New CD Quiver with Yui Onodera for Miktron Recordings
“I’ve been a fan of Yui Onodera’s music for some time, but this album surprised me. Rather than his usual stately drones and glacial fluttering, Onodera’s collaboration with New York sound artist Stephen Vitiello is… a pop album? Yes, I think so. The music is tuneful and upbeat, with even the more low-key songs having a melodic element at the forefront. Some of Vitiello’s previous work has moved in this direction, but “Quiver” puts accessibility in the forefront. I enjoyed it very much! Some tracks, such as “Quiver 4” (none of the songs have real titles), feature a skeletal guitar lightly applying Vini Reilly-esque melodic lines over a bedrock of electronic skitter and sometimes a steady (though understated) anchoring pulse. “Quiver 6” is rather lovely, with something sounding like moving water burbling next to a synthetic chorus and dreamlike shoegaze guitar wash that would appeal to fans of Chris Herbert, Cheihei Hatakeyama or even recent 12k releases. After listening through a couple of times, it occurred to me that this collaboration seems as natural and complete as an album by a full-time “band” might be… so I hope these guys pursue the duo further! I wouldn’t mind more of this to spin as the soundtrack to my pleasantly groggy weekend mornings. (HS)”
January 2018- (ongoing, 1-year), “You Are the Magic,” a site-specific installation at City Place in West Palm Beach, opening Friday, Saturday, Sunday. info here. Includes collaborations with author, Paul Park and sound/video artist, Andrew Deutsch
April 21 – September 9, 2018, newly commissioned 18-channel installation included in “Declaration” at VCU’s Institute for Contemporary Art, in Richmond, VA
“…a broad set of steps leads up to the second-floor galleries, presenting Stephen Vitiello’s eighteen-channel sound piece whether there was a bell or whether I knocked (2018)—another work commissioned for Declaration. It includes voices reading aloud from The Garden of Forking Paths in different languages spoken by characters in the story. The effect is quite musical, with distinct lines floating, like melodies taking shape in the harmonic progressions of a symphony, on a billowing chorus of voices and sounds that escape distinct interpretation. Remarkably, the algorithm to the sound sequencing is designed so that the number of permutations will never be exhausted. The piece could run on ad infinitum and never repeat the same progression—a brilliant conceptual mirroring of the premise of the Borges story, in which a garden-cum-novel branches indefinitely through time.” The Brooklyn Rail
Recent single on Champion Version. 7″ record is sold out but digital version is available
Collaboration with Taylor Deupree also on Champion Version
Test Drift, by Emil Schult, Stephen Vitiello and Andrew Deutsch
I’ve created the soundtrack for Tip of My Tongue, a film by Lynne Sachs, premiering at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC, February 25 and 26, 2017
Video from my participation (September 2016) in 9 Evenings +50 at Fridman Gallery, NYC – A concert series celebrating the 50th anniversary of 9 Evenings: Theatre & Engineering:
See here for a complete set of videos and interviews with some great artists and composers
CD – STEVE RODEN + STEPHEN VITIELLO – THE SPACES CONTAINED IN EACH on Room 40
Fable, CD with Lawrence English on Dragon’s Eye Recordings
Captiva (2 x 10″ LP) with Taylor Deupree. — available on 12k. “Their music together is infectious, beckoning you to come closer…This is what minimalist ambient music should sound like, a spacious, non-invasive treasure where every listen has something to say,” Fluid Radio. “The results are effortlessly fluid and beautifully mixed, suspending all the elements just out of reach,” Boomkat.