'The Condemned Piano (Memory)'

In the autumn of 2005 we composed a meditative eulogy for a musical instrument we happened upon one evening whose condition filled us with sadness. A once treasured friend had been cast out to die and then set upon by elementals which were to destroy it utterly. We took what we could; a couple of delaminated keys, one felt hammer and 13 field recordings. These recordings became 'Pieces for a Condemned Piano' which we released as a free download, our debut on the Dark Winter net label in December that year.

Two years later while scouring through old files in a vain effort to tidy up a tired hard drive I decided to play a couple of innocuous untitled tracks I'd stumbled upon. I was surprised to discover two completely finished arrangements from the 'Pieces for a Condemned Piano' samples gathered almost exactly two years previously. I played them to Alec he was as surprised as I that neither of us could remember them.

(Ten days ago we revisited the spot where the piano once lay and in the dirt beneath a fence we found one white laminate from one of the piano keys. We left it there as a mark of respect.)

Here then are those tracks, presented as 'The Condemned Piano (Memory)'. We thought we had heard all the piano had to give but this appeared to us as the melancholic ghost of a familiar distant echo - one last meditation on a life discarded sung to us from the past; a beautiful but final goodbye.

KJBR

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Thanks to Leon Vlieger & Ikecht for this review:

'Formication - 'The Condemned Piano (Memory)'

Apart from some albums on the .net label Dark Winter the British formation Formication also has a few albums on their own webpage. Or technically, on the website Virb, one of the many social networking sites on the internet today.

My introduction to Formication was their "Pieces For A Condemned Piano", which I liked very much. So, I was positively surprised to come across a "part two" on their website. The story goes that while cleaning out a hard drive these gentlemen came across two completely finished, and completely forgotten, compositions, which dated back to the recording session of abovementioned album. These have now been released as "The Condemned Piano (Memory)" and can be found on Formication's Virb page.

Soundwise these two pieces are close to the hypnotic last track of the original album. Again we hear repetitive and unrecognisably warped samples of a piano. As Formication would have it, the instrument is speaking to us one more time through the veils of time. Admittedly, there is indeed something to the sound that suggests this, a sort of delayed echo, which grants a particular quality to the music. With just 25 minutes it's a short final chord. But, as far as I'm concerned, these are more than just leftovers from the cutting table. Recommended for all those who enjoyed the first album!

Originally written in Dutch for the weblog of IkEcht (http://ikecht.web-log.nl), English translation by the author.'

	'The Condemned Piano (Memory)'	October 18, 2007

	In the autumn of 2005 we composed a meditative eulogy for a musical instrument we happened upon one evening whose condition filled us with sadness. A once treasured friend had been cast out to die and then set upon by elementals which were to destroy it utterly. We took what we could; a couple of delaminated keys, one felt hammer and 13 field recordings. These recordings became 'Pieces for a Condemned Piano' which we released as a free download, our debut on the Dark Winter net label in December that year. Two years later while scouring through old files in a vain effort to tidy up a tired hard drive I decided to play a couple of innocuous untitled tracks I'd stumbled upon. I was surprised to discover two completely finished arrangements from the 'Pieces for a Condemned Piano' samples gathered almost exactly two years previously. I played them to Alec he was as surprised as I that neither of us could remember them. (Ten days ago we revisited the spot where the piano once lay and in the dirt beneath a fence we found one white laminate from one of the piano keys. We left it there as a mark of respect.) Here then are those tracks, presented as 'The Condemned Piano (Memory)'. We thought we had heard all the piano had to give but this appeared to us as the melancholic ghost of a familiar distant echo - one last meditation on a life discarded sung to us from the past; a beautiful but final goodbye. KJBR Listen/Download Thanks to Leon Vlieger & Ikecht for this review: 'Formication - 'The Condemned Piano (Memory)' Apart from some albums on the .net label Dark Winter the British formation Formication also has a few albums on their own webpage. Or technically, on the website Virb, one of the many social networking sites on the internet today. My introduction to Formication was their "Pieces For A Condemned Piano", which I liked very much. So, I was positively surprised to come across a "part two" on their website. The story goes that while cleaning out a hard drive these gentlemen came across two completely finished, and completely forgotten, compositions, which dated back to the recording session of abovementioned album. These have now been released as "The Condemned Piano (Memory)" and can be found on Formication's Virb page. Soundwise these two pieces are close to the hypnotic last track of the original album. Again we hear repetitive and unrecognisably warped samples of a piano. As Formication would have it, the instrument is speaking to us one more time through the veils of time. Admittedly, there is indeed something to the sound that suggests this, a sort of delayed echo, which grants a particular quality to the music. With just 25 minutes it's a short final chord. But, as far as I'm concerned, these are more than just leftovers from the cutting table. Recommended for all those who enjoyed the first album! Originally written in Dutch for the weblog of IkEcht (http://ikecht.web-log.nl), English translation by the author.'