distant by bindlestiff

here is a reproduction of the original 1998 CD liner notes:

after the recording of "quiet" and "LOUD" in the summer of 1995, the members of bindlestiff became geographically separated. this circumstance sparked the "music at a distance" series.

the logistics of recording as a live looping duo are certainly challenged by distance, yet the group met the challenge by maintaining the live approach. these are live performances / loops, combined, and are as immediate as the realities of music at a distance will allow. their peaceful ambience hints at a musical maturity perhaps not present in the band's earliest works.

this music can be listened to attentively, or as an ambient background for a whole range of day to day activities. sleeping, cleaning, working...even dreaming.

the phonographic copyright in these performances / compositions is operated by pureambient records on behalf of the artist, with whom it resides. pureambient,com accepts no reason for artists to give away such copyright interests in their work by virtue of a "common practice" which is out of tune with the times, was always questionable, and is now indefensible. copyright 1998 (the world) bryan helm / dave stafford.

2013 notes:

"distant" takes the long-form ambient piece about as far as it could go in the age before ultra-long-form formats. three considered pieces, assembled with love and care - a strange experience for me, taking live loops that arrived in the mail from bryan, and matching them to live loops that I had recorded alone in the studio - and creating "distant" in this manner was a remarkable experience indeed.

I feel that "distant" brings complete closure to the two "paired" albums of 1995, if you add these three long, beautiful ambient works to the 22 songs from "quiet" and "LOUD" you have the essence of bindlestiff at their most accomplished, from the final years of their 1990's career.

in the same way, the "early" and "live" albums, represent the formative years of the band, the trio of "quiet", "LOUD" and "distant" represent the final period of intense creativity, and "distant" is an essential part of the legacy of bindlestiff.

this was our farewell to working as a live performance and recording unit.


dave stafford, pureambient HQ, november 2013