Alluvial Recordings Home

December 1, 2009

A new set of projects about JG Ballard from Janek Schaefer can be found here. I made a contribution to the project in the form of an essay regarding Mr. Ballard's treatment of sound and music in his work.

Also, some of you might be familiar with the excellent 'brain' self-titled CDr Alluvial released some years ago. This is long, long gone. Well, it turns out Brian has a blog now where he has posted the long out-of-print Alluvial release along with several other works he did. I cannot recommend all of these enough. Give it all a listen. Plus, according to his profile, one of his favorite books is the Atrocity Exhibition by JG Ballard. What a guy....

October 1, 2009

Alluvial Recordings 1998-2009

Some of you knew this, some did not. I have decided to discontinue Alluvial as of this year. The Hitoshi Kojo 10" is the last release you'll see. The reasons are many, but hardly atypical- increased competition, proliferation of blog downloads (for the record, I have no huge problem with this, but I'd be remiss to ignore its impact), and probably most importantly, lack of time.

Thank you all for your support and encouragement over all these years. Please keep an eye on this site for deals on Alluvial releases as well as the huge amount of material I've accummulated over the years in trades from other labels.

I'm not going away- there will be some sort of new venture which is slowly taking shape. Once that has been determined, I will post the information here. This site is not going anywhere- I will maintain it. You can always get a hold of me at krwienke (at) gmail.com. krwienke (at) hotmail.com is still active and used for paypal transactions.

Lastly, there is a great review of the new Hitoshi Kojo 10" on the Reviews page. Just remember- you found the Poor Man's Organum here first! If I had the money, I'd get t-shirts made.

February 18, 2009

I am very pleased to announce that an excerpt of the track "Hiruko" from the Hitoshi Kojo 'Ezo' 10" will appear with the April issue of the UK magazine, "Wire" on the new Tapper CD. If you're not familiar, 2 or 3 times a year, select issues come with a free CD, even those not tied to a subscription. Koz did an shortened version of the track specifically for this CD. Keep an eye out for it!

February 1,2009

The new 10" vinyl from Hitoshi Kojo, Ezo, is out now. See details below.

Also, the audio samples I've promised forever are now up for all "in print" releases. You can find them on the Audio Samples page, strangely enough.

January 1, 2009

The other day, I noticed that Groundfault Recordings has a number of out of print Alluvial titles in their catalogue still (like the Dauby LP for example). Not a bad place to pick these up as Erik also has excellent prices domestically and internationally.

Still fresh:

Arsenije Jovanovic Galiola - Works For Radio, 1967- 2000 CD

Giancarlo Toniutti Sound-Field for Rattle Harp CD

Auctions:

I often have titles available on eBay which I do not post to the SHOP.

For a look, go to:
krwienke auctions

Hitoshi Kojo Ezo 10" vinyl (A29)

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The title of the pieces of this record "Hiruko" and "Ebisu" are the two names of one mythical being in Japanese mythology. "Hiruko" is a firstborn child of the god, who was deserted in the sea, because he could not stand up by three years old. He drifted ashore to the land of human beings, and was cherished by the people. Then he was brought up as a god, and was worshipped by the people as "Ebisu".

Somehow I was haunted by the story all the time during the working period. Therefore the names became the titles. Afterwards I knew that "Ebisu" is also an alias of "Ezo" which was the old name of northern part of Japan. So it was adopted as the album title. Although the theory that Ezo equate with Ainu seems to be disputed sometime, I chose the name as a tribute to my favorite Ainu mythologies, and to the folks. The image on the cover is "Ebisu" which has visited in my mind at the time. Although it's quite different from the traditional image...

The sound source of the pieces were all produced by "found-object" which were mostly found from daily commodities. The resonance of the inside of objects and the resonance of the recorded spaces were also treated as the material. The process to find an object which is usually not used as a musical instrumet was considered as a part of the execution. Therefore people's name who found some of the objects were mentioned in the cover.

Also the vinyl record was fatally chosen for the album as an "object" which must be worn and be degraded by the condition and the frequency of the use. The noises by dusts and surface scratches on the disk should be listened as a part of the piece. (Hitoshi Kojo)

Giancarlo Toniutti

qwalsamtimutkw?italuc'ik
(and now he almost did make himself into hemlock needles, it is said)

sound-field for rattle-harp CD (A26)

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Comes in an LP-style sleeve with 16 page booklet.

recorded on 18 january 2001 in Udine the red room

[sound-source: rattle-harp (drift metal, string, wire, bells, bone, wood)]

treated & composed on 9-12 february 2002 in Udine the black room

all photos have been taken at Caneo natural reserve, Fossalon di Grado, Isonzo river mouth, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy, 0 m. asl.

the very occasional faint crackles are digital faults from the original recording; as part of the document they have not been erased.

(and
now
he
almost
did
make
himself
into
hemlock
needles,
it
is
said)

qwals....

...hemlock needles...

all photographs on this site by Kevin Wienke unless otherwise noted. want to use something? please ask first. thank you.

Last updated

12/5/2009 12:19 PM