I seem to be playing second fiddle to our resident #guru yet again. I may need to tell the authorities where he is. But, personal issues aside, this one is quite exceptional. Mr de Souza contacted our offices after the release of the first t. r. hand project ‘Folk Meditation’, and was kind enough to produce a review on the Merchants of Air site. He later reached for a chat and ended up embroiled in the new collaboration. It’s testament to his strength of will that a conclusion was reached without litigation. Kudos also to Mr/Rev/Capt SubBro for navigating the release.

Mr Hand, pictured below forwarded the following incoherent rambling.

“The process of listening is meditative. Letting the surface noise, the chatter float above you, listening for the under current, going deeper to the core resonance, like a singing bowl in the background slowly revealing itself.
I have taken to carrying a recording device in regularly visited places. Not trying to record specifics, just trapping ambience, then playing in back away from its physical context, breaking it apart (granular synthesis) pulling certain frequencies up, pushing others down, layering it, stretching it. Findings it’s common tread, its unified field, its archetypal nature.

For me, the project is a yin to the yang off misophonia, something I find myself subject to, in particular when the human voice is included. From the Wiki, misophonia is literally a “hatred of sound”. It was proposed in 2000 as a condition in which negative emotions, thoughts, and physical reactions are triggered by specific sounds.
Misophonia is not classified as an auditory or psychiatric condition, there are no standard diagnostic criteria, and there is little research on how common it is or the treatment. Proponents suggest misophonia can adversely affect the ability to achieve life goals and to enjoy social situations. Treatment consists of developing coping strategies through cognitive behavioral therapy and exposure therapy. My recommendation however is the investigation of the sound, like dissecting spiders to combat arachnophobia. Let it crawl over your skin, recognise it and study it, catch it and rip it apart, reassemble it into something of your own creation, paint it and decorate it.

Please don’t use real spiders. Spiders are our friends.

Synchronicity and happy happenstance both contributed to the sound outcome and the nature of this collaboration. I’m very grateful to Glauber for his professionalism during the process and for being open to indulging my flight-by-night conceptualizing. His musicianship has bought something to the product I couldn’t even consider, let alone performing. The facility to collaborate easily with artists around the globe is at a point that it has never reached in the past. Embrace this, demolish walls find commonality rather than difference”.

#GuruLove – t. r.

But, enough of this distraction. The album can be found below. There are download only, download+CD & download + deluxe CD & book (which, given I’ve had a hand in can confess looks stunning). Artists credits further down. Please consider a purchase as it will give SubBroCo a reason to carry on and hopefully persuade the #guru to stop calling me.

There is particularly beautiful book edition of the release that includes photographs by both artists. This has been produce in the Glove of Bones design studio who specialise in artisan print product.

Released September 27, 2018

t. r. hand – Concept & reverie, field recordings,
unremembered instrumentation, the playful exploration
of digital applications (including iMS-20, Borderlands and Novation
products) and #gurumind

Glauber Kiss de Souza – Concept, electric guitar, stage piano
(grand piano, Rhodes piano, vibraphone, acoustic bass),
field recordings & audio processing.
Original photographs for artwork and final audio mix.

Design, editing & visual construction – The G.o.B. Design Bureau

Mastered at Gongo Áudio Produções by Leandro Cezimbra de Freitas
and Glauber Kiss de Souza (Canoas City, BR-RS).
Contact: recordsgongo@gmail.com