January 1.10
Various Artists | Flowers: Dragon’s Eye Fourth Anniversary
de6006 | 56:32 | MP3 | Open Edition
1. Shinkei – Wu (for Luigi)
2. i8u – Gallowalking
3. Pierre Gerard – Lines/Lignes
4. Tomas Phillips – Tablature I
5. Yann Novak – Shortwaves to Longwaves
6. Celer – A Lifetime of Wasted Breaths
7. Wyndel Hunt – Rotation
Over the past 4 years, Dragon’s Eye Recordings has come to be a trusted resource where listeners can be exposed to emerging and mid-carrier artists in the field of contemporary electronic music and sound art. Named one of Textura’s ‘Top Ten Favorite Labels of 2009,’ Dragon’s Eye is kicking off 2010 with a free downloadable compilation.
Flowers are the traditional gift for a fourth anniversary and Flowers is Dragon’s Eye Recordings fourth anniversary compilation. On Flowers, Dragon’s Eye presents new and unreleased works by the upcoming 2010 roster of artists. The 2010 roster represents both newcomers and veterans of the label that are at the forefront of contemporary electronic music and sound art.
About The Artists
David Sani (Shinkei) was born in 1968 in the heart of Tuscany, Siena. In 2000 he started Microsuoni, mail-order and distribution of sound-art, focused mainly on minimalism in all its forms. After the encounter with composer Luigi Turra in 2008, they founded the Koyuki label, devoted to publish lowercase and minimal sound compositions in limited edition cds or digital downloads.
The debut of the label coincided with the first Shinkei cd release “Binaural Beats” a split with canadian artist Philip Lemieux. Other recent works are “Biostatics” for the Transparent Radiation series on Bremsstrahlung, “Hidamari|Metrics” a split release with FOURM, and the first collaboration with Turra, YU for the austrian NonVisualObjects label.
France Jobin aka i8u (b. 1958) is a sound / installation / web artist residing in Montreal, Canada. i8u’s audio art can be qualified as “sound-sculpture”. It reveals powerful, opaque and complex sound environments where analog and digital meet. Her installation/web art can be said to follow a parallel path, incorporating both musical and visual elements.
i8u has created solo recordings for ROOM40 (Australia), bake/staalplaat (Netherlands), as well as many collaborations notably with Goem, Martin Tétreault, David Kristian and recently the album “ligne” with Tomas Phillips, on the Japanese label, ATAK. She produced compilations tracks for ATAK (Japan), bremsstrahlung (USA), Mutek (Canada) and Extract,Portraits of Soundartists (book + 2 cd) on the label nonvisualobjects (Austria).
She has participated in various music and new technology festivals Canada, Europe and the United States such as such as Silophone (Montréal, 2000), Mutek (Montréal, 2001, 2004, 2005,2007, 2008, 2009), Le Festival de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville (2002), Ver Uit de Maat (Rotterdam, 2002), SEND + RECEIVE (Winnipeg, 2003, 2005), Les Digitales (Bruxelles, 2004 ), Club Transmediale (Berlin, 2004), V’elak (Vienna, 2008), Shut up and Listen (Vienna 2009) as well as a soundtrack by Bubblyfish and i8u for the movie Swordswoman of Huangjiang / Huangjiang Nuxia presented at the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater Festival : Heroic Grace : The Chinese Martial Arts Film.
She collaborates with New York visual artist CHiKA, “Infinity”, an audio/video piece was performed live at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles and a screening was shown at the San Francisco Art Institute Lecture Hall, both events were curated by VOLUME. A façade projection also showcased this work at the MenschMeerMedien in Nordwolle, Germany. A recent new collaboration with artist and musician Cédrick Eymenier (France), has produced the work “event horizon”.
i8u’s web work/installations have been shown at Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, Toronto’s Images independent film festival at MIVEAM 06. The AIR Artist-In- Residence program in Krems Austria enabled her to create “und transit”, a sound installation set in the cloister of MinoritenKirche in Stein, Austria.
Her work continues to evolve as technologies enable her to create in new environments.
Pierre Gerard (b.1966)
High School of Art (1985-1989), studied in particular the drawing and the engraving on copper and zinc.
(1995) A great interest for contemporary art, initially making research in figurative painting.
(1998) Abstract research in sculpture with materials of daily life.
(2000) Interest in the video and furniture.
(2003) After long research, I am finally able to approach my desire to make music,
a new step towards work without palpable matter, firstly with objects and field recording.
Since (2006) I returned to my first research by using the instruments.
In october (2009), began a new research work on abstract painting.
Tomas Phillips (b. 1969) is a composer, novelist, and teacher whose sound work focuses on improvisational performance and minimalist through-composition. He began composing electronic music in the early 1990s, releasing limited edition cd-rs, most notably under the moniker Eto Ami (with Dean King), and has since created music for installations and collaborations in dance and theatre. Labels to release his music include Trente Oiseaux, Line, Non Visual Objects, and Koyuki. Tomas has taught in the disciplines of literature and fine arts at various universities in the US, Québec, and Finland. Having completed an interdisciplinary PhD at Concordia University in Montréal, he currently lives in the US, where he teaches literature at North Carolina State University.
Yann Novak (b. 1979 Madison, WI) is a sound artist, composer and designer based in Los Angeles. His compositions have been published by Dragon’s Eye Recordings (US), Dulcett Records (US), The Henry Art Gallery (US), Infrequency (CA), Mandorla (MX) and smlEditions (US). His work utilizes different forms of digital documentation as a point of departure. Through the digital manipulation of these sound and image files, his works serve as a translation from documents of personal experiences into new compositions fueled by the original experience.
Novak’s installations and performances have been presented internationally at prestigious events and venues including American Academy in Rome (Rome, Italy), Blim (Vancouver, BC), Decibel Festival (WA), Ersta Konsthall (Stokholm, Sweden), Fiske Planitarium (CO), Henry Art Gallery (WA), Hit Art Space (Gothenburg, Sweden), Kasini House (VT), Las Cienegas Project (CA), Lawrimore Project (WA), Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (CA), Mutek Festival (Montreal, QB), San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (CA), Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival (WA), Soundwalk (CA), Suyama Space (WA), TBA Festival (OR) and Western Bridge (WA).
As a result of these endeavors, Novak had been invited to numerous Residencies including Environmental Aesthetics Residency (WA), Espy Foundation Residency (WA), and Kasini House Studio A Residency (VT).
In 2005, Novak re-launched his father’s Dragon’s Eye Recordings imprint with a new focus on limited edition releases by emerging and mid-carrier sound artists, composers and producers. Since its re-launch, Dragon’s Eye Recordings has published over 25 releases and has received critical acclaim.
In recent years Novak has collaborated through select installation, performance and recorded work with Gretchen Bennett, Brittle Stars, Crispin Spaeth Dance Group, Jamie Drouin, Marc Manning, Brian Murphy, Alex Schweder and Tiny Vipers.
Celer is the sound, visual, literary, and artistic endeavor of the husband and wife duo of Will Long and Danielle Baquet-Long. Danielle was a teacher of special education and music therapy, a seasoned and published writer of poetry and prose, a painter, multi-instrumentalist, and vocalist, also recording as Chubby Wolf. She had an extensive background in Gender Studies, Education, Basque History, Photography, and Tibetan Studies, as well as having lived in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the United States. She passed away on July 8, 2009 of heart failure.
Will is a published writer of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, having studied English, History, Creative Writing, Philosophy, and Literature, with a basic background in music. Will and Dani met each other in 2001, and remained close friends until 2006, when they became a couple. At this time they also began Celer, which had been up until this time a constant exchange of letters, music, and love. They were married in March of 2007.
In Will and Dani’s time together, they produced numerous custom, handmade self-releases, sound for installations and art exhibitions, as well as creating works for independent labels in North America, Japan, and Europe. Their intent was producing works that reflect the sincere nature and importance of love, the impermanence of life, and the spirit of togetherness, through a relative and absolute symposium of expression.
As of July 2009, all production of new works is ended. However, works completed before this time will continued to be published, as of which there are many, and will appear on many labels worldwide, as well as some to be self-published in the future. While an end to new production of works was not wished, it was necessary, as Celer was, and will always be Dani and Will.
Wyndel Hunt integrates melody and noise using electronics, acoustic instruments, field recordings, and the occasional piece of amplified trash. His recent work focuses on conceiving narrative, painting, and sculpture as analogues for structuring composition and shaping sound. Since 2005 he has presented his work in galleries, public spaces, and live venues alone and in collaboration with visual artists. He currently lives in Seattle.
About Dragon’s Eye Recordings
Dragon’s Eye Recordings is the imprint run by sound artist Yann Novak. Focusing on limited edition releases by emerging and mid-carrier sound artists, composers and producers, Dragon’s Eye’s goal is to foster personal and artistic relationships with its artists and to function as a meeting ground for its artists to further develop relationships with one another. The curation of the imprint by Novak is done primarily through real world relationships, with some virtual exceptions. By focusing on human interactions and talent, rather than style or genre, Dragon’s Eye’s catalogue has slowly become a melting pot of sounds, processes and practices.
Dragon’s Eye values interconnectedness and encourages it by offering its artists a chance to showcase their own visual concepts, commission artists they have worked with, or recruit Dragon’s Eye’s partners to help create the visual representations for their releases. Through these practices, Dragon’s Eye offers a more personal presentation of its artists for their audience and creates a catalogue that is diverse yet bonded through human collaboration.
Dragon’s Eye Recordings was originally founded by Paul Novak, (Yann Novak’s father), in 1989 as the audio/visual arm of Only Connect…Publications. Paul was and still is a bread baker and avid record collector. Only Connect…Publications was his first venture to self-publish his bread recipes. Through his new publishing company, Paul designed his book on a Apple Plus computer, commissioned a friend and artist to create the painting for the cover, and recruited a musician to compose an original work to accompany bread making. Due to his love and passion for both music and record collecting, Paul created Dragon’s Eye Recordings to compliment his publishing company. All of these pursuits had a strong impact on his son who would later relaunch the label in 2005 and try to stay true to these communal values endowed in the label.