The Squid's Ear Magazine

Hawkins, Chester

Natural Causes - Original Music For Pale Trees, A Film By Tim Ashby [VINYL]

Hawkins, Chester: Natural Causes - Original Music For Pale Trees, A Film By Tim Ashby [VINYL] (Intangible Arts)

Washington, DC based electronic experimenter Chester Hawkins (Blue Sausage Infant) was commissioned by director Tim Ashby to compose this work for the soundtrack to his feature-length film "Pale Trees", Hawkin's music illustrating the film's gradient of psychological colors from darkness, rage, and vengeance through a mix of kosmische drone in a Tangerine Dream vein.
 

Price: $14.95


Quantity:

Out of Stock

Quantity in Basket: None

Log In to use our Wish List
Shipping Weight: 24.00 units

Sample The Album:





product information:

Personnel:



Chester Hawkins-synthesizers, lapsteel guitar, field recordings


Click an artist name above to see in-stock items for that artist.




Label: Intangible Arts
Catalog ID: IA019
Squidco Product Code: 26061

Format: LP
Condition: New
Released: 2018
Country: USA
Packaging: LP
Recorded at Intangible Arts, in Washington, DC, Fall, 2015.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

The Album

"Natural Causes is an original work commissioned for the soundtrack to Tim Ashby's feature-length film Pale Trees. Using a large array of synths, deep-woods field recordings, electronics, and "violated lapsteel," Hawkins' score illustrates the film's gradient of psychological colors from darkness, rage, and vengeance, to the relief inherent in forgiveness.

Through the sonic textures of 1970s "Berlin-school kosmische," drone, and the more experimental side of krautrock, Natural Causes effectively coexists with the film PALE TREES and works well on its own as an immersive audio environment. It also serves to counterbalance Hawkins' more improvised material by being a strictly composed affair, born in the studio under comparatively sterile laboratory conditions.

the Film

Pale Trees (2016), written/directed by Tim Ashby Produced by Deep Wells Productions, AZ:

"Tired of her mother's admonishments about not facing reality, Liv spitefully digs up the ghost of her mother's early days in Hollywood,a reality the b-list female action figure buried long ago. The consequences of Liv's mischief are not just haunting but incapacitating, and cause profound transformations throughout the family."



"Commissioned and recorded as the soundtrack to Tim Ashby's feature film Pale Trees, Natural Causes stands on its own as an immersive audio experience (especially considering that the film is still in post-production, so no one, other than the filmmakers, knows how it fits in with the film). It begins, ominously, with field recordings of Rock Creek Park: crows cawing as leaves crunch beneath footsteps. A menacing synth drone slowly fades in, establishing the anxious tone of Hawkins' soundtrack. Like all of Hawkins' experimental and noise works since the mid-1980s, most notably those under the moniker Blue Sausage Infant (which was retired a few years ago), there's a confluence of influences at play here: sneering psychedelia, deep drone, the experimental elements of krautrock, dark Brian Eno-esque ambient soundscapes, and the synthesized soundtracks of John Carpenter's most notable horror and sci-fi films. More than anything, though, all of these influences work together to evoke a sense of utter dread that underscores the album's 44-minute runtime, even when it cascades into more upbeat territories. After more than three decades of sonic exploration, Hawkins has established himself in the District's buoyant noise scene as a master of improvisation. But curiously enough, Natural Causes is by Hawkins' own admission "a strictly composed affair, born in the studio under comparatively sterile laboratory conditions." That's significant for two reasons: It showcases the careful nuance and consideration that Hawkins put into every sound that occupies the album; and it shows an artist who's not just still evolving, but also intent on pushing his musical explorations to greater depths. Though Natural Causes is a commissioned soundtrack to Ashby's film, it at times feels like the soundtrack to present-day D.C.: Walls of natural and synthesized sound ebb and flow over a pulsating, warbly groove, creating a somewhat menacing, dreadful vibe that something dark this waycomes. With D.C.'s rapid development in the past few years and the incoming administration, it's hard not to feel like Natural Causes is a conversation between Hawkins and his surroundings-both natural and unnatural."-Matt Cohen, washingtoncitypaper.com


Artist Biographies

"Chester Hawkins (Washington DC) has performed a wide range of experimental music since 1985. His most well-known project was BLUE SAUSAGE INFANT, being an exercise in musique concrète and loop-collage, which later expanded to embrace drone, krautrock, psychedelia, noise, and sonically intense live performances. After 28 years, the BSI project was retired and new works continue under his own name, crafting dynamic adventures in sound with a more focused and wholly electronic approach.

Hawkins has released music under the imprints Alrealon Musique, Zeromoon, and his own Intangible Arts. Past collaborators include Insect Factory, Violet, Tag Cloud, Haunted Toilet, Changes to Blind, New Carrollton, Lida Husik, and Stolen Government Binder Clip."

-Chester Hawkins 3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



SIDE A



1. Pale Trees, Part 1 22:10

SIDE B



1. Pale Trees, Part 2 21:50

Related Categories of Interest:


Vinyl Recordings

Rock and Related
Progressive Rock
Electro-Acoustic
Piano & Keyboards
Solo Artist Recordings
New in Rock Forms
Staff Picks & Recommended Items

Search for other titles on the label:
Intangible Arts.


Recommended & Related Releases:
Other Recommended Releases:
nil.
01
(Intangible Arts)
Restarting his sonic life at "nothing", Chester Hawkins' new project after work under his own name and his previous decades-long project Blue Sausage Infant is nil, recording after a two-week residency at Liebig12 in Berlin and participation in the Zero Cohesion program, this five-part work for "maximal drone" explores complex harmonics in a dynamic and powerful wall of sound.
Orcutt, Bill
Jump On It
(Palilalia)
Ten years having passed since his last solo acoustic guitar album, Bill Orcutt's new release focuses on a more lyrical, relaxed and reflective side to his playing, in ten succinct pieces recorded in the spring and summer of 2002 at San Francisco's community focal point for and member of Intersection for The Arts, The Living Room.
Haino, Keiji + Sumac
Into This Juvenile Apocalypse Our Golden Blood to Pour Let Us Never [2LPs CLEAR COLOR VINYL + DOWNLOAD]
(Thrill Jockey)
The third release from the collaboration between the American avant-metal rock trio Sumac of guitarist Aaron Turner, drummer Nick Yacyshyn and bassist Brian Cook with Japanese legendary guitarist and vocalist Keiji Haino, for six rugged free rock improvisations captured live at the Astoria Hotel in Vancouver BC during Haino's 2019 tour of North America.
Hawkins, Chester
Cops Need Serial Numbers [USB mp3 & wav + pdf]
(Intangible Arts)
DC electronic explorer Chester Hawkins releases this limited edition album of 50 copies shaped in a metal bullet that unscrews to reveal a USB drive with more than 4 hours of extended forays into psychedelic electronics, synth and tabletop guitar, journeys of hard drone & abstract concrete elements, in mp3 & wav format with a pdf, housed in a handsome black case.
Hawkins, Chester
Metabolism Quartet / Nocturne For Poppy [CASSETTE]
(Zeromoon/ Intangible Arts)
Electro-psychedelic explorer Chester Hawkins presenting two live performances in Washington DC -- one recorded in isolation at Intangible Arts' studio (4th September 2018) and one in public at Rhizome community arts space (8th September 2018) -- improvised autopsies of Lutoslawski's String Quartet by means of three granular synth engines and one tape-edit/concrete emulator.
Hawkins, Chester
K516156/91044 [33 1/3 7-inch VINYL]
(Intangible Arts)
A 33 rpm 7" from Washington, DC sound artist Chester Hawkins, which "contains highly concentrated extracts" of two remixes of live recordings at Logan Fringe Arts Space and Red Onion Records, from his limited-edition USB release "Cops Need Serial Numbers"; mesmerizing and hypnotic electronics from a masterful performer and kosmiche explorer.
Hawkins, Chester
Magnetisk Nord
(Intangible Arts)
Chester Hawkins' curiosity for Denmark resulted in his renting an apartment in central Kobenhavn, bringing along his electronically modified lapsteel guitar, wind and reed instruments, tabletop noise-boxes, mobile synthesizer apps and a shortwave radio, which he joined with field recordings from the capital region, creating this magnificent loveletter to Denmark.
Electric Bird Noise
Desert Jelly
(Silber Records)
Frequent Squidco in-store performer Electric Bird Noise returns defying expectation with an album of new wave dance & 1970s synth experiments, taking influence from bands like New Order, The Cure, Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, & Gary Numan
Pinhas / Merzbow / Wolf Eyes
Victoriaville May 2011
(Les Disques Victo)
French guitarist Richard Pinhas, Japanese electronics and noise artist Merzbow, and the American trio Wolf Eyes performed together at the 2011 Victo Festival, with this massive recording one result.
Teneleven (Nasuno Mitsuru)
Teneleven
(Doubtmusic)
Nasuno Mitsuru (Altered States, Seijaku, Korkyojin, &c) in a new band with two synthesizers, bass, and drums, rock in a Heldon/Tangerine Dream mode using modern electroacoustic principles for richly hypnotic electronic music.
Subliminator, The
Recalibrated
(Scared Records)
Ex-Spaceseed wordsmith/gizmoist Serson Brannen explores the outer limits of high tech spoken word space art .
Blue Sausage Infant
Scalpels for the Animal God
(Intangible Arts)
The live sound of Blue Sausage Infant, ranging from brutalist noise to textured drones, pounding neo-tribalism, krautrock-flavored psychedelia, or cut-ups of cultural artifacts.
CHANGES TO blind + Blue Sausage Infant

(Intangible Arts)
Blue Sausage Infant and CHANGES TO blind met in 1992 for these improvised studio recordings, and to perform CTb's sonic tour of a house live at Troy, NY's Last Exit.



Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought:
Ullmann, Gebhard / Steve Swell / Hilliard Greene / Barry Altschul
We're Playing In Here ? [VINYL]
(NoBusiness)
Substantial creative free jazz with compositions each from trombonist Steve Swell and reedist Gebhard Ullman, recording at Park West Studio in Brooklyn with Barry Altschul on drums and Hilliard Green on double bass, the structures of their compositions providing lyrical launch points for adept free soloing, amidst unusual and masterful technique and surprising asides; exceptional!
Golub, Phillip
Filters [VINYL + DOWNLOAD]
(Greyfade)
Approaching the concept of endless repetition, New York composer and pianist Phillip Golub (Tropos, Sarafand Ensemble, Cecil McBee) presents his debut solo piano album, a contemplative set of system-based looping phrases that open up to improvisational variety in live performance, here in four renderings that defy the categorization of a "loop".
Kirschner, Kenneth / Joseph Branciforte
From the Machine: Volume 1 [VINYL]
(Greyfade)
The first volume in an ongoing collaboration between composers Kenneth Kirschner and Joseph Branciforte, this work explores the application of software-based compositional techniques — including algorithmic processes, generative systems, and indeterminacy — performed in a superb ensemble including members of Flux Quartet and International Contemporary Ensemble.
Branciforte, Joseph / Theo Bleckmann
LP1 [VINYL]
(Greyfade)
Like a blanket of twilight sound and insidiously fragile detail, the results of two days of uninterrupted sonic exploration between New York multi-instrumentalist, composer, sound artist & recording engineer Joseph Branciforte and German vocal innovator & electronic artist Theo Bleckmann are heard in four compositions from their collaboration: gorgeous, lulling and edgy.
Dinel, Karbe
MMXX-09: Ouroboros [CLEAR VINYL]
(Matiere Memoire)
French sound artist Karbe Dinel creates a complex work of sound that shifts through diverse moods and seamlessly dovetailed sections, using synthesizer and effects to create deep resonating tones and high pitched complements, mysterious grainy ambience, haunting chambers of drifting electronics; a mysterious and compelling journey in the electronic realm.
White, John
Electric Music [2 CDs]
(ANTS Records)
English experimental composer and musical performer John White recorded the pieces on this 2 CD retrospective set between 1980 and 1995, a combination of serious, popular and novelty pieces, often exploring areas of contradiction, particularly linear and rhythmic, within an unlikely sound-world in which parameters such as volume, timbre, texture and speed remain fixed.
Locals, The (Thomas, Ward / Thomas / Lash / Hasson-Davis)
The Locals Play The Music Of Anthony Braxton
(Discus)
An upbeat and energetic performance at the Konfrontation Festival, Ulrichsberg in 2006, featuring six early compositions by Anthony Braxton, arranged by pianist Pat Thomas and performed by the quintet of superb improvisers and interpreters Alex Ward on clarinet, Evan Thomas on electric guitar, Dominic Lash on electric bass, and Darren Hasson-Davis on drums.
Foussat, Jean-Marc / Thomas Lehn
Spielgelungen
(Fou Records)
The EMS Synthi AKS was introduced in 1972 as a portable analog synthesizer, used in many avant rock & electronic settings; on Spielgelungen both Jean-Marc Foussat and Thomas Lehn perform on the Synthi, their adept skills and experience with the instrument in free improv highlight both their incredible creative drive and the flexibility of the AKS.
Akerlund, Lars / Eryck Abecassis
Falls
(Mikroton Recordings)
Investigating the possibilities of instability with synthesizers and electronic instruments, sound artists Eryck Abecassis (France) and Lars Akerlund (Sweden) present 7 impressive tracks of "Dark Energy" in two parts, combining electronics and modular synth, with credits to VICC (Visby International Centre for Composers) and EMS (Electronic Music Studio, Stockholm).
Feldman, Morton (Philip Thomas)
Piano [5 CD BOX SET]
(Another Timbre)
Containing the majority of minimalist composer Morton Feldman's compositions for solo piano, 3 CDs of short works and 2 for the magnificent "For Bunita Marcus" and "Triadic Memories", performed by one of the foremost interpreters of Feldman's work, Philip Thomas, and presented in a sturdy 5-CD box set with a 52 page booklet of notes from the performer and artwork.
Mitelli, Gabriele / Rob Mazurek
Star Splitter [VINYL]
(Clean Feed)
Referencing the poem "Star-splitter" by Robert Frost, Italian improviser Gabriele Mitelli on cornet, soprano sax & alto flugelhorn, and Chicago improviser Rob Mazurek on piccolo trumpet, both using electronics, object & voice, create a spiritually rich and warm series, "gazing" at four planets through immersive, unique and authoritative performance; exceptional.
Toyozumi / Countryman / Tan
Chasing The Sun [VINYL]
(ChapChap Records)
Two lives sets at Tago Jazz Cafe in the Philippines in 2018 from the trio of master percussionist Sabu Toyozumi on drums, American ex-pat Rick Countryman on alto saxophone, and Simon Tan on acoustic bass, this their 3rd album of solid free improvisation of extended and masterful discourse, unusual percussive devices, and powerful rhythmic foundation.
Carter, Daniel / Watson Jennison / William Parker / Federico Ughi
Live! Volume 1: Erie [VINYL]
(577 Records)
Working together in tours and recording since 2005, the NY trio of multi-reedist and wind player Daniel Carter, bassis William Parker and drummer/percussionist Federico Ughi are joined by saxophonist Watson Jennison also on flute, recorder and keyboards for this enlightened album of modern and transcendent jazz in a limited, remastered LP edition with bonus material.



The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

© 2002-, Squidco LLC