On this page are my released works with label press and covers in chronological order. Some of them are available through 3LEAVES webshop.
PILIS | CD-R | 3LEAVES | 3L001 | 2009
Pilis is a sacred place. Bound north we leave the big city Budapest behind and we find ourselves surrounded by wonderous mountains and natural habitat. The Pilis mountain is located on the right bank of the Danube between Budapest and Esztergom. Its highest peak is only 756 meters, however, the scenery is picturesque. The beauties of nature, the fresh forest air, and the presence of positive energies this area are sought by many visitors. A big portion of the area is protected as a National Park, with numerous bicycle and hiking trails.In April 2009 I began my hike from the highest point of Pilis, and descended slowly.
I was accompanied by a charming stream of clear water all the way. As we walk through the forest and listen to the sound of the small stream, with each step, we arrive into different worlds and see, hear, and perceive the surrounding nature accordingly. I could not describe why "there and then": when I felt like, I stopped, sat down and recorded the sounds of the stream and the environment. Later, when I listened and selected these field recording tracks at home, I decided that I'll compose various computer generated layers in addition. In time, these layers transformed into sonic thoughts in brackets inspired by the original field recording tracks and the wonderful memories of the hike. This was the birth process of a flowing, self re-creating and re-analyzing, yet coherent composition. A relentlessly meandering and laughtering auditory flow: a second hike to the Pilis.
TO BJELLER | CRÓNICA | CD | CRÓNICA 020 | 2005
Essays on Radio: Can I Have Two Minutes of Your Time? is curated by Porto based media artist Miguel Carvalhais. Each the 39 tracks, from contributors such as Freiband, Pita, Heimir Björgúlfsson and Carvalhais himself, clock in at the two minute mark, primarily so as to invite as many artists as possible, it seems, rather than aesthetic concerns. These brief "essays" are spun from the thesis that radio, as the longest surviving electronic medium, is in danger of being taken for granted, un-marvelled at. Yet not only was the radio mostly likely the first place where people were first exposed to white noise, it is an ideal instrument for the avant garde (as John Cage, on Imaginary Landscape # 4 and Stockhausen on Hymnen among others, recognised - the very twiddle of the dial is an indicator of both chance and simultaneity).
Moreover, its every emissions amount to a "vast text" in both literal and, according to Maurice Blanchot, metaphorical space. Radio's output is something which should be availed of and engaged with. Opener "Oidar" by Longina functions as a signature tune for this idea, its banks of sound looming like Hubble clouds and taking a life of their own. Others like James Eck Rippie apply the notion practically. He manipulates vinyl recordings of old radio broadcasts in combination with turntables used as radio receivers to capture random broadcasts and frequencies. Elsewhere, contributions range from the musical to the amusical, the siren-luring to the dispensable.
But there are many highlights. Lawrence English spins a line of crackle through what sounds like a dismal parlour room enlivened only by the chimes of a Grandfather clock - radio as a reactivator of dead bourgeois air, you might surmise. Stephan Mathieu weaves an elaborate, silvering awning of pure, serene noise, while Pimmon's Ears That Hear features muffled fragments of momentous radio announcements across floating the ether, occasionally twisted inside out by intermittent spatial glitches. Overall, this is electronica that benefits from having a contextual purpose.
TIL ØDSLIG HORISONT | CD-R | TRENTE OISEAUX | TOC052 | 2005
Til Ødslig Horisont evolves slowly and quietly over forty-five minutes and rewards the listener's attention with a great listening experience, manifold soundscapes and atmospheres melting into one another. As often, describing this work will not do it justice, and so I propose that you make yourself comfortable, close your eyes and simply listen. You will enjoy it without an eloquent description.
FJERN HJEM | PRIVATE | CD-R | 2002
Ákos Garai is a sound artist and concert organizer based in Hungary. Fjern Hjem is his self released debut. This single 35 minute piece, which on the whole is quiet and tranquil, begins with a beautiful, low end ambient drone. This drone serves as the foundation for the first half of the piece, the ground upon which all other sounds will be placed. Throughout, higher frequency tones weave in and out of the mix in brief glimpses, creating some interesting harmonies along the way. As the piece progresses, new elements are introduced, a piercing high frequency tone, a swirling ambience, until it all fades into a near-silence. About half way through the piece, the low end drone disappears and a new set of sounds are introduced. This time they seem like interior sounds: the hum of a furnace or a fan, perhaps, distant
and muted drones fluctuating only faintly. The piece ends suddenly, leaving you at the edge of a precipice, desperate and enchanted. It's an engaging and promising debut, and in spite of it being an independently released CDR, hopefully it will garner the attention it deserves.