Saturday, August 31, 2013

EIC's 10Q's w/ Musicforvoyeurs

"..stuck in-between found sounds, white noise, and classically trained experimental sound.."


Musicforvoyeurs
Provisional Uncertainties

Musicforvoyeurs Bio:
Musicforvoyeurs began on morphine and crutches, when a bad winter got worse. After the death of his girlfriend, Rick ended up in hospital himself. As he learned how to walk again, Rick taught himself the piano and found his old guitars from a lifetime ago, something to get him through a lonely London winter. Awake all night, he found comfort in the lost souls of a darkened world where no one sleeps.


Hello, how are you?
Angry – I’ve just been on the Tube..

What are you currently listening to?
The neighbors squealing

Is there a story behind the band name?
I didn’t think there was at first – it seemed to just pop up in my mind but if I worked my way backwards, from the music to the name, then I suppose that is what I am – a voyeur. I’m not a pervert with a pair of binoculars and a ladder, but I’ve always felt I’m perched on the outside of things; life, feelings, existence, just bitterly looking on. Lots of my music is built on snippets of sounds and voices that I sneakily record - snatches of conversation in the street, on the bus, announcements, animals howling, so yes, I'm a voyeur.

Care to shed some light on your EICV7"; theme, favorite track(s), etc?
My favourite track has to be "Colliding Lovers", the first time I've ever collaborated with anyone online/across the Atlantic. Being asked to work with Docile was quite daunting - we'd never spoken, and, despite my hugely impressive fame, we had no idea who the other one was. It was a challenge, a positive experience, sending ideas back and forth, giving me ideas I'd not thought of before. It made a change not working in a vacuum.

Do you play live shows and what do they consist of? OR (assuming you don't play live shows) What would be the most ideal way to display your music in a live setting?
I haven’t played this project live yet – my stage days came to an end with my old band Gent. We were thrown out of a few venues partly due to my inability to restrain myself when free drinks were an offer and the singer’s fondness for taking his knickers off. An ideal way of sharing my music live would be in a large bed with flickering lights, a can of cider and unknown drugs.

Got any other projects we should know about?
The more chaotic, unpleasant side of me emerges in the discordant racket of I Am A Man With A St Tropez Tan – you won’t hear any pianos or strings there, just lots of loops, effect pedals, feedback and screams at three in the morning. I’m also trying to find a publisher for my new novel about an Englishman lost in Thailand who then loses his old chap, rewriting a Victorian novel of mine and trying to organise a photography exhibition of my time with Burmese refugees.

What movie would work best on mute while listening to you music?
A very sad English film titled 'Venus' with Peter O’Toole, particularly the final scenes.

You can only keep/listen to ONE album for the rest of your life ..which album would it be?
Instinctively I should say 'Pornography', 'Wish' or 'Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me' by The Cure, but seeing as they’re all subconsciously linked with years of memories, that would confuse things for my future life. I suppose it depends how long I’ve got left – 'The Blue Notebooks' by Max Richter or 'On Your Side' by Magnet if it was a matter of days, but any longer and the sadness would be too much. If I’m hanging around for more than a week, I’ll ask for 'A Weekend In The City' by Bloc Party, the perfect combination of feral energy and melancholy mournfulness.

Are you living your dream?
Let’s swap lives for a fortnight and you tell me.

Thanks Rick!

Musicforvoyeurs will be releasing EICV7" No. 50 tomorrow right here on EverythingIsChemical..!

Cool Video Funtime #397 - Hxxx


Monday, August 26, 2013

REVIEW: Ellie Herring - Kite Day

7 out of 10
Find it here. 

'Kite Day' is Ellie Herring's third release further exploring Dark-Experimental (euphoric) Electronic music (think Witch House (kinda, but not really) music processed through the ears of a late-night House Diva).

'Kite Day' is the only Ellie Herring album I own (so far) so this review may not be completely valid amongst the most hardcore of Herring fans, but I think this is a great release (I've seen a few negative comments online--to each his own). Ellie's sound reminds me of some great artists; Ellen Allien, Greie Gut Fraktion, Natalie Beridze, The Xx, Mustapha Mond..to name a few. With comparisons like that why wouldn't I love an album like this? I especially love the track "Thinking JFK", which is honestly one of the best songs I've heard this year..(I don't know, it just has a nice flow..ya know?). Ellie Herring's 'Kite Day' sounds seductive without being too serious, which I like.

I dig it, and although 'Kite Day' may not blow your mind/change your life, you should certainly appreciate being a part of the evolution of a soon-to-be (hopefully) more influential artist. You'll get at least one or two head nods out of this release.

Standout Tracks: Thinking JFK, Full Eyed, Say A.M., Anti-Alias (Feat. Amber) (VHVL Remix), Thinking JFK (Albert Swarm Remix), Thinking JFK (Sines + Katastrophic Remix)

EIC's 10Q's w/ Ellie Herring

"..further exploring Dark-Experimental (euphoric) Electronic music.."


Ellie Herring
Science of Ethereal Fusion

Ellie Herring Bio:
Ellie Herring is an American born electronic musician and producer.  She was born in Tennessee and pursued an MFA in abstract painting from The Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, which she credits as a heavy influence to her music. She now resides in Kentucky, releasing her first EP, 'Flailing In Attraction', with Race Car Productions of Oceanside, CA in 2011. Ellie has gone on to release several singles with her debut full-length, Until It Feels Foreign, in the winter of 2011.  Furthermore, Ellie remembers tap dancing on second base during t-ball games to the INXS ringing in her head, creating mixes on a Sony mini-disc player, Michael Jackson’s Thriller 7” on her Fisher Price record player, and buying a Heart cassette with her mother while eating sherbet.


Hello, how are you?
Doing very well. Destroying lattes and photoshopping armpits (really) for the 9 to 5.

What are you currently listening to?
At this very moment, a preview of Erlend Oye's upcoming release, "La Prima Estate". Also... Machinedrum, Tokimonsta, Beacon, Eats Everything, Brandy. You name it.

Whom or what inspired you the most to begin making music?
Midi controllers and keyboards. I'm a big tech geek so as soon as I even got a tiny portion of my brain wrapped around midi mapping and production software I became sickly obsessed. Then I got into samplers and analog stuff. I guess that's the opposite direction that it happens for most people. Music theory I'd tossed aside when I was a wayyyy too cool teenager and picked back up when I got into music again. I really never thought that it would be adapted for anything else or that I would even be able to access those memories again.

Care to shed some light on your recent LP 'Kite Day'; theme, favorite track, etc?
The title is taken from one of my favorite memories as a kid. My Dad teaching me to fly a kite one afternoon on a weekend so I'd know what I'm doing at school for Kite Day. Flying a kite for the first time blew my mind a little I think. Running around to keep it in the air. Kites live in the air. They don't otherwise. My favorite track is "Thinking JFK", I wrote it in one shot, in the middle of the night when I was thinking about sudden deaths that never have explanation or resolve. That aftermath. It's not necessarily about the assassination of JFK, the title is more of an allegory. "10 Hours In Prague" is a close second. It's based on a reoccurring dream of someone that is very dear to me. That track is my translation of the dream.

Any reason you didn't stay with Phantasma Disques for this release?
They tend not to do digital releases. Just runs of CDs, and I wanted to go both routes with 'Kite Day'. My first release, "Flailing in Attraction" was digitally with Racecar so I stuck with them. They're rad guys. BF4ever.

Will you be touring extensively for said release?
I hope so. The planning is in the works now.

Got any other projects we should know about?
An LP later this year or early 2014. That really depends on touring though.

What movie would work best on mute while listening to you music?
I first read this as "what movie do you put on and mute when creating your music?"  because that's something I do. But it's not a movie, it's Northern Exposure the TV show. The characters and scenery are comforting.  Cicely, Alaska, the Brick bar, and KBHR 570 AM. My answer is Gattaca though.

You can only keep/listen to ONE album for the rest of your life ..which album would it be?
Underworld's 'Oblivion With Bells'.

Are you living your dream?
Very close. I feel weird saying that because I'm so thankful for having such great friends and support, it feels like I should be saying I'm living it.

Thanx Ellie and Matthew!

(I believe) Ellie is currently laying low (presumably working on her next release/tour itinerary)...in the meantime...

Sunday, August 25, 2013

EICV7" No. 50 - Musicforvoyeurs ..coming soon!

EverythingIsChemical Virtual 7" No. 50 - Musicforvoyeurs comes out September 1st!
  
"Don't play what's there, play what's not there." ~Miles Davis
 
(hopefully you checked out the last v7"?)

Saturday, August 24, 2013

[[EIC Mixtape: № 16 - September '13]]


[[EIC Mixtape: № 16 - September '13]] 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
1. D/A/D - Farthest Reaches
2. Space Ghost - Stuck
FIND IT HERE.
3. Hot Sugar - 56K (Feat. Heems)
FIND IT HERE.
4. Sweet Valley - Valley
FIND IT HERE.
5. Open Mike Eagle - Clean It Up Feat. Has-Lo Prod. Moka Only
FIND IT HERE.
6. Fifty Grand - Occulus
FIND IT HERE.
7. 18+ - Jets
FIND IT HERE.
8. Friendships - Ssloww
FIND IT HERE.
9. Yung Lean - Nitevision (Feat. Bladee) [Prod. Yung Gud]
FIND IT HERE.
10. VHS Logos - Chimerical
FIND IT HERE.
11. Placeholder - Theoretical Love
FIND IT HERE.
12. Spazzkid - Kokeshi Doll (Dinosaurus Rex Remix)
FIND IT HERE.
13. Comanche - Kodachrome
FIND IT HERE.
14. Metallic Ghosts - Happy Meal
FIND IT HERE.
15. Joey Bada$$ - Satellite (Feat. Chuck Strangers, Kirk Knight & Dessy Hinds) [Prod. By Lee Bannon]
FIND IT HERE.
16. Leapling - Neutrino
FIND IT HERE.
17. Yung Lean - Princess Daisy [Prod. Yung Gud]
FIND IT HERE.
18. Main Attrakionz - Summa Time (Prod. By Friendzone)
FIND IT HERE.
19. Nmesh - Safe Haven
FIND IT HERE. 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Thanx for listenin';]

Cool Video Funtime #396 - Hormone (+ Bonus Video)


+ Bonus Video;) ..because if you like SGP you should be diggin' this..

Friday, August 23, 2013

Good (FREE) music laying around the interwebs.. Pt. 1

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~njoy.

Good (FREE) music laying around the interwebs.. Pt. 2

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~njoy.

Good (FREE) music laying around the interwebs.. Pt. 3

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~njoy.

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

An EP sooo good, one might call it "ear crack"..


Sometimes tragedy breathes the most beautiful life force amidst our creative side..
8 months ago someone close to my heart died tragically and unexpectedly. I took to music for healing purposes and made these songs. I can't imagine revisiting them now and working them to a different level of completion, so here they are, untouched as of when they were created last October.
For Sam April 2, 1992 – October 9, 2012

Monday, August 19, 2013

REVIEW: Cloud Boat - Book Of Hours

8 out of 10
Find it here. 

Is it me or does Cloud Boat sound like all the best parts of James Blake mixed with sparse acoustics that bring to mind José González and/or Jeff Buckley?

Now that I have your attention, Cloud Boat's debut LP 'Book Of Hours' is not to be missed this year, you will see this record on many year-end lists, it is that good. Although maybe not a "house hold" name yet, Cloud Boat are sure to be something really important towards the right direction in Progressive Modern Electronica. I'll admit there are more and more "Indie" bands these days dabbling in R & B, but none match the production skills of this group. On top of really slick productions the compositions & track arrangements are sublime. Tracks like "Youthern" and "Bastion" display Cloud Boat's more Soulful-sincere side, I could listen to music like this almost all the time*. (*especially during rainfall). While tracks like "Amber Road" and "Pink Grin II" make you think there's a dark side to this duo as well*. You should will fall in-love with 'Book Of Hours', I know you will/already have. "Somber, delicate, hereafter-chill" is the vibe, and the vibe is sustained/satisfied by every kind of sound that you could possibly want to hear (whilst chilln'). I can only imagine how much more amazing Cloud Boat will get over the years, as this debut is almost too perfect to top.. (Good luck CB;])

Just relax man everything is gonna be fine n' stuff Recommended.

Standout Tracks: All esp; Youthern, Bastion (yum), Amber Road

EIC'S 10Q's w/ Cloud Boat

"..somber, delicate, hereafter-chill.."


Cloud Boat
Forthright Modality Sedation

Cloud Boat Bio:
"Apollo present the beautiful debut LP 'Book of Hours' from Cloud Boat aka London duo Sam Ricketts and Tom Clarke. This deep and dreamy debut brilliantly showcases them as part of a generation for whom electronic production and songwriting are far from separate worlds similar to childhood friend James Blake. Soft-edged but monumentally huge bass tones in 'Youthern' support Sam's Ennio Morricone-esque guitars and Tom's velvety folk lament. 'Drean' is even more bare, a fingerpicked acoustic ballad with insidious waves of background guitar that well up, sounding both ancient and sci-fi despite having none of the obvious signifiers of 'futuristic' electronica. On 'Wanderlust' Tom hits a liturgical tone, a hymnal yearning filling the song as a cloud of Burial-like crackles rise up around it creating pressure despite their delicacy and showing how it's possible for Cloud Boat to maintain intensity with the most unlikely source materials."


Hello, how are you?
I am good! We have been in the studio all day so I'm a bit goggle eyed but I'm good.

What are you currently listening to?
I am currently listening to Sam record a synth into one of our new demo tracks.

When did this band come about and did you have a planned sound you were going for?
The band came about 2 years ago when we both arrived home from university. We had no idea of how it would turn out but we agreed that Sam would play guitar and I (Tom) would sing. We also decided very early on that we wanted to use electronics to enhance our sound in many different ways. Whether through beats or ambient sounds or collating sounds that we recorded in strange and familiar places. But we never had clear what it would end up sounding like. I think it's better to not care about that and just get involved in the process of making it.

Is there a story behind the band name?
It is a painting by a lithuanian painter/composer who suffered from synesthesia. Sam saw the painting at a seminar and liked the name and I think it fits well with what we are about and how we sound.

Care to shed some light on your debut LP 'Book Of Hours'; theme, favorite track, etc?
 It doesn't have a specific theme or concept. I think the continuity in the songs or the vibe of the record comes through the fact that it is just me and Sam making it and we have spent a lot of time together over the years. I think you can hear that there is a similarity in the way we think and feel musically. We have essentially been sharing the same life for a few years now so we are often on the same page when we write.
The title iludes to the fact that it is a confessional record full of things that we wanted to let go of and processes towards us taking new things on board. I also intended for it to create a space for the listener to do the same. I wanted people to be able to go inside the songs and explore both the soundscapes and they way they make them feel. It's what me and Sam do every time we play and listen to them.

Will you be touring extensively for said release?
We hope so! We have some plans in the works and some one off dates to keep us going until they are set in stone. We are excited to play Pukkelpop in the summer and our going to be releasing details of a special London headline show very soon!

Got any other projects we should know about?
We are currently involved in the creation of a line of mens tights. This and the music are really the only things we have time for.

What movie would work best on mute while listening to you music?
'Dead Man's Shoes' by Shane Meadows.

You can only keep/listen to ONE album for the rest of your life ..which album would it be?
I would be reluctant to choose something I like because I would learn to hate it if it was the only thing I could listen to. Given that this was pretty much the only thing we listened to as kids and it has so many vibes we would go for Kerrang Vol 4 (2002).

Are you living your dream?
::whoops!:: CB forgot this one:(
(..we'll assume they're REM bliss incarnate;])

Thanx CB and Chris!

Cloud Boat are currently touring Europe, and yes, I'm going to say "hopefully soon here (the US) too"...

Sunday, August 18, 2013

EICV7" No. 49 - Fever 103


"I'm disappearing, avoiding most things." ~Syd Barrett
 
Next release comes out September 1st.