published by Ben Hogwood, with text appropriated from the press release
Matthew Bourne has been a busy man of late. Hot on the heels of his Nightports collaboration Dulcitone 1804 he has returned to the piano on record for the first time since 2017’s Isotach.
As the press release says, “for such a restless and forward-thinking artist, perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that Bourne can be a little reluctant to return to the instrument on which he made his name. At least in public. That would be too easy.”
It continues. “These days Bourne tends to find himself seated at his first instrument when working on collaborations or commissions for film and television projects. It’s often in these moments that inspiration strikes and the pieces are committed to tape. With outside deadlines, those sparks can often be left. Forgotten about. Recorded over.
This Is Not For You. was born from an off-hand comment by one of Matthew Bourne’s confidants. His instruction, “Do not delete,” provided Bourne with a commission of sorts, an ideal restriction to work within. Everything on the album was given a chance to shine in the studio, to be worked on amongst the freedom of that no deletion diktat – new inspirations now lie beside deep-mined remembrances. Cello and Dulcitone have been added sparingly for colour, but this is Bourne playing for his own enjoyment. Intimate. Reserved even. The real Matthew Bourne?”
published by Ben Hogwood – text is reproduced from the press release
Seth Troxler and Phil Moffa’s multi-hyphenate, multi-dimensional Lost Souls Of Saturn have always been an extended and evolving tribe of co-conspirators, and for their new digital remix album Reality Hacked (which is preceded by two vinyl remix EPs), the pair have called upon some of electronic music’s finest. The result is a set of reworks of tracks from their second album Reality, which takes the originals and scatters them even deeper across the galaxy. Out today, Om Unit’s take on This Foo delivers a masterclass in post dubstep drum work, which you can listen to below:
Elsewhere Pangaea presents some of his best material, turning Click into a pacey neon rave pumper, whist Danny Daze and his D33 alter-ego beams Lilac Chaser into bloopy-minimal-space-race headspace – you can listen below:
UNKLE aka James Lavelle turns Click into a grandiose, Ibiza-friendy pop prog anthem, whilst Matthew Dear goes in the opposite direction on his version of Mirage, delving into deep-beat cosmic fractals. For her take on Mirage Perel goes big on the oompty-boom-tish-euro-fist-pump, whilst Jonny Rock reassembles the same track into an unclassifiable avant space chugger. Brendon Moeller delivers not one, not two but three versions of Scram City; a ‘House Dub’, which does what it says on the tin, a pulsatile submarine throbber under his Echologist moniker, and a Reshape, which combines the dub techno for which he’s renowned with 90-style breakbeat science and 70s Krautrock.
Earlier this year, whilst on various capers across the farthest reaches of space, Lost Souls Of Saturn metamorphosed into sci-fi AR comic characters John and Frank. They returned back to earth with their perception-melting new LP Reality, which was described as “the kind of record you make at the top of your game” by Resident Advisor.
‘Reality’ was accompanied by a cutting-edge augmented reality graphic novel, which tells the origin story of John and Frank. It’s a genuinely new type of total artwork, with comic, augmented reality and musical soundtrack working together to create a type of synesthesia. Every spread, page and panel, when viewed through a tablet screen or AR headset/glasses, comes to life in animated 3D. Moreover, the LSOS soundtrack is synched perfectly, with the music fully integrated, looping and layering as the reader follows the panels of the comic itself. A soundtrack that evolves as the graphic novel is read is the first of its kind. This is music, animation and illustration in sync like never before.
Coinciding with the album and comic release, Lost Souls Of Saturn held a month-long multimedia exhibition at London’s cutting-edge public art platform W1 Curates. Described by Evening Standard as “one particular corner of central London transformed into a giant, interactive comic book”, it bought LSOS’ conceptual word-building to vivid three-dimensional life. A first in the comic book world, augmented reality visions from the comic were shown on giant super high-definition floor-to-ceiling LED screens not only inside the gallery, but on Oxford Street itself.
The AR comic and W1 Curates London event continued Lost Souls Of Saturn’s previous experiments in the augmented reality sphere; their AR billboards in London and Ibiza, their exploratory work in the field of 3D printing and AR markers, and their creation of Mixmag magazine’s first AR triggered front cover.
Challenging the convention of ‘format’ in every sense, LSOS transmit and engage via the mediums, to date, of vinyl record, digital, art installation, artefact, augmented reality, 360 video and live performance.
Through LSOS, Troxler, Moffa and cohorts explore new ways to open doors of perception and challenge the ways we see our world, whilst marrying the prescient visions, political aspirations and psychedelic energy of science fiction and early rave culture, with postmodern philosophy and contemporary art.
Their collaborations to date include Fondation Beyeler, Olafur Eliasson, The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) Saatchi Gallery (London), Museum Of Contemporary Art Detroit, the Centre D’Art Contemporain Geneva, Wolfgang Tillmans, Ernest Neto, W1 Curates, Carl Craig and Pepe Braddock.
They have performed live at Fabric, Field Day, Glastonbury and Kappa Futur.
Now we bring news of a sequel later in the year, with Eno Piano 2 due to be released on 25 October. It is prefaced by a radio version of 1-1 from Music for Airports, which will no doubt be made available soon. In the meantime, you can enjoy being reacquainted with the full version below:
BUNKR, an electronic musician whose first two albums have been greatly appreciated on these pages, is back with a third album.
Antenne is due on Friday 28 June – and if you head on over to Bandcamp on the page below you can hear the first excerpt from it, Ceres Outpost. The signs are good for a quality third opus! Keep coming back here to find out more in the next 10 days…
Today brings soothing new music from Danish group Efterklang, in the form of a collaboration with Sønderjysk Pigekor (South Denmark Girls’ Choir), who the band have collaborated with frequently over the last twelve years.
Speaking on the track, Efterklang vocalist Casper Clausen comments: “This piece originated in my little studio in Lisbon. In the early stages of the process, I shared numerous sketches with the others, and this one stood out. As we began to develop it further, we often played it together with the girls’ choir, Sønderjysk Pigekor, from our hometown. Their addition brought a whole gospel vibe to the track, which I found incredibly appealing. I was struck by how their voices seemed to lift the composition into another realm, creating a sense of expansiveness that no instrument or single voice could achieve. I’m singing about being alone, clinging to the stone, kissing oneself to the bone, deep in the heart of the soul.”
The accompanying video was directed by Søren Lynggaard and the band’s Rasmus Stolberg, portraying the members of the choir. Stolberg says: “The video is an homage to the choir who are featured on ‘Animated Heart’ and have given us so many unforgettable musical memories. Inspired by the scenes of ticket lines in Jem Cohen’s Fugazi documentary, we met with the choir to film the video on May 29, 2024. We are honoured to have the choir featured in the song and video, and we are inspired by the hope they bring for the future.”
This is the third single from the band’s forthcoming album Things We Have In Common, which is set for release on September 27, 2024 on City Slang. The band will tour extensively in support of the album throughout the Autumn and Winter, including a show at London’s Barbican on October 5th.
Arcana.fm 