Release Notes
- Liner Notes: Andrew Johnson
- Performer [prepared record player, guitar, percussion]: Mike Hansen
- Recorded at: New Work Studio
Listen a fragment of At every point
EtudeRecords
ABOUT AT EVERY POINT
Recorded in New Work Studio. : prepared record player, guitar, percussion.
With ’s “At Every Point,” the Toronto-based musician steps out of his familiar role of turntablist-improviser to explore thepossibilities of a
purely digital medium. While each of these five compositions is clearly sequenced, the improviser’s sense of openness and play consistently comes through.
The raw materials of Hansen’s compositions are the sounds of cowbells, harmonicas, Vietnamese drums, an electric guitar and amp, and of course sounds
and samples captured off a set up of prepared turntables, reassembled from thekind of rugged record players kids played with in grade schools across
Canadain the 1970s.
The compositions of “At Every Point” avoid making a grand statement — say, a theme followed by variations — in favour of exploring textures and
moods: the introspective “An Example of What I Meant,” the brash nod to the rock and roll drum solo in “Once Held a Lighter High in the Sky,” the
between-waking-and-dreaming of “The Alarm Went Off Sooner than Expected,” the overt minimalism of “Tidying Up After.” Yet it is the lack of a grand
statement that allows the listener to focus on the depth of each detail.
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REVIEWS
On the inner pannel to this digipack, delivers an introductory statement, which once again makes me wonder why the art of writing prefaces to album has all but disappeared from sight. “As with ’s paintings”, Johnson claims, “the compositions of “At every point” avoid making a grand statement (...) It is the lack of a grand statement that allows the listener to focus on the depth of each detail.” Which is another way of saying: There are surprises behind each and every corner.As one might expect, the open invitation to enjoy the pleasures of this album’s details requires a great deal of concentration and the ability to let go of all expectations concerning structure. Not because there is none to be found here, but because its logic is hard to decipher. As humans beings, we all rely on a certain degree of familair organisation, while our thirst for the new leads us to places alien and fearsome to our organism. This dichotomy has lead to techniques such as cut-up writing, but Hansen is not one to simply construct meaning by deconstrcting it on another level. Rather, his method comes close to walking a tightrope: Each step is carefully measured, yet once it has been taken, the situation has changed and requires new considerations. While our imaginary tighrope walker will take hours to cross the canyon, the process of “At every point” is one of many instantaneous decisions: Sceneries change abruptly and without prior notice; what was once pleasant can now appear intimidating and the darkness breathing in your neck may reveal its hidden beauty. Sound-wise, Hansen has a strong inclination for scraping metallic noises - sometimes as soft as brushing cymbals and occasionally as confronting as dropping a heavy trash bin lid from the top of the empire state building - all created from instruments such as cowbells, harmonicas or Vietnamese drums. On more than one occasion, the thought of this being Jazz comes up, not only in the most obvious example of “Tidying up after” with its blaring wind section and drum escapades, but quite generally in the way the different elements interact with each other, interlocking for ensemble play and errupting into weird solos.It is this interaction on the one hand and the notion of rhythm on the other which hold the disparate components together and act as a guide through the abstractions of “At every point”. Even though Hansen comes from turntablism, he has not reverted to the usual and probably easiest option of sampling himself to death, but created a world from scratch. Which is maybe the most remarkable feat about this album, which sounds as though its source material could have been taken from an international field recording sampler. The fact that it appears hugely ambitious is certainly no contradiction to Andrew Johnson’s opening remarks: In the lack of any recognisable theme at all, every detail could be a grand statement.
- (Tokafi)
The name was new to me, but Hansen is certainly no newcomer to the world of music. Previously known for his turntable antics, this is Hansen's first CD for Etude records, which is a brand-new label specializing on experimental, improvisational, field recordings, minimal music and sound archives. The five compositions on this 50-minute disc are made out of raw sound material using guitars and amps, cowbells, harmonicas, Vietnamese drum and of course processing from Hansen's turntable installations. Sounding both soothing and disturbing with plenty of dynamics, At Every Point is actually a fine improvisational album, with highlights like Tidying Up After and The Day Before The Day.
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