Sand by Philip Jeck

" ... the Day
I first surmised the Horses' Heads
Were toward Eternity"
(from 'The Chariot' by Emily Dickinson)

Sand was recorded live in Holland and England in 2006/7 and edited in Liverpool January, 2008 using Fidelity record-players, Casio SK keyboards, Behringer mixer and sony mini-disc recorders.

Following Philip Jeck's acclaimed collaboration with Gavin Bryars and Alter Ego on a new version of 'The Sinking of the Titanic' (Touch Tone 34), 'Sand' is a set of seven new compositions that highlight Jeck's mastery of vinyl manipulation, personal and collective memories.

During the past year Jeck has refined and consolidated his unique sound, playing superb sets at last summer's Faster than Sound festival and at York Minster for Spire. He has recently released 'Amoroso' [Touch # TS01, 7" vinyl only with Fennesz] where he responds to Charles Matthews's homage to Arvo Pärt.

'Sand' is at once elegiac, celebrational, mournful and uplifting. Those who have followed Jeck's development since his first release, "Loopholes" (Touch TO:26) will observe his return to the industrial textures that coloured that collection, though here they are fused with his symphonic grace and continued development as a composer and live performer .

Philip Jeck (1952-2022) worked with old records and record players salvaged from junk shops turning them to his own purposes. He really did play them as musical instruments, creating an intensely personal language that evolves with each added part of a record. Philip Jeck makes geniunely moving and transfixing music, where we hear the art not the gimmick.

philipjeck.com