Coming soon… Yuya Ota – Dramatic Syndrome

Our second forthcoming release for April is ‘Dramatic Syndrome‘ by Japan’s Yuya Ota, an album that this artist calls ‘drone, not drone’. It’s an Ambient album created through digital software techniques that produced lulling but ever-changing extended melodies. It will be available officially in a run of 100 CDrs in our signature gatefold vinyl-effect sleeves. The album will be out officially on Saturday the 15th of April after a pre-order on the 7th of April. If you follow us on Bandcamp (Click HERE) we’ll make sure you’re the first to hear.

press release
“Yuya Ota is an artist based in Japan who has previously released music on Glacial Movements Records, Institute For Electronic Arts and FUSELab. With a first release since 2015, we’re pleased to break this artist’s hiatus by introducing ‘Dramatic Syndrome’, a record created from fragments of sound using Max/MSP techniques.

In this body of work, Yuya established a particular process in which instrument tones were performed automatically, with the software memorising multiple melodic lines and playing them back randomly. By dropping one or more of the notes within the fluctuations of set algorithms, the beginning of the melody or the melody itself changed. This led to multiple melody lines being combined, through the elimination of the beginning and end.

Some elements of chance were part of the process, allowing an evolution of textures to develop. However, through manipulating the tempo of each sound, Yuya was able to create seamless sound structures where there are no moments of repeated harmonies. Essentially, the output is what Yuya describes as drone but not drone, through reconstructing the movement of sound via ever-changing melodies and algorithms.

Yuya had a desire to create something that had not previously been imagined or expected and this became the inspiration behind the concept for this album. The title Dramatic Syndrome references the artist’s tendency to dream big and grand with the album’s production approach and its concept. The track titles explore abstract, disparate themes whilst the dream-like artwork hints at the surreal“

credits

Written and produced by Yuya Ota
Mastered by James Edward Armstrong
Artwork by Harry Towell
Art and design by Andrew Heath

Coming soon… The Dead Bell – A Moment at Dawn

Our next release is a collaboration between glacis and The Green Kingdom with their debut album as The Dead Bell which is called ‘A Moment at Dawn’. This record fuses the raw and intimate sounds of glacis’ piano with TGK’s Americana tinged ambience. This album will be available officially in a run of 100 CDrs in our signature gatefold vinyl-effect sleeves. The album will be out officially on Saturday the 15th of April after a pre-order on the 7th of April. If you follow us on Bandcamp (Click HERE) we’ll make sure you’re the first to hear.

press release
“We’re proud to present the debut album from The Dead Bell which is a Trans-Atlantic collaboration between Euan Millar-McMeeken (Glacis) and Michael Cottone (The Green Kingdom). Between them, these experienced artists have released their music through numerous labels including the likes of Home Normal, Lost Tribe Sound, Dronarivm, Oscarson, Sound in Silence, Hidden Vibes, Fluid Audio, Rusted Tone and Past Inside the Present. Some may recall that Euan had a previous release with us back in 2020; another collaborative album which was with Gavin Miller.

Euan is originally from Dundee in Scotland but now works in London, via Newcastle and Edinburgh. He developed his solo and studio work as glacis in 2010,after many years spent performing vocals and keys in a band. Other collaborations include gallowglas with Johan G Winther and Civic Hall with Craig Tattersall. Mike has been active as The Green Kingdom since 2005 and hails from Shelby Township, Michigan. He has developed an electro-acoustic sound that blends guitars, synths, sampled textures and field recordings.

‘A Moment at Dawn’ combines Euan’s intimate-sounding piano recordings and additional software-driven sounds with Mike’s signature guitar and melodic embellishments,with no set theme or concept. The project progressed naturally, as these two musicians shared and developed their sounds and ideas. The cover artwork by Casey Horner had become a focal point for their work and aptly reflects the title of the album; A Moment at Dawn.“

credits

Written and produced by Euan Millar McMeeken and Michael Cottone
Mastered by James Edward Armstrong
Cover photo by Casey Horner
Packaging layout by Michael Cottone

eRecord017 Matteo Cantaluppi – More Frantic 2012​-​2022

Today we have a new edition in our digital-only series, eRecords!
‘More Frantic 2012-2022’ is an extended album from Italian composer Matteo Cantaluppi, an exploration of Ambient sketches created over a ten year period, between Berlin and Milan.

eRecords is a digital record series created by Whitelabrecs, to run alongside our physical releases. These editions aim to transform the digital format into something that can be experienced in a similar way to a listener’s interaction with a real, white label vinyl record. Each edition includes a special PDF scrapbook including polaroids and liner notes.

We do not publish details about the concepts or production methods of a release so that the liner notes and content in each scrapbook will reveal the background of each edition in the series.

catalog: eR017
artist: Matteo Cantaluppi
release title: More Frantic 2012-2022
release type: album
location: milan, italy

released march 10, 2023

Written, produced and mastered by Matteo Cantaluppi

Cover art by Pietro Bonaiti
Art and design by Harry Towell
Track 2 guitar by Perry Frank
Track 2 noises by Matteo Milea
Track 11 modular synth by Matteo Sand

Special thanks to Matteo Sandri, Matteo Milea and Francesco Perra

You can find out more information about eRecords in our landing page link, below:

https://whitelabrecs.com/erecord-series/

Out Now! Hoshiko Yamane – Reflections

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Our next release is ‘Reflections‘ by Hoshiko Yamane who is based in Berlin, Germany and who performs violin as part of Tangerine Dream and this record is a special collaboration between Whitelabrecs and 1631 Recordings. This album features Hoshiko’s violin performances, alongside a group of musicians and the album looks back to the period in which it was created, during and shortly after the Covid-19 pandemic. This album will be available officially in a run of 100 CDrs in our signature gatefold vinyl-effect sleeves and in a limited run of vinyl copies, created and supplied by 1631. The CDs have all sold out however, you can still check out the digital version. If you follow us on Bandcamp (Click HERE) we’ll make sure you’re the first to hear.

press release
“Hoshiko Yamane is a Japanese composer who has been based in Berlin, Germany since 2006.
She has released collaborative music with Mikael Lind and Eraldo Bernocchi on Time Released Sound and Denovali respectively, as well as solo material on 1631 Recordings who have facilitated this latest album, a split release with Whitelabrecs.

Hoshiko has toured for many years as a violinist with Tangerine Dream and also working with Jane Birkin, before she began to write electronic music as Tukico. Around five years ago, she began to compose music which returned to a musical upbringing which began with learning the violin at the age of four. She has studied classical music for many years and this was the reason for moving to Berlin, drawn to the city through a love of Bach and Brahms.

Whilst her work develops to incorporate many layers of instrumentation and other canvas-filling sonic details, Hoshiko’s music typically starts life as an improvised violin sketch. The sketches that formed the spine of this new album ‘Reflections’ emerged from the otherworldly backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, back in the early stages around March and April 2020. People were losing their lives every day and the world was praying in hope, whilst each day revisiting the quiet, apocalyptic reality of the world at that time. This album is not about the pandemic specifically. Instead, it was born from it. During that time Hoshiko was able to reflect upon herself, seeing inside her own being including the thoughts of hope she held for others. Like many around her, she was able to see life’s necessities; what is needed to get by, what is important and what life is all about. She was able to reconnect with the things that had previously been lost to the routine of daily life. These reflections urged for the inner-peace of everyday life never to be taken for granted again.

At that strange time, the violin sketches had been developed into full sheet music, waiting to one day be performed by a real ensemble. This was the first time that Hoshiko had put her ability to produce sheet music into practice and fittingly, as time progressed, she was able to assemble a string quartet to perform her music in person. Dreams of physical performance became a reality, as the ribbons of the players’ violin, viola and cello performances filled the room, intertwining triumphantly with one another, as if the pressure of isolation had built into a forcefield of musical energy. The album is cemented by the cover artwork, in which Hoshiko walks freely forward, with her own reflections now available for the world to experience, overlayed with our own.“

credits

Hoshiko Yamane – 1st Violin, Voice, Electronics
Cecilia Ferron – 2nd Violin
So Fukushima – Viola
Sebastian Selke – Cello

All tracks composed and mixed by Hoshiko Yamane
Mastered by Wil Bolton
Recorded 2022 at UFO Sound Studios in Berlin
Recording engineer Fabian G. Knof

Cover photo by Kei Sugimoto
Art and design by Andrew Heath

Out Now! Glåsbird – Pacifica

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Our next release is ‘Pacifica‘ by Glåsbird who is an anonymous artist currently working on a multi-album geographical series called A Sonic Expedition and this is the seventh edition of the series, after previous albums being based on Greenland, Svalbard, the Norwegian Fjords, Novaya Zemlya, Siberia and Himalaya. This album is the most experimental to date, with exotic percussion carved out of cheap instruments, tropical poly-rhythms, tape decay and field recordings. This album will be available officially in a run of 100 CDrs in our signature gatefold vinyl-effect sleeves. The album is out today in a run of 100 copies after a short pre-order. The CDs have all sold out however, you can still check out the digital version. If you follow us on Bandcamp (Click HERE) we’ll make sure you’re the first to hear.

press release
“Glåsbird’s travelogue of sound advances further, with this seventh edition in the series heading to warmer, more exotic climes. The A Sonic Expedition series is this anonymous artist’s armchair exploration of the world around us and it has to date put down roots in Greenland, Svalbard, Norway, Novaya Zemlya, Siberia and the Himalayas. With this latest excursion, the snowy, treacherous peaks of Everest are traded for the tropically vast Pacific Ocean.

As fans of the artist will already be aware, Glåsbird researches each geographic location with great intrigue and fascination, scouring Google Earth satellite imagery, watching documentaries, reviewing vintage maps and reading articles about its history and culture. Whilst the enormity of this ocean was obvious from looking at the globe, what became apparent was the scale of diversity across the thousands of islands in the region, whether it be the landscapes, culture or even the rare species of bird. Studying history revealed some dark tales, of challenging sea voyages, crocodiles and even cannibalism. As always, it also gave the artist opportunity to make new discoveries, such as how atolls are formed from ancient volcanoes and theories on how the Moai of Easter Island were moved across the landscape.

Glåsbird felt that their now signature modern classical style needed to change for this record, as these ambient portraits of the Pacific offer surely the most adventurous sound to date from this artist. Percussive rhythms were carved out of cheap percussion instruments, exotic poly-rhythms glisten alongside sounds of rolling ocean waves and the thriving nature scenes. Sun bleached tape decays atop warm, ebbing bass and synth tones.

In Pacifica, Glåsbird traces a set route from one island to the next, marked by each track on the album. It begins with a view of La Perouse Pinnacle from inside the French Frigate Shoals. This pillar of rock has been known to cause shipwrecks and general confusion amongst seafarers who’d mistaken it for a ship when seen from distance. The journey continues many miles of sea south, to the triangular shaped Kingman Reef before heading off to explore the lake in the middle of Washington Island, also known as Teraina. The journey heads a long way across the ocean in an easterly direction, to the Galápagos Islands and then onto the remote Easter Island, home of the Moai stones. The next leg of the journey returns in a westerly direction, arriving at Mangareva which is the main part of the Gambier Islands. The French Polynesian paradise island of Bora Bora follows, before a stop at the small wooded island of Tafahi in Tonga. Inyeug, the most northerly island of Vanuatu is the next destination, famed for Queen Elizabeth II’s visit back in 1974. The tempo of the percussive loops notches up a little, as the next track represents the Solomon Islands and then this tour ends on the island of Yap, with echoes of Yapese rituals and lapping ocean waves closing the final piece which is called Rumung.“

credits

Written and produced by Glåsbird
Mastered by James Edward Armstrong
Art and design by Andrew Heath

1. Front cover photography is of Tafahi island seen from
Niuatoputapu (Tonga). The photograph was taken in 1969
by anthropologist Garth Rogers and is licenced under the
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International
license.

2. Inner CD photography is a road on Washington Island
(Teraina), Line Islands, Pacific Ocean. It was taken by Dr.
James P. McVey in November 1968 whilst working for the
NOAA Sea Grant Program.

3. Rear CD inset photography is of the palms on Akamaru island
on January 2 2014. The photograph was taken by Fred and
is licenced under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share
Alike 4.0 International license

new mix show! vervine003

It seems like ages since we last made a Vervine mix show and this is largely down to having moved house. These shows are great fun to make, but we’ve seen why it would have been difficult to commit to a monthly show. So after a bit of a new year pause, here’s the next Vervine show, as usual, hosted by our label owner Harry Towell.

This third show features recent Whitelabrecs pieces from the likes of Guy Gelem, Peter Kvidera, Wodwo, Glåsbird, thisfloatingworld and a piece from Hoshiko Yamane’s forthcoming album. It also features jazz, shoegaze, folk, indie, chillout and ambient music and then this show is rounded off with a Deep House mix.

The cover artwork for this new show was created from a photo of a painting from Harry’s daughter Emily, who was learning one day last year about paint, colour and art, with the help of her Mummy. Harry was struck by its abstract shapes, colours and texture and knew he’d use it in a musical project sometime.

Already we’re planning the next show and we hope it won’t be too long a wait next time. But for now, here’s Vervine003:



Tracklist:
01 Masako Ohta/Matthias Lindermayr – La
02 Guy Gelem – Relocations
03 Joel Vandroogenbroeck – Mutation
04 Ballake Sissoko & Patrick Messina & Vincent Segal – Jeu Sur La Symphonie Fantastique
05 Tokyo Bloodworm – Pale The Clerics Pass
06 Wodwo – Veils
07 Peter Kvidera – Obsaženo
08 Afterlife – Dust
09 TLF Trio – Suite X
10 Hoshiko Yamane – Patiently
11 Harry Towell & Sven Laux – Ground Moraine
12 Tone – Dawn
13 Glåsbird – Tired Seams
14 Efterklang – The Living Layer
15 thisfloatingworld – airs
16 Alan Licht – Raw Deal
17 Telly Quin – My Funny Side Up
18 Pender Street Slippers – The Glass City
19 Jonas Palzer – Friendssection
20 Hamatsuki – Kandzaia
21 Izmo – Echoes
22 Jump Source – S Recovery
23 Nacho Riveros – Moment Of My Life
24 Yadava – Heart Strings
25 Edward White – Cool Water
26 Fantastic Man – St. Elmo’s Theme
27 Intr0beatz – Trees Breez
28 Tour-Maubourg – Might Groove
29 D’Arabia – Key Lime (Harry Wolfman Remix)
30 Zoo Look – I Can’t Deny

eRecord016 glåsbird – sirena

Today we have a new edition in our digital-only series, eRecords!
‘sirena’ is a two track EP from anonymous artist Glåsbird, a deep dive into Pacific Ocean seascapes, with wondrous, sleepy Ambient drones.

eRecords is a digital record series created by Whitelabrecs, to run alongside our physical releases. These editions aim to transform the digital format into something that can be experienced in a similar way to a listener’s interaction with a real, white label vinyl record. Each edition includes a special PDF scrapbook including polaroids and liner notes.

We do not publish details about the concepts or production methods of a release so that the liner notes and content in each scrapbook will reveal the background of each edition in the series.

catalog: eR016
artist: glåsbird
release title: sirena
release type: ep
location: unknown

released february 19, 2023

Written and produced by Glåsbird
Mastered by James Edward Armstrong
Artwork by Harry Towell
Art and design by Harry Towell

You can find out more information about eRecords in our landing page link, below:

https://whitelabrecs.com/erecord-series/

Coming soon… Glåsbird – Pacifica

Our next release is ‘Pacifica‘ by Glåsbird who is an anonymous artist currently working on a multi-album geographical series called A Sonic Expedition and this is the seventh edition of the series, after previous albums being based on Greenland, Svalbard, the Norwegian Fjords, Novaya Zemlya, Siberia and Himalaya. This album is the most experimental to date, with exotic percussion carved out of cheap instruments, tropical poly-rhythms, tape decay and field recordings. This album will be available officially in a run of 100 CDrs in our signature gatefold vinyl-effect sleeves. The album will be out officially on Saturday the 3rd of March after a pre-order on the 25th of February. If you follow us on Bandcamp (Click HERE) we’ll make sure you’re the first to hear.

press release
“Glåsbird’s travelogue of sound advances further, with this seventh edition in the series heading to warmer, more exotic climes. The A Sonic Expedition series is this anonymous artist’s armchair exploration of the world around us and it has to date put down roots in Greenland, Svalbard, Norway, Novaya Zemlya, Siberia and the Himalayas. With this latest excursion, the snowy, treacherous peaks of Everest are traded for the tropically vast Pacific Ocean.

As fans of the artist will already be aware, Glåsbird researches each geographic location with great intrigue and fascination, scouring Google Earth satellite imagery, watching documentaries, reviewing vintage maps and reading articles about its history and culture. Whilst the enormity of this ocean was obvious from looking at the globe, what became apparent was the scale of diversity across the thousands of islands in the region, whether it be the landscapes, culture or even the rare species of bird. Studying history revealed some dark tales, of challenging sea voyages, crocodiles and even cannibalism. As always, it also gave the artist opportunity to make new discoveries, such as how atolls are formed from ancient volcanoes and theories on how the Moai of Easter Island were moved across the landscape.

Glåsbird felt that their now signature modern classical style needed to change for this record, as these ambient portraits of the Pacific offer surely the most adventurous sound to date from this artist. Percussive rhythms were carved out of cheap percussion instruments, exotic poly-rhythms glisten alongside sounds of rolling ocean waves and the thriving nature scenes. Sun bleached tape decays atop warm, ebbing bass and synth tones.

In Pacifica, Glåsbird traces a set route from one island to the next, marked by each track on the album. It begins with a view of La Perouse Pinnacle from inside the French Frigate Shoals. This pillar of rock has been known to cause shipwrecks and general confusion amongst seafarers who’d mistaken it for a ship when seen from distance. The journey continues many miles of sea south, to the triangular shaped Kingman Reef before heading off to explore the lake in the middle of Washington Island, also known as Teraina. The journey heads a long way across the ocean in an easterly direction, to the Galápagos Islands and then onto the remote Easter Island, home of the Moai stones. The next leg of the journey returns in a westerly direction, arriving at Mangareva which is the main part of the Gambier Islands. The French Polynesian paradise island of Bora Bora follows, before a stop at the small wooded island of Tafahi in Tonga. Inyeug, the most northerly island of Vanuatu is the next destination, famed for Queen Elizabeth II’s visit back in 1974. The tempo of the percussive loops notches up a little, as the next track represents the Solomon Islands and then this tour ends on the island of Yap, with echoes of Yapese rituals and lapping ocean waves closing the final piece which is called Rumung.“

credits

Written and produced by Glåsbird
Mastered by James Edward Armstrong
Art and design by Andrew Heath

1. Front cover photography is of Tafahi island seen from
Niuatoputapu (Tonga). The photograph was taken in 1969
by anthropologist Garth Rogers and is licenced under the
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International
license.

2. Inner CD photography is a road on Washington Island
(Teraina), Line Islands, Pacific Ocean. It was taken by Dr.
James P. McVey in November 1968 whilst working for the
NOAA Sea Grant Program.

3. Rear CD inset photography is of the palms on Akamaru island
on January 2 2014. The photograph was taken by Fred and
is licenced under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share
Alike 4.0 International license