Flatland Frequencies
Four jacking house numbers that revisit themes laid out in Chicago clubs during the late 80s. New skool house producers Gettoblaster team with the OG Deeon and collaboratively stay true to the blueprints, utilising a minimal toolkit to good dance floor effect. Synth riff, drum machine and a vocal sample is really all that’s needed for an effective club track and there are four good examples here, keeping the patterns varied and to-the-point.
“When material interacts with light, properties of that material are stamped on the light. This stamp is like a specific fingerprint for each element and molecule. By examining the intensity of light in each color, scientist can work backward to infer the properties of the material that touched the light along the way.” – HubbleSite.Org
Originally released on vinyl last year 20/20 Vision’s Exit Planet Earth series is now be released on digital. Part one is out now, part two is due in August with other the parts to follow. Each EP is named after a different element that is commonly found on earth and is accompanied by a corresponding spectroscopy image. An essential series of modern classics.
This article is hopefully the first in a series on the subject of field recording. If your goal is relaxation, focus, or just an aesthetic appreciation of sonic texture, this article is an introduction to the best places on the internet to go to hear, and find out about field recording.
Phonography, otherwise known as field recording, is the recording of natural or man-made sounds in-situ and away from the recording studio. But does it produce art or music? In modern music, the line between music and sound has become blurred. Sound and noise play a part in electronic composition that is as important as tone and scale. Today to ask if something is music or noise seems like an out-of-date question.
Like photography is the capturing of light to produce an image, phonography is the capturing of sound to produce a recording. Unlike ‘art’ or ‘music’, which have normative aspects, the words ‘phonography’ and ‘photography’ are matter-of-fact descriptions of a technical act. A bad photo may or may not be art, but nobody says a bad photo is not a photo.
The Radio Aporee project is “a global soundmap dedicated to field recording, phonography and the art of listening”. Field recordings from all over the world are placed on a 3D Google map, along with information about the recordings and recordists. You can explore the world while exploring the variety of sonic textures and landscapes that field recording can offer. New updates are added by its active user base every day.
Out of Japan, Altone, delivers his first release on the long-running dub-techno netlabel Insectorama. Sometimes, with free netlabels / pay as you feel Bandcamp releases, the absence of financial barriers to release means that quality control can suffer, but not in this case. Deep, spatial, aesthetics that sit well with the best of the genre.
To be honest, trying to write something meaningful on a Sun Ra release is always going to be an exercise in humility. Having seen the Arkestra perform live a couple of times and owning a few Sun Ra LPs, I’d class myself as a fan. Although by no means have I even gently brushed the vast surface of the Sun Ra back catalogue (well over a hundred albums).
In this re-issue instance, Strut present the definitive edition of Sun Ra’s classic ‘Lanquidity’ album from 1978 with brand new 4LP box set and 2CD editions, featuring the widely distributed version of the album alongside alternative mixes by Bob Blank. originally released in limited quantities for a 1978 Arkestra gig at Georgia Tech. Both versions of the album are cut loud at 45 rpm over 2LPs each.
Recorded overnight at Bob Bank’s Blank Tapes on 17th July 1978 after the Arkestra had appeared on Saturday Night Live, the album is unique in the Ra catalogue. “Most critics felt that it was more of a fusion-inspired record,” explains Michael Ray. “As the name suggests, the album is liquid and languid.” Bob Blank continues, “Musically, it was very ad hoc and freeform. There were horn charts but most tracks came out of improvised jams. Sun Ra just did his thing.”
Consistently quality, LDI records deliver the goods once again. Solid electronics and concepts across six tracks. This time featuring label owner Lloyd Stellar and Detroit’s Francois Dillinger. Atmospheric as well as body moving.
Experimental recordist alas23 presents a sonic exploration of a Soviet era bus cabin, using contact microphones and an electromagnetic field antenna. As well as making the occasional video on Vimeo, alas23 is a regular contributor on Radio Aporee, visit there if you want to hear more.
Prolific UK electro producer Plant43 (aka Emile Facey) brings the crispy clean beats to new label Future Massive, launched from the AI Records camp. Check our premiere of ‘Heart Beats In Silence’:
For the announcement Future Massive have released a video created by label founder Steve Hyland for first single Hearts Beat in Silence. Drawing reference from the EP title, the unknown structure in question appears as an obelisk in multiple liminal spaces – unsettling and misplaced until it resolves into human form.
This humanoid avatar embodies a lonely alien force observing our culture from a stellar distance, reflecting upon our fragility through the falling petals whilst basking in the electro glow. Watch the video for lead track Hearts Beat in Silence here:
Pre-order the red vinyl here
Two collaborative compositions between Kenneth Kirschner & Joseph Branciforte, focusing on applying “software-based compositional techniques — including algorithmic processes, generative systems, and indeterminacy — to the creation of new music for acoustic instruments.”
The result being two long form, detailed and hypnotic acoustic recordings. Originally entirely composed and produced within the Max/MSP modular software environment, then painstakingly reverse engineered, scored and performed with double-bass, cello, viola, and violin.
Vital Contrast is a gorgeous release coming 25th June from Paul Oednom on the ever-reliable Serein label, operating out of Wales, UK. Check the player for an exclusive preview of ‘Flux’, the opening track from the EP. Guitar and synths ebb and flow as one, into a psychedelic tapestry of tones.