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

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

Giant Claw - Mirror Guide

Epicest

Experimental Music - part 8

YouTube(Full) youtu.be/Da70UqkjHkE
Download/Stream linkco.re/gTceU6pq

極光の街 lyrics

無関係なほど強まるように
誰かの視線が絡みついている
触れば切れる 動けば突き刺さる
「やめたほうがいい」

無関心になどなりきれないのに
慣れたフリをして戸を閉ざしている
明日が来ても やるせない毎日が
変わるわけじゃない

静まる街並 昇る落日に
交わす言葉もなく 落ちてゆく 雪のように

変わらぬ日々の中
孤独を飼いならしながら
動かぬ朝焼けのような
真夜中に囚われて

白夜に住む人の
夜明けを誰も知らない
ビルの向こうの極光も
日常と化していく

未完成なもの 割り切れないのに
保証を求めて列をなしても
不完全なまま青空の下には
未だ帰れない

氷の中でも時は過ぎていく
浅い夢の中で 歌がまだ聴こえている

確かなものがいま
心の奥にあるなら
凍えた風に吹かれても
生きている 火は燃えている

白夜の果てにゆこう
夜明けを誰も知らない
ありふれた極光の街で
現実をそれでも
踏みしめて歩いて行こう

極光の街 Aurora no Machi

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 - Mirror Guide Pt. II {you And Me} (vocals: NTsKi)

Giant Claw - Until Mirror (vocals: Tamar Kamin)

Giant Claw - Disworld (vocals: NTsKi)

Giant Claw - Mir-Cam Online

Giant Claw - Mir-Cam Startup

Giant Claw - Earther

Taken from Burning Pyre (@burningpyre) and Canadian Rifles (@canadian-rifles) album The Snipe & The Clam, out April 30, 2021, via Eastern Nurseries (@eastern-nurseries)

Read: https://bit.ly/2QhOrIa
Pre-order: https://bit.ly/3s4RwZy

The first full-length collaboration between Burning Pyre and Canadian Rifles, “The Snipe & The Clam” encapsulates a shared sensibility and vision. Initially seen together on the Vienna Press/Vaagner compilation “A Declaration” in 2019, which was followed up with a second piece last year on Burning Pyre’s Opal Tapes debut, “United Angels”, the two artists cultivate a unique aural world with a singular voice.

Taking a contemporary yet deeply romantic approach to ambient music, “The Snipe & The Clam” showcases a blend of luscious synth melodies and harmonics, set against a heavily organic dynamic backbone. An apt representation of both artists’ methods and modus operandi, opulent glimmering drones flow with a sense of narrative, contributing a magical watercolour-like quality to the album’s eight instrumental pieces. As if lightness met the restraint of a disciplined wrist - every sharp note a pensive flap of wings across its airy background.

“The Snipe & The Clam” often feels like an emotional exercise on the stoppage of time, gliding between loving gestures and precise crescendos, delivering both a flourish of exposition and a reflection on intimate moments. A definitive summit in each respective artists’ discographies until this point, “The Snipe & The Clam” is an elegy to tenderness and finding beauty in minute details.

Photo by Elisa Azevedo

Mastered by John Hannon

Released by Eastern Nurseries

Premiere: Burning Pyre & Canadian Rifles - The Snipe [Eastern Nurseries]

Presentism

That (Ygrid/d#) [Second Woman Remix]

That (Ygrid/d)

That (Ygrid/f)

That (Ygrid/d#)

'Winter Linn' is the latest single from the new eponymous album out next week and is also available on YouTube - http://bit.ly/winter-linn

"like a techno version of shellac" - Clark

A Clark Special will broadcast on NTS from 3PM (UK) on Wednesday 29th - http://ntslive.co.uk/

The track is taken from 'Clark' out next week, and is available to download with pre-orders from,
Bleep - http://smarturl.it/clark-bleep
iTunes - http://smarturl.it/clark-itunes

The CD, LP and digital formats are also available from Amazon - http://smarturl.it/clark-amazon

http://throttleclark.com/
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https://twitter.com/throttleclark