New Bloodroot EP byBad Luck will be available May 4th.  This is a little teaser!

Twelve Tiny Explosions

Saxophonist Neil Welch returns with a new full-length album–his third for T&C. From the recording to the packaging itself, Twelve Tiny Explosions brings you inside Welch’s unique approach to his work. He coils sounds together into clusters, complex rhythmic patterns and minimalist cycles. Recorded in full takes with minimal editing, nearly each track was captured on separate days throughout 2011. Recording techniques included close mic-ing of particular keys, specific areas of the room and even the mouthpiece itself. The result is a dynamic album with Welch at a height of artistic creativity on every track, from the percussive, high-impact wails of “Dedicated to Drummer Chris Icasiano” or the blunt force of “Mount Index." 

Released 15 February 2013 
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Vincent LaBelle at BOOM! Studios throughout 2011. 
Cover illustration "APO” by Aaron Otheim 
Liner notes “compositional manuscript” by Neil Welch 
Design and Layout by Andrew J.S. 
C 2012 Neil Welch (Narmada Music/BMI) / Table & Chairs

“Mowhoush was shoved head first into a sleeping bag, wrapped with electrical cord and rolled from his stomach to his back.” Presented in a single, 27 minute long track, Sleeper is Neil’s first recorded major ensemble work. Sleeper was Inspired by the torture and wrongful death of an Iraqi general by U.S. forces in Iraq. Drawing on many of the techniques used in Neil’s solo work, Sleeper makes dramatic use of timbre and sound. From the subtle, suspended pitches in the opening statements to the aggressive, thick harmonic textures to come, Sleeper is a work that mirrors its dark narrative. This piece was composed while living in seclusion on Whidbey Island in 2010, and later finished in Seattle in early 2011. Sleeper features many of Neil’s long time T&C collaborators.

credits

released 08 November 2011
The Sleeper Ensemble is:
Neil Welch, tenor and soprano
Ivan Arteaga, alto and soprano
Jesse Canterbury, bass clarinet
Vincent LaBelle, trombone
David Balatero, cello
Natalie Hall, cello

Boxwork is a collection of 14 acoustic solo saxophone performances recorded over one year while living in relative seclusion on Whidbey Island. Boxwork documents Neil’s exploration of specific acoustic areas. Many improvisations use subtle differences in timber and intonation to make pitch clusters pulsate in and between one another. These clusters become threaded together as melodic planes through multiphonic, throat and embouchure techniques. Other improvisations use quartertones, screaming through the instrument, and single line melodies.