The Squid's Ear Magazine


Kahn, Jason: Beautiful Ghost Wave (Herbal International)

Jason Kahn uses feedback and electronic noise to create a large work created from static, hiss, and unusual electronic sound, dynamic and ever-shifting aspects of both lovely and aberrant electronics, captivating in ever-shifting sounds that inform but do not overwhelm.
 

Price: $13.95



Quantity:

In Stock

Quantity in Basket: None

Log In to use our Wish List
Shipping Weight: 2.00 units

Sample The Album:



product information:

Personnel:



Jason Kahn


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




Label: Herbal International
Catalog ID: 1101
Squidco Product Code: 20800

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2011
Country: USA
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold 3 Panels
Recorded in Zurich, Switzerland in 2010.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Now here's a change. Over the years we have learned to appreciate the music of Jason Kahn as something that is minimal, slowly moving music composed using percussion and analogue synthesizer. Drone like, introspective, derived from slowly unfolding improvisations - alone or in combination with others.

This is not the case on Beautiful Ghost Wave. Still at his disposal is the analog synthesizer but also a mixing board, contact microphones, short wave radio and electromagnetic coils. Kahn goes noise here. This thirty seven some minute work is divided into various movements (as one track), separated with acoustic rumbling - Kahn recorded this work through a microphone in front of his speakers and from the room directly behind - I assume the latter is when he uses only those.

Feedback like, noise based sounds, static hiss and such like rule this work, which has a much more dramatic play than much of his previous work, if not all of his previous work. Kahn fans will be alarmed I guess. Its not the kind of blast of noise that say someone like Merzbow would do - maybe that would have been the work if it was directly taped from the mixing board - but it has a distinct different quality that makes it quite good and also different from the other trouble makers. I guess it has to do with the amount of variations Kahn employs in this work and the somewhat curious way of recording it, bringing in a certain amount of acoustic noise. An excellent work and a brave move for Kahn. Hopefully to be followed by more such work."-Frans de Waard, Vital Weekly


Artist Biographies

" is a musician, artist and writer. He was born 1960 in New York and grew up in Los Angeles. He re-located to Europe in 1990 and is currently based in Zürich.

As an electronic musician, vocalist and drummer Kahn collaborates regularly with many musicians, both in improvised settings and in the context of graphical scores which he composes for specific groups.

Kahn has exhibited his installations in museums, galleries, art spaces and public sites internationally. These works focus on the idea of space: the conceptual and physical juncture points, its production and dissolution, and our relation to it as a political, social and environmental medium.

Kahn's other activities include sound pieces for radio, film, dance and theater. He has also designed numerous CD, LP and cassette covers. As a writer, his work has appeared in books, magazines and as liner notes to many audio publications.

Performing regularly around the world, Kahn has given concerts throughout Europe, North and South America, Australia, China, Egypt, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Korea, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Turkey and South Africa.

In 2011 Kahn started the Editions imprint to publish his own recordings and writings."

-Jason Kahn Website (http://www.jasonkahn.net/biography/index.html)
3/13/2024

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


Track Listing:



1. Beautiful Ghost Wave 37:10

Related Categories of Interest:


Electro-Acoustic
Sound, Noise, &c.
New in Experimental & Electronic Music

Search for other titles on the label:
Herbal International.


Recommended & Related Releases:
Kahn, Jason / Franzt Loriot / Christian Wolfarth
Koln
(Editions)
Recalling the For4Ears era of electroacoustic improvisation, the ea-improv trio of Jason Kahn on electronics, Frantz Loriot on viola and Christian Wolfarth on percussion are heard in this extended improvisation recorded in concert at Plattform nicht dokumentierbarer Ereignisse in Atelier Dürrenfeld/Geitel, Köln, Germany, as part of the trio's 2022 European tour.
Denzler, Bertrand / Jason Kahn
Translations
(Potlatch)
The seventh release on Potlatch for tenor saxophonist Bertrand Denzler and the first for electronic artist Jason Kahn, in an extended electroacoustic improvisation, Denzler performing his instrument in ways Adolphe Sax did not intend intersected by Kahn's bent and crackly emissions, each increasingly assertive through to a engrossing, exhalable end.
Kahn, Jason / Jon Mueller / Greg Davis
Green Door
(Autumn Records)
Recorded on the 7th of 8 concerts in a tour with the electroacoustic-improvising trio of Jason Kahn on percussion & electronics, Greg Davis on percussion & electronics and Jon Mueller on percussion & tape, an exemplary performance of close listening, highly textured and evolving ea-improv, each motion subtle and contributing to a richly diverse journey.
Kahn, Jason
Infinity Suite [BOOK + CD]
(Editions)
A 60 page book and CD from sound artist Jason Kahn, the audio composition representing an interconnected set of sound impressions focused on the Indian city of Varanasi, using field recordings of life on the street, the people, animals & music heard there, into the holy sites of the city, the school rooms, ending with a cremation and inevitable quiet at end of day.
MKM (Norbert Moslang / Jason Kahn / Gunter Muller)
Bangalore [VINYL]
(Mikroton Recordings)
A stunning album of electroacoustic improv that truly pushes the envelope, from the MKM trio of Gunter Muller on iPods & electronics, Jason Kahn on modular synthesizer, mixer & radio, and Norbert Moslang on cracked everyday electronics, three masters of the form in their 5th Mikroton release after decades working together in configurations on labels like For4Ears.
Belorukov, Ilia / Jason Kahn
Studio Album [CASSETTE + DOWNLOAD]
(Notice Recordings)
Recorded in two studios — Saint-Petersburg, Russia and Zurich, Switzerland — capturing 5 encounters between experimental improvisers Ilia Belorukov performing on modular synthesizer, and Jason Kahn, who steps away from his electronics and drums in favor of stark vocalizing, each providing perfectly caustic responses to the other's intense and determined tactics.
Kahn, Jason / Christian Wolfarth
Spirits [VINYL]
(Editions)
The 2nd release from Jason Kahn, here on voice and resonator guitar, with Christian Wolfarth on Chinese Cymbal, an antique marching snare and objects, recorded after a series of concerts across Europe in the fall of 2019, Kahn applying a percussionist's perspective to his guitar by playing it as a lap slide, as the two invoke an unusual incantatory spirit from their improvisations.
Dorner, Axel / Jason Kahn
For Berner Munster (Im Berner Munster)
(Confront)
The pairing of German trumpeter Axel Dorner, and NY-born experimental artist Jason Kahn living and performing in Zurich, brings the tradition of avant free jazz and nonidiomatic improvisation into an unusual merging of techniques and approaches, each applying their advanced virtuosity to this intense concert, recorded during Hamburg's Zoom In Festival, 2017.
Kahn, Jason
Songline [VINYL 2 LPs]
(Editions)
Swiss improviser Jason Kahn continues his forays into vocal experimentation with this solo album, recorded in the rooms of a former Swisscom telephone relay station in Zurich, recorded in a single take, pushing himself over the edge in these unique vocal compositions that are stark examples of his creative and confrontational skills.
Dorner, Axel / Jason Kahn
For Berner Munster (Im Berner Munster)
(Confront)
The pairing of German trumpeter Axel Dorner, and NY-born experimental artist Jason Kahn living and performing in Zurich, brings the tradition of avant free jazz and nonidiomatic improvisation into an unusual merging of techniques and approaches, each applying their advanced virtuosity to this intense concert, recorded during Hamburg's Zoom In Festival, 2017.
Akiyama, Tetuzi / Jason Kahn / Toshimaru Nakamura
IHJ / Ftarri
(Winds Measure)
Two live recordings of electroacoustic improv from the Japanese tour of guitarist Tetuzi Akiyama, Jason Kahn on synthesizer, and Toshimaru Nakamura on electronics, spacious yet detailed interaction that draws the listener into remarkable sound worlds.
Anderson, Casey / Jason Kahn / Norbert Moslang / Gunter Muller / Mark Trayle
Five Lines
(Mikroton Recordings)
This meeting of 5 EA-Improv heavyweights from Europe and the Pacific US happened during the MKM trio tour in Northern America 2010, capturing this extended performance at CalArts for 40 minutes of engaging, burbling electronics, pulses, and short wave introspection.
Kahn, Jason
Noema [VINYL 2 LPs]
(Editions)
Exploring Kyoto through a series of 37 compositions organized from field recordings of everyday sound in the city made during Jason Kahn's 3 month stay in 2012, creating unique audio memories evoking and commenting on the structure of Kyoto's social spaces.
Kahn, Jason / Tim Olive
Two Sunrise
(845 Audio)
The first meetings of Jason Kahn (analog electronic) and Tim Olive (one-string magnetic pickup device) recording in a studio session in Kyoto, 2012 for four eventful and intricately structured works with a distinct developmental momentum.
Kahn, Jason
Open Space [VINYL 2 LPs]
(Editions)
Jason Kahn developed these graphic scores, commissioned by the 2012 now NOW Festival in Australia, to push these specific players into situations outside of their comfort zone, as heard in this double LP which includes copies of the score plus notes and interviews.
Kahn / Millioud / Wiget / Weber
sin asunto
(Creative Sources)
Inspired by Albert Ayler's work for strings, Jason Kahn wrote this graphical score for amplified percussion, Vincent Millioud on violin, Bo Wiget on cello, and Christian Weber on contrabass.
Kahn, Jason
Timelines Los Angeles
(Creative Sources)
Jason Kahn brought Olivia Block, Mark Trayle, and Ulrich Krieger together to create this work for the 2008 Cal Arts Center for Experiments in Art, Information and Technology Festival.
Other Recommended Releases:
Kahn, Jason
Days Falling [VINYL 2 LPs]
(Editions)
After riding through his city of Zurich to the Kunstraum Walcheturm studio in 2020, Jason Kahn was struck by the quiet aspects of the usually busy city, now quelled by pandemic; entering the studio feeling the desolation and strange sense of peacefulness in the midst of so much tragedy and suffering, he recorded these "songs" of passionate free vocal improvisations and acoustic guitar.
Jun, Yan / Jason Kahn
None Of Us
(Herbal International)
Five recordings from the duo of Jason Kahn and Yan Jun, recording ostensibly on voice, though all recordings from their rehearsals and live performances were muted, deleted, or suffered technical issues, so what remains are the extraneous sound of the rooms and concert spaces, alone or layered, the final piece layering incidental sounds from 5 concerts.
MKM (Muller / Kahn / Moslang)
Teplo_Dom
(Mikroton Recordings)
Since 1971 the trio of Norbert Moslang on cracked everyday electronics, Jason Kahn on analog synthesizer & radio, and Gunter Muller on ipods & electronics, aka MKM, have convened for free improvisations of rhythmic noise, samples and fractured electronics, here in three concert recordings, two from Russia at DOM Cultural Center and one at Art Space Teplo.
Kahn, Jason
Voice and Sky [BOOK + CD]
(Editions)
Sound experimenter and electroacoustic organizer Jason Kahn revisits previous works and expands on them with the book and CD release, with an essay on his approach towards public space interventions and text / sound installations, a track listing, photographs from the locations of his field recordings, and texts and prose poems to accompany the listener.
Wolfarth, Christian / Jason Kahn
Percussion / Voice
(Confront)
An absorbing album of percussion and voice from the working duo of Christian Wolfarth on drums and percussion, and Jason Kahn on voice, for two extended improvisations of cathartic vocal expression and assertive rhythmic and reflective percussive accompaniment, balancing eccentric and mesmerizing sound in gripping and compelling ways.
Kahn, Jason
Songline [VINYL 2 LPs]
(Editions)
Swiss improviser Jason Kahn continues his forays into vocal experimentation with this solo album, recorded in the rooms of a former Swisscom telephone relay station in Zurich, recorded in a single take, pushing himself over the edge in these unique vocal compositions that are stark examples of his creative and confrontational skills.
Kwang, Goh Lee
Butterfly Lovers OST
(Nyoba Kan)
A sound track to the Malaysian stage play "Butterfly Lovers", which explores the themes of human relationships and emotions through a Zen perspective, from sound artist Goh Lee Kwang in a sextet that merges traditional Malaysian instrumentation and electronics.
Kwang, Goh Lee / Tim Blechmann
Findars
(Herbal International)
A work for heavy electronic drone and glitch, Herbal International Label founder Goh Lee Kwang presents this live performance from Malaysia's Finders Art Space in Kuala Lumpur, for 36 minutes of mysterious intensity that settles and fills the listening space like a pall.
Rocchetti, Claudio / Klaus Janek
Reisenotizen Aus Dem Land Der Mitte
(Herbal International)
A cohesive work of processed bass, field recordings, and feedback developed during the tour of Klaus Janek and Claudio Rocchetti through China, Hong Kong and Malaysia, at times adding Li Zenghui, Yan Jun, Stephen Roach, Feng Hao, Liu Xinyu, Torturing Nurse and Sin:Ned.



The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

© 2002-, Squidco LLC