Von Samartzis heißt es: “In January 2006, Sean Baxter, David Brown, and I had the opportunity to record inside West Space—a Melbourne artist-run initiative—during its summer shutdown. With the gallery empty and silent, we spent two evenings exploring its acoustic and spatial dimensions through a series of improvised performances. Using percussion, electro-acoustic guitar, electronics, field recordings, and found objects, we responded directly to the material qualities of the space—its concrete floors and walls, reverberant surfaces, and the presence of an elevator shaft that acted like a resonant chamber. The recordings were archived soon after and left untouched until the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, when the stillness of that period prompted me to listen back. What I found was a striking intimacy—a sonic record shaped as much by the architecture as by our actions. Room tone, reverberation, duct and electrical hums, and incidental noises imprint the performances with the space’s quiet presence. Originally recorded by Thomas Couzinier and myself, and newly mixed and mastered in April 2025,  After Hours is both a document and a memory. It captures a fleeting moment when Western Grey tuned into West Space—and allowed it to speak back”. Western Grey bestehen aus Sean Baxter (Perkussion, Raumakustik, gefundene Objekte), David Brown (elektroakustische Gitarre) und Philip Samartzis (Elektronik, Field Recordings, Turntable, Mikros).

“Air Pressure reflects the instability of the south polar region, characterized by dynamic weather that generates a wide range of auditory experiences—from stagnant silences to sharp tonal contrasts. These mutable conditions are mirrored in tactile instrumental performances, which respond to the patterns, resonances, ruptures and chaos inherent in the Antarctic landscape and its constructed spaces. Air Pressure celebrates the indeterminate forces and strange atmospherics operating at the margins of our planet within the framework of contemporary haptic performance. The dissonance arising from these tensions invites listeners to experience a unique form of sensorial engagement shaped by both tangible and spectral realities. This project thus underscores the complex interplay between powerful natural forces and human-made structures and objects set within one of the world’s most abrasive environments”. (Room40)

Atmospheres and Disturbances registers the changes in high altitude ecologies caused by increasing global temperatures. The composition is based on field work undertaken at the High-Altitude Research Station at Jungfraujoch, Switzerland where for four weeks I deployed various recording devices around the station, and in the surrounding alpine environment to register natural, anthropogenic and geophysical forces. The project provides new encounters of an endangered alpine environment to enhance the way we perceive and engage with notions of place, community, and environmental dissonance. During fieldwork I used different microphones to record a variety of acoustic, spatial, atmospheric, and vibration-based phenomena. Omnidirectional microphones registered wind, snow, and ice as well as social, material, and industrial sound emanating from the nearby train terminus and viewing platforms. Hydrophones were placed within water and ice to record geophysical sound resonating within the frozen environment of Jungfraujoch and the adjacent glacier. The recordings capture the pervasive presence of anthropogenic sound permeating throughout the landscape produced by tourists, transport operations and recreational sports. Accelerometers were attached to various surfaces and structures to record solid vibration generated by high-velocity wind, and the process of melting and freezing. The recordings produced by the accelerometers clearly express the stress and fatigue occurring within the material structure of buildings and infrastructure”. (Philip Samartzis)