either/12

Alan Courtis: field recording
Cedric Peyronnet: bass guitar, electronics, field recording, objects,
percussion, synthesizer, voice
Cyril Herry: objects, voice
Dale Lloyd: bass guitar, field recordings, vocal sounds, objects,
percussion, plexiglass, production, recorder (flute), synthesizer
Eric Lanzillotta: synthesizer
Jani Hirvonen: electronics
Jon Tulchin: field recording
Mark Reynolds: percussion
Michael Northam: field recordings, flute
Mike Hallenbeck: field recording
Phil Legard: flute
Slavek Kwi: percussion, synthesizer

Track List:
01. CP DL EL MR (4:05)
02. DL MH MN (3:40)
03. DL JT (3:49)
04. AC DL CP SK (4:48)
05. CP SK (3:05)
06. CP DL (2:32)
07. CH CP (2:18)
08. DL EL PL (13:12)
09. JH MN (2:10)
10. MN (16:12)

The second Search Ensembles artifact sees the return of Cédric
Peyronnet (Toy Bizarre, Kaon / Ingeos, Sechres Mound,), Cyril
Herry (Ninth Desert, Sechres Mound), Phil Legard (Xenis Emputae
Travelling Band, Hawthonn), Michael Northam, Alan Courtis (Anla
Courtis, Reynols), Jani Hirvonen (Uton), Slavek Kwi (Artificial
Memory Trace), Jon Tulchin and Dale Lloyd (and/OAR, Seattle
Phonographers Union, Lucid), plus first time involvement from Eric
Lanzillotta (Eye Music, Ri Be Xibalba, Anomalous Records), Mark
Reynolds and Mike Hallenbeck (Archive, Junior Birdman Audio).

Whereas the first album mostly presented unrefined aural
snapshots of elusive and impenetrable civilizations and
phenomena, the second album continues along similar lines with
longer pieces while also presenting an increased utilization of
electronic instruments and processes. The title is partially in
reference to what were initially two different albums gradually
becoming combined into one after a long process of being
reworked and revised into one integrated whole. Furthermore,
the title points toward a mental state of foretelling and
recollection which in turn illustrates the idea that everything really
exists in the eternal present (on an infinite number of time lines)
rather than on one locked linear time line. Many indigenous
people around the world have traditionally perceived life this way.

It should also be noted that this final version of "Prescient /
Legend" is partially different than the version offered during the
and/OAR Kickstarter campaign last year. Some pieces have either
been re-worked, replaced and/or re-organized into a new and
improved sonic experience. Limited to 150 copies.

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BETWEEN SOUND AND SPACE (AUGUST 2019)

A review by Tyran Grillo which followed after a phone interview
with Search Ensembles / and/OAR founder Dale Lloyd:

https://ecmreviews.com/2019/08/27/search-ensembles-prescient-
legend/

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VITAL WEEKLY (JUNE 2019)
I’ve listened to this album at least eight times so far. Actually,
there were two occasions on which I played it on repeat, so I’m
not entirely sure how many times through I heard it then…
probably twice each time? Hard to say. What’s easy to say is that
I think “Prescient/Legend” is fantastic. Search Ensembles (note
the plural) produces entirely compelling ambient music made for
shutting out the world for awhile and submitting to its mystery.
This is some heavy-atmosphere stuff, but it also seems expansive
and organic. As the band names makes clear, several different
ensembles contributed to “Prescient/Legend”, with occasional
overlap of performers executing a single idea. The group’s
cohesion is especially impressive when one considers that this
album was made by 12 artists scattered across several
continents: Alan Courtis (Reynols), Cedric Peyronnet (Toy.Bizarre),
Slavek Kwi (Artificial Memory Trace), Eric Lanzillotta, Michael
Northam, Dale Lloyd (the artist/curator behind the and/OAR label
and its either/OAR subsidiary), Jani Hirvonen (Uton), Phil Legard
(Xenis Amputae Traveling Band) and more. The globally-stationed
participants contributed field recordings and other evocative
sounds (flute, recorder, percussion, electronics, other less easily
identifiable elements) in various duo, trio, and quartet
combinations with one long Northam solo piece bringing the
proceedings to a meditative close. And yet, this is not a
compilation; it’s very plainly a coherent album by a single band
with a recognizable sound and focus. Listening to
“Prescient/Legend” is like eavesdropping on excerpts of a hushed
ritual in some secluded outdoor location… each piece makes
excellent use of ambient acoustics, with actions exploiting the
living energy of an imagined environment. Some sections
reminded of the natural rhythms of animal movement in the dead
of night… bats, wind, insects, the moaning of a predator scurrying
around unseen in the dark. It’s not emotionally/tonally “dark”
music at all, but seems to take place in hazy darkness. Single
woodwind notes sail out from the shadows, slowly rising and
falling and melding with one another. This is the sort of ambient
music that grabs you by the shoulders and implores you to lean in
and listen deeply. Highest recommendation! (Howard Stelzer)