Recchion, Tom

Recchion, Tom

Oaxaca Dawn / Bamboo

Elevator Bath

***"Oaxaca Dawn" and "Bamboo" are two raw, unadulterated, and unpretentious snapshots of specific moments in time and space: the early morning cracking of dawn in Oaxaca, Mexico and a windy afternoon in a Hana bamboo forest on Maui, Hawaii. Individually these audio documents are gorgeously simple, matter-of-fact presentations of travels. Together they are a recollection of their natural beauty, impossible to adequately render by any other means. This beautiful LP features site-specific recordings and photographs by TOM RECCHION, a sound and visual artist/composer/potter/art director and graphic designer. He is the co-founder of the legendary LOS ANGELES FREE MUSIC SOCIETY (LAFMS) and has been an active, integral participant in the arts for more than forty years. Recchion lives in Pasadena, California.  "I was struck by the cacophony of sounds at the dawn of light in the 'suburb' of Oaxaca where I was staying. It woke me everyday of my week long stay. It was like a barnyard turned up to 11. I brought a DAT machine and two Audio Technica microphones for the purpose of making field recordings on the trip. I woke up before the sun came up and set up the equipment in the dark. The first sound on the record is the moment the sun came over the horizon. The bamboo forests on Maui were seared into my memory from my first time in Hawaii. On my second trip, armed with a first edition Edirol digital recorder, I hung out in the forest for a couple of...

Recchion, Tom

Proscenium

Elevator Bath

"Proscenium" is a subtle and remarkably controlled collection of atmospheres. The air of mystery, deliberate pacing, the deep tones and unidentified sounds of Recchion's 2006 album "Sweetly Doing Nothing" have been explored even further here. It's a logical development but the results are unexpected and strikingly original, sounding wholly unfamiliar and yet like no one's but Tom Recchion's.  "Proscenium"'s six pieces mostly began life as music for filmmaker/puppeteer Janie Geiser's play "Invisible Glass," an adaptation of Poe's "William Wilson." The play's intricate beauty and the story's moody confusion have been perfectly mirrored and expanded on by Recchion who used that inspiration as a leaping off point for Proscenium's rich and surprising compositions. "It was an attempt to create a sound world for the viewer that started as they entered the theater and drenched them until they left in an ongoing series of atmospheres."  Tom Recchion has been a sound and visual artist/composer/art director and graphic designer in California since the 1970s. He is the co-creator of the legendary Los Angeles Free Music Society (LAFMS) and has collaborated with David Toop, Christian Marclay, Oren Ambarchi, Keiji Haino, and Max Eastley, among many others. Though Proscenium is only his sixth album as a solo artist, Recchion has had many recordings released by labels such as Birdman, Touch, PSF, RRR, Idea, Staubgold, and the Cortical Foundation. He has also written for The Wire magazine. Tom Recchion lives in California.