OESB-85 
Released June 2015 

Tehran-born and London-based, Ash Koosha creates music that is stripped of genre, style and conventional structure. His training in classical music and his interest in computer music from a young age has equipped him with necessary tools to construct, break, form and deform at the same time. The result is sound that is fragmented, unearthly yet natural, collage-like yet seamless. 

His latest work, GUUD is a sonic experience, where classical variations and harmonies meet manipulated sample grains. It is a field, a ‘place where he deals with scientific and psychological questions’ and where he manipulates his senses by creating a synesthetic experience. He understands emotional and physical limits and pushes those emotions to the extreme without the extreme effect, as he simulates the sound of exploding speakers or collapsing percussion structures in a listenable frequency. It is by treating sound as physical matter that he can then apply a simulation of physical forces to it: shattering, positioning, joining, liquifying or pressuring. 

One of the ideas that Ash has introduced in GUUD and will be further discovered in his future projects, is ‘nano-composition’. Born out of his obsession with scale and based on ideas explored in nanotechnology and quantum realm, nano-composition can be defined as creating a composition, based on the sonic behaviour of fractal patterns that exist within a stretched or rescaled sound wave but without pitch alteration. It is visually treating grains in wave forms as particles and create sonic ‘events’ within that wave form. Although these events are controlled and structured by the composer, their randomness and internal chaos offers an element of singularity and rarity. It is a deconstruction of what is conventionally and sonics-wise ‘good’ music. GUUD is ‘good’ without the perfection of perfectly round ‘o’s.

Buy on Bandcamp

Ash Koosha "GUUD" 16 - Harbour

'Howl' is the new album by Rival Consoles, London-based electronic producer Ryan Lee West, set for release through Erased Tapes on 16th October 2015.

Pre-order it on (Ltd. Red) 2xLP · CD · DL here:
www.erasedtapes.com/store/index/ERATP076
or via iTunes: http://snip.ftpromo.net/howl

"Rival Consoles scuttles and murmurs magnificently" – Spin

Foremost a guitarist, growing up listening to rock rather than club music, West continues to strive towards finding a more personal balance between music for home listening and larger spaces. The title track was inspired by the howl-like tones he developed by running synths through guitar pedals. 

"By slowly drifting the pitch through distortion and delays, the result sounded like vocal cries – something which was perfect for the song and this inspired me to take on a darker set of tones across the whole album. It was made over the past few years, inspired by capturing small performances on synths, touring with some of my musical heroes, playing with feedback when I should have been catching a train, sampling my voice in unexpected conditions and recording textures in different countries.” 

The album explores a wide range of emotions; from the dissonance eruptions and primal rhythms in 'Howl', to the mournful improvisations of '3 Laments', which features a sample of his own voice. Alongside his performances on Moog, Prophet, tape delay and guitar, West enlisted the help of drummer Fabian Prynn for ‘Low’ and cellist Peter Gregson for ‘Walls’, both long-time collaborators of Erased Tapes peers Douglas Dare and Michael Price.

"This album features a lot of my own recordings, rather than simply using samples that I have sitting on my computer. This gives the album a more personal feeling, which is very important to me because I think we live in a time where there is just so much recorded material out there, and accessible at a click of a button, that the joy of recording your own drum sounds, your own percussion, your own claps, seems redundant – but it’s not! That should be a priority because its often more interesting and makes you choose a different creative path."
 
It’s rarely reported that Rival Consoles was Erased Tapes' very first signing, with a CDR of early demos under the name Aparatec that inspired founder Robert Raths to start the label. Indeed West has more in common with his contemporaries Nils Frahm and Peter Broderick than some might think. His consistent desire to create a more organic, humanised sound sees West often draft early ideas on traditional, acoustic instruments like the guitar or the piano; forming pieces that capture a sense of songwriting behind the electronics. 

"I try to create atmosphere and mood throughout with a less-is-more approach to composition. I'm always trying to find an exciting reaction from a few ingredients, because that is magic to me. To make something interesting with tons of layers of effects just doesn't excite me. But to make something interesting with just three layers requires a special alignment of sounds, ideas and timing. This is my most personal work to date, following on from 'Odyssey' and 'Sonne' which gave me the confidence to continue exploring my own ideas and approach to sound. The essence of this album was made with a few synths, some guitar pedals and lots of cups of tea. I hope you’ll enjoy it."
 
Having repeatedly performed at such prestigious venues as the Tate, and having created a bespoke audio-visual performance for Boiler Room at the V&A Museum, the blueprint for West’s current live A/V show was formed. Featuring self-programmed visuals in Max/MSP has earned him appearances at music festivals around the world including Mutek, Decibel, Big Ears and Berghain’s Pop-Kultur Festival, as well as tours in support of Clark, Nosaj Thing, Luke Abbott and Kiasmos.

October 2015 will see West perform Rival Consoles debut headline shows in the UK, followed by North America and Europe mainland dates throughout the winter months. 

Howl

Rival Consoles - Howl

www.jamiewoon.com
iTunes - http://po.st/JWSiSO 
Spotify -http://po.st/JWSharpnessSP 

Never been so inside it
When I give in to you
Never been so existing
You can't know unless you feel it

Come back
Body's aching
From the want and the waiting
I get this pain when you're leaving 
Never felt this before
Never felt this before

Is it written on my back?
Take it back and then let it go
Let it go
Is it written on my back?
Take it back and then let it go

Every day is the day that you save me
Light into darkness
Cut on the sharpness of you

Never been so inside it
And fallen into ya
Never been so resisting
You can't know unless you feel it

Come back
Body's aching
From the want and the waiting
Coming down with a sickness
Staying in control
Steady and in control

Is it written on my back?
Take it back and then let it go
Let it go
Is it written on my back?
Take it back and then let it go

Every day is the day that you save me
Light into darkness
Cut on the sharpness of you

I want to love you, baby

Making Time

Sharpness

The Line

Refugee EP
Available now: smarturl.it/RefugeeEP

Now I'm Alive

Written by Curtis L. Mayfield
Produced by Adult Jazz

Kaya Wilkins - Guitar & Vocals
Harry Burgess - Keys
Tom Howe - Sampler, Programming & Synth
Tim Slater - Trombone, Drums & Keys
Steven Wells - Bass

Keep On Pushin'

'Dok' is taken from the forthcoming 12" 'TT/Dok', out on @FutureClassic March 4 (vinyl) / March 11 (digital)

This is a remix by @Zerolex, Blast is a track out of WORDS EP by Faroe.

Stream Words EP: smarturl.it/Faroe-words-stream
Buy Words EP: smarturl.it/Faroe-Words-buy

Words is Faroe's debut EP.
Music written, recorded, and mixed by Faroe
Artwork by Nathanne Le Corre : www.nathanne.com

℗&© Corentin Ollivier
--
www.iamfaroe.com
www.facebook.com/iamfaroe
www.twitter.com/iamfaroe
www.instagram.com/iamfaroe

Blast (Zerolex Remix)

Faroe