no below editions

no-below-editions.bandcamp.com

Sound performance and recording collective established Fall of 2022 in support of local and regional sonic explorations with a focus on small editions of handmade objects with each release.

collective: Eddie Breitweiser, Michael Carlson (Son of Karl), Matt Erickson (cometogetherspace), Stephen Holliger (swimignorantfire), Lisa Lofgren (Together Press of cometogetherspace), Stefen Robinson (Yea Big), and Matthew Shrier with Matthew Smith as a founding member.

Integration of visual and sound poetics are a key element of no below editions. Local artists collaborate for a dynamic visual and audio object resulting in unique works of art for every release. Artists Lisa Lofgren and Matt Erickson of cometogetherspace see the collaborations as extensions of each other–the music informing the object and the object adding dimension to the sound. Whenever possible, Lofgren and Erickson try to recycle or make use of collected materials to repurpose for each edition. This not only contributes to the perpetuity of a label with a modest income, but it relies on the history of the record labels and publishers preceding us to provide resources in unexpected ways.

NB. 001

Swim Ignorant Fire: I Don’t Know How Much Longer I Can Hold This

Swim Ignorant Fire is Stephen Holliger.
Composed using recycled church tape loops,
electric guitar, bass guitar, and chimes
with Nate Hahn on pedal steel guitar.
Produced and mixed by Stephen Holliger.
Mastered by Ian Sheridan.

An Artist's Edition of entirely hand-printed and constructed components makes each piece a work of art. Swim Ignorant Fire (Stephen Holliger) is the first release with no below editions in collaboration with Lofgren and Erickson. Conversation started with an intimate story of Stephen's grandmother Rose's diagnosis and fall into Alzheimer's. The resulting print imagery combines a laser engraved woodcut and copper plate etching. The pull of two rose blooms creates a line of tension surrounded by a haze of static, further muffled by the arching waves of the dark, incised drypoint lines. The clarity of the rose becomes secondary to the noise surrounding it. The title I Don't Know How Much Longer I Can Hold This references the moments before detonation in Terminator 2, echoing a breaking point or a letting go that Stephen channels in the 5 minute composition. 

The cassette edition includes the handprinted, laser engraved woodcut image for each J-card. The Artist's Edition includes an accordion folded woodcut, drypoint and etching on gifted sumi paper within a handmade clamshell box. The book cloth covering the box was scavenged from a local book publishing company that closed its doors after 160 years of business. Each text element is hand printed from laser engraved woodblocks.  

NB. 002

Shane Parish + Stefen Robinson: Rocks and Water Folded Up

Yea Big is Stefen Robinson: bass clarinet, double bass, percussion, and violin.
Shane Parish: prepared acoustic guitar.
Recorded by Shane and Stefen.
Produced, mixed, and mastered by Stefen.

Design and printing of CD case by Lisa Lofgren and Matt Erickson at Together Press of cometogetherspace in Bloomington, Illinois.

Edition of 75 combines a relief printed, repurposed vinyl record sleeve and a stamped CD. 

Artists' variable edition of 20 combines a relief printed, repurposed vinyl record sleeve, and a stamped CD. Additionally included is a 11 x 14 inch relief woodcut print with relief printed etched plates, and stamped letters on various long-fibered papers and a laser engraved slate pieces from the 1854 cometogetherspace roof reading "FOLD HERE."  

Record sleeves courtesy of Reverberation Vinyl, also of Bloomington.