Fan-freaking-tastic!

How the hell can you "Highly Recommend" this if you haven't even opened it and heard the cds? A marketing mans dream is what you are. They're probably blank cd-rs. C'mon rip it open. You can keep the paper next to the toilet.

"How the hell" can you not get a joke like that?

Great review Brian! SO far im just still staring at mine too.

Vincent, I think it's just as silly to call it a joke as it is to miss the point entirely like Fat. It's not a joke; it's just a review of an art object in a medium other than sound, hardly a rare thing. Anyone familiar with Sean's work will understand how appropriate and incisive Brian's review is.

I'm really anxious to experience this one first-hand, and pleased as all heck to see SoSEditions back in action after such an outrageously auspicious debut with From Between. Brian's review is a deserved consideration of the label's advanced visual sensibility.

I'd be interested to know what the music sounds like, though. Sort of answers my question of a few threads ago: how many listens do you need before writing a review? None, apparently.
I'm waiting for my copy of this to arrive, but knowing the sensibility of French postmen I rather fancy they'll do the job for me and rip open the fucker in transit. In the meantime, I'm afraid I can't agree with you, Mike. A record review written without even having listened to the music can neither be appropriate nor incisive. Stop farting around with the Emperor's New Clothes and start talking about the music, people.

I have to agree with Dan. Nobody will buy these cds for the packaging.

the music is awesome, FWIW. one of my favorite releases in quite some time, and the packaging is part of it.

Dan, you're offbase on this one, maybe you'll see after you receive it.

"I have to agree with Dan. Nobody will buy these cds for the packaging."

FWIW, a few people have already bought 2 copies from Sean, one to play and one to leave intact. when I showed it to Toshi when he stayed with me this weekend, he told me about a CD he appeared as a guest on, that had the disc embedded in a molded clay rectangle with a pretty flower on the front. you needed to use a hammer to shatter the clay to hear the music, Toshi preferred to keep it intact and has never heard the music.

Dan, one thing about this release is that it forces the listener into an active role. so many of us have massive piles of discs lying around, you need to put in some effort if you want to hear this one after purchase. the whole object represents Sean very well, a musician who's had a difficult time figuring out how to successfully transfer the power of what he does live to recordings. I was initially a bit irritated, I'm normally a fan of utilitarian packaging, but this is a perfect fit, and actually adds to the experience of simply listening to the music, in my opinion.

To clarify, I didn't mean that the whole package isn't a work of art. The packaging is, indeed, quite beautiful and unique. However, I don't think anyone will decide to buy Sean Meehan's work simply because of the packaging, unless they are already a fan or interested in the actual music.

back to Dan's post again:

"A record review written without even having listened to the music can neither be appropriate nor incisive."

this of course depends somewhat on the forum that it's written for. if it was for the Wire or AMG, you're correct, but in this format Brian can choose to update us on his progress with the object/music whenever he likes (or not, if he chooses), I think it's totally appropriate and I'm sure that Sean would also.

There are plenty of precedents in Fluxus for this kind of conceptual jiggery pokery (remember the Ben Vautier piece that locked the audience in the auditorium?), but the novelty's worn off after 40 years. Sorry. If I'm offbase by stating the bloody obvious - that a record review should discuss the music and not the CD box - then I'll be offbase for ever amen.
Maybe you want to own records as art objects in their own right, and hang them on the wall, but I don't. I have no doubt that Sean's music is very fine, but I'd prefer to listen to it rather than look at it. And if I want to discuss fine art online instead of music I'll go elsewhere.
"FWIW, a few people have already bought 2 copies from Sean, one to play and one to leave intact."
Cunning marketing, dude. "Why buy one when you can buy two?" Well, I guess people are free to do what they want with their money. God bless America.
"Toshi when he stayed with me this weekend, he told me about a CD he appeared as a guest on, that had the disc embedded in a molded clay rectangle with a pretty flower on the front. you needed to use a hammer to shatter the clay to hear the music, Toshi preferred to keep it intact and has never heard the music."
OK, so the record became an art object. Been there, done that. Old story. Personally I prefer the idea of the first Reynols album, a "dematerialised" CD (ie an empty jewel box). Yours, off base and off to work. DW. ps No disrespect to Brian O, btw - I seriously look forward to hearing what he thinks of the music.

i think Jon's comments are right on. i think also that the fact that you might feel somewhat sorry when opening it might be a part of it too. i don't think leaving it closed is intended, though. i opened mine working with a sharp knife and wet cloth. it's not that hard. people should open theirs too, and listen to it. it's great and thought provoking music.

[Dan] - "If I'm offbase by stating the bloody obvious - that a record review should discuss the music and not the CD box - then I'll be offbase for ever amen."

Hmmm. Whilst obviously Brian's review is dripping in irony (I think it is hilarious)I do think that it also manages to say quite a bit about Sean's music and the personality behind it, albeit in a very oblique manner. A lot of people have waited a long time for this release from Sean, making the whole thing into some kind of holy grail. Extending the mystique further into a review seems somehow fitting for me, a natural response to the release. OK, so a 'real' review is also needed, but Brian's review made me smile.

But to respond to the above comment re packaging, I personally do not think enough is written in reviews about the way a CD reaches us.

Having been lucky enough to have listened to Keith Rowe last week describe in detail the deep links between his music and the paintings that adorn the sleeves, it is clear to me just how closely the two can be linked, and how much can be added to the music by the art.

Whilst Keith is clearly an extreme case I do believe there is often a lot to be added to a piece of music with packaging, and the Meehan disc is one case in point.

I did mean to ask Sean if he intended listeners to have to make the choice about opening vs listening. For example, one idea is just to have the buying population purchase an extra one collectively, rip and share it with the others. Would that bother Sean?

MAP, Brian's review may not be *only* a joke, but I stand by said characterization, particularly with his "highly recommended". Obviously a few of us found it funny.

"one idea is just to have the buying population purchase an extra one collectively, rip and share it with the others. Would that bother Sean?"

good question. I let him know the other day that it had already been ripped and was circulating on SLSK, and he was fairly irritated about that (the speed of circulation tbeing the main thing, I think), but your question is different, not sure of the answer to that.

one answer I did get from him is that there is no order to the two discs, no disc 1 or disc 2.

Firstly, This is not a music review; it is the description of the packaging that accompanies 2 discs. Since there is no analysis of the music, those who criticise it for its lack critical content are gravely mistaken.

Secondly, how could anyone miss the irony of Mr Olewnick's post? Lighten up !

It was not meant to be a review, if it was, Mr Owelnick would have provided some comment on the music !

Thank you.
This has been the best review in quite some. There is controversy springing from the way in which someone reviewed the album. I don't know if it is appropriate or not...but, it has peaked my interest. Based on this discussion and the review written by Greg Kelley (located on the SoSEditions website), I have ordered this "object" that contains music.
I haven't listened to this disc (I am a fan of Meehan's work), but I can safely say that this work and others like it can exist as visual and audio art. Additionally, they can be experienced as both across time. This work definitely seems to be something that demands the attention of its audience over time. We have waited long enough for this solo recording, and Sean has given the audience something to be appreciated at many levels/ways.
Olewnick has definitely captured one way of experiencing this work. Maybe, if we give him the time he needs, he'll give us more information about his experience.
Thanks again.

Since y'all are in such a pissy mood, it's time for my rancid two cents! How many people actually buy improv CDs? Seems that everyone talking about them here gets 'em free, and mailed to 'em.

BTW, I think it's a cute conceit for a review. I may just base all my future reviews on this procedure.

Bought mine.

I'M not in a pissy mood, whatcha mean? I'm having a ball and just waiting to see what kind of condition Daniel's package will be in when the mailman stuffs it in the letterbox. No, I didn't pay for it. Should I feel guilty or sumpin? The only album I've bought in the past month is the 2CD reissue of The Fall Hex Enduction Hour, and worth every fuckin penny it was too. I wonder what Mark E Smith would have to say about EAI

Mr. Olewnick’s piece is, in a way, utterly perfect, in form, content and most of all, location. After reading all of the above comments, I was initially saddened by the Bagatellen format. As Mr. Parker has written elsewhere on the site, the fact that the comments are attached right below the reviews means that they become as much a part of the review as the initial text. I felt that this situation did a disservice to Mr. Olewnick’s piece. I thought that it should have been read as one would read a review in print, and that any comments should be peripheral; we shouldn’t have been allowed to clutter up such a clever, elegant piece of text (moment, snapshot, haiku). It may not be a review of the music, but it deserves to be read, and it made me smile. (I am aware, of course, of my own part in this, as I was the first to post a comment-- albeit an inane one).

However, it occurs to me that the format of Bagatellen has allowed Olewnick’s review to be seen as an allegory for the record in question. It is a discussion about packaging, at the same time it is, in and of itself, a kind of packaging. Smearing our own opinions all over this page is an act akin to ripping open Mr. Meehan’s pressed watercolor paper; it is destructive at the same time reveals greater depth and perhaps the “point” of the artwork directly beneath. What needs to be posted now is a similarly insightful review of the music itself to realize the potential of this allegory. What Olewnick (and therefore everyone who has posted in response to this article) did was created a piece of art which mimics the art that inspired it-- like John Cage’s “Roratorio” or Mr. Warburton’s breathless run-on review of a recent Kid606 record in Signal To Noise.

yep, as I discussed with Brian earlier today, I think this review is perfect for the Bags format, as it allows him to post personal updates as he either continues to leave the package intact or begins to make his way into the music.

Tom, where do you write reviews? I see your name occasionally in Signal To Noise, anywhere else?

Dan's comments on this thread have made me love him again (from afar).

[Dan] In the meantime, I'm afraid I can't agree with you, Mike. A record review written without even having listened to the music can neither be appropriate nor incisive. Stop farting around with the Emperor's New Clothes and start talking about the music, people.

[Mike, in "here he goes again" mode :-) ] But Dan, you're just imposing arbitrary standards of content on a text, and even if the text was intended to be in "record review" category, the multimedia existence of a record licenses a response without reference to sound events. Why is it okay to talk about mass culture movies with no connection to music, but not experimental visual/performance art deeply integrated with music a la Sean's release? I know I'm just stating the obvious here, but it's in response to a statement of the obvious option for a blinkered take on the matter.

[Dan] There are plenty of precedents in Fluxus for this kind of conceptual jiggery pokery (remember the Ben Vautier piece that locked the audience in the auditorium?), but the novelty's worn off after 40 years. Sorry. If I'm offbase by stating the bloody obvious - that a record review should discuss the music and not the CD box - then I'll be offbase for ever amen.

[Mike] But what about the people who haven't been alive for 40 years or haven't been born yet? And why should that creative space lose its value any more than Beethoven (which holds up dandy as all heck to this day)?

But I can offer a very pointed rejection of and alternative to your prescription for the content of record reviews: a record review should discuss the experience a person has interacting with the record, in whatever form the record or experience may assume. Nothing more, nothing less. This conception of a record review handily subsumes all the conventional discourse assumptions such as yours (e.g. talking about the music as an external entity, etc), without arbitrarily proscribing the boundaries of experience.

I really like what Richard spelled out above as far as Sean's mystique. That is a tangible and pleasurable aspect of this release for those of us who are tuned into Sean's work. I also agree with Jon's viewpoint above, and he's added a heaping dose of fuel to my burning desire to see and hear this pup asap!! I guess I will be a latecomer to this party and will have to wait for my next venture to the city...

Likewise, I agree with the sum of Jon and Jason's remarks: Bags allows us to share our experiences piecemeal and interwoven with others. Bravo to Brian for treading so elegantly!

Also, this thread will be a fabulous prelude to any of the future posts of sound-based reviews sure to appear in this space... The writer won't be able to ask for a better textual buffer! You can bet your bottom bajinckenbarts I'll be one of the thusly contextualized opiners on the sound events in question in the near future... Sean ranks way high in my scheme of things soundy and otherwise.

By the way, it's extremely relevant to explicity note for those unaware that Sean has in the past released an album (cassette if I believe--I've never seen it in person) with no sound recordings whatsoever. He's also released a solo percussion album from many moons ago that I played as recently as a half-year or so ago and have fairly fresh in mind. While a polished and enjoyable album revealing a singular personality and revelling in the special acoustic timbres at hand, it long predates his current aesthetic and amounts to a relatively ordinary program of drumkit and percussion improv and partial improv that would easily pass unrecognized by connoisseurs of his recent work.

Count me among those who dug Brian’s piece as a stand alone slice of prose. Good for a surface chuckle, but also hinting at deeper meanings & issues, though it probably could’ve used a light sprinkling of grated anchovies for added flavor.

My interest in Meehan is also piqued. Not so much by the packaging of this set, which doesn't seem all that remarkable, but moreso by the idea of two cds worth of solo snare drum- wow!

While personally I loved the review, I was happy to have Dan step in and state the obverse. Would I like a review of music? Hell, yes. Do I thihk Dan should come in and call for more? Absolutely. This is what the dialectic is all about. All things are permitted and prefereably will make their appearances. Inverse, obverse, reverse. Hell yeah!

As for the disc, well I cut mine out from the back and pinned the whole thing to the wall. If I get bored with that I can turn it over and see circles that are still attached yet stick out and form shapes and shadows. Very nice.

As for the music, well it's hard to not try and make some connection twixt the music and the packaging. On the purple disc drone events arise every so often out of the depths of silence, of quiet, of whiteness then fade back into it. The aural analogue? Perhaps. It could be reaching, yet the experience of grappling with the package ties to the listening experience when you finally get the CD's out, cleaned and into the player. The large object in your lap, on your wall or on the floor is not easily ignored and as Meehan's drones come and go like seasons, one's mind easily wanders through snow, white light, perhaps heat and entertains various existential notions of nothingness.
So what of the music? Ephemeral moments challenging the mind to grasp them before the next fade. I had initially thought of Sugimoto yet shelved that thought, this is a different space and the connection between the sounds doesn't fall to the ambient around me, it moves to the introspective space within.

The blue disc opens similarly but starts to operate at a higher pitch, its tone and durations more overt. However space or silence maintains as the ground of the drone-events. There's a slight shift in the vocabulary but the conversation hasn't changed. A test-tone like drone emerges. Interesting because its duration provides the first shape within the music; simple, elegant, like you've heard before but not here, not in this space and so it sounds fresh, new. This is Braudel's longue duree, the history of white on white painting, the stripped down inner ear of a Harry Bertoia sculpture. As simple as the sound was, as it fades there is a slight anxiety at its loss, if art is the positive of something happening against the possibility of nothing then this fade raises our awareness of this possibility. However this moment gives way as higher pitched drone-events, short yet with more volume raise themselves with increased intensity, slight distortions and waver. The sound constructs of Meehan's reflective art creates a thought-scape, breaks crags for an intellectual space that is unlike other drone music which uses repetitive elements for a hypnotic or meditative state. Here I find myself in an aphoristic sound world conducive to thinking, yet austere. Essential sounds for essential thoughts, not busy but clear.

It took me several listens to really grasp this music, prior to Erstquake I was unable to hear it, my mind was too busy. However I hear it now and what I hear is sublime.

Chris (letchhausen), thanks for the review, you make the music sound extremely interesting. I received my copy of Sectors in the post less than an hour ago. Haven't yet had the courage to take scissors, knife, scalpel, laser, whatever, to the packaging, but eventually I will: I'm keen on Sean's work, he gets a hugely inventive music out of means so minimal they seem downright parsimonious. In that, he's in good company: Toshi Nakamura, Graham Halliwell, even Eliane Radigue (on everything but The Lappetites' orgiastic Before the Libretto), to cite just a few notable denizens of the non-mainstream music underworld.

Yes, Brian, the Lappetites thing is fun but it's pretty hard to spot Eliane's stuff in it. I have the Sigma=a=b=a+b discs and think I identified some patches (though as you can play the discs at any speed you like it's not exactly easy to get a firm ID). Wonder what Eliane thought of it.

Dan: "Wonder what Eliane thought of it."

Brian: Likely you'll be a better judge of that than me, Dan. By the way, I really liked your piece on her in the current issue of The Wire. She's a bit of a marvel, and I'm glad her quiet but profound music is finally gaining the attention it deserves.

Thanks for the thanks. If it finally budges the people who are still sitting on unreleased Radigue - hullo Halana, are you receiving me? Where's PSI 847? Giuseppe Ielasi, come on down: we wann hear Chryp-tus! - I'll be happy.

Giuseppe is giving up his mail order distribution. So he surely have more time to release psi847.

btw, since it is the subject of this thread, I am waiting for hearing soon 'Sectors' :-)

No, it's Halana who are supposed to release PSI 847.. Fringes have Chryp-tus, Jacques.

Thanks for all the responses. I kinda wanted to let this sit and see what would eventuate but, as I'm leaving on vacation tomorrow for a week and don't know whether or not I'll get to a computer during that time, I thought I'd fill in a bit as to my reasons for the "review", perhaps anticipating some further objections/comments.

One of the things I'd been thinking about recently is the notion of "perversity"; not in a pejorative sense but more with the idea of self-denial, of not feeling the necessity to partake of absolutely everything one can get one's hands on. This past spring, visiting Dia-Beacon, I was especially struck by a part of the Joseph Beuys section where a stack of about fifteen framed, (apparently) photo engraved glass plates leaned against a pillar. You could almost make out the imagery on the first one (though, being partially transparent, it mixed with those behind it) but, not being allowed to touch the exhibit, you had no way of seeing the remainder. You knew, or assumed, there was "good stuff" hidden back there but had to leave the room simply wondering what it might be. This greatly appealed to me.

A year or two ago, I received Alfredo Costa Monteiro's disc, "paper" which, as some of you may recall, came heat-sealed in a paper envelope and had to be razored free. While not as overtly attractive as Meehan's release, I remember being quite reluctant to open it and felt, when I ultimately did, that something had been lost.

Tangentially, the discussion that took place Saturday afternoon regarding Barry Weisblat's "tonefield" had me thinking once again about the idea of placing an artwork (sound-producing, in this case) out in an environment where it's quite possible it'll never be heard or, if heard, not understood as "art". Again, this was very appealing to me.

I was glad that someone eventually mentioned Sean's empty cassette case "recording" (thanks, Michael!) as it was among the first things that popped into my head when I opened the cardboard slipcover of "Sectors". Knowing (or thinking I know) Meehan's general approach to his art, my immediate reaction was, "There's definitely a choice present here: either open and listen or not" and, as I believe I expressed to several audience members at the time, I was fairly sure I was going to opt for the latter. That the question has at least been posited is clear, I think we can all agree, simply by the hermetic nature of the packaging.

I have little doubt that I'd enjoy the music contained therein in as much as I've generally been quite enthusiastic about Sean's work the last few years, live and on disc. But aside from the destructive act of tearing the paper (which, since I do think of it as a work of art, I'm as reluctant to do as I would be with any more traditional art-item), the "value", for me, of believing something lovely is inside but being willing to forego it, trumps the need to listen. I'm sure I'd feel the same way about the clay-encased disc with Toshi, mentioned above.

Dan, correctly, points out the roots of (my interpretation of) this sort of gambit in the Fluxus movement and other 60s aesthetic philosophies (one can certainly go back further, at least to Duchamp's 'A Bruit Secret'). I, however, don't think the issues raised there are by any means exhausted. Indeed, much as with 4'33", I think they're often given lip service and subsequently glossed over because, among other reasons, they too pointedly call into question many activities we take for granted, consumerism, professionalism and fetishism not being the least of them (and, yes, I understand that in choosing to treat "Sectors" as both a visual and idea-oriented work, I'm fetishizing it to a degree). I don't think it's accidental that that period of work has resurfaced in the last few years as an important inspirational source for musicians and others. Anyone, in this case Meehan, who can cause you to stop and re-evaluate positions you've previously taken as givens, is providing a valuable service.

(btw, while I think the term "joke" is taking it a bit far, I don't deny that a smile played across my lips while typing "Highly recommended" but more as a comment on that widely used, including by myself, cliche).

Clearly, I could be entirely wrong in my reading. Knowing what I do of Sean's prior work, I don't think so, but it's certainly possible. Were Sean to post here, "That Olewnick is nuts! Of course I want people to listen to those discs! What a loon!" well, of course I'd reconsider. Someone brought up purchasing the items as opposed to receiving them as review copies. As I did the former, I'd still feel well within my rights to ignore Meehan's protestations and, perversely, insist on my own. However, had it been sent to me for review with specific indications that the discs were to be heard, I'd undoubtably defer to his wishes.

As of now, I still have no intentions of opening the package. Buying two copies or walking a few blocks and borrowing Jon's would, to me, feel like "cheating" on a decision already made. Call me a neo-Calvinist, but I'm thinking that the pleasure I derive from leaving the discs untouched, the music unheard, is somehow greater than it would be if, presented with this dilemma, I simply treated "Sectors" like any other release. No, I don't plan on doing this with everything that comes my way in the future, though I bet something will be gently gnawing at me. But Meehan has managed to pose a question that shouldn't be ignored and, imho, should be respected.

Brian let me say that I loved this review and fully understand your intentions. I was one of the people you mentioned that you may not ever open it (and also that you might review it unopened ;) and at the time I immediately related to this concept. I had considered downloading the music and leaving my package unaltered, thus treating it more as art, as opposed to the functional component of destroying to hear. But eventually I did open it up, managing to separate the front and back layers with just my hands. The music is fantastic as Chris (letchhausen) aptly describes above.

Brian Wrote:
Tangentially, the discussion that took place Saturday afternoon regarding Barry Weisblat's "tonefield" had me thinking once again about the idea of placing an artwork (sound-producing, in this case) out in an environment where it's quite possible it'll never be heard or, if heard, not understood as "art". Again, this was very appealing to me.

When I was in college there was a large woods next to the campus that I spent many, many hours wandering through. On these rambles one of the greatest joys I had was on discovering works of art or craft stashed in the crook of a tree or below a rock over the stream. The best of these were when you were far off the beaten track and you knew that these were put there with no certainty that they would ever be seen again. I became really obsessed with this concept and left my share of totems in the woods. Later the ideas of the impermanent; sandpainting, Andy Goldsworthy's art, unrecorded performance has become more and more appealing.

Litterbug!

Ha!

As long as it biodegrades should be OK.

I used to know someone who, when he threw away crisp packets and other junk in the street, would say, forcefully, "Biodegradable!" in much the same way that a stage magician says "Abracadabra!" It was an ineffective spell, but that didn't stop him from using it. No-one took him to task over his bad behaviour because he was a person of restricted growth, small as a seven-year-old, with a twisted spine and one leg shorter than the other. He played bass rather badly in a no-hope third generation punk band, which is about as near to music as this post is going to get. Please resume normal discourse.

Brian M. - let us know what you think when you listen, I'd be interested to read some feedback on the music itself. I wasn't really getting into it then suddenly it was THERE......

Brian O. - thanks for the insightful comments. You know I love MC Beuys myself. I have to say that there was definitely a smile on my face when I read the words "highly recommended" in your review, very nice indeed. Art or no, I'm a utilitarian sort of guy, so I dug in with a razor, though it took a day for me to do so.(And of course I harbored the thought of sending off for another to leave as is). The other thing that inspired me was that tear on the front of the Meehan disc with Sachiko M. This made me interpret his aesthetic as bound up with marks on the ground. Like Fontana and his slashed canvasses (which I was happy to get a chance to view at MOMA with Richard and Alastair while at the 'quake). My next thoughts were more along the lines of whether tearing or cutting would be more appropriate. In the end I opted for cutting for the possibility of leaving one side undisturbed. Which didn't happen. However the slight surface disruptions that did occur were actually more in line with the CD cover I mentioned above. In the end the totality of the experience both in the packaging and the listening was very thought provoking. I have a lot of admiration for your restraint and your decision. Obviously, we are not the kind of people to be passive in our culture product experiences......

I love the packaging, but definately tore into mine, reluctantly, to listen to the music. I need to make some more listens. But my initial impression is that this is one beautifully sparse recording. Very confrontational from the very start with making you destroy the art to get to more art inside.

And Yes, people will buy them just for the art of them. I am probably going to get myself another soon.

Brian, I really appreciate your review.

And BTW, many people buy improv CDs. What a ridiculous thing to say, that most people here don't. Ask my wife. I peeve her off constantly with my music purchases.

Can I just say what a beautifully written, highly considered and intelligent thread this has been....? Not a single name called or bitchy argument held and a bloody good read as well...

Thanks guys.

fuck you

Upon second listen:

A long pregnant silence begins each CD. Suddenly you hear a source noise. I am not sure whether it is an amplified cymbal being rubbed, but that is what is sounds like. The source sound emerges, but only briefly, usually, to be overcome by feedback from the amplification. In varying durations this warbly tone (much more organic and shaped than a sine tone) carries, until it fades out quickly, with a slight return of the source sound. Then another long pregnant silence. Each arisen sound is similar to what I described above, though at times there sounds like more than one source being launched. Also the tones vary, some being more rusty, others like pure glass. Some with a high fidelity, others sounding foggier. Very rarely you will hear the groan of Meehan's chair, or something to that effect. I thought I also heard sticks being drawn. But those are rare occurances. There was a scrape or ting or two of cymbals unamplified, or at least un-feedbacked.

The majority of these recordings are silence. Long silences which draw in your curiosity (or make you get angry and turn off the CD-silence draws out different things in different people). I became much more aware of what I was listening to. Had I just heard these tones all garbled up together in a raucous recording, I would not have appreciated the very fine details of the tones. They are somewhat reminiscent of those bowls played somewhere in chinese temples. Though these tones more beautiful to my ears.

Since I cannot find a place quiet enough to appreciate the fidelity of the recording, I cannot tell if I am hearing the room tone of the recording or my own room tone, but I pay attention to room tone greatly now ever since Pete C of Jazz Corner asked, "who is a good performer of room tone?". Of course he meant to make a jab, but stimulated me to always pay attention to that. (and currently I am making collages of room tones which I will dedicate to Pete if I ever finish and release the product).

I rank this album very high among my collection already. I can tell I will love this one as much as I love Good Morning Good Night. It is a very private recording. Private in that in my very loud and crazy life, I can only appreciate this album alone, away from everything. The language drawn up by Meehan is much like that of nature, when man is not looking.

Well, people can make blanket statements like "no one's going to buy this for the packaging" but I already know it's not true. I bought one myself a few nights ago, from Meehan, after a friend had bought one for himself and I got a look at it. I also bought the last one he had (at least on his current tour, so clearly John and I were not the only ones who did).

20 bucks isn't much today for two CDs and a gorgeous "packaging" that's nice enough to look at it that I'm considering framing it. I haven't decided whether to open yet or not but likely will eventually, out of curiosity alone.

I like the idea of keeping it intact, however, and loved the story about the clay encasing. My (long dead) maternal grandfather gave me, while still a child, a shoebox full of Indian artifacts he'd found and collected in his own childhood. Arrowheads, spear points, stuff like that. But there was also an eagle or hawk-shaped, clay rattle, as well. When he gave it to me, my grandfather told me, as a tease, that there could be diamonds in there or maybe just pebbles, but I'd have to break it to find out -- in which case, I'd not have the rattle anymore. I never forgot that little teasing remark. And I never broke the rattle to find out, either. (All of that stuff is now in his hometown's local history museum, in Alabama. I hope it survived Katrina, which hit that coastal town pretty hard on its way to N.O.)

Another thing I like about it is how it harks back to the CD Meehan did with Sachiko M, which was also encased in nice watercolor paper, each torn individually so that no two were exactly alike.

The jewel case is a disposable item -- not surprisingly, since they rarely encase jewels.

One of the things that I very much appreciate about that end of things musical is the attention paid to artful packaging. Perhaps *because* jewel cases -- and their inserts, notes, etc -- are in most cases disposable, along with the music they normally contain, most of which is as forgettable as the jewel case is disposable.

Good one, Brian.

In my anticipation for hearing Sean's new release, I just remembered I have something in my files about his solo music I can share here. It's from a review I wrote but never published about the 2002 edition of the Improvisd & Otherwise festival (Improvised and Otherwise: A Festival of Sound and Form, April 26-28, 2002, Williamsburg Art Nexus, Brooklyn, New York).

I was sitting front and center in the seat closest to Sean and could really hear the tiny sounds. It was a magical peformance and perhaps the first time I heard Sean or anyone dowel [use dowelling technique], though I'm not certain of my memory. I saw Sean play drumkit in a free jazz style in one set and snare drum, etc idiosyncratically in another set in the 2000 edition of High Zero, but I don't recall anything at all like his dowel/fork music from those sets. (Actually, I believe I have some of that High Zero stuff on video, because one volume of video recordings from that year was commercially (handmade VHS sold locally) released. A 15-minute piece from Sean's High Zero set with Joe McPhee and Michael Johnsen (!) appears on the extremely strange but pricelessly great Joe McPhee album Mister Peabody Goes to Baltimore.)

The brief solo performance by Sean Meehan that followed was unequivocally the highlight of the festival for me. He predominantly produced sounds by gently sliding his fingers along a thin wooden rod positioned vertically with one end in contact with a snare drum and/or a small cymbal resting atop the snare drum. He patiently explored extremely subtle variations in this technique for several minutes and then introduced the sounds of metal forks gently scraping the snare drum, ending with the rod technique alone. Making reference to similar performances by Meehan, one of his peers has conveyed to me his sense of amazement at Meehan's ability to get forks to "sing". The incidental resonances of these objects, mostly owing to the acoustic complexity of the snare drum, were certainly impressive in their richness and liquidity (making ubiquitious bowed cymbal sounds seem crude and harsh in comparison), but, crucially, this was not an example of the all-too-common scenario where the content of a peformance doesn't go deeper than the novelty of some extended techniques; Meehan was clearly dealing with the aesthetic consequences of each sonic detail as it arose. The simplicity of his movements and their transparent relationship to the resulting sounds afforded the opportunity to also experience a meditative visual component. Because of its hyper-intimacy, this performance was likely of considerably less interest to those seated at the rear and periphery of the seat-array.

I'm especially grateful to this thread for reminding me I still haven't gotten his duo disc with Sachiko M! Woe is me.

I bought a copy of this from Sean on Wednesday night. The music contained within is fantastic. I agree with Jon that Sean has come up with a package that not only transforms the 2 disc set into an aesthetically pleasing whole, it also suits the music contained on each disc perfectly, increasing my appreciation for, and understanding of, the sounds on each disc.

An appropriate review of this set would combine what Brian posted with what letchausen and sonic wrote. The packaging and experience of choosing a way to release the cds from the paper is essential to the listening process.

The disc with Sachiko M is out of print, unfortunately, according to Sean and Chris at ErstDist. I decided I needed a copy a bit too late it seems.

I tore into my packaging like the brute bitch I am. Destroying the artwork I think is somewhat part of the process.

Jon,

These days I pen for Signal mostly... also One Final Note, The Wire (very occasionally), Musicworks.

Thanks for asking. I just bought a copy of Duos for Doris, which I enjoyed and plan to enjoy again. I've also bought Wrapped Islands, Hands of Caravaggio, and Dörner/Drumm.

Everyone here gets CDs for free?

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.

Think again.

Or ask my partner what she has to say ....

I get maybe three a year for free, when friends have a new release. I don't pleasure spend on anything but music, books, and herb.

Also, for the coward who Fuck You'd anonymously:

Fuck yourself.

Hey Gary,
That (admittedly unnecessary and annoying) interjection wasn't anonymous; it was J(oe) F(oster), a Bags regular, and he clearly intended it to be a humorous reply to Richard, which it was, albeit only mildly... Unfortunately your post gets a higher graffiti ranking...

My apologies. I read something about marijuana and memory but I can't remember what it said right now.

I have decided to start a Warburton wall in my library, though, with a framed "Sectors" as the first object.

Kidding, already. Just kidding.

This thread had me thinking last night about how "virtual" "having" music has become in the digital daze.

It's interesting to me, as one old enough to remember (fondly) how much I loved certain album covers (what a concept!) back when, and even thought of some of them as art (another!) as well as an aspect of the listening part of "having" the record.

What's interesting, in connection with this thread, at least to me (see -- I'm learning to use "I" statements -- who sez an old dawg can't learn new trix), is that this end of the music world, whatever we want to call it (I'm sticking with eai because it's easy to type), is perhaps the most abstract of all, musically, and also arguably the most ephemeral, and yet it very often is packaged with the most tangible and artful design ideas, and just as often in limited runs, making many of the recordings both a concrete experience *and* collector's items -- sometimes one of a kind, designwise -- in a time when even the concepts of record collecting or even "out of print" have near totally gone by the wayside. (What can be out of print -- in the old sense of not being able to buy or "have" -- when everything ever recorded is available for sale or from a burn?)

In short, we find ourselves again, however abstract things become, with some *thing* to "have" apart from electrons.

Hmm... I think it would be rad to hear a Jeph Jerman collaboration with Meehan. They both seem to have a similar approach, at least asthetically, to their music. Maybe there already has been one?

There has. I don't know more than that but supposedly they have played together.

"I let him know the other day that it had already been ripped and was circulating on SLSK, and he was fairly irritated about that (the speed of circulation being the main thing, I think)" -jonabbey

this is surprising. i would think that an artist like meehan would be happy to know that people were experiencing and enjoying his music in any form. also, isn't a portion of sean meehan's popularity possibly due to soulseek? anyways, this record is going to sell out quickly no matter what.

on the subject of packaging: there's been so much discussion about packaging in this thread that i think it's detracted from the musical content of sectors. i downloaded this record off of soulseek and haven't had the experiencing of tearing (or carefully cutting open) the packaging. despite missing an integral part of the release, it has already become one of my favorite pieces of music this year. the tones that sean extracts from his minimal setup are mind-boggling. i've listened to this recording numerous times, and it just keeps getting better. it has even been added to my short-list of things to actually purchase. :) i wonder how having the packaging will change the release for me.

Tried to slice the thing open gently with a cutter, failed on numerous occasions and ended up tearing the package open in blind fury (sorry Daniel, Sean!)
- what splendid music though

Actually, Dan, I had the same problem, couldn't slice between the two sheets of paper no matter how delicately I prodded and teased, and ended up ripping the paper off (minus the blind fury). Hence, the packaging has been consigned to the bin, and I've been left with two CDs that I'll have to house, rather self-defeatingly in terms of Sean's original packaging idea, in a jewel case. Ho hum.

Yeah, I gingerly cut out the tiny white adhesive labels on the plastic pochette and remounted them on a piece of transparent plastic and put both discs in a standard common & garden 2CD jewelbox too. One of the discs wouldn't play first time either - the pressure of the packaging or whatever had left some strange and rather pretty fractal marks on the surface of the CD, which skipped on playback. Nothing a spot of pure alcohol can't fix.

Must....remain...stalwart......

Nah, no problem actually. Encased discs still propped up on top of a row of LPs against a wall, lovely white-on-white effect.

Only real question is where I rank this release in the End of the Year lists. ;-)

I've still got mine sitting in it's protective cardboard sleeve. In the face of the question to open it or not, I haven't made any moves one way or the other, but I am very much enjoying the tension and curiosity this object has inpired. Has anyone else decided to leave their's intact?

Maybe someone has already suggested this, but if the package's status as an objet d'art is at risk of being sullied by the cutting and sawing necessary to free the CDs within, and the music on the recording is available via slsk...
Maybe the label can get the money coming to it for releasing the record and consumers can get to hear the music AND keep the purty package.
Or does this short-circut something about the authenticity of owning a work of recorded music?

I've decided to set up a service opening the Meehan in a sympathetic manner...

Just send me your copy of the aforesaid masterpiece along with a crisp tenner and I will extract the discs with a sharp scalpel, leaving it intact so it can still be placed on the wall and you get to listen to the music as well...

Seriously though Brian, as much as I admire your dedication to the cause, you are missing a real beauty here, one of the very best.

I've little doubt that I am. But there's something that feels "right" about intentionally missing out on a thing of presumed value, at least once in a while.

I'm guessing that someone must have already done this, though maybe not, but does anyone know of an instance of a written work, say a novel, that's been released in some similarly-difficult-to-access encasing? Would the basic question be somehow different from a recording? I have to say that, for me, the idea of a hidden, unread piece of literature is just as enticing, if not more so, than that of a piece of music. There might be somewhat more of a sense of an unobservable world in that case.

Aww, you're breaking my heart. Send us your address and I'll burn you a bloody CDR if you can't spring for a second copy! Harhar

I really like this thread...

I've taken this a step further than Brian in that, despite wanting to hear it and drooling over the packaging at ErstQuake, I have not even bought the package. That's *my* art statement.

I guess I go you one better, Alistair: I'm not really that anxious to either see it or hear it!

Keith Whitman's description from the Mimaroglu site, maybe over the top, but still an interesting read:

"where to begin... although the music i feel is top notch; the thing that most stands out about this release is the package; two compact discs hermetically sealed inside two sheets of handmade paper, housed inside a mylar sleeve. to listen to the discs one will need to essentially desecrate the package... causing something of a dichotomy amongst music/art fans (i.e. “should i leave it intact and frame it or should i tear it apart and listen...”) personally, i’ve waffled on such a dilemma by purchasing two coppies for myself; one prominently displayed above my mantle, the packaging of the other in ruins on the floor. not that i would expect anyone else to go to such lengths...

due to my sacrifice, i can now tell you all about the music contained within; individual pure-wave tones slowly fade in and out in a dramatic/narrative fashion (think a head/body frequency range variant on sachiko m’s sine-work.) actively listening to this work in it’s whole in right-brain mode takes extreme patience; passively it becomes the perfect cage-ian rite; the sounds of your environment become audible as musical events (full disclosure; i entirely mistook the drone of an idling truck out front da reckankomplex as part of the recorded scenery.)

those seeking an experience even far beyond previously known nothings will be in awe.... others may simply revel in the it itself..."

It's certainly very good, but I'm led to wonder if some of the raves about the music would have been written if the thing had been issued in a plain old jewel box, let alone a CDR. I think again of some of the truly extraordinary things that have appeared on Absurd -Michael Northam's disc, the Wastell 2002 stuff (as good as the Meehan, imo), the Looper disc, the Karkowski / Pita duo.. all CDRs, nicely if not extravagantly packaged, but amazing music.
Walt, I know you're just itching for another scrap with Jon, so I'll just say you're missing out on a very good disc - after ten listens I might say a great one, but right now very good is as far as I go. Get yourself a slsk (ha, I know what that is now.. I didn't a year ago) and find a quiet place.

Dan, is it obligatory to wait a year before finding out what a slsk is? I'd quite like to know now.

the abbreviation for Soulseek, the primary file-sharing software for experimental music.

Dan, I have all of those, I prefer the Meehan to all of them, purely musically. and it's not surprising that editions of 100 or so don't get numerous public raves, although I think Absurd generally does very high quality work.

Right now where I am SLSK stands for Siemens Laptops SucK - have to take this wretched machine into the bodyshop this morning so I'll be laptopless for some time (longer the better, you probably say :-). I've left Derek to post a new review of mine on Bags later today. Meanwhile, that's praise indeed Jon. Olewnick must be biting his nails down to the quick, scalpel in sweaty hand.. OR secretly digging a second copy of the album bummed from somewhere..!

Absurd does a great job indeed and i was fascinated by the package of Korber/Dieb 13/ eRikm 's release ''Condenser'' hwere cd is simply put on 7'' single vinyl. I wonder if someone got to hear what was on that piece of vinyl. I didn't since my old one needs a new needle ...

In reference to Brian asking about works of art that were inaccessible, I immediately thought of old books where you had to cut the pages that were printed folded over. And how sometimes these old books are sold now as being "uncut", which would mean, of course, "unread". Of course in the San Fernando Valley "uncut" means something completely different.

Maybe I'm just not Joe Art Gallery or something, but I think it's nuts to not open it. I understand the thought-provokingness of the whole thing and I understand contemplating it as an art object, but you can do all those things *and* still open it.

I would be curious to know why this album has gotten none of the resistance recent sugimoto albums have gotten

Well the most recent Sugimoto has seen a lot of praise as far as I can tell SWS, but I can see where you are coming from.

Firstly, the Meehan contains a lot more sound than the Suigmotos. Its extreme, but not quite to the same degree. It is also very beautiful when sounds can be heard, as opposed to recent Sugimoto where the music has been reduced to unattractive dry thuds of late.

Also, the first ultra-quiet Sugimoto disc (Italia I believe?) was well received, its only when his next three or four discs all sounded similar that the reaction turned a little hostile. I'm sure that if the next three Meehan discs sound the same as Constants the same thing will happen. (mind you, we may all be old and grey before we reach that point!)

What do you think? Any other ideas?

Having a bad day, of course its Sectors (for constant) not Constants (for sectors) sigh...

i had the thought that the reason it is well recieved is in fact that when sounds appear they are so overtly pretty as oppose to an open string thud. Good point about sugimoto doing the same thing many times. Italia is still old style sugimoto in my mind though. I would say the pauses in the meehan are at least as long as the sugimoto pauses, which just from reading reviews i would never have guessed, because it seems that is the main focus of every sugimoto review. I had imagained a sparse but populated collection of cymbal drones and sounds, whereas sugimmoto reviews wether positivie or not talk about the music as a listening experiment and you imagine pretty much what is going to happen one thing i dislike in both of them is starting a disk with 3 minutes of silence. Im fine with all the rest but it seems stupid to have one right at begginning. you always have to get up and adjust the volume. Im sure they are setting the mood for the album, but when you have many lengthy pauses coming, might as well start with a sound somewhere near begginning

the silence at the beginning is in keeping with the packaging. in a time when anyone with a computer can pretty much access unlimited free music, this is a record that demands a bit of a commitment on the part of the listener if they really want to hear what's contained within. I kind of doubt from talking to him if Sean spent much time thinking about shared versions of this when he was putting it together, but for those who have the digital version only, maybe the silence at the start is somewhat analogous to the packaging. for those who have the object itself, I think it's perfectly fitting, just as Sean tends to wait quite some time for the crowd to quiet down before actually making any sound himself.

Sugimoto doesn't repeat himself almost at all in recent times to my ears. Music for Cymbal is very different from the Guitar Quartet is very different from Principia Sugimatica is very different from Live In Australia, etc. for me the difference is that Sean combines sounds and silence on this release to make really beautiful music, whereas Taku's recent released recorded work doesn't tend to cohere for me (with the major exception of the first disc of Raku Sugifatti, which I would have been proud to have released on Erst as a single disc).

Yeah, I remember you saying you were a big fan of that disc, Jon. For me, there's too much space in that one. Of the four you mention I prefer Music For Cymbal. Funny, noone's discussed Live In Australia here at Bags, unless I'm mistaken. Now there's an extreme one!

I talked about it a bit over at IHM. I enjoy it a lot and think Taku raises some fascianting questions in his liners, such as whether he or the recording engineers should properly be "credited" with the disc. He does a fine job in those performances of REALLY becoming no more important than the ambient sounds, no small feat re: the normal artist's ego (and calling into question the "whys" of recordings, etc.)

It's one of those releases where, admittedly, I wouldn't want all recordings to be in that vein (my lack?) but I'm glad someone's out there staking out the (current-day) limits.

Live in Australia has been discussed a lot elsewhere Dan, the general consensus has been that the disc recorded by Matt Earle, (The noisy one) is pretty good.

Jon and I have also done to death our opinions on Futatsu, he loves one of the discs, I love the other, thats life.

Jon, My comment that much of Sugimoto's recent work sounds similar was not to say he is repeating himself. I have followed the progression carefully with much fascination. There is a gradual progression across the last four or five recordings he has released, but they do all inhabit similar ground when viewed from a slightly wider spectrum.

I was merely trying to explain why there has been a bit of a backlash to his music. The common consensus sees only that he is working in a general area and so some get bored when they see 'another quiet disc' appear. This is particularly the case with people that knew and preferred Sugimoto's early more 'conventional' work.

I agree Dan that the Jason Kahn 'Music for Cymbals interpretation is great. This is up there with Australia for me as the best Sugimoto work in recent years.

I was thinking of picking one up and, in as silent a room as I can find--and always with my eyes tightly shut--just feeling and smelling this package attentively--as I sometimes do with my blankie.

I have it on good authority that that was Sean's deeper intent. Obviously, the odor will be slightly changed if I take the CD out, and my tactile attention is bound be diminished and distracted forever if I ever look at the package--however lovely it may be.

It kind of screws everything up to have posted the picture above at all: when I first saw the picture of the cover, I could actually feel the diminishment in my other senses.

Y'all are so unhip not to have realized this. But whatever. I'll prolly still pick it up (blindfolded). I mean, nothing's perfect.

Hold your nose and bring a ziplock bag until you find that special room! Good luck!

hi everyone, really nice thread, and interesting record/object, or so it seems, i'll try to get one, if it's not too late!!
has anyone heard about the squint fucker press label in Canada, hosted by alexandre st onge and christophe migone? (google a bit, you'll find out easily)
really interesting work, conceptually, and a great special projects of covers without a record.
their packaging is really amazing.
check it out...

Walt, make sure you pick it up with tongs - best not to get too tactile, that would really throw the senses out of kilter!

Not knowing any of Sean's work, would someone care to attempt an articulation of the relationship between the packaging and his actual music?

Why would a ripped or sliced copy of this be any less interesting to loook at? Don't people revel in their own experiences anymore?

Unwrinkled, I dont think the question is whether it is less interesting when ripped, but that the untouched document is so beautiful in and of itself. Have a look:

Destroying it would lose the watermark and the way the packaging is affected by the change of light in a room. There is a relationship between the way the package is affected by environmental light and the way the music is affected by environmental sound.

Bah, it didn't post the html img link so here's a direct link:

http://home.earthlink.net/~overturnedbowl/works/images/web_comp_sectors.jpg

Just found this in an old Bags review from October, 2004 by Brian O. He was practically warning us...

The disc containing Monteiro’s “Paper Music” comes tightly sealed in a crumpled paper sleeve, pressed into its container like a panini. I was almost reluctant to open it, rather liking the idea of an encased product that might forever remain beyond appreciation. But, of course, my acquisitiveness and curiosity won out. Reading the inscription, “all the sounds of this cd were made with paper. no effects”, I naturally expected to hear a variety of softish, swishing sounds. Hardly. The disc is almost entirely rambunctious, percussive and quite noisy, Monteiro generating an astonishing amount of sound variety by rubbing, hitting, blowing into, tearing, bowing and otherwise manipulating multiple varieties of paper. One track, the seventh of an untitled twelve, sounds remarkably like a Joe McPhee tenor solo! The next resembles a West African drum choir. Oddly enough, I doubt I may ever have thought paper was involved were it not for the disc’s title. It’s exciting, surprising and enthusiastic music, though.

By the way, I'm a little puzzled, yet amused, by the description "enthusiastic"... Didn't even realize a disc of this sort existed and I feel an desperate need to hear it asap...

Working on my year-end list, I realize I still haven't heard this Meehan release yet!!!! Somehow it hasn't been in my orbit. I'd planned to pick one up in NYC sometime, but that hasn't happened...

It will be interested to see how this fares on Brian's year-end list... always difficult to rank sound events against soundless events...

Thought I'd report that, just now while playing Disc 1 of ErstLive 005, at about seven minutes into the 2nd track where the low hums mount in intensity, the vibrations from same caused the still-unopened "Sectors", previously leaning against one of my speakers, to hurl itself violently off the speaker shelf to the floor in a fruitless bid for attention.

It's feeling unloved. C'mon, open it up, Brian.

I keep forgetting to mention: a few weeks ago, after the Otomo/Barnes/Meehan/Garcia show at Stone, I talked to Sean; first time I'd seen him since the September ErstQuake. He said that 2 or 3 other people that he knew of had adopted the same approach as I had and, unsurprisingly, he considered it perfectly valid. He offered to give me an extra copy but, of course, I declined.