Category Archives: News

New music – The Orb & David Gilmour: Metallic Spheres in Colour

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Described as a ‘remixed collaborative album’, this is an update for the 2010 release made by The Orb and David Gilmour, Metallic Spheres.

You may remember that the original has just two tracks, which sit either side of the vinyl release. Producer Youth recently revealed that “The idea for Metallic Spheres In Colour was that Alex Paterson could have done more on the first version, and he didn’t really have the opportunity because we had a philosophy of making the music like the Blade Runner soundtrack meets Wish You Were Here. So, I asked him why don’t we remix it and make it like an Orb classic? And in doing that, it’s almost like a completely different album.”

Have a listen to an excerpt below and see what you think:

New music – Moritz von Oswald: Infinito (Tresor)

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Berlin label Tresor Records have announced that Moritz von Oswald, one of their longest-serving artists, will be releasing new album Silencio on 10 November.

Its outline is intriguing, with von Oswald looking to explore the differences between human and artificial sound, particularly using the voice. To do this he will be referring to a lineage of works from composers such as Varèse, Ligeti and Xenakis, in the company of Vocalconsort Berlin. Here is a short teaser for the album:

There is also a sizeable excerpt in the form of Infinito, the first single from the album. It is an intriguing and eerie meeting point between synthesizers and voices, music that carries very little weight in the form of bass but a good deal of intensity as it slowly unfolds. The synthesizers carry a short motif of five notes that underpins the hypnotic vocals:

Silencio will be released by Tresor Records on 10 November, while the new single Infinito will be followed by Colpo (6 October) and Opaco (20 October). For buying options and more information, head to the Bandcamp page below:

New music – James Newton Howard – Night After Night’: Music from the Movies of M. Night Shyamalan

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Intriguing news from Sony Classical tells us that next month they will release a collaboration between composer James Newton Howard and director M. Night Shyamalan. The record label take up the story:

Included on Night After Night are highlights from Howard’s haunting scores that became part of the identity of eight of Shyamalan’s eerie, mind-bending thrillers – The Sixth Sense (1999), Unbreakable (2000), Signs (2002), The Village (2004), Lady in the Water (2006), The Happening (2008), The Last Airbender (2010) and After Earth (2013).

For this album, James Newton Howard created eight suites that are piano-centric and include new and original material.  Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet performs throughout the recording.  Violinist Hilary Hahn recreates her contributions to the soundtrack recording of the score for The Village and cellist Maya Beiser reprises her performance of An Event from The Happening soundtrack.  Gavin Greenaway conducts the orchestra and chorus in Howard’s new arrangements.

When Howard came onboard during the post-production phase to score ‘The Sixth Sense’, Shyamalan said he “felt potential and excitement” in their work together.  In their mutual candour, each discovered a trusting creative partner in finding the right musical expression for Shyamalan’s supernatural thrillers.

You can listen to Morning from The Village below, with the haunting solo Hahn brought to the foreground:

New music – Bruce Brubaker: Eno Piano – Music for Airports, 2/1

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American pianist Bruce Brubaker is one of those artists whose every move is worth monitoring, for his musical quests bring many rewards.

Brubaker is perhaps best known for his work with the music of Philip Glass, John Cage and Meredith Monk, but now he makes a very intriguing turn in the direction of Brian Eno, creating an album for the InFiné label that will include a selection of ambient music, including Music for Airports.

The press release asks a question: “Can a single instrument convey ambient music originally made through studio techniques and tape loops? Eno Piano is a companion to Bruce Brubaker’s acclaimed album Glass Piano (2015) — even the two album covers are companions. Named by Pitchfork “one of the most exciting pianists in the contemporary American classical scene,” Brubaker, in Eno Piano, shows that just as the studio can be a musical instrument, a single musical instrument can be a studio.”

Have a listen below and see what you think:

New music – Cybotron: Maintain The Golden Ratio

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In 1983, Cybotron made one of dance music’s landmark records. The single ‘Clear’ became a calling card for techno, a futuristic piece that still sounds new today. Now they are returning as a duo, original founder Juan Atkins teaming up with producer Laurens von Oswald but not Rik Davis.

A two-part EP, Maintain The Golden Ratio, is scheduled for release on the Tresor label on 13 October – and for now we can enjoy its lead track Maintain. Described as ‘a studied engagement with what techno was and should be, it is an atmospheric machine piece with strong breakbeat, busy electronics and moody backdrop. In other words, as the vocal goes, “We will maintain”…with the elements that made Clear such a lasting track largely present and correct. While not quite on that exalted level, it is still a fine piece of work. Now to see if there are more plans afoot!