1. Fugitive_pope, “560 m.p.h. at 30,000 feet”

2. Chop Shop, “Kaput”

3. Julia Loktev, “Learning to Bark”

4. Tom Cox (t.a.c.), “Scatter of Doubt”

This project is the result of a rather extensive collaboration between Key Ransone (small cruel party) and Tom Cox (t.a.c.) that occurred in 1993–1994. In the computer, the materials were symbolized by discrete bits of information that could be stripped down, processed, and then reassembled back into a whole. The system used was limited to working with audio files of a small size, roughly two minutes, and was constrained in the amount of alterations that could be carried out before the system would hang up and necessitate a reboot sequence to free up system resources and available memory. These early computer experiments were done in 22kHz/8-bit/mono resolution, which resulted in a great deal of information being lost from the original analogue form, though not enough to make the tracks unusable or even undesirable. The lengths of these tracks were dictated by restrictions of system memory, computational processing ability, and software functionality.

Tom Cox states: “This allowed for a kind of detachment from the compositional process that I had not experienced before. Given this method I was able to work with the sounds in an almost tangible manner, dealing with the materials in a cohesive whole—just another step in the evolution of the work. This resolution is quite some distance from the more normal 44kHz/16-bit/stereo digital standard, which is in turn some distance from naturally occurring analogue sonic activity.”

Released through Generator.

5. Michael Northam, “A Sunken Lattice”

Michael Northam (aka mnortham) is an artist based in Portland, Oregon. He works with both live sound work and installations. Recently, he has presented a series of projects entitled a “slow red, circulating green” in England, Ireland, Italy, and Austria. These current projects are based on a blend between improvised electro-acoustic processes with semi-automated sound devices creating a complex stratification of incidental harmonics and slowly transforming sound fields. This sample for Cabinet, “a sunken lattice” has been excerpted from these sessions. mnortham has released material solo and in collaboration with artists such as Das Synthetische Mischgewebe, Ora, John Grzinich, MSBR, and Francisco López on the labels Absurd (Athens), Flenix (Tokyo), Staalplaat and E.R.S. (both Amsterdam), Erewhon (Liège), Dorobo (Victoria, Australia), and Editions... (Atlanta, Georgia). New projects include a live session in Dublin, Ireland with Michael Prime and Fergus Kelly, and a new solo work based on field recordings from and around megalithic sites in Ireland.

6. Luz Maria Sánchez, “Vivir II”

Luz Maria Sánchez is an artist based in Guadalajara, Mexico. She works primarily in sound and installation. Recent projects have been exhibited at Centro Cultural Casa Vallarta at the University of Guadalajara, Gran Teatro de La Habana in Cuba, and Ex Teresa Arte Alternativo in Mexico City.

7. David & Tim Cunningham, “Marshmallow Boy”

David Cunningham’s CD Kinosthetic Hobgobblers is available through WCRG Records.

8. Francisco López, “untitled #94”

Recorded live at CWU (Santa Cruz, CA) on 6 August 1999, Stadtgarten (HEAR.ing 18, Cologne) on 19 September 1999, and Musee d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris on 12 October 1999. Mixed and mastered at mobile messor.

Special thanks to Michael Gendreau, Cliff Neighbors, Joe Colley, Thomas Dimuzio (Santa Cruz), Peter Torringen, Michael Rysenberg (Cologne), Erik Minkkinen & Sylvie, Isabelle Piechaczyk, Marc Behrens (Paris), Carsten Nicolai & the raster crew, and Stefanie Sembill (Leipzig).

9. Small Cruel Party, “Scalar Redoubt”

Released through Generator.

10. Sylvia Wang, “Bated Breath”

11. Illusion of Safety, “Enhanced X-S Artifact” 

Personnel: Dan Burke & Mark Klein.
Material generated by guitars, objects, process, mix.
Decomposition: Dan Burke & Sound Forge, May 1999.

Illusion of Safety is an ongoing project of Dan Burke’s. Begun in 1983, the project has over the years involved numerous individuals in various combinations ranging from one to twelve members. Since 1991, Illusion of Safety has released fifteen CDs on labels such as Silent, Odd Size, Staalplaat, Soleilmoon, and others. As of June 2000, Illusion of Safety has completed over 170 live performances in the US, Europe, and Canada.

Unwilling to work in a singular style, each release, live performance, and sometimes individual piece shifts abruptly from one atmosphere or sound environment to another, leading some to describe the output as schizophrenic. Burke calls it “decomposition,” using obscure sources and juxtaposing the beautiful and the disturbing.

12. Scott Arford & Thomas Dimuzio, “Planes Fly, Babies Cry”

Recorded live on 11 November 1999 at Gench Studios, San Francisco.
Thomas Dimuzio: Sampling, live sampling, processing.
Scott Arford: CD players, processing.

As a diverse electronic artist, Scott Arford has completed many different projects with sound and video. Working alone and with collaborators, his projects include Radiosonde, TEST:, Fuck TV, and Circus X. Arford also curates and manages 7hz, a renowned performance space in San Francisco.

A sonic alchemist, Thomas Dimuzio’s recordings and performances meld a dynamic and expansive universe of sound. Collaborations include work with Chris Cutler, Fred Frith, Tom Cora, 5uu’s, Dan Burke, and many others. His debut LP, Headlock (1989), has been hailed as a modern electro-acoustic classic.