One Copy Only and We’ll Have It

Starting Monday, the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh – Music Dept is excited to be the sole holder of a new CD by David Bernabo.  That’s right.  One copy will be made, we’ll have it, and we want you to come in and hear it.

Here’s the press release:

DAVID BERNABO RELEASES DJ RESPONSIBILITY’S FORMALISM: ONE COPY ONLY

After the recent Assembly LP, five solo records, seven Vale and Year records, two scores for Nintendo Wii games, and involvement with Boca Chica, Daryl Fleming, Nathan Hall, Boxstep, Jack Wilson, and DBLD, Pittsburgh musician David Bernabo is pursuing a more conceptual approach to a new album under the name DJ Responsibility. The album, titled Formalism, is being released as a single CD, meaning, one copy only.

The extremely limited copy is not available for sale, but will be presented as a free installation in the Music Department of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh in Oakland from April 19-May 31, 2010. Passers-by are invited to listen to the 19-minute album through headphones. The project aims to set up the contradiction between exclusive and freely-available, placing itself in the middle of special edition and boutique records, art installation, and the growing trend of free music (via Bandcamp, free album streams, illegal downloads).

The music itself spans a number of genres and styles, from the TV-show segues of “Before the Event” and “During the Event” to the electronic time changes in “Nearer, the Twelve Bens”. “As In Form” starts as an interplay between field recordings and glitches, transitions into a clip-filled electric piano dirge, and ends with a race of vibraphone and electronic synths. The closing track, “After the Event”, blends tight drums with harpsichord, electric piano, and the sounds of a lightning storm on Saturn.

Made up of local composers, the vocal quintet Vocal Assembly makes a guest appearance in “Voice, and Then”, which is an attempt to translate the art of Paul Klee into music. Some of the sounds that creep into the piece include streams and abandoned coal plants in Shamokin, PA, gate doors in Point State Park, and piano and vibraphone sessions performed by composer Nathan Hall and Bernabo.

“Nero and His Fire” opens with filmmaker and musician tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE playing chains, bass drum, a bicycle wheel, and the “Wheel-of-Fortune” before erupting into a flurry of Bernabo-play instruments and overlapping time signatures.

Starting as a joke during the Vale and Year days, DJ Responsibility has come into existence to spread the word of responsibility in music creation and distribution.

Thanks to the generosity of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, the album will be available in the Music Department of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh in Oakland during normal library hours, Monday through Thursday – 10AM to 8PM, Friday and Saturday – 10AM to 5:30PM, and Sunday 12PM to 5PM.

Cool idea, eh?  Can’t wait to see you here with headphones on.

— Tim