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Coming soon… Harry Towell & Friends – Petrologist’s Lens

Our first release of 2023 is ‘Petrologist’s Lens‘ by our label owner Harry Towell as Harry Towell & Friends, in collaboration with 12 artists who have had 2 or more releases on Whitelabrecs over the years. This album will be available officially in two runs of 100 CDrs; a standard gold edition, and a special marble-effect version. Both packaging versions include a 16 page booklet in our gatefold vinyl-effect sleeves and will be out officially on Saturday the 14th of January after a pre-order on the 7th of January. If you follow us on Bandcamp (Click HERE) we’ll make sure you’re the first to hear.

press release
“Whitelabrecs label owner Harry Towell is perhaps best renowned for his long-standing Spheruleus project, with a discography listing releases on Lost Tribe Sound, Home Normal, Time Released Sound, Hibernate and Eilean, as well as his collaborations alongside Sven Laux, Guy Gelem, Ekca Liena and more. Harry returns to his own label, following 2021’s ‘Canvas Homes + Supplémentaires’ and EPs ‘Absent Frames’ and ‘Inaugurate’, in this special collaborative album called ‘Petrologist’s Lens’.

January is a month we usually reserve for a compilation album, such as our Sleeplaboratory series. This year Harry decided to invite 12 artists who had contributed more than 2 releases on Whitelabrecs to submit a short sketch or sample, and then he developed these into the tracks that make up this album. As with some of his more recent work, this album is created under his own name, but with ‘& friends’ added to credit the label artists and good friends which he has worked alongside.

The title ‘Petrologist’s Lens’ nods to the concept of this body of work, which is rooted in the ancient geological history of the earth. Harry studied the land history of the areas where his collaborators reside, to help form a title for each piece. Tracks are named after particular fragments of rock or sediments, land regions or fossils for example, and the compositions were developed in a way which mimics the layering of these. The layers tell a story, giving clues of how they came to be. Sonically, filigree details and eroded tape textures ride waves of modern classical orchestration, ambient drones and electronics.

The packaging for this release features cover artwork by Soraya Kornblum, an art student in Adrian Lane’s class, submitted to Whitelabrecs as part of a school project. Each of the 200 editions include a 16 page booklet with words provided by Neil McRoberts, who transcribed his thoughts after listening to the music and reflecting on the concept. Physical copies are split into two runs; a standard gold disc version and a special marble print deluxe edition.“

credits

Written and produced by Harry Towell
Additional production and inspiration provided by Adrian Lane, Andrew Heath, Blochemy, Edu Comelles, Glåsbird, Guy Gelem, James Edward Armstrong, Paweł Pruski, Phil Tomsett, Polaroid Notes, Simon McCorry, Sven Laux

Mastered by James Edward Armstrong
Cover Art by Soraya Kornblum
Booklet Notes by Neil McRoberts
Art and Design by Andrew Heath

Coming soon… Tapes and Topographies -Floating World – Reflections on 36 Views of Newland

Our new release ‘Floating World – Reflections on 36 Views of Newland‘ by Tapes and Topographies in collaboration with artist Jonathan S Hooper will be available officially in one of our typically low runs of 100 gatefold vinyl-effect CDrs on Saturday the 19th of November after a pre-order for Bandcamp Friday on the 4th of November. If you click here: mailing list, we’ll make sure you’re the first to hear.

press release
“‘Floating World’ is an album by US based artist Todd Gautreau, who records as Tapes and Topographies. It was created in response to a collaboration project called Thirty-Six Views of Newland Island with British artist Jonathan S Hooper. The album follows last year’s ‘Amplitudes’ and is another entry to Todd’s discography, alongside music on labels such as Past Inside The Present, Dronarivm, Shimmering Moods and his own Simulacra Records.
Jonathan S Hooper is a mixed-media artist based in London, who works with paintings, photography, sculpture and film. Thirty-Six Views of Newland Island is an evolving multi-factorial project in which Hooper continues his exploration of ontological concepts of time and space through the landscapes of his native Cornwall. Specifically, the project focuses on a small uninhabited outcrop called Newland Island, which lies just off the Cornish coast in the Atlantic Ocean’s most westerly margins. The project’s title is inspired by Katushika Hokusai’s series of woodblock prints of Mount Fuji, drawing in Hooper’s broader interest in Japan’s artistic heritage. It also adds to the cultural connection between Cornwall and Japan first established in St Ives, in the 1920’s, through the collaboration of master potters Bernard Leach and Hamada Shoji. A collaboration that continued through much of the twentieth century.

A particularly fascinating consideration is that Mount Fuji is an instantly recognisable geographic icon, yet in contrast, Newland Island is unknown to most. This frees the project from the limits of preconception, opening up opportunities to explore further ideas of landscape, and our place within it. Through collaboration with Gautreau (who is based some 5000 miles away), Hooper sought to give creative licence to a composer, in order to encourage another viewpoint. He had first discovered Todd’s music through Elizabeth Alker’s BBC Radio 3 Unclassified programme, and subsequently reached out to invite him to work on a soundtrack, which has now become ‘Floating World’. He sent photographs of his paintings, scans of the polaroids and his studio notes; the work developed organically into a collection of nine soundscapes, in which Hooper sees as independent views of Newland Island in their own right.
Hooper will be working to share this project through galleries and installations and we felt it was apt to assign full creative control over the CD packaging design to these two artists. Todd, also a graphic designer, has pulled together some of the polaroids for the outer and inner sleeves. There is a 16 page booklet included, which contains paintings, further polaroids and text from both artists. This is also included with the digital version of this album.“

credits
Written and Produced by Todd Gautreau
Mastered by James Edward Armstrong
Paintings and Polaroids by Jonathan S Hooper
Design by Todd Gautreau

https://www.jonathanshooper.com/

Out Now! Adrian Lane – Missing The Crows

Here’s the second of two new editions for October, with ‘Missing The Crows‘ by Adrian Lane being a fourteen track modern classical album which fuses orchestral strings and piano with a subtle use of electronics. It’s out now in a run of 100 gatefold vinyl-effect CDrs after a short pre-order last week. If you click here: mailing list, we’ll make sure you’re the first to hear.

press release
“Following last year’s release ‘The Fleet’, we welcome back UK based composer and visual artist with a new concept album. Alongside long-since sold-out The Fleet, Adrian also contributed to our Home Diaries series and has recent releases on other UK labels including Preserved Sound and Hibernate. Adrian’s sound is characterised by elegant modern classical arrangements, pairing acoustic instrument textures with a hint of electronics drawing inspiration from composers such as Jóhann Jóhannsson and Max Richter.

In ‘Missing The Crows’ we have what Adrian describes as a follow-up to The Fleet, in terms of the recording process and sound palette used, in that strings and piano dominate. Yet in this new collection of 14 pieces, there is a bit more of an emphasis on synths and light electronic effects. Neither the synthetic, nor the acoustic instrument sounds take centre stage at any given time, with the intention being to paint a coherent whole in which neither taking precedence.

The story behind the title of the album sprang up following regular walks to a local park, where there are always lots and lots of crows. This former Ministry Of Defence land by the sea wall is left to grow naturally and Adrian had decided to go there with his camera to photograph some of these crows, as source material for his visual artwork. On arrival, he realised that he should have taken his telephoto lens, as he kept missing the crows; they’d fly away before he got close enough. He returned on another occasion with the telephoto lens and managed to get some decent images and these appear in the mixed media painting in the album cover artwork.

There is a lot of negative symbolism associated with crows, but they are fascinating creatures; they are intelligent, can problem solve and warn each other of danger. The natural landscape has always been an influence on Adrian’s music and certain specific reference such as the crows appear in the tracks. In another reference, ‘Godeuleum’ (meaning ‘Icicle’ in Korean) was written when it was particularly cold, and his wife (who is Korean) used the word when pointing to them, hanging from the gutters of their home.

Whilst Adrian has never aspired to be a film composer, he does listen to a lot of film/drama soundtracks and he feels this cinematic quality comes across in the music. In film music, themes and phrases are often repeated, with melodies appearing in different forms across numerous tracks. This approach was embraced in sketching out the concept for ‘Missing The Crows’, in the hope that listeners may recognise sections of this album, building a sense of familiarity. The work is both charming and intelligent like the crow, with a character soaring high beyond the mere colour of black and its associated darkness.“

credits
Written and Produced by Adrian Lane
Mastered by James Edward Armstrong
Painting by Adrian Lane
Art and Design by Andrew Heath

Out Now! Sven Laux – What Remains

Here’s the first of two new releases out today on Whitelabrecs. This one’s a cinematic modern classical album called ‘What Remains‘ by Sven Laux, combining piano and strings arrangements with sensitively placed electronics. It’s out now in a run of 100 gatefold vinyl-effect CDrs after a short pre-order last week. If you click here: mailing list, we’ll make sure you’re the first to hear.

press release
“Since 2018 we’ve released five albums from Berlin, Germany based composer Sven Laux, including his most recent collaboration with Fione and solo albums ‘Schachmatt’, ‘ODD’, his Home Diaries edition and 2020 and the extended version, Scattered Fragments of Separation (The Complete Story). Sven’s sound design has found its home in short films, advertisement and in audio branding but he also maintains his discography as an artist, focusing on deeply stirring cinematic themes.

A well-balanced contemporary sound awaits you in this latest edition ‘What Remains’ and you are urged by the title to consider what you think about when something is left over? The record uses a depth of sprawling orchestral timbres, across its at-first cryptically titled tracks, to set out the phases of processing an event. At first there is ‘patience’ and ‘hope’, then there is the passing of the event (‘the goodbye’) followed by ‘what remains’; the now. Memory may serve ‘the return’ and perhaps ‘the cohesion’ and for some, there may be ‘the ending’.

You may choose a past experience to relate with these titles or, you might choose to allow it to relate to the present day. It does not matter whether you think positively about something from the past, or whether you mourn something afterwards in a sad or melancholy way. Whether negative, positive or even indifferent, it is the contemplative environment that each track brings which will allow this record to become a thinking space; a ceremonial framework to process events.“

credits
Written and Produced by Sven Laux
Mastered by James Edward Armstrong
Artwork by Zoë Heath
Art and Design by Andrew Heath

Coming soon… Adrian Lane – Missing The Crows

Our new release ‘Missing The Crows‘ by Adrian Lane will be available officially in one of our typically low runs of 100 gatefold vinyl-effect CDrs on Saturday the 15th of October after a pre-order for Bandcamp Friday on the 7th of October. If you click here: mailing list, we’ll make sure you’re the first to hear.

credits
Written and Produced by Adrian Lane
Mastered by James Edward Armstrong
Painting by Adrian Lane
Art and Design by Andrew Heath

Coming soon… Sven Laux – What Remains

Our new release ‘What Remains‘ by Sven Laux will be available officially in one of our typically low runs of 100 gatefold vinyl-effect CDrs on Saturday the 15th of October after a pre-order for Bandcamp Friday on the 7th of October. If you click here: mailing list, we’ll make sure you’re the first to hear.

credits
Written and Produced by Sven Laux
Mastered by James Edward Armstrong
Artwork by Zoë Heath
Art and Design by Andrew Heath

Out Now! Polaroid Notes – Cloud Anthems

Here’s the second of two releases out now on Whitelabrecs, fresh for September. ‘Cloud Anthems‘ is a set of misty piano and synth vignettes, combining moody compositions with vintage synth abstractions. It’s out now in a run of 100 gatefold vinyl-effect CDrs after a short pre-order on Bandcamp Friday. The best way to keep informed about our low-run releases, is to join our mailing list, and we’ll make sure you’re the first to hear!

press release
“Once again, we’re excited to unveil another Polaroid Notes release, the fourth album by this Germany based artist in our discography. Alongside his side-project as Kraut Sounds, editions have also appeared on labels such as Büro Für Erdrotation, Weber & Alcantu and his own label Drone Works International.

In this latest edition ‘Cloud Anthems’, the music takes influence from the packaging photography, which was taken by the artist one sunny January at the Riegsee, a small lake in front of the Bavarian Alps. The entire lake had frozen over due to low temperatures in the weeks before. Later that afternoon fog rolled in and together with the sun, the frozen lake and leafless trees made a wonderful contrast. The whole scenario lasted only a few minutes before everything disappeared into the clouds of dense fog. As beautiful as the whole day was, those few moments were something very special to behold.

Polaroid Notes enjoys these contrasts, both in nature and in music too. ‘Cloud Anthems’ is a series of unique contrasts that harmonise perfectly, remaining in mind for a while after they have passed. Piano sounds and loops interact with flashes of harsh energy and strange experimental sounds from old analog synthesizers. A particular focus for this record is the VCS3 synthesiser, a portable synth from the late 60s; whilst a digital replica was used here, the artist found this to be the perfect way to express the themes for this record. Sounds and melodies flow into each other spontaneously like colours of an abstract painting, layer by layer.“

credits
Written and produced by Polaroid Notes
Mastered by James Edward Armstrong
Photography by Polaroid Notes
Art and design by Andrew Heath

Out Now! Andrew Heath & Simon McCorry – A Is For Autumn

Here’s one of two releases out now on Whitelabrecs, fresh for September. ‘A Is For Autumn‘ will soundtrack your ascent into the colder months (although not all parts of the world) and is out now in a run of 100 gatefold vinyl-effect CDrs after a short pre-order on Bandcamp Friday. The best way to keep informed about our low-run releases, is to join our mailing list, and we’ll make sure you’re the first to hear!

press release
“This record combines the work of two artists who have previously released solo and collaborative albums for Whitelabrecs. Andrew Heath is renowned for quiet, lowercase Ambient music, with his music appearing on labels such as Giraffe Tapes, Shimmering Moods, Rusted Tone, not to mention regular contributions for Disco Gecko and Whitelabrecs. Simon McCorry is a cellist and composer, who has been working for theatre, dance and film for over 15 years. His work in the contemporary Ambient sphere has seen releases on the likes of Naviar Records, Polar Seas, Shimmering Moods and Hidden Vibes.

Both artists are also keen collaborators, with discographies listing co-production work with the likes of Hans-Joachim Roedelius, Anne Chris Bakker, Anthéne, James Osland, Mi Cosa de Resistance and Toby Marks between them. For the first time, these two Stroud, UK based artists have worked together to create a soundtrack themed around the onset of Autumn, clocking in at almost an hour.

Andrew and Simon bring together their love of improvisation to create ‘A Is For Autumn’ which sits between tonal, electronic minimalism and neo-classical restraint – a warm balm for cold autumn days. Using a different palette of sounds for each of the recording sessions from instruments such as cello and modular, to piano and guitar, they engender a constantly shifting tone to these soundscape pieces, all influenced and informed by the time of year – a rich mellowing of landscape and of a withdrawing into a more intimate space as the year slows and the light levels fall away.

The rhythms of the world’s internal clock appear ever more skewed in these times, and the timing of the seasons are becoming more unpredictable. For some, Autumn may fall at a different time to the rest of the world and for some, not at all. This album is a homage to Autumn, as interpreted by the artists. For the listener, this might tap into your own memories of this colourful season. Or, it may transport you into the environment that has been created.“

credits
Written and produced by Andrew Heath & Simon McCorry
Mastered by Ian Hawgood
Photography by Rita Kuklenko
Art and design by Andrew Heath

Coming soon… Polaroid Notes – Cloud Anthems

Our new release ‘Cloud Anthems‘ will be available officially in one of our typically low runs of 100 gatefold vinyl-effect CDrs on Saturday the 10th of September after a pre-order on the 1st of September, on Bandcamp Friday. If you click here: mailing list, we’ll make sure you’re the first to hear.