LOUD by bindlestiff

here is a reproduction of the original 2002 CD liner notes:

in mid-1995 bindlestiff set out to create an ambient / looping album, and while "quiet" was the album they *meant* to make, "LOUD" came kicking and screaming into existence alongside "quiet" whether the band liked it or not. "LOUD" is the essential companion to "quiet", as it rounds out the true picture of the startling scope of musical forms that bindlestiff embraced as a live performance unit in 1995.

the recording sessions for "quiet" lasted for approximately three months, and during that time a number of improvisations, out takes and live jams were also recorded. the best of these demanded entrance into the world, despite their somewhat scattered sonic qualities. as on "quiet", there are no overdubs of any kind. this is the sound of two loopers, often working with material that appeared from the ether, one time, for one take...and happened to end up on a rolling tape. "seaside holiday saturday" contains an intentional jump edit (but is one performance) and "close the circuit" (recorded live at an outdoor gig) was (very slightly) edited for brevity's sake. beyond that, these recordings remain unchanged from their original form.

it is remarkable that bindlestiff could produce live music as fragile and delicate as "without difference" or "signs of spring" (from "quiet) on the same day as such experimental improvisations as "passage by day" or "the wall of ninths". this cohesive diversity remains one of the band's strongest qualities.

the phonographic copyright in these performances / compositions is operated by pureambient records on behalf of the artist, with whom it resides. pureambient,com accepts no reason for artists to give away such copyright interests in their work by virtue of a "common practice" which is out of tune with the times, was always questionable, and is now indefensible. copyright 2002 (the world) bryan helm / dave stafford.

2013 notes:

"LOUD" is an essential part of "quiet", because they were recorded together, but that was not an intentional process - we were just recording our songs, and in between, as you do, we would just jam, or we would play active pieces that we knew were not going to end up on "quiet".

at the end of three months of intense recording sessions, where we basically played live in the studio - playing live was really the only way we knew how to play, so we just did what we did naturally. the result was perhaps 25 to 30 songs, 22 of which were considered to be viable. since we had long ago established what songs belonged on "quiet", all that remained was to select the "best" 12 out of the remaining 15 or 20 songs, and arranging them into a second record - and that record is "LOUD".

this was our experimental album.

(where anything goes - and anything absolutely went!)

dave stafford, pureambient HQ, november 2013