tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77565693847982355352024-03-13T08:23:26.636-07:00molaMolahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10607097140016473026noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756569384798235535.post-64089060363355723542023-06-13T07:18:00.004-07:002023-06-13T07:18:41.199-07:00Hurstpierpoint - 13/6/23<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=966766034/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 470px; width: 350px;"><a href="https://mola-recordings.bandcamp.com/album/hurstpierpoint">Hurstpierpoint by Chase Lynn & Andy Tuersley</a></iframe><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: courier;">Recorded in three days while dogsitting in the countryside.</span></p><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: courier;">Chase Lynn: zither, recordings, bells.<br />Andy Tuersley: guitar, bells, zither, electronics, art.</span>Molahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10607097140016473026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756569384798235535.post-17935408068559077802022-03-02T14:12:00.001-08:002022-03-06T00:24:04.854-08:00Dockside - 2/3/22<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=4232045246/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 470px; width: 350px;"><a href="https://mola-recordings.bandcamp.com/album/dockside-2">Dockside by Mola</a></iframe><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: courier;">My day job is as a dock worker which involves operating some heavy machinery to allow boats of all sizes in and out. These machines make some cool sounds, so I recorded some of them.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: courier;"><span>'Bridgelift Blue' was recorded with a Rode nt4 from inside a single-leaf bascule bridge, 'Without Warning' was recorded with a pair of DPA 4060s dangled down into the inner body of one of the sluices of the lock. Both recordings have been substantially abridged.</span><br /><br /><span>Photograph by my colleague Robbie Stuart (who, incidentally, also operated the gates and sluices while I was recording - I can't recall who lifted the bridge).</span></span></p>Molahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10607097140016473026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756569384798235535.post-10799122526581526262020-08-27T03:16:00.003-07:002020-08-27T03:16:32.528-07:00Water Wheel - 27/7/20<p> </p><iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3056958867/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 470px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://20x20project.bandcamp.com/album/water-wheel">Water Wheel by Mola</a></iframe><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: courier;">This is my contribution to Audio Obscura's '20x20 Project' where every twenty days a new micro-album of twenty tracks - each of which are twenty seconds long - is released.<br /><br />Water Wheel consists of fragments from improvisations on a variety of Western fretless zithers. I've been an improviser for years but have always considered that practice more suitable for live performance rather than a recorded album. I also usually improvise with others rather than by myself. These factors - as well as the unique theme and the limitations it imposes - made this project quite an interesting experiment.<br /><br />Thank you Neil (https://audioobscura.bandcamp.com/) for inviting me to participate, and David (dbarrington.com) for the gorgeous artwork.</span><br /><span style="font-family: courier;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: courier;">Other releases from the project can be found at 20x20project.bandcamp.com</span></div>Molahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10607097140016473026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756569384798235535.post-33197874590309043262020-05-26T03:00:00.000-07:002020-05-26T03:19:57.197-07:00Offkuts - 25/5/20<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3814180073/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 470px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://mola-recordings.bandcamp.com/album/offkuts">Offkuts by Mola</a></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">I spent a month in Seoul with the aims of producing a short ethnographic documentary about Korean shamanism. The project has since been shelved due to a number of reasons and, though the footage may materialise in some fashion eventually, I didn't want the entire trip to have gone to waste.<br /><br />These recordings were made during a private 'kut' ceremony that was held to help the patron's relationship with her boyfriend. The noisy drumming is designed to attract good spirits while simultaneously frightening away less desirable ones. 'Muga' are sang as entertainment for the spirits but are not considered to have any more spiritual or religious value than other songs; there is no canonical repertoire and the shamans and/or gods are free to sing whatever they'd like.</span>Molahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10607097140016473026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756569384798235535.post-30210372667403152692020-04-30T05:53:00.001-07:002020-04-30T05:54:44.892-07:00Flat B - 30/4/20<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3712757387/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 470px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://mola-recordings.bandcamp.com/album/flat-b">Flat B by Mola</a></iframe>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">During the coronavirus lockdown I wasn't able to go out and make recordings or play music with others, so I went back to making noisy ambient sound collages like I did when I first started experimenting with music.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">There is one track for every room of my flat, composed entirely of objects found in it - musical or otherwise.</span>Molahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10607097140016473026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756569384798235535.post-16894330128598601712019-07-22T04:52:00.003-07:002020-02-19T05:42:33.139-08:00Souvenirs - 22/7/19<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3337932165/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 687px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://mola-recordings.bandcamp.com/album/souvenirs">Souvenirs by Mola</a></iframe><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">After a year of producing my podcast 'Field Trips', I found myself with over four hours of material of varying quality. I can't reasonably expect anyone to listen to all of that, so this album is meant as a "best of" compilation - my favourite recordings from the series.<br /><br />Whereas previous projects of mine have been more thematically consistent with a pre-planned concept to work from, with this album I instead adopted a more curatorial mindset, the results of which I found quite interesting. There's no overarching theme here, but I do recognise an aesthetic continuity or "style" in the recordings I've selected. It's not something I had previously been consciously aware of, but I seem to gravitate to crowded places with a more explicitly musical element to them, or otherwise I enjoy quieter places by the water. There's also less emphasis on ambiences and more of a focus on scenes, events, happenings, etc. - moments with a bit more of a narrative to follow.<br /><br />The main benefit to this process is that the recordings haven't been in any way restricted or forced by any concept: Taking my album Dochuki for comparison, while hiking along the Tokaido road I would sometimes not find anything of interest to record but still had to make a recording for the sake of thematic consistency (one track for<span class="bcTruncateMore"> each post-station on the road), but sometimes I also came across several interesting sounds/capes in the same area but had to pick only one for the same reason. As a result I have mixed thoughts on that album: On the one hand it contains some of my best recordings, on the other hand there are some dull segments. I don't feel the same way about this album - The recordings may be arbitrary, but what I hope is that a higher standard is maintained throughout in regards to both technical quality as well as substance.</span></span>Molahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10607097140016473026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756569384798235535.post-35719055644421111172019-07-07T06:58:00.001-07:002020-02-19T05:43:06.410-08:00Heartbeats - 7/7/19<iframe allow="autoplay" frameborder="no" height="300" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/playlists/820355484&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true&visual=true" width="100%"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">My parents recently moved house and while going through all of their belongings came across a number of outdated recording media - cassettes, reel to reel tape, minidiscs, even a couple of microcassettes - which they gave to me to see if I found anything interesting. Of the cassettes, most of them were mixtapes and practice tapes for my mother (she's a classical singer), but this one stood out to me. One side is of when my mother was pregnant with my older sister, and the other side was recorded three years later when she was pregnant with me. Maybe these recordings only mean something to me but I thought they were neat.</span>Molahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10607097140016473026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756569384798235535.post-83536624122608970072018-06-06T14:02:00.004-07:002020-05-27T01:11:40.294-07:00Field Trips - 30/4/18-17/6/19<iframe allow="autoplay" frameborder="no" height="300" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/playlists/516170163&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true&visual=true" width="100%"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Field Trips is a short podcast in which I talk about field recording and listening - why I do it, what I notice, and the often indistinct line between 'sound' and 'music'. The show is both an excuse to go out recording more regularly, as well an attempt to explain my hobby to people who might not otherwise be familiar with it (while also appealing to other like-minded recordists).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">All episodes are free to download sans-commentary from <a href="http://mola-recordings.bandcamp.com/album/field-trips">mola-recordings.bandcamp.com/album/field-trips</a> where you can also choose to leave a donation to help support the show, if you'd like.</span>Molahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10607097140016473026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756569384798235535.post-11504091476592811992018-01-19T06:13:00.000-08:002020-02-19T05:43:52.463-08:00The Hunt for Bells - 21/10/17<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bWIyfj69LaQ" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The first half of the film presents three scenes, each depicting a perspective on humanity's search for a deeper life meaning: The first scene shows us literally reaching down into the foundation of a Roman Catholic church - an established symbol of both devotion and institution - exposing a hidden connection to the natural world. Following this, a group of people participate in a more modern approach to spirituality by abandoning the church and even the city entirely in an attempt to reestablish that same connection to the Earth. Finally, members of the Red Cross present a third perspective in devoting themselves to more humanist ventures - rather than the natural or the supernatural - in a way that compliments the organisation's religious background.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The performance that follows took place in an abandoned factory that architecturally shares many traits with the Catholic Church seen at the start of the film: It's a wide reverberant space with large pillars spaced evenly throughout. There is an abundance of grey and the walls are decorated with names and images and messages. Even the light from outside shines through in patches just as we saw before. Our almost juvenile crashing and banging juxtaposes with the low fidelity sound of prayer from an electronic rosary to reenforce the artists' shared personal take on worship and spirituality.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The film ends with a conversation between the two artists in which they express their frustration at recording the sound of bells, an everpresent symbol of religious culture that seems ironically elusive. The metaphor should be apparent.<br /><br />Presented unfinished at SeeM</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">ôr Film Festival, Anglesey, Wales. More screenings to be announced.</span></span></div>
Molahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10607097140016473026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756569384798235535.post-36541182984008998822016-08-13T23:12:00.000-07:002020-02-19T05:44:53.457-08:00Four Points - 14/08/16<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=506555125/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 588px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://mola-recordings.bandcamp.com/album/four-points">Four Points by Mola</a></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Four Points is a collection of compositions created from recordings made at each of Britain's extreme geographical points. Although these recordings are from similar locations, their distance from each other clearly presents distinct sonic individualities that are expressed through both social factors as well as geographical features, demonstrating an inherent diversity within our coastal soundscape that is often overlooked.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Premiered at the Louise House in Forest Hill as part of V22's Summer Club 2016.</span><br />
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Molahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10607097140016473026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756569384798235535.post-80260961317241631902015-07-18T07:45:00.001-07:002020-02-19T05:45:07.147-08:00Goodnight Sweet Prince - 18/07/15<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YgMvo-wMfOg" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">This electric organ took too much abuse from us over the years and eventually one day would not turn on any more. Rest in pieces.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Exhibited by Mint Works at the Bank Al-Maghrib in Marrakesh as part of the Marrakesh Biennale 6 parallel projects as well as at the Copeland Gallery, London.</span>Molahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10607097140016473026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756569384798235535.post-12894003796793052592015-06-21T06:39:00.003-07:002020-02-19T05:45:21.275-08:00Dōchūki: Recordings from a Soggy Sleeping Bag - 04/06/15<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1185834557/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/package=4068054547/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 853px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://mola-cl.bandcamp.com/album/d-ch-ki-recordings-from-a-soggy-sleeping-bag">Dōchūki: Recordings from a Soggy Sleeping Bag by Mola</a></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><i>Dōchūki </i>is a collection of field recordings made along a historic road in Japan known as the Old Tōkaidō Highway. There are 55 recordings total – one for each of the 53 post stations as well as the start and end point respectively. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The album makes frequent references to literature from throughout Japan’s history – primarily diaries and poetry – from before the Heian period to the late Meiji era (click on the individual tracks on Bandcamp for more contextual information). These referential recordings allow the listener to hear how the soundscape along this historic road has changed over the centuries, as well as compare their own emotional response to that of the writer. Furthermore, by informing my approach through Japanese literature, I hoped to adopt a more ‘native’ perspective of the Japanese soundscape which helped to avoid the ethical dilemma of representing a history through that which is deemed exotic by an outsider – a distinction that defines a culture primarily by its relative other-ness.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Exhibited at Hotel Elephant, London.</span><br />
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Molahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10607097140016473026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756569384798235535.post-20286645006206180962015-01-22T01:56:00.000-08:002020-02-19T05:45:48.000-08:00Play Park - 21/01/15<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Rtr99ClYbYY" width="560"></iframe>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Video EP of spontaneous performances on various apparatuses found in Ladywell Fields in Lewisham. All recordings are the first take of an unplanned improvization.
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Whistlers
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Recordings and performances by Mola and Andrew Tuersley.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Premiered at Hotel Elephant, London.</span>Molahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10607097140016473026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756569384798235535.post-23885276107318647452014-06-07T11:08:00.000-07:002020-02-19T05:45:59.569-08:00Beyond Seizures - 13/03/14<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3564179558/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 470px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://mola-cl.bandcamp.com/album/beyond-seizures">Beyond Seizures by Mola</a></iframe>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Originally on display as part of the London Brain Project's exhibition at London's Lumen URC Gallery.
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">With thanks to Samantha Chan and Cleo Chevalier-Riffard.
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Using signals from EEG data that have been filtered and transposed to audible levels, these sonifications have been taken from 3 different time points during a nocturnal seizure. The sonified data is a representation of what the brain activity might sound like if we were able to hear it in real time.
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">After sonification, musicians Andrew Tuerslery, Hee Chang Yang, and LSE interpreted each time point. Listen to hear the chaotic nature of different seizures.</span>Molahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10607097140016473026noreply@blogger.com