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Sollicitudo (2010)

by Kevan Revis

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about

An album I recorded and released in 2010 on my label Boxer Records in an edition of 100 copies with handmade covers. The two side-long untitled tracks incorporated some music that was new at the time, along with bits and pieces from earlier recordings, some as far back as the 1990's.

The digital download includes 4 bonus tracks recorded in 2018 and 2019 where I utilized the original album tracks as the source material.

If you would like a copy of the original LP, I may have one left to sell, please send me a message.

Reviews:

This really is a tremendous album - I stumbled across it when I stumbled across Boxer Records. It seems to strike just the right balance between creepiness and approach ability - creepy in the sense of dark sounds that remind you of strange noises you might hear in an abandoned building in the middle of the night; and approachable in the way it blends those sounds together into a tapestry of electronic and manipulated noise that you feel drawn to, every bit as much as you feel spooked by it. The first part feels more like a continuous story than the second, where there is more of an edginess to its short, individual bursts of sound. Together, the two parts give a tremendous picture of Kevan Revis' creativity, originality and sense for what works. (posted on Discogs by ipar1306)

Long form, dark experimental soundscapes. Anyone into this type of music will probably find something to appreciate here. The first track, my favorite of the two, evolves as follows: Mechanical and bell-like clanging, something that sounds like piano keys playing an improvised melody, and lots of low-end drone in the background. From there it shifts to a drone with subtle effects and flows into another drone with some higher-pitched tones. Then we have water sounds, some crackling and it transitions to more low-end drone, some muffled clanging and high, chiming tones. There is a brief moment of foreground metallic banging then it pauses and transitions to a low-end drone that builds in volume. Some subtle, high, chiming bell tones reappear as well as something that sounds like high-frequency digital samples that have been processed. Then it goes into shifting tones of various pitches and a mid-range background drone. Some mechanical clanging and chiming comes back as well the the piano key sounds. More deep drones reappear as well as the mechanical noises. Then I hear feedback and a mid-range drone that increases and decreases in volume. Some vague scratching sounds appear in the background, then some melodic tones with echo effects. The deep drone motif reappears with some watery shimmering in the background. The track closes out with a higher pitched grinding sound and some clipping noises. The second track evolves in a similar manner with a fairly similar sound palette but features more aggressive and direct use of cut-up editing techniques. Although I still prefer the first track, this one grows on me as I listen to the album more. This is a nice album that harks back to the days of the 80s and 90s underground experimental scene, but it doesn't feel like some kind of retro-imitation. (posted on Discogs by patientot)

Following three releases under his own name and one as Silver Stars Rising, Kevan Revis made the jump from CDRs to LPs and with ‘Sollicitudo’ he released his first one, in a limited edition of 100 copies. Not a lot of information on this one, but at least it looks better than his previous CDR only releases. There are no track titles, so perhaps its two tracks? One each per side, or perhaps its one long track, divided over two sides of the vinyl? But then, when listening to the record, one could also think that Revis uses various short bits that stand by themselves but are somehow also connected? Revis leaves us in the dark with that, but also when it comes to the nature of the instruments or sound sources used. By and large I think its a work of electronic music, using an array of synthesizers and sound effects on the first side and on the second side he ventures out in the world of sound collage and noise, mainly from what could very well be acoustic instruments. On both sides however he uses the cut up technique, which especially on the second side is set to a crude use. Here he opts for a rather noisy music on this side, but he never takes his material over the top. Revis is not a noise musician in the classical sense of the word, but rather plays some nice, low resolution music. The other side is less noise oriented, and seems to be going out in a more psychedelic field. Here too we find we occasionally acoustic samples of an undefined nature. The sound quality overall is not too great, but I’m not sure if that is due to the pressing or the recording of the record. It makes however a distinct difference, and falls in between genres. Not really noisy enough, but surely a far cry from the world of microsound. Quite a nice record! (posted on Vital Weekly by Frans de Waard)

(corrections to above review: I've released a dozen or so recordings under my own name in a physical format, not just three. One of the previous projects mentioned was called Seven Stars Rising, not Silver Stars Rising)

credits

released August 23, 2010

music: Kevan Revis
recorded: 2010
photo: Kevan Revis
label: Boxer Records

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about

Kevan Revis Massachusetts

DIY experimental music project active since the late 1980's

I've self-released an LP - Sollicitudo - and a dozen or so cassettes and CD-R's

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