Many things happened in the year 2011. To list them all would be absurd and take up a lot of space. Instead, let me list one totally random thing from that year and see where that gets us: Massachusetts-based Important Records formed a sister tape label called Cassauna. Huh, what a fortuitous, but like I said, totally random fact. You see, back in 2011, after a year of putting out a whole heap of tapes from folks like Arnold Dreyblatt, Aki Onda, and Pauline Oliveros, though, Cassauna anthropomorphically realized it was super-tired and wanted to take a nap for a couple of years, which is totally fine. Naps are cool and a lot of people like them. In that way they are like sandwiches and Matt Damon. But anyhow, now that it’s 2014, turns out Cassauna has anthropomorphically realized it slept a whole lot longer than it meant to and is maybe going to be late to hang out with its brother, Important Records. Oh no!
Haha, I hope that “Oh no” didn’t worry you too much. Important Records is anthropomorphically totally chill, so it’s no big deal. Now that Cassauna is up and moving again, though, it’s doing a whole lot of stuff. First off, there’s a brand-new Cassauna Bandcamp on which you can run grubby little internet fingers all over, oh, I don’t know, perhaps Richard Lainhart’s Lux? Or John Bischoff’s Field Transfer? Or maybe if you’re into things that TMT news writers describe as “free” and “brand-new” you might want to pick up Total Life’s Burner, which, as I hinted, is both free and brand-new.
In a totally not anthropomorphic way, Cassauna (or should I say, “the folks at Cassauna?”) also have two additional new releases available right now. First is Randy Gibson’s First Pillar Appearing in Supernova, which combines layers of individual vocal drones with the characteristics of tape itself into a “dense harmonic world from a simple intervallic source.” Order it here. There’s also Zachary James Watkins’ Moveable. Moveable is a piece written for the pianoforte that awesomely uses a tool called the Piano Monster which was “built by NYC artist Ranjit Bhatnagar,” and “uses 16 voltage controlled motors with attached objects that resonate piano strings.” That’s right folks, robot piano. Invite it into your home at this link. In addition to these two, Cassauna is already planning releases from Claudio Rochetti & Pietro Riparbelli as well as Sarah Davachi.
And finally, Important Records has also dedicated the entirety of the latest episode of their podcast to Cassauna’s awakening. The podcast features tracks from past, present, and future releases, and you can stream it below.
Randy Gibson - First Pillar Appearing in Supernova tracklisting:
01. The First Pillar Imploding the Principal Drone under the Addition of 9 in Melodic Counterpoint from Apparitions of the Four Pillars
02. The First Pillar Exploding the Upper Drone with the Violin Analogue, the Nestled Melodic 27, and the Apparition of the Eternal Tonic from Apparitions of The Four Pillars
Zachary James Watkins - Moveable tracklisting:
01. Moveable: Live Concert Recording At Maybeck Studio, Berkeley
02. Moveable: Majestic Star Tuning Remix
• Cassauna: http://www.importantrecords.com/cassauna
• Important: http://www.importantrecords.com