Album Notes

The Wire Magazine November 2006 by Ken Hollings

As a founding member of the New York Society for Acoustic Ecology Edmund Mooney has a clear sense of place working in gallery spaces, collaborating with choreographers and theater groups, and devising sound specific websites. The Eighth Nerve is a sensitive and thoughtful affair. Dreamily deceptive spaces start to open up. Blurred shamanic voices drift, forms tumble and spin while the noises made by an Italian juicer are transformed into deep sonorous humming. Some of the stronger pieces in this collection, such as the tightly focused " To the Click" and the supple "Louder Crickets" were composed to accompany dance pieces...


Review by Stephen Fruitman for Sonomu.Net at 09:24, 28 May 2007
http://sonomu.net/text/~edmund-mooney-th/

Fifteen pieces composed mostly for dance between 1998 and 2005 and self-released by the composer in a handsome digipak.Rather than strictly musician, Edmund Mooney seems more of the art community at large, a Brooklyn Renaissance Man whose CV includes dozens of entries for "incidental music", "scores", "sound design" and "soundscapes" for dance, theatre, film, gallery installations and even for Estée Lauder cosmetic products...but no discography.
Then again, this is his first release (a second CD, ”Happy Trails”, has just recently been issued). Mooney appears to use no conventional instruments, exploring instead the possibilities of various types of software in an imaginative, and often highly pleasing, manner. The tracks in this collection do not really cohere; each stands alone, and quite a few are like semi-precious stones whose many facets cast beguiling reflections as they are turned round and round in your ear. Despite its digital origins, none of the music sounds artificial or antiseptic. The languorous "Rotation" is particularly "tactile"; you feel as if you could sink your arms up to your elbows in its spongey softness; "Ode 5" recalls Tibetan singing bowls to Zen-out to; and "Choral Loops" features a mad, over-caffinated violinist who´s lost his klezmer band but keeps playing the same notes over and over until fragments of a choir join him - possibly the most arresting piece in the collection, one that certainly needs no dance number or stage scene going on in front of it to provide context. With so many pieces ranging over so many years and disciplines, some pieces are inevitably more attractive to certain listeners than others. On the whole, though, there is plenty of well-composed music for any discerning listener.
Artist Bio
Edmund Mooney is an exciting composer, performer and sound artist who has worked in all manner of mediums and with all manner of artists. His work with installation artist Erika Haarsch has been included in Fotofest Houston TX & Galeria Leme, Sao Poalo Brazil, The Seoul International Media ArtBiennale among others. His work with the New York Society for Acoustic Ecology has taken him all over the country offering performances, educational soundwalks and lectures. His 20 year recording career has spanned rock, ambient, electronica, classical and sound art. Recent works include sound design for the play “Mercury Fur” with his wife, director Glynis Rigsby, sound walks for the Muhlenberg College Ethics of Space, Power of Place symposium and an ongoing live collaboration with composer/instrumentalist Jonny Farrow entitled Musique d’ hombre. He is also hard at work on a terse and emotional pop album combining 70’s rock influences with his unique minimalist electronic sensibility which will be available soon!