FAVORY, JEAN-BAPTISTE - Things Under: Organic Compositions for Guitars and Electronics
Because we are heathens, we first heard about J-B Favory when we reissued Los Lichis incredible 2LP set, Dog (FTR 229LP, 2016). Favory was the one non-Mexican member of the ensemble, traveling once a year (or so) to collude with the insane artists of Los Lichis. Had we been less dim, we would have known Favory was an avant composer of note, having served as an assistant to Luc Ferrari and Gavin Bryars, before setting off on his own musique concrete path. He is also the co-host of the longest-running experimental music radio show, Epsilonia (on the anarchist Radio Libertaire), and a guy whose recordings are well loved by fanciers of the avant. That said, Favory has never had a solo LP (despite a number of CDs), so when he sent us some of his new work, we jumped on it. Things Under is one of the most mesmerizing blends of guitar and electronics weve heard in years. Favorys approach to strings ranges from the idyllic to something very much like the Machine Guitars (1982) of Remko Scha. The way he collages these sounds into electronics is spectacular. Often, in similarly intended projects, theres a friction in the shift between guitar and electronics. The elements can feel like worlds apart. But not here. Like some of Manuel Göttschings best solo recordings, the two sonic globes meet without colliding. Their molecules and atoms just slip into and through each other. Its a total gas. And often difficult to figure out whether a specific sonic event is generated by guitar or electronics. Been listening to this for days and it still sounds a great and mysterious as it did when I first threw it on. A stone keeper. - Byron Coley, 2017. Edition of 300.
After nearly a decade of false starts, multiple game plans veering off the rails, and a handful of shattered hopes and/or dreams, the odyssey is finally complete—the new Fusetron site is here.
This is the first phase of a multipart rollout that will span the next few months: the currently browsable stock includes miscellaneous new releases from the past 8+ months (we have a lot of catching up to do), plus approximately a third of our backstock. Note that we’ve reduced/slashed prices on many titles and will continue to do so in order to make room for new stock. We’ll also be expanding / tweaking / improving / debugging the site itself (for example, we still have work to do on the automated international postage system, not to mention the inevitable inventory discrepancies that come with transferring an ancient and massive database to a new system).
Over the next few months, as we take inventory, clean house, and delve into our storage, we will be uploading thousands of additional items, gradually, on a near-daily basis. This will include the majority of the LPs, as well as many titles, in all formats, once thought long-gone. Many currently “sold out” items are likely to resurface.
Finally, once our general backstock is up (probably in the next two or three months) we’ll begin making our extensive stockpile of rarities available online for the first time: tons of random out-of-print titles, "deadstock," warehouse finds, secondhand collectibles, etc., accumulated over the past few decades.
Frequent/returning customers will be getting early access to these items. Details to follow on how this will work (a priority mailing list? a 'frequent flyer'-like program?), but it will not be based on dollars spent. We want to reward those who consistently support us, especially in the discogs marketplace era (to those who show up trying to poach five copies of a one-off rarity, and nothing else, ever… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ).
So—we suggest you take some time to dig through the site—even we’ve been surprised by what’s been turning up, and there’s much more to come.
