and/14

Track List:

01. For Alderney: Invasion, Occupation, Liberation, Reconstruction, And Incantation
02. Piping In The Reeds With Windscape

Here are two of a series of binaural continuous single-take field recordings
known as "The Alderney Sessions" made at Alderney (the third largest of the
Channel Islands located off the Northern coast of France) during the Summer
of 2000. Apart from the mostly quiet and sometimes ghostly environment,
unrehearsed intuitive improvisations play a part, using only materials found
on location.

Track 1: For Alderney
"This work is dedicated to the liberation of Alderney from the German Forces
during WW2. For this work, I performed live on location using (among many
found items) an abandoned sentry box, metal barrier, train rails, mine shaft
(entrance and detritus), derelict rail crane, and abandoned trucks. The drone
of a nearby foghorn, which started spontaneously during the performance,
created an exceptionally mournful accompaniment to this work."
(Dallas Simpson)

Track 2: Piping In The Reeds With Windscape.
"The abandoned drainpipe used in this work was observed earlier in the day
at Braye Harbour. In the evening, the 3m long, 15 cm diameter pipe was
collected and carried to Longis Common in preparation for the improvisation.
Percussing the open end of the pipe produced a single resonant
fundamental note. At one point, a duck appeared to be responding to the
sound, which was exciting, but the main impetus of the work was to explore
the inherent 'resonance' between the concept and reality of 'reeds' and 'wind'.
This was followed by an extensive natural windscape with crickets."
(Dallas Simpson)

Reviews
_________________________________________________________________________________

E / I (Winter / Spring 2006)
Using a custom binaural recording headset to capture his own heard
experiences, Dallas Simpson records "unprepared" interactions with various
environments, including improvisations based on found objects. All
recordings are performances in real time with no manipulation, sampling or
overdubbing. In contrast to their natural ambient origins, the results are
expressionist, un-suggestive of common tasks, absent of narrative hierarchy.
Interrupting the typically representational logic of acoustic preservation, these
playful, curious and oft-times rhythmic pieces are, like untrained dancing,
scribbles that point and by extension declare only their own spark. A work
dedicated to the liberation of Alderney from German occupation, For Alderney
metaphorically liberates field sounds from contexts of use and direct
signification, and is as exciting a phonographic piece as I have possibly
heard ever. Not quite concrete, not quite field recording, not blatantly
transformative, these are free, hopeful sounds. (William S. Fields)

Ear / Rational (August 2004)
Wow, talk about a quiet intro. Several minutes in, and only the slightest of
rumbles from wind and a couple of scratches have been heard. As devices
are found, they are brought up and hauntingly recall the past. This sounds
like a difficult area - lots of metal and scrapings, not the sound of flowers
rustling, but the sound of a past war. The notes along with this CD state that
this area was held by the German Nazis in WWII - and by proclaiming this, it
brings a darkness to the emotions. I feel the hurt and ghosts of the area
here, as if poltergeists are doing the work here and all Dallas is doing is
holding the microphone. (Don Poe)