Kris Keogh - Processed Harp Works Volume 3 (Muzan Editions)

What Your Ears Say & The Cover Looks Like

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What We Say

Sweeping harp led evocations of remote Northern Australian celestial wonderment from Kris Keogh for Muzan Editions, as his cascading harp is elevated out of gravitational reach by ambient electronics, capturing the grandeur & astronomical delights of the bejewelled night sky that is only revealed far away from ciy lights.

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What The Release Notes Say

In the remote, far north of Australia, 1000km via dirt road thom the nearest city, Kris Keogh has spent the last decade composing otherworldly audio dreamscapes, nocturnes for the galaxies above. Without the light pollution of the city, Arnhem Land’s night skies glitter and glimmer in parallel with his heavily processed sound worlds. 

Intersecting contemporary classical, glitched electronics and ambient music, Processed Harp Works, Volume 3 is exactly as described - Kris’ intimately recorded harp playing transformed, using self-designed software patches, into grand, glistening audio starscapes. 

This is music full of contrasts - the acoustic tones of the harp are engulfed by heavy digital processing, while extremely quiet recordings (in which you can hear breathing and fingertips brushing strings) are layered into dense, epic walls of sound. It is this sense of bold juxtaposition that also allows this album to work as both an ambient background for the casual listener, or an intense sound experience for those willing to climb in and really pay attention. 

PHW, Volume 3 is the third album in a continuing series, the previous volumes were released on Australian experimental labels New Weird Australia and Provenance Records in 2011 and 2017. The move to renowned Japanese label Muzan Editions sees a broader international release for the new volume, with digital and cassette versions. 

Kris Keogh 

Muzan Editionsのこれまでの作品のMastering Engineerとしても名を連ねるオーストラリアのサウンドアーティストKris Koegh。琴かハープか、またはディレイにエフェクトを加えることで多弦的な響きに仕立て上げているのか、本作全体を通して使われている弦の音は、持続音ではないもののドローンミュージックとして確実に成立している。ステレオの左右の動きに加え、音が前後に動く空間性を与えることで、二次元的な動きではなく、面となって波を創り出し、聴き手のもとへ到達してくる。また、その動き方も一定の周期を持たず、自由に場所やかたちを変えていることがわかるだろう。うねり、渦巻き、空気中に伸びていく長いリボンのように、一切の隙間を持たず、全ての音が、その前に存在した音の次の形態として更新を続けていく様を、身体をすべて使って聴いてみることをお勧めする。 

道程(Dotei Records)　樋口拓郎
 
CREDITS
Thanks to Peachy and Deb for the space to make this, to Brandon, Snapsuit, Sime, Gemma and Mark for feedback, to Josh and |Andreas for helping get this out into the world and to Harumi Okayama and everyone at Aoyama Harps, Osaka. Proudly sponsored by the NT Government.

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IF YOU LIKE KRIS KEOGH & MUZAN EDITIONS YOU MIGHT LIKE THE NEW AGE OF NEW AGE PLAYLIST

You can stream The New Age of New Age Playlist on Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, Youtube and Soundcloud