besom presse is a los angeles–based publisher concerned with *perceptually activated* and rigorous works on paper and sound media.
BP04 ellen fullman: the man who grew common in wisdom
Known prominently for her sculptural Long String Instrument (LSI), these musique concrete pieces showcase an underrecognized side of Fullman’s sound investigations. In two expansive works, Fullman voyages through the comic, the menacing and the blissful all while evoking the unique kinetic and timbral aesthetic for which she is widely praised. Composed between 1987-1989, while living in Austin, Texas, the music originally served as accompaniment to choreographer Deborah Hay's dance piece of the same name.
mastered and cut by scott stratton, bernie grundman mastering. pressed by rti.
BP03 tetuzi akiyama: thaumaturgy
In eleven short through-composed pieces written over a ten-year period, Akiyama captures something melodic, simple, and utterly transfixing. In his first instrumental solo acoustic guitar record in more than a decade, Akiyama, widely known for his improvisatory collaborations as well as his hypnotizing boogie-drone guitar pieces, here works without effects and maintains a strict harmonic palette throughout.
Mastered and cut by George Horn, pressed by RTI.
BP02 david watson and tony buck: ask the axes
Besom Presse announces Ask the Axes, the first collaborative release by the duo of experimental bagpiper David Watson and famed percussionist of The Necks, Tony Buck. Watson and Buck’s premiere recording documents two twenty-plus minute tracks featuring the hallucinatory sound palette of the Highland bagpipes, drums and percussion.
Mastered and cut by George Horn, pressed by RTI.
BP01 werner durand with amelia cuni and victor meertens: processions
Besom Presse is pleased to announce the July 2019 release of Processions, a double LP by composer, performer, and instrument-maker Werner Durand, with Amelia Cuni and Victor Meertens. Recorded and mixed in his home studio in Berlin from 2012-16, Durand offers four just-intoned drone works distilling global influence into compositions of singular beauty. Performed on an unlikely array of instruments including various self-made wind and reed instruments, sarod, mirliton, bi (a Vietnamese free reed instrument), trumpet, and hammered electric guitar, the result is narcotic.
Mastered and cut by George Horn, pressed by RTI.