This cd contains 3 pieces inspired by Arnold Shoenberg's 'The Book of the Hanging Gardens' and in particular the poems by Stefan George that Shoenberg used as lyrics. Track one uses Steve Roden's voice reading/singing part of the text as the only sound material. Track two uses the vowel structure from the text as a score for striking five tones on a small chime. Track three uses samples from the Shoenberg work as well as Roden's voice singing the same text as track one.

"speak no more about the leaves
thieved by the wind
nor about ripebursting quinces
nor the tread of winter's vandals down the year
nor the trembling of the dragonflies when rain falls
nor the candles flickering in the fickle air."

"Nel suo ultimo lavoro Steve Roden infonde vita al panorama elettroacustico impiegando l'elemento meno ortodosso in quest'ambito, la voce, quello stesso elemento che ci aveva incantato in dischi come "Humming Endlessly..." e "The Radio". [...] Soave e leggero, il disco lambisce territori d'ascolto in permanente fluire, dimostrando la maestria di Roden nel dare forma agli stati d'animo più mutevoli. Qui la voce non è semplice pretesto o punto di partenza da modificare e rendere irriconoscibile, ma appare senza filtri in tutta la sua fragilità di elemento umano: non uno strumento "educato" al canto ma strumento invece d'un canto interiore che manifesta cedimenti ma anche passaggi di unica e umana bellezza...." [Daniela Cascella - Blow-up]

this work was originally an installation presented at inmo gallery, in chinatown/los angeles, december 2000. the work was created using 3 objects purchased at chinatown giftshops: a toy wooden flute, a small aluminum wind chime, a small paper accordion. each track was created using one of these objects as the only sound source. some of the sounds have been processed electronically. the installation was created in response to: the generic sounding 'muzak' playing in most of the public spaces of chinatown; the private landscape of chinatown lingering unnoticed in alleys and second floor windows; and, a book on the history of chinese philosopher's stones. the audio was installed in front of a large picture window facing the chinatown pedestrian area. * Steve Roden

[3 lunghi brani in cui origine dei suoni sono piccoli balocchi e strumenti giocattolo. anche in questo cd steve roden crea le proprie composizioni a partire da oggetti quotidiani, strumenti di carta, campanelline, riuscendo a distillarne attimi incantevoli.]