Minit
Bio
MINIT is the duo of Jasmine Guffond and Torben Tilly. Over a period of almost 10 years Minit have been making records, exhibiting sound installations and performing live, developing works of varied scope based on the use of processed acoustic, electronic, and found sound sources. Their releases to date convey a unique meeting of improvised abstract electronics and stripped back minimalist design, yet reveal in almost every case a penchant for the unexpected, either as a melodic twist into song or as a sudden implosion into chaotic spectral noise.
Minit formed in 1997 in Sydney, Australia. Jasmine Guffond currently resides in Berlin, Germany and Torben Tilly Auckland, New Zealand.
Audio: Now Right Here /excerpt/
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
The music of Minit transforms incrementally over time in subtle and hallucinatory ways. From fragile harmonic and melodic intonations to towering, ecstatic drones bordering at times on rock music forms. Their release ‘Now Right Here’ on Germany’s Staubgold label was a masterpiece collection of spectral drone music, capturing a balance between noise and harmony, excitation and calmness, distance and intimacy – drawing you into a hypnotic, psychedelic sound-world that is like no other.
Discography
Organ Eye, Thema 1 & 2, Staubgold 74 CD/LP.
/collaboration between Minit, David Marahna & Patricia Machas/
Born out of both creative empathy and chance, Organ Eye were formed in the wake of a live concert of David Maranha (Osso Exotico) and Minit (Jasmine Guffond & Torben Tilly), which took place at the ZDB Gallery in Lisbon, Portugal at the end of February 2005. With the addition of Patricia Machás (also a member of Osso Exotico), the quartet that now forms Organ Eye was completed, and in March and December of 2006, they recorded their eponymous debut album.
2006
Winged Life, Buddha Machine Remix Compilation,Staubgold 72CD
Now Right Here, Staubgold 53 CD/LP
…with their unhierarchical approach to the use of ‘found’ sound, a fuzzed out electric bass line sits neatly alongside field recordings of atmospheric hum – their individual sound qualities overriding their semiotic value, so that each sound, representing a layer, shimmers and swells within minit’s evolving, sonic habitat.
‘now right here’, the title track as well as the album, is about being caught in the moment. from fragile harmonic and melodic intonations to towering, ecstatic drones and electrical disturbances this album captures a balance betwen noise and harmony, excitation and calmness, distance and intimacy – drawing you into a hypnotic, psychedelic sound-world that belongs uniquely to minit. now right here is a fragile, immersive and emotional album.
2003
Ijmuiden, Preservation double compilation CD
cc/bb, Sigma Editions 008 LP
Blue Variation, Harmonia 001 compilation CD (Jasmine Guffond)
Bootleg/Four, Tonschacht 001 7
1999
Music, Sigma Editions 003 CD
‘II/Four, Snawklor Records 8″ lathe cut
‘II, Zonar Recordings double compilation CD
Selected Press Excerpts
‘Thursday night in the tiny, dimly-lit ‘bunker’ of the Mission Theatre sees Sydney based duo Minit deliver an awesome set of minimalist electronics – exquisitely controlled tones, drones and half hidden rhythms providing one of the most gripping performances of the week.’
- Dave Howell, ‘On Location: This is Not Art Festival, Newcastle, Australia,’ The Wire, November 2001
‘This duo has the golden touch, honestly….[their] music is like escaping gas, except its been wrapped in a big, hazy, gauzy ball of cotton wool, then steeped in liquid codeine.’ - Jon Dale.
‘Perfect combination of ecstatic rock (‘Ecstacy Symphony’) and textural drone.’
- Neptune Records. http://www.neptunerecords.com
‘Think Fennesz – no beat, melody or instruments but the hook remains.’
- Flux, UK
‘Now Right Here is a complex, yet extremely powerful and utterly enjoyable journey through the world of sound relationships. Truly Minit’s masterpiece, it’s one of the best albums of the year so far, hands down. Most highly recommended.’
- Thor www.twoblock.net
Live Performances
BangBang Club w-Spectrum. (Minit)
2007
Staubgold label night, Wien Modern Festival, Vienna. (Minit)
Klangtransfer Ost/West Festival , Kulturbunker, Köln. (Minit)
Parismoskau, Leipzig. (Minit)
Oi, Oi, Oi, Zentrale Randlage, Berlin. (Minit)
2006
Full Pull Festival, Malmö, Sweden. (Minit)
High Tide : New Currents In Art From Australia;
Contemporary Art Gallery, Vilnius, Lithuania. (Minit)
High Tide : New Currents In Art From Australia;
Zacheta National Gallery Warsaw. (Minit)
MOK, Opole. (Minit)
BWA, Zielona Gora. (Minit)
Musikcafeen, Aarhus..(Minit)
Musikhost Festival, Odense. (Minit)
Quitch, Linz. (Minit)
Goldmund Festival 2006, Biesenthal. (Minit)
NBI, Berlin. (Minit)
2005
Vibrator, Crawdaddy, Dublin. (Minit)
Chinch / Explicit Music Series, REX/ B92 Cultural Centre Belgrade. (Minit)
Jazzjuice Festival, Aarhus, Denmark (Minit)
Komponent #74, Copenhagen. (Minit)
Explicit Music Sesija 2. MAMA. Zagreb. (Minit)
ZDB, Lisbon. (Organ Eye)
2nd Klangbad Festival, Scheer. (Minit)
Music in a Garden, Köln. (Minit)
Redux / Terry Riley, Watergate, Berlin. (Minit)
2004
Festival of Exiles, hau 2, Berlin. (Minit)
co/pop festival, Cologne. (Minit)
Extrapool, Nijmegen. (Minit)
ZKM, Kahlsruhe, Germany. (Minit)
Rhiz Club, Vienna, Austria. (Minit)
Stadtwerkstatt, Linz. (Minit)
Ausland, Berlin. (Minit)
What is Music? Festival, Ding Dong Lounge, Melbourne. (Jasmine Guffond).
2003
Tour of Germany & London; Berlin, Köln, Bremen, Hamburg, Kahlsruhe, London. (Minit)
Club der Pölnischer Versager, Berlin. (Minit)
Raumschiff Zitrone, Lichtblicht Kino, Berlin. (Minit)
NBI, Berlin. (Minit)
MS Stubnitz, Scszecin. (Minit)
Staubgold Label Night, Magnet, Berlin. (Minit)
Impermanent Audio, Frequency Lab, Sydney. (Minit)
If You Like Improvised Music We Like You, Space 3, Sydney. (Minit)
303, Melbourne. (Minit)
Big Day Out, EAR stage, Sydney. (Walk On Miss Venezuela)
2001
Electro Fringe Festival, Newcastle. (Minit).
Static Museum Two, Artspace, (Minit).
Sydney Impermanent Audio, Imperial Slacks, Sydney. (solo)
What is Music? Festival, Imperial Slacks, Sydney. (Minit)
Big Day Out Festival, 2SER stage, Sydney. (Minit)
Voices of the Living Dead, Scott Donovan Gallery, Sydney. (Minit)
Revolver, Melbourne. (Minit)
2000
Sigma Editions European Tour 2000. (Minit)
12 date tour; Cologne, Rotterdam, Saarbrucken, Paris, Zurich, Rome, Milan, Berlin,
Hamburg, London.
Sound Particle #3, Gallery 19, Sydney. (Minit)
West Space Gallery, Melbourne (solo).
Audio Ideas: Talk/Listen, Artspace, Sydney. (Minit)
What is Music? Festival, Melbourne. (Minit)
Big Day Out, What is Music? Stage, Sydney. (Minit)
1999
Mixing It, Studio Recording Session, BBC 3, London. (Minit)
Sigma Editions European Tour 1999. (Minit)
12 date tour in Helsinki, Tallinn, Frankfurt, Berlin, Saarbrucken, Nijmegen, Munich,Vienna, Cologne.
Red Iris, Georges Hall, Sydney. (Jasmine Guffond)
1998
50 Record Players Live, The Public Office, Melbourne. (Minit)
What is Music? Festival, Artspace, Sydney. (Minit)
Zonar Recordings live music series, Adelaide Arts Festival, Adelaide. (Jasmine Guffond)
