Our resident synth wizard James Holden’s collaborative streak continues apace as he teams up with celebrated Polish clarinet guru Waclaw Zimpel for a four track EP of deliciously krauty in-the-moment improvisations, recorded over four days in Holden’s London studio back in the summer of 2018. The richly textured 'Long Weekend EP' pits Holden’s handmade modular synth rig against Zimpel’s multifariously expressive alto clarinet, judiciously supplemented by organ, voice, assorted percussion and (on 'Tuesday' & 'Wednesday') the Balearic-tinged guitar playing of Zimpel’s long-time collaborator Jakub Ziolek, making for an immersive and transcendent lost weekend of deep listening.

Finding himself at a loose end in London one July weekend in between UK live shows, Zimpel put the downtime to good use and joined Holden in his Sacred Walls studio to undertake a series of musical experiments, with the goal of completing one track per day. Over the course of the weekend, built up in sequential tape-layered live overdubs, first the lush hypnotic undulating noodles of 'Saturday' would emerge from the ether, followed by the rushy enveloping expanses of the stridently emotional 'Sunday' (Holden’s own personal favourite from the EP) – a productive two days indeed.

Holden was at the time deep in the middle of touring with his own spiritual jazz-inspired expanded ensemble The Animal Spirits (in support of his third artist album of the same name), and was quick to invite his new-found brother-in-trance Zimpel to step in as guest soloist on a number of live dates to come, including their Big Top-headlining appearance at the 2018 edition of the End Of The Road festival. It was after this end of summer blowout that Zimpel, together with his own festival performance partner Jakub Ziolek, once again found himself adrift in London, and a return visit to Sacred Walls was duly scheduled. Now working as a trio, their first outpourings gradually took form as the dense, syrupy layers of 'Tuesday', before reconvening on 'Wednesday' for another take, in which a skronkier side of Zimpel’s clarinet would manifest over the insistent eighties-accented motorik synth and guitar groove.

Holden & Zimpel - Long Weekend EP

Luke Abbott - Translate

Synth wizard James Holden teams up with Polish clarinet guru Waclaw Zimpel for a four track EP of deliciously krauty improvisations, recorded over four days back in the summer of 2018.

Finding himself at a loose end in London in between UK live shows, Zimpel (and on 'Tuesday' and 'Wednesday' his longtime collaborator guitarist Jakub Ziolek) decided to put the downtime to good use, joining Holden in his London studio for a series of musical experiments, with the goal of completing one track per day.

An in-the-moment lyrical conversation between alto clarinet and modular synth, judiciously supplemented by guitar, organ, voice and assorted percussion glued together as atmospheric tapey overdubs, 'Long Weekend' is a meeting of two like-minded masters of their instrument, whose  disparate musical journeys now converge in a shared love of all things hypnotic and trancey.

Long Weekend EP

Holden & Zimpel - Wednesday (feat. Jakub Ziolek)

Holden & Zimpel - Tuesday (feat. Jakub Ziolek)

To book Holden & Zimpel, please speak to Naomi at Earth Agency: https://earth-agency.com/

Our resident synth wizard James Holden’s collaborative streak continues apace as he teams up with celebrated Polish clarinet guru Waclaw Zimpel for a four track EP of deliciously krauty in-the-moment improvisations, recorded over four days in Holden’s London studio back in the summer of 2018. The richly textured 'Long Weekend EP' pits Holden’s handmade modular synth rig against Zimpel’s multifariously expressive alto clarinet, judiciously supplemented by organ, voice, assorted percussion and (on 'Tuesday' & 'Wednesday') the Balearic-tinged guitar playing of Zimpel’s long-time collaborator Jakub Ziolek, making for an immersive and transcendent lost weekend of deep listening.

Finding himself at a loose end in London one July weekend in between UK live shows, Zimpel put the downtime to good use and joined Holden in his Sacred Walls studio to undertake a series of musical experiments, with the goal of completing one track per day. Over the course of the weekend, built up in sequential tape-layered live overdubs, first the lush hypnotic undulating noodles of 'Saturday' would emerge from the ether, followed by the rushy enveloping expanses of the stridently emotional 'Sunday' (Holden’s own personal favourite from the EP) – a productive two days indeed.

Holden & Zimpel - Sunday

Holden & Zimpel - Saturday

Luke Abbott has today announced his first solo record in six years Translate will be released on 20 November via Border Community. Along with the announcement he has shared 'Kagen Sound', the album's richly-textured opener - menacingly driving but punctuated with endearing flourishes, it's an assured and impossible to ignore return.

Speaking of the track Abbott says: "Kagen Sound is one of the simpler tracks on the record, it's based around the Korg Monopoly, which is one of my favourite sounding synths. The track is named after an American puzzle box maker, he makes the most incredibly intricate wooden puzzle boxes. I've been interested in puzzle boxes since I saw Hellraiser when I was about 11 years old, maybe I shouldn't have seen that film so young. To me the track feels like a a huge opening in the earth, like a cosmic doorway, which is why it's the opening track on the album."

In the time since his last solo record, Luke Abbott has had to re-forge his
relationship with making music alone. His solo work has always been deeply
entwined with his sense of self and during a tumultuous time in his personal life that needed to be re-evaluated, and so did the music along with it. The result is Translate, a record that sees Abbott with a renewed sense of purpose. Written, recorded and produced by Abbott - Translate is a strikingly direct body of work that retains a great depth and fullness. At times dark and ominous, others bright and welcoming, this is Abbott’s sound fully realised and never so sure of itself.

Abbott’s solo artist recording career may have recently taken something of a back seat, but his explorative six year sabbatical has clearly been put to good use, with plenty of mix and remix work, a new more dancefloor-directed alias Earlham Mystics and a productive new sideline in film, with two solo soundtracks to his name to date: fellow Norfolk native Guy Myhill’s The Goob (winner of Best Music at the 2014 Stockholm Film Festival and eventually released as 2015’s Music For A Flat Landscape album) and Jessica Hynes’ The Fight (released under the title Music From The Edge of an Island in 2019). But most pivotal of all was the 2016 formation of the experimental jazz trio Szun Waves together with Jack Wylie of Portico Quartet (saxophone) and Laurence Pike of PVT (drums), with two Abbott produced
and mixed fully-improvised albums to show for it so far (and number
three in the pipeline), and jazz and electronic critics united in their acclaim. (“The result is that rarest of things: an improvised album that sounds so perfect, you’d think it was all planned,” said The Line Of Best Fit of 2018’s New Hymn to Freedom.)

Translate

01) Kagen Sound - Luke Abbott

02) Our Scene - Luke Abbott

03) Flux - Luke Abbott

LUKE ABBOTT SHARES NEW TRACK 'AMES WINDOW'

NEW ALBUM TRANSLATE OUT 20 NOVEMBER VIA BORDER COMMUNITY

"This is memorable music for exceptional times"
4/5 Mojo 'Electronic Album of the Month'

"Meditative, vital and expertly crafted"
8/10 Loud and Quiet

"A big, satisfyingly holistic record modelled with great finesse"
8/10 Uncut

Luke Abbott's has today shared 'Ames Window', a new track from his first solo record in six years Translate, which will be released on 20 November via Border Community. Remaining just within Luke's control, the track tumbles and whirls with a playful freedom, showcasing a different side to the record from the rich and purposeful 'Kagen Sound' or the steely-eyed focus of 'Earthship''s intergalactic journey.

Speaking of the track, Abbott says:
"'Ames Window' is an indulgent improvised modular synth track. It reminded me of the Ames window optical illusion because it has this spinning, disorientating quality. I like music that is very freeform, and this track is like a wild and amorphous cloud that’s constantly turning itself inside out."

In the time since his last solo record, Luke Abbott has had to re-forge his relationship with making music alone. His solo work has always been deeply entwined with his sense of self and during a tumultuous time in his personal life that needed to be reevaluated, and so did the music along with it.

Recorded at James Holden's Sacred Walls studio complex at various intervals
throughout summer 2019, the result is Translate, a record that sees Abbott with a renewed sense of purpose. Written, recorded and produced by Abbott (with Holden on board as "engineer and spiritual guide") - Translate is a strikingly direct body of work that retains a great depth and fullness. At times dark and ominous, others bright and welcoming, this is Abbott’s sound fully realised and never so sure of itself.

04) Ames Window - Luke Abbott

05) Roses - Luke Abbott

London-based record label. Occasional home to: Leafcutter John / James Holden / Luke Abbott / RocketNumberNine / Wesley Matsell / Nathan Fake / Kate Wax / Fairmont / Margot / Avus / The MFA / Ricardo Tobar / Misstress Barbara / Petter / Lazy Fat People / Extrawelt / Dextro.

Worldwide distribution by [PIAS] UK.

Holden & Zimpel press & radio by @9pr

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