Artist: Giant Claw
Album: Mirror Guide
Format: Digital / Vinyl
Release: May 7 or 14, 2021

Music by Keith Rankin
Visual art by Ellen Thomas and Keith Rankin
Mastered by Starkey

Artist Statement:

I have been recording Mirror Guide off and on since my previous album Soft Channel came out in 2017, working on pieces in my spare time while co-running Orange Milk Records and trying to make a living as a freelance visual artist. 

I wanted Mirror Guide to feel less frenzied than some of my previous music, and decided to use a hyperreal string sound as a lead instrument the rest of the sounds could orbit around. I improvised long stretches with the digital instrument and picked moments that elicited some emotional response in me as the foundation for each piece. It helped to imagine a small synthetic ensemble playing every additional part, considering the choices an individual might make if they were focused primarily on their instruments’ role within the group. 

In my improvised sessions I also gravitated towards what I called a ‘bouncing ball’ rhythm - later described to me as an exponential rhythmic sequence. After thinking about how genres often center around a core rhythmic pattern I adopted the sequence as another consistent feature for the album. 

In the past I’ve cut up pop acapellas as vocal elements, but on Mirror Guide decided to work with several artists I had come to know from three very different music scenes. I traveled to Pittsburgh for a few days and recorded with vocalist Tamar Kamin (from the band the Van Allen Belt) generating hours of improvised and lightly prepared melodic material that I later edited into several songs. I also incorporated more poetic almost spoken word vocals from Japanese musician and photographer NTsKi and a small segment of screeching moans from fellow Ohioan Diana Gruber. 

More generally I found inspiration from artists like Paul Lansky, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and the range of emotion in the music of Geinoh Yamashirogumi Orchestra, best known for scoring the Akira soundtrack which is a longtime favorite. I was also encouraged to complete Mirror Guide through conversations with the late composer, tape collage pioneer, and friend Noah Creshevsky, who gave me several boosts of confidence after hearing early versions of the music.

Giant Claw - Earther

Artist: NTsKi
Album: Orca
Format: Digital / Vinyl / CD on EM Records Japan
Release: Aug 6, 2021

NTsKi is a Kyoto-based artist, musician. She began making music while living in the UK and began working in earnest in 2017 after returning to Japan. She works seamlessly to create tracks with gentle but somewhat eerie vocals and a mixture of diverse musicality. In 2021, she was selected by Bijutsu Techo as one of the newcomer artists who will open up the 2020s. Her collaboration with 7FO, released through EM Records, was selected as one of the best of the year by Shintaro Sakamoto. In addition to her self-produced works, she has participated in the works of Giant Claw, CVN, Shokuhin Matsuri a.k.a foodman, Dengaryu, KM, etc., and has released through overseas labels including TAR and Orange Milk. Also, she has contributed music to the Japan Pavilion hosted by the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry at SXSW 2019, where Yoichi Ochiai was the general director, virtual singer te'resa, and an Australian bag brand. On August 6th, 2021, her debut album "Orca" will be released via Orange Milk / EM Records. 

---

Orca ~

Music & words by NTsKi, except “Parallelisme” by Haruomi Hosono & Miharu Koshi 

All tracks produced by NTsKi, except track 3, 4, 5, 6 co-produced by Yem Gel, track 2 co-produced by Le Makeup, track 8 co-produced by Dan Shutt, track 10 produced by Giant Claw

Guitars on track 2 by Le Makeup, vocals on track 2 by Dove, vocal editing on track 6 by Hiroto Taniguchi, guitars and bass on track 9 by Yosuke Shimonaka

Track 1, 5, 8, 9 mixed by The Anticipation Illicit Tsuboi @ RDS Toritsudai 

Mastered by Rick Essig @ REM Sound NYC 

Visual art by Keith Rankin based on a montage by NTsKi

NTsKi - On Divination In Sleep Feat. Dove (Giant Claw Remix)

Artist: Jimmy V x Slum
Album: Audi Coma
Format: Digital / CS
Release: Oct 15, 2021

Jimmy V x Slum - WHY IT BLEED

White Flag

Chatter

Shoutout @patchesraps for bottying this any beat

Free DL https://www.toneden.io/chuck_sutton/post/problem

To see how the track was made = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obN64ejb8VQ

more stuff on the way sorry i've been so silent got a LOT goin on under the hood 😎this car finna be vroomin in a second

spotify/apple music

problem w. patches  (out now on spotify/apple music)

please dont call me
i dont care about your problem if its not me
ive been thinking and i really need to say this
ima move to the side like a lane switch

please dont call me
dont wanna hear it if it dont at all involve me
ive been trying really hard not to say this
cause theres not really a way to say it painless

that other guys a fuckin fool and ive been sayin this
he doesnt do anything hes the lamest
boring ass motherfucker ya tamest
but either way i gotta worry bout my self now
ya gotta start looking up like i fell down
ya im tryna get range like a cell tower
so sorry that im actin strange i had a melt down
everythings changed if you cant tell now

why are we getting all dramatic?

and im so fuckin drunk and i just hit the weed
so that talkin shit is not quite what i need
im tryna go home before i end up stayin around
some people here i really dont wanna hang around
so many people doing it but never change the sound
anyways im tired i dont wanna talk it out
i dont care anymore im onto somethin now
i dont care anymore go fuck around

please don't call me

Live drum breaks/ jungle mix taken from live facebook stream recorded 17th April 2020.

https://www.puncturekit.co.uk
https://www.instagram.com/puncturekit/
https://www.facebook.com/puncturekitbicycledrummer/
https://puncturekit.bandcamp.com
https://soundcloud.com/puncturekit
https://open.spotify.com/artist/0UfnbkmOLv8Lr6DhPNMEDl?si=h3e90SD0TSKkLDM8XXF9ZQ
https://www.loopmasters.com/genres/16-Drums/products/3126-Puncture-Kit-Beats-Cycling

Puncture Kit - Live Jungle Mix 1

hole in the head
wasnt a lead
peaced out a friend
fucked up again

anger and it sounds like its raining
hey girl it sounds like its raining

why dont you simmer down

FUCKED UP AGAIN

Artist: Shmu
Album: The Universe Is Inside My Body
Format: Cassette / Digital
Release: Feb. 19, 2021

pre-order link: https://orangemilkrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-universe-is-inside-my-body

performed and produced by Samuel Chown

mixed & mastered by Samuel Chown, Usef Hemimy & Angel Marcloid
Visual Art by Keith Rankin

‘The Universe Is Inside My Body’ is a very playful work, dense with ideas that balance traditional harmonic composition with algorithmic or generative processes. Shmu (aka Austin based artist Samuel Chown) states his goal as trying to make organic feeling music that is influenced and contains non-organic sounds and methods. The result is not overly-heavy, instead adopting a light touch with brisk musical movements and many wild harmonic choices that don’t settle into total consonance or dissonance. It feels like an artist excited to be trying new things; Sam says it’s his first album without his usual drum and vocal instrumentation, and a chance to experiment in a more digital workspace.

You could also describes these new pieces visually as explorations or deconstructions of imagined environments, so as you listen think of water & amusement parks, fast pace cityscapes, and abstract video game-inspired landscapes, like 3D and 2D scrolls through candy castles, hedge fields, ice structures, laser zones, etc.

Chatter

Olly the Bug

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