The Squid's Ear Magazine
Squidco Harvest Sale!
Friday through Sunday Save 10%-15% on all new items!



Mattrey, Joanna

Soulcaster [CASSETTE w/ DOWNLOAD]

Mattrey, Joanna : Soulcaster [CASSETTE w/ DOWNLOAD] (Notice Recordings)

Taking the title from Brandon Sanderson's book series The Stormlight Archive, where a soulcaster is an instrument that transforms one object or life form into another; Joanna Mattrey transforms her viola and a tromba marina, aka a nuns' fiddle, with preparations, objects and unusual approaches through technique, creating a remarkable set of 11 unique and inventive improvisations.
 

Price: $8.05
Price Was: $8.95
Squidco Harvest Sale:
Save $0.90



Quantity:

Out of Stock

Quantity in Basket: None

Log In to use our Wish List
Shipping Weight: 4.00 units

Sample The Album:





product information:

Personnel:



Joanna Mattrey-viola, tromba marina


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




Letterpress printed on white stock. Comes with double-sided art insert.

Label: Notice Recordings
Catalog ID: NTR076
Squidco Product Code: 33568

Format: CASSETTE
Condition: New
Released: 2023
Country: USA
Packaging: Cassette
Tracks 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 recorded at Blooming Lightways Studio, in Brooklyn, New York, in April, 2022, by Nathaniel Morgan.

Tracks 2, 5 and 11 recorded in April, 2022, by Webb Crawford.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Soulcaster is the third solo record by Brooklyn-based composer/performer Joanna Mattrey. Following "Live in Accord" and various Notice Recordings-curated performances in the Hudson Valley, this album is a further development in our years-long friendship. With Soulcaster, Mattrey scrapes, scratches, and wails on viola, prepared viola, and a tromba marina, built by Webb Crawford. Mattrey's love of unique and unusual sounds has inspired her to alter the pure tone of the viola through preparations with styrofoam, plastic toys, chains, and other objects. But the newest sounds in her arsenal come from the tromba marina, which has one primary playing string and thirteen sympathetic strings. Rather than gently coaxing out the harmonics, as the historical playing style suggests, Mattrey employs a raucous and roaring approach.

The title, Soulcaster, is borrowed from Brandon Sanderson's book series, The Stormlight Archive. In the fantasy series, a soulcaster is an instrument that transforms one object or life form into another. Mattrey's practice connects heavily to the idea of transformation. She uses preparations and objects not only to create new sounds from her instruments, but to embrace the unknown. No matter how many times the same object has been used, depending on the vibrations on a given day, the preparations might bring out totally different sounds. This randomness creates a joyful challenge for Mattrey, who believes that especially during improvisation, music has its own life that activates and guides the sound forward. Mattrey surrenders to this energetic line of sound over the eleven tracks featured on this tape."-Notice Recordings


Letterpress printed on white stock. Comes with double-sided art insert.

Artist Biographies

"Joanna Mattrey, violist, sound artist.

Joanna Mattrey is a violist active in both the new music and free improvisation communities who's playing often incorporates textural gestures, preparations, and electronic alterations. She is searching for moments of ceremony and ritual in a modern soundscape.

Mattrey has played with such luminaries as Marc Ribot and the Young Philadelphians, Mary Halvorson, John Zorn, Erik Friedlander, Nick Dunston and others among New York City's Downtown scene.

Her projects are incorporative of many styles which have brought her to various venues including the Whitney Museum, the Rubin Museum, MoMa's PS1, Carnegie Hall, Roulette, Boston's MFA, The Stone, Joe's Pub, LPR, and has played at SxSW, the Newport Jazz Festival, and the NYC Winter Jazz Fest.

Mattrey has commissioned solo pieces from Nick Dunston (Vijay Iyar), Weasel Walter (Lydia Lunch), Lucie Vitkova and more to bring her improvising sensibilities to the new music world."

-Joanna Mattrey Website (https://www.joannamattrey.com/)
10/2/2024

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


Track Listing:



SIDE A



1. Sing Out 3:52

2. For Time 1:43

3. Always 5:21

4. Ends 4:01

5. Beginnings 4:22

SIDE B



1. Come From 5:22

2. The Endings 5:35

3. Of Now 3:29

4. Rattle 2:07

5. Fate 2:54

6. Is an Opening 3:56

Related Categories of Interest:


Cassettes
Physical Releases that include Download Codes
Improvised Music
Free Improvisation
Stringed Instruments
Instruments with Preparations
NY Downtown & Metropolitan Jazz/Improv
Solo Artist Recordings
New in Improvised Music

Search for other titles on the label:
Notice Recordings.


Recommended & Related Releases:
Other Recommended Releases:
Lyle, Erica Dawn
Colonial Motels [CASSETTE + DOWNLOAD]
(Notice Recordings)
The former touring guitarist for Bikini Kill, who has also worked with The Raincoats and Kim Gordon, in a 2-part solo work of experimental approaches to the electric guitar, starting with minimal loops that slowly layer in intensity until reaching a climactic release and dispersal, picked up again in the second part for a unique work of noise and alien guitar soloing.
Angeles, Camilo / Joanna Mattrey
Hailstone Temple [CASSETTE w/ DOWNLOAD]
(Notice Recordings)
Excerpted from their 2022 concert at Museo Ex Teresa Arte Actual in Mexico, flutist Camilo Ángeles (TVL REC label), also performing on bass flute, joins with New York City violist Joanna Mattrey, an active performer and improviser associated with Issue Project Room and Roulette, for six unusual duos of wind, string and voice leveraging the natural resonance of the museum space.
Dykstra, Jordan
Stressings
(Editions Verde)
Exploring diverse landscapes and moments of extreme behavior changes through a single acoustic viola, composed and performed by Jordan Dykstra, in four pieces that vary his approach to the instrument through overlapping tones, drones, extended techniques and rolling cycles, performed in California at the California Institute of the Arts and at the Cathedral of Saint Vibiana.
Smith, Damon / Louis Wall / NNN Cook / Michael William / Fred Tompkins
Fire Point [CASSETTE + DOWNLOAD]
(Notice Recordings)
A dark album of sound art from the quintet of mostly St. Louis improvisers--Damon Smith, Louis Wall, NNN Cook, Michael Williams and noted flutist Fred Tompkins on two tracks--starting through shrouded percussion and unidentifiable sources, the group's sessions are edited into a cohesive album that takes its listeners on a unique journey of electronic and acoustic interaction.
Malcolm Goldstein / Fred Lonberg-Holm
Missa Amissa [CASSETTE + DOWNLOAD]
(Notice Recordings)
Bringing to ears a 2003 encounter in Chicago, IL between legendary violin improviser, conceptualist and writer Malcolm Goldstein and exploratory cello improviser Fred Lonberg-Holm, through two extended dialogs weaving their strings around each other and finding unusual intersections and unions, from rapid action to introspective beauty; unsettling and inspired.
Munden-Dixon, Adrianne / Leo Chang
Some Time [CASSETTE w/ DOWNLOAD]
(Notice Recordings)
Unusual interactions between electronically manipulated violin and an AMPIRI--an electronically enhanced Korean double reed instrument--from the Brooklyn duo of Leo Chang and Adrianne Munden Dixon, seven improvisations numbered "Sixteen" to "Twenty-Two", each a uniquely idiosyncratic exchange from quick slippery dialog to raspy dissonance of unexpected directions.
Motl, Kyle / Patrick Shiroishi
Apparitions [CASSETTE w/ DOWNLOAD]
(Notice Recordings)
The second album on Notice Recordings for West Coast free improvising saxophonist Patrick Shiroishi is a duo with San Diego-based double bassist Kyle Motl, in an exceptionally well-balanced example of powerful expression from both players, free blowing and turbulent exchanges offset by experimental introspective passages in four extended and excellent improvisations.
Lee, Charmaine / Fred Lonberg-Holm / Gabby Fluke-Mogul / Joanna Mattrey / Weston Olencki
Live in Accord [CASSETTE w/ DOWNLOAD]
(Notice Recordings)
Four configurations of far-reaching free improv at Notice Recordings's 2021 event in Accord, NY: a solo performance by Charmain Lee on voice & electronics; a duo between Lee and Weston Olnecki on synths & trombone; a trio from Gabby Fluke-Mogul on violin, Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello and Joanna Mattrey on viola; a duo between Lonberg-Holm and Olencki.
Olive, Tim
Ribbon [CASSETTE + DOWNLOAD]
(Notice Recordings)
Sonic exploration and studio composition from Kobe, Japan-based, Canadian sound artist Tim Olive, using amplified objects, cast-off electronics and home made instruments including metal teeth, tuning forks, clockwork motors, electromagnets, cassette playback heads and magnetic pickups, recording each and layering them in the studio to create corrosively captivating aural journeys.
Webber, Anna
Idiom [2 CDs]
(Pi Recordings)
In various configurations of her ensemble--from trios to 12 performers--composer, saxophonist & flutist Anna Weber composed these six pieces based around specific wind techniques, including the use of multiphonics, alternate fingerings, buzzes, air sounds, key clicks & overblown notes, explored through an exuberant and embraceable balance of improvised and composed "Idioms".
Mattrey, Joanna
Veiled
(Relative Pitch)
The first solo record for NY violist Joanna Mattrey, performing also on the Stroh violin, in a deep exploration of the sound possibilities for both instruments, using preparations to alter the resonance of the viola, masking its overtly singing and beautiful nature and allowing for unexpected and unusual textures which weave around melodic lines; unique and fascinating.



Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought:
Move (Gibson / Zenicola / Valinho)
Free Baile - Live In Shenzen
(Clean Feed)
Move is the Lisbon-based trio of two Brazilian improvisers -- saxophonist Yedo Gibson (Eke, Naked Wolf) and electric bassist Felipe Zenicola (New Brazilian Funk, Chinese Cookie Poets) -- with Portuguese drummer João Valinho (Rodrigo Amado Refraction Quartet, Fashion Eternal), here caught live in a thrilling edge-of-your-seat concert at at B10Live in Shenzhen, China.
Tamarisk (Carter / Menestres / Weathers)
Comes From Far Away From Here [CASSETTE + DOWNLOAD]
(Notice Recordings)
A studio album from the Tamarisk free improvising trio of guitarist Andrew Weather, bassist David Menestres and Charalambides co-founder Christina Carter on vocals, the third album from this free folk trio of cathartic and unpredictable direction, here recording at Andrew Weather's recording space at Wind Tide, in Littlefield Texas in 2022.
Baron, Derek / Luke Martin
Distinct and Concealed [CASSETTE + DOWNLOAD]
(Notice Recordings)
NY composer & keyboardist Derek Baron meets with Minneapolis experimental composer & performer Luke Martin at Zeitgeist Center in New Orleans and at Resource Space in Minneapolis, MN to record these live performances on piano, keyboard, no-input mixing board and cassette recordings; minimal works of tension and release, incorporating movement, audience and room sounds into their contemporary improvisations.
Sea Trio, The (Satoh / Yoshihide / Turner)
Live in Munich & Bonn [2 CDs]
(Confront)
Their second recording after their 2015 trio album Live at Hall Egg Farm on Doubtmusic, the now properly named Sea Trio of Masahiko Satoh on piano, Otomo Yoshihide on electric guitar and Roger Turner on drums & percussion reunite for two impressive 2023 concerts of masterful and often fiery free improvisation, captured in Munich and Bonn, Germany.
Rempis, Dave / Tashi Dorji Duo
Gnash
(Aerophonic)
Beginning their tours as a duo in 2017 and expanded into the trio Kuzu, Bhutanese improvising guitarist Tashi Dorji and Chicago saxophone improviser Dave Rempis recorded these four exotically powerful dialogs after their 2023 tour, performing at The Sugar Maple, in Milwaukee, Rempis on multiple saxophones including the soprano sax that the late Mars Williams gifted to him.
Dunston, Nick
Colla Voce
(Out Of Your Head Records)
A wild "Afro-Surrealist Anti-Opera" from composer & bassist Nick Dunston, performed with an ensemble of string players (including JACK Quartet) and vocalists, in a gripping hybrid of acoustic and electronic music, using the studio for post-processing to create Dunston's self-described "warped narrative", an understatement for this incredibly passionate, surreal and absolutely impressive work.
Braxton, Anthony
Solo Bern 1984 First Visit
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
Thirteen years after his breakthrough solo saxophone album For Alto, Anthony Braxton is heard in an inventive solo concert on the same instrument, performing at the Altes Schlachthaus Theatre in Bern, Switzerland for a set of original numbered compositions, the standards "Alone Together" and "I Remember You", and two Coltrane pieces: "Giant Steps" and "Naima".
Duthoit, Isabelle / Franz Hautzinger
Dans le Morvan
(Relative Pitch)
French free vocalist Isabelle Duthoit and world traveling improviser and Zeitkratzer trumpeter Franz Hautzinger continue their collaborations at GMEA Centre National de Creation Musicale, in Albi, France to record these 11 unusual duos, using outrageous technique and inexplicable intent to create aberrant accompaniments to your most subtle and frightening dreams.
Kahn, Jason / Ulrich Krieger
Eternal City
(Editions)
Eccentric and engrossing electroacoustic improvisation between Jason Kahn on electronics and Ulrich Krieger using his "acoustic electronic" reed setup, performing on tenor saxophone, contrabass clarinet, and the 15th century double reed crumhorn, processed through his amplification system to create exotic textures and expressions; a truly unique set of dialogs.
Wind Tide (Andrew Weathers / Gretchen Korsmo)
Blue Breaking Brown [CASSETTE + DOWNLOAD]
(Notice Recordings)
One "Small Dog" and one Big from the Texas experimental duo of Andrew Weathers on synth, lap steel, recorder & electronics, and Gretchen Korsmo on voice, keys & percussion, both members of the Full Spectrum Records collective, their confident collaboration morphing drones, sonic deformation, resonance, voice, bells and mysterious sources in two well-paced & passionate sonic journeys.
Silbert, Stella / Nat Baldwin
01.30.22 [CASSETTE w/ DOWNLOAD]
(Notice Recordings)
Cantankerously informed and paced like a perfect tumble, the duo improvisations of Massachusetts collaborator Stella Silber on turntables and Nat Baldwin on upright bass augment their work through turntable preparations and static, Baldwin performing all over his instrument, as the duo surprise and maintain interest through accessible abrasiveness.
Kiyasu, Ryosuke
Dig Up Roots [CASSETTE w/ DOWNLOAD]
(Notice Recordings)
Active as a drum soloist since 2003, Ryosuke Kiyasu (Fushitsusha, SETE STAR SEPT, Kiyasu Orchestra) performs solo in a live performance split between two extended improvisations, captured at Tokyo Arts and Space in 2022, using a snare drum and a table in a forceful demonstration of rhythm and punctuation that is affected by the ambiance of the space.
Wilson, Kelsey
A Workmanlike Approach [CASSETTE w/ DOWNLOAD]
(Marthasville Fine Audio Recordings)
Two distinctive works of sounds and noise from Atlanta sound artist and drummer Kelsey Wilson composing extended works using field recordings collected between 2020-2022, volume/feedback and synthesizers; first a howling and heavy journey in "Bootstrap Story"; then a rich and ringing birthday party for Nick Cave that ends with haunting bells and running water.
Oxley, Tony / Stefan Holker
The New World
(Discus)
A meeting between two percussive collaborators from legendary UK improviser Tony Oxley and long-time collaborator and member of Oxley's Celebration Orchestra, Stefan Holker, the latter on acoustic percussion while Oxley performs in his inimitable style of close miking and effecting percussive objects, as the pair perform six Oxley compositions of tightly ringing, energetic activity.
Gate, The
Scum [CASSETTE w/ DOWNLOAD]
(Tubapede)
A heavy and wild ride in the 9th album from New York's The Gate of composer and tuba player Dan Peck, bass player Tom Blancarte and percussionist Brian Osborne, concise pieces of heavy melodic elements, dark riffs and an ominous attitude, intersecting with plundered asides and anxious pauses, a strong addition to their discography and an engrossing collection of deep disturbance.



The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

© 2002-, Squidco LLC