Some ['ramp] and Parsick news

[doombient]

Hi all,

as already discussed elsewhere on this forum, I decided to take a sabbatical from releasing music after the Bochum Planetarium Show in July 2012. The workload of running a label enterprise (even a tiny-scale operation as mine), creating and producing music, and working a day job which pays the electric bill turned out to be a tad too much.

My hands have not been idle, though, and I kept producing music in the meantime, although perhaps not as ambitiously as in the past -- I'm getting older as well. I hope to be releasing one, if not two new ['ramp] albums on CD in the course of the new year which I finished off in 2016 (with a third album waiting in line). Also, I hope to get my website (ho-hum...) up and running -- it took me all of 2016 to elaborate on the concept, write the texts, and sift through my archives for some pictures I might want to upload.

The first step to get things going again was signing up to Bandcamp. Some of you may know how reluctant I am to release music online but people really seem to embrace this format as I could tell from past experience with Iapetus. I took the time around Christmas to start uploading not only ['ramp]'s back catalogue but also some music I created under my name. I hope to have some more albums added to my discography (download-o-graphy?) soon:

https://stephenparsick.bandcamp.com/

https://ramp1.bandcamp.com/

There are two ambient music albums I have had in the pipeline for some time which I decided to upload to Bandcamp, "music to walk through" and "a beginner's guide to doombient". I hope you will enjoy listening to them. You can order downloads and physical releases (if available) directly through Bandcamp while my own webshop is still inactive. If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch with me.

Many thanks to all who have sent emails, encouragement, and moral support -- much appreciated.

Thanks for your time,

Stephen.

[stargazer]

Stephen, I really enjoy your live recording at the Gasometer in Bochum in 2010. Very smooth textures!
I think I never was there but enjoyed other kindred places in the "Rhurpott" area, and yes such places can be cold in winter time.

Did you play right under the moon sculptur?

[doombient]

[...] Did you play right under the moon sculptur?

Yes, I did. It was suspended from the ceiling, and at that time it was the biggest three-dimensional moon model on earth (with a diameter of roughly 25 metres). Quite impressive even though it tended to get lost a little inside the gasometer (which measures roughly 70 metres in diameter and 120 metres in height).

I would have loved to play at Landschaftspark Nord in Duisburg (another abandoned steel plant) but, with those weather conditions in mind, playing inside the gasometer was perhaps a better choice (if only slightly...).

To me, the Oberhausen Gasometer is a very special place. I saw Lightwave play there live in 1996 when they were performing their Mundus Subterraneus installation for Anne and Patrick Poirier. That was awe-inspiring, and I always wanted to play there myself. I played there twice, actually -- once in 2007 and again in 2010.

[...] Very smooth textures! [...]

Thanks. I believe the gasometer's natural reverb blurred the edges even more . Best moment during the performance: A fellow came walking up to me, asking "Excuse me, sir, but what are these sounds?" -- you have got to love this.

Stephen

[phobos]

Great news Stephen, and good to see you on Bandcamp at last 

[Bert/SonicImmersion.org]

very nice to see your re-surface again after (what indeed has been) a long hiatus....

[doombient]

I received an email from Hearts of Space earlier this morning... apparently, one of the tracks Markus Reuter and I created was played on last night's broadcast, all across the USA:

=--------------------------------------------------------------------=
    PGM 1134 : "AFTER THE BURN"
=--------------------------------------------------------------------=
    PGM NOTE : the nostalgic sound of a world without us
=--------------------------------------------------------------------=
    FEED DATE : 1-13-17
=--------------------------------------------------------------------=

  ROBERT RICH
   "Corvid Collections" (beginning) < 0:00->2:52 >
   "Soft Rains Fall" < 2:52->6:47 >
   "Corvid Collections" (ending) < 6:47->10:23 >
    : WHAT WE LEFT BEHIND; Soundscape Productions SP027; 2016
    : Info: www.robertrich.com

  ROBERT RICH
   "Equipoise and Dissolution" (edited) < 10:23->17:41 >
    : VESTIGES; Soundscape Productions SP029; 2016
    : Info: www.robertrich.com

  ROBERT RICH
   "Aerial on Warm Seas" (part) < 17:41->21:37 >
    : WHAT WE LEFT BEHIND; Soundscape Productions SP027; 2016
    : Info: www.robertrich.com

  SECRET DRUID SOCIETY
   "Lonely Moon" < 21:37->25:18 >
    : RESTLESS; First Fallen Star ffs006; 2010
    : Info: www.secretdruidsociety.bandcamp.com

  STEPHEN PARSICK and MARKUS REUTER
   "Weightless Particles" < 25:18->32:43 >
    : LAMENT; Gterma Records gterma003; Sweden 2012
      http://www.markusreuter.bandcamp.com/album/lament
    : Info: www.gterma.blogspot.com; www.parsick.com;
      www.markusreuter.com

  ROBERT RICH
   "Night Seas Luminesce" < 32:43->39:10 >
   "Anchorless on Quiet Tide" (edited) < 39:10->44:05 >
    : VESTIGES; Soundscape Productions SP029; 2016
    : Info: www.robertrich.com

  ALIO DIE and SYLVI ALLI
   "Crepuscular Birds" < 44:05->54:27 >
    : AMIDST THE CIRCLING SPIRES; Projekt PRO292; 2014
    : Info: www.projekt.com; www.aliodie.com; www.verticalpool.com

  ROBERT RICH
   "Obscured by Leaf Shadows" (edited) < 54:27->58:59 >
    : VESTIGES; Soundscape Productions SP029; 2016
    : Info: www.robertrich.com

=--------------------------------------------------------------------=
    PRODUCED BY : STEVE DAVIS and STEPHEN HILL
=--------------------------------------------------------------------=
    BAY AREA WEATHER : waterlogged
=--------------------------------------------------------------------=
    (c) 2017 Hearts of Space
=--------------------------------------------------------------------=


Wow.

Took me more than twenty years to get there.

BTW, "rhizophora -- music for mangroves" will be up on Bandcamp soon. I still am amazed at how this music makes time dissolve. Extremely slow, deep-listening stuff.

Stephen (smiling with satisfaction).

[chris23]

Grats!

[ffcal]

Congratulations, Stephen!

I've been enjoying your "Music To Walk Through" album this week.  Some really great ambient textures in there.

Forrest

[Scott M2]

Cool! 

[Julio Di Benedetto]

What a great way to be welcomed back from your sabbatical with the Hearts of Space broadcast.....Bravo!

[doombient]

doombient.one -- verbrannte erde ("scorched earth") has been made available as a digital download Album as well:

https://ramp1.bandcamp.com/album/doombient-one-verbrannte-erde

Unlike the regular releases by ['ramp], this one -- as well as its siblings -- was more heavily influenced by early industrial music bands and artists like e. g. Throbbing Gristle and can thus be filed under less pleasant listening rather than "Berlin School".

The concert this music was recorded at literally witnessed some airborn vegetables and other positive response from the audience... always a good and encouraging sign. A true disconcert.

Thanks for listening and, of course, for your ongoing support. Much appreciated.

Stephen

[doombient]

And now for something a little more pleasant (before it gets *really* bad) and tranquil:

https://stephenparsick.bandcamp.com/album/planetary-music

"Planetary Music" has just been made available -- a concert from March 2008, recorded at Osnabrück planetarium. The programme was billed as "Planetary Unfolding" in order to pay homage to Michael Stearns'  highly influential space music album -- interestingly, a local newspaper described "doombient" as "a hybrid of new-age music and death metal." This I'd love to hear -- if only once.

Anyway, thanks for your attention. Feel free to enjoy,

Stephen.

[doombient]

Alright, here we go, here comes the nasty bit:

https://ramp1.bandcamp.com/album/doombient-two-a-declaration-of-war

doombient.two probably is the most radical album in ['ramp]'s repertoire (well, that's my take on it anyway). It was recorded during a one-off festival which really went out of control due to the organizer being very ambitious but inexperienced, and the personnel he had asked to help him being totally inept. The FOH mixer, for instance, had never heard of "stereo", and in order to cope with clipping he tweaked the EQ controls rather than lowering input gain.

This left me not only with a ruined live recording but also with an audience that really felt annoyed by the sheer amount of noise and aggressiveness ['ramp] presented right from the start. In fact, ['ramp] managed to empty the hall in less than 20 minutes. I believe that this concert put off quite a lot of people who still believe that ['ramp] is rubbish, fifteen years on.

To this day, I sometimes can't stand the emotional intensity of the recording as it was not only recorded under really extreme personal and existential circumstances, it also marked the beginning of the end of ['ramp] as a duo.

Be prepared that this is not exactly for the inexperienced listener or for the faint at heart.

Thanks for listening, and -- as always -- thank you for your support,

Stephen.

[Seren]

Just bought Doombient.two - want to give it a proper listen on something better than the computer speakers....

Flicking along the tracks as I did I thought the music was varied and am looking forward to listening properly.

I did not find it as aggressive as you described, but then listening to something that recorded such a difficult experience as you describe is going to have an impact....

[doombient]

Hi all,

after the rather fierce doombient.two album I am happy to announce the release of the third limited-edition doombient album, kalte sterne ("cold stars") as a digital download:

https://ramp1.bandcamp.com/album/doombient-three-kalte-sterne

Recorded live in concert at Bochum Planetarium on 24th February 2007 and originally released in a limited production run of 100 copies back in 2008, it was to become the final recording of the original line-up of ['ramp]. On the same night, the official release of ceasing to exist was celebrated, and it comes to no surprise that doombient.three is the most tranquil and peaceful recording of the trilogy. If you are fond of cinematic deep-space music with a colder and somewhat darker edge to it, you might like this one. 

Thanks for listening and, of course, for your support,

Stephen

[doombient]

Hi all,

it's shameless self-promotion season again, apologies for that .

I've uploaded the CDR Version of my 2010 limited-edition album permafrost as a digital download album on Bandcamp:

https://stephenparsick.bandcamp.com/album/permafrost

It was recorded between February and March 2010 during an exceptionally cold winter; many field recordings used on this album have to do with ice in some way or other. For example, I close-miked a frozen pond to record the crackle of ice, tree trunks and rocks tossed onto the surface of a frozen lake (which the local police found a bit, well... interesting), and of ice floes grinding against each other on a frozen canal. As a contrast, I also recorded the sound of fire which was used very prominently in Part Four of the album. These recordings were processed in the studio and combined with textural sound from various analogue and digital synthesisers.

There is a 3 1/2-hour version of this album as well which I might upload eventually but for the time being, I am happy to treat you to the album-length rendition of permafrost.

Thanks for listening and, of course, for your support.

Stephen

[doombient]

Hi all,

in order to celebrate ['ramp]'s 21st anniversary this month (for some reason I believe in the magic of three times seven...) I decided to make the first two albums available as digital downloads.

"nodular" was released in 1998, and you might have guessed already what the pun in the title is referring to. It's heavily sequencer-based music firmly rooted in what is commonly called "Berlin School" -- I still am amazed at the sequencing in the title track, and it's almost twenty years old:

https://ramp1.bandcamp.com/album/nodular

"frozen radios" was the second album by ['ramp], released in 2000. It carries on where "nodular" left off. If at all, it's even edgier and rawer in its approach to sequencing and sound design:

https://ramp1.bandcamp.com/album/frozen-radios

Many people still have fond memories of the main sequencer rig crashing halfway through the concert where "damage / dissolution" was recorded... that was fun, if not for me.

More is to come, stay tuned.

Enjoy, and thanks for purchasing,

Stephen.

[waveman]

Very happy with that Stephen    Thanks for sharing the good news

[doombient]

Hi all,

just to let you know that I've finally decided to make ['ramp]'s steel and steam album available as a digital download (FLAC) through Bandcamp:

https://ramp1.bandcamp.com/album/steel-and-steam

As some of you may remember, half of the tracks was recorded in collaboration with Mark Shreeve of Redshift so you might want to call this a ['ramp]-meets-Redshift album to some extent.

I guess it's about time to set out to London again. Oh well, some day...

Thank you for your Support,

Stephen.

[doombient]

Hi all,

after five years of silence, I am delighted to present ['ramp]'s tenth release to you: synchronize or die. In order to commemorate the 20th anniversary of ramp's first-ever live concert in 1997 and celebrate twenty years of unsolicited noise, the album will be released officially on 29th august 2017:

https://ramp1.bandcamp.com/track/synchronize-or-die-album-teaser-2

Those past twenty years were busy not only in terms of musical adventures: artistically and personally, some more or less desired changes took place, and here and there some obstacles and new challenges had to be dealt with – not only on a musical level.

This was the very reason why I decided to pull all plugs after the 2012 concert performance at Bochum Planetarium and the subsequent album release astral disaster: I simply realized I was running out of stamina and steam as the past ten years had taken their toll on me. Rather than carrying on, releasing half-baked albums just for the sake of it, I decided to have a sabbatical for an indefinite period of time, to recover from the strain and to focus on new musical visions.

synchronize or die is the result of this sabbatical. I decided to elaborate on the technique I had discovered for creating complex sequencer tracks and multi-layered rhythmical patterns, without employing computers running audio software: making use of some old-fashioned synchronizers from the 1980s, I recorded multiple layers of sequences onto a digital eight-track recorder, using a clicktrack to tie in additional sequencers while overdubbing or mixing down to stereo. This is the reason why the trusty old Friendchip SRC units adorn the album sleeve.

Most of the tracks were created on my own in the seclusion of my dachgeschoss recording space (were the future is being made, today), with one notable exception: Torque was created in collaboration with fellow synthesiser enthusiast Axel Jungkunst who helped me out with his massive modular synthesiser rig and additional sequencer backings which resulted in one of ['ramp]'s most accessible titles of all time – whatever that means.

I am taking orders now through stephen at parsick dot com (and through bandcamp from 29th august onwards). If you would like to have the album along with the digital download, please wait until 29th August.

The albums ordered after 20th august will start shipping after 11th september 2017 so please bear this in mind when ordering. Direct orders through me will include a free download code for one exclusive track.

Thank you for your support,

Stephen