... i listen to the wind that obliterates my traces (BOOK + 2CD)

from steve roden

limited edition hardcover book with 2cds.

various artists
edition: 2500
dust to digital
2011

'… i listen to the wind that obliterates my traces brings' together a collection of vintage photographs related to music, a group of 78rpm recordings, and short excerpts from various literary sources that are contemporary with the sound and images. it is a somewhat intuitive gathering, culled from my collection of thousands of vernacular photographs related to music, sound, and listening. the subjects range from the pt barnum-esque professor mcrea – “ontario’s musical wonder” (pictured with his complex sculptural one man band contraption) – to anonymous african-american guitar players and images of early phonographs. the images range from professional portraits to ethereal, accidental, double exposures – and include a range of photographic print processes, such as tintypes, ambrotypes, cdvs, cabinet cards, real photo postcards, albumen prints, and turn-of-the-century snapshots.

the two cds display a variety of recordings, including one-off amateur recordings, regular commercial releases, and early sound effects records. there is no narrative structure to the book, but the collision of literary quotes (hamsun, lagarkvist, wordsworth, nabokov, etc.). recordings and images conspire towards a consistent mood that is anchored by the book’s title, which binds such disparate things as an early recording of an american cowboy ballad, a poem by a swedish nobel laureate, a recording of crickets created artificially, and an image of an itinerant anonymous woman sitting in a field, playing a guitar. the book also contains an essay by roden.

“a really cool unexpected book, that my wife gave me. there is great written material and extraordinary photographs. the book also has two cds of early folk, blues and country.it is by a small press, dust-to-digital.”
— richard gere, books i’m reading, in usa weekend magazine

"it’s just this incredible collection of photographs from the 1800s and early 1900s of musicians. and then the two cds that come with it are recordings of 78s. some of them are even archival, kind of retrievals of sound effects for movies. like there’s this one of wind from the ’30s, just really an incredible collection."
— jeff tweedy, wilco

Sold Out

More merch from steve roden

  1. a thousand breathing forms 5CDbox + 3"CD

    Sold Out

  2. small songs for kack jirby – limited 2x12" gatefold vinyl

    Record/Vinyl

    Sold Out

  3. striations CD

    Sold Out

  4. every color moving 1988-2003 6CDbox

    Sold Out

  5. flower & water CD

    Sold Out

  6. a big circle drawn with little hands – limited edition 12" vinyl

    Record/Vinyl

    Sold Out

  7. when words become forms BOOK

    Sold Out

  8. stars of ice – limited signed + numbered edition CD

    Compact Disc (CD)

    Sold Out

  9. gloppen = open glow PRINT

    Poster/Print

    Sold Out

  10. dark over light earth – limited edition CD

    Compact Disc (CD)

    Sold Out

  11. cosmic debris: volume II CD

    Sold Out

  12. oder delias or butterflies – limited edition CD

    Compact Disc (CD)

    Sold Out

  13. one stone. and arcs and ears – limited edition red 7" vinyl

    Record/Vinyl

    Sold Out

  14. transmissions (voices of objects and skies) – limited edition CD

    Compact Disc (CD)

    Sold Out

  15. ear(th) – limited edition CD + catalog

    Compact Disc (CD)

    Sold Out

  16. speak no more about the leaves – limited edition CD

    Compact Disc (CD)

    Sold Out

  17. schindler house – limited edition CD + 3 postcards

    Compact Disc (CD)

    Sold Out

  18. winter couplet – limited edition CD

    Compact Disc (CD)

    Sold Out

  19. the opening of the field – limited edition CD
    brandon labelle + steve roden

    Compact Disc (CD)

    Sold Out

  20. view – limited edition CD

    Compact Disc (CD)

    Sold Out

  21. translations & articulations – limited edition CD + exhibit catalog

    Compact Disc (CD)

    Sold Out

  22. crop circles CD

    Sold Out

  23. chair / splint / lamp 3" CD series set

    Sold Out

  24. humming endlessly in the hush – limited edition CD
    in be tween noise

    Compact Disc (CD)

    Sold Out

  25. so delicate and strangely made – limited edition CD
    in be tween noise

    Compact Disc (CD)

    Sold Out

about

steve roden Pasadena, California

steve roden is a visual & sound artist from los angeles,
who pioneered the lowercase style of music; where quiet, usually unheard, sounds are amplified to form complex and rich soundscapes.

his work includes painting, drawing, sculpture, film/video, sound installation, text and performance.
... more

contact / help

Contact steve roden

Streaming and
Download help

Shipping and returns

Report this merch item or account