jeph jerman

Post by **mudd** » Sun May 09, 2004 10:09 pm

after talking with nirav about this dude yesterday, and just hearing a track off 'the second attention' on wfmu and i need more information.

and so, before i asked, i sought more information, and obviously turned up this website and am totally intrigued. the sound diary is awesome.

and now what records should i acquire? there's quite a list of cdrs, though so far 'the second attention' and the animist orchestra thing are most likely candidates so far. any more i should include?

m

sevenarts · Post by **sevenarts** » Sun May 09, 2004 10:21 pm

cool, i was just wondering who he was after hearing his excellent track on the xing wu compilation. it's all warped & processed birdsongs, really good stuff. what's "the second attention" like?

nirav · Post by **nirav** » Sun May 09, 2004 10:31 pm

Get at least 1 Hands To cd, I honestly don't think it matters too much which one, I've heard 3 cds, a cassette and a 7". My favorite is the cd-r reissue "Turn Back the Sun" on A Pyhrric Victory (manifold sidelabel), which I believe is out of print. "Nazha" on Manifold is good too, as is "Hands to Turn My Hands To" on Zabriske Point. But, they kind of all sound the same. <cringe>

I have the "Instability Studies" cd, but haven't listened to it yet. It's a pretty object though, so at very least it's worth that.

Avant-garde flower arranging? Fucking awesome.

sevenarts · Post by **sevenarts** » Sun May 09, 2004 10:35 pm

i've put together an installation consisting of four discs, meant to be played simultaneously in loop mode, in one room or several. so far, the only place i've installed it is my house. if anyone would like a copy, to own or to set up somewhere, as an installation or even a performance, contact me.

not that this hasnt been done before, but pretty cool.

Post by **mudd** » Sun May 09, 2004 10:52 pm

icefactory wrote: Avant-garde flower arranging? Fucking awesome.

seriously. all we geeks are gonna have to start gardens.

i'm gonna see which of those cds i can get.

m

nirav · Post by **nirav** » Sun May 09, 2004 11:00 pm

I'll put all of the out of print hands to stuff i have on slsk.

Post by **mudd** » Sun May 09, 2004 11:02 pm

icefactory wrote:I'll put all of the out of print hands to stuff i have on slsk.

sweet. he's apparently making an effort to digitize and possibly redistribute their entire back catalogue, but that's probably ridiculously long term.

m

bobuffs · Post by **bobuffs** » Mon May 10, 2004 6:52 am

Since seeing one of his fucking *insane* performances - drumset + objects, things being broken and thrown around the room, somehow mostly controlled but you still felt like you were going to be injured - Jeph has been one of my favorite musicians (everything except for Blowhole). The concert was theater, at least for a Jeph novice like myself, but it didn't take many recordings, subsequently, to realize that his sound work is absolutely top-notch and really diverse.

I think most people agree that The Second Attention is his best work (mostly because it's well recorded/mastered...not always the case with Jeph's recordings) but, everything attributed to "Jeph Jerman" is great - get it all. If you like that stuff, start working backwards. Just be warned that most of his earlier work is super crude. For me (and I've only heard maybe 5-10% of his massive discography), these are the choice older recordings, most are still easy to find:

SFO CD zabriskie point 1992 (try Self Abuse)
hands to turn my hands to CD zabriskie point 1993 (try Self Abuse)
egress LP anomalous records 1997 (INCREDIBLE)
tug ear 7" anomalous records 1999

Domaine poetique (w/john hudak):
great many C-60 sound of pig 1987
exhale slowly C-60 SOP 1987
there and then C-60 SOP 1989

and, newer but great:

xing-wu 2 x CD xing-wu records 2004

I don't love comps but this one is so consistent, so well curated that I can recommend it over many solid, focused recordings by a single artist/group.

For those of you in the NYC area, Jeph is giving a rare performance this summer as part of a short tour (can't remember the other locations), all courtesy of the awesome Tim Barnes.

Mudd, thanks a lot for the link. I haven't looked at this page for a while and didn't realize that he was selling so much of his stuff direct. Great news to wake up to.

nirav · Post by **nirav** » Mon May 10, 2004 10:51 am

it's maybe a little unfair of me to say that all of the Hands To stuff sounds the same. It's probably because of the texture of the sound: much of it is field recordings (at least it seems to be) but they're done really, really lo-fi. Hence, texturally, it's very monochrome and rumbly.....the pleasure is in hearing these blocks of deep sound pushed up against each other, the details are very far off. It's hard to describe why exact his music is so moving, but it really is, you do manage to get the sense of immersion in a landscape that he's involved with documenting.

The Second Attention is very, very recommended to everyone, he's using small, small objects to make sounds fit together in ways that I've not encountered elsewhere, he's got an intuitive sense for sound placement which isn't like any other percussionist I've ever heard.

user_178 · Post by **user_178** » Mon May 10, 2004 1:09 pm

Wow. It's cool to see that Jeph's getting some attention from IHM members. I actually got to know him pretty well when he worked at Anomalous back in 97. I bought off most of his record collection before he moved to Cottonwood, az. Before leaving he gave me (inspired by Toshi Makihara... sp?) a huge box of stuff (records, cds, cassettes, etc) I didn't even know he had. I ended up with quite a bit of Blowhole, Hands To, the split w/ Prick Decay, test pressings and whatnot. He even gave me a copy of the never released Flatline album. Very cool guy (and one hell of a drummer, though he got rid of his kit before the move) with a lot to offer the world in terms of creativity. There's a cool interview with him in the latest (last? I hope not!) issue of ND, #21, methinks. Anyway, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of the Egress album while you still have the chance.

sevenarts · Post by **sevenarts** » Mon May 10, 2004 1:18 pm

bobuffs wrote:For those of you in the NYC area, Jeph is giving a rare performance this summer as part of a short tour (can't remember the other locations), all courtesy of the awesome Tim Barnes.

where/when is this gonna be?

user_178 · Post by **user_178** » Mon May 10, 2004 1:20 pm

Icefactory... let us know what you're putting up on slsk and if I have anything you're missing, I'll put it up when I can. He did an extremely quiet split disc with Bernard Gunter called 'Buddha with the Sun Face/Buddha with the Moon Face' that's a pretty cool listen. The Hands To release on the Urthona label is also pretty cool. I'll actually have to search through what I have b/c I haven't listened to this stuff in a while. I think I have some City of Worms cassettes if you're into nostalgia.

bobuffs · Post by **bobuffs** » Mon May 10, 2004 2:49 pm

sevenarts wrote:where/when is this gonna be?

I don't know the details at this point; just that it's being worked on.

user_3 · Post by **user_3** » Mon May 10, 2004 2:59 pm

I picked up the Jeph Jerman - 'Sugar Bowl' CD that's been sitting at Twisted Village for a long time because of this thread -- putting it on now... I'll report back...

Post by **mudd** » Mon May 10, 2004 6:17 pm

mnemonists wrote:Wow. It's cool to see that Jeph's getting some attention from IHM members.

i had a feeling this thread would trick you into posting again...

m

user_178 · Post by **user_178** » Fri May 14, 2004 12:37 am

Shoot.... I don't like to think of myself as easily tricked. Oh well... I don't think I'll ever stop posting here. I like this place too much.

user_113 · Post by **user_113** » Mon May 17, 2004 6:07 pm

For some reason I have like 3 Blowhole albums.

For some reason.

Post by **mudd** » Mon May 17, 2004 9:13 pm

Smith6079 wrote:For some reason I have like 3 Blowhole albums.

For some reason.

i'm not gonna guess the reason. when was the last time you listened to them? are they bad?

m

user_3 · Post by **user_3** » Tue May 18, 2004 7:53 am

Just found out there's gonna be a (well, at least an East Coast) tour with Jeph Jerman, Tim Barnes, David Daniell, & Jessica Rylan, with different duo sets each night, and possibly some solo sets along the way.

bobuffs · Post by **bobuffs** » Tue May 18, 2004 9:21 am

TexasMile wrote:Just found out there's gonna be a (well, at least an East Coast) tour with Jeph Jerman, Tim Barnes, David Daniell, & Jessica Rylan, with different duo sets each night, and possibly some solo sets along the way.

Man, has this changed again? Last I heard it was Jerman/Barnes/Daniell/Meehan. Regardless, this is going to be awesome. Highlight of the summer, I can already tell.