Named Mixmag Album of the Month, October 2018

After releasing four EPs over the last year in his story of a traveller’s journey to enlightenment series, Bryan Chapman delivers his debut album, ‘7 Shadows And Iron Lungs’ on his own label, Monotony.

Living in seclusion in southern England, Bryan Chapman is part of the conveyor of talent that hails from this ever growing, under current of modern techno found on the shores of the south coast. Now an established name amongst the new breed of producers breaking through, Bryan has earned a reputation for making no-nonsense, heavy-weight tracks that have seen his music supported by taste-makers across the techno scene including Luke Slater, Adam Beyer, Slam, Laurent Garnier, Chris Liebing and many more.  

He has previously released on labels like Cari Lekebusch’s H-Productions, Alan Fitzpatrick’s 8 Sided Dice, Dustin Zahn’s Enemy, Joachim Spieth’s Affin and Butch’s Bouq. Now with his own label, Bryan’s aim for Monotony is “to create psychedelic and monotonous techno”, which should not be seen as self-deprecating. Instead think stripped-down, hypnotic, repetitive, linear, dark techno loops that intertwine around each other with subtle yet devastating effects, creating a style of techno reminiscent of times long since passed merged with modern forward thinking electronics.

The concept of ‘7 Shadows and Iron Lungs’ is about finding serenity in the acceptance of death. “It’s better to be a shadow that fades in the wind than live in an iron lung prolonging the inevitable”. Tracks like the deeply hypnotic and shifting ‘Cylon’ take us to a place where Jaki Liebezeit plays electronic modal slo-mo drum workouts from the heavens above whilst ‘Carcosa’ brings a subtle electro-swing to Bryan’s deep and evolving motorik groove. ‘Black’ perhaps the album’s cornerstone, anchors a near 15 minute opus of exquisite shuffling, psychedelic techno into a dystopian, atonal vision of ‘E2-E4’ (Jóhann Jóhannsson’s binned vision of Bladerunner 2049).

The aptly named track ‘7’ builds into a desolate soundscape of brooding menace whilst the far more direct techno pulse of ‘I Don’t Know What My Mother’s Feet Look Like’ is, considering the title, the albums most straight-forward club workout. Finally ‘Embers’ builds into a towering wall of electronic sound before the album’s closing track, ‘Dead Shadows’ embraces the cold kiss of death with ephemeral recognition.

Fusing future sound design aesthetics with minimalist techno principles, ‘7 Shadows & Iron Lungs’ is as an accomplished debut techno album you are likely to hear this year.

7 Shadows and Iron Lungs

Buy on Bandcamp

Dead Shadows

Bryan Chapman honed his production skills on labels like 8 Sided Dice, Enemy, Affin, H-Productions and Bouq before launching his own Monotony label in the spring of 2017, which has so far spawned a string of EPs from this Southern England producer as well as his first album 7 Shadows and Iron Lungs in 2018 (Mixmags Techno Album of The Month on release and a place in their Top 50 Albums of 2018). Bryan now makes his EPMmusic debut with a quartet of new compositions on Danu EP.

Not only is Chapman an avid producer and DJ, but also an abstract artist and photographer who brings these artistic tendencies into his music, whether its designing artwork for his Monotony label, developing a theme for his music works, or constructing a storyline for his releases and track titles.

Danu EP is no exception. The EP itself is named after a Hindu female deity of rivers and the tracks are representative of Bryans signature sound dark, stripped-down, deeply hypnotic, flowing techno. Kala is a Sanskrit word for a skilled craft or a performing art and the track is a delicately crafter opener. Nimrala which picks up the pace, is homage to the Sanskrit word Nirmala, meaning clean or pure. Ulu which brings a sense of urgency to its shadowy tones is named after a short-handled knife with a broad crescent-shaped blade traditionally used by Inuit women, while the more listless Mato is named after the Japanese for untouched land or woodland.

As Bryan further explains, "for the EP the aim was to take the meaning of Danu (river) and have all of the tracks flow and intertwine in a way that mimics the beauty, simplicity and raw unpredictability in a way only the power of a river can. All names purposelessly are just one word, to imagine all four racing down a powerful river alone and together at the same time, weaving, glancing and diving under the Danu.

Danu EP

Beatport

Bryan Chapman - Mato [EPM Music]

Bryan Chapman - Ulu [EPM Music]

Bryan Chapman - Nimrala [EPM Music]

@bryanchapman's track "Yūgen" will be released through @mntymntymnty on February 7th. More Info: http://bit.ly/yugenrituals

Veröffentlicht von:
Monotony

Erscheinungsdatum :
7. Februar 2020

Rituals EP

Bryan Chapman - Yūgen

Following his ‘Sila EP’ (MNTY005) featuring the track ‘Hunza’ which is included in Mixmag’s Top 100 Tracks of 2019, as well as his October released ‘Danu EP’ for EPMmusic, Bryan Chapman returns once again to his own Monotony label for this atmospheric techno and IDM four-tracker.

Delivering consistently high quality and thoughtfulness on his releases, Chapman’s ‘Rituals EP’ is no exception.  The EP is bookended by two tracks which Bryan has called “about as personal as I’ve ever got”, the earthly – both in name and feel – ‘Gaia’ which builds and turns like the planet spinning on its axis and ‘Lexa (Touch That Leather)’ with its breakbeat ambiance and sweeping approach.  In-between are the pulsating ‘Yūgen’, a term taken from Japanese aesthetics to express a variety of concepts including profound and mysterious, alongside the striking ‘Banuk’ which is both insistent and tranquil in equal measure.

Released at the beginning of February, ‘Rituals EP’ opens Bryan’s 2020 schedule with a poeticism that commands your attention from start to finish, feeling more like a mini-album than an EP.

4. Bryan Chapman - Lexa (Touch That Leather) [Monotony]

3. Bryan Chapman - Banuk [Monotony]

2. Bryan Chapman - Yūgen [Monotony]

1. Bryan Chapman - Gaia [Monotony]

Threading his way apart from the fancy names making the headlines in popular magazines, UK's Bryan Chapman is a discreet but proactive artisan of the deep. True to the 'Psychedelic monotonous techno' trinity he's pledged to push, Bryan's new mix for RYC meshes all of the elements that've made his reputation to this day: a compelling elixir of raucous bass swirls, blunt 909-marinated kicks and multi-layered synthwork to keep his listener in a state of constant immersion. Prepare to submerge.

soundcloud.com/bryanchapman

Reclaim Your City 

Reclaim Your City 375 | Bryan Chapman

Connect with Bryan Chapman

https://soundcloud.com/bryanchapman
https://ra.co/dj/bryanchapman
https://www.facebook.com/OfficialBryanChapman
https://www.instagram.com/bryanchapman_/
https://twitter.com/BryanChapman
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Circulate Radio 021: Bryan Chapman

Psychedelic Monotonous Techno - 3 words that encapsulate Bryan Chapman with his expedition into shadowy techno landscapes. Bryan has become synonymous with consistently creating stripped-down, hypnotic and looped Techno. In 2017 Bryan created a outlet to fully showcase these works. Monotony was launched, and is curated by Bryan with a vision that fully creates a playground for stripped-down, deeply hypnotic, repetitive, psychedelic, linear, dark techno loops. Bryan’s attention to continually create loops that intertwine around each other with subtle yet devastating effects and automation, creating a style of Techno reminiscent of times long since passed merged with modern forward thinking Techno.

Dead Shadows

BryanChapman

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