Audio Works, by Uri Katzenstein

Audio Works

by Uri Katzenstein

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1.	Love Song 03:34	info
2.	Young Bastards 02:57	info
3.	Stop It 02:06	info
4.	Blind Man 04:17	info
5.	Skin O. Daayba - Complex Habits No.3 02:50	info
6.	We Are Waiting 05:17	info
7.	Mantra 03:19	info
8.	Skin O. Daayba - Feedbackless World 06:07	info
9.	Cupping Glass 01:42	info
10.	Half Monk Half Herring 02:35	info
11.	UKOIDM - Fishing (edit) 00:58	info
12.	Eric 01:15	info
13.	In The Garden 02:54	info
14.	Sequencer 00:53	info
15.	Who Are We 01:53	info
16.	Hit 02:34	info
17.	Yozti 2 03:55	info
18.	Voices Cricket 02:58	info
19.	Attempt to Raise Hell 04:01	info
20.	Anna's Assignment 04:22	info
21.	In Our Culture (Surname Version) 02:21	info
22.	Lesson 4 Voices 02:39	info
23.	Intermission 03:02	info
24.	Chicken 02:12	info
25.	Untitled 00:37	info
26.	Against Soap 03:17	info
27.	Bereshit 01:24	info
28.	Caretakers 04:27	info

about

Black Truffle is pleased to announce Uri Katzenstein’s Audio Works, produced in collaboration with Holon’s Centre for Digital Art. Spanning sculptural installation, performance, video art, and many other media, Katzenstein’s absurdist, poetic, and often hilarious work made extensive use of sound and music. This, however, is the first release dedicated to the artist’s audio work, collecting 28 tracks produced between the early 1980s and 2017. Compiled from dozens of hours of recordings left uncatalogued (and in some instances unheard) at the artist’s death in 2018, these four sides are a treasure trove, offering a captivating glimpse into a uniquely uninhibited creative practice.

Predominantly recorded alone, with some contributions from regular collaborators such as Ohad Fishof on the later pieces, many of these tracks stem from Katzenstein’s time living in New York in the 1980s. Feeding on the cross-pollination of post-punk energy, radical art practice, and new media possibilities that characterised the New York scene at this time, many of Katzenstein’s recordings squeeze multilayered vocal experimentation into synth-based miniatures with a distinctively pop twist, their forms ruptured with anarchic bursts of free-form electronics, sounds from self-built instruments, and field-recorded snatches of the outside world.

Katzenstein’s electronic production calls up touchstones of skewed 80s art pop like Laurie Anderson, Ambitious Lovers, and Scritti Politti, but imbued with DIY directness and economy of means. The arrangements of synths, percussion, and noise elements are invigoratingly raw and, at times, almost austerely minimal. On ‘Intermission’, thick distorted chords accompany a wandering portamento melody, inhabiting the wayward carnival space of Roedelius’ most unhinged efforts. Many of the tracks centre on Katzenstein’s multi-tracked vocal performances, often moving between multiple languages, (most commonly English, German, French, and Hebrew). A bewildering range of vocal approaches are present on these pieces, from sweet wordless harmonies to hammed-up growls and monastic recitations. On ‘Skin O. Daayba – Complex Habits no. 3’, improvised resonance singing against a backdrop of echoing electronics and radio snatches. ‘Half Monk Half Herring’ layers multi-lingual syllabic fragments, crossing sound poetry techniques with melodic invention in a way rarely heard outside of Caetano Veloso’s Araçá Azul. On ‘Attempt to Raise Hell’, Katzenstein’s distorted voice spits out streams of alliterative nonsense (‘the hemlock of Henry, he was a hermit…purple pumpkin pulsates to pops’), while on the hilarious ‘Eric’, Katzenstein appears to instruct a small boy simultaneously in basic French and German conversation. On ‘Chicken’, vocal harmonies accompany the pecking and clucking of the titular fowl.

Moving from bent, outsider synth pop to snatches of Jo Jones-esque automated instrumental clang and absurdist linguistic experiments, these are far more than footnotes to an artist’s gallery works. Accompanied by extensive, beautifully written liner notes by Roee Rosen and the little information that exists on the individual tracks, Katzenstein’s Audio Works inhabits an outer fringe of DIY pop and sonic experiment reminiscent of Pascal Comelade or Die Welttraumforscher, where accessible forms convey radical interrogations of song, word, and sound.

Deluxe 2LP set presented in a gatefold sleeve with extensive liner notes and an insert with track info.

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released November 11, 2022

2022, Black Truffle

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The black truffle has a place in gastronomy alongside saffron, caviar, foie gras and the finest of wines. Widely considered as the jewel of French cooking it is prized for its unique flavour and intoxicating aroma. The resident chef at Black Truffle Records has found that the best method for finding the "diamond of the kitchen" requires the use of a divining stick and facing into the sun. ... more

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