Of Mary's Blood

[Traeth]

You might find the audio excerpts from ‘Of Mary’s Blood’ on www.red-wharf.com an interesting diversion. It’s the first piece in a trilogy of work by Graham Bowers.

Eskhatos magazine (USA).
Bowers manages to create a profound achievement with “Of Mary’s Blood” which heralds, not only times to come, but all of the sensations and violent chaos of the way time “quickens” as we rush madly toward the inevitable. “Of Mary’s Blood” is the first in a musical trilogy revolving around man’s life in the latter part of the 20th century. The title of the album refers to the Virgin Mother of the Christ and in so doing, implies birth through blood, salvation through suffering, and life through loathsome and blackened death. Bold, monumental and genuinely fraught with dark inertia and terrifyingly abstract and merciless creativity, Bowers controls and contorts his medium while using the listener’s own insecurities as instruments in this epic oeuvre. There are staggering moments of silence on this one vast and monstrous Boschian track which is punctuated by darling echoes of piano playing in some lost hallway and uneasy voices shuffling in the foyer. The music suggests, as does the inside cover, an unrelenting and catastrophic descent of what was, what is, and what will always be. Part two, “Transgression”, and the final part “Eternal Ghosts” will be eagerly awaited. Blessed are they who inherit the earth.
Ares Solis

EB magazine (Germany)
A piece like a radical work of modern literature, Bowers is connecting avant-garde, new music, ambient, synthesizers and conventional instruments to an impressive montage of acoustic snapshots. “What ever is born or created at this moment in time has the qualities of this moment in time” says Jung who is quoted by Bowers. However Bowers views past, present and future as elements of one “direction”, directly connected and acting upon each other in a sort of continuum, being accompanied by further elements of physical, spiritual and psychological “quantities” as components which are constantly exchanging. In this work, this philosophical background finds its expression on a mere musical level. The elements, which in the beginning are apparently in a random order, grow stronger in the course of the composition, while drawing wider circles at the same time. Disturbing, everyday noises like sirens, the hammering of machines, ticking clocks, trains and lorries, weird sounds from the filed of repressed memories more and more are being transformed into a fascinatingly structured global harmony which builds an inner balance between dark noise worlds and ‘ambient’ floating sounds without becoming smoother or more one dimensional but as a consequence of a cleverly arranged change of the habits of listening.
Yvonne Brogi.

[elektro80]

I reckon this means Traeth is Graham Bowers?

[elektro80]

The bio over at : http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/music/sites/graham_bowers
is interesting.

[elektro80]

The three fragments from "Of Mary´s Blood" are indeed very compelling. This is grand stuff. I like this.

[Traeth]

Hello electro80

Thank you for your responses.....all are much appreciated....this form of communication is relatively new to me.....so I am treading carefully.

Traeth is indeed a pseudonym for Graham Bowers.....the apparent lack of opacity of the cover and its' naive transparency makes me blush.

Thanks for posting the link to the BBC website, hopefully it will generate increased interest in my work, and maybe, just maybe transcribe into sales of CDs....not that money is the motivation....but it certainly allows and enables more space for creativity.

Your final post and your positive words are heart-warming and re-fuel the reluctant energies required to engage with the world, with regard to 'the promotion of one's own personal musical work'. If you want to hear more, please contact me.

Traeth.....www.red-wharf.com

[elektro80]

I just sent you a PM.

[elektro80]

Your website is all Macromedia Flash. Have you considered setting up non-Flash enabled website too?

[Traeth]

Hello electro80

My knowledge of what can and can't be done by various computer programmes is fairly limited.....although I am finding through necessity that I am spending more time on the computer than I feel comfortable with, I still treat it as a means or a tool to complete as quickly as possible the particular task at hand.....consequently I never find or make the time to explore the properties and possibilities that are waiting to be unearthed in the programmes that I make use of.....so, in answer to your question....a tentative no, I haven't considered building another website.....is there something I should know?.....have I committed some cardinal sin that is obvious to everyone but me?......the website was created in Flash simply because that was all I knew....I haven't any programming knowledge and can just about find my way around Dreamweaver (I know that it isn't a difficult programme to work in, but as I said before.....it is all down to an investment of time and familiarity with what can and can't be done). Perhaps you would tell or advise me what the advantages would be if the website were to be re-created in another program.....I would be very interested to know.
Thanks again for your interest.
Traeth www.red-wharf.com

[blue hell]

No you commited no sin whatsoever :-)

The thing is that there are people who dont want to, or can't, use flash. And when your website is flash only those people will not be able to hear your music, or even to see your website (its just a white screen then, showing thin black frame with white contents, no text anywhwere)

Stein (electro-80) was very positive about your music which made me curious and wanting to listen. However I'm not using flash, so that's a pitty really.

Now in my case I simply refuse to use flash and I really wouldn't have brought up the subject, as it's entirely my own problem and fault to not be able to see your site.

When I deinstalled flash a while ago I completely realized that I would make a large part of the web inaccessible, so I have no reason at all to nag about that now. But since the subject had been raised anway I thought I might just as well give my limted view on this.

[mosc]

To electro-music.com. Great to have you here.

I have spent a lot of time on your site, listening to the music and wishing the images were larger.

Anyway, I like the musical excerpts very much. Excellent music. I'm very happy you chose to register here. I hope you find our the site and our community to be of value and that you decide to participate.

I think Flash is a fabulous technology. I read somewhere that over 98% of browers have Flash installed (I don't remember the exact number). I think your web site is quite nice; very nicely designed. I very much like your use of the built-in flash player. Much nicer than relying on whatever the user has configured. I'd guess that a good percentage of the 2% of users that don't have Flash installed do not have anything configured to play streaming audio.

I would suggest you spend your time making music and not working about the web page technology. Just my opinion, of course.

You can hear some of my music if you click on the H-M in my signature line.

[seraph]

[Traeth]

Thanks to 'Blue Hell' for putting my mind to rest re-not 'committing a cardinal sin'...I will now sleep easy...but why the antipathy to 'Flash'?. There are ways of hearing various broadcasts of my music on the www but it involves accessing archive shows, registering, passwords, etc. etc. etc.....convoluted and tiresome

Thanks to 'mosc' for a contrasting viewpoint and the generous comments.....I have already acquainted myself with your excellent music....post re-'night improvisations' several weeks ago.

Thanks to 'seraph'.... a prolific music maker.....quality goods and interestingly varied.

I look forward to electro80s response to my previous post.

Traeth www.red-wharf.com

[mosc]

[elektro80]

I am now the proud owner of a copy of "Of Mary´s Blood". This is grand stuff. This is higly original and very complex music. I think this music can be said to be related to what Brian Williams ( lustmord ) did on his Zoetrope CD, but not quite that dark.

[Traeth]

"...more self-promotion from Red Wharf.....?".....visit the following link

http://www.mouvement-nouveau.com/newsitems/radicalenough/view

[mosc]

[Traeth]

To download the opening track off 'Transgression' for free ..... visit http://music.download.com/grahambowers/3600-8363_32-100863730.html?tag=listing_song_artist ..if you do, and you want to leave a comment, please do so.

[Traeth]

Link to Tim Ritchie's show 'Sound Quality' on the Australian Broadcast Corporation (March 10th) to hear tracks from Graham Bowers' music ~ 'Of Mary's Blood', 'Transgression', 'Eternal Ghosts', and 'Pilgrim'.
www.abc.net.au/rn/music/soundqlt/s1559655.htm

Link to Rory Hinchey's 'Collective Voice' (February 11th) to hear an interview with Graham Bowers and tracks from 'Of Mary's Blood', 'Transgression', 'Eternal Ghosts', and 'Pilgrim'.
http://www.collectivevoice.net/main.html

[elektro80]

Great links! THX!

[Traeth]

Tune in on Monday the 24th of April.At 20:00 (Amsterdam-time) until 22:00

THEMA: RED WHARF (GRAHAM BOWERS).

ConcertZender ~ Hessel Veldman ~ 15:00 - 17:00 ~ Monday 24th April 2006

http://www.concertzender.nl .

THEMA: RED WHARF (GRAHAM BOWERS).
TRACK 1 Titel: Of Mary’s Blood Album: Of Mary’s Blood (CD) Tijd: 47:17
TRACK 2 Titel: Eternal Ghosts Album: Eternal Ghosts (CD) Tijd: 50:24
TRACK 3 Titel: Unconditional part 1, 2nd 3 Album: Pilgrim (CD) Tijd: 14:50

[blue hell]

Thanks for posting the message above ! I'm really enjoying the music, very worthwhile !

and it doesn't need flash to be installed this time



BTW, for those online now, starting on the next whole hour (22.00 amsterdam time) a program will start on Robert Ashly's piece The Wolfman. Same link as in msg above.

[Traeth]

If you have an interest in music that has elements of avant/experimental/progressive/ambient/contemporary and plenty of balls, maybe a visit to http://red-wharf.com will prove worthwhile.

iTunes and eMusic have now listed the music of Graham Bowers, (released through the Red Wharf label), in their download catalogues ~ Titles include ~ Of Mary's Blood, Transgression, Eternal Ghosts and Pilgrim.
These will also be available through Rhapsody, MSN, Loudeye, Napster, Karma Download, Audio Lunchbox and many others over the coming weeks.

Stride. (UK) ~ Of Mary's Blood review
Bowers allows his music space to breathe in this 46 minute composition (ostensibly divided into three sections, but with invisible joins). Inspired and accompanied by a triptych of Bowers’ own paintings - sinister, insect headed humanoids gesturing against a matte-black background - it attempts to provide “a musical and pictorial expression of the physical forms of spiritual fragilities and strengths”. It does so in a musical language that is familiar from the work of AMM and Nurse With Wound, along with classical precursors like Xenakis, but Bowers and his collaborators have come up with something fresh and listenable. The complexity of this composition defeats a verbal paraphrase, although there is a general movement from high density to low; from the scraping of chthonian stringed instruments to a delicate, percussive piano; and from a mood of tragedy to one of comedy (witnessed by the final bars, which sound like something out of a musical hall). The diversity and energy of current musical output is indicated by this CD, surfacing unexpectedly out of the peace and quiet of rural Anglesey.
Norman Jope

[elektro80]

HEY! THIS IS GREAT NEWS!

[Traeth]

A recent review in an interesting magazine that you may find worth a visit:
http://www.tokafi.com/newsitems/cd-feature-graham-bowers-of-mary-s-blood/view

[elektro80]

Hey graham, I put you on my favourites list:
http://electro-music.com/forum/topic-12557.html



Any new stuff brewing?