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KLINE, PHIL - Around the World in a Daze

Format: 2 x DVD-A
Label & Cat.Number: Starkland S-2015
Release Year: 2009
Note: comes in large DVD-digipack with bonus film & interview material on disc 2, along with a 24p booklet.
Price (incl. 19% VAT): €16.50


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Ausschweifender & hochgelobter neuer Release von PHIL KLINE, den wir bisher nur von der sehr schönen "Glow in the Dark" CD kannten (1998). Dabei ist er in den Staaten sehr bekannt, hat in frühen 80ern eine Band mit JIM JARMUSCH gehabt, war Bestandteil des GLENN BRANCA.Orchesters, und hat als Klangkünstler in diversen Galerien Klang-Installationen "ausgestellt"... AROUND THE WORLD IN A DAZE wurde speziell für "surround sound" aufgenommen und zeigt auf 10 Stücken eine grosse Variabilität, verbindet Komponiertes mit "gefundenen" Quellen, meist geht es um minimale konzeptuelle Arrangements basierend auf vokalem, elektronischem und kammermusikalischem Material; von harmonischen, fast kitschigen Melodien bis hin zu übereinandergeschichten Tape-Flächen und obskuren Field Recordings, z.B. eine Aufnahme aus Afrika von Tausenden Graupapageien die mit seinem dronigen "tape choir" verbunden werden, und ein echtes "Madrigal" gibt es auch zu hören.
Auf der zweiten DVD ist dann Film-Material: MEDITATION (8+ min), ein Film / Musik-Clip mit PHIL KLINE, ein 35minütiges Interview mit ihm und einige Fotos. Kommt in einer übergrossen Doppel-DVD Hülle, mit ausführlichem Booklet.

"Leading new-music composer Phil Kline debuts a major work on this new surround sound DVD. Heard here for the first time, this 65-minute studio composition was commissioned by Starkland to premiere on this high-resolution surround-sound DVD. Daze is Kline's longest work and biggest commission to date. Daze is also likely the largest work so far commissioned for a high-resolution surround-sound recording. Performers include the uber-cool Ethel string quartet and violin virtuoso Todd Reynolds. Surround-sound tracks place listeners inside wondrous boombox choirs, an ethereal Ethel string quartet, a weird madrigal, hyper-dense bells (hundreds of thousands at one point), richly mournful multi-tracked vocals, soaring violinistics, and an immersive environment of 15,000 African gray parrots. The release also offers a second Extras DVD with a composer-produced music video and a 30-minute interview with Kline and John Schaefer. The custom 5"x10" digipak includes a 24-page booklet. The two DVDs contain a total content of 110 minutes. This release follows Starkland's groundbreaking surround-sound Immersion DVD, now recognized as the first commissioned high-resolution surround-sound recording. Immersion won praise from Sound & Vision, Stereophile, Billboard, etc. and was the #1 best-selling DVD-Audio at Amazon for nearly a year. The main disc offers Daze in several formats for various home playback setups: the standard Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, DTS 5.1, and high-resolution audiophile DVD-Audio, as well as a stereo version. Playback of the Daze music is accompanied by over 80 images shot by Kline."
[label description]

www.starkland.com

"..From the title you may deduce that space is a keyword in this production. Recordings for this project were done all over the world. But besides Kline is very interested in the spacial aspects of music and sound. He played with these aspects by using whole sets of boomboxes for the recording of most tracks. Besides this main interest, other musical items led him by constructing ten very different works. The lengthiest piece 'Pennies from Heaven' is the one I liked most. Because of the sound and because of the structure of the piece. The same descending scale is repeated and repeated again, transposed and multiplied, etc. The constant downward movement is very imaginative and brings about a meditative state. Also the opening piece 'The Housatonic at Henry Street' fascinates because of its multilayered and detailed soundspectrum. Other pieces use the human voice as the most important material, like 'The Wailing Wall' resurrected by the voice of Kline himself. Two other pieces have the violin in the center: 'Svarga yatra' and 'Grand Etude for the Elevation'. The beautiful concluding piece is built from field recordings done in Central Africa. Tracks differ also because for the different structuring principles that are used. But as said the pieces impress above all because of their soundqualities and spatial characteristics. Each piece is accompanied by its own series of photos. Nice photos often. From urban environments, to nature, etc, etc. But I didn't need them for enjoying the music, nor the other way around. And I couldn't bridge them in my imagination. While listening I felt a bit 'imprisoned' by looking at the same time at the pictures. Well, this also a spatial effect I guess. The second dvd has an extensive interview with Kline commenting on each piece. This gives a good insight in what Kline had in mind. Congratulations for Starkland for releasing this extraordinary and well-documented release." [DM, Vital Weekly]