The original sound of The Bug is so pleasant everytime

We are living the dawn of artificial intelligence and it's a wave we can't stop. I've been intrigued by this idea throughout the majority of my life, yet I cannot fully express in words the fear I now feel at its gates.

From Hollywood to Japanese animation, the majority of sci-fi infused dystopian atmospheres to this concept..yet all of it felt so far fetched and out of my lifetime; (and although never seemed impossible) at the time felt something exclusively for enjoyment purposes...yet, here we are.

Don't get me wrong, the aesthetic is just right, I will always be entertained by experiencing a vision of some future; something that is an evolution of life at the moment, yet honestly, as much as I'm inspired by it, I cannot help but feel a bit xenophobic on this matter (as a normal 21st century person should feel, I might add..)

Anyways..one particular monument of this theme is 'Ghost In The Shell' (1995) by the genius of Masamune Shirow,
which offers insights on the first instances of silicon-based sentience. 'The Power Of A Shell Is The Power Of Its Ghost' is an ambient piece I've composed inspired by this theme.

The Power Of A Shell Is The Power Of Its Ghost

Ease

Ambient Flux Radio Sonic Sessions w/ Glass Isle, Waveskania & Syntax Erika - 030424

Twin heavyweights Kevin Richard Martin (The Bug) and Joseph Kamaru (KMRU) unite for Disconnect, a powerful study of dread, hope, and profound sonics that marries depth-trawling dub with Kamaru’s voice, ambient sensibilities, and negative space.

Kevin Martin first became aware of Kenyan ambient musician KMRU “watching the short 2020 documentary Under The Bridge,” he tells us. “Which, aside from immediately finding Joseph's approach to sound and music so instantly impressive, I also found his spoken voice possessed a captivating, lilting, tonal quality, with his soft-spoken accent.” Following this, Martin dug into Kamaru’s records, and found not only a kindred spirit in skillful exploration of sonic space, but also a fan of The Bug. So began a mutually respectful relationship, initially held in Instagram DMs and reciprocal admiration for each other’s work and eventually blossoming into an invitation sent by Kevin to Joseph to collaborate on a new album.

The results - debut collaboration album Disconnect - collect a back-and-forth creative dialogue that started life in Martin’s studio. “I think I surprised Joseph by suggesting he contributes vocals,” Martin tells us. This ability to identify, isolate and exploit the nonstandard is a trait shared by both musicians and employed to devastating effect on Disconnect. Its vocals, sitting somewhere between intonation and spoken word, capture the ear and fizz with simmering power. They are indeed a surprise, coming from a musician specialising in instrumental, field recording-laced ambient musics, but tell intensely evocative stories, weaving poetry into the pair’s grandiose greyscale musical architecture.

The record is just as deep, dark, and arresting as we can expect from Kevin Richard Martin, following his acclaimed rescore of Solaris (released in 2021 on Phantom Limb) and a handful of self-released solo albums that explore a sound just as heavy as The Bug but at a menacingly slower pace. And it is just as evocative and unique as Kamaru’s KMRU canon, each object delicately and purposefully placed so the timbral mosaic builds with shimmering and hypnotic beauty.

KRM & KMRU - Differ

Totally beautiful and rare piano performance from Loren Connors, joined on guitar by long time collaborator Alan Licht. 
Celebrating thirty years of collaboration, Loren Connors and Alan Licht performed for two nights at OTO on May 5 and 6th, 2023. On the second night, with the stage lit in blue, Connors took up a seat on the piano stool whilst Licht picked up the guitar. What followed was the duo’s first ever set with Connors on piano - one of only a few times Connors has played piano live at all - here captured and issued as The Blue Hour. Its spacious warmth came as a total surprise live, but makes complete sense for a duo whose dedicated expressionism takes inspiration from a vast spectrum of emotion.

Both opening with single notes to start, it doesn't take long before a surface rises and begins to shimmer. A run up the keys, the drop of a feedback layer on a sustained and bent note. The two begin to exchange notes in tandem and brief touches of melody and chord hover. After a while, Connors picks up the guitar, stands it in his lap and sweeps a wash of colour across Licht’s guitar. Sharp, glassy edges begin to form, open strings and barred frets darkening the space. When his two pedals begin to merge, Licht finds a dramatic organ-like feedback and it’s hard not to imagine Rothko’s Chapel, its varying shades of blue black ascending and descending in the room.

When Connors goes back to the piano for the second side, the pair quickly lock into a refrain and light pours in. It’s a kind of sound that Licht says reminds him of what he and Connors would do when the duo first started playing together 30 years ago. It’s certainly more melodic than some of their more recent shows, and the atonal shards of At The Top of the Stairs seem to totally dissolve. What is always remarkable about Licht is that his enormous frame of reference doesn't seem to weigh him down, and instead here he is able to delicately place fractures of a Jackson C Frank song (“Just Like Anything”,) amongst the vast sea of Connors’ blues.

Perhaps it's the pleasure of playing two nights in a row together, or the nature of Connor’s piano playing combined with Licht’s careful listening, but the improvisation on The Blue Hour feels remarkably calm and unafraid. There’s nothing to prove and no agenda except the joy of sounding colour together. Totally beautiful. 

---

Recorded live at Cafe OTO on Saturday 6th May 2023 by Billy Steiger
Mixed by Oli Barrett
Mastered by Sean McCann
Artwork by Loren Connors
Layout by Oli Barrett
Screenprint by Tartaruga

 Edition of 300 standard LPs, 100 LPs with screenprinted artwork inserts and 200 CDs.

ROKU037 - Loren Connors & Alan Licht "The Blue Hour" [excerpt]

Crispy Cowboy, of East Lonesome Drifters fame, explores the foundations of country and Western music.  Expect outstanding vintage records from old-time, hillbilly, folk, Nashville sound, western swing, outlaw, red dirt, Bakersfield and more. 
 
Find the full tracklist and related episodes on NTS: https://www.nts.live/shows/country-hayride/episodes/country-hayride-19th-may-2024

Country Hayride 190524

Fretless acoustic bass dub7 chord meets moog dfam sequnces dry carob fruits as percussion and layers of voice as pads - enjoy my new single on biardo recordings

Dub7

Just chilling out with Yamaha EX5, Bel BD80 and Roland PH830.

EX5 Meditation

Tantrique Döner w/ Jean Granon (30/05/24)

Forgive Everything Vol. 4

Sampled from : Tinta Culta - Comienzo
Link: https://youtube.com/watch?v=1gm0WOBDUYQ
Follow the artist: https://www.youtube.com/@tintaculta8911

KRM & KMRU - Differ

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