Tag: drone music

Coming soon… blochemy – sen

Here’s the second of two physical releases set to drop in June; ‘sen‘ by Ostrava, Czech Republic based artist blochemy, who some may recall from his past Whitelabrecs releases aithem and nebe. This album is full of wobbly summer tape drones, created from guitar and field recordings. 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 10th of June after a pre-order on the 3rd of June. If you follow us on Bandcamp (Click HERE) we’ll make sure you’re the first to hear.

press release
“This new album by blochemy is the third album edition we’ve released, following 2020’s ‘nebe’ and 2021’s ‘aithem’. This artist, hailing from Czech Republic also contributed the 21st edition of our Home Diaries series, and has music available through other labels such as Krysalisound, Shimmering Moods, Hibernate, Clean Error Records and Sun Sea Sky Production.

Active in electronic music production since the mid-1990s and inspired by intelligent music forms such as IDM and Ambient, the blochemy sound is created inside a small home studio, as a means of escapism and self-expression. As such, experimentation and creativity is the driving force behind his sound and so themes and concepts take a back-step. Simple, singular word track titles serve as cryptic hints of fractured ideas, to accompany a faded filigree minimalism.

In ‘sen’, blochemy used electric guitar, field recordings and tapes, as well as hardware and software to develop this set of nine melancholy reveries. The album name translates to mean dream in Czech and whilst this is not a clearly defined concept, the hazy sound reflects the artist’s love of sleeping, and dreaming to ambient music late at night. Whether it’s the low-end hum that pulls you into slumber, the nostalgic summer field recordings or shimmering tape noise, this one’s likely to be a go-to ‘music for sleeping’ album.“

credits

Written and produced by Andy Cartwright
Mastered by James Edward Armstrong
Photography by Andy Cartwright
Art and design by Andrew Heath

Coming soon… Andy Cartwright – Below the Noise

Here’s the first of two physical releases set to drop in June; ‘Below the Noise‘ by Andy Cartwright, who some may recall records as Seabuckthorn. This album is a more electronic-leaning record, than you may have come to expect from Andy, recorded under his own name. It features layered field recordings, synth drones and side-chained noise tracks, which result in a ghostly bed of crackly microsound. 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 10th of June after a pre-order on the 3rd of June. If you follow us on Bandcamp (Click HERE) we’ll make sure you’re the first to hear.

press release
“Andy Cartwright is an artist originally from Oxfordshire, UK who currently resides in the French Alps. Alongside his other projects Seabuckthorn and Mt Went, Andy’s work has been released through labels including Bookmaker Records, Lost Tribe Sound, Eilean, IIKKI, Fluid Audio, A Quiet Room Recording and, LAAPS. Andy’s taste in music flits between guitar-based bands and electronica; these sources of inspiration led to him creating electronic music under his own name since 2021 alongside the more acoustic-leaning work.

In this album, Andy departed from the more traditional song-writing style, in which he would normally play riffs and chords on a guitar before developing the composition. Instead, he headed straight for the computer. ‘Below the Noise’ is a series of microsound collages, built upon layered field recordings, synth drones and noises. Field recordings were captured on his phone, loaded into Ableton and then processed with lo-fi effects. Additional synth sounds were added and side-chained to a heavy noise track, which was muted. This reduced the track down almost into a microsound, which left lots of air and ghost fragments in the mix.

Andy was intrigued by the idea of filtering out all the harsh noise, as a mix technique to thin out the sounds. From here, the process led to the album’s name and overall concept. Traces of the original sound source can only be imagined, as it sits below the noise. The reduction method leaves us with this collection of dusty ambient drones, imbued with satisfying static and crackly ASMR textures.“

credits

Written and produced by Andy Cartwright
Mastered by James Edward Armstrong
Photography by Andy Cartwright
Art and design by Andrew Heath

Out Now! Yuya Ota – Dramatic Syndrome

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Our second new 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’s available now in a run of 100 CDrs, in our signature gatefold vinyl-effect sleeves. If you follow us on Bandcamp (Click HERE) we’ll make sure you’re the first to hear when we release new music.

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… 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