Rival Consols

XLR8R are featuring this track as a FREE DOWNLOAD:
http://www.xlr8r.com/mp3/2013/09/voyager
"Atmospheric synths swell victoriously"

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

Like many electronic artists, Ryan Lee West aka Rival Consoles spent his early years experimenting with IDM, glitch and dance, but one consistent element in his musical journey has been his desire to create a more organic, humanised sound. Through these experimentations he has found a process of producing electronic music that feels close to this urge. Restricting himself to a small selection of analogue equipment, West engages his hands directly with instruments and is very selective about what he then records into the computer. He reduces musical parts even further, leaving enough space around the sound for it to breath.

‘Odyssey’ is a reflection of West’s quest to create atmosphere and space from minimal arrangements. ‘I don’t like music to sound overly laboured, so I restrict how much is going on. I’m kind of obsessed with the idea of reduction.’ The new 5-track EP was mastered by Naweed and is out on Erased Tapes.

'‘Odyssey’ and ‘Voyager’ are both incredibly stripped down and have a great sense of space throughout them. It's all about using the right ingredients at the right points in time. A lot of these ingredients are short recordings, such as ice cracking, mechanical clicks, clicks from synth errors, sounds of debris, guitar plucks etc., which interact with the simple arrangements and create little hints of rhythm. I also love the technique of swelling in music, but I realised that hardly anyone has done that in electronic music. So when I first got the synth to swell in and out with the opening chords of ‘Philip’, it was a great moment. Because it creates a human mood in a matter of seconds, which is very difficult to do with electronic sounds. That track is very important to me, and I think it will influence how I make music in the future.’ – Ryan Lee West

TRACK LISTING: A1. Odyssey A2. Philip. B1. Voyager B2. Rebecca B3. Soul (feat. Peter Broderick)

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

Odyssey

Voyager

Rival Consoles – Voyager

Download: http://www.xlr8r.com/mp3/2014/08/helios

Download

Rival Consoles - Helios

Gaivotas

If Not Now

Landscape from Memory

Coda

Drum Song

Known Shape

In a Trance

In Reverse

Tape Loop

Nocturne

Soft Gradient Beckons

Catherine

Jupiter

2 Forms

Rival Consoles has shared a second single, 'Vibrations on a String', taken from his forthcoming new album 'Articulation', released on 31 July. 

"Vibrations on a String was one of the earliest pieces I made for the record. The title is a direct reference to the behaviour of the main synth: I was trying to mimic playing a guitar string both softly and aggressively. I think a part of me is often trying to mimic the physical world with synths. There is something mindful about observing things and making sense of them, and once you try to recreate something in a different medium it feels like there are new opportunities to explore." — Ryan Lee West

'Articulation', which follows 2018’s 'Persona', was conceived with a very visual way of thinking, unusual for the London musician and producer. During the writing process Ryan drew structures, shapes and patterns by hand to try and find new ways of thinking about music, giving himself a way to problem-solve away from the computer. The album title references a piece by the avant-garde contemporary composer Györgi Ligeti, though not for its music, but for the non-traditional graphic score that accompanied it.

Since the release of 2018's 'Persona', Ryan contributed an exclusive track 'Them Is Us' to Adult Swim’s coveted Singles series and shared the beautifully textured solo piano piece 'Winter’s Lament' on this year’s Piano Day. He has also been in high demand as a composer, scoring Charlie Brooker’s much talked about Black Mirror episode Striking Vipers, composing original music for Secret Cinema presents Stranger Things as well as renowned choreographer Alexander’s Whitley’s groundbreaking new work 'Overflow', which was set to premiere at London’s Sadler’s Wells Theatre this spring.

Articulation

Vibrations on a String

Stream & order LP · DL

Rival Consoles - Vibrations on a String

Taken from Rival Consoles' forthcoming new album 'Articulation', released on 31 July. 

"This is a song I created late at night, I wanted to make something full of momentum and mood.

The bird song that appears at the beginning of the piece was actually a very late idea in the creating process. My studio is surrounded by a lot of trees and there is always bird song, which I love but normally don’t consider wanting to use in my music. However one day when I was working on the piece, I kept noticing that the birds, were singing perfectly in tune with the song, so much so that it sounded like one of the little melodies that appears at the end of the song. I quickly recorded it on my phone and it just felt right in the music. I think it grounds the song and also plays with the idea that at the beginning of the piece is bird song, and at the end of the piece is a kind of electronic bird song. 

The end is something I have been longing to make for a long time, which is the closest I have gotten to synths coming in and out of picture like choreography, the synths are having a conversation, and it’s very fluid. The mood of the piece to me, is a kind of bittersweet blend of hope and nostalgia." — Ryan Lee West

Articulation (which follows 2018’s Persona) was conceived with a very visual way of thinking, unusual for the London musician and producer. During the writing process Ryan drew structures, shapes and patterns by hand to try and find new ways of thinking about music, giving himself a way to problem-solve away from the computer. The album title references a piece by the avant-garde contemporary composer Györgi Ligeti, though not for its music, but for the non-traditional graphic score that accompanied it. You can see some of these drawings here: http://www.rivalconsoles.net/diagram

Pre-order 'Articulation' on LP · DL: https://IDOL.lnk.to/articulation

Rival Consoles - Sudden Awareness of Now

Main synth part for Untravel, creating with the prophet 8, this is a synth part that I am most proud of, because it has so much subtle in it, yet it is over edited at all, this was made very quickly and intuitively.

Untravel - Main Synth

Main synth part created using the prophet 8.

Articulation - Main Synth

Rival Consols

Loushoe