Selected Public Works, Vol. 5

Each piece an artifact of a time and a place.
Each piece an entry in a journal.

Recorded between winter of 2018 and summer of 2020 in the Pennsylvania Appalachians.

All sounds created by Bryan Noll with the exception of Baby Steps intro pad by River Being and Peaks and Valleys bass synthesizer by Mike Effenberger.

Mastered by Taylor Deupree.
Cover art and layout by Michael Kempen.

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The Limited Edition Cassette Edition includes Selected Public Works, Vol. 5 on gray shell cassette with black imprinting loaded with C456 super ferric analog tape and housed in a clear Norelco box with full-color j-card featuring artwork and design by Michael Kempen. Limited to 100 units. There is also a digital version.

Lightbath’s Hybrid Modula Video

Up until the global travel situation abruptly changed Lightbath was preparing for a European tour. My focus was on building an entirely new hybrid hardware + software modular system to travel light and enter some new sonic zones. Lightbath has begun to document the process with the aim to create a short series of videos following my progress and covering the design and implementation of this new instrument. This series is still happening, it’ll just be spread out in time a bit more—which is a relief, actually.

Selected Public Works Vol. 1-4 (Lightbath)

Selected Public Works Vol. 1-4 collects four years of modular synthesizer performances by composer/improviser Bryan Noll with his Lightbath project. The majority of these works were originally presented in video form showcasing—in real-time—the physical act of coaxing music out of a mercurial box of colorful wires, knobs, and lights.

Making these videos helped Noll develop his sound and process as Lightbath. One can hear such artistic development by tracing Vol. 1’s early modular works in 2015 up to Vol. 4’s selections from 2018.

Themes of change and growth flow through the collection; watching the videos, one can actually see the instrumentation subtly shift from piece to piece, and upon closer listen the music begins to reveal an invisible thread connecting past to present.

“These pieces are artifacts of specific times and places,” says Noll, “Each piece is like an entry in a journal that takes me back to where I was living, who I was loving, and the lessons I was learning. My life is encoded in this collection—it’s all there: my discovery of this beautifully wild instrument that saved my creativity, my first move away from NYC, the Great American Eclipse that catalyzed the devastating end of a long-term relationship, learning to forgive and rediscovering my purpose, traveling the US west coast, and the weeks leading up to the NYC performance that became full/new, my split with Emily A. Sprague released earlier this year on Commend/RVNG Intl.”

Each volume has been carefully sequenced and re-mastered by Noll to present this music in fresh and vibrant detail. Each album features gouache artwork and typographic layout by Michael Kempen. Selected Public Works, Vol. 1-4 released on September 27, 2019, and is available on Bandcamp.

As Pitchfork puts it: “Once you have submitted to these videos, it can be hard to pull yourself away.” “The artfully unpretentious demonstrations… occupy a strange, sui-generis niche: Featuring balmy sounds, blinking LEDs, and low-key set-dressing, they are part performance, part tech tutorial, and part audio-visual wallpaper.”

Tracklist

Lightbath – Selected Public Works, Vol. 1

01. This Place Rings of Color
02. Supermoon Preparation
03. Lampeo + Lightbath
04. Purple Memory Clouds
05. Batumi Master
06. Fire Blessing
07. Social Contours

Lightbath – Selected Public Works, Vol. 2

01. A Window Into Another
02. Dream Suite (Reprise)
03. New Beginnings
04. The Future Is Not Here
05. Orange Is the New
06. Guardian Suite
07. Xaoc Rings
08. Dream Suite

Lightbath – Selected Public Works, Vol. 3

01. Eclipse Preparation
02. Forgiveness
03. Arcology    
04. First Steps
05. Cold Moon
06. Holding a Feather

Lightbath – Selected Public Works, Vol. 4

01. Garment of Destiny
02. Tangerine Portal
03. Garment of Destiny (Reprise)
04. Cathartic Pressure Waves (ft. Amulets)
05. Returning
06. Cathedral Rock
07. The Curve of Time