Tag: Tapes and Topographies

new mix show! vervine002

We were very encouraged to see the number of people tuning into the first Vervine show, which we launched last month as an occasional radio show series, presented by our label owner Harry Towell. These shows will cover the full extent of his wide reaching musical taste. Harry’s been spurred on by the positive feedback and has recorded another show, complete with voiceovers between each selection.

This second show picks up where the first left off, with styles covered including Ambient, Electro Acoustic, Jazz, Modern Classical, World and Downtempo electronica. Again, the styles switch about in no clear order, but hopefully the flow nicely together as a show for you to sink into. Harry’s included some Whitelabrecs releases in the tracklist, with premieres of music from Darkroom, Hoshiko Yamane, a wave, a mouth as well as something new from Towell himself, alongside Pruski. The latter is a 12 track collaborative album we have lined up for a January release. Elsewhere, recent discoveries are placed alongside older pieces and classics, and we hope you’ll discover something new. Click the picture above or the player below:



Tracklist:
01 Tapes and Topographies – Penn Tir
02 Darkroom – Water like mbira
03 Andy Aquarius – Chapel
04 Sofie Birch & Antonina Nowacka – Sudany
05 Anna Butterss – Blevins
06 Kokoroko – We Give Thanks
07 Carlos Niño & Friends – Actually (feat Deantoni Parks/Jamael Dean/Nate Mercereau)
08 Bosq – Paciencia De Jo (feat Tita Lima)
09 OHMA – A Portal To All That Is
10 Snowflake Memory – Railroad Dreamer
11 Noori & His Dorpa Band – Jabana
12 Harry Towell & Pruski – Lacustyna
13 George Riley – Cleanse Me
14 Hoshiko Yamane – Prayer
15 Chip Wickham – Winter
16 Daniel Villarreal – Cali Colours
17 Mejiwahn – Spring (feat. Juuwah & Daniel Bitrán)
18 Pharoah Sanders & Boozoo Bajou – Astral Traveling (Boozoo Bajou Remix)
19 Free the Robots – Far Away (feat. Chhom Nimol)
20 The Cinematic Orchestra – In To You
21 Bentley & Horatio Luna – Bingo Bongo
22 Gianni Brezzo – Rising Of My Mind
23 Elaine Howley – To The Test
24 Clear Path Ensemble – Interlock
25 The Theory Behind – Source
26 Yarni – Trinacria
27 a wave, a mouth – Shake Me Gently Call Me Names
28 Part Timer – Freeway
29 Matthew Halsall – Mindfulness Meditations

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/

 

new mix series! vervine001

Today we’ve launched a new mix series called ‘Vervine’. This will be presented by our label owner Harry Towell, and will cover the full extent of his wide ranging music taste. We can’t say how frequently we’ll make these shows but we’re hoping they’ll appear regularly enough and include one or two interesting features such as themes, vinyl-only shows and guest mixes. Hopefully, the voice-overs should hopefully grow in confidence the more of these we do!

This first show features a range of musical styles including Ambient, Electro Acoustic, Funk, Jazz, Modern Classical, World. The tracks are not arranged in a particular order, so it should feel pretty varied throughout and within the tracklist there are a few recent Whitelabrecs releases from the likes of Sven Laux, Adrian Lane, Fred Baty and John Reidar Holmes. Not to mention the opening track which is a premiere of our next release on the 19th of November, which is by Tapes and Topographies! Click the picture above or the player below:



Tracklist:
01 Tapes and Topographies – Diffraction
02 Kiyoshi Yamaya/Toshiko Yonekawa/Kifu Mitsuhashi – Nanbu Ushioi-Uta
03 Lucien Johnson – Magnificent Moon
04 Vega Trails – Love Your Grace
05 Feras Charestan – Zekrayat
06 Adrian Lane – White Winter Cloudy
07 Fred Baty – To Feel at a Distance
08 Dandelion – All You Know
09 Wax Machine – Gaian Dream
10 Jaubi – Straight Path
11 Black Flower – Morning In The Jungle (ft. Meskerem Mees)
12 Kolumbo – Evening Time
13 Jonny Nash & Teguh Permana – Air
14 John Reidar Holmes – Goodbye To Cape Farewell
15 Ralph Heidel – Wenn Ich Wach Werde (ft. Hannah Weiss)
16 Sven Laux – The Hope
17 Duelling Ants – Reise
18 Hiroshi Ebina – It 2
19 Julien Dyne – Beecon
20 Surprise Chef – Goldie’s Lullaby
21 Malcolm Pearson – Fleeting Thoughts
22 Lissom – Big Sleep
23 Naima Bock – Enter The House
24 Channelers – Diguised As Another
25 Misha Panfilov – Amphibian Girl
26 Liquid Saloon – Shaiza (ft. Elyasaf Bashari)
27 Djavan – Nereci (Case’s Edit)
28 Jef Gilson & Malagasy – Valiha Ny Dada
29 Philou Louzolo – Queens Of Zomba

out now! various artists – sleeplaboratory3.0

Released today is a various artists compilation album called sleeplaboratory3.0. This is the third in the series, after a two year break and the concept for these albums is for the curated artists to produce their interpretation of sleep music. The result is CDr packed full of tracks designed to help induce the listener to sleep and this edition features work by the likes of Federico Mosconi, The Lifted Index, Stijn Hüwels, Tapes and Topographies, Andrew Heath and Ian Hawgood, who also mastered the album.

sleeplaboratory3.0 is out now in a run of 100 copies! 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
“Sleeplaboratory3.0 is the third edition of Whitelabrecs’ long-standing concept compilation, a series that aims to induce the listener into a peaceful sleep. The series began in 2019 to mark the 50th release in the label’s catalog and was followed up with a second edition in 2020. It has seen contributions from the likes of Offthesky, Janek Schaefer, M.grig, The Green Kingdom, Warmth and Halftribe as well as artists from the label, including Mikael Lind, Gray Acres, Sven Laux, Glåsbird and Valotihkuu.

Sleeplaboratory compilations are typically released in January and after a two year break, 3.0 continues the themes established in the previous two records. Each artist in the line-up takes the brief of creating ‘sleep music’ and paints the sonic field with their own ideas. Some artists develop restful electro-acoustic compositions, whilst others sketch out soothing drones or vacant ambient textures. With a varied spectrum of warmth and cold, light and floaty, weighted and deep, this new collection features label-regulars such as Andrew Heath, blochemy and Pruski alongside the likes of Ian Hawgood, The Lifted Index, Federico Mosconi and Stijn Huwels. The track titles tend to tie back to the central album theme with words synonymous with rest, phases of sleep or calm places. This album can be experienced in many ways, such as at low volume with headphones, or streamed through hi-fi in a dimly lit room, consciously, or subconsciously.“

credits
All rights reserved with the artists
Mastered by Ian Hawgood
Curated by Harry Towell
Art and design by Tom Tebby

Coming soon… various artists – sleeplaboratory3.0

 

We kick off what is sure to be another exciting year of releases, with the long-awaited return of our Sleeplaboratory compilation series. We’ve had a two year break since the last edition, and we welcome 3.0 to the series, and a line-up including label artists such as Andrew Heath, Tapes and Topographies, Lauge and Simon McCorry as well as artists that are new to the label, such as Ian Hawgood, The Lifted Index, Federico Mosconi and Stijn Hüwels. This compilation album will be available for pre-order on Friday the 7th of January and if the previous two releases are anything to go by, this will be quick to sell-out.

‘sleeplaboratory3.0‘ will be available in one of our typically low runs of 100 gatefold vinyl-effect CDrs, complete with art and design by Tom Tebby.

It will be released officially on Saturday the 15th of January. If you join our mailing list using the link below, we’ll make sure you’re the first to hear.

press release
“Sleeplaboratory3.0 is the third edition of Whitelabrecs’ long-standing concept compilation, a series that aims to induce the listener into a peaceful sleep. The series began in 2019 to mark the 50th release in the label’s catalog and was followed up with a second edition in 2020. It has seen contributions from the likes of Offthesky, Janek Schaefer, M.grig, The Green Kingdom, Warmth and Halftribe as well as artists from the label, including Mikael Lind, Gray Acres, Sven Laux, Glåsbird and Valotihkuu.

Sleeplaboratory compilations are typically released in January and after a two year break, 3.0 continues the themes established in the previous two records. Each artist in the line-up takes the brief of creating ‘sleep music’ and paints the sonic field with their own ideas. Some artists develop restful electro-acoustic compositions, whilst others sketch out soothing drones or vacant ambient textures. With a varied spectrum of warmth and cold, light and floaty, weighted and deep, this new collection features label-regulars such as Andrew Heath, blochemy and Pruski alongside the likes of Ian Hawgood, The Lifted Index, Federico Mosconi and Stijn Huwels. The track titles tend to tie back to the central album theme with words synonymous with rest, phases of sleep or calm places. This album can be experienced in many ways, such as at low volume with headphones, or streamed through hi-fi in a dimly lit room, consciously, or subconsciously.“

credits
All rights reserved with the artists
Mastered by Ian Hawgood
Curated by Harry Towell
Art and design by Tom Tebby

Out Now! Tapes and Topographies – Amplitudes

Also out today is Amplitudes by US-based artist Tapes and Topographies, which follows releases on Dronarivm, Shimmering Moods and Past Inside The Present. This record is a sleepy cocktail of vacant and melancholy tones and features macro photography by our label owner, Harry Towell.

Amplitudes is out now in a run of 100 copies! 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
“Tapes and Topographies is US based artist Todd Gautreau, who has had music releases on labels such as Past Inside the Present, Dronarivm, Shimmering Moods and his own imprint, Simulacra. His project has been active since 2014 following his previous alias Tear Ceremony and he also produces a downtempo as Sonogram.

With each new album, Todd follows a different workflow to achieve new details and results in his sound. Increasingly, his work has been aided by the use of hardware and outboard effects.
In his latest album Amplitudes, he has taken a set of sounds and fed these through a looper, experimenting with altered loop speeds. He used FM synthesis for the first time in this body of work, alongside some of his tried and tested methods, joined by field recordings.

These nine compositions clock in at almost 50 minutes; a compelling listen through dreamy, organic textures. Todd has created a lot of music in the last 18 months and Amplitudes is the latest in his continuous process of distilling his sounds and ideas down to their essence.
The album’s artwork is a macro-photograph of a stone, as the fine details are ‘amplified’ by the magnification effect of the camera’s lens. There is not a clear concept but inspiration is drawn from film and literature, as well as self-reflection, memory, loss and dreams. As these compositions play out, you’ll find yourself concentrating on fine details, whilst at other times, in a blissful state, zooming out to absorb the bigger picture.”

credits
Written and produced by Todd Gauthreau
Mastered by James Edward Armstrong
Macro photography by Harry Towell
Art and design Andrew Heath

Coming soon… Tapes and Topographies – Amplitudes

 

In one of two releases this coming Saturday the 13th of November, we welcome US based artist Tapes and Topographies, who has previously released on labels such as Past Inside The Present, Shimmering Moods and Dronarivm. In this latest album, we’re pleased to present a sleepy cocktail of subdued drones and blurry textures.

‘Amplitudes‘ 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 13th of November. If you join our mailing list using the link below, we’ll make sure you’re the first to hear.

press release
“Tapes and Topographies is US based artist Todd Gautreau, who has had music releases on labels such as Past Inside the Present, Dronarivm, Shimmering Moods and his own imprint, Simulacra. His project has been active since 2014 following his previous alias Tear Ceremony and he also produces a downtempo as Sonogram.

With each new album, Todd follows a different workflow to achieve new details and results in his sound. Increasingly, his work has been aided by the use of hardware and outboard effects.
In his latest album Amplitudes, he has taken a set of sounds and fed these through a looper, experimenting with altered loop speeds. He used FM synthesis for the first time in this body of work, alongside some of his tried and tested methods, joined by field recordings.

These nine compositions clock in at almost 50 minutes; a compelling listen through dreamy, organic textures. Todd has created a lot of music in the last 18 months and Amplitudes is the latest in his continuous process of distilling his sounds and ideas down to their essence.
The album’s artwork is a macro-photograph of a stone, as the fine details are ‘amplified’ by the magnification effect of the camera’s lens. There is not a clear concept but inspiration is drawn from film and literature, as well as self-reflection, memory, loss and dreams. As these compositions play out, you’ll find yourself concentrating on fine details, whilst at other times, in a blissful state, zooming out to absorb the bigger picture.”

credits
Written and produced by Todd Gautreau
Mastered by James Edward Armstrong
Macro photography by Harry Towell
Art and design Andrew Heath