Progress and apologies

Once again - sorry for not contributing. Spending more than the day light hours working and sleeping in the nighttime, the blog is simply the part of my life that I have least time for. Preparations for the Körkarlen concert are moving forward. I feel a constant pain in my chest puzzling my life together. Thinking about how much we have left of the concert unrehearsed I sometimes feel partly catatonic. Rehearsals last night were a great success, and the band actually behaves as a band, as one unit. I am very satisfied with the ideas and the way they turn out, with the roles of all of the musicians. We have watched the film several times and now Jonas is working on a proper story board. We are working on giving each main character his or her own theme. There is no obvious main theme, although the themes of characters Edith, David Holm and Körkarlen himself are the ones most diligently used. If I was to describe our interpretation of the film, I would say that bass and drums at times are clearly inspired by Angelo Badalamenti, almost ridiculously so. There is also a portion of post rock in some of the songs, mainly my guitar. Some songs are centered around a repetitious beat on the floor tom and some are foremost dominated by ambient samples or a suggestive synth drone.

Sounds good? If you miss the concert, either because you've fled Lund or because you think 250 kronors is to high a price for this type of venue, don't be too upset! Attempts at recording the concert will be made. The recordings may be synced with the movie and in some way published. Anyway, the recording may be put on tape or CD-R, or accessible via this blog. The plans are blurry, since our main priority is to be able to play the concert at all.

Right now, I am turning my tape into mp3 files, so that those of you who bought my tape and don't own a tape player will be able to listen to the songs on that tape. If you are interested in the tunes, go to my myspace or email me at sistalivet@hotmail.com.

That's probably all for now. Thank you Aron for beautiful poems and other contributions of of importance. And thank you Theo for keeping us up to date with the progress of the Munka School. And thank you Jonas for informing us about new tracks on myspace and other useful stuff. And thank you readers all over the globe. It would be fun if every person who's read this post wrote a short comment. I don't know if I speak for all of the contributors to Swedish Technology, but I am at least interested in knowing how big our sphere may be. I will never pretend to be a cool blog post guy, all I will do is pretend to be me. So expect all posts signed Frans to be hopscotch and with millions of branches in all directions. You see, they are totally non elaborate and stream from my brain the moment I write. I have not been writing shit for quite a while. But I suppose you've already figured that one out. I am going to write. That is a promise.

Frans

Some new-ish sounds

I just found two record reviews that I forgot to publish. They're a few months old, but maybe you'll enjoy it anyway.

Maryanne Amacher - Sound Characters 2 (2008)

Maryanne Amacher (1943) studied under the late Mr. Stockhausen, and rose to fame in 1967, when she created City Links: Buffalo, which was a 28 hour long piece using 5 microphones placed in different parts of the city, broadcast live by a radio station. Most of her pieces are site specific, though in 1999 she released Sound Characters (Making the Third Ear) on the Tzadik label. This is her follow-up to that album. Her droning minimalism is rather quiet in Teo! Part 1 - 2, though at times collapsing into the anguished shrieks of a post-apocalyptic sci-fi monster in Teo! Part 3. The albums real tour de force, however, is the 25-minute Teo! Part 4 (A) & (B), an intergalatic symphony of pulsating drones, bringing to mind Klaus Schulze's masterpiece Irrlicht. I certainly look forward to listening to some more of Maryanne Amacher's music.

Francisco Lopéz - Untitled (2006 - 2007) (2008)

If nothing else, Spanish sound artist Francisco Lopéz can at least boast a ridiculously large discography. His latest release, Untitled (2006 - 2007), is an over-indulgent double-CD, collecting pieces of noise and, well, silence from the last couple of years. While it does contain a few interesting sounds, the huge amount of filler material makes for a rather boring experience. What, one might ask, is the point of tracks such as the barely audible Untitled #194? All in all, his latest release adds little or nothing to a discography that is already too verbose. The art of Mr. Lopéz stands as a monument to the ever-cheapening cost of making CD's.

/Aron

New poem.

As I wrote in my comment to Frans's latest post, we should all try to make October the busiest month so far for Swedish Technology. Here is my contribution. This poem recycles a few lines I've already used in another poem, but they probably fit better here. Besides, the rest of that poem wasn't any good. However, this one is, even though I could probably do some more tweaking. I really like the sober natural mysticism, though. Here it goes:

Sussex Downs 14/10 -08
En ny plats kräver ett nytt språk.
Varken gräset, tistlarna eller trädet
Låter sig luras av de namn jag ger dem -
De vet att jag aldrig sett dem förut.

Ett ensamt moln pryder en blank himmel,
Guds öga försiktigt betraktande.
Avlägsna röster vittnar om liv
Som om solen inte var bevis nog
För en värld där någonting saknas.

Alla mysterier är avlägsna -
Solen är inte bara en källa
Till ljus och värme, men också till klarhet.
Vilken fråga skulle ni vilja ställa?
Svaret finns bakom någon av dessa kullar.
Fråga ett grässtrå om varats natur
Och det fladdrar för vinden till svar.

Ett flygplan skär genom himlen
Som Fontana genom duken
Och ett nytt ljus sipprar igenom.
En överhimmelsk våglängd.



That's it for now.

/Aron
(Yes, writing the introductory text to a Swedish poem in English is, admittedly, quite silly.)

Autumn Report

Hi Everybody! I (Frans)'m sorry I haven't checked in to Swedish Technology in a while, I really haven't. I have not been busy. Not in terms of creation. Or yes. I suppose you could say I have been busy.

First of all (and least interesting): I've started working on two different places the last three weeks, the jolly ol' GFK and the even jollier ol' Maceedees. My time and head has been busy scheduling my "days". I guess a reasonable answer to this could be: "why don't you use your nights for creating things?" Well, folks, I regret to admit it, but I tend to need a lot of sleep for functioning.

Second: Our concert at Skissernas Museum a month ago went close to terrific. It was (as always) a super hectic time. The 20th September being my mothers birthday didn't simplify things. The concert was disturbed by a feedback. Blame goes out to the Skissernas staff. And I got most of my cassettes left. So come get some. Or I'll send them to the U.S.

Third: I spent a lovely weekend in my summer house in Karlskrona. Getting lost in the forest I got so inspired. I've always considered the autumn the most attractive time of the year. Now I was simply stunned by the colours, the dew, the mushrooms. And I found a deserted house. It feels like a theme I will return to throughout my life. I get all these images from Stalker and I want to film or take pictures of the nature and publish. I am really drawn to the colours and technique of 1970's film and picture photographers. One way or another, I hope to make something of the best shots. I also said to myself that now's the time to make songs that sound like autumn.

Fourth: Thank you Aron for a great farewell party! It really feels empty now you're gone. And with Theo up in Munka, this blog has got bigger reason to exist than ever. I'm really sorry I haven't visited the blog for a while. How are things in th U.K.? I lost your new phone number. We should really keep in touch more, all of us. So you think we might have reached a few British readers? That's excellent! Your last poem was, as always, a voyage.

Fifth: I've picked up reading! it's a great thing! The last weeks I've processed Vians' L'Écume des Jours, unfortunately not in its origninal language, although I keep wrestling the French language every week. I recommend the book was written in a surreal, ecstatic manner. Something for lovers of escapism. L'Écume... really made me realize I must grasp my pen. Song lyrics, poetry, longer texts, anything, now...! I've started on Thomas' Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog and Hesses' Die Steppenwolf. But I'm hard to convince, and right now these two has literary been put on the shelf. Instead I intend to survive through Jan Myrdals Resa genom Afghanistan. It seems interesting, and I want to nourish the left wing seeds in the soil that is my mind. I also intend to make a trip to Central Asia next autumn. If I've collected enough time and money. Who's up for a month long train voyage through the Quaraqum, the Hindukuh Massive and Mongolia? I'm looking for a crew.

Sixth: Been preparing the Körkarlen (The Phantom Chariot) concert together with Jonas, William and Nils Wållgren the last weeks as well. Getting a bit to close now, the venue is November 8th... so we have loads (!) to do before we can suck the audience into the universe on David Holm. Spread the word: 13.00 at Kino cinema! That goes for you folks in U.K. as well! Posters and flyers will be printed within the next days! So keep your eyes up.

Seventh: I've become big brother once again. My fathers' girlfriend Johanna has given birth to Disa!

Hope this brief explanation can make you forgive me for sucking at checking in regularly! October brown regards! //Frans

New track!

After a lot of silence from my part I finally finished a track. Well at least I gave up working with it for a while. It's a dubstep inspired track with a string sample from one of Shoenbergs string quartets. The idea to begin with was to make a three track EP with modernist samples but the two other tracks have been scraped. I might get back to the idea since I like it a lot, it being a very post-modern (the sampling) visit to modernism. Well any way you can listen to it on myspace. This is probably not the final version since i already started makin a few changes that i may or may not keep so i might update the track in the future, but for the time being this version will do.


Jonas Edenbrandt

När vi blir själar

På akutmottagningen kl 05 - en tid och plats isolerad från övriga världen, en maska i den kosmiska väven, ett gömställe för de som med nöd och näppe kommit undan utan att riktigt veta vad de undkommit - infinner sig oväntat en tranströmersk fromhet, en plötslig och överväldigande respekt för människolivet, ett extatiskt men lågmält jakande som genom sakta dropp fyller oss med längtan, en EKG-våg som trevande, ja sökande hoppar upp och ned, utan att riktigt finna sin väg. Några sjukhussängar bort hörs gråtblandade spyor tillhörande en ung kvinna som försökt ta livet av sig men just insett, då hon i det turkosa draperiet till sist kunde möta sin egen spegelbild, att blotta stanken är anledning nog att leva. Ett par koppar kaffe senare - det slutgiltiga beviset för att tiden övergivit oss, om så bara för en natt - är staden i rörelse; solen skiner som om den aldrig gjort något annat, vågorna slår in mot stranden, men bestämmer sig till sist för att det är i havet de hör hemma. Människorna däremot är likgiltiga inför det mirakel som just ägt rum; på väg till sina jobb, skolor eller älskarinnor får de aldrig någonsin reda på att just den där natten, på just det där sjukhuset, var en orkeslös gammal mans rosslande och oregelbundna andning ett tystlåtet men distinkt Aum, en storslagen sång till världsalltets ära.

/Aron

PS: Jag tackar min goda vän Ludwig Schmitz för den ypperliga titeln.

PPS: Now that we might indeed have some non-Swedish readers, I sincerely apologize for not making this available in English, since it's a pretty good poem.

Representing Munka Ljungby

Here are pictures of the pages in one of the 12 booklets that my classmate Jenny has made. She based the drawings on fragments of a poetry- collection. This is one of my favourites. In case you can't make out the text on the last page it reads: "Bittermandel och skriande ångest".

This is a painting Jenny painted, mostly using acrylics, I think. It's a patial self- portrait and it's pretty big. I really like it, it's a shame my photo came out so crappy.

And here's a drawing of Jenny's. I dig her style.

Another of my classmates, Kristin, made this goodlooking and professional photoseries. The model is gradually undressing by cutting her clothing to pieces with a pair of scissors. She presented the photos in a kind of manual slideshow apparatus made out of wood.

In front of this photo- box she showed the cut- up clothing. Great stuff.

As a sculpture assignment, the same one that resulted in the bicycle- record player, Kristin "repaired" a pair of high- heeled shoes. I'm a big fan of these. They're filled up with plaster in order to be able to bend their shape.

I know I'm updating like crazy, but a lot of shit's been cracking here lately. Hope you enjoy it.

/mvhtheo

Reporting from Munka Ljungby pt 3.

During the past six weeks my class has been working around the theme of "förlust", loss.
I've mostly been working with loss integrated in the creative process, or a means of creation if you will.

My first idea was to make drawings, counting the lines used and then gradually diminishing the number. It sounds kind of neurotic and boring I bet, but it was actually quite alot of fun. Here are two such studies out of three I've done.

My second idea was to apply a similar method to language. In my case this ment translating text seven times using Babelfish. The text I chose to insert was 14 of the United Nations' Human Rights Articles:

This text was then used as an audio, read out loud by a voice-synthesizer, for an animation my classmate Jenny did. We decided to present our work together, as an installation of sorts. We had also built a recordplayer out of a broken bicycle together, loosley connecting it to the theme of loss. Jenny also made a clock out of an actual record player and a clock out of booklets. We used my drawings as a wallpaper and presented the animation on a TV.

It's been a lot of fun piecing this together, aswell as just cooperating based on similar ideas instead of assignment by a teacher. The first time we actually played music on the bicycle was fantastic, we were fascinated like small children. All the machinery and machine-like drawing has me fiending for painting and generally doing things a bit more freely though. Also, this is pretty far from what I saw myself doing when I started at this school. To some extent I think it's because I all of a sudden have the time and resources to actually do all the weird ideas I get, which is great.

/Theo

Reporting from Munka- Ljungby pt. 2

I'm not on top right now, I've got to say. I haven't been eating properly the last couple of days or something, a bit hungover, plus I was confronted with the crude, violent population of Munka Ljungby yesterday.
I was threatened to "get my skull split open" by a group of, totally unprovoked I might add, drunk inbred bastards with whom me and Kristin shared a taxi. Maybe they wouldn't have actually split my skull if they had been given the chance, but I bet they would have liked to beat me up. Not used to that shit and needless to say I got really scared.
I've stumbled drunk through Copenhagen late at night without the least bit of trouble, and I've been to most of Europe's major cities. But I guess Munka's where the action is. I'm not going to get any more worked up, but like I said, fucking inbred bastards.

So, the short painting course I took a couple of weeks back is done, and now we're working with sculpture. A lot of fun, and hard too, just to think in three dimensions. I'll be back with documentation on the results once there are any.



This is the portrait of Nicola I was working on a couple of weeks back. I'm pretty satisfied with how it came out. The skintones aren't exactly what I wanted them to be, but I do like how the jacket came out.

Here are quite a few nude studies I've done in the past two weeks. They range from one minute to 45 minutes.





45 minutes on that last one, I really like how it came out. Great lighting and great model. Slightly weird to study a naked man for such a length of time though, to be honest.



While me and Aron where out travelling I discovered the fun of colour pencils. What's so fun is the weird, ready-made palette of colours that you get handed to you, with little or no mixing possibilities. Two samples:


The one to the left is a drawing of a couple of my classmates and the one to the right is portrait of mr. Aesop Rock. It's an Idea I've had for quite som time now, to make large portraits of my favourite rappers using colour pencils.
Long-ass post tonight, but we keep busy in Munka, both when it comes to art and death- threats. Man.

/Theo