zenith and nadir

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Wildflower

The composition of this Far & Off album began after on long period of detachment and isolation. 

This modern life we lead tends to saturate many of us with information, constant stimuli of all kinds and shatter time, as if we lived in small sequences. Some of us content themselves with that, some manage to regulate or tighten the flow, others collapse or pretend not to. 

I guess I'm not the only one to ever feel the need to fly away, remove myself from the ongoing swirl and purely vanish. 
It wasn’t a matter of waking up with a sudden urge, it built up, slowly, between the lines, it wasn’t caused by any philosophical, spiritual or religious belief either. It simply became a natural answer to the surrounding frenzy. 

To be on my own, far, in another context, without technology, an act of protection. Taste real solitude, a state in which no one else exists; cross the line, change rhythm and feel the passing of time. 
This is what I am sharing with you now, with keys and sounds, pads and patterns, glitches and drums. My desire was to compose contrasted tales, to bring light on the paradox, from one extreme to the other, harshness to tranquility. 

Mihalis, as he encountered a similar situation was keen on putting those emotions into music and the perfect partner as it turned out. 

Far & Off

Alkaline

Silly Psybin [ Into The Web EP-Dubmission Records]

Subheim - One Step Before The Exit (Reconstructed by Flaque)

Release Date: 5th April 2019
Label: 20/20 LDN
Format: Digital // Limited edition 8” picture disc
Cat No: 2020LDN016

‘Cracks’ is the new album by ever-evolving producer Yip Wong aka Deft, set for release on 5th April 2019 via Ivy Lab’s 20/20 LDN label.

A body of work that is setting a milestone for the beats scene, ‘Cracks’ is a cinematic and powerfully emotive record by Deft, seamlessly brought together through lo-fi, immersive atmospheres and crisp, intricate beat-scapes. Shaking off the constraints of genre; Yip listened to albums by artists such as Grouper, William Basinki, Bibio and Arthur Russell to gain a better understanding of how these musicians and artists constructed narrative in their work. The album is a personal document to dealing with loss, the process of grief, and the release that comes through music.

“Since I started writing music, I’ve always wanted to put together an LP; a body of work narratively driven with a consistent and coherent voice. As I’m a firm believer in the journey/story that music can give and create, I always tried to apply my idea of an LP to most of my previous EPs. During a large period of time whilst releasing music as Deft, my sister was fighting cancer. Listening to and creating music during that time was really important for me, as a way to cope and deal with everything that was happening. After a long fight, my sister sadly passed away nearly four years ago. I deliberated a lot about deciding whether or not to talk about all of this but ‘Cracks’, although it has gone through a variety of iterations over the past three and bit years, has been my catharsis, and it revolves around grief and all of the ways in which I’ve dealt with the loss of my sister.”

Encompassing how he was feeling at the time, the title track ‘Cracks’ was the first piece he wrote. Deciding this would set the tone of the album, Yip began to use these samples and sounds as the palette for the rest of the tracks. As he continued to write, he focused on resampling and adapting from each previous sketch. Repeated notes, drones and pulses were something he tried to maintain throughout the album, to reflect on his thought processes during this time, and the oddly comforting but often debilitating effect these cycles had when they broke.

“Writing ‘Cracks’ has reinforced my own belief in sampling, resampling, recycling and recreating something out of something else. I sample a lot in music, be it creating my own samples from samples or whatever, and the album has come through this method of thinking. I also worked with one of my good friends Alphabets Heaven on ‘On The Wire’. We worked together solidly over a few sessions to write and record the bass that he played, and that was a process I thoroughly enjoyed; working with someone you know well and trust, and also having them be a part of something that personally means a great deal.”

The ambient tracks on ‘Cracks’ will be collected, along with a new track exclusive to the vinyl, on a limited edition 8” picture disc. The need for a physical format was important to Yip: the track ‘In Passing’ features a recording of Yip’s sister’s voice at the end, one of the only voice memos he had of her on his phone.

“I wanted my sister to be on the record in some way or another. We originally weren’t going to do vinyl for this release, but decided to do this 8” picture disc. Having ‘In Passing’ on vinyl means there is something physical that exists in the world that has my sister’s voice on it.”

@deft
www.2020ldn.com

For more information contact Benjamin Smith
benjamin.smith@echoempire.net // 077 6492 6719

Cracks (2020LDN016)

Cracks

Scope

This stomper was one of the harder ones to recreate, I used all 4 different clips I could find of it and removed the MCs and had to rearrange a coule pf parts, the only thing missing is the first part of the intro. Very rare untitled dub from around 2011.

Music by @kryptic-minds / Kryptic Minds

Kryptic Minds - Untitled 6 (Sarsy's No MC Edit + Extension)

My remix of @Caleidisco 's "Exteisha" coming soon on his remix album "Collided"

Listen to the original here:
https://soundcloud.com/caleidisco/exteisha?in=caleidisco/sets/infinite-variations-of-black

Caleidisco - Exteisha (Somatoast Remix)

Hanging Gardens [2012]

Aazav is the creation of music producers Kai Altair & Haj i Ji. Their debut album is The Looking Stone: born of community and shared sonic vision that spans from Brooklyn to San Francisco. Both music and performance are invocations, a compelling balance of live and electronic components.

Rising from deep roots created by Haj with Sub Swara and Freek Factory, other collaborations include Desert Dwellers, David Starfire, Govinda, Kaminanda, Living Light, HÄANA, Biolumigen, and Jon Margulies.

Spotify: tinyurl.com/Aazav-Spotify
iTunes: tinyurl.com/Aazav-iTunes
SoundCloud: @aazav
Facebook: www.facebook.com/aazavmusic
Instagram: @aazavmusic

Signa

Diaphane.