Paradox

"Dead Format" Taken from the album Dumb Flesh, out now.

LP/CD: http://bit.ly/1XU5eM2
iTunes: http://smarturl.it/SBR136iTunes

Website: http://blanckmass.co.uk/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BlanckMass
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BlanckMass
Instagram: http://instagram.com/blanckmass

Tour dates: http://bit.ly/1U9EtDb

Blanck Mass - Dead Format

From the album The Kid out October 6, 2017 on Western Vinyl

Pre-Order The Kid
BLEEP https://bleep.com/release/86790-kaitlyn-aurelia-smith-the-kid
Norman Records https://www.normanrecords.com/records/166212
Bandcamp https://kaitlynaureliasmith.bandcamp.com/album/the-kid
iTunes hyperurl.co/8n4qa5
WV http://westernvinyl.com/shop/wv170

In 2017, the musical term “electronic” is nearly obsolete given the ubiquity of computerized processes in producing music.  Even so, the prevailing assumption is that musicians working under this broad umbrella must be inspired by concepts equally as electrified as their equipment.  Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith has demonstrated in her still-blooming discography that this notion couldn’t be further from the truth, and that more often than not, rich worlds of synthesized sound are born from deep reverence of the natural world.  Smith (who by no coincidence, cites naturalist David Attenborough as a contemporary muse) has embodied such an appreciation on The Kid in as direct and sincere a way as possible by sonically charting the phases of life itself.  The album, which punctually follows up her 2016 breakthrough EARS, chronicles four defining cognitive and emotional stages of the human lifespan across four sides of a double LP.

The first side takes us through the confused astonishment of a newborn, unaware of itself, existing in an unwitting nirvana.  Smith’s music has always woven a youthful thread befitting of the aforementioned subject. Here she articulates it in signature fashion on the track “An Intention,” which serves not only as a soaring spire on The Kid, but on her entire output.  There is playfulness here, but it's elevated by an undertone of gravity into something compelling and majestic that is fast becoming Smith’s watermark.  The emotional focus of side two is the vital but underreported moment in early youth when we cross the threshold into self awareness.  The subject is profound enough to fill an entire album, but rarely makes its way into a single track, indicating Smith’s ambition to broach subtler and deeper subjects than the average composer.  This side offers up another highlight in the form of “In The World But Not Of The World” which serves its subject well with epiphanic, climbing strings and decidedly noisy textures over a near-Bollywood low end pulse.

Side three emphasizes a feeling of being confirmed enough in one’s own identity to begin giving back to the formative forces of one’s upbringing, which is arguably the duty that all great artists aim to fulfill.  This side ends with the exploratory album cut “Who I Am & Why I Am Where I Am” recorded in a single take without overdubs on the rare EMS Synthi 100 synthesizer. This humble piece of sound design serves as a contrast to side four’s verdant orchestral moments, all written and arranged for the EU-based Stargaze quartet by Smith herself.  This final side represents a return to pure being, the kind of wisdom and peace that eludes most of us until the autumn of life.  On “To Feel Your Best” this concept is voiced in the bittersweet refrain “one day I’ll wake up and you won’t be there” which Smith intended to be a grateful acknowledgement of life rather than a melancholy resentment of loss. The song has both effects depending on the mood of the listener, and both interpretations are equally moving.

Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith belongs to an ilk of modern musicians who are defined by their commitment to creating experiential albums despite the singles-oriented habits of modern listeners, and here she represents her kind proudly.  The subjects on The Kid are not simple to convey, and yet through both emotional tone and lyrical content, Smith does just that. There is a similar gravity to both birth and death, and rarely is that correlation as accurately and enthusiastically mapped as it is here.  As Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith explores her existence through music, she guides us in gleefully contemplating our own.

Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - "An Intention"

The soundtrack to a 2016 short film by Eran Hilleli: https://vimeo.com/190537820

Trumpet - Elizabeth Moroni
Pan Flute - Eran Hilleli

Pilgrim

Joe Armon-Jones & Maxwell Owin are forces to be
reckoned with. Both integral parts of the burgeoning South
London jazz scene, these young musicians contribute to numerous
outfits including Ata Kak, Jamie Isaac, MC Pinty, Moses
Boyd Exodus and Ezra Collective, as well as pushing their
own solo projects.

This is their first combined effort.

'Idiom' is the result of multiple collaborations under the
direction of Joe and Maxwell. Featuring Nubya Garcia, Oscar
Jerome and Jake Long, it is heavily influenced by the hardcore
continuum and covers everything from 2-step, broken-beat and
house to jazz and dub.

Having been compared to artists like 4hero, Floating
Points, Harvey Sutherland and Moodymann all in the
same breath, Joe & Maxwell are already garnering support
from Radio 6 Music's Gilles Peterson, Musica Maconda's
Tim Garcia and Jazz FM's Chris Philips. This is an
accomplished body of work by some of the most exciting
young talent in London right now.

B2 - Joe Armon - Jones & Maxwell Owin - Easy Now

Available on digital and translucent yellow vinyl and tape November 24th, 2017
Preorder here http://smarturl.it/greatest-gift

As if you know the story of Wallowa Lake:
Leviathan first hid in the deep where her children sleep
She kept them hidden from the plague

But have you heard the story of my mother’s fate?
She left us in Detroit in the rain with a pillow case
Fortune for the paper weight

We followed her to Joseph, near the Indian raid
She wept among the weeds, hide and seek, for the fallen chief
Spathiphyllum on his grave

And like the cedar wax wing, she was drunk all day
We put her in the sheet, little wreath, candles on the crate
As the monster showed its face

As she waits for her children in the shade
Demogorgon or demigod the ghost parade
No oblation will bring her back to our place

She stayed within the deep end of Wallowa Lake
The undertow refrained with the flame of a feathered snake
Charybdis in its shallow grave

She gave us one last feature: the fullness of her face
In the shade of “Hin-mah-too-yah…” (Red Napoleon)
As the demon took her place

As we wait for the waters to reside
Her remarkable stoicism and her pride
When the dragon submerged we knew she had died

The Greatest Gift Mixtape

Sufjan Stevens, "Wallowa Lake Monster"

"Only Once Away My Son" by Brian Eno with Kevin Shields

Listen to this track and many others at adultswim.com/singles

Adult Swim Singles 2017

Brian Eno with Kevin Shields - Only Once Away My Son

Takes Time - https://joygatsby.bandcamp.com/album/takes-time

Girlfriend

PRESET #23

CASCADE - https://hiddenfuture.bandcamp.com/album/cascade

CASCADE

RECALL

VINYL, CD & DIGITAL: http://bit.ly/N45-NOTON-SHOP

N-45 - ALVA NOTO - UNIEQAV
RELEASE DATE: MARCH 16TH, 2018

The Uni series began when Alva Noto was booked to play live at the club UNIT in Tokyo, and had to adapt his sound accordingly for that environment.

‘UNIEQAV’ follows-on from and develops the concept of Alva Noto’s ‘Unitxt’ and ‘Univrs’ albums, and completes the third part in the trilogy, whereby each record is both unique and part of the bigger picture. This is also mirrored in the artwork for each release, which when combined form a triptych spelling ‘Uni’.

Described by Carsten as “sonically representing an underwater dive”, the gleaming ‘UNIEQAV’ brings as usual an inherent artistic, conceptual and scientific depth. Mathematics, data, unit systems, grids, rhythms, codes, text, language, spoken word, DNA, science technology and nature are all utilised, for both inspiration and execution.

As with the last two Uni releases, the French sound poet Anne-James Chaton collaborates here, on ‘Uni Dna’. Where on previous records Chaton first provided a vocal track to which Nicolai composed, this time the duo flipped it; the poet wrote for an existing track, adding his unique vocal approach to recite amino acids that constitute the DNA molecule.

Regarding Carsten’s interest in 3D sound design and building sonic spaces, ‘UNIEQAV’ transports the listener to a modern, spacious and zen-like place for meditative movement. But conversely the album works equally well in a dark club - as for every glistening digital spark and simple, emotive melody - there’s a stealthy bassline, frenetic drum pattern and colossal low-end thump.

@alvanoto

Unieqav

UNI DNA

Alva Noto - Uni Dna

Sound experiments + daily tunes over at @hiddenfuturesound

RECALL

Hidden Future