..m. bentley indices : home : discography : biography : reviews : foundryshop
M . .B E N T L E Y ....I N D E X
..foundry indices : news : : : sounds : pictures : words : : : the foundry
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..m. bentley indices : home : discography : biography : reviews : foundryshop M . .B E N T L E Y ....I N D E X ..foundry indices : news : : : sounds : pictures : words : : : the foundry |
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This World gracefully integrates M. Bentleyıs various approaches to sound design and composition. Created with a combination of DSP tools, field recordings and more conventional synthesis, the suites Chronos & Kairos and Import are related thematically and conceptually. These pieces are extended audio snapshots, sonic gestures towards narrative and story-telling. In one sense this is programme music for the 21st century, or perhaps a soundtrack for memoirs never written.
For audio samples and more info please visit the Foundryshop page for This World. |
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an introduction
Michael Bentley is the founder of The Foundry label, has recorded under several names [eM, The Apiary and Rhomb (with Nathan Kreisberg), among others] and has released a number of EPs and CDs of electronic and experimental music. Beyond the many projects for his own Foundry label, Michael's output includes releases for the Irish label Fällt (as eM, Import was part of the invalidObject series); for SlapArt (the Retrograd cassette EP as eM), and inclusion on CD compilations from MIT Press' Computer Music Journal (Winter 2000), No Type (as eM with n.kra on The Freest of Radicals), Little Fury Things (as eM for the No Compression Festival comp) and aquaFM (ambient@hyperreal vols. 1 & 2). Michael continues to work with the Archipelago collective on both releases (Bibimbap in 2004, the Islands EP series in 2000), and performances (the monthly Archipelago LIVE series Feb.through May 2004). In the last two years Michael has been working with video, incorporating his years of experience in graphic arts to create the Chronos & Kairos, St. Michael Oubliette, and Scenes from Thing Asunder video pieces.
Contact Michael via our email page. BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS Michael Bentley grew up in various Midwestern towns before his family moved to Berkeley, California, and has remained in the Bay Area for many years after graduating from UC Berkeley. Bentley currently works as a freelance graphic designer, non-profit director, musician and director of The Foundry. Bentley composed and recorded electronic music sporadically for a number of years, often collaborating with long time friend Nathan Kreisberg (most recently as Rhomb), until settling into a MIDI based studio set-up in the 1990s which created a more consistent working environment and allowed more consistent output. Interest in other musical forms, most notably folk music of the British Isles (especially that of Scotland), has lead to appearances at music/dance festivals locally and abroad (including the Czech Republic, Austria, and Norway), as well as performing and recording gigs on both east and west coasts of the US. The Foundry, originally begun in 1985 as an umbrella for publishing chapbooks, emerged as an outlet for Bentley's musical endeavours in 1995. After several cassette releases the first Foundry CDs were issued in 1997. The Foundry catalogue has garnered critical praise (see review index here) and airplay throughout Europe, Australia, the US and Canada. In 2001 The Foundry began a collaboration with the Hypnos recording label, resulting in nine releases over the next 14 months. Since 2003 The Foundry has split from Hypnos and struck out on it's own again, creating the Foundryshop as a direct conduit for information and purchasing. In 2005 Michael initiated the Floating Points podcast series as a way to present the work of Foundry associates directly. A podcast, like it's ancestor the radio broadcast, allows for explanation and conversation, and Floating Points has given Michael an opportunity to provide a context for the work of The Foundry and its associates. For more information on the history and ideas behind The Foundry go here. |
M. BENTLEY PROJECTS Timelight Fluid Studies Chronos & Kairos Bertram's Room Import Broken Moments M. BENTLEY INTERVIEWS Disquiet (Marc Weidenbaum) AmbiEntrance (David Opdyke) Antioxidants (Spanish radio) Ambient Visions (Jim Brenholts) Bip-Hop (Philippe Petit) M. BENTLEY WRITINGS Ellipsis: Aether Ore (from e|i #4) |