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Stil. is the much anticipated follow-up to Taylor Deupree’s critically acclaimed 2001 cd Occur (12k1013). Where Occur found itself exploring the non-repeating patterns of nature, inspired by the sounds of life outside of Deupree’s Brooklyn studio, Stil. was initially inspired by the work of photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto, whose Seascapes images masterfully combine repetition and minute change. Stil. thus became the sonic opposite of Occur: a set of compositions based on extreme repetition and the exploration of stillness.

Arranged in four long pieces, Stil.. is based on the complex repetition of looping passages. The underlying idea is that a pattern repeated for long enough begins to reveal hidden pulses and movements not initially apparent. Elements and frequencies overlap to create subtle new intersections, drawing the listener in, and suspending them in this brief moment of frozen time.

The sound of Stil. is built using melodic and granular passages juxtaposed in variable-length loops, creating layered and imbedded rhythms and highly variable structures of repetition. For example, the title track is based entirely on oscillating variations in a single 0.33 second tonal fragment. Subtle manipulations of the sound’s loop positions create an extraordinary palette of movement and fluctuation, rewarded by deep listening.

Stil. is an engaging and hypnotic listen, drawing on Deupree’s past experience in ambient music. The pieces on Stil., while considered “long” by the usual standards of CD track times, are only fragments of what are intended to be longer works that extend for many hours. This release has inspired a new direction for Deupree’s future work: exploring the freezing of time and the possibilities of stillness within the temporal medium of sound

“Steve Roden used the word “lowercase” in a 1998 interview to describe his own sound esthetic. The term sparked something and sound artists from all over the world gathered in the lowercase-sound discussion group, widening the possible definition of what has become known as a style, for better or worse. Lowercase is a form of composition that focuses on attentive listening and microscopic sounds. This two-CD compilation describes better than words the scope and interest of the field. Beautifully and originally designed, the box contains previously unreleased contributions by a representative cross section of artists. Disc one focuses on pieces derived from field recordings or recordings of acoustic instruments. Gal’s “Zhu Shui” (an assemblage of bowling up and cooling down tea kettles) and John Hudak’s “Radio Past” (a wax cylinder recording severely altered by the passage of time) stand out, with contributions by Dale Lloyd and Jason Lescalleet also offering memorable moments. Radu Malfatti’s “Selbander” is an excruciatingly minimal piece for three trombones made of short episodes of droning activity separated by lengthy silences. Disc two culls tracks of a more purely electronic nature and here we find many top names in the field of experimental electronica and installation art: Francisco Lopez, Stephan Mathieu,Carl Stone, Tetsu Inoue, Taylor Deupree, Kim Cascone — even Toshimaru Nakamura is represented with one of his pieces on no-input mixing board. Stone’s gentle ambient workout “Tefu” and Ronnie Sundin’s (aka Rsundin) “_siesmol” provide the highlights of this second platter. The latter piece contains a sudden loud sound that ranks as the set’s only heart-attack-inducing moment — you’ll remember it. In short,lowercase-sound 2002 is an open-minded, inclusive collection rating high as being representative of both the artists involved in this style and the kind of design that usually accompanies their music. Highly recommended.”

– AllMusic.com

Balance is the first collaborative release from Frank Bretschneider (Berlin) and Taylor Deupree (Brooklyn). Both of these artists are no strangers to the ears of many; Taylor Deupree is one of New York’s most vibrant electronic producers. From his early techno days as a member of Prototype 909to his current status as one of N. America’s key “microscopic” electronic composers and to add runs the prestigious 12K and LINE labels. Frank Bretschneider is key member and founder of the prestigious Raster Music label (a collective that includes the talented Carston Nicolai and released the 20 – 2000 series), he has critically acclaimed releases under the names Komet and Produkt. It’s easy to say that Frank Bretschneider has created some of the most influential spatial electronics of the late 90’s.

Utilizing both artists keen ears for carefully crafted sounds, Balance blends the clean sine wave / white noise of Bretschneider with the defined grit of Deupree’s granular synthesis. Realized entirely on Nord Modular synthesizers, Bretschneider and Deupree exchanged patch files through email and began constructing foundation loops. Bretschneider then created initial mixes of 9 songs and then sent them to Deupree who remixed and re-processed them. This digital exchange allowed for them to work using their own methods and aesthetic while combining the similarities of each others interests. The result is a looping and churning rhythmic work that is both synthetic, warm, dubby and tonally challenging. Thus Balance creates an engaging balance between the 2 artists aesthetics.

After is the product of the meeting of Kim Cascone, Richard Chartier, and Taylor Deupree at Montreal’s Micro_Mutek 2 on April 6th, 2001. Scheduled to perform solo sets they decided to do an unexpected improvisational live laptop set at the end of the evening which ended up being one of the highlights of the evening.

Each artist utilized his own software and contributed his own sound to the 20+ minute performance. Cascone’s custom Max/MSP patch sputtered and spewed random chunks of soundfiles while he processed the output in real time through various effects. Chartier ended up being the unlikely designated rhythm unit for the night; supplying pulses, basses and precision-craftted clicks. Deupree washed over the whole mix with gentle drones and blankets of sine wave layers. The result was a surprisingly diverse, layered, and engaging recording.

With a desire to release and catalog the evening’s production, Cascone, Chartier, and Deupree decided that to extend the time of the project to make a full length cd that each of them would create a new work using the original live set as source material for their piece. Cascone ushered in a new era of dense DSP with the “New World Rising (New Density Mix),” a reworking of key elements from the end of the performance treated with his ever-evolving Max creations. Chartier chose the more subtle elements of the night and created “Afterimage.” Deep, filtered tones create warm washes of bass that are punctuated by fragments of the original soundfiles that he used during the live set, more audible than his more recent compositions. Deupree’s “4+2_Stil Live” reconstruction uses a mix of 4 loops layered by an additional 2 passages which he then works into new loops using custom programmed software algorithms. These new loops are then structured to form a highly repetitive and evolving piece of churning, hypnotic tones . . . a preview and exercise into methods for his upcoming cd Stil.

Taking cues and production practices culled from his collaboration with Tetsu Inoue on the CD Active/Freeze (12k1009) and his recent compilation appearances on Ritornell and Intransitive Recordings, among others, Occur is a work of non-repetition and subdued melodic passages composed almost entirely by granular synthesis algorithms.

Initially inspired by the often quiet urban sounds outside of his studio in Brooklyn, New York, the concept behind Occur grew to become pieces about all things brief – glimpses, events that come and then are gone. These are singular occurances in time, like the passing of a car or the blinking off of a street light at night. The brittle and sporadic granular tones crunch and crumble about the stereo field creating an implied urban soundscape.

This is the first solo cd on 12k from Taylor Deupree since the minimal rhythmics of 1998’s Comma, (12k1003). Part one of a two part series, Occur is to be followed up within a year by its polar opposite entitled Stil., a work of intense repetition, a movment towards implied stillness. Deupree is also in the progress of creating photographic diptychs of Occur and Stil. for a project to be completed in 2002.