Steve Roden + Stephen Vitiello

The Spaces Contained In Each

EDRM415

November 10, 2014

CD, Digital, Streaming

Steve Roden and Stephen Vitiello are sound artists working at the nexus of sculpture and acoustics. They are professional listeners, embedding themselves in the auditory and relishing that which is encompassed in their horizon of listening. It’s their shared horizon of listening then, that is at the core of The Spaces Contained In Each. 

Recorded as part of their joint residency on Governor’s Island in New York, this edition documents their installation work created for the unique acoustics of the Cornelius Chapel. Like many of the recordings that populate their solo discographies, The Spaces Contained In Each, dwells in a zone of rich textural soundscapes. 

Distant bells toll at the edges of perception, field recordings flutter amid bursts of modular synth and other electronics. The sound field is constantly evolving and unfolding as layer upon layer of sound draws you deeper into their sound space. Moments of hushed tonality break into explosive bursts of frequency, though at no time does the work break its auditory suspension of disbelief.

This collaboration sounds out new pathways into fields of sound well explored by each of these artists. It marks an accumulation of their works, both individually and as collaborators. Indeed, The Spaces Contained In Each, is an apt metaphor for the sounds presented throughout this edition.

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selected press

AdHoc: “…a meditation on the spaces created by metaphorical or literal swaths of silence within sound.” 
Sonic Masala: Roden brings a rounded aestheticism to Vitiello’s atmospheric sound sculpting, giving an organic, breathing environment that is both febrile and moribund, with a dormant danger lying between the two. It’s both lulling and tense – the truest feeling yet to being on the cusp of undiscovered territory, where the breathtaking beauty kicks the endorphins into action, but also cuts the leash of control to the quick. Let go.” 
Avant Music News: “In this single 49-minute track, Roden and Vitello combine seamlessly to set out shimmering, scratchy background drones, on top of which lie their incidental sound effects and creations. Bells, popping noises, and gentle, post-industrial clangs combine with other foreground tones. All of this in blended to such a point that there is nothing jarring nor shrill. The Spaces Contained in Each is music that can be listened to over and over, with new textures and characteristics emerging each time.” 
TheMusic” Operating at the subliminal level this meditative album is based on the artists’ recordings of silence, subtly deep listening within a highly conceptual sound space.” 
Boomkat: “Steve Roden and Stephen Vitiello are sound artists working at the nexus of sculpture and acoustics. It’s a shared horizon of listening that is at the core of ‘The Spaces Contained In Each’. This collaboration sounds out new pathways into fields of sound well explored by each of these artists. It marks an accumulation of their works, both individually and as collaborators.” 
SoundOHM: “Moments of hushed tonality break into explosive bursts of frequency, though at no time does the work break its auditory suspension of disbelief. “