Arthur Lang

Biography

My name’s Arthur Lang. I make music. I’ve always found that easier to say than to explain. I started writing and recording when I was young, mostly because it gave me something to focus on. I grew up listening to records in the car with my brother, usually on long drives with nowhere specific to go. A lot of my work still feels like that to me.

I’ve worked in and around jazz, film music, and a few other areas that don’t fit neatly into categories. I’ve released some things, shelved others and lost track of a fair amount along the way. I like to think I’m fairly organized but I also tend to keep notes for things I’m sure I’ll remember later. Just in case.

Lately I’ve been interested in how people listen to music and how much of that process is actually intentional. A lot of music seems to pass through people without really stopping. I don’t know if that’s a failure of the listener or the music itself. Probably both. I try to make things that reward paying attention, even if that means they don’t make much sense the first time through.

I don’t spend much time thinking about the past, although I do seem to keep returning to the same ideas. I’m not nostalgic, exactly. I just don’t see much value in throwing things away if they still work. At the same time, I’m always trying to move on to something new, even when I’m not sure what that should be.

Most of what I’m working on now is unfinished. That’s not intentional, it just takes longer than it used to. Or maybe I’m more careful. I’m not sure. In any case, if you’re here looking for a complete picture, you probably won’t find one. I tend to leave things open, partly because I like it that way, and partly because closing things feels harder than it should.

This site is mostly for friends and family who keep asking “what are you working on?” and “where can I hear it?”

Discography

• Mauvaise Foi (1985)
  Style: Piano improvisation · 4-track tape.
• Fågelvägen (1988)
  Style: Field recordings · Noridc jazz · Piano improvisation
• Apophany (1993 • Monad Ljudteknik AB • LP, Album, Limited Edition, Numbered)
  Style: Ambient
• Sub Rosa (1995 • Monad Ljudteknik AB • LP, Album, Limited Edition, Numbered)
  Style: Jazz minimalism · Slow tempo
• NOIRIS (1997 • Monad Ljudteknik AB • LP, Album, Limited Edition, Numbered)
  Style: Noir jazz · Encoded material

LOOPS (work-in-progress)

Repetition opens doors, you know?

• Out of the Past — (404?)
• Call to Memory — (404?)
• Roses — (404?)
• Sonsonate — (404?)
• Opaque — (404?)
• DOORS — (404?)
• ROOMS — (404?)
• Absurd Man — (404?)
• Somewhen — (404?)
• Since You — (404?)
• NULL — (404?)

What caught my attention week 38

- Just picked up the new Buena Vista Social Club record. It’s one of those albums that immediately makes you want to play it again.

- Took the Impala out late one evening and realized how easy it is to keep driving when there’s nothing in particular waiting at home. I stayed in the car until the tape finished, even though I’d already heard it too many times.

- Spent an afternoon trying to “improve” a recording and ended up preferring the earlier version. Some flaws feel structural once you’ve lived with them long enough.

- Read a short article about memory and perception that made me uneasy in a way I couldn’t quite place. I’ve been thinking more about how much of what we remember is reconstruction rather than recall.

Note to self: Beware the Cat.

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