Marcus Fischer - On Falling (2019)

Marcus Fischer’s On Falling was originally self-released as a tour cassette in the fall of 2018. 12k is proud to offer this new version that contains the original release on side A combined with a 30-minute live recording on side B.

Marcus is known for his releases of carefully constructed studio works and tape manipulation, yet his process also embraces randomness, incidental, and found sounds. On Falling is an exploration of the latter techniques that allow for improvisation and capture the results in a single stereo take. This reproduces the experience of his live performances.

The improvised work on On Falling is as captivating as Fischer’s studio work—the presence of physical contact between body and instrument with musical notes that undulate in the stereo field, never resolving the same way. Despite the irregular nature of his compositions, the music is patient and gentle, while staying alert and engaging. Fischer’s acoustic instrumentation and understanding of the digital and tape manipulation process makes the nature of the sounds something new entirely, something that falls outside of standard definitions.

The live performance “On April 29th” (presented on side B of the cassette) contains many of the elements found on the first four tracks (guitar, tape loops, modular synthesizer and field recordings) as well as the voices from one of Fischer’s installations. For this performance, Marcus focused on textures centered around extended guitar techniques. Using objects placed under and on top of strings, he creates sympathetic overtones, transforms his guitar sound into a chorus of bells beneath pipe organ drones. Amid dusty musical passages and the swells of his prepared guitar, the performance draws to a close in a wash of analog tape delay from a repurposed reel to reel recorder.