1992’s terrace of memories

Posted on by dirkserries

Super excited to announce that PROJEKT/Sam Rosenthal just launched a KICKSTARTER campaign for the newly remastered edition and vinyl release of SAM ROSENTHAL and VIDNA OBMANA‘s critically acclaimed 1992 album ‘TERRACE OF MEMORIES‘.  Read all about this here below.  Sam and Dirk will also throw a listening party on bandcamp which you can join. Go to the KICKERSTARTER here.

In the words of Sam Rosenthal :
Today I’m asking for your pledge on this Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign to create a remastered edition of Terrace of Memories, my 1992 collaboration with Dirk Serries (aka: VidnaObmana.) Your donations will make this rerelease possible. The $8000 we need to raise all goes to manufacturing the three physical formats: 140-gram color vinyl, CD, and MiniDisc.

I’m excited to create this reissue with the help of people who believe in our art and want to see this campaign succeed – people like you! Backing this campaign is like preordering and a lot like being a patron of the arts.

Terrace will be a single 140-gram vinyl LP in your choice of two color options. Limited to 250 each.

Tell me how I can help

Kickstarter is all or nothing; we need your pledge to help us pass the goal so the campaign succeeds. This lovely new edition will exist through pledges from people like you — our patron of the arts. Select the reward tier for LP, CD, or MiniDisc. If you want to go the extra mile, you can support at higher levels with CD & LP bundles plus opportunities to get your name in the credits. 

Credit cards are not charged until the campaign is over.

Reward tiers are on the right side of your web browser or the rewards tab on mobile.

Every contribution is important — whether you give $5 or $200!

Your support is integral to the album’s existence. Your involvement allows me to make physical formats I would not be able to otherwise create: deluxe editions with extra detail and attention. And love.

By pledging, you become part of the team that realizes this release.

You can listen to the remastered album right now at Bandcamp. And while you’re there, RSVP for the July 22nd Listening Party.

Memories of Terrace of Memories

Back in 1992, England’s Music from the Empty Quarter wrote: “More than ever before, Sam lets his emotions run away on a tide of ambient turbulence. Five drifting movements ride the intake of senses, breathing the air of life and surrounding beauty. As fullsome as the cycle of seasons, cascading visions of past and present contact loop and collide. A very deep personal intrusion into the mind & heart, represented by a dark, mysterious and sensual music. Cast adrift into the caring hands of this truly original and honest artist who not only lives within himself, but sheds his soul through others as well.”

Barry from MFTEQ’s praise certainly also applies to the work of my collaborator, Dirk Serries; a few months ago he masterfully remastered the album for this reissue. 

Here’s Dirk’s recollection of the project: “Back in the days, pre-internet, we traded a lot of tapes by mail. Projects and collaborations took much longer to complete due to the longer waiting times, waiting for the postal system to do their work. When I started to correspond with Sam in the mid-80s, I was very into the albums by his Black Tape For A Blue Girl band. The eerie atmospheres and ambience surrounding the songs were really mesmerizing, and I could imagine a blend of Sam’s sound-structures with my ambience.  I sent him sources on tape. But with every collaboration release back then, time moved by before something was completed, again due to the slower way of communicating. I appreciated Sam’s brilliant interaction and additional performances. Terrace of Memories is a real Sam Rosenthal & vidnaObmana collaboration, and I truly wonder why we never did a follow-up. Enjoy.”

And my recollections: “As far as I can recall, I began working on this collaboration with Vidna after the recording of A chaos of desire in 1989. Dirk sent me cassette tapes of music, and I worked on my 8-track but got distracted by other projects. The project was pushed to the back-burner, and the album wasn’t finished and mixed until 1992. Quite honestly, I only have the vaguest memory of working on it in my The Lush Garden studio in Los Angeles. I remember that even a few weeks after I finished a piece, it was hard for me to tell which parts I played and which parts were Dirk. Aside from the low cello sound on my eMax, and the very slight vocals on the one track, who played what is a blur. That’s cool. It’s a great ambient blend.”

The fine print:

  • Each physical item tier includes the digital download, an album cover sticker, & a 2023 4×6 photo of a cover shoot outtake.
  • Images/descriptions of Executive Producer memorabilia at the BlackTape website.

1️⃣ FORMATS — All of your pledges go towards manufacturing the LP, CD, & MiniDisc. Each contains the remastered 5-track album. The CD is a 4-panel digipak. The LP is in a standard jacket signed on the back by Sam (see ☆ below.)

2️⃣ LP COLORS — The colors in the graphic are approximate.

3️⃣ EDITION — CD=500 // LP=500 // MiniDisc=30 (more if needed)

4️⃣ KICKSTARTER ADD-ONS allow you to include additional items in your reward, a bit like a shop. For example, select the “$25 Vinyl LP” tier and Add-On a copy of the Terrace of MemoriesMiniDisc or Poster.

How to add an Add-On: Select a reward, enter your pledge amount and click the green “continue.” You are taken to the “Configure Reward” page where you can select the Add-Ons you want to include in your pledge.

5️⃣ SHIPPING — USA MEDIA MAIL POSTAGE is added to your total when you pledge. INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING will be charged as a separate PayPal payment after the campaign ends when your package is ready to ship; ie: international postage is not part of the pledge you made.

☆ European LPs ship from Germany. To reduce the delay of LPs traveling from the plant in Prague to Portland Oregon, to the consolidator in Philadelphia Pennsylvania, and then back to Europe, your LPs ship from our friends at DeeJayDead in Germany. This means your LPs will not be signed on the back by Sam. If you want your LP signed, I can ship from the USA, which will mean more expensive shipping & handling charges. You will confirm your preference in October, when the LPs are getting ready to ship.

☆ Other international packages ship via consolidator from Philadelphia with the best shipping & handling rates we can get in the USA.

6️⃣ TIME FRAME — CDs & MiniDiscs ship in October, vinyl in January. By now you’ve heard about vinyl delays worldwide. Even though LPs are *scheduled* to ship from Prague in early November, I’ve built in a 2-month buffer just in case (November ➡ January). Premiums with CD + LP ship together when LPs arrive.

Why I need your help

This is my 17th Kickstarter; it’s how I fund my releases in the modern version of the music industry. Crowdfunding is a wonderful connection I make with people who love my art. I enjoy chatting and hearing your experiences with the music. So often, I’m told my albums were there for you at a tough time in life. A breakup, a death, a personal crisis; it’s rewarding to know the sounds I created for my own emotional reasons were helpful when you needed them.

I appreciate the connection this makes with people who love my work — your generosity flows to my campaign which gives me the freedom to manufacture these beautiful reissues. I love the way this circle connects and the art grows because of it. Thanks! Sam

Risks and challenges

I’ve run 16 Kickstarters; all successfully funded with all premiums fulfilled. I’ve run the Projekt label and webstore for 40 years; I’m experienced following through on projects, boxing things up and getting them into the mail. I have a long history meeting budgets on over 410 releases including complex limited editions. I foresee no delays in meeting the fulfillment deadline, aside from possible unexpected delays at the vinyl plant. Vinyl production times are much more predictable after years of growing worldwide demand and limited production capacity. But you never can be sure, so I have a bit of a buffer in the schedule for that. I value your enthusiasm for the music I’ve created over the past 40+ years. Thanks for making this release a reality. Thanks so much for supporting my art.