Phonometrography

Phonometrography was a controversial UK label, active in 2003-2004 and solely dedicated to the h3o music. It was established by Wayne Carlsen, a British composer, conductor, and producer, who at the time was occupied as a senior lecturer in Music and Audio Art at the University of Central Lancashire. Carlsen provided financial means to produce and print all releases, and also developed the label’s official website, while Andrew McKenzie was responsible for creating everything else, including all of the artwork, packaging, concepts, and graphics, as well as Phonometrography name and logo. The label produced seven albums by The Hafler Trio and came to a halt due to a massive disagreement over royalty payments between McKenzie and Carlsen. In December 2003, Carlsen had incorporated a Phonometrography Limited company, and the first album was released – a 3xCD set documenting h3o live performance at the University of Central Lancashire. The second release was a collaborative effort of The Hafler Trio with IDM/experimental/electronica duo Autechre – 297650 (in the following years, two more albums with Autechre were released by Die Stadt label). Other notable albums include – based on archival tapes recorded by McKenzie with David Tibet of Current 93 back in 1982, and – featuring a voice of Jónsi Birgisson from Sigur Rós (this project was conceived as a series, and the following two parts, 472939 and 652561, were released a year later in the USA by Important Records). In March 2005, Andrew McKenzie posted a detailed announcement on his official website, notifying his fans and supporters that all sales from Phonometrography are unauthorized, and he is not receiving any payments from the label. He further explained that he was unable to retrieve any sales statistics from Carlsen, and accused him of reproducing the same numbers 'on demand' for strictly limited and hand-numbered editions, as well as selling copies without McKenzie’s signature. He also quoted several distributors experiencing immense troubles in dealing and communicating with Carlsen and claimed that Autechre hadn’t received any payments either. The Phonometrography Limited company, according to the public record, became inactive by December 2006 and was finally dissolved in November 2007. McKenzie posted an update to this story in April 2008 – a Creditor Status Report by an unnamed auditor, which estimated that h3o received approximately £9000 from the label, and the total amount due to be paid was at least £22000. At the same time, Wayne Carlsen had been claiming that he owed no more than £940 to McKenzie. In 2006, Wayne Carlsen also offered a record deal to a heavy-rock/grunge/metal band Burn Machina, founded by one of his ex-students. They recorded a debut album La Tormenta (engineered by Mick Armistead, former keyboard player of James), but never had a chance to release it through Phonometrography. Soon the band members found out about the h3o controversy, and eventually got so disillusioned and disappointed that Burn Machina was disbanded in October 2006.