Fashionmasters
Splits Vol. 2

There’s a certain comfort in the music contained in this latest Pandafuzz release. But don’t let it surprise you when you’re greeted by the din contained within. The comfort of Splits 2 is more akin to the comfort one finds while in the confines of say, a commuter train, or passenger plane. The real or imagined polyrhythms, the full frequency noise, the rail screech…its a contradictory experience.

But why is this comforting? Why do we allow ourselves to be lulled by the vehicle? Is it because we know that behind its undiscriminating demeanor, there’s a human just like us manning the controls?

The beauty behind splits is just that. The conductors of this steel giant, Timothy and Bryant and their cadre of deck hands collectively known as Fashionmasters, used this vehicle to bridge the distances that separated them during their post-graduate lives. And its a fascinating ride, one of contradictions and discovery.

From the artist:
Fashionmasters is a media art group that uses the internet to aid our collaboration. We exchange and manipulate sound files, If we like the results we release them. Splits is our fourth release. It is the first release to feature video.
Artwork by Luis Domingo
Video by Laura Simpson

Audio
Download audio file (pf032-1.mp3)
Download audio file (pf032-2.mp3)
Download audio file (pf032-3.mp3)
Download audio file (pf032-4.mp3)
Download audio file (pf032-5.mp3)
Download audio file (pf032-6.mp3)

1. FM401
2. FM402
3. FM403
4. FM404
5. FM405
6. FM406

Video can be accessed at the ARCHIVE here.

Download at ARCHIVE

It feels damn good when something comes over email and then manifests itself into the physical realm. Pushing another person to dig deeper, look further, and work harder is…well it is hard. In the case of Bryant Davis this was easy and the output….inspiring. Bryant works in a variety of mediums and has some stellar projects posted on his website. Here Bryant takes a simplified route cutting out the computer age and going right to the black obelisk of the 80s childhood…the television. He modified the television to accept incoming audio signals, working in his classic slightly harsh but awakening style for the audio source. Mr. Davis lets it burn slow in good fashion here…..please enjoy the limited fidelity of these experiments….find your bearings inside the tube….they call on you to push yourself further too!

Download these videos at ARCHIVE.ORG

About Bryant Davis and this project….

I work with both experimental video and audio. I have also been working on visualizing sound. For this project I modified a cathode ray tube television so that incoming audio signals are rendered to the screen by the electron beam as an image.

See more of Bryant Davis’ work here….http://www.tinyurl.com/davisdt