Today we released two new editions in our digital-only series, eRecords! ‘the upper air’ is an EP from Bristol, UK based artist Fred Baty, with his debut release with Whitelabrecs. We’ve followed his music for many years, after enjoying his work as Crepusculum back in the ‘netlabel days’ of the late 2000s.
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We do not publish details about the concepts or production methods of a release so that the liner notes and content in each scrapbook will reveal the background of each edition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: eR010 artist: fred baty release title: the upper air release type: ep location: bristol, uk
released august 20, 2022
Written and produced by Fred Baty Mastered by Ian Hawgood Mixed by Dax Liniere at Puzzle Factory Cover photo by Dave Watts Art and design by Harry Towell
You can find out more information about eRecords in our landing page link, below:
Here’s the second of our two new releases lined-up for the 9th of April. We’re pleased to welcome back Edu Comelles who had released Línia Pedra Paisatge Solc with us back in 2020. This time, Edu is joined by his regular collaborator Rafa Ramos Sania who performs double bass, cello among other instruments. ‘de camp‘ will be out for pre-order this coming Bandcamp Friday, the 1st of April a record which is a rich blend of contemporary sound art and modern classical music. It also includes a 32 minute bonus recording, of a live performance at the VolumensFest in 2021.
‘de camp‘ will be available in one of our typically low runs of 100 gatefold vinyl-effect CDrs, complete with art and design by Andrew Heath.
It will be released officially on Saturday the 9th of April. If you join our mailing listusing the link below, we’ll make sure you’re the first to hear.
press release “de camp is the second album by the Spanish duo formed by sound artist Edu Comelles and multi-instrumentalist Rafa Ramos Sania. After their debut on Archives label with Botánica de Balcón, the two artists expand their sonic universe by refining their own style, aesthetics and sound design. The outcome is ‘de camp’, an album featuring five new compositions and Bleda, a piece originally released on El Muelle Records as part of a charity compilation album.
de camp encompasses a widening of the musical horizons of this duo, stretching the colour palette of their timbres and shedding some light to their darker first album on Archives. Botánica de Balcón revolved around setting up a dialogue between austere electronics and the sombre strength of the double bass. On de camp the composition process has been a back and forth exercise of recording and re-recording, dissolving the lines between instrumentation, electronics and field recordings and striving for a unity in language and aesthetics. de camp means ‘from the field’ or ‘from land’ in Catalan. All track titles refer to Catalan names of plants found in the outskirts of Valencia, the city where both artists live.“
credits Recorded, composed and mixed by Edu Comelles & Rafa Ramos Sania between Patraix and Alboraia 2021 Edu Comelles: Electronics & Field Recordings Rafa Ramos Sania: Double Bass, Cello, Piano, Acoustic Guitar, Music Box and Objects Mastered by David Mata Art and design by Andrew Heath
Here’s the first of our two new releases lined-up for the 9th of April. We’re pleased to welcome the return of Slow Clinic who had released Discarded Things Once Lovedand Green Echo with us. Slow Clinic (James) is joined by Minimal Resource Manipulationlabel owner Matt Atkinsin this collaboration. ‘Earthtides I‘ will be out for pre-order this coming Bandcamp Friday, the 1st of April and it’s a record that combines Matt’s piano recordings with James’ guitar and field recordings.
‘Earthtides I‘ will be available in one of our typically low runs of 100 gatefold vinyl-effect CDrs, complete with art and design by Andrew Heath.
It will be released officially on Saturday the 9th of April. If you join our mailing listusing the link below, we’ll make sure you’re the first to hear.
press release “Matt Atkins is a London based sound and visual artist who uses various sources create sound collages. He runs the Minimal Resource Manipulation label and his music has appeared on labels such as Rusted Tone Recordings, Tone Burst and Anticipating Nowhere.
Slow Clinic is the solo performance and recording project of James Edward Armstrong. James has released music on labels including Archives, Assembly Field and Champion Version, as well as his own label Rusted Tone. In 2018 we released ‘Discarded Things Once Loved’ in a limited edition run of 50 CDrs, followed by 2019’s ‘Green Echo’, a collaboration with Jazzdefector.
Both of these artists are regular collaborators and ‘Earthtides I’ is the second album to come from a collaboration between Matt and James, following the release of ‘Enfolding’ via Rusted Tone Recordings in November 2020. Recorded between March and May 2021, this album began with a selection of piano loops recorded by Matt at OneCat Studio in Brixton, London. The piano loops were sent to James to layer heavily processed guitar, textural sounds, and field recordings gathered around the UK.“
credits Music by Matt Atkins & James Edward Armstrong
Piano recorded by John Clayton at OneCat Studio Layout and design by Andrew Heath Cover art by Harry Towell Mastered by James Edward Armstrong
Here’s the second of our two new releases lined-up for the 12th of March. We’re pleased to be joined by Tokyo, Japan based artist morimoto naoki for this one, with an album that follows recent releases on Seil and ROHS! ‘Soak‘ will be out for pre-order this coming Bandcamp Friday, the 4th of Marchand the melancholy blend of light electronics, field recordings and manipulated acoustics makes this record a pleasant listen from start to finish.
‘Soak‘ will be available in one of our typically low runs of 100 gatefold vinyl-effect CDrs, complete with photography by Harry Towell.
It will be released officially on Saturday the 12th of March. If you join our mailing listusing the link below, we’ll make sure you’re the first to hear.
press release “morimoto naoki is an electronic and ambient composer from Tokyo in Japan, with previous releases on labels that include Seil, Inner Ocean and ROHS!. He started writing music around a decade ago and his approach draws in various instrument samples and every day sounds which he captures from his daily routines.
There is an undoubted influence from the Japanese ambient and electronica scenes and his restful, lightly fractured acoustic sound stands up to that of his peers. In this new record ‘Soak’, morimoto’s breathes a sense of warmth and stillness into the world as acoustic and electric guitars, synthesizers, toy pianos and metallophones are woven into a tapestry of beautiful tones. Field recordings add narrative whilst cassette tape recordings give further warmth and charm.
The concept for this record is to ‘soak’ the listener into the happenstances of daily life around them. The idea came about during the recording process as the field recordings were captured; morimoto found that listening to the world around him revealed many ambient textures that might normally go unnoticed. The process of trying to absorb these consciously felt like a ‘soaking’ process.“
credits Written, Produced and Mastered by morimoto naoki Photography by Harry Towell Art and Design by Andrew Heath
It’s been a strange old year, as pretty much anyone reflecting on 2020 is likely to conclude. I’ll see if I can write this without mentioning Covid-19. Failed already.
As many of our followers will know, our schedule of physical releases hit an unplanned break in April, due to the closure of our local post office. We also felt that even if it were to be open, it wouldn’t be right to stand in a queue of people to ship packages a few times a week. So we decided to stop all of our plans completely. Before long, we launched into another project: Home Diaries. 30 albums from 30 artists later, we were into the warmth of July and were delighted to release our CDs again! We summarised Whitelabrecs related things in our last post, so I think the Whitelabrecs story ends here for now as far as this post is concerned.
Aside from a seriously busy year of running Whitelabrecs and even making some of my own music, I also feel that in 2020 I was able to listen to more music than I ever manage in an average year. I’ve been working from home as well as having time away from work altogether, which resulted in lots of DIY. Any household chore or job for me will always involve music. The washing needs to go on the line – it takes 5 minutes – that’s a track that can be played. Glossing every radiator in the house for example, gives time to take in a few albums! The shortlist really swelled this year and as always, my list is not about the best executed record or the perfect sound. It’s about the feeling it created for me, and how well I connected with it. I want to listen back to the records in this list in a decade or so and be taken back to this year, as strange as it was.
I stopped writing on the Irregular Crates blog a while back and this is where I’d normally announce a ‘best of’ list. But we set up Wallofambient this year alongside some other ambient labels and it’s been a bit of a consideration on whether I would post my list there. As I finalised it though, I realised several albums I’ve chosen are not ambient… so I didn’t want to annoy the ambient purists too much.
So I’ve decided to share it on the Whitelabrecs page this year and I’m sure there will be a few Ambient purists that are disappointed in my selections! Hopefully you’ll find some gems here though still. I’ve made no secret of my wide open taste in music, probably influenced by my microscopically successful DJ career, which I still look back on nostalgically. This influences my curation of Whitelabrecs and the sound we put out. Sure, the label sound is ambient overall, but you’ll see that generally I favour a melodic, melancholic or textured sound. I’m sure this is linked to a taste that dabbles in Dub Techno, Drone, Jazz, Liquid Funk, African Music, Chillhop, Deep House, Modern Classical, Funk, Folk, Field Recordings, Bossa Nova and many other styles.
So if you click the big yellow image of Port Isaac in Cornwall (from our holiday in September), you’ll be able to listen to a mix which is a countdown show of a track from each album in my top 25. My wife Beth has kindly leant her voice to provide the countdown and I added some delay and reverb effects just for fun. Below you can see a gallery of the cover art for the list of 25, as well as my thoughts on each album:
1st: Bibio Sleep On The Wing Warp
“At the top of my list ever since the night I noticed this new Bibio record emerged on Warp. Definitely the soundtrack to late summer for me, and I played it in the car on our family holiday to Cornwall a lot this year. So this will be a very nostalgic record for me in years to come. The use of instrument, particularly strings is a perfect blend and it’s one of those albums you can easily listen through in full. It retains your interest too with its variety of moods.“
“I was sat listening to jazz fm in the car when an advert for Melody Gardot’s album came on. It was starting to get pretty wintry and thoughts turned to Christmas – the lush string arrangements in the snippet of audio I heard urged me to listen to the album on Spotify. I literally listened to the album over and over that whole weekend; I decided I couldn’t live without the double LP too. This isn’t necessarily my usual taste as it’s singer-songwriter stuff. But it really is just so so good all the way through. The Philharmonic orchestra certainly help, as the whole arrangement in every single track is perfect. Nearly my album of the year, this…“
3rd: Offthesky & The Humble Bee We Were The Hum Of Dreams Laaps
“This record for me was the clear winner for 2020 right up until I discovered the top two in my list. It came out at around the time the lockdown kicked in here in the UK. I was doing lots of DIY jobs around the house and the expert sound design from these two masters was just the perfect tonic to long, slightly strange days stuck indoors. There’s so much detail to get lost in, yet it still sits in the ambient genre which allows you to drift as you listen.”
“Out in January, this one escaped me to the point when the vinyl versions had long since gone. This is a small band creating hushed ‘indie’ music, dare I say. The tones of the guitar, keys and vocals are warm and enveloping. Every single track in the album is excellent and again, the sign of a top album is one you can listen to in one sitting, without feeling the need to hit ‘skip’.“
“This album was always set to be good with the combination of talented artists Eluvium and Explosions In The Sky. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting however, as this set of fun folk ambient tracks are full of twists and turns. It doesn’t take itself too seriously and some of the samples or recordings will make you smile, whereas there are also plenty of moments that are truly beautiful.“
“It was another solid year for Lost Tribe Sound with another excellent series of releases. My favourite was Mute Forest’s Riderstorm, a blend of soft rock, folk, Americana and the lightest touches of electronica. Some of the pieces are instrumental whereas others make use of Kael Smith’s song-writing and vocals. There is a generous palette of instruments used throughout but a sparse, intimate feel to it too.“
“Over the years, Modern Classical ambient music has featured heavily in my favourite records of the year. Generally, I’ve relied on household names such as Arnalds, Frahm or Jóhannsson but this year, I discovered Bygones by Mathieu Karsenti as my favourite classically influenced record. The strings and arrangement of the instrument tones are as rich and lavish as you’d find in music by these household names and that’s likely due to the fact that Karsenti is a film score composer. Only gripe is that this one’s digital only… would love to own it on vinyl!“
“I’ve been following the work of trumpeter, jazz artist and Gondwana label owner Matthew Halsall since his album Colour Yes and pretty much own all of his albums. There’s a rich and vibrant feel to all of his work but this latest album, ‘Salute To The Sun’ there’s a slightly more exotic, ‘world’ feel to it in places with more than a nod to Pharoah Sanders and Alice Coltrane. I’ve listened to this a lot since the beautifully designed CD arrived and wonder whether this might be higher up the list if I’d have been listening back in the summer.“
“Kranky have a knack for releasing some real acoustic ambient classics and some of the finest albums blending acoustic instruments into melancholy drones. Stars of the Lid are the obvious stand out. This one by Less Bells was subject to a lengthy pre-order with a sample track available to whet my appetite. I knew this would be right up there from that very first listen and this one’s been a regular in my playlist this year. It has everything – variety, strings, texture, tasteful choral vocals, echoes of other stringed instruments and swells of cathedral drone.“
“There was a repress this year of Romeo Poirier’s excellent Plage Arriere but before this, the jazz flecked electronic sound art of Hotel Nota really impressed. An inevitable comparison to Jan Jelinek or Jon Hassell can be drawn but you’ll get past that to enjoy Poirier’s approach to composition and enjoy the enveloping detail of these works. I own it on vinyl and that really adds an extra layer of dust that gives another dimension.“
11th: Alabaster DePlume To Cy & Lee: Instrumentals Vol. 1 International Anthem
“I listened to a fair bit of jazz this summer, particularly the more experimental or hushed works or slower, spiritual jazz. Discovering this album by Alabaster DePlume was quite something and from the opening moments of Visit Croatia, these restful woodwind, strings and guitar compositions were a welcome sonic backdrop for warm summer days indoors.“
“I’ve followed the work of Tom Ellis for years, since my DJing days. He originally produced a deep, minimal micro House style and it was interesting to see him branch into a live approach, focusing on jazz and soul. This year I’ve spent a lot of time listening (and mixing) house music and it’s disappointing to me that I don’t represent this in my end of year list. However, this record bridged my attempts to make DJ mixes again with my taste for jazz music too. It starts with a beautifully deep sax and Rhodes reprise and there are some slow, leisurely House jams intersecting this beautifully deep record.“
“Laaps has quickly established itself as one of the finest ‘ambient’ labels around, following on from the success of the Eilean imprint. This one from Japanese artist Tomotsugu Nakamura has been in my car CD player for most of the year and has been a calming ‘return to the office’ record, sounding particularly nice in the sun. Acoustic sound sources, reversed notes and clicks and cuts nod nostalgically back to the mid-2000s.“
“This record by Okkyung Lee has caused quite a stir this year and I’ve seen plenty of positive reviews and comments in the press. Lee is a South Korean cellist and her album goes far beyond the cello, as piano, low slung bass and harp amongst other creaks and clangs which makes for a playful but at times, spooky record.“
“Dronarivm is a label that you tend to expect to provide high quality year-end list esque material every year. In 2020, pick of the bunch for me is this beautiful ambient album by Sinerider, a range of woozy, hazy sun-speckled guitar drones. Some of the tracks are blurry, some are more open loops but this for me has to be one of the finest ambient-leaning albums of the year, something you can easily sink into at any time, and drift away.“
16th: Gastón Arévalo Terrain A Strangely Isolated Place
“When I first discovered ambient music, through netlabels, I also fell across the work of Gaston Arevalo whose sound was often a mixture of field recordings and experimental, electronica influenced ambient. I must admin, I have not followed his discography for a good number of years but this mammoth collection of deep listening-drones on A Strangely Isolated Space was a big hit for me this year, particularly late at night. At an hour long, it needs plenty of time to give it your attention and is best enjoyed as a whole.“
“Lontano Series have emerged as a strong label in the ambient scene and this album by Morimoto Naoki is really quite something. It’s a collection of static-riddled electro-acoustic moods, full of warmth and light melancholy. It’s difficult not to think of the 12k label when listening to this and for me, it’s easily one of the finest ambient records of the year.”
“I’ve been a fan of chillhop for a few years now and several of these short, chilled instrumental hip-hop eps and mini albums are in my headphones over the course of any given year. I was really impressed with this one by Mell-ø & Ambulo, with beautiful licks of smooth guitar taking centre stage.“
20th: Footshooter Libations & Movement Dance Regular
“I discovered this one early this year and it sort of started my interest in beat driven music as I looked for some styles to help keep a level of positivity throughout the pandemic and its lockdowns. This one’s billed as an EP but the length is more like an album. The tracks use a street-wise London approach in the beats and vocals, but there’s a nu-jazz, broken beat and house influence running through too with some really clever production. There’s even a short ambient piece in amongst these tracks!”
21st: Session Victim Needledrop Night Time Stories
“I’ve got all of the Session Victim albums and have long since been a fan but Needledrop is easily a favourite, and an early contender for album of the year. This artist is often filed under house but in this record, there’s a beautifully adept ability to create downtempo, soulful tracks too. Waller and Pierce for me is the stand-out track with smooth and deep soulful vocals.“
“I’ve been enjoying Ryan Bissett’s work as Halftribe for quite some time now and a jaw dropping moment occurred not long after I hit play on ‘Backwater Revisited’ from the trusty Dronarivm label. The record features synth and electro acoustic tones, drenched in reverb and a tasteful hint of chorus. Plenty of crackle and space between the lines to allow for a glistening, wintry backdrop. The artwork features an adaptation of open source imagery by Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis from back in 1908 and this rustic, vintage cover fits in perfectly with the blanket-like folds of Ambience Ryan created here.“
“I’ve always been into bossa and Latin music since my late teens, so occasionally I’ll discover something within these categories that I end up playing a lot, particularly in the summer. This one by guitarist Fabiano do Nascimento got some serious hammer and I found I played it a lot at around breakfast time. It’s got great variety and depth and has been pretty uplifting for a heavy old year.”
25th: Domenique Dumont People On Sunday The Leaf Label
“It happens every year; I finish agonising over my end of year list after months of shuffling my ‘chart’, casting an eye over everything I left out… then I happen to discover something wonderful in December. I’d already made my end of year mix and just had to swap in this album by Latvian artist Domenique Dumont, which had been on repeat all day. There’s a child like sense of wonder about all of these playful synth melodies and rhythms that I just can’t escape. I’ll state the obvious: a few more weeks of owning this, how high up this list might it have been?”
The summer schedule continues, as we welcome a collaboration between Montreal, Canada based artist Stefan Christoff and Milan, Italy based sound artist Matteo Uggeri. The record sees a live recording between Stefan and his fellow musicians at Casa Del Popolo, a music venue in Montreal passed to Matteo who provided further processing, samples and field recordings. Raven, Raven, Raven is a modern classical micro-symphony, featuring piano, cello, violin, double bass and tablaand the packaging includes the paintings of Chris Day. This will be available in 2019’s signature gatefold-LP style CD, in a run of 100 copies and we’ll release this officially on or around the 27th of July 2019. This has wide influences so is difficult to classify but should appeal to you if you like Peter Broderick and Machinefabriek, Andrea Ferraris and Matteo Uggerior Guy Gelem.
Raven, Raven, Ravenis available now after having been released to subscribers of our mailing list last weekend, who had the first opportunity to grab a copy. These have been going well but we still have some copies left at the time of writing and you can buy one of these or grab a digital copy by clicking the link below or image above. To avoid missing out on future releases, you can join our mailing list HERE
press release “We’re pleased to announce our sixtieth release, which is a collaborative project between renowned musician and Montreal, Canada activist Stefan Christoff and Italian sound artist Matteo Uggeri, as well as musicians Claire Abraham (Cello), Fern O’Dactyl (Violin), Peter Burton (Double Bass) and Will Eizlini (Tabla).
‘Raven, Raven, Raven’ is a longform piece which originates from a live performance at Casa Del Popolo in Montreal, between Christoff and the aforementioned musicians. The ensemble performance was for a benefit show at the Native Friendship Centre and at a later date this was subsequently passed to Milan-based artist Matteo Uggeri, who had previously collaborated with Stefan through their mutual contact Vasco Viviani, owner of Old Bicycle Records. Matteo was tasked with the opportunity to deconstruct, rearrange and rebuild this raw recording as well as to adorn it with additional layers of sounds. Matteo’s own take on the original work took up a new approach to something that was originally live and flowing and once each artist had their own space in which to bring their own separate ideas, they then spent a slow period of regular communication via email during which the project gathered the momentum to eventually achieve the final results which have been beautifully mastered by Ian Hawgood.
‘Raven, Raven, Raven’ still flows like a live record, as if Matteo was there, present at this intimate live music venue, playing to the small crowd. Field recordings, samples and radio static blend through the individual movements of this modern classical micro-symphony in a seamless way. The album is intended to be gapless, playing continually both as the single track on the CD or as the split 5 movements within the stream or digital version.
The title to this body of work reflects back to how the original concert performance was set up to help support indigenous programs for people struggling with homelessness and poverty, with birds not only being particularly important in poetics, but also in different indigenous cultures too. It is often a symbol and this motif repeats itself within the recurring themes throughout this recording both within the music and the beautiful packaging, which features paintings by Chris Day and graphic design which Matteo also contributed to. Both Stefan and Matteo care deeply about human rights and the playful composition they have produced alongside this group of musicians represent this, with characterful glints of hope and freedom.”
credits Originally recorded live at Casa del Popolo, Montreal 2017
Written and produced by Stefan Christoff and Matteo Uggeri
Claire Abraham (Cello)
Fern O’Dactyl (Violin)
Stefan Christoff (Piano)
Will Eizlini (Tabla)
Peter Burton (Double Bass)
Matteo Uggeri (Field Recordings, Effects, Samples)
Assembled and mixed by Matteo Uggeri between 2017 and 2018
Mastered by Ian Hawgood in 2019
Artwork by Chris Day
Packaging design Matteo Uggeri
The summer schedule continues, as we welcome a collaboration between Montreal, Canada based artist Stefan Christoff and Milan, Italy based sound artist Matteo Uggeri. The record sees a live recording between Stefan and his fellow musicians at Casa Del Popolo, a music venue in Montreal passed to Matteo who provided further processing, samples and field recordings. Raven, Raven, Raven is a modern classical micro-symphony, featuring piano, cello, violin, double bass and tablaand the packaging includes the paintings of Chris Day. This will be available in 2019’s signature gatefold-LP style CD, in a run of 100 copies and we’ll release this officially on or around the 27th of July 2019. This has wide influences so is difficult to classify but should appeal to you if you like Peter Broderick and Machinefabriek, Andrea Ferraris and Matteo Uggerior Guy Gelem.
Whitelabrecs low-run releases will be made available suddenly without official release dates, meaning they’re likely to sell out fast. The best way to keep informed is to join our mailing list which can be located through our website menu or you can click HERE
press release “We’re pleased to announce our sixtieth release, which is a collaborative project between renowned musician and Montreal, Canada activist Stefan Christoff and Italian sound artist Matteo Uggeri, as well as musicians Claire Abraham (Cello), Fern O’Dactyl (Violin), Peter Burton (Double Bass) and Will Eizlini (Tabla).
‘Raven, Raven, Raven’ is a longform piece which originates from a live performance at Casa Del Popolo in Montreal, between Christoff and the aforementioned musicians. The ensemble performance was for a benefit show at the Native Friendship Centre and at a later date this was subsequently passed to Milan-based artist Matteo Uggeri, who had previously collaborated with Stefan through their mutual contact Vasco Viviani, owner of Old Bicycle Records. Matteo was tasked with the opportunity to deconstruct, rearrange and rebuild this raw recording as well as to adorn it with additional layers of sounds. Matteo’s own take on the original work took up a new approach to something that was originally live and flowing and once each artist had their own space in which to bring their own separate ideas, they then spent a slow period of regular communication via email during which the project gathered the momentum to eventually achieve the final results which have been beautifully mastered by Ian Hawgood.
‘Raven, Raven, Raven’ still flows like a live record, as if Matteo was there, present at this intimate live music venue, playing to the small crowd. Field recordings, samples and radio static blend through the individual movements of this modern classical micro-symphony in a seamless way. The album is intended to be gapless, playing continually both as the single track on the CD or as the split 5 movements within the stream or digital version.
The title to this body of work reflects back to how the original concert performance was set up to help support indigenous programs for people struggling with homelessness and poverty, with birds not only being particularly important in poetics, but also in different indigenous cultures too. It is often a symbol and this motif repeats itself within the recurring themes throughout this recording both within the music and the beautiful packaging, which features paintings by Chris Day and graphic design which Matteo also contributed to. Both Stefan and Matteo care deeply about human rights and the playful composition they have produced alongside this group of musicians represent this, with characterful glints of hope and freedom.”
credits Originally recorded live at Casa del Popolo, Montreal 2017
Written and produced by Stefan Christoff and Matteo Uggeri
Claire Abraham (Cello)
Fern O’Dactyl (Violin)
Stefan Christoff (Piano)
Will Eizlini (Tabla)
Peter Burton (Double Bass)
Matteo Uggeri (Field Recordings, Effects, Samples)
Assembled and mixed by Matteo Uggeri between 2017 and 2018
Mastered by Ian Hawgood in 2019
Artwork by Chris Day
Packaging design Matteo Uggeri
Next up on Whitelabrecs, we welcome California, United States based artist Hipnotic Earthwith a beautiful Electro-Acoustic ambient album which includes a wealth of delicate textures including instrument sounds, synth drones, prepared-piano style creaks and birdsong as well as a careful use of silence. The album is fittingly titled ‘Suspended In Silence‘ and is mastered by Ambient legend Robert Rich. This will be available in our new look gatefold-LP style CD packaging for 2019, featuring coastal photography provided by Cosmos Rennert, the man who records as Hipnotic Earth. We’ll release this on or around the 11th of May 2019. Those who follow artists such as Nils Frahm, Polaroid Notesor Valotihkuushould enjoy this!
Suspended In Silence is available now after having been released to subscribers of our mailing list last weekend, who had the first opportunity to grab a copy. These have been going well but we still have a few left and you can buy one of these or grab a digital copy by clicking the link or image above. To avoid missing out on future releases, you can join our mailing list HERE
press release “Hipnotic Earth is an electro-acoustic ambient soundscape project birthed from a deep need for quiet, slow motion music; from a carnal urge toward silence. California, USA based artist Cosmos Rennert’s project began dramatically when in 2015 the scheduled release of his debut album ‘Essence’ was missed when his home in the hot springs of Harbin, Northern California burned down in a sudden wildfire which swept the community. His home, studio, possessions, work place and the tiny town in which he lived succumbed to the flames. He is now deeply grateful to be able to continue recording and we’re pleased to present, a record which sees a departure from Cosmos’ usual style of sleepy drones.
‘Suspended In Silence’ is the second in a series of three completed albums presenting a new, more melodic direction. Continuing with spacious, evocative and immersive drone-based tonalities, the vast majority of these pieces are one-off improvisations that were recorded during the mornings of mid-2018 in the wine country of California. Here there is a love for not remembering how a song is made. The modus operandi is quite spontaneous, be it the recording process or sound design and mixing of additional colours afterwards. Simply in
the moment with no agenda, this music strives for eternal endings and slow rotations around an axis of serenity. During the recording of these tracks birds and other creatures would sometimes meander into the apple orchard where the studio is located. They seemed to
be drawn to the music as if they wanted to be on the album and occasionally, their wish was granted!
Previously steeped in a tradition of dance music, tribal drumming and Jazz, Cosmos has a long love affair with live looping as a tool for both rhythmic and textural inspiration. What was once a style using mad-scientist dub controllers that strove to be improvisational with emphasis on listening and responding to the other musicians in the mix, has now
evolved into deeply meditative washes of relaxed balmy soundscapes for tired ears. For this newer calming sound of Hipnotic Earth, loopers are used only occasionally as a source of experimentation. The technique of modulating the feedback amount so as to sculpt the looped material as it fades and evolves over time yields surprising
results. A love for the silent spaces in music has always been important to this artist; the breathing and resting and stretching of phrases is a lesson learned from Miles Davis’ music as well as from so many great ambient artists.”
credits
Written and produced by Cosmos Rennert
Mastered by Robert Rich
Photography by Cosmos Rennert
Packaging design by Harry Towell
Next up on Whitelabrecs, we welcome California,United States based artist Hipnotic Earthwith a beautiful Electro-Acoustic ambient album which includes a wealth of delicate textures including instrument sounds, synth drones, prepared-piano style creaks and birdsong as well as a careful use of silence. The album is fittingly titled ‘Suspended In Silence‘ and is mastered by Ambient legend Robert Rich. This will be available in our new look gatefold-LP style CD packaging for 2019, in a run of 100 copies, featuring coastal photography provided by Cosmos Rennert, the man who records as Hipnotic Earth. We’ll release this on or around the 11th of May 2019. Those who follow artists such as Nils Frahm, Polaroid Notesor Valotihkuushould enjoy this!
Whitelabrecs low-run releases will be made available suddenly without official release dates, meaning they’re likely to sell out fast. The best way to keep informed is to join our mailing list which can be located through our website menu or you can click HERE
press release “Hipnotic Earth is an electro-acoustic ambient soundscape project birthed from a deep need for quiet, slow motion music; from a carnal urge toward silence. California, USA based artist Cosmos Rennert’s project began dramatically when in 2015 the scheduled release of his debut album ‘Essence’ was missed when his home in the hot springs of Harbin, Northern California burned down in a sudden wildfire which swept the community. His home, studio, possessions, work place and the tiny town in which he lived succumbed to the flames. He is now deeply grateful to be able to continue recording and we’re pleased to present, a record which sees a departure from Cosmos’ usual style of sleepy drones.
‘Suspended In Silence’ is the second in a series of three completed albums presenting a new, more melodic direction. Continuing with spacious, evocative and immersive drone-based tonalities, the vast majority of these pieces are one-off improvisations that were recorded during the mornings of mid-2018 in the wine country of California. Here there is a love for not remembering how a song is made. The modus operandi is quite spontaneous, be it the recording process or sound design and mixing of additional colours afterwards. Simply in
the moment with no agenda, this music strives for eternal endings and slow rotations around an axis of serenity. During the recording of these tracks birds and other creatures would sometimes meander into the apple orchard where the studio is located. They seemed to
be drawn to the music as if they wanted to be on the album and occasionally, their wish was granted!
Previously steeped in a tradition of dance music, tribal drumming and Jazz, Cosmos has a long love affair with live looping as a tool for both rhythmic and textural inspiration. What was once a style using mad-scientist dub controllers that strove to be improvisational with emphasis on listening and responding to the other musicians in the mix, has now
evolved into deeply meditative washes of relaxed balmy soundscapes for tired ears. For this newer calming sound of Hipnotic Earth, loopers are used only occasionally as a source of experimentation. The technique of modulating the feedback amount so as to sculpt the looped material as it fades and evolves over time yields surprising
results. A love for the silent spaces in music has always been important to this artist; the breathing and resting and stretching of phrases is a lesson learned from Miles Davis’ music as well as from so many great ambient artists”
credits
Written and produced by Cosmos Rennert
Mastered by Robert Rich
Photography by Cosmos Rennert
Packaging design by Harry Towell
whitelabrecs.com 