Thursday, October 7, 2010

slippery rock

Out of context this piece won't make a whole heap of sense. Matt Brown is a synthesist and trickster. His work as a solo artist and also with the band Zond are stunning. When I asked him to participate in the Slidesound project he offered me a recording he had made in the studios around five years ago of a group of people playing a drunken game of truth or dare, but said that it could be offensive, perhaps expecting me to back out. I thought it might be a nice idea, demystifying the artist's space which a mystique had been building around. Besides I thought, in the context of the street it as unlikely that anyone would be able to pin point anything specific in an hour long recording.

When I received the recording it was drenched in reverb obscuring the words and, I thought, the original intention. I told Matthew I would be unwilling to use the recording in this state and a tussle of wills ensued. Finally I received a recording from him without the reverb, which is the one I present to you here.

The other day I was speaking to a mutual friend who told me Matt had told him that he had given me the same recording on both occasions. I have lost the original file he gave me, but maintain this is untrue, as you can hear for yourself the recording has no reverb on it, but I have no way of telling for certain that its not the same one. Maybe this is why the piece is called "Slippery Rock" it makes you unsure of how to stand on it.

slippery rock Matthew's latest piece of mischief within mischief.