Oscillatorial Binnage’s Agitations: Post-Electronic Sounds is an 11-track album of post-digital, post-electronic music. The recordings are deeply acoustic — no electronic processing features anywhere. The sounds are produced by the experimental manipulation of repurposed recycled objects subjected to electromagnetic force fields. The “infinite world of the real” offers up richly unpredictable effects, with fields of vibration producing psychoacoustic flourishes, along with spontaneous, arbitrarily microtonal and harmonic compositions. Agitations: Post-Electronic Sounds constitutes a series of sonic exercises based around one principal philosophy: that systems of electromagnetically-resonated physical objects can lead to complex electronic-sounding tones that emerge acoustically, progressing themselves in surprising non-linear dynamic states, providing pointers for further actions upon the objects.
Techniques usually associated with electronic music, such as modulation, wave-shaping, filtering, etc., are here applied to acoustic physical systems via prods, cranks, levers, gears, and jacks. The bulk of the recordings were made at La Borde Basse/Studio Midi-Pyrénées in 2013, with additional tracks recorded with electromagnetic-force-field resonated oil drums at Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, and upgraded reconstructions of Luigi Russolo’s Futurist intonarumori at Mount Pleasant, Clapton. Starting with fallen dry leaves, found pottery, and brass junkets, the experiments progressed to combinations of interconnected objects, including industrial springs, clamps, woks, rods, hand-held brass bells, earthenware, dry leaves, stones, pitchforks, feathers, paper, plastic receptacles, lamp-post doors, wicker baskets, grilles, bottles, barrels, and much more. The album forms an acoustic exploration into the alchemy of found objects, and the origins of inspiration. London-based electroacoustic quartet Oscillatorial Binnage have been giving workshops and performing live experimental improvised music together since 2004. 16-page booklet.
“While music in general drifts every day further from real strings, drums and vinyl, into the virtual world of files, Oscillatorial Binnage reaffirms the origin of sound in physical things that shake, rattle and hum — the pre-industrial caterwauling of post-electronic music.” –Nicolas Collins