‘Clouds & Pieces That Will Flip Your Lid’ is a collection of acoustic and electro acoustic compositions by Thomas Bergsten. There are artistic considerations behind these recordings that the ramblings of an outsider wouldn’t do just, so here are Thomas’s own words describing the various pieces;

‘The Sun (May 12th 2010 –Oslo)’ is a recording of the 2010 version of this minimalistic piece, a chord that moves by the help of three rules;

Where the sun is in the sky determines the root (ranging from one octave from any C). How far from the place you are performing The Sun, the city to be played in determines the dynamics (or power of the chord, if you will). How long from today’s date the date being played determines how long to sustain the chord.

Performed on the 12th of may 2010 at Brown Dude, Project Loft.

London14. aug 1973 08:41
Toronto 18.mars 1995 07:15
Sydney 21.desember 2012 12:17
Longyearbyen 7.juni 1905 11:56
Sofia 17.mai 1933 13:36
New Delhi 11.september 1969 12:18
Berlin 23.juli 1953 14:13
Tel Aviv 2.februar 2004 17:15
Osaka, 22. Oktober 1945 14:13
Here & Now

‘The Sun’ was performed by Lars Oskarsen (Glockenspiel), Jan Roger Antonsen (Accordion), Kristine Marie Aasvang (Flute), Line Grenheim (Violin), Stefan Remen (Bass) – conducted by Thomas Bergsten.

‘Study of Music Under Water’ is a piece arranged by Thomas Bergsten and recorded by Jana Winderen in Sandvika, December 2008. Kristine Marie Aasvang plays the flute and Thomas Bergsten the guitar. The piece is the sound of improvised music played LOUD above the ice, recorded by two hydrophones and a pair of stereo microphones hanging from a tree. The underwater sound is emphasized both during recording and mixing.

‘Cloud #2 in Bb for 5 Electric Baritone Guitars’ – Clouds are pieces consisting of one chord with long duration. This cloud is a short version and is to be considered a test. Although real clouds can disappear in a blink of an eye, these clouds should last for at least an hour.

‘Repetitions And Variations In Eb For Sax and Electronics’ – This piece evolves around an Eb major chord (sampled from a string sextet) and three independent sax improvisations in different transpositions. Original, octave down and two octaves down. The string chord is repeated for the total duration of the piece.

The saxophones are arranged like this:

#1 – Original – 8vb – 15vb
#2 – 8vb – 15vb – Original
#3 – 15vb – Original – 8vb

‘Broadcasting Suburbia’ – This piece consist of two live pirate radio broadcasts spaced a couple of minutes apart on February 22nd 2012, between 1pm and 1:30pm. Both broadcasts were live broadcasts from the local area using a transmitter connected directly to a field recorder. The first broadcast was with a very low volume setting, so that the reciver might think of it as just a bad signal from their radio.

The second one had the field recorder gained up loud, making it recognizable as ambient sounds, and also making the louder parts of the field recording distorted. To document the broadcasts I used a radio/cassette deck and recorded the broadcast two and old tape (The Public Enemy – 911 is a joke single). Broadcasted on and around FM 88,7.

‘The Sun (River)’ – This is The Sun played by six rivers at high noon. A 2011 version of The Sun.

Artwork by Thomas, slightly edited by Morten.