three
particular places along that journey. The first track opens with a glassy drone
of sustained string vibration which sound remarkably like the more pastoral
tones of Phill Niblock. Aquatic rumblings and fluttering patterns emerge as
complementary elements to the Northam's droning infinitude that aptly fits
Northam's geographical subject, a glacier on the Switzerland / France border.
The second track is my favorite piece that Northam has created to date. With a
gaping low-end drone beautifully stacked with what seem to be choral
harmonics built from the environmental recordings of crickets near a stream,
Northam offers a breathtaking, nocturnal piece of activated ambience much
like Zoviet France's Shadow Thief Of The Sun or Gas' Konigsforst minus the
motorik rhythm, of course. For the finale of Automnal 2003, Northam presents a
sinewy vibrational hypnosis that's quite similar in frequency to the first track,
yet he manages to dislocate the bleary ambience with a subcutaneous stream
of crackle and static. A wonderful record!
E / I (SEPTEMBER 2007)
Automnal 2003 is a testimony of Michael Northam’s nomadic life, which has
seen to it that he relocate thirteen times between the moments bookending
2001 and 2003. The three extended tracks that surface here represent three
distinct junctures along that journey, a glacier along the Switzerland/ France
border, crickets captured from Eagle Creek in IIndianapolis, and an assortment
of sounds taken from what sounds like a walk in the woods of Ils Grosbois,
Montreal, respectively. With the first selection, plangent notes and long string
resonance evoke both a peaceful meditation and an underlying restlessness
that is indicative of the work on a whole. Successive pieces, though marked
by long stretches of slowly evolving sounds, are thereby of a more questing
rather than simply soothing disposition. From the beginning, compositions are
texturally sophisticated and diverse in mood, but as the album ages, it
continuously moves away from lengthier passages of slow-moving, more or
less constant sounds, towards pieces that are stringent and rigid. Along the
way, the switching of angles and perspectives are significant yet ingenuous,
dynamic yet immediately involving. Accordingly, pleasure is had in witnessing
so many percolating details get swamped in the low swelling of the pieces, a
certain pleasure in being taken over and giving into absence. Indeed, the
relentlessness of Northam’s approach all but ensures that one will give in, be
it immediately or over a certain period of time. The final work, for instance,
being characterized by intense internal arguments and clashing directions,
encourages quick submission, and the varying degrees to which this is the
case in other works only adds to the album’s appeal. It’s a venture that the
mind enjoys, then, but of which the body eventually grows tired. A challenge,
certainly, yet this document exhibits an impressive variety of states—both of
the garden-variety and those of a more specific nature—which no doubt
colored Northam’s time over the course of his travels. (Max Schaefer)
Automnal 2003 is a testimony of Michael Northam’s nomadic life, which has
seen to it that he relocate thirteen times between the moments bookending
2001 and 2003. The three extended tracks that surface here represent three
distinct junctures along that journey, a glacier along the Switzerland/ France
border, crickets captured from Eagle Creek in IIndianapolis, and an assortment
of sounds taken from what sounds like a walk in the woods of Ils Grosbois,
Montreal, respectively. With the first selection, plangent notes and long string
resonance evoke both a peaceful meditation and an underlying restlessness
that is indicative of the work on a whole. Successive pieces, though marked
by long stretches of slowly evolving sounds, are thereby of a more questing
rather than simply soothing disposition. From the beginning, compositions are
texturally sophisticated and diverse in mood, but as the album ages, it
continuously moves away from lengthier passages of slow-moving, more or
less constant sounds, towards pieces that are stringent and rigid. Along the
way, the switching of angles and perspectives are significant yet ingenuous,
dynamic yet immediately involving. Accordingly, pleasure is had in witnessing
so many percolating details get swamped in the low swelling of the pieces, a
certain pleasure in being taken over and giving into absence. Indeed, the
relentlessness of Northam’s approach all but ensures that one will give in, be
it immediately or over a certain period of time. The final work, for instance,
being characterized by intense internal arguments and clashing directions,
encourages quick submission, and the varying degrees to which this is the
case in other works only adds to the album’s appeal. It’s a venture that the
mind enjoys, then, but of which the body eventually grows tired. A challenge,
certainly, yet this document exhibits an impressive variety of states—both of
the garden-variety and those of a more specific nature—which no doubt
colored Northam’s time over the course of his travels. (Max Schaefer)
