And Loop

Balancing Act are back with their first single of 2024, ‘She Plays The Theremin’, their catchiest track yet. Produced by longtime Balancing Act collaborator, Richard Woodcraft (Radiohead, Paolo Nutini), ‘She Plays The Theremin’ stars swinging riffs and an addictive hook, showcasing the quartet’s expertise in crafting an irresistible indie-pop banger, whilst effortlessly welcoming in the most lovable and snappy traits of punk rock classics. ‘She Plays The Theremin’ is Balancing Act’s first track of 2024, and sees them ready to showcase the fruits of their labour.

She Plays The Theremin

Invisible Wall

I made this piece a number of years ago in L.A. on a four track recorder. I heard the melodies and counterpoint in my head and fit them together. Too bad I didn't have an orchestra handy to fill out the sound. Enjoy.

Evensong

Elsewhere

"A Tear In The Fold (Single Edit)", taken from the E.P. "A Tear In The Present" (and the original version taken from the album "Bloody Saturnalia"), out 26th January on all download/streaming platforms.  "Bloody Saturnalia", released 24th November 2023 on The Colour Inverted Records is available on digital/gatefold 180 gram vinyl LP formats.

Music & lyrics by Nick Carlisle. Produced by Nick Carlisle.
Digital master by Nick Carlisle, vinyl master by Julian Tardo at Church Road Studios, East Sussex.
Vocals & keyboards: Nick Carlisle
12 string & Portuguese guitars: Foz Foster
Backing vocals: Rachel Horwood
Drums: Simon Adams

The lead song from the “A Tear In The Present” E.P., “A Tear In The Fold” was written in the wake of the passing of Nick’s Dad. Lyrically it takes comfort from the idea that time isn’t linear, and that those precious moments with loved ones are forever as present as they once were. Nick contributes vocals, piano, synthesizer and mellotron, and is joined by former Bamboo bandmate and Bas Jan drummer Rachel Horwood on backing vocals, and Foz Foster (The Monochrome Set / David Devant & His Spirit Wife) on 12 string and Portuguese guitars. The E.P. is released to coincide with two sold out performances of “Häxan With Live Score By Nick Carlisle” at the Barbican, London on the 28th January. The two extra tracks on the E.P., “Present Times” & “The Sleepwalker”, were recorded on a piano that once belonged to Keith Emerson no less, & are taken from the score Nick composed for the film (neither track appears on the “Häxan - A Soundtrack” album of highlights).

Nick Carlisle has played an integral role as writer & producer in a handful of projects on the UK DIY music scene over the last 15 years, from Peepholes (Upset The Rhythm Records) 2006-2014, through Bamboo (Upset The Rhythm) 2014-2020, Katy and Nick (Gob Nation) 2017-2022, and Lean Logic (O Genesis Recordings) 2020-present. Originally from rural Northern Ireland and now residing in Brighton, England, Nick’s music blends vintage analogue electronics & acoustic instruments with more contemporary digital sounds and samples to paint a world that’s instantly recognisable but simultaneously unfamiliar & often unsettling. Whilst this is Nick’s debut solo album of songs, in 2022 he released a largely instrumental album Häxan - A Soundtrack having been commissioned by QFT to compose and perform a new soundtrack for the 1922 horror film of the same name, as part of the BFI In Dreams Are Monsters season. Nick performed the soundtrack live at Queen’s Film Theatre, Belfast, and the Ulster Folk Museum Picture House, Northern Ireland again earlier this year, and on 28th January 2024 takes the live score to the Barbican in London for two sold out performances.

A Tear In The Present E.P.

A Tear In The Fold

A Tear In The Fold (Single Edit)

This track is part of a compilation "Obsolescence" - various artist.
You will find the whole album in Primary Soud - Bandcamp

Vetustas

The 3rd movement of the String Quartet No. 18 "No Silence" (2024).

Pawel Strzelecki: 3. Adagio [String Quartet No. 18 "No Silence" (2024)].

"In that time, I knew their voices only by the resistance I felt when I tried to sound my own.
They made my voice move as it had not before. For a moment I resonated, and felt dimensions of space, time, energy and imagination.
Slowly I learned to push my inner flame one way, then another.
Then I looked to explain things more. I began to feel around, and then I felt another, and more. Together we sang as we explored the extent of our bounds."

* * *

This is the start of a music series about a planet named Mastross.

This planet has abiogenesis much like our own, but rather than forming structures of increasing complexity from organic compounds like amino acids, Mastross has something more like a crystal-growing operation. Deep within underground aquifers and river systems, a strange electric crystal forms. This crystal is much like the piezoelectric quartz we have here on Earth, but is capable of a much more intricate lattice - one with naturally-formed, self-optimizing logic gates. When subjected to mechanical shock, electrons within the lattice are excited to a higher-energy state, causing them to escape the material as sparks of light and sound - but also powering the protocircuitry within crystal bodies. The rushing water provides enough vibrations to keep this electron flow going for millions of years and enough dissolved minerals for these crystal formations to grow to astonishing size and complexity.

This results in a race of beings, born from inorganic minerals, who in appearance and development more closely resemble computers than biological life. In other words, naturally evolved robots. In time these sessile crystalline beings will figure out almost everything. Their cultural and societal problems will be solved before any of them can take a single step in a motile body. Once they can move and replenish energy and communicate like we do, what will challenge them, and what will they do?

In this song we hear the initial winks of protoconsciousness - kindling being stacked up for the lighting of the secret inner fire we call "life". We hear crystal beings sounding their voices and eventually making contact, and then we hear them begin to figure out existence and shape their environment for the first time. I have much more to write about the ways they do this, but that's for another time. :)

Mastross 1: First, we were Crystals

This week’s podcast features music made by Naviar’s community inspired by
Yosa Buson’s poem “vernal seas… / all day long swelling, falling / swelling, falling”


Tracklist:

Night Note - Vernal Seas…
rikardfvs - Vernal Seas
LazenbeeIndustries - vernal seas
Mr_Lamppost - Swelling, Falling
noble-earths - Swelling Falling

https://www.naviarrecords.com/naviarhaiku525-vernal-seas/ 

Credits:

music intro: “This ruined house” by Tuonela
voice intro: Ian Joyce
cover image: Cris S.
voice reciting the poem: Marco Sebastiano Alessi

Naviar Broadcast is a radio programme curated by Naviar, broadcasted on Resonance Extra every Wednesday at 7pm UK time. Thirty minutes of experimental music made in response to a weekly assigned haiku poem.
To have your music featured on the show, you'll have to participate in the Haiku music challenge: https://www.naviarrecords.com/about/naviar-haiku
support the show: https://www.naviarrecords.com/support-us/

Naviar Broadcast #305 – vernal seas – Wednesday 7th February 2024

Shapes

📸 by Aubrey Simpson. Nick Carlisle has played an integral role as writer & producer in a handful of projects on the UK DIY music scene over the last 15 years, from Peepholes (Upset The Rhythm Records) 2006-2014, through Bamboo (Upset The Rhythm) 2014-2020, Katy and Nick (Gob Nation) 2017-2022, and Lean Logic (O Genesis Recordings) 2020-present. Originally from rural Northern Ireland and now residing in Brighton, England, Nick’s music blends vintage analogue electronics & acoustic instruments with more contemporary digital sounds and samples to paint a world that’s instantly recognisable but simultaneously unfamiliar & often unsettling. 
New single "End Of Terrain." out now:
https://nickcarlisle.bandcamp.com/track/end-of-terrain
"End Of Terrain" is taken from the forthcoming album "Bloody Saturnalia", available to pre-order now ahead of it's release on 24th Nov, on The Colour Inverted Records:
https://nickcarlisle.bandcamp.com/album/bloody-saturnalia
"Häxan - A Soundtrack" album, available digital / CD formats from https://nickcarlisle.bandcamp.com/album/h-xan-a-soundtrack 🎵
"Häxan With Live Score By Nick Carlisle" 📽 :
28.1.24: Barbican, London - both performances SOLD OUT

A Tear In The Fold (Single Edit)

Nick Carlisle

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