HOOT #03
HOOT #03
Five albums worth sharing: Avsluta | Sova Labs | Limited edition tees | 48 hours of Rapture Network @ 9128.live
Hello, June!
To celebrate the summer we’ve launched a limited edition t-shirt campaign. Organic cotton tees in four colours, lovingly designed by Asta Studio. If you would like to get one - hurry up as there are only 7 days left to pre-order from Everpress.
By only printing exactly what's sold through pre-orders, Everpress are able to avoid unnecessary waste ending up in landfill; it also makes printing cheaper, helping independent creatives get seen by people like you.
Sova Labs
Moving on - we started a new project called Sova Labs - The Perception, Philosophies and Poetics of Sound.
Sova Labs is a series of lectures featuring vanguard sonic professionals to explore the dialogical relationship between the perception, conception and reception of sound performance, and its potential to facilitate transcendental experiences that influence collective consciousness. The series explore psychoacoustics and how we perceive spatial audio; how sound-induced altered states can shape technology and counter-culture, and how these perceptions and philosophies can be considered and applied through a poetic-sound performance.
The first three lectures are developed for Ravensbourne University, produced by Sova Audio and presented by ecomusicologist and conceptual artist Ben Kelly (Aboutface). The lectures featuring Dave Haydon from Outboard TiMax, Tony Andrews from Funktion One and Ben Kelly himself will be publicly available in the second part of June.
Follow @sovaaudio to get the update.
Five albums worth sharing: Avsluta
Avsluta plays in the liminal zones. Those between ambient and rave, between improvisation and composition, between life, objects and the environment. Her productions are suffused with a mystic atmosphere made of soft live acoustics, arcing tones and oblique nods to the dancefloor. She explores similarly ambivalent sonic territories through her radio show and platform, Introspective Electronics, however, the live environment is where her ideas are captured most acutely, as she had the good grace to demonstrate when she posted up for a mesmerising two hours at Studio Sova last year.
Marking a year since her appearance at Studio Sova, we asked Avsluta to share five albums with our subscribers:
Nordvest - Grøndal
Released on the legendary American IDM-flavoured Suction Records, this album is basically an ode to arpeggios in all their tingly, icy glory. Being a huge arpeggio lover, this was an incredibly powerful find. I first heard this album coming back from one of our journeys to the countryside when my partner blasted it out on his car stereo and it became one of the most precious wonders of my record collection since. You might not believe it, but the person who made this beauty actually goes by the name of Sleeparchive too.
Jonathan Fitoussi - Pleil Soleil
This is another arpeggiated masterpiece, this time rendered in much warmer timbres, soaked in sunrays, courtesy of the French composer Jonathan Fitoussi. I discovered his work thanks to his 2016 release ‘Imaginary Lines’ out on Further Records and I knew this was a crush for life. Since then, every new release made it’s mark but ‘Plein Soleil’ from last year had that something extra special. A perfect balance of richly woven drones, gentle marimba and piano tingles and West coast arpeggios makes for a real far-reaching introspective journey.
PLO Man & D3D-E - public static v.
As far as live performance records go this would be one of my all-time favourites. Originally presented as an audio-visual performance in Milan during the autumn of 2019 this continuous piece is a masterclass in creating emotional complexity through creating sparse, seemingly simple arrangements. The attention to detail and balancing suspense and flow are incredibly powerful. The sonic palette is reminiscent of the contemporary electronica coming out from Australia embellished with a pinch of the good old dose of classic hazy stripped-back IDM nostalgia.
https://www.phonicarecords.com/product/plo-man-c3d-e-public-static-v-lp-acting-press/171566
mu State - Let me Put Myself Together
This record is an unmissable masterpiece, an instant classic in the endless pool of new ambient coming out in recent years. Navigating that mystical space in-between dreamy soft-cushioned harmonies, hazy club-tinged percussion and precise, organic sound design, it paints a picture of a world that is at the same time tactile and untouchable. Each listen brings forth a new perspective with details emerging and morphing one listen at a time. This is a shapeshifter of a record meant to be listened to on a loop.
https://www.phonicarecords.com/product/mu-tate-let-me-put-myself-together-lp-experiences-ltd/173661
Vision of 1994 - Concrete Memories
This is a record very close to my heart, especially for its truly masterful portrayal of nostalgia quite specific to the post-communist coutry I have been born in, the Czech Republic. An ode to the dystopia of the aftermath of the communist regime, it is rich with emotions that are familiar from my childhood: playing basketball at our communal pitch, smoking my first cigarette behind the concrete bus stop around the corner from my house and walking towards the forest at the end of town laced with plattenbau buildings at sunset. This is a beautiful amalgam of downtempo, trip hop and breakbeat nostalgia that brings tears to my eyes everytime I listen, longing for those memories of living as a youth hungry for discovery and wonder.
https://www.phonicarecords.com/product/vision-of-1994-concrete-memories-lp-harmless-youth/169510
Thank you, Lucie ❤️
48 hours of Rapture Network @ 9128.live
That’s right! 48 hours of some of the finest electronic music one could find tucked away in the dark corners of the internet. The event was broadcasted over the course of two days in early May, and the perfectly curated lineup featured many of our friends and favourite artists.
Thanks, Ed (auratekh), all the performers and the 9128 team.