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
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.
Our next release is ‘Pacifica‘ by Glåsbirdwho 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 Marchafter 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
Our first release of 2023 is ‘Petrologist’s Lens‘ by our label owner Harry Towellas 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-effectsleeves and will be out officially on Saturday the 14th of Januaryafter 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
We usually release new music at the weekends but for this one, we decided to give a traditional Monday morning release a try! In this new digital edition, a departure from our CDr editions and eRecord series, we welcome Glåsbird with an album called cinéma noir, themed around black and white drama film. Each track has a cryptic title, with an accompanying photograph by Peter Nejedly. Along with the music, these sketch out scenes from an un-written movie, yet to be filmed.
cinéma noir is out now in a digital-only format. The best way to keep informed about our releases, is to join ourmailing list, and we’ll make sure you’re the first to hear!
press release “Since the project’s inception in 2018, anonymous artist Glåsbird has amassed a discography entirely dedicated to geographic themes. Each album from the ‘A Sonic Expedition’ series has been composed specifically as an imaginary film documentary, themed around a specific country, region or remote location. This work has led to some film work, such as Return To Sea and Sardinia and Casa Occupata. With this latest record, the music and its close affinity to visuals is the central theme, as Glåsbird explores a non-geographic theme for the first time. It is also the first digital-only album by this artist.
Cinéma Noir is intended to play out the soundtrack to a film that was never made. The track titles are cryptic, as the music sketches out scenes of a noir movie. Some pieces use wide-screened orchestration techniques whereas others use pensive, sprawling or tensioned tones to draw out cinematic moods.
If the track titles are too mysterious, then it may become ever so slightly clearer with monochrome photography by Peter Nejedly, who has provided 10 images; one to accompany each track. These pictures were matched to the track titles and their compositions by Glåsbird, who hopes that your own imagination will form the missing movie scenes.“
credits Written and Produced by Glåsbird Mastered by James Edward Armstrong Photography by Peter Nejedly
Our May releases are out today and the first sees the next installment of Glåsbird’s ‘A Sonic Expedition‘ series. The next destination on the horizon for this anonymous artist, is the Himalayan mountain rangeand this album traces a fictitious mountain expedition to the summit, followed by an ascent back down from the peak. The sequence of the tracks trace this journey and the packaging contains imagery from an actual expedition in the Himalayas, provided by climber Jay Whiting. There are also some additional words that give further conceptual insight into this record, provided by Neil McRoberts.
Himalayais out now in a run of 100 copies! The best way to keep informed about our low-run releases, is to join ourmailing list, and we’ll make sure you’re the first to hear!
press release “Glåsbird’s A Sonic Expedition series continues, arriving at the Himalayas as the destination for the 6th album installment of this global exploration. For those of you who are unaware, this is a project for this anonymous producer to explore far-flung geographic themes over the course of 10 albums. The series began inside the Arctic circle, moved into Scandinavia and surrounding area, onto Siberia and in this second half, it emerges in the highest mountain range on earth. It moves from expansive open landscapes and onto a new theme of treacherous peaks.
Himalaya was created as a fictitious film soundtrack, tracking the struggles and triumphs of a climber as they embark on and summit an unspecified mountain. The album begins with an ancient quietude, follows to snow-damped hikes before it delves into high-altitude ascents, with the music becoming ever more dramatic and at times, triumphant. The album closes with a descent, as the music gradually softens again but it carries with it, a sense of weary achievement.
As usual, Glåsbird has spent hours trawling archive film footage and documentary series’ as well as studying the terrain, through old maps and Google Earth. The album package includes photography by climber Jay Whiting, with the front, inner and rear images taken in the Himalayas during an expedition. Inside the sleeve, you’ll find some words provided by Neil McRoberts which give a poignant reflection on the Himalayas themselves, and the symbolism of mountains as a mammoth challenge. There is much to be discovered from a struggle and we hope that in some way, this record can provide inspiration, encouragement and some kind of peace.“
credits Written and produced by Glåsbird Mastered by James Edward Armstrong Photography by Jay Whiting Words by Neil McRoberts Art and design by Andrew Heath
We have two new releases lined-up for the 14th of May and in the first of these, we welcome back Glåsbird with the next installment of their A Sonic Expedition series. Himalaya is as you might expect, based on the region which hosts the world’s tallest mountain ranges and this album traces a fictitious climbing expedition, with the sound representing the ascent and descent and all the emotions that follow the journey. The sound blends electro-acoustic, textured electronicswith orchestraland regional influenced sounds. ‘Himalaya‘ will be up for pre-order this coming Bandcamp Friday, the 6th of May.
Then ‘Himalaya‘ will be available officially 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 14th of May. If you join our mailing listusing the link below, we’ll make sure you’re the first to hear.
press release “Glåsbird’s A Sonic Expedition series continues, arriving at the Himalayas as the destination for the 6th album installment of this global exploration. For those of you who are unaware, this is a project for this anonymous producer to explore far-flung geographic themes over the course of 10 albums. The series began inside the Arctic circle, moved into Scandinavia and surrounding area, onto Siberia and in this second half, it emerges in the highest mountain range on earth. It moves from expansive open landscapes and onto a new theme of treacherous peaks.
Himalaya was created as a fictitious film soundtrack, tracking the struggles and triumphs of a climber as they embark on and summit an unspecified mountain. The album begins with an ancient quietude, follows to snow-damped hikes before it delves into high-altitude ascents, with the music becoming ever more dramatic and at times, triumphant. The album closes with a descent, as the music gradually softens again but it carries with it, a sense of weary achievement.
As usual, Glåsbird has spent hours trawling archive film footage and documentary series’ as well as studying the terrain, through old maps and Google Earth. The album package includes photography by climber Jay Whiting, with the front, inner and rear images taken in the Himalayas during an expedition. Inside the sleeve, you’ll find some words provided by Neil McRoberts which give a poignant reflection on the Himalayas themselves, and the symbolism of mountains as a mammoth challenge. There is much to be discovered from a struggle and we hope that in some way, this record can provide inspiration, encouragement and some kind of peace.“
credits Written and produced by Glåsbird Mastered by James Edward Armstrong Photography by Jay Whiting Words by Neil McRoberts Art and design by Andrew Heath
We’ve been regularly throwing forward Glåsbird’s involvement with film director Daniele Marzeddu, in creating the soundtrack to a film called Return to Sea and Sardinia, which has been made to mark the centenary of D.H.Lawrence’s visit to Sardinia and the surrounding area. Not least, Ennio’s Muse, a crowd-funding compilation album that we released in January.
We’re excited to share the film’s trailer video (above), some snippets of tracks from the soundtrack (soundcloud), as well as announce the release date!
Return to Sea and Sardinia will be released on Saturday the 30th of October. If you join our mailing list, we’ll make sure you’re the first to hear!
press release “In January 1921, some 100 hundred years ago, the renowned writer D.H. Lawrence set sail for Sardinia, joined by his wife Frieda. He produced a critically acclaimed travel novel called Sea and Sardinia, reflecting his observations as he traveled. His creative use of language and expression adds colour to his reflections. To mark the centenary of the journey, film director Daniele Marzeddu and his crew returned, to retrace these steps.
After a year of working on this project, Return to Sea and Sardinia now sees the light of day and will be presented to the public in a series of screenings or digital viewings. The film has been produced and Organised by The Visual Guys, with the support of the D.H. Lawrence Society of Great Britain and features Daniele’s vivid imagery. The current state of modern Sardinia and its neighbouring island Sicily is laid out as a documentary film and our very own Glåsbird has produced an original soundtrack to accompany the visuals, and local accounts provided by the islands’ inhabitants.
Glåsbird has produced several geographic based sound interpretations since beginning their mysterious project in 2018. They describe this soundtrack as a ‘vacation’ from the on-going ‘A Sonic Expedition’ series, yet it has been approached in a similar way to this musician’s work: the cycle of inspiration, research and more inspiration. Daniele gave the artist free-reign to sketch out stories from afar, into these sound-postcards. We are delighted to be able to present the Original Soundtrack for Return To Sea and Sardinia, in an edition of 300 CDrs, featuring a 32 page book of photographic stills and captions, to give a flavour of the film.“
credits Composed by Glåsbird Film and photography directed by Daniele Marzeddu Audio mastering by James Edward Armstrong Art and design by Andrew Heath Booklet design by Harry Towell
Today we have two new albums available to pre-order, especially for Bandcamp Friday. They are from artists who have both released in our catalog before, with Adrian Lane following up his Home Diaries edition ‘Indigo and Salt Peter’, and Glåsbird providing the next instalment of their Sonic Expedition series.
Both of these vinyl effect CDrs are available in a limited run of 100 copies and more information about each album can be gleaned below. The packaging images above are mock examples, as we await the delivery of these items and so it should be pointed out that the CD colour is going to be different (Adrian Lane Gold, Glåsbird White). The albums will both release officially on Saturday the 28th of August.
What is Bandcamp Friday? For those unaware, this initiative was set-up by Bandcamp as a way to support artists, musicians and labels throughout the pandemic. Once a month they were waiving their commission charged to platform users. Recently these have been more infrequent but Bandcamp are still committed to providing support and so August the 6th has been a date in the diary for some time.
Adrian Lane – The Fleet
“The Fleet is a Modern Classical album that is equally steeped in drama and melancholy, with soaring strings, pensive piano and subtle soft synths. Composer Adrian Lane lives by the sea and the coastal air gave rise to an unexpected nautical theme, which is brought together by the artwork, which he hand-painted in his studio.”
“Siberia is the 5th edition of anonymous artist Glåsbird’s Sonic Expedition series, soundtracking imaginary films from different geographic locations. This album spans over two discs, with the first one focusing on the beauty of this huge region and disc two provoking thoughts about climate change.”
We have two new physical editions lined up for pre-orderon the 6th of August, just in time for Bandcamp Friday.
Our second release sees the return of the Glåsbird, fresh from their latest travels. The Sonic Expeditionseries sees the next destination in the series land at Siberia, with a fittingly large quantity of music to represent this gigantic mass of beautiful land. Siberia is available in our usual run of 100 gatefold vinyl-effect CDrs, featuring cover and booklet photographyby Nelly Elaginain this double discedition. The sound palette is a little more Modern Classicaloverall than the previous excursion (Novaya Zemlya) but there is evidence of electronic and ambient influences in places, with field recordings, dronesand added texture. Disc one surveys the beauty of Siberia before thoughts turn to climate changeand its impact, particularly on Siberia.
Siberia will be released for pre-order on Friday the 6th of August. If you join our mailing listusing the link below, we’ll make sure you’re the first to hear.
press release “Glåsbird is an anonymous artist, active since 2018 and with releases to date appearing exclusively on Whitelabrecs, as part of a series called A Sonic Expedition. With each edition in the collection, the artist concentrates on a different geographic location. The project emerged somewhere inside the Arctic Circle, descending to Greenland, moving onto Svalbard and then the Norwegian Fjords before most recently, on the Russian owned peninsulas Novaya Zemlya. The music of Glåsbird ranges from electro-acoustic Ambient to Modern Classical, with this artist keen on producing a range of experiments to show their full range of ideas and techniques.
We’re pleased to unveil the next destination in this series, in the form of Siberia which is a double album befitting an exploration of the largest region on earth. Glåsbird has teamed up with glaciologist and photographer Nelly Elagina who provides first-hand accounts of Siberia in the form of images and captions from her time there. In the CD packaging, a special photo booklet has been included to showcase these experiences. For the artist, their account of this latest destination is entirely imagined. The first disc sets out to explore the beauty of the landscape and its ancient history. As with previous albums, the music feels icy cold but evocative, aiming to transport you to imagine the landscape in all its splendour for yourself. The second part of the album moves into more topical territory, portraying Siberia as it is today. Shifting weather patterns and devastating climate change inspire the mood of the compositions, which lean towards melancholy, tense or dramatic reflections, rounded off with a thought provoking title.
As always, we wonder, where in the world might the Glåsbird land next?“
credits Written and produced by Glåsbird Mastered by James Edward Armstrong Photography and captions by Nelly Elagina Art and Design by Andrew Heath
whitelabrecs.com 