Scene And Heard

        
Tweet

Share

« Dog Day | Cohen at Cohn »

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Crowd Control

Posted by Stephanie Johns on Thu, Mar 20, 2008 at 7:49 PM

Officially available Tuesday, March 25 (or pre-order at divorcerecords.com or Lost & Found, 2383 Agricola, as only 98 copies were made) Crowd Control is a new zine/CD-R series from Divorce Records that matches up sound and visual artists from around the world. Each hand-numbered release consists of an 8.5Â” by 6.5Â” zine and a pro-pressed CD-R. The unique package is especially designed for this series by HalifaxÂ’s Yo Rodeo. The first release in the series, Making Space for Miracles and Other Things Too, was lovingly made by HalifaxÂ’s Lindsay Dobbin and Berlin-based Tanya Busse. According to a statement, the two Â“create open spaces, allowing forms to emerge and shape-shift in the liminal phases of multiple dimensions---the spiritual, the linguistic and the mundane reality of living and working creatively thousands of miles apart.Â” â€©

Dobbin led Â“sonic explorationÂ” in the project and Busse created the Â“physical space from the humblest materials of light and a Xerox machine.Â” Dobbin plays drums in Play Guitar, formerly drummed in Oh, Beautiful! Majestic! Eagle, performs solo as Broken Deer, and hosts Peel and Form on CKDU. Â“IÂ’m working on a new Broken Deer record called Glamshadow, which will be done when itÂ’s done,Â” she says. Â“Play Guitar are working on a full-length record, which will probably be done late spring, early summer. Sound abounds!Â” And yet she had enough creative energy left to respond early to Divorce Records owner Darcy SpidleÂ’s request for submissions. Dobbin didnÂ’t waste any time expressing her interest in creating the sound side of things. â€©

Not long after, Busse was on board. Connecting experimental sound and visual content was a deeply involved effort for both artists. Â“This is the first project Tanya and I have done together and we hope to collaborate more in the future,Â” says Dobbin. Â“Despite the distance between Halifax and Berlin, Tanya and I were intent on collaborating, rather than creating two separate works. So we exchanged a lot of ideas, especially in the beginning. When it came time to actually create the sounds and visuals, we worked on our own with the previous exchanges acting as a guide.Â”â€©

For those wondering what exactly the catalyst could be for documenting forms emerging from multiple dimensions, the answer is simple: A horse in need. Â“I had an opportunity to go out to Lawrencetown to help horse-sit for a weekend. It felt like a perfect time to let the ideas settle, go to a quiet place and just listen to things. I did a lot of field recording there and the sounds I recorded really captured me interacting with the environment in an intuitive way,Â” says Dobbin. Â“Essentially that is what making space is---allowing things to emerge on their own terms by listening and being patient. IÂ’m constantly becoming more faithful in the physical and feel magic and miracles are all around us. I hope that folks who experience the sounds and visuals are inspired to open their senses and be patient.Â”