News from Blake Edwards:

Hello, and welcome to the first 2016 email from ballast.

First, and utterly foremost, thank you for your interest in this venture thus far. It’s been moving along for almost a year, and to have as many people interested in both the art I produce and the artists with whom I share affiliations and interests has been, and I’m pretty sure will continue to be, a fantastic counterbalance to my “9 to 5” life.

So, let us press on with information about the first ballast release for 2016, and some teasers for what is to come…

Out now!

NVP06. Eric Lunde: The fear of appearing monotonous prevents us from recording expressions which, upon such occasions, are all very apt to resemble one another (CDR, book, collage)

I am extremely pleased to present this reissue of a 1988 cassette withdrawn (not for audio related reasons…) almost immediately upon release at Eric’s request, a decision Eric has often said was extremely frustrating as he considers this a seminal example of both his process- and language-driven works: I am hard pressed to disagree.

As noted in his original liner notes, Eric initiated the recording process using his preferred taped reduplication process with voice but “In the middle of the engagement, I discovered at the local Radio Shack a simple biofeedback monitor…” He then used said biofeedback monitor to document responses to various readings of de Sade’s work. Although he acknowledged that the device was “rarely sensitive enough to register the slightest reaction of the mind through the body to highly aggressive sexual and violent words,” Eric still says he was satisfied with the outcome, having “always been interested in a direct form of expression: the body directly creating sound and image without interference.”

With that framework in mind, I hope you can see why I am so excited to bring this release back into the world. This edition, housed in a small 6″ x 9″ booklet, contains both the original liner notes and contemporary supplemental texts by Lunde.

One extremely special component of this edition is that each copy includes a unique, original signed and numbered 4″ x 6″ collage by Matt Taggart (known to many as PCRV). Both Eric and I have been fans of Matt’s collage work over the past few years, so we decided to commission these collages. To make things a bit more challenging / interesting for Matt, and to cement the collage’s connection to the audio, we placed some OULIPO-inspired constraints on the visual elements (outlined the booklet) to reflect the source material. Unsurprisingly, Matt delivered beautifully.

This is in an edition of 78 copies (signed and numbered by Eric, with the collage signed and numbered by Matt). The cost will be $32 ppd in the United States; for rest of world orders, please contact so I can calculate postage.

~However~!

Since you asked to be kept abreast of ballast releases, the price is $26 ppd in the United States–the rest of world will still be stuck with shipping, but the base price will still be reduced.

Some final notes about NVP 06:
1) I can (to a limited extent) provide you with the edition number of your choosing, but I’d say send three options to be safe.
2) when you make payment via Paypal, if you can do so as a “friend / family” it will spare me the administrative fees they dock.

The web presence for ballast is here:
http://ballastnvp.blogspot.com/

and, last, here is what’s coming down the pike for Ballast in 2016:

NVP07. Vertonen: Rose Gardens (CDR, textual support) The second in a trilogy of releases (which began with Send the Call Out Send). Edition of 33 copies.

NVP08. Vertonen: stutterer (CDR, visuals) A collection of more rhythmic mechanical compositions: think Esplendor Geometrico or Sat Stochismo and you’re in the ballpark. Edition of 33 copies.

…and, catalog numbers are yet to be determined for the following:

• Arvo Zylo Children of the Stones (2 x 3” CDR) Compositions by this Chicago artist that revolve around audio (and underlying concepts) from the 1970s children’s British TV program. Edition of 55 copies.

• Howard Stelzer: (6 x cs, title TBD) A master of cassette manipulation and the pride of New England.

• Vertonen: Intentional Accident (CDR, textual support) The final in the trilogy of releases (which began with Send the Call Out Send). The textual support features a key that answers all the puzzles brought up throughout the trilogy. Edition of 33 copies.

• Jason Soliday & Matt Taggart (format and title TBD)

Thank you for your time and interest,

Blake