Faultlines

Fält, Rothenberg & Thorne

Available to DOWNLOAD or as a PRINT-ON-DEMAND CD

Anna Fält stretches the human voice to its limit, from ancient Nordic-Finno-Ugric roots to experimental sounds. Rob Thorne takes the taonga puoro of Aoteoroa to a place of unique identity, and David Rothenberg completes this international trio with clarinet and overtone flute explorations to combine into a global mix you have certainly not heard before.

Anna Fält (voice)
David Rothenberg (wind instruments)
Rob Thorne (taonga pūoro)
Steve Garden (manipulations and treatments)

Recorded on the evening of Friday 25th October 2019 in Room 603 of the Scandic Tampere City Hotel, Finland during WOMEX-19
Mixed by Steve Garden in a breeze-block motel room in Christchurch (March 2021) and mastered at Garden Shed Music Studio, Auckland (September 2021)
Cover artwork “Water Crop2” (2021) by Emma Fält
Designed by UnkleFranc
Printing by Studio Q

It began innocently enough. I casually mentioned to Rob that we should record something while we were both at Womex 2019 in Tampere, Finland. I then bumped into Anna, who I knew from previous Womex events, and invited her to join us.

I set up a few microphones and interfaces in my hotel room (an imperfect location can sometimes lead to the best music), then we closed the curtains and began to play. That’s how it began.

We knew we were onto something when a few days later we were asked to perform for at the Womex radio station. We played well, but what we captured in the hotel room was something else again.

We knew it was special, but we weren’t sure what people would make of it. “One thing I do know,” smiled Rob, “Steve at Rattle will know what to do with it.” I’ve always loved Rattle’s output, but thought you had to be from New Zealand for them to even talk to you. Not so, I learned.

Once Steve heard the recordings he understood, but this was only the beginning. The end is what you now have before you. Only he knows what happened in between.

David Rothenberg

SEVENTH HOUSE MUSIC Vol 2

The Seventh House Music series champions artists who unapologetically follow their muse free of commercial or generic confines. It serves as a platform for works that are collaborative and improvisatory, music discovered in the process of being formed.

Released: 21 October 2021
Catalogue: RAT-D117

ROB THORNE

Tīni whetū kī te rangi ko Ngāti Pūoro kī te whenua!

Ko Tainui te waka. Ko Te Aroha te maunga. Ko Waihou te awa. Ko Ngāti Tumutumu tōku iwi. Ko Mōkena Hou tōku tipuna rangatira tāne. Ko Tamaariki tōku wharenui. Ko Rob Thorne ahau.

Te ahi o roto, taku ōrokohanga, ka tuituia ahau, ka toro atu kia whānau mai.

He tamaiti ahau, nā Papatūānuku, rāua ko Ranginui, mai, mai, whānau o te Kore.

Tēnei au taku mauri, mauri whakatinanahia, tēnei au taku mauri, mauri whakatinanahia.

Ka mura, ka rere, tēnei au, ka mōhio, ka whanake, ka tipu. Āke ake, ake ake, ake ake, mauri ora!

DAVID ROTHENBERG

David is a musician, philosopher and educator who specialises in making music “in the moment” with the sounds of nature. He has published a number of books and films on the process and practice of making interspecies music, and has released more than thirty recordings, including One Dark Night I Left My Silent House with pianist Marilyn Crispell (on ECM, 2010), In the Wake of Memories with percussionist Volker Lankdow and oud master Wassim Mukdad, and They Say Humans Exist with percussionist Sidiki Camara and guitarist Jacob Young. He has worked with Pauline Oliveros, Peter Gabriel, Suzanne Vega, Scanner, Ray Phiri, Elliott Sharp, Iva Bittová, and the Karnataka College of Percussion.

David is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and Music at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

ANNA FÄLT

Anna is a versatile singer-songwriter who is passionate about Nordic folk singing. She has toured Scandinavia for years with her unique approach to solo vocal concerts. Specialising in the singing traditions of her two home countries, Finland and Sweden, Anna combines the bright Scandinavian and dark East-European tones in her performances.

Her work celebrates the human voice, one-woman shows that present singing like you´ve never heard before! Tradition meets vocal art, avantgarde, and storytelling in an innovative, personal, and intimate way.

Besides her solo shows, Anna collaborates on performing arts and multidisciplinary art projects, and is engaged with folk music research and teaching at folk song workshops. She has three music degrees and has studied folk music in four different countries.