Hi friends - hope all good :)
Lots to talk about today - first a quick note to say half price digital ends this Friday and CDs with the long-form edition of the album are still available if you want x
We had a lovely discussion at the listening party with Ian and James about their process making Everyday Exotic and the previous Slow Reels albums - so I thought it’d be worth sharing a bit of that here so anyone that wasn’t able to attend gets an insight into these ultra-creative minds.
For the previous albums, Ian recalls:
The first albums we originally did when working between Warsaw (me) and London (James). Basically I recorded on broken reels (a huge looping system) with pedals and old synths...all 70's synths for whatever reason. The 'rule' was simply to work around the tape degradation, hiss and noise - to absorb and accept it, leaning into it. We both just worked really well together in that loose framework. Tape recordings initially then mastered after James’ magic back onto tape.
For Everyday Exotic, James continues:
This album was a little different though.
Everyday Exotic is a bit of a one-off, a remote collaboration that started with Ian dropping 12gb of Nagra VII recordings in my inbox. All sorts of synth, piano and environmental audio (Ian: recorded in different ways with lavalier mics in piano, synths through a spring reverb amp, synths using microcosm loops, a cocoquantus etc. The fun stuff :)) which I collaged, layered and modulated the heck out of before sending back to Ian for mastering on tape. Despite it being tonally and formally distinct from our in-person, long-form drone work, there's a casual, unforced calm to these tracks that seems to somehow encapsulate both our artistic outlooks and our shared belief in the quiet, everyday magic that plays out in small gestures at home and in the studio.
Perfect. I loved hearing all this and I’m sure we all agree it’s a fascinating insight into the thought-processes of these two hugely inspiring humans x
--
Now a few shout-outs:
Wonderful new weekly music sharing site, Ambient Weekly, featuring Everyday Exoticalongside the excellent Home Normal 15years Mix from lovely new HN family member Far Away Nebraska (check out all his music here) and something from the legend Chihei Hatakeyama. Highly recommend following via the links here.
Beautiful words as always for the album on the fantastic ambientblog.net - big thanks to Peter over there, another essential follow.
The ever-consistent Kevin over on The Moderns playing the track ‘Equals’ on ep.307 of his mix series.
New friend Jeff Conklin, author of the Ambient Audiophile Substack, including ‘Keepsake’ in his The Trailhead 128 Mix.
And one of the best supporters of independent music, Richard Heinemann, playing ‘Grace Note’ on his latest E-Lodie show.
Top curators Low Light Mixes playing the track ‘far distant from this land’ on their Now That’s What I Call Ambient - March 24 Edition.
Aeddan Cox playing Golden Everlasting (featuring zakè) from Cat’s stunning album on his regular and highly recommended show.
Please support these people how ever you can - they put so much hard work into what they do and we owe them a huge amount of gratitude x
--
Finally.. I don’t often do recommendations here as it’s mainly for qd-related news but there are two things out that I think are worth your attention.
--
First is the wonderful new book from Richard Norris on always worth checking White Rabbit Books - hugely enjoying this read into the exploits and adventures of this beautiful mind, it’s been quite a journey so far (also check out his music, all great and I particularly like the ‘Music for Healing’ series).
Strange Things Are Happening begins with the wonder of that rainbow, and continues with many escapades down the rabbit hole. From punk and the beginnings of the DIY scene, through Acid House, psychedelia, the rise of electronic dance music and much more, Richard Norris has been involved in countless countercultural revolutions. From misadventures in Amsterdam with Timothy Leary, with Sun Ra at customs, and Shaun Ryder in Joe Strummer's beaten up Cadillac in Tijuana, to his extraordinarily influential output in The Grid and Beyond The Wizards Sleeve, Richard Norris' story is one of collaboration and community, fuelled by relentless psychedelic curiosity.
--
Second is the new album from Jogging House - top producer, label-owner of the awesome Seil Records and all-round lovely guy. Using tape loops provided by dear friend couleurves, he’s made something truly unique - very him and very different all at the same time - available on vinyl, cassette and digital.
--
Thanks for reading friends, take care and more soon :)
Much love
Alex
quiet details studios - mastering and audio services