Scissor and Thread Essentials

mid tracks

relax your hypothalamus

ORDER 'Odyssey' on 12"/DL: http://www.erasedtapes.com/store/index/ERATP052
ORDER 'Odyssey / Sonne' on CD: http://www.erasedtapes.com/store/index/ERATP069
GET TICKETS:
http://www.erasedtapes.com/artists/events/5/Rival+Consoles

This month will see Ryan Lee West aka Rival Consoles debut his new live set, restricting himself to a small selection of analogue equipment such as the Moog Voyager, Prophet and tape delay, as he supports Luke Abbott on his UK tour.

In celebration, Rival Consoles offers his fans a free download of the title track 'Odyssey' – a reflection of his quest to create atmosphere and space from minimal arrangements. His new EP also features label friend Peter Broderick and is available now on Erased Tapes.

LINKS: facebook.com/rivalconsoles · twitter.com/rivalconsoles · www.erasedtapes.com

Odyssey

Rival Consoles – Odyssey

Ryan Lee West reinforces his unique style of minimal electronic arrangements with a new 6-track EP – 'Sonne' out on Erased Tapes.

ORDER 'Sonne' on 12"/DL: http://www.erasedtapes.com/store/index/ERATP059
ORDER 'Odyssey / Sonne' on CD: http://www.erasedtapes.com/store/index/ERATP069
ORDER via iTunes:
http://snip.ftpromo.net/sonne
GET TICKETS:
http://www.erasedtapes.com/artists/events/5/Rival+Consoles

Continuing on from his Odyssey EP released in 2013, Ryan Lee West aka Rival Consoles creates atmosphere and space whilst exploring waves of sound and rhythm, and the power of colour. With Sonne Ryan creates music to structure itself around a pulse, rather than the pulse being the defining point. 

The title track begins with “a very subtle set of melodies that repeat almost without confidence, and then gradually give way to a huge collage of colour and power”, as Ryan describes it. Not relying on a conventional beat, it’s a prime example of how an analogue synthesiser can create the power and momentum of a rhythm section. From the distorted waves in 3 Chords, growing and shrinking, to the rhythmic waves of constant speeding up and then slowing down in Recovery, it’s the Moog Voyager, Prophet and tape delay that make up the core sound of the EP. Whilst tracks like Helios, Haunt and Think Tank see West play live drums and acoustic guitar.

“I’m often looking at art in exhibitions and I always think to myself ‘why the hell don’t I have this much colour in my work?’ The answer in part I think is down to synthesis. It is very difficult to create colour without it sounding plastic. Colour in music is both the note combinations and the actual timbre of the sounds. There are lots of instances of very colourful ambient sounds, which I took great care to create for each song, using various methods – from passing analogue synths through chains of effects to chopping up random sequences of recordings and forming tiny collages." – Ryan Lee West 

ABOUT THE ARTWORK:  

Resembling the colour and vibrancy in his music, the cover art was created by South London artist Supermundane, who was also responsible for the artwork of the Odyssey EP.

TRACK LISTING:  	

A1. Sonne  A2. 3 Chords  A3. Helios  B1. Haunt  B2. Think Tank  B3. Recovery 

PRESS FOR ODYSSEY EP:

'Glorious...unabashedly epic...’ – Dummy
'Atmospheric synths swell victoriously' – XLR8R
‘Rival Consoles, is the likes of Nils Frahm and Olafur Arnalds' glitchy, electronic cousin’  8/10 – The 405


ABOUT THE ARTIST:

Some might be surprised that London based electronic producer Ryan Lee West, the man behind Rival Consoles, shares a home with contemporary classical composers such as Nils Frahm, Ólafur Arnalds and Peter Broderick. And yet they have a lot more in common than expected. Fascinated by sound from an early age, Ryan chose to dedicate his time to studying, experimenting with and producing sound graduating from De Montfort University in Leicester. One consistent element in his musical journey has been his desire to create a more organic, humanised sound. Ryan often drafts early ideas on piano, violin and guitar, although the end result is much more electronic-laden. As an accomplished sound designer he has repeatedly performed at the Tate, and recently created a bespoke audio-visual performance for Boiler Room at the V&A. Ryan is currently composing music for a soon to be announced BBC production.

LIVE:	
	
After supporting Luke Abbott on his recent UK tour and I Break Horses on their North American tour in spring, Ryan will debut his new live set with a special release show in London, followed by a string of West Coast U.S. dates culminating in Decibel Festival in late September – more details to be announced soon. 

OFFICIAL WEBSITES: www.facebook.com/rivalconsoles · www.erasedtapes.com

Sonne

Recovery

Buy 12"/DL

Rival Consoles - Recovery

Remixed by Cyrus Reynolds 
https://soundcloud.com/cyrusreynolds

Cello: Mike Kaufman 
Viola: Virginia Rockwell 

Track taken from 'Adrift Reworks', released on Injazero Records.
https://injazerorecords.bandcamp.com/album/adrift-reworks

Buy This Track

Steve Gibbs - Patterns (Cyrus Reynolds Remix)

Unreleased album from 1995 released today. https://twitter.com/SUBV3R7

Lake Windermere

Lyrics:
I never know what you’re on about
The reason we don’t see you
The reason’s just a sound
But you don’t know that you’re just a sound
And me, you know,
It’s not complicated:
I’m for the birds,
Not for the cages.
The strength of your face
The length of your dying eyes
We’ve come way too far
To imagine what’s left
The strength of your faith
And I look into your dying eyes
And I look at your lying eyes

Nicolas Jaar - America! I'm For The Birds

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https://www.facebook.com/valentinomoramusic/
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Francis Harris - Minor Forms 

Francis Harris is a founding member of the Scissor & Thread label - a Brooklyn-based imprint established 2011 as an outlet for deeper, more personal sounds, as well as music from a range of associated artists including black light smoke, Bob Moses, Frank & Tony, DJ Aakmael, Desert Sound Colony and Aris Kindt, to name a few.

Harris’ own output has gone from tightly wound tech house cuts as Adultnapper in the early days, sublime deep house
as Frank & Tony, intricate and expressive musical journeys as evident in his two solo-albums 'Leland' and 'Minutes Of Sleep', and ambient shoegaze with two Aris Kindt albums, co-produced with Gabe Hedrick. Most recently Harris branched out with a new label - Kingdoms - a home for his love of a more adventurous sound.

Now we are proud to present his new solo single, the frst since the release of 'Minutes of Sleep', 'Minor Forms' which includes two remarkable remixes by Valentino Mora.

'More We Cannot Do' is a perfect example of Harris‘ feel for depth and dynamics - a track that feels submerged in a warm amniotic fluid cocooning the listener in a thick subby bassline, providing much of the groove, with skittering percussion on top and intricate fragments of melody throughout leading to a wonderful moment with live vibraphone provided by New York player Will Shore.

'Minor Forms', the EP’s title track is cut from similar cloth - emerging from a subtly distant place to inhabit a melancholic, beautifully evocative space - somewhere between ambient, jazz and the dancefloor. Joining Harris is Greg Paulus on Trumpet, a long time friend and collaborator adding his signature touch to an already moving piece.

Valentino Mora offers up two exquisite reworks of 'Minor Forms' to complete the EP. Mora, the Berlin based Uruguayan producer, brings his own layer of depth to Harris‘ originals - the Underwater Rephrase version adds a propulsive kick and manages to shimmer and shake in subtle unexpected ways providing a purely late night dancefloor take on the original.

The Cosmic Trans Rephrase is somehow even deeper - a bubbling bass pulse anchors the track while pads drift in and out, adding to the blissful, meditative whole.

sat034
23 Feb 2018

Tracklisting:
A1. More We Cannot Do
A2. Minor Forms
B1. Minor Forms (Valentino Mora Underwater Rephase) 
B2. Minor Forms (Valentino Mora Cosmic Trans Rephase)

Francis Harris - Minor Forms

https://www.facebook.com/Melquiadesmusic/
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Melquíades - Blue Caves 

The latest release on Francis Harris’ Scissor & Thread label out of Brooklyn is another exercise in deep and meditative atmospheres. The label, comprised of a tight knit collective of multi-faceted composers, vocalists and instrumentalists, always strives to develop new projects based on a shared aesthetic, and this five track EP is both boundary pushing and fully synchronized with the label’s approach.

With Melquíades' 'Blue Caves' Melbourne based Composer and Sound Designer Alexander Albrecht presents his solo debut EP following on from the 'Tidal River' album he released as part of the Albrecht La'Brooy duo.

The title track 'Blue Caves' is a skittering, weightless exploration of space, seemingly built around lush field recordings and fragments of melody developing out of the ether.

'Avlemonas' flows from a similar source, but crystallizes around an off kilter rhythm and occasional subby bass, balanced against swooping pads and piano motifs.

'Morning Breeze' seems to revel in the evocative nature of its title, with hand played percussion backing more wistful, emotive piano sketches and wandering bass notes, before the track settles into a hypnotic groove.

Label head Francis Harris provides another take on the track for his Re-form version, a more dancefloor aimed excursion that draws deeply from the classic deep house of the New York and Detroit masters.

Ending the relases is 'Patio', which drifts back towards the ambient territories of the opening tracks, with exquisite, understated instrumentation and a melancholic yet elated vibe.

sat035
16 March 2018

Tracklisting:
A1. Blue Caves
A2. Avlemonas
A3. Morning Breeze
B1. Morning Breeze (Francis Harris Re-Form) 
B2. Patio

Alex Albrecht pres. Melquíades - Morning Breeze (Francis Harris Re-Form)

@aquarian x @deapmash
https://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/aqxdm-aegis/

PREORDER:
Digi: https://bedouinrecords.bandcamp.com/album/aegis
12": https://honestjons.com/shop/artist/AQXDM/release/Aegis

Aquarian and Deapmash debut on Bedouin records with their first collaborative EP, "Aegis" as "AQXDM"

Despite living on two separate continents and having never met in person, they bonded over a love for breakbeat techno, grime, jungle, breakcore, and immediately wrote their first EP.

Merging Deapmash's high energy, industrial grooves with Aquarian's idiosyncratic, genre-blending approach, the result is highly effective peak time techno infused with massive kick drums, spastic breakbeats and soaring atmospherics

Track List
A1. Aegis 
A2. Ballad 002
B1. Roam

Aegis EP

PREORDER

AQXDM - Aegis

Music is often known as a carrier of emotions - transcending times and places to offer the listener a brief glimpse into a moment where the artist, or artists in this case want to share a snippet of their life. Ueno Falls by London duo Tryst does exactly this. Wordless conversations drift in and out of a river, seemingly made of bass and bubbly percussive elements. All of this framed by a wonderful drawn out set of pads which could almost be the wind that glides through the cherry blossoms of Ueno Park.

'Issho' EP is coming out on May 28th via Apparel Tronic imprint (https://soundcloud.com/apparel-tronic). 

photo credit: Vesna Vrdoljak ( https://www.instagram.com/vesnavrdoljak)
write up by: Zach  https://www.facebook.com/zach.huenink

FOLLOW FICTION LAB ON: 
✖ SoundCloud ▸ bit.ly/LabSC 
✖ Facebook ▸ bit.ly/Labfacebook
✖ Instagram ▸ bit.ly/Labinsta

Issho

Interview

PREMIERE: Tryst - Ueno Falls [Apparel Tronic]

www.facebook.com/Melquiadesmusic/
www.facebook.com/francisscissor/
www.facebook.com/scissor.and.thread.nyc/

Alexander Albrecht returns to Francis Harris' Scissor & Thread imprint under his Melquí­ades guise for the Excerpts EP. As with his previous release on the label, Blue Caves, the Melbourne producer delivers a rich and affecting release, blending genres and moods with ease. 

"The idea behind this EP", says Alex Albrecht, "was to capture moments and "excerpts" of my improvised live set. I've used field recordings from a number of places from around the world as inspiration (including my recent visit to New York for the last S&T Tour) for the individual tracks - there's a variety of genres within the release but essentially they were just improvised extended jam sessions. I then chose some interesting excerpts for the record."

'Portal' kicks off the EP, a deep and woozy track with a strong groove, layered with pads and effects that radically enriches the dancefloor cut. 

'Tower Of The Sun' utilizes a similar driving beat, heavy on the hi-hats, but with a more submerged mood, punctuated with distant blasts and shards of noise. 

'Schaefer Street' also employs snappy percussion and snares, intertwined with bubbling melody and ethereal pads and washes. 

The same track is given a re-work by Patrice Scott, thickening up the groove and providing the most out-and-out dancefloor friendly track of the EP, while maintaining the fragments of deep and jazzy melody.

Excerpts

Alex Albrecht pres. Melquíades - Portal

www.facebook.com/blacklightsmoke/
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www.instagram.com/scissorandthread/
www.youtube.com/user/ScissorAndThread/

Following on from 'City Life' (Scissor And Thread #40) here is a brand new extended EP from composer, producer and musician Black Light Smoke, jam-packed  with pure raw House Music showcasing all the benefits of floating keys and rattling hi-hats, while masterfully interwoven vocal cuts take an infectious lead through the EP.

The title track 'Nothing Makes Me Feel (Good Anymore)' sets the tone with a snappy beat and a slightly melancholic vocal sample. 'Street Emotion' convinces with tasty dryness over a characteristic bass-wobble in the beginning before it opens up with a warm and swelling synth pad. 

In similar fashion 'Get Something' is beat-focused and dressed up with G-House vocal splinters which make it groovy as hell. 
'The Right Way' surfs on a wave of juicy chords and laid back vocals and especially the well-arranged break beat of 'The Right Way' creates the track's uniqueness. 

'Hustle' has some serious jack-flavor, transporting all the best of Chicago's warehouse sound while 'Golden Chains' is driven by a sophisticated garage bass-line, almost contrary to the emotional feel of the track, once more underlined by a distinctive vocal line. Well saturated distortion and Lo-Fi edges add up to a wealth of comfortably warm moods that represent Black Light Smoke's very personal expression of modern House sound, which you will be also be able top experience in his upcoming live set gigs.

Nothing Makes Me Feel (Good Anymore)

Black Light Smoke - Nothing Makes Me Feel (Good Anymore)

https://www.facebook.com/hiddenspheres/
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www.instagram.com/scissorandthread/
www.youtube.com/user/ScissorAndThread/

Hidden Spheres is the alter ego of Manchester’s Tom Harris, who first made his mark on the underground circuit with his release 'The Bloos' on Moods & Grooves, before following it up with the much in demand ‘Waiting’ on Lobster Theremin offshoot Distant Hawaii.  

Here, Tom joins the Scissor & Thread family, the Brooklyn label founded by Francis Harris, and home to music that traverses a number of boundaries. Hidden Spheres fits right in - the five track 1985 EP blends house, broken beat, ambient, jazz and other elements into a heady brew. 

'King Tut' starts proceedings, a laid back jazzy groove, rich in textures and soulful flourishes.  

'My Names' touches on the UK broken beat legacy of 4 Hero and Bugz in the Attic - an off kilter groove layered with sweet jazz and house inflected licks.  

'Karl' is a much more direct dancefloor track, albeit with the deepness that we expect from Hidden Spheres.The penultimate track '1985' steps into the unconventional house vibes of Detroit's third wave.

'Soon We’ll' finishes up the EP - a supremely jazzy piece built around the sax, piano and washes of strings and ambient elements - a superb closer for a deep and heartfelt release.

King Tutt

Hidden Spheres - King Tutt

www.instagram.com/anne.villete/
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Villete aka Amsterdam based producer Anne Korteweg returns to Scissor and Thread with a brilliant new EP.

Her debut 12" 'Girl Next Door' was released on Scissor and Thread in the fall of 2016 and sold out quickly.

Now here with the new EP Dawn is Mine, we are treated to seven tracks of understated, floating beauty.

On her new release she explores the more abstract sides of electronic music. Using a variety of synthesizers, she creates rich and lush sounding structures that continuously bend and flow loosely. She finds inspiration from listening to Pauline Anna Strom, Takashi Kokubo and Actress.

Opener Penrose Stairs sets the tone with gentle arpeggiated synths creating a warm, fuzzy atmosphere - a combination further explored in Midnight Arp later into the mini-album.

The title track Dawn Is Mine uncovers a low bass throb mixed with dubbed out effects and textures, while Lilac emits an ethereal, woozy atmosphere, with lush pads, choral textures and blissful melodic motifs.

Myst also luxuriates in hazy pads before a slo-mo groove emerges to carry the track towards the edge of the dance floor. If Myst flirts with the idea of dancing, Show Me dives right in - an exquisite slice of deep, outsider house with a psychedelic twist.

Winding the release down with Wild Things - a beat-less vignette of synths engaged in an melodic interplay of chimes and tones.

sat047
Vinyl & digital 
September, 11th 2020

Tracklisting:
A1. Penrose Stairs 
A2. Dawn Is Mine 
A3. Lilac
A4. Midnight Arp 
B1. Myst
B2. Show Me 
B3. Wild Things

Villete - Myst

here is a download gift / sneak tease for the fans, to show the kind of quality I'm extracting from my old cassettes using mega high quality cassette decks.
Because I've added vari-speed, I get to choose what speed I encode them at, I've done a few different versions of all my fave ones and it's usually just what I think sounds good at the time or just different to what I'm used to.
This one is from a That's cassette labelled copy III , i used a lot of the VX90 tapes in that period of my life.
It is the 12th track on side a.
Even though I used to write COPY *.number, they were actually the original masters.
Think was one of the first tracks that had a small section with intentional microtuning, [harmonic series sec]
Encoded with Nakamichi CR7e cassette deck.

+added, it cuts out at the end coz the tape ran out :)
I remember sometimes recording tracks to cassettes, I'd be looking at the cassette nearing the end and try and finish the track before the tape ran out :)
bit different from todays recording methods .

earely cassettes

a12. ab3 .215061.

www.facebook.com/nadiakhanmusic/
www.facebook.com/scissor.and.thread.nyc/

Nadia Khan returns on Scissor and Thread for another sublime mini LP, Port Ana. Based in North Carolina, Khan first drew a lot of attention via a cassette release on Where To Now? Records in 2015. 
Her sophomore statement was the beautiful In Gleam released in 2018 on Francis Harris’ Brooklyn-based label, which set the tone for these five tracks of meditative music. 
The title track Port Ana opens the journey - a gentle, droning soundscape with effortlessly bewitching glints of melody. 
Conversation follows on, drawing on loops and textures to create the background for a deep, pulsing kick drum. The sounds shift and evolve, leaving a hazy sense of movement to drift away to. 
Next up is Objects In Form which presents a fragile chord progression that barely holds itself together, surrounded by shifting pads and swathes of reverb. 
Rain Again is presented here in two versions. The original combines ethereal sounds, weightless and adrift, while the Lawrence remix firmly grounds the track with a hypnotic, deep groove. The Dial boss provides another remix for the digital release that further plays with the textures of the original to create something that works both for an open minded dancefloor and as a home listening experience.

Port Ana

Nadia Khan - Conversation

Scissor & Thread is cut from a different cloth than your average dance imprint.