Naoshima...after your first listen

[baht habit]

OK, I am assuming that we who ordered When Loud Weather Buffeted Naoshima will be receiving our copies at some point this week. Hopefully, everyone interested will be game enough to play along with what I am proposing:

From all that I have read and heard, I believe this will be quite an extensive piece of music to take in upon first listen. I know that, more than likely, such a piece probably needs to be listened to more than once or twice before it can make a definitive impression on a listener. But what I am requesting is that we all listen to the work one time through and then log in and give an honest and accurate assessment of the track.

I guess I am mainly interested in reading everyone's initial impression of the track. Does anyone think they'd be interested in taking part?

[Silver Moon]

Hi Baht Habit!

I have plans to listen to it all the way through with my full attention on August 15th. ... After that, I will give my feedback!

-K-

[Lady Arcadia]

Count me in, - will have to camp out by the mail box until it arrives.... feel like a little girl waiting for Christmas (isn't that just sad....)

[heartofdavid]

Yeah, I'll take part.

[VaporTrail]

It has arrived! Although, I shall not listen until August 15th as well .

[proggrl]

It has arrived! Although, I shall not listen until August 15th as well .

Well you guys might get a listen before me as I just ordered mine today. Looking forward to it and I'll be sure to post any initial thoughts. Enjoy!

[heartofdavid]

First impression, right. I'll start with the packaging - the outsize format is kind of a whatever. I like the coloring and lettering of the back better than the photo/illustration on the front (the thing with the feathers struck me as familiar, but I couldn't place where I'd seen something like this before). Flipping it open, the photo on the right captures the listening experience as described, the rough waves, the bent long grasses, the people huddling together with their backs turned to the spray from the waves. The left side is interesting - appears to be a photo covered with a drawing of what looks to me like a swarm of flies - I could see a pattern, set it upright and stepped well back. To me, the flies coalesced into a picture - to the left and right were the emaciated faces of an elderly man and woman (ghosts?) and in the center something like a monkey - okay, that's what I saw, lol.

To the soundscape - that's exactly what it is, exactly as javier described on the other thread, no point in repeating that. After about 15 minutes of listening (left it as background music while I wrote), I could detect the sounds that were produced by the ensemble, Bell and Henriksen in particular. These produced sounds blend in very well with the natural sounds of everyday life - catching me off guard a few times.

As a stand alone soundpiece, I found it curious, a bit chilling and voyeuristic - kept expecting a voice to pipe up with a "hey, what are you doing here?!" Not having had the visual experience this was composed for, I still found it a very visual piece - it is the sound of life and it stirred up memories for me of a vacation house I used to visit every summer as a child - that was the chilling part for me. It was as if I was in this house now, but it was empty except for these memories which played like a film, superimposed in each room. I had no part in the action around me, I could only observe, which made me start to think that perhaps I was the ghost, trapped in this place forever watching the same scenes - overactive imagination, I guess.

I like it, prefer something like this over the drone of Mothlight. I didn't find my attention wandering because I never knew what I might hear next - a woman calling, the sound of an engine starting, wind moaning through the trees - listening to it sans visual made it an intensely mind-visual experience, for me. There were parts that made me think of church (I was raised Catholic) - not the ritual of a mass but the sounds of the congregation; restless, worshiping, as if while observing the ritual their thoughts became vocal. Hope David continues to work on and release more instrumental/ambient pieces.

[baht habit]

My initial impression after the first listen:
I'm somewhat surprised and embarrased, but must admit that I found a few of the random sounds which are most prominent in the mix to be extremely annoying,...in particular the insistently loud placement of what sounds like some sort of closing door...and even more so the occasional sound of what seems to be a toy accordian. I do realize that so many of these sounds are placed in the context of the piece with an aim to be intrusive, but in my opinion, they only serve to detract from the listening experience. I do understand how unique it is to include certain sounds meant only to jar the listener, but I found that I could not entirely enjoy the first listen of this piece.
I listened on headphones and was constantly adjusting the volume, which in having to do so was in itself annoying as well. Maybe that was a mistake in itself.
I do like much of Fennesz's contributions, which were easy to pick out and I assume that Akira Rabelais contributed much of the vocal samples...I detected a little bit of some flute or whistle sound which was most likely Clive Bell's only contribution. I will have to pay better attention next time since Arve Henriksen's horn was not apparent to me. Yet I know that his sound is not typical in any way of the average trumpet, so I had better not expect the norm, right?
Guess I will start another thread for the second listen Just kidding.
Perhaps the third time....
I look forward to reading everyone else's first impression. HeartofDavid's was really well written, was it not? I wish I was able to have had a similar listening experience and, with the correct frame of mind, maybe I would have been able to find it easier to enjoy.
By the way, if I may dare to inquire of SilverMoon and Vapor Trail, what is the significance of August 15 if there is any at all?
goodnight

[Lady Arcadia]

You lucky things... I am still waiting... the joys of NZ Post.
Love the reviews so far, sounds like a nice piece of work. And something I definitely will want to play more than once.

*heads back to the mailbox and waits....*

[untitled]

I am very jealous. I got this from Samadhi Sound this morning:

"We are having to print more cd's as we had a very large volume of orders. We hope to have them in another week or two."

Whilst I am pleased for David that it is selling well, I am a bit disappointed...

[VaporTrail]

By the way, if I may dare to inquire of SilverMoon and Vapor Trail, what is the significance of August 15 if there is any at all?

Because that day we will be hearing it for the very first time, together .

[Lady Arcadia]

Well NZ Post finally came through! I am playing this wonderful piece of work as I type!

First off, the packaging. I generally don't go for digi pack-type stuff were possible... me and digi-packs, well lets just say that tend to commit suicide on me! BTW, does anyone know where I can get some protective covers for this booklet?

Besides that the packaging is very beautiful. The shade of lavender on the feathers gives it quite an oriental look about it. Although the artwork in general reminds me of some old-English woodcuts. All in all, very beautiful in a understated way. Well done to the designers!!

Now, the music, all 70 minutes of it. I LOVE IT!! I have only been really appreciating David's instrumentals in recent years, before that I tended to skip them. (I really wish I hadn't done that now.) They tend to be very beautiful and allow you to remember images and memories from your own life. David is able to create beautiful soundscapes, which can be the soundtrack to anyones life. And this is exactly what happened when I first listened to WLWBN.

Like Heart of David, I think my religious knowledge played a bit on my appreciation of WLWBN. I was able to remember images of gothic abbeys and other religious symbols, (especially at the 5-6 minutes stage). The waves reminded me of isolation, the feeling of being alone but not being sad but rather embracing it. It also reminded me of times I had spent at the beaches in NZ, in winter. With very few, if any one else around, it produces a sense of calm. For that reason alone, this will be played way more than once.

All in all, I enjoyed this work. Am currently on a repeat listening, and I am picking up things I hadn't heard before. That is a good thing.

[Adrian]

got it yesterday.
I really like the packaging, as always with samadhi sound.
the work itself on first listening is quite good actually, bearing in mind that it's a DS instrumental, which a lot of people won't like, or at least not as much as his vocal stuff. I rate his instrumental work at least as high as his vocal work, so no problem for me there.
Having said that, this is not your typical DS instrumental as can be found on the Camphor compilation. If I would have to describe it, I would say it's a cross between the Approaching Silence album and a drawn out, stripped down version of Mothlight.
It also reminds me of what is known as 'lower case improv', the stuff people like Mark Wastell, Bernhard Guenter and so many others are doing.
I will need a lot more listens to get to grips with this; at the moment I merely really like it, but I do think it's an important work.

[godisinthesilences]

i'd like to take part. I too am waiting on samadhi sound to send it out to me. I think I've got a bit of a wait on my hands while they print more copies.
This item is also for sale on Amazon.com....

[sisterlondon]

I just received it and listened to it.... mmmm... I think I need more listens too, but I suspect this won't be the stuff I listen to the most of David (don't kill me, I guess I am not as experimental as you all are guys!)