Richard Anthony Jay - This Is What I Live For (Burning Petals)

This beautiful release may be Richard Anthony Jay's debut album but he is not some fresh, precocious new talent that's popped up out of nowhere. Richard has been working in the music industry for 20 of his 37 years. He's worked as a studio engineer in London, arranged pop songs for a variety of artists, and written music for advertising and TV. After a lifelong love-hate relationship with the business, he finally decided to strike out on his own. Richard tends to get lumped together with people like Max Richter and Ólafur Arnalds under the "neo-classical" label and he is obviously trying quite consciously to position himself in that camp. But the fact is that he stands quite apart from them. Although he cites Dead Can Dance, the Cocteau Twins and Michael Nyman as major influences, Richard's music is unabashedly classical. I mean straight-ahead, old-school classical. Like they used to write in Vienna 300 years ago. OK, maybe not quite, but almost. You could mistake some of the music here for chamber music pieces by one of the grand masters of the romantic era. Many of the recent crop of modern classical composers, including Richter and Arnalds, have successfully mixed genres, i.e. crossed classical with electronic or ambient music. And their music tends to be relatively minimal compared to the old classics. If that's what you're expecting when you put this album on, you might initially be put off. There's not a single glitch, synth pad, stab of white noise or field recording to be found. Just warm, clear and untreated strings and piano, and beautiful romantic music. About as far as Richard goes outside these bounds is to add a splash of reverb here and there to provide a bit of ambiance. But even this is done with great discretion. I saw a tweet from Ólafur Arnalds the other day saying that he was about to record some Rhodes parts for his new album. That's just something that seems so alien to the world of This Is What I Live For. In the Beginning sets the tone for the album with a full and emotive string section laying the foundation for a passionate solo violin passage, with the piano joining in to bolster the bottom end. Members of the Hallé, Britain's longest-established professional orchestra, are featured on almost every track, bringing the compositions to life. While the romantic style may initially put you on the defensive, if you put aside your preconceptions and give this music a second chance, it'll draw you into its warm embrace. You have to just decide to let go and enjoy the feast that's set before you. Pieces like 25th March 1996 and Fragile are simply gorgeous and you have to be a Grinch not to be touched by them. Frankly, it's a surprise that Richard Anthony Jay waited this long to let the rest of us in on his secret. But This Is What I Live For is notable for its maturity and grace so maybe he picked just the right time.

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This Is What I Live For is released by Burning Petals Records. This is the label's initial release, promising to deliver more sounds that "live in the space between downtempo electronica and ambient classical". The above text is written and contributed by Tigon.

myspace.com/richardanthonyjay | richardanthonyjay.com
myspace.com/burningpetalsrecords | burning-petals.com

Two and a Half Questions with Richard Anthony Jay

After 20 years in the music industry, working mostly behind the scenes, Richard Anthony Jay recently decided to step forward into the spotlight with his wonderful debut album of warm and stirring neo-classical music, This Is What I Live For. Here, Richard reflects on his ups and downs in the business and what inspired him to finally strike out on his own. He tells us about his love of melody and why he's a "lazy minimalist".

Richard, what took you so long?
Well, that's a long story but I'll give you the short version! I started writing music at the age of 14 and left school at 16 to train as a sound engineer at a local recording studio. After moving to London a few years later, I effectively became freelance, working as an arranger/programmer, for unsigned bands, to earn some money and then concentrating on my own music in my spare time. And there was a lot of spare time in those days. I guess that I wanted to be a film composer then, like every other guy who writes instrumental music in his bedroom, and I never at any point thought that I could be an "artist" releasing records under my own name. I guess there were two reasons why: firstly, I was - and indeed still am - very shy so I've never sought attention, but secondly, in those days, early 1990s, there was no obvious market for my music, at least not that I could see. The big chill-out movement hadn't happened and contemporary composers like Philip Glass and Michael Nyman were not big names. So, after a chance meeting with a talented young singer who was looking for a writing partner, I guess it's no surprise that I ended up on a 10-year detour in "pop" music and put my own passion for classical fusion, to one side.

What made you finally take the leap from behind the scenes into the spotlight?
I got hugely burnt out after 10 years in pop, and it took me a few years to figure out why. It was a pretty bad time actually. I was happy in my personal life but my passion for music had completely gone. I didn't listen to music anymore and didn't even own a stereo. The only music I heard was on the car radio as an alternative to listening to the engine. And the cause of all this, I believe, is that over the years I'd become more and more focused on writing music to earn money, or at least be commercially successful, and the only way to be successful - or so I believed - was to concentrate on commercial music and not write the kind of music that I really wanted to. Throughout those earlier years, people in the music industry - A&R, producers, etc. - had often commented on the classical influences in the songs I was writing and believe me it wasn't always meant as a compliment. So after a few years away from music, I very slowly felt the urge to write again. And I started to notice that there were other guys out there, like me: thirty-something, ordinary-looking men who were writing minor-key, classically influenced music, a million miles from what you hear on commercial radio, and seemingly having success with it. Some of them were classically trained and some, like me, were not - it didn't seem to matter. It was a very slow realisation process, to where I finally thought: if they can do it, why can't I?

Your music seems to be more steeped in the classical tradition than the works of the modern composers you are sometimes compared to, like Max Richter and Olafur Arnalds. How do you place yourself? And how do you see the whole issue of “genre”?
It would be almost impossible to find new music that we'd like if there was no such things as genres, or "pigeon-holing": we wouldn't know where to begin looking. So overall I have no problem with being categorised but it really depends on the point of reference of those doing the categorisation. For example, I see artists referred to as contemporary classical who are nowhere near classical as far as I'm concerned. Likewise, I'm sure many people in the classical establishment would say that I'm nowhere near classical! So, it can sometimes be a bit misleading and, given that the genre of "classical" covers at least 500 years of music, it's probably impossible to say exactly what constitutes "classical" anyway. I'm probably a lazy minimalist: I start of with a minimalist idea but then get bored quickly, and expand it to the point where it's not really minimal anymore :) Also, I love melody so that's very important to me. Some writers prefer texture over melody, but not me. I like people to remember my work. Have you ever tried humming a texture? It's not easy. Actually, my music is probably a reflection of how I communicate with others in day-to-day life. For example, if I had to phone you up about something, the conversation would be over in two minutes, because I usually get straight to the point and cut out all the boring, unnecessary bits. So when I write a piece of music, I pretty much do the same.

Tell us a little bit about the album. Is there a unifying theme? Are the pieces all written specifically for this album or have you been collecting them over a longer period of time?
The album covers almost 20 years of writing. The first track ("In The Beginning") was written when I was 17, the second track ("Milan") was the month before the album was finished, when I was 36. "Washington Subway" was 2008, whereas "25th March 1996" was started on that date, but then revisited in 2008. So, from one track to the next it's jumping from teenager to thirty-something. I think future albums will be different, simply because they will cover a much shorter period of my life. At least, I hope the next one doesn't take 20 years again!

What are you listening to these days?
Loads of different things, as is always the case. I like a lot of world music, especially Celtic & Klezmer, and crossover artists such as Cesaria Evora and Yann Tiersen. Film music pioneers like John Barry, Henry Mancini and Ennio Morricone have played a big part in my musical upbringing. I'm listening to Trespassers William a lot at the moment as well as Keran Ann, Nick Drake & Yael Naim. From the classical side, Michael Nyman, Philip Glass & Max Richter are my favourite living composers. Bach, Ravel & Rachmaninov from the past.

What’s ahead for Richard Anthony Jay?
I have a side-project, called Marble Hill, and its first album 'Imperfect Beauty' will be released in 2010. It features drums, bass, guitars and synths, alongside my regular piano and strings. Early in 2010 I'll start work on the follow-up to 'This Is What I Live For'. I also hope to work on a film and maybe a ballet as well. Finally, I'm thinking about putting together a string quartet to play some live shows - I haven't played live in almost 15 years, and that was only to accompany a singer, so it's quite a big deal to me!

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Two and a Half Questions with Richard Anthony Jay written by Tigon.

myspace.com/richardanthonyjay | richardanthonyjay.com

20 EPs of 2009 [part 2]

Finally published part 2 of this writeup! Sorry for the delay.
Read entire article only on Headphone Commute.

20 EPs of 2009 [part 1]

As the year draws to a close, and I start thinking about the upcoming Best of 2009 list, I realize that I haven’t properly covered some 12" singles, EPs and mini albums. These tend to fall off my reviewing queue, mostly because in some cases it’s difficult to do a proper writeup for only a few tracks. However, they tend to haunt me, refusing to go away until I share with you these words. So here they are, in alphabetical order by artist, some of my favorite singles of 2009 (so far).

Read entire article only on Headphone Commute.

Hecq Mixtape One

Oi oi oi! Do I have a treat for you! I'm about to set off for a two week vacation, but before I go, I want to present you with an amazing mix from none other than Ben Lukas Boysen, aka Hecq! As you could have already guessed from these pages, I am a big fan of Hecq's dark and crunchy IDM and his amazing modern classical compositions. I usually end up including at least one of his tracks in most of my mixes. In the beginning of this year I sang praise to his latest album, Steeltongued (Hymen, 2009), following up with Two and a Half Questions With Hecq. In 2008, his Night Falls (Hymen, 2008) album arrived at the tier 1 of our Absolute Musts, in Headphone Commute's Best of 2008. And when I revisited the Top 50 of 2007, his album, 0000 (Hymean, 2007) showed up on the list once again. Even the owner of Tympanik Audio, Paul Nielsen, has revealed that he would be honored to have a release by Hecq on his label, in our Tympanik Audio Label Profile. Enough said?

Download free mix, and see full track listing only on Headphone Commute

Vladislav Delay - Tummaa (Leaf)

Listening to Tummaa requires preparation. At least, it requires knowledge of the intent behind this album. Let me set the stage. The intent is 'darkness'. And this is its music. Tummaa reflects the mood recreated by Sasu Ripatti, composing under the moniker Vladislav Delay, while living on a remote island in the Baltic Sea during the time of year known as 'kaamos' (polar night). This is precisely the time from December to February, where there is only a few hours of light per day. This overall feeling of darkness made an enormous impression on Ripatti. The track titles alone construct the following message: Kuula (Kiitos) means Bullet (Thank You); Mustelmia means Bruises; Musta Planeetta - Black Planet; Toive - Wish; and finally Tunnelivisio (ok, can you guess that one?) - Tunnel Vision. Ripatti last made a sizable impression on me with his previous album, Whistleblower, released on his own label, Huume, in 2007. Now, back in Finland after seven years of living in Berlin, Ripatti returns with a few elements from his roots as a percussionist. The album may take more than a few listens for the followers of Vladislav Delay's to get into the groove. There is no dub on here. Instead, gentle piano riffs and Rhodes licks are interrupted with clicks, chirps and musique concrète snippets of sounds snatched from a variety of metallic and industrial sources. Even a deep rumbling sigh becomes a bass here. This is Ripatti's return to the source of acoustic and organic. “I wanted to take a new direction with Vladislav Delay, with more acoustic sound sources,” he explains. “I avoided as much electronics as possible, wanting to bring myself closer to my background as a drummer and percussionist. [...] I just love hitting things... making sounds physically without needing a power plug.” The album incorporates some abstract and jazzy improvisation featuring a live trio – Lucio Capece on saxophone and clarinet, Craig Armstrong on the keys, and Ripatti on percussion. After intensive sample manipulation, some modulations remind me of descending spaceships from the 70s. Some sound a lot like circuit bending emissions. Some sounds are like nothing I've ever heard before (from an organic source). All of this is blended with the swirls of abstract effects, sporadic glitches and scattered ambiance, floating in a three dimensional stereo field. Through this dark and somber concoction, full of dread and isolation, we descend into Tummaa. I can imagine the overall recording to be a flashback to a bad psychedelic trip. At times groovy, hypnotic, and rough around the edges. The entire experience will keep your ears prickled up, and your eyes wide open. A serious juxtaposition of sounds even for a seasoned listener. Be sure to check out Ripatti's percussion work as a member of Moritz Von Oswald Trio (with Max Loderbauer and of course, Morritz von Oswald) on their latest release, Vertical Ascent (Honest Jon's Records, 2009), as well as his other works under aliases like Conoco, Luomo, Sistol, and Uusitalo. Oh, and don't forget his collaboration with Antye Greie as AGF/Delay and their 2009 release, Symptoms out on BPitch Control.

myspace.com/vladislavdelaymusic | vladislavdelay.com
myspace.com/theleaflabel | theleaflabel.com

Two and a Half Questions with Vladislav Delay

Tell us a bit more about the winter that you spent on a remote island. What were you doing there? How did it shape your mind as an artist?
i think location as a direct influence to music is overrated. it's not so important as the end result is almost the same, but at least for me the influence is shaping me as a person, and only then second hand the effect touches my work and art. as long as i feel good as a person i don't have that bothering or influencing my music, but if it does interfere it's not really possible to be creative and productive. but anyway dark winter time (as opposed to late winter when it's very clear and sunny) it's good to go out and be active. i got totally hooked on cross country skiing so that's what i did as much as i could. i also just totally immersed in the winter while doing regular stuff like going to shop or bring my daughter to kindergarten and so on. what i really loved was driving car on ice, as we live on the island which is about 8 km from the mainland. early spring with tons of sun and clear sky and only snow white and clear blue colors, driving on an ocean is something very inspiring.

Was there a specific event that prompted you to take Vladislav Delay in a new direction? Was it your involvement in Mortz Von Oswald Trio?
i had been thinking about doing Delay stuff with acoustic and/or different sources for actually quite a while but i took my time to develop the idea and see it more clearly. i guess also MVOT had something to do with it but not much, just slowly things reached necessary levels to go ahead with it.

What are some of your sources for percussion? Do you record it all yourself?
all percussion stuff is done by myself, recorded with just 1-2 microphones. the instruments range from "known" percussion instruments to abstract metal sculptures and handmade stuff and obscure particles that make sound when hit. all over the place.

What was the collaboration with Lucio Capece and Craig Armstrong like? Did you all get together to work on a piece or was it an ongoing bouncing of ideas?
with Craig i only sent him rough basic ideas and he played what he felt like at his studio in Glasgow. Lucio came to my then-studio in Berlin to record and we'd play together, him in the recording booth with headphones and myself in the studio feeding him sounds and processing his sound very heavily. he'd hear this treat sometimes, sometimes not. but also for him the backing tracks were very bare, actually they were only very minimal drum loops i had recorded with my set. i think nothing that was there then made it to the album.

How much on the album is attributed due to improvisation?
quite a bit, i can't make a calculation that would make sense but anyway the whole basic sound, the sound sources and the vibe there is from improvisation, and also while producing and mixing the album i as always rely a lot on random elements and improvisational techniques. it's definitely most improvised album i have done so far.

There are some strange effects that almost bend the sound. Can you shed some light behind your techniques on this production?
well basically i just force the sound through whatever i have around, usually it's quite complex effects chains, to a point where i can't recall or remember what has been done. but also i try to be aware of what i have been doing before and not repeating that either so it becomes more and more difficult to find techniques, gear, etc i haven't used before. then again when i manage that it usually sounds quite interesting.

Tell us about the Vladislav Delay Quartet.
actually i'm on a plane packed with my cymbals and all, on my way to do some shows with Quartet and then go to studio in Belgrade to record stuff for the first album. the group is for me the first time a chance to play really a drum set since more than 10 years, very exciting for sure. musically it's to be seen still where we go because it's improvised, we haven't played much together yet and also we all have been writing some stuff and ideas and we'll meet now in Berlin first to figure stuff out. line up is besides myself Mika Vainio who processes all the live stuff and does some real-time sampling etc, then there's Derek Shirley in double-bass and Lucio in bass clarinet and sax.

myspace.com/vladislavdelaymusic | vladislavdelay.com

Ben Frost - By The Throat (Bedroom Community)

I first listened to Ben Frost when he released his sophomore full length album, Theory Of Machines on Bedroom Community back in 2007. I described his music as ambient hardcore - psychologically raw, punishing, and overdriven guitars, with reverberated pads and rhythms that mutate into white noise and back, sending chills that originate deep from within your ear canal and slide down to your toenails. That album left a lasting impression on me. Enough to select it as one of the best albums of the year. I didn't think that Theory Of Machines could be outdone... That is... until I put on By The Throat. While listening to Theory Of Machines, I compared Frost's sound to that of an angry furry armadillo, creeping up the inside of my legs with a cold long needle, leaving me drenched in sweat. And with this latest installment, the chills rise up my spine and hold me, in perpetual, electric shock. The cover art alone puts into my mind the images of my final moments, lying naked on the snow, steam rising from the breath of a hungry wolf, his teeth sunk into my throat. And the track titles do not let up. Through The Glass Of The Roof, Through The Roof Of Your Mouth, Through The Mouth Of Your Eye. And the music? Dark grinding metallic strings scratched through distorted pads, deep breaths, growls, and choking melodies. The intensity of the bass and guitar riffs create instant goose bumps, tickling the inside of my ears, and clawing at my chest. White knuckled at the seat, I think I accidentally scratched a healing scab off of my back and now I'm bleeding through this white collar shirt, the tie restricting my cries. Let me out! I've heard some dark and terrifying ambiance in my lifetime, but Frost's onslaught is incredible. I stand applauding. And the production? We've got top notch mastering going on here, with perfectly sampled strings played with dry bows over thumping kick, and rising voices. With contributions from Jeremy Gara of The Arcade Fire, Icelandic quartet Amiina, Swedish grindcore band Crowpath, and of course, the classical touch of Nico Muhly the roster of artists is exciting alone. Oh, and did I mention that it was co-produced by Valgeir Sigurðsson? It was created under the cloak of nocturnal snow in the far northern reaches of financial-fantasy island, a concept borne of Frost and weapons manufacturer, war monger and evil genius Sruli Recht, captured by the all-seeing-eye of Bjarni Gríms and forged in the fires of hell by Rebeca Mendéz… Frost's music is all about contrast - merging beautiful classical minimalism with the dirty grind of metal and drone core. This combination is unsettling to the mind, refusing to split in half and choose between the genres. Born in Australia, Frost is now living in Reykjavik, Iceland - home of the above mentioned artists, and of course Sigurðsson’s acclaimed Bedroom Community label. His debut solo album, titled Steel Wound, was released on Room40 in 2003. There's also a two-track digital EP, released together with Lawrence English, titled Anyone Can Play... Anyone Can Sing (Dreamland, 2004). In 2007, Frost released Theory Of Machines on Bedroom Community, and spent the next two years cooped up to dream up this nightmare. Let me restate my earlier conviction: By The Throat is even better than Theory Of Machines - a feat I thought impossible to bear. This is the music of suspense. The terror of the unknown. The ethereal melody at the end of the tunnel that gets cemented off a few inches away from your desperate crawl. The piano keys expand and shrink with pressure, and the white and black chip off and vanish. The tension ends with the last track, and although you can exhale, you want to feel the angst again. You want to feel. You want to feel...

myspace.com/theghostofbenfrost | ethermachines.com
bedroomcommunity.net

Two and a Half Questions With Ben Frost

How long did it take you to actually compose this album?
2 years more or less. This is true of most of my work, I would have liked it to be less, as after 1 year it could easily become 3, or 4 and then you start getting into Geoff Barrow/Kevin Shields territory, its a slippery slope.

Tell us a bit about collaborating with Valgeir Sigurðsson on the album?
I saw a blind person waiting at the crossing with his guide dog yesterday and I watched the way the man reacted as he heard the steps of everyone around him begin to walk. I watched his body twitch with the near certainty that he was safe to walk, and yet he waited that extra couple of seconds for the beast to react accordingly- he waited for the specialist; solidifying and supporting that instinctual visceral reaction with the trusted, watchful eye

Can you shed some light on some of your production techniques?
-Set up 2 unmatched microphones on an instrument, one ribbon, one valve condenser at odd, totally unequal distances from the sound source.
-Record for some time.
- Take the material mute one channel, place it mono and then play along to it, recording a "duplicate" with the same setup again
- Splice the left channel from the first recording with the left channel of the second, and vice versa
- Drop one of the new mutant stereo pairs down an octave, remove all the bottom end from it so you are only left with the very high frequencies and then blend it with the other stereo pair
-Repeat the process with similar instruments, all performing the same material, splicing, repeating, shifting octaves up and down, blending further
- Shape the summed image using a combination of an SPL transient designer and the Apple audio units graphic eq- the one that you get with garageband
-Render out a mixed recording of the whole piece through a Manley pultec and then delete all the original material from existence

What is the balance between acoustic and electronic in your work?
I dont think about that, I have never thought about that, I really dont know how to answer that question- all instruments, acoustic electronic or other wise are simply means to an end which is beyond any calculable sum of its parts.

Who is the protagonist in this dark soundtrack, and what is his story?
What this record means to me is not what it should mean to anyone else.

The wolves seem to play an important role. Can you elaborate on their appearance in the music? Did you sample the growling yourself?
They are the children of the night right? Simply I am just drawn to anything that operates in life at a purely primal level; animal, mineral or vegetable. I didn't want to hear their presence on this record as an oppressive, threatening sound. It is not intended that way. Wolf song is the most magnificent natural summation of unity and harmony in darkness I could conjour- I could listen to it forever.

What is it about Ben Frost that makes him create this kind of music?
I am not trying to be evasive but I just simply dont know how to answer that question. I am a musician, I am a composer, an artist, a creator, or whatever fucking label anyone cares to put on what I do, but ultimately I would be doing this whether it was loved, hated, socially acceptable, reprehensible or irrelevant. I would not know how to not do this- it is no more complicated than that.

myspace.com/theghostofbenfrost | ethermachines.com

Solo Andata - Solo Andata (12k)

Close the doors and turn up the sound. This is ambiance that needs to be really heard. Quietly chirping submerged engines are silenced by waves of bowed cello. The sound of rippling water seeps through the drones of strings. This is the organic world of Solo Andata - an Australian duo comprised of Paul Fiocco and Kane Ikin. Having previously released their debut, Fyris Swan (Hefty, 2006), the duo got picked up by 12k, and contributed a recording to Live In Melbourne (12k, 2008), appearing among tracks by Seaworthy, and label owner, Taylor Deupree. Solo Andata is their highly anticipated release for the New York minimal and ambient label. The album is mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi and is accompanied by a mini booklet of 8-piece photography by Deupree himself. This is a warm album, covering you with a blanket of organic materials, natural field recordings, and swells of ambient soundscapes. The restraint and delicate touch within this production stops time, thought, and all of the pain. Solo Andata is the sensual reflexology for the mind. The concept behind the album, reveals "a theme of travel from cold to warm, water to earth, fluidity to stasis, conceptually representing a thread between water and land." The meditative nature of these pieces focuses the inner ear on within, while the outer contemplates without. At the epicenter lies the focus of the album, Look For Me Here. This is the place that you reach after descending through the laid out paths of an early morning forest, quiet nights, and misty caves. This beautiful track is also available from the label as a single, with remixes by the above mentioned Giuseppe Ielasi and Ryuichi Sakamoto. Make sure to grab that one. And by the time Loom comes out with a crying cello by Louise McKay, you're truly in love. Fans of Hildur Guðnadóttir will melt within. The duo uses barely any electronic instruments. Most of the heard sounds are resonating from strings, voices, guitar and a piano. The sourced material has been painstakingly captured, post-processed, and folded back into the pieces, often reflecting the origin within the titles. For example, “Woods Flesh Bone” actually records wood, flesh (from a dead chicken) and bones. “Canal Rocks” contains a recording of wind through the rocks in a small alcove in southwestern Australia called Canal Rocks. “Hydraulic Fluctuations” is a recording of the fluid fluctuations inside a large pump, “Ablation” is ice and wind. Highly recommended for all wonders of 12k, above mentioned artists, plus Richard Skelton, Lawrence English, and Christopher Bissonnette. Bravo, 12k! Well done! This is a great catch, hold onto this one. And I'll be more than eager to follow this group along its intricately formed path, even if their way is only one way, the solo andata.

myspace.com/soloandata | solo-andata.com
myspace.com/12kline | 12k.com

Two and a Half Questions with Solo Andata

Tell us about Solo Andata and what the name means to you.
SA (Paul): Solo Andata is a duo from Australia. One-half (Kane Ikin) lives in the East (Melbourne), and the other (Paul Fiocco) in the West (Perth). I discovered the name ‘Solo Andata‘ whilst traveling by train from Rome to Sicily in 2004. It means ‘one-way’ in Italian.

Tell us a bit about your recording process. How do you capture "flesh and bones"?
SA (Paul): To record, we mainly use a field recorder with various condenser mics (hydrophones and contacts for example) as well as a few more traditional studio mics. Our recording process is more concerned with finding incredible sounds that are already around us, rather than processing or synthesizing to get the result we want. Except for pitch and some reverb, most of the sounds are very raw. I recorded “flesh and bones” by placing both a contact mic and a field recorder on a chicken carcass and then, using my hands and various knives, tore it apart.

How did you guys meet? And how did you bring in Louise McKay into the project?
SA (Paul): We met in Perth. That’s where Kane is originally from. We met at an experimental music night we both regularly attended. For Louise, I have a friend who’s father is in the Perth Symphony Orchestra, he recommended that I use her when I was looking for a cellist.

What is the story being told in in your music?
SA (Paul): Tracks, for us, are images and sensations. The story is for the listener.

How do you balance the organic and electronic instrumentation in your work?
SA (Kane): It's never a pre set out course when we're writing, The songs kind of evolve and find a balance on their own, though saying that, for our latest record virtually all the sounds are organic with the exception of some electric guitar.

What about Taylor Deupree? Tell us about getting signed to his 12k label.
SA (Kane): I met Taylor when I was asked to support him at a show in Melbourne, we exchanged emails and cd's and subsequently he released the live recording of that night on 12k. Later that year we travelled to New York to work on music together and also meet up with Taylor. We went to his house, took a long walk through the woods and showed him some sketches of what would later become our self titled record.

myspace.com/soloandata | solo-andata.com

Scanner - Rockets, Unto The Edges Of Edges (BineMusic)

Robin Rimbaud spent his life listening to others. In his early works, Rimbaud tuned into the airwaves to pluck out pieces of radio, mobile phone conversations and police broadcasts. These were intricately edited and folded back into his compositions, producing an experimental genre of his own, often gathering international admiration from the likes of Aphex Twin and even Stockhausen. This is yet another one of Rimbaud's albums as Scanner, adding to his e-n-d-l-e-s-s discography (seriously huge), spawning collaborations with DJ Spooky, Alva Noto, Kim Cascone, and Vitiello among many others. And Rockets, Unto The Edges Of Edges does not disappoint. The album starts off with vocal samples, strums of guitar and Rimbaud's own gentle singing. That is until the kick drops and bounces away. The distorted bits and pieces of voices continue to dominate the background of Scanner's recordings. We are, after all, eavesdropping. This mixture of acoustic instrumentation and electronic treatments evolves, introducing a full on string ensemble conducted in the rhythm of solid beat and bitcrushed percussion. And by the time I arrive at track three, titled Anna Livia Plurabelle, which is full of classical operetta vocals by the acclaimed soprano Patricia Rozario, crying in angst, I realize the grandiose accomplishment of Scanner's work, painting a cinematic masterpiece from lost and found fragments. The rest is just as beautiful. Speckles of found voices, radar transmissions, and environmental recordings are hardly intrusive in this purely musical piece. "The ghostly presence of William Burroughs and philosopher Bertrand Russell weave their way through some of the pieces, opening into the dark heart of "Yellow Plains Under White Hot Blue Sky", an epic, almost menacing work, with corrosive voices, noises and abstract shapes over a primordial electronic beat, that continues to build and ignite with bowed strings into a picturesque precise explosion." Although I can't say that I've heard every album by Rimbaud, I can definitely agree with the critics that this is his most mature and personal album to date. A soundtrack to a voyeur's life finally turned inwards. This is organic, this is digital, this is modern classical at its best. Completely unexpected and highly recommended for fans of Max Richter and Jóhann Jóhannsson. Pick up your copy from the Essen (Germany) based BineMusic, while I scratch this winner onto my upcoming Best of 09. Need I say more? See more of Rimbaud's current and upcoming work in my Two and a Half Questions with Scanner.

myspace.com/scanner | scannerdot.com
myspace.com/binemusicgermany | binemusic.com

Two and a Half Questions with Scanner

This is the first time we're hearing your voice. What prompted this revelation?
I've always been keen to humanise digital music and technology and have always used voices in my work since the earliest scanned phonecall recordings of the 1990s, but felt that I wanted to offer more of a personal connection. I wanted the voice to sound as if someone is simply humming along to the music in an intimate way, casual and gently.

Tell us a bit about your sample of William Burroughs. What is the message that you're conveying with his words?
Burroughs is a figure who has inevitably influenced my ideas and creative approaches over the years since I was a teenager and at the legendary Final Academy performances in London. His notion of cut-ups developed with Brion Gysin was inspiring in terms of finding something new in convention and using his voice in another form here inside the music, cutting and pasting lines from different readings and presentations, was a way to offer a human presence again within an electronic field. The meaning is less important here, more a deconstruction of language.

What about your collaboration with Patricia Rozario? What prompted you to bring her into this work, and what was the production experience like?
Patricia and I had previously worked on the soundtrack to the contemporary dance piece Faultline and we performed several live shows together. She has frequently worked with composers such as Arvo Part and John Taverner so felt a strong affinity with her. I composed this piece for her to sing over and in fact she improvised all of the vocal lines here to the music in the studio to spine-chilling effect. She's an amazing Indian singer.

What's next and what are you working on right now?
That's always the exhausting question :-) I'm Visiting Professor at Le Fresnoy art school in France at this very moment, whilst continuing to travel the world constantly for performance, installation, composition. In addition...

I have a new album, a theatre soundtrack coming out in Italy in November, 'Consegnaci, bambina, i tuoi occhi', released on SMS contemporanea_Siena
I just completed the soundtrack for the global campaign for the new Samsung Corby telephone
I am composing a new film soundtrack for Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde to be premiered in Vienna this year and then to tour around the world in 2010-2011
Kirkou & Karaba, the children's musical I composed, recently came out on DVD in France and is touring again throughout France
I just completed the soundtrack to a film Oops Wrong Planet, directed by Anouk de Clercq
I just completed the soundtrack to a film Evaders, directed by Ori Gersht
My work can be heard in the amazing new Darwin extension built in the London Natural History Museum, where I soundtracked the DNA sequence of mosquitoes
I just completed a new album with American composer David Rothenberg to be released in 2010
and so on :-)

myspace.com/scanner | scannerdot.com

KiloWatts - Undercurrent (Somnia)

In terms of technique, Jamie Watts, the man behind KiloWatts, is an extremely accomplished producer; he knows how to make music that sounds great. His last full-length album, Ground State, released on Evan Bartholomew's Native State Records, stood out for its fresh and chunky sound. It featured a rolling mid-tempo groove, using mostly an acoustic drum sample set, to go with dynamic and full-bodied synths that displayed Watt's taste for thick, growling lead sounds in the lower register. At times, the bass took center stage and propelled the music forward, like on the excellent track Dub Serious. Watts has tried his hand at a variety of genres. His last few releases have ranged from the mid-tempo IDM grooves of Ground State to the tech house of the Snakewinds and Love on Saturn EPs, both released on Noah Pred's minimal techno and house offshoot of Native State, Thoughtless Music. Now, with Undercurrent, he's followed Evan over to his new Somnia label for a stab at downtempo/ambient. “With this album, I wanted to focus on the essence of melody and expose it in a raw form through the electronic medium," says Watts. "The source of the main melodies came from repetitive hooks I found myself sporadically singing or humming during day to day business. Think of the joyful tunes whistled during a walk. These melodic mantras seem to pop up out of nowhere and go on repeating forever... From a larger perspective, I felt that the search for these melodies was similar to unearthing subconscious archetypes that drive reality. the process was like discovering an ever-flowing undercurrent of reality that can be translated directly into melody." The funny thing is that taken as a whole, the album is not defined by the strength of the melodies. There are a couple of standouts - Rode Falls and Ayandan - that are blessed with the kind of riffs that seem to have been around forever. They're like old friends you haven't seen for a while. The Undercurrent Is Love is also hummable if not as memorable. But more often than not the album is defined by the mood it evokes. Most of the tracks are based on short repeated motifs that ebb and flow with the undulating tide or the movement of the current. Opener Cascade Serenade flows by effortlessly, but most of the album is tinged with a darker hue. As if gray clouds are gathering and the waves are beginning to swell. There's an ominous undercurrent to Couette and Seed is vaguely sinister, like a snake slithering along just underneath the water's surface. On Nightshade, the crickets and other creatures of the night come out to play. The album culminates in the 12-minute The Moment Just Before Dawn, with a single phrase repeated over and over again like a persistent mantra, slowly building toward a majestic crescendo. The sonic landscape of Undercurrent is compact, with clearly defined boundaries. The sounds mostly seem to originate from the same source, as if Watts decided to stick with one trusted synth and one electric piano throughout the making of the album. Most significantly, he has largely - though thankfully not completely - done away with the beats that have been such a defining feature of his music until now. It has to be said that while there are moments of beauty on Undercurrent and the album as a whole grows on you, the tracks that make the biggest impression are the ones that have a pulse. Watts is most in his element when he's working with a beat, or at least a strong rhythmic element, such as on Rode Falls, Seed and Nightshade. The percussion, although further in the background than is usual for him, gives the songs a much more vivid presence and sense of development. Nevertheless, it's clear that Undercurrent has served to expand KiloWatts' horizons, even if the addition of one more genre to his discography risks confusing some of his audience. Be sure to check out Watt's digital releases on Thoughtless Music, Harmonious Discord, as well as his own outlet, KiloWatts Music (see Six Silicates EP). Also, looks like Jamie finally re-released his collaboration with Peter Van Ewijk as KiloWatts & Vanek titled Focus and Flow (Dependent, 2009).

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Original interview posted by Tigon on Tigon World.
Republished with permission of the author.

myspace.com/kilowatts | kilowattsmusic.com
somniasound.com

Two and a Half Questions with KiloWatts

You've talked about the search for timeless melodies being an inspiration for the making of the album. It sounds like you believe that deep within the human subconsciousness there exists something akin to a reservoir of music that we can all tap into. Can you elaborate on that?
This might only be applicable to anyone who has spent a good period of time in their lives singing, but it's often that I find myself humming random looped musical phrases that accompany whatever I happen to be doing at the time. The idea of repeating phrases over and over is also well practiced in Buddhist theory as a means of obtaining enlightenment. The songs sung during ayahuasca ceremonies, called icaros, might have some relevance here as well since they're used as tools for guidance within the ayahuasca realm, which I believe is similar to a trip through the subconscious. Sound is vibration, and vibration can move matter. I'd venture to say that man has experimented with using the human voice for thousands of years to generate vibrations that can influence reality. Language itself is an offshoot of this primal discovery, as it is our words that are primarily responsible for creating our world in its current complexity. But if we zoom back a few thousand years to man's first mutterings, there just might have been an inkling of melody within them. Traditional musical theory came much, much later, but the idea of holding a steady tone was likely a pretty powerful achievement. Nowadays in the Western hemisphere, our 12-tone scale is ingrained into our heads from a pretty early age, so I think we can tap into our early discoveries of melody and apply them to the present moment. It's no doubt we have all sung our little hearts out as children. I believe we were doing something with sound that was greater than we truly understood at the time.

Undercurrent represents quite a change in gears for you, into more ambient/downtempo territory. Why did you choose to go this route?
I was growing a bit tired of aggressive music, and finding that it was only serving to create aggressive situations. I also felt a little that I had disconnected from a major part of my roots and I wanted to get back to that. I'm a student of melody and musical structure, so I wanted to return to that source and create something pure that was based on that alone.

There seems to be a particular synth sound standing out among various tracks, would you mind sharing with us what it is, and why dd you specifically choose to concentrate on that sound?
Well, the main synths in here are modified Reaktor ensembles: 2-Osc, and Carbon 2. I've made a number of tweaks under the hood, but the core sound comes from those. I think I stuck with them because they have a really clear pure tone, and they can be modified with ease from a sine wave into something otherworldly. 2-Osc has some interesting core-module stuff going on, so it has a unique analog sound to it. There are some unpredictable pitch and harmonic qualities to it, subtle and transparent enough that it's difficult to pinpoint. The filters on both are strong as well, and allowed for some deep expression. When transcribing melodies, it's not just the tones that are important, but also the inflections and ebb and flow of timbre and volume.

You haven't been bound to one particular genre with you music. Is this a sign of restlessness? Or just evidence of your broad musical tastes?
It's probably a sign of both, but it's all coming from the same place. I'm not attempting to exist solely in any particular genre, or even create any. I just love a whole lot of music. There's a line of continuity within what I make. Undercurrent looks into that, and if you look back it should be easy to see that all I'm really doing is making music. It's not only that, but what are my friends doing with music? What are my mentors doing with music? What do people want to hear? What do I need to hear for myself? This is all rather influential.

What does the future hold for KiloWatts?
Who knows? Spicy, sweet, savory, bland? All of the above?

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Interview by Tigon for Headphone Commute

myspace.com/kilowatts | kilowattsmusic.com

Plastik Joy - 3:03 (n5MD)

Plastik Joy is an intriguing duo, if only for the fact that one of them, Cristiano Nicolini, is from Italy and the other, Fannar Ásgrímsson, is Icelandic. You can’t get any closer to “fire and ice” than that. The two met while studying audio engineering in Barcelona and began working together on a couple of songs at the end of 2007. Little did they know what a fortuitous decision it would be when they decided to establish a Myspace page shortly thereafter, in January 2008. First, Myspace led them to Swedish singer Sarah K. Hellström, who ended up writing the lyrics and melody and recording the vocals for their first tune, Hands. She didn’t actually meet Cristiano and Fannar in person until months after the song was completed. But more amazingly, in June 2008, they received a message on Myspace from Mike Cadoo, owner of renowned electronic music label n5MD, who had heard their songs on the site and wanted to discuss a record deal! One short month later, Plastik Joy had signed with the label. And now, 3:03, the debut album from the Myspace poster boys is here for all to hear. At first, if you're not in the right frame of mind, the dreamy, downtempo vibe of 3:03 may strike you as a bit too laid back - like the heat from the fire has melted the ice. But the simple, unassuming melodies grow on you. It’s an album that rewards – in fact, demands – repeated listening and immersion. You’ll come to love the undeniably warm, feel-good glow of Sleepy Quest for Coffee and Hands, the opening tracks of the album, which also happen to be the first two songs that the pair wrote together. From there, the rest of the album opens up like a budding flower. The subtle electronics and acoustic instrumentation, with mellow guitar in a prominent role, make for an addictive concoction. Although Plastik Joy employ several singers on the album, it comes across very much as an instrumental album. Rather than leading the way, the vocals more often than not serve like any other instrument, adding one more color to the bittersweet vibe. On Hands, for example, Hellström’s breathy vocals, which hint slightly at Nina Persson of The Cardigans, blend completely into the sonic landscape. There are one or two brief moments on 3:03 where the surface calm is broken by an outburst of noise, like an involuntary release of pent up energy, but in general, subtlety is the name of the game. It takes a great deal of skill and sensitivity to sustain an atmosphere of such refined delicacy throughout a whole album but Fannar and Cristiano carry it off with aplomb. Considering that this is just their first album, it whets the appetite for what's to come. 3:03 gets its name from the time of morning at which recording sessions usually ended and n5MD touts the album's "nocturnal vibe". There's definitely something to that. 63 (she was trying to sleep, I was trying to breathe), for example, is a pure lullaby. But the first half of the album conjures up images of late afternoons lounging on the beach with a cool drink in hand. If you're looking for something to relax to poolside, it'll most certainly do the trick. Just watch out you don't fall asleep in the sun.

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Original interview posted by Tigon on Tigon World.
Republished with permission of the author.

myspace.com/plastikjoymusic | plastikjoy.com
myspace.com/n5mafia | n5md.com

Two and a Half Questions with Plastik Joy

The story about how you came to land on n5MD is kind of like an Internet fairytale, isn‘t it?
It definitely was like a fairytale for us because we hadn't even started looking for a label to release our music. We thought that would be the biggest task. But by pure luck we added Mike Cadoo's (n5MD label owner) wife as a friend on Myspace and she happened to check out our profile at the right moment so Mike heard it. He then contacted us and soon thereafter we signed a contract with him. For us, that has been the most amazing thing in the short time that Plastik Joy has been in operation because Mike is really easy going and wants all the best for his artists.


What is your musical past? Had either of you been in bands before?
We definitely come from different musical pasts. I started a couple of garage indie rock bands with friends back in Iceland where I played bass but we lacked time and ambition to take it anywhere further.

Cristiano, on the other hand, was part of a well known local electro-rock band back in his hometown in Italy where he took care of the electronic beats and sequences. His role in the band then changed and he found himself being the guy who pressed play to launch the sequences and pretended to be doing something. He didn't like that so he left the band. He also had a second project here in Barcelona with an Italian friend, making ambient experimental electronic music. But communication problems and a lack of spontaneity brought that project to an abrupt end.


Plastik Joy really does sound like a full band, with its mix of acoustic and electric instruments, subtle programming and vocals. How do you divide responsibilities between you? And how does it work out live?
In the studio we work in perfect harmony. I'm usually in charge of the acoustic parts - guitars, bass, keyboards and sometimes vocals - while Cristiano takes care of the more complicated stuff - heavy duty drum programming, editing, arrangement, mixing and also some guitar arpeggios. We play and program almost all the instruments on the album, which is quite easy to do in the comfort of your own studio. But adjusting these arrangements to a two-man live show was a nightmare.

First of all, we decided to use as little preprogrammed material as possible since we didn't like the idea of doing a 'live dj set'. That led us to our current setup in Ableton Live which took us weeks to prepare. I have a midi keyboard and a midi foot controller connected to my laptop. I use the two inputs on my sound card to connect a mic and an electric bass. So basically what I do is get midi sync from Cristiano's laptop and record material live and use the foot controller to create clips and then launch them. This system enables me on some songs to play bass, electric and acoustic piano and - on top of that - sing, which would otherwise be impossible.

Cristiano wound up as the designated guitarist. He has a Novation midi controller that enables him to control rhythmic parts, sequences and effects. On his sound card, he uses one input for the electric guitar and plays various guitar parts that he records and launches. The other input is connected to the mixer so he can resample anything that comes from there.


There‘s a special story behind the song “barcelona – reykjavík [FHE276]”. Can you share it with us?
In 2008, my grandfather passed away and I flew to Iceland to attend the funeral. I started writing the song on the plane and wound up with a rough song structure. When we were choosing the tracks for the album, I really wanted this track to be on it, but since it was far from finished it didn't look like it was going to happen. We tried countless times to get the track to sound the way we wanted but without success. A friend of Cristiano's suggested that we send the track to a guy living in Sweden to see if he could write some lyrics and a melody for us. We did and a couple of weeks later he sent us the results and the track just fell into place. It ended up being one of the happiest and 'poppiest' tracks on the album, and I like it because I know my grandfather wouldn't have liked to have had a sad song dedicated to him.


Where does Plastik Joy go from here?
The last year-and-a-half has been spent inside the studio so we're currently looking for a booking agency to be able to break out of the boundaries of Spain and go off to play venues around the world.


How did you settle on the musical direction you've taken, the dreamy downtempo vibe? Was it a conscious decision? What were you aiming for?
We didn't really settle on anything, I think the reason for the dreamy downtempo vibe is the way that we made this album. Almost all the recording sessions were totally free of stress. We would meet up at Cristiano's home studio and make a nice dinner, have a glass of red wine and then sit in front of the computer and start building tracks. Our more recent musical ideas have been born during live show rehearsals, so the result is a faster BPM and a rougher sound.

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Original interview posted by Tigon on Tigon World.
Republished with permission of the author.

myspace.com/plastikjoymusic | plastikjoy.com

Grischa Lichtenberger - ~Treibgut (Raster-Noton)

~Treibgut fits snuggly into the sonic world of Raster-Noton. For this EP, his first release for the label, Grischa Lichtenberger's primary sources are found sounds from the world around him, including the sound of a sliding tabletop, the noise of a radiator and the humming of a broken device. Apparently, the music reflects Lichtenberger's reflections on the landscape of the river Rhein. Which, frankly, comes as something of a surprise since nature is just about the last thing that the music evokes. The atmosphere is extremely industrial and manufactured. Like the music of label primus motor Alva Noto, Lichtenberger's work is all percussive. He takes his sound sources and manipulates and processes them, cuts them up and rearranges them into rhythmic structures. But while Noto's music is often quite refined and minimal, ~Treibgut is like a jackhammer and power drill got together and decided to form a band. Opening track, 0406_01_RS!, is like the cacophony of a factory – metal on metal, pistons pumping rhythmically, distorted bursts of steam, flying sparks from a welder’s blowtorch. With one exception, the tracks all bear similar names, rows of numbers and letters, like numbered incidents in a long line of laboratory experiments. Or products on an assembly line. There are no melodies in the conventional sense of the word or other discernible instruments at play. The drill effect that users of the Ableton Live's Beat Repeat are so familiar with is the defining sound throughout. It’s a mechanical world. The one exception is calipso, which appears to refer to the CALIPSO environmental satellite launched jointly in 2006 by NASA and CNES, the U.S. and French space programs, and which measures aerosols and clouds 24 hours a day. Appropriately, it features a slightly lighter touch and an unusual sounding guitar providing the sole instance of melodic content on the EP. But the power tools are back in full force on the closing track, 0106_13_lv_3 sand ausheben, which translates as "excavate sand" - an indication that there is more heavy lifting to come. The title ~Treibgut refers to the German proverbial Treibholz, describing a piece of wood floating in a river or the sea. "In this sense it expresses a relation to things: between the observer and the floating thing, which has obliterated its functionality, there is no immediate connection – there is a lack of unifying meaning. Of it, the observer always only sees aspects, while the thing, without him on its mind, drifts by." It'll probably take you a while to grasp the meaning of the concept. Meanwhile, it is best to let the power tools do their work... Recommended for all Raster-Noton fan, as well as Pan Sonic, SND, Hecker, and Atom™

myspace.com/grischalichtenberger | raster-noton.de

On Silence and Transition...

Here's a quick update on all the beautiful things at Headphone Commute. First of all, we want to thank you for your patience while enduring the silence during our move. It's not over yet, but we have been slowly settling in at our new home on the East Coast. The listening studio is almost setup, but the slap back is still pretty awful, and is a bit depressing. So a pair of headphones help us through the day, for the time being. If you are a record label or an artist with whom we've had previous relationship, by now you should have received our new mailing address. We've got plenty of promos right here to catch up to, but the time is still restricting, so please bare with us while we clean up the queue.

Have you noticed our new logo? That's right! The new face of Headphone Commute is none other than Zoetica Ebb - artist, writer, photographer, style technician and a co-founder of Coilhouse magazine who has written up a praise for Headphone Commute, and now agreed to be our new protagonist, if you will. Let's be honest - we think Zo is beautiful, and love the presence she adds to the music, the mood, and the weight of our words. We hope you feel the same. Check out Zoetica's recently relaunched site, Biorequiem.com, and drop us a line on your thoughts.

We would also like to welcome Tigon as a new contributor to HC. Tigon has been following our write-ups for quiet some time, and finally decided to try his hand at writing. We've stumbled upon his reviews and they closely resembled our words and more importantly our taste. Basically, Tigon covered albums that we've lacked the time to praise. Not to mention the fact that his posts came at a time during our transition, becoming indispensable words to carry us through the move. Tigon's recent reviews covered music by Proem, Rival Consoles, and even Alva Noto + Ryuchi Sakamoto, with a follow up of our Two and a Half Questions! We're looking forward to having Tigon as a regular contributor to HC with many more great things to come!

And last, but not least, to carry you through the silence during this dreadful period of our relocation, we offer you another mix. This one is a little special to our hearts, titled Thank You, Chicago, Good Bye. Recorded live at Chicago's Hidden Forms radio, WNUR 89.3FM, the one hour mix of crunchy IDM and melodic electronica features a handful of special tracks from significant moments during our five year stay in Chicago. It's not exactly nostalgic or celebratory, but more of a marking point in time of yet another transition. Here are your usual suspects like Lusine, Hecq, Deru, Yasume, KiloWatts, Trentemøller and many more...

Download this free mix, and see full track listing only on Headphone Commute

Alva Noto + Ryuichi Sakamoto with Ensemble Modern - utp_ (Raster-Noton)

Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto are unquestionably among the masters of modern experimental music. Noto has crafted a musical language all his own based on the most elemental of sound sources - electricity, static, white noise - and helped to raise laptop production to new heights. Sakamoto has such a varied an brilliant career, ranging from his days in the pioneering Yellow Magic Orchestra and his Neo Geo Japanese pop, to bossa nova, classical works and majestic film scores - including the unforgettable theme from Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, in which he also starred opposite David Bowie. And, of course, his explorations in electronic music where his collaborations with artists like Fennesz and Noto stand as milestones. The release of a major new work from the duo is noteworthy to say the least. Utp_, the third collaboration between Noto and Sakamoto, opens with a sustained electronic tone that is gradually joined by a cello note to form an electro-acoustic drone. On top, a series of angular jabs from the Ensemble Modern string section combine with rhythmic bursts of white noise from Noto. Sakamoto's muted piano is introduced on track 2, "grains", but is much less prominent throughout than in the duo's previous collaborations. The piano is only out front on a couple of tracks - "grains" and "broken line" 1 and 2 - which also happen to be the most melodic and easily approachable tracks on the disc, bubbling along to Noto's delicate microbeats. Like the previous collaborations, utp_ blends together electronic and acoustic sounds to hair-raising effect. The contribution of Ensemble Modern, one of the world's leading ensembles of 'new music', adds dynamism and breadth to the sound pallet but the tone is not so far removed from the intimacy and melancholy of Insen, the duo's last full-length release from 2005. The most striking difference is that while the previous outing centred on Noto's laptop treatment of Sakamoto's piano, here it is the Ensemble - particularly the string section - that is most prominent. There's a sombre intensity to the music, which blends modern classical with experimental electronic music in a way that bridges the divide between past and the present. The piece was commissioned on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the city of Mannheim in Germany and at times the deep and vibrant cello tones seem to be calling from that distant past. But most of the time the Ensembles' instruments are employed to produce sounds that are far removed from the 'classical' conception of music, melding seamlessly with the bleeps and glitches of the present in a way that feels completely organic. On tracks like "silence" and "particle" 1 and 2, the result is a blanket of ambient sound while on "plateaux" 1 and 2 the electro-acoustic drone is all encompassing. The title of the piece, utp_, is derived from the word "utopia" and the concept that Sakamoto and Noto developed for it is derived from the rasterized structure of Mannheim, which was conceived as the "ideal city" in the 17th century. This and more is explained in the documentary film on the development of the piece, which is included along with the utp_ concert movie on a DVD that accompanies the CD. So far I've only had a chance to listen to the music but it looks like the DVD provides a lot of insight into the development of the piece and the way Noto and Sakamoto work. I can't wait to get my hands on it. Also included in the impressive package, which is indeed worthy of the music, is a full colour booklet and the score. Utp_ is another feather in the cap of these two masters of modern experimental music and one can only hope that there is more to come.

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Original review posted by Tigon on Tigon World.
Republished with permission of the author.

alvanoto.com | sitesakamoto.com
raster-noton.de

Two and a Half Questions with Carsten Nicolai

[editors note: below is an edited transcription from an audio interview]

Utp_ is a commissioned work. Can you tell us about the inspiration for the piece?
Utp_ was commissioned by the city of Mannheim. Ryuichi and I were very happy that we got this offer to work with Ensemble Modern because we had already made future plans to work with an orchestra. It helped us pushing our work to a new level. The inspiration for the piece is based on two elements. One is the classical music tradition of the city, the so-called Mannheim school, with one of their major musical tools that has also influenced parts of the final piece: the crescendo. The other element was the city’s architectural structure. Planned as an ideal city it is based on a regular grid system that we took over to structure our piece.

What was it like working with Ensemble Modern?
It was very exciting to work with Ensemble Modern. It was very inspiring and ground-breaking, especially since we were in the luxurious situation of working with them for more than a year. They're very well trained and very open minded to use their instruments in ways that you usually would not expect. It was a process of pushing each other’s limits and expectations further to find a new way of musical communication.

Can you tell us a little bit about the dynamic between you and Ryuichi Sakamoto - why you have continued to collaborate and what it is that each of you brings to the partnership?
Each record or each project was a little different, of course. I think after we finished the insen tour, which was a very intense touring schedule, we realized that we could even push things further. Not only in a recording environment but also in a live situation. And I think this helped making the fourth collaboration, utp_ so different. We developed the compositional ideas together and so everything became much more coherent. Of course, some parts Ryuichi took care of more, such as the process of the notation of the piece. I was a bit more involved in the visual and stage design. But for the music pieces themselves, we really collaborated very, very closely from the start to the end. Not so much in defining or specializing different parts of the work but more in terms of really collaborating in a very natural way.

You obviously put a lot of thought into the conceptual part of your music. Does it matter to you that the listener may be completely unaware of the concept? Does it matter in order to appreciate the music to its fullest?
I think, personally, that it's not really necessary for the listener to know the full background of the concept. But when you create such a piece over such a long period of time and with such a large number of people, you have to be really clear and really strong in your concept from the start. Otherwise, you kind of lose ground in the middle of the process. So for us, the concept was very important in order to stay focused from the start to the end. But this is almost impossible to communicate completely. The listener can just enjoy and listen without any preconception. But what is great about the release of utp_ is that if you want to know more, if you want to have a really detailed view, you can go deeper and you can explore several levels of the piece. It can be enjoyable to be able to see the background of the piece, how it grew, as well as having the possibility to see the visuals, the visuals on stage, how we developed the visuals, how we worked through the process, the concept of Mannheim, etc. You mustn't forget that this piece was commissioned by Mannheim and, of course, a commissioned piece has a purpose in some way. It was communicating the 400th anniversary of the city. That's not clear when you listen to it but I think it's very beautiful to know that there is a strong relation to a specific topic.

I read a quote of yours a while back where you said: "What I realized is that my work has little reference to art history, but is closer to science or mathematics or geometrics..." How do you see the relationship between art and science?
I think, for me, art and science share very similar processes in terms of creative research or creative work in general. And for me, it's very inspiring to look into research processes in science, or natural scientific discoveries, because nature is one of my biggest inspirations for art. We are part of nature, so for me it feels very natural to relate to natural science in a lot of my works. And I think it's very challenging to work with these kinds of topics. Maybe one of the main reasons is also that I'm very interested in the future — the unpredictability of the future and what is to come. Innovations, technologies and research are, of course, a very big factor when you are curious about the future. And this feeds back into the work.

alvanoto.com | carstennicolai.de

Rival Consoles - IO (Erased Tapes Records)

Rival Consoles' debut album, IO, comes as quite a surprise after the 'modern classical vs. breakcore' vibe of his last EP, Helvetica. Instead of the rather unique mix of piano and strings on top of drill 'n bass, IO offers up a heap of crunchy analogue synths and straight ahead techno beats. Once you've gotten over the surprise, what really makes IO stand out is Rival Console's "lust for catchy music", as Ryan Lee West - the man behind the music - put it himself in an Interview with Headphone Commute back in March. He really hit that one on the head. You couldn't ask for a more anthemic start than the troika of Milo, IO and 1985 that kicks off the album. The first few times I listened to the album, I couldn't make it past these three because I found myself going right back to the beginning to hear them again! The other defining feature of IO is the down and dirty sound. There's nothing fancy or refined about it. It's old school synth action - just your basic waveforms in all their gritty and distorted glory. Rival Consoles doesn't try to wow us with complexity, studio trickery or a smorgasbord of effects. IO stands and falls with the tunes. OK, admittedly track 7, PVAR, does feature some heavenly strings that pop up at just the right moment to sprinkle a pinch of pixie dust over the proceedings. But on the whole, the sound is uniformly bold and direct. It's not all "wave your hands in the air" on IO though. Midway through, the vibe gets weightier and boxier for a few tracks but picks up steam again as the end approaches. The penultimate track, Agenda, is the only one where West reverts back to the rapid skittering beats of the Helvetica EP. But then it's quickly on to rousing closer ARP, another techno barnstormer that quickly gets lodged in your brain and has you reaching for the "repeat" button. It may come as a surprise to find Rival Consoles' music sharing a home with Ólafur Arnalds and Peter Broderick on Erased Tapes Records. But the London-based label focuses on what it calls "Cinematic Pop Music" featuring a wide variety of genres and styles, ranging from neo-classical to post-rock. IO is obviously a very welcome addition to the mix.

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Original review posted by Tigon on Tigon World.
Republished with permission of the author.

myspace.com/rivalconsoles | erasedtapes.com

Two and a Half Questions with Rival Consoles

IO is a big change in style and sound compared to the Helvetica EP, which came out just a few short months ago. What prompted you to take such a different route?
The production and ideas on IO is much more defined. It's nice to make music which is in conflict with other music you make. A lot of this music was made at the same time as the Helvetica EP, so it's not so much a question of taking a different route after some glamerous epiphany, it's more like a chaotic ball of musical ideas which get filtered into coherent bundles of sound over time. If anything the majority of IO was influenced by some of the music that I was hearing which was irritatingly dull and wanting ideas. I wanted to create something which had defined ideas and lots if them.

Who would be a primary target for this output, clubs or home listener? Or better yet, the headphone commuter?
It sounds great in a club due to the nature of the production, and that's where I prefer people to experience it. Clubs are generally dark, and IO to me is quite colourful, so they bond well.

The crunchy synths really define the sound of IO. What kind of equipment did you use for this album? Do you have a lot of outboard stuff or do you primarily work in the box? What‘s your favorite synth?
I use both Hardware and Software. Though I only use a few selected pieces of each. I love DX-7 and TR-707 to name a few. Treating synths with the right filters and Eq is the most important shaping process for me, so a poor sounding synth is potentially interesting with a certain treatment. The problem here is that you have an obsurd degree of options.

What can we expect from Rival Consoles in the future?
A barrage of ideas in a plethora of forms. I'm currently working on album deux which is going very well.

myspace.com/rivalconsoles | erasedtapes.com

Arrhythmia Sound - Favourite Ambient

Following the success of the mixes appearing on Headphone Commute we decided to switch it up a bit, and invite a fellow music journalist for a showcase of his favorite tracks. This next installment includes a selection of ambient pieces (some of which are my favorite as well, may I add) from Dmitry Misharov of a Russian site, Arrhythmia Sound (arrhythmiasound.com). Dmitry writes about his favorite electronic music from a distant city of Abakan, capital of Republic of Khakassia, Russian Federation, in South Siberia (google map)!!! If it wasn't for the internet, not only would you not be able to hear this, but I doubt that Dmitry would be exposed to this music. And its reach is pretty far. Incredible, don't you think? I am proud to welcome Dmitry for this exclusive mix he made for Headphone Commute. I am sure we'll see more of his contributions in the future. Enjoy.

Download free mix, and see full track listing only on Headphone Commute

Proem - Till There's No Breath (Nonresponse)

Proem doesn’t waste any time in setting the scene on Till There’s No Breath. On opening track These Are Demands, it’s as if there is a massive space ship descending from the sky, metal screeching and thrusters on full blast as it lands right in front of you. There are echoes of distorted alien-sounding voices mixed into the grating wall of metallic noise. The atmosphere is filled with foreboding. And it doesn’t let up on A Skin That Crawls, with its huge thumping footsteps echoing off the walls of what could be an underground sewer or cavern. If these words sound over the top, I defy you to listen to this music without having your imagination run rampant. And the rather disturbing track titles -- A Skin That Burns, Faceeater, Deadplate, Dull Throbbing – will inevitably nudge you in a particular direction. This is a dark place and death hangs in the air. But it’s not the kind of malevolence that hits you over the head with a hammer. It’s a quiet menace. An ambient nightmare. Like when the fellowship in the Lord of the Rings entered the Mines of Moria, you know that evil lurks deep within. Or at least an amoral consciousness. The title track Till There’s No Breath evokes a sensation of paralysis. Like being unable to move and helpless to escape the unthinkable. The man behind these disquieting soundscapes and the Proem moniker, is Houston, Texas resident Richard Bailey. He has been releasing music since 1999 on labels like Merck, n5MD, and Hydrant, and Till There’s No Breath is his seventh full-length album, his first for the recently resurrected Nonresponse imprint. It’s quite a departure for Bailey. His previous releases have been of the classic IDM variety and he has been seen as one of the early members of the US-based IDM scene that started around 2000. Till There’s No Breath, on the other hand, is pure dark ambient. Save for one or two tracks, Proem does away completely with the beats. The sound design and textures are the thing... and they are impressive. Thankfully, Proem’s world is not a bottomless pit of doom. After the detachment of Faceeater, the mood lightens with Coil In Small Field. It’s as if there’s a break in the clouds, if only temporarily. Bright pads suggest that something positive is happening, although the deep rumble in the background refuses to give way. Alas, in the end, after the brighter tones have evaporated, the sense of unease remains. Nevertheless, the second half of the album is calmer and less oppressive. The subtle glitchy beat of Alt Enter The Busket will even get your toe tapping and head nodding. And Dull Throbbing is more soothing than anything that precedes it. The metallic grating, distorted rumbles and alien noises of the first half of the album have completely given way to gentler synth washes that sound at times like a church organ in the distance. All in all, it’s an immersive piece of work from Bailey. He paints a vivid picture, although it may not be one that you’ll want to look at for too long at a time. The release includes a free digital EP, the code to which is hidden in the physical artwork. If you own a digital copy, send Proem a screen shot of your receipt and he'll furnish the login details. The artwork on the album is made up of seven separate watercolor paintings that Bailey made and then stitched together in Photoshop. The full poster is available for viewing and purchase on the Proem's site in the merchandise section. Recommended if you like the dark soundscapes of Murcof, Hecq, Lustmord and The Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation.

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Original review posted by Tigon on Tigon World.
Republished with permission of the author.

proemland.com | placeguntohead.com
myspace.com/nonresponse | nonresponse.com

Two and a Half Questions with Proem

Until now, your music has often been categorized as classic IDM and been driven by beats and melody. But on the new album, you’ve done away with both and made a stunning dark ambient album. Why the change in direction?
It surprises me when people say its a change in direction. I like to think that the under current has always been there. I've made the occasional dark atmospheric track over the last ten years. I always treated it as music that was pretty much just for my ears only. I knew that it would be a hard sell for any of the labels I was involved in and I couldn't think of where to begin to generate enough interest outside the genre. Also, I wear lots of black and lurk in the shadows. I'm a closet goth. You wanna talk new direction,... just wait until i release this batch of old Industrial noise MD's I dusted off the last time we moved.

If I had to summarize the atmosphere on the album in one word, I think it would have to be “death”. The song titles alone are disquieting, to say the least. What was going through your mind when you were making the album?
Funny you should mention that,... about 75% of everything I've ever written has been about death... or now that i think about it, ennui. You name a record, or song title of mine and guess what... death. Seriously. I am in love with death. See, look my goth roots are showing again... Most of the song titles and the structures were directly influenced by the mass amounts of death metal, dark ambient and math core that i rediscovered once my kids were born. It was the only thing that dulled the edge. Since then I haven't listened to much of anything electronic. The whole "classic IDM" is really dull and washed out and so much of the same thing. Whats worse though are artists that attempt to be "grimey" or "hard" and just sound flat and mostly uninspiried. Nothing has the same ferocious unity that death metal has. Maybe its just me but I cant make a computer sound genuinely angry I can only show it its own malaise.

Early on, at least, you were a devotee of the ‘less is more’ approach when it comes to production, using virtually solely your computer. Is this still the case or have you expanded your arsenal?
The "studio" has changed quite a bit in the last two years or so... I've paired down my digital tools ( FLstudio / LIVE / Usine / the usual NI fare) and picked up some hardware. A korg r3 for the vocoder at first, until i discovered i could get some interesting pads and noises out of it. Actually, about 80% of the synth / noise work on Till theres no breath is made with the R3. Sometimes like in the case of " a skin that crawls" its just one pad and four keys the R3 does the rest. I am also blessed to have just bought a Wavestation A/D (The holy grail of synths for me). I've wanted one for as long as I can remember. NOTHING sounds like a real wavestation. the plugin is close but not close enough. In addition to the new(ish) hardware, and now that my kids are a little older, I'm buying all kinds of acoustic instruments, ethnic percussion mostly (a kalimba, a balafon, a cajon). I'm looking to get a decent djembe before the end of the year. Of courseI'd absolutely kill for a hang drum, or a gamelan or even a array mbria, but i cant justify the expense to the wife. Basically with all these open air instruments and hardware I'm having to learn how to mic things somewhat properly which seems to take less time than programming a new softsynth. Oh the Live rig has changed a bit as well I'm now using a touch screen tablet and the nanoKontrol... Look what you did get me talking about music toys and I write a novel...

The inlay of the CD tray contains a paragraph titled "FOR MY GIRLS" in which you begin by saying "the cause of so much darkness in the beginning of your lives and so much light as you continue to grow and thrive against what seemed to be unbeatable odds." Would you mind giving elaborating on the "darkness" and "unbeatable odds" if it's not too personal?
My girls (naturally occurring fraternal twins) were born at 25 weeks and 4 days gestation age. They were no longer than 12.5 inches from head to heel. They weighed 1.7 ounces and 1.8 ounces. They were in the NICU (that's neonatal intensive care unit for the uninitiated) for about three months. Well one of them got to come home in July but other had a really rough course and didn't come home until September (on oxygen even). And when I say rough I mean 3 surgeries (heart, eyes, lung), two blood clots (most babies don't survive one), countless blood transfusions, ventilators, 8 specialists... There were minutes, days, weeks, where we thought she was'nt going to make it,... we were just waiting for the phone call. Needless to say we lived in the damned hospital. We learned more about medicine than we ever care to know. So, while most parents say their children are rare little miracles... and everyone in the room rolls their eyes,... mine actually are. My girls should not be alive. They are.

Wow. That's quiet a struggle. I don't know what to say. What’s next for Proem?
I've been painting a lot lately which always happens after finishing a record. I do however have a full length's worth of material that I'm shopping around. So there might be another proem record before the end of the year. I'd like to do a few things with the upright piano I have in the living room. Maybe do a couple of completely non electronic recordings. We'll see.

proemland.com | placeguntohead.com