Heaven Only Empty by Damien Ricketson Performed by Ensemble Offspring - Jason Noble (bass clarinet) - Claire Edwardes (vibraphone) - Bree van Reyk (drums) - Damien Ricketson (turntable) Heaven Only Empty is an extractable quartet from The Secret Noise: a collection of works inspired by music-making that has been deliberately shielded from public life. Other works in the series explore a variety of secret and private music-making ranging from forbidden ceremonial music to ‘legally extinguished’ compositions to music cliques and the growth of the ubiquitous headphone. Heaven Only Empty is a playful response to ‘backmasking’: the tradition of hiding secret messages in vinyl recordings. The work is a mashup of three golden-era rock songs that have variously been accused of containing subliminal messages when played backwards. The turntable in the ensemble conceptually interferes with the bass clarinet, vibraphone and drumkit by skipping, rewinding and generally manipulating the speed and direction in which the rest of the band play their music. The Secret Noise also exists as a show-length hybrid performance event (involving dance and installation) as well as additional CD and vinyl recordings that are peculiar to their media. For further information about the project visit: www.thesecretnoise.com This recording was made while in residence at the Campbelltown Arts Centre, Australia. Daniel Denholm (recording and mix engineer). Released by Curious Noise 2014