Jepson Prairie, by Tom Bickley

Jepson Prairie

by Tom Bickley

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jonathansegel Beautiful pieces made out of all the sorts of sounds I like placed in environments that warrant in depth listening. Really nice!

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Contains booklet with photos and extensive liner notes by Joseph Zitt

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1.	Ah-ah 06:08	buy track
2.	Grant Street 12:06	buy track
3.	京都駅から(From Kyoto Station) 09:13	buy track
4.	Jepson Prairie 14:00	buy track
5.	Middle Armand Bayou 09:15	buy track
6.	Solstice 14:00	buy track

about

Other Minds is proud to present Jepson Prairie, a new album of recent work by Bay Area composer Tom Bickley. Jepson Prairiecontinues Other Minds’s tradition of presenting work by under-recorded yet notable composers. Bickley has long been a presence in American New Music as evidenced by his long-standing Deep Listening work and affiliation with the Cornelius Cardew Choir, among others. Despite his many years of composing and performing, Jepson Prairie is Bickley’s debut commercial release as a solo composer.

Many of the pieces that comprise Jepson Prairie use field recordings as their foundation—deep listening is essential to finding a way into the interior of this music. Soundscapes from sources as varied as restored wetlands outside of Bickley’s hometown of Houston, Texas, a train station in Kyoto, Japan, and construction sounds from the composer’s current home of Berkeley, California make appearances over the course of the disc. Bickley arranges delicate instrumental accompaniment to his (sometimes) processed field recordings, drawing out details from the natural soundscape that could easily go overlooked if not for the composer’s subtle interventions.

As a composer, Bickley seeks to “listen to the world, always hoping to hear more and more fully,” a pursuit made evident by Jepson Prairie. Bickley uses expanded time frames and slowly morphing gestures to draw the listener’s ears into minute tones and timbres. The composer’s interest in plainchant, gagaku, and shōmyo (a style of Japanese Buddhist chant) reveals itself in the work’s bare formal structures and near-static harmonic movement.

credits

released October 6, 2023

Field recordings by Tom Bickley, made on location in Teshima, Okayama, Kyoto, Kamakura, and Tokyo, Japan; Berkeley, California; Jepson Prairie Preserve in Dixon, California; and the Armand Bayou Nature Center in Pasadena, Texas.

Ah-ah, Grant Street, Jepson Prairie, Middle Armand Bayou, and Solstice created using Ableton Live 11. 京都駅から created in Max 8.

Executive Producer, Charles Amirkhanian
Producer and Mastering Engineer, Andrew Weathers
Cover Artwork, A Piece of the World by Terrell James
Layout and Packaging Design, Mark Abramson

OM 1038-2

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Other Minds Records San Francisco, California

Other Minds is a global New Music community where composers, students, and listeners discover and learn about innovative music by composers from all over the world.

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