Part Timer - Melbourne Winter Mix by Fluid Radio on Mixcloud

John McCaffrey returns to the Fluid ranks with another sublime selection of experimental music that effortlessly flows in the normal Part Timer fashion…

This mix also marks the release of Part Timer’s “The Runner Remixes” containing the original track featuring the wonderful Heidi Elva on vocals. John has managed to track down a strong artist line up for the remixes with restructuring coming from Orla Wren, The Green Kingdom, Scissors and Sellotape, Children of the Wave, Humble Bee and Jazzy Jones Is Nano.

Melbourne Winter Mix:

Mark Templeton – Horizon
Chihei Hatekeyama – Cave
Koen Holtkamp – Night Swimmer
Nicola Ratti – Above
Relmic Statute – Just a Thought
Ous Mal – Kavas
Savass Ysatis + Taylor Deupree – Somewhere on Earth
Fieldhead – Riser
Laura Gibson + Ethan Rose – Old Waters
Le Lendemain – Lois
Emmanuele Errante – Primotema
Ian Hawgood -The Latin Quarter
Hummingbird – Garden of Secrets
Fjordne – Last Sun

The Runner Remixes Review:

The most recent release from Fluid favorite and Moteer representative Part Timer is a seven tracker featuring multiple remixes of the song “The Runner”, from the forthcoming album “Real to Reel”. If the quality of the material that appears here is any indication, the album will certainly be something to look out for…

The tracks revolve around a central vocal stanza provided by frequent Part Timer collaborator, the fascinating Heidi Elva, who possesses a haunting tone in the same league of a Lou Rhodes or a Beth Gibbons.

The central theme appears to be one of homesickness -

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been home/And I’ve been wishing for the sky to turn grey/So I can hide quietly away/ I run from you/I run from me.”

Seven treatments of the same track could in lesser hands become tedious, so it’s a good demonstration of the skill of all involved that the whole release flows smoothly, consistently and never at any stage fails to engage and draw you in. In fact, the overall effect is one of a Chinese Whisper – the story emerging at the end is still linked to the one told at the beginning, but taken on a life of its own with distinct characteristics still able to be traced from the original.

One of the major strengths of the whole proceedings is the audible DEPTH in the tracks – they all seems to stretch for a mile from foreground to background, and span a long way from left to right. Either a happy accident that everyone involved is a great mixer, or the masterer really has a real knack for soundscapes. There are multiple layers in play at most points, and trying to identify and contextualize them is both rewarding and challenging. There’s a lot of presence from the bottom end, and the top is pretty crisp.

“It’s a long time since I’ve been home”

The central piece, “The Runner”, starts proceedings – there are a number of well placed components – percussive scratches that sweep from the right to left, strings in the distance, and a simple reassuring guitar picking pattern. All laid on a bed of fine hiss, which builds to a crescendo of what sounds like cyclonic microphone wind noise.

“And I’ve been wishing for the sky to turn grey”

The following remix by Orla Wren takes a number of the component parts and amplifies them further, bringing the strings across foreground and tying them to the hiss that rises up midway through a pattern of chimes. The tone matches the first track, and brings in a great drone that draws across the speakers. The guitar pattern returns to fade, with some great foreground flicker and click.

“So I can hide quietly away”

The Green Kingdom follows with a more treated guitar tone, continuing with the strings in the foreground. It’s here that things take a turn, with a delicate but bright divergence into an almost Eastern realm. There’s an interesting effect where the vocals (which had been previously portrayed in a more somber fashion) take on a new life with a different and more uplifting context, adding a new dimension to the words.

“I run from you”

Scissors and Sellotape contribute a haunted AM radio take, with an uplifting choral drone spilling across the speakers. Tinges of crackle creep in from the peripheries, fading away to reveal hidden delayed textures that had crept around behind the focal points. There’s a lift here, from the positivity of the last track to an even more triumphant tone.

“I run from me”

Children of the Wave provide an interlude with a considered minimal guitar line underpinning the strings, before a faint hazy beat comes to the surface alongside a hypnotic guitar loop. Something of a calm before the storm, pausing for thought for a moment before heading into the home stretch. One of the most distinctive tracks, with the listener almost forgetting the previous material until the vocals surface again.

“I run from you”

Humble Bee mixes a windswept hiss into a heavily reverbed and delayed vocal. Intriguing micro noises draw you in to an evenly placed environment before some endearing electronic tones skitter across the landscape, drawing to an engaging distant warped vinyl close. Quite affecting.

“I run from me”

Jazzy Jones Is Nano provide a stylized departure, with some smooth guitar and emphatic snappy beats which take a downright sinister twist towards the middle. A comparatively frenetic and lively finale which then drops down into some cinematic strings and crashing beats, before tailing off in the most appropriate way possible – a recap of the vocal and guitar line.

Overall – an enlivened, intelligent and diverse journey that maintains a purposeful and thoughtful thematic trajectory. I found that the vocal line really stayed with me throughout the day after a solid listen from beginning to end, and it would return at quiet moments in the days following. If this is any indication of the quality of the album to follow, I’m eagerly anticipating it.

The CD is being released directly from Part Timer at his Myspace page on July 19th, with a planned release from Boomkat to follow. With any luck, “Real to Reel” will not be far behind.

Review by Alex Gibson for Fluid Radio

A few copies are still available by contacting John here

www.myspace.com/pommyjohn

Rough Guide Vol.1 - Adrian Orange by Fluid Radio on Mixcloud

RE-POST: The Rough Guide series is a new edition to Fluid Radio. It involves mixes that gather a selection of material from an artist’s catalogue and paints a musical ‘journey’ of their career….

The first in the series is presented by Wim Maesschalck as he looks at compositions from the talented Adrian Orange. Here is what Wim had to say:

Because I miss Thanksgiving and the warm person I met during a few European tours, I asked Dan to compile a selection of my favourite Adrian Orange songs instead of doing a regular folkmix. Without new releases he’s bound to be forgotten by the new-loving internet music-community. He generously agreed and so here it is.. a mixtape sung by Adrian Orange. Do try and get your hands on any LP or CD he made, in my opinion they’re bound to go out of print if they haven’t already.

The songs on the mixtape are grouped by record and ordered by my favourite records of his. To finish I included some songs I found on compilations and a 7″

Adrian Orange was born in 1986 – living in Portland, Oregan for the bigger part of his life. He released his first record “We Could Be Each Other’s Evidence” in 2002, at the age of 16. A year later he released “Nothing” the first release on Marriage Records.

In 2004 he released an amazing and crackly 7″ (The Lake At Night / The “In The Lake”), a humble ep with only sparse acoustic guitar and his trembling voice titled “Now It Is All Over Like The Birds” but also his masterpiece “Welcome Nowhere”.  Recorded with the help of Phil Elverum of Mount Eerie – and also the first record to be released on Elverum’s PW Elverum & Sun label. The sound of it is so delicate, humble, simple modest and thankful. It makes you want to say thank you to nature, wind, forests, mountains, just being thankful that you’re alive and that you’re in this world. Don’t expect well performed or well recorded songs matching todays standards, but a true lofi gem. Originally pressed on 600 it has been repressed with outtakes and a vinyl version of the ep “The Ghost & The Eyes With Trees In The Ground” from 2005.

Also in 2005 Adrian managed to release a triple LP simply called “Thanksgiving”. It is probably the record which covers the most aspects of his carreer, but sometimes it’s a difficulat listen with the abundance of songs. Then there’s “The “In The World”" 12″ which sounds similar to “Welcome Nowhere”, but is not as captivating. If that wasn’t enough, he also released a cd on Hive-Fi Records called The River. It is a wonderful Will Oldham-esque folk record with a little more arrangements. Still lofi, still not really what one would call a “tight production”, but it has some incredible songwriting. By the age of 21, Adrian managed to release 5 albums and 3 ep’s, full of wisdom, calmness and honesty.

After “Cave Days And Moments” in 2006 he chose to record under his given name. He recorded 2 albums: one very similar to the thanksgiving sound, another one more playful incorporating styles as dub and afrobeat in 2007. After that he seems to have stopped releasing stuff, getting focussed on electronic music, weed and hiphop. Unfortunately, that’s not for the better as far as I can tell. - Wim

Track List:

1. Welcome – Welcome Nowhere & Extra’s 2LP+CD on PW Elverum & Sun (2007)
2. Rich (Homeless) – Welcome Nowhere & Extra’s 2LP+CD on PW Elverum & Sun (2007)
3. Nowhere – Welcome Nowhere & Extra’s 2LP+CD on PW Elverum & Sun (2007)
4. Responsibility – The River CD on Hive-Fi (2005)
5. Storyteller – The River CD on Hive-Fi (2005)
6. Oh Well – The River CD on Hive-Fi (2005)
7. Around The World – Thanksgiving 3LP+CD (Marriage Recs/Pw Elverum & Sun (2005)
8. Dead Deer & Other Animals – Thanksgiving 3LP+CD (Marriage Recs/Pw Elverum & Sun (2005)
9. Oregon – Thanksgiving 3LP+CD (Marriage Recs/Pw Elverum & Sun (2005)
10. (You Belong To The) Blood – Cave Days & Moments CD – Marriage Recs (2006)
11. The Old Graveyard – Cave Days & Moments CD – Marriage Recs (2006)
12. Fire Dream – Adrian Orange & Her Band s.t. LP (2007)
13. Save The World – Bitches Is Lord CD (as Adrian Orange) (2006)
14. Bad World – The “In The World” 12″ – Marriage Recs (2005)
15. The Ghost & The Eyes – The Ghost & The Eyes With Trees In The Ground CD – States Rights Records (2005)
16. Untitled Track 01 – Now It Is All Over Like The Birds CD – Marriage Recs (2004)
17. The Lake At Night – 7″ – Marriage Recs (2004)
18. Grandfather Dawn – Own Zone Compilation – States Rights Records (2004)

www.marriagerecs.com
www.pwelverumandsun.com
www.en.wikipedia.org
www.last.fm/music/Adrian+Orange

www.myspace.com/wixel

Andrew Hargreaves (The Boats) by Fluid Radio on Mixcloud

We are delighted to welcome Andrew Hargreaves (one half of the fabulous The Boats) to the Fluid Radio mix installments, presenting a bespoke selection of unusual and abstract soundscapes…

‘My original idea was to create a mix called “Sequences out of Control”, but I think my mood changed. Anyway there
are quite a few sequencer lines in their and lots of synthesisers which we can all be thankful for’! – Andrew

Track List:

Klaus Nomi – Nomi Chant
Ryuichi Sakamoto – The End Of Asia
François De Roubaix – Survol
Giorgio Moroder – Chase
Moebius, Plank, Neumeir – All Repro
The Units – High Pressure Days
John Carpenter with Alan Howarth – 69th Street Bridge
Irmin Schmidt & Bruno Spoerri – Two Dolphins Go Dancing
Monoton – Minibeat
John Surman – Edges Of Illusion
Human League – Almost Medieval
Visitors – V-­I-­S-­I-­T-­O-­R-­S
Sparks – Tryouts For The Human Race
Tony McPhee – The Hunt
Screamers – Matar Dolores
Bruce Haack – Invocation And Dance Of Death
Flying Lizards – Trouble
Eno, Roedelius, Moebius – The Belldog
XTC – Somnambulist

Following the release of the wonderful Words Are Something Else and while preparing for a series of live shows in the UK and Japan, Craig Tattersall and Andrew Hargreaves decided to compile an overview of unreleased and rare Boats material. The result is Sleepy Insect Music, a sixteen track compilation of material recorded between 2003 – 2010…

Opening with a laid back track peppered with slow moving subtle tones, Sleepy Insect Music then goes on to cover a whole spectrum of material.

Chris Stewart and Elaine Reynolds join the duo on vocal duties, giving contrast to the moody instrumentals and beat driven ambience. Danny Norbury of Le Lendemain also makes an appearance on cello, his mournful strings adding yet another dimension to this release.

The tracks hold the listeners interest with inventive beats, complemented by a wide array of instruments and breathtaking vocals. Always unhurried, the tracks retain a feeling of space, with notes ringing out and echoing.

Where other performers might content themselves with one stylistic idea per track, Tattersall and Hargreaves eclectic songwriting technique is enthralling and leaves one wanting to spend time exploring the tracks fully, each sitting revealing something more to enjoy.

It’s difficult to mix such disparate ideas, and compilations often suffer from a lack of cohesion, but Sleepy Insect Music has been compiled with great care and attention. Working with restraint, the duos songwriting instincts are inspired and when put together, the tracks feel like one body of work.

Highlighting the many changes in direction and style by The Boats, Sleepy Insect Music is a well executed compilation of impressive scope and variety which will continue to hold the listeners interest over time. Review by Adam Williams for Fluid Radio

Available from Home Normal here
Also from the flau store here
Also through Experimedia here

www.oursmallideas.co.uk
www.myspace.com/bepputheboats
www.homenormal.com
www.flau.jp

Celer Exclusive Pt.1 by Fluid Radio on Mixcloud

This mix contains tracks that we made from 2004-2007, many released, and many unreleased, meant to demonstrate a specific time period and style of our music, in particular the more raw, analog use of effects, tape loop construction, and free sound…

Falling in love is not always gentle and caressing, but sometimes is intense and disorienting. You forget everything that you are, except that you are with the person you love, and everything you do that allows that to continue. Friends make fun of his 1 week old beard, friends tease her for writing letters on her lunchbreak, until they see she’s also reading some that just arrived. Nothing matters, but love. – Will Long (Celer)

Track List:

1 Leave Us Alone To Be Together (from Para) 0:00 – 7:12
2 10_6 (from Sunlir) 7:06 – 12:20
3 Untitled (Unreleased) 12:18 – 13:49
4 Prayer Wheels of Sikkim (outtake from Discourses of the Withered) 13:43 – 20:12
5 Side 2 (excerpt from I, Anatomy, unreleased) 20:06 – 23:57
6 9_2 (from Sunlir/Scols) 23:51 – 30:55
7 The Everything and the Nothing (excerpt) 30:36 – 35:47
8 Bereft Oversight (from Continents) 35:42 – 41:05
9 Untitled (Unreleased) 40:55 – 42:01
10 Brackish Nagas Too Low In the River (excerpt from Red Seals) 41:43 – 48:00
11 Drums Under Dharamsala (outtake from Sadha) 48:08 – 53:02
12 Side 1 (excerpt from Endes, Unreleased) 52:53 – 65:03
13 Side 1 (excerpt from White Prism) 65:00 – 70:06
14 Sputtering Lungs/End Organ (extended version from Continents) 69:48 – 90:49

www.thesingularwe.org/celer
www.thesingularwe.org/blog

Richard Knox - A Loss Of Glowing Light by Fluid Radio on Mixcloud

This is my very first mix for Fluid Radio and I hope there will be more to follow. Here I have mixed some old favorites with some new discoveries of late, these pieces of music have influenced and inspired a lot of my work to date and will no doubt continue to keep the creative flame alight for years to come.

I hope you enjoy the mix. Be well.

- Richard

1. Stars of the Lid – Requiem For Dying Mothers pt1
2. Set Fire to Flames – When Sorrow Shoots Her Darts
3. Rachel’s – Water from the Same Source
4. Loscil – Zephyr
5. Clem Leek – Snow Tale I
6. Arvo Part – Symphony No. 3 – pt1
7. Erik Ennocksson – Nox Egoque Soli
8. Johann Johannsson – The Rocket Builder
9. Tim Hecker – Borderlands
10. Fieldhead – Of Sorts
11. Polmo Polpo – Requiem for a Fox

www.slowsecret.com
www.gizehrecords.com?

Jeremy is most definitely on a roll at the moment with another superb mix selection focusing on new material that can be obtained from the Experimedia store…

Track List:

00:00 – max richter – infra 1 (out now on fatcat)
03:50 – anonymous (forthcoming on experimedia)
09:20 – lawrence english – countless voices (forthcoming on experimedia)
13:50 – nicholas szczepanik – years compressed into minutes without any concept of self (forthcoming on experimedia)
19:00 – evan caminiti – thunder breaks the dawn (forthcoming on three lobed)
23:30 – svarte greiner – sister leaf (from untitled tour cdr self released)
27:30 – shonobu nemoto – melting loops trip 2 (demo)
32:50 – concert silence – for leaves (out now on infraction)
37:45 – radio people – believe (out now on digitalis)
39:15 – aaron martin – limb study (forthcoming on sonic meditations)
41:50 – ondelette – trying to draw the perfect star (demo)
48:20 – kf – he noticed im alive… and other hopeful signs (demo)
50:30 – chris abrahams – the same time (out now on room40)

www.experimedia.net

In the impending light of Max Richter’s new album infra, FatCat Records’ contemporary classical and experimental younger sibling 130701 presents a podcast hosted by Fluid Radio…

Featuring mainly tracks from Max and other artists on 130701 with a few from other FatCat imprints, it is a journey through modern classical and contemporary composition with insights into drone, free-form post-rock and ambient. An additional track from Ekca Liena’s Slow Music For Rapid Eye Movement, due to be re-released by Dead Pilot Records later this year, has also been included in the mix.

Track List:

1. Max Richter – Flowers For yulia
2. Janek Schaeffer – Startle Bather
3. Max Richter – infra 3
4. Set Fire To Flames – Omaha
5. Sylvain Chauveau – Granulation 1
6. Max Richter – Maria The Poet (1913)
7. Chris Smith – White Morning
8. Hauschka – One Wish
9. Our Brother The Native – Catalpa
10. Set Fire To Flames – Buzz of Barn Flies Like Faulty / Max Richter – journey 3
11. Ekca Liena – Into The Wind
12. Max Richter – Landscape With Figure (1922) / Janek Schaeffer – Beyond Zero Point
13. Sylvain Chauveau – Granulation 3
14. Max Richter – Written On the Sky

infra is available for pre-order now from the FatCat website and is due for release on July 19th in the UK and 20th in the US.

BBC review here
Fluid Radio review here

Those keen to see and hear Max perform in concert will be pleased to learn that the new record will be performed live in London’s Cadogan Hall on September 17th this year. More information here

130701′s past and present artists also include Montrèal orchestral concrète rock outfit Set Fire To Flames and the electro-acoustic and modern classical composers Sylvain Chauveau and Hauschka, with a roster set to expand in the coming months.

Tracks compiled and mixed by Daniel Mackenzie, otherwise known as ambient / drone / electronic artist Ekca Liena

Further information and plenty more, including details on the infra pre-order and joining the Max Richter, FatCat and 130701 mailing lists (with free tracks available for doing so) can be found at the links below:

www.fat-cat.co.uk
www.maxrichter.com
www.myspace.com/maxrichtermusic
www.myspace.com/fatcat130701

As mentioned a few weeks back Jeremy over at Experimedia was kind enough to compile four mixes exclsuively for Fluid Radio. ‘Around Your Neck’ is the last in the series presenting tracks from artists such as Bretschneider, Szczepanik and Santos…

Track List:

00:00 – Jamie Lidell – Big Drift – Compass – Warp
04:29 – Oval – Oh! – Oh – Thrill Jockey
07:01 – Ken Ikeda – Marebito | Marebito – Kosame – Spekk
14:10 – Frank Bretschneider – Mass – Exp – Raster-Noton
15:01 – Michael Santos – Hollowing Out – Memory Maker – Home Normal
19:30 – Nicholas Szczepanik – Part 1: When I’M No Longer Afraid Of You – Dear Dad – Basses Frequences / Goat Eater
30:26 – Ben Frost – Killshot – By The Throat – Bedroom Community
37:16 – Ben Frost – …Coda – Theory Of Machines – Bedroom Community
38:40 – Autechre – Qplay – Oversteps – Warp
42:45 – Actress – The Kettle Men – Splazsh – Honest Jons
47:35 – Rene Hell – L. Minx – Porcelain Opera – T

www.jeremybible.com
www.experimedia.net

Isnaj Dui Exclusive by Fluid Radio on Mixcloud

Although I primarily work alone, I have also been honoured to work with many fine musicians and composers and felt it would be nice to put together a mix of a few of these artists…

Many of these I have played with live or on recordings and some are future collaborations and works in progress.

I have also included a couple of as yet unreleased solo tracks, as planned for my next album. – Katie (Isnaj Dui)

Track List:

0″ – Hybernation – Colmubia Road – E2 (Cotton Goods)
5’16″ – Andy Nice – The Fourth Man – Secrets of Me (Front & Follow)
11’11″ – Isnaj Dui – It Never Really Was – Previously unreleased
17’26″ – Simon Scott – The Night and the Artificial Light – Navigare (Miasmah)
22’12″ – Rome Pays Off – Isaac Newton – There’s No Simple Explanation (Trace Recordings)
24’37″ – Clem Leek – Snow Tale 2 – Snow Tales (Experimedia)
29’18″ – Konntinent & Isnaj Dui – Live March 2010
35’11″ – Orla Wren – The Unbowed Hand – The One Two Bird And The Half Horse (Flau)
39’51″ – Konntinent – Frost Fair – Opal Island (Home Normal)
45’37″ – Isnaj Dui & Guy J Jackson – Phone Call – ingily spikin werld (FBox Records)
54’57″ – Danny Norbury – All The Stars Are Out Tonight – Light In August (Lacies Records)
58’13″ – Isnaj Dui – Something More – Previously unreleased

Standing somewhere between modern classical and electronica, Isnaj Dui (real name Katie English) conveys a minimal yet capturing sound using electronically manipulated flutes and homemade instruments. With three solo releases on her own FBox Records as well as ‘Amacrine’ on Smallfish (2007) and ‘Unstable Equilibrium’ on Home Normal (2009), English has gained a solid reputation as both a live performer and recording artist. She has appeared at venues such as the National Portrait gallery and Union Chapel in London and has been played on Radio 3′s Late Junction and Arctic Circle Radio.

As a classically trained flautist, Katie uses concert and bass flutes alongside various home made instruments, with live manipulation using an effects and looping device. Through studies in electroacoustic music, alternative tunings and Javanese Gamelan as well as her classical work, Katie has fused together many styles to create a unique sound, infusing tranquil melodies with a dark edge. Keith Moline of Wire writes of 2007s ‘Patterns In Rocks’ ‘…English manages to take the [flute] into darker realms while maintaining a lovely, sleepy languor.

Regular live performances have allowed Isnaj Dui to experiment with various ways of composition and improvisation. She deals primarily with the building of loops to create minimal yet dense textures that weave in and out of eachother, using just enough to keep the listener’s attention without becoming oppressive. This has provided a recogniseable sound, akin to the work of Brian Eno or BBC Radiophonic Workshop and yet remaining very much specific to Isnaj Dui. The recording process is very much designed to keep the feeling of a live performance; multitracked instruments recorded in one take wherever possible to maintain a feeling of spontanaeity.

As well as her solo work, Katie plays in various bands and has lent her fluting skills to numerous recordings and live collaborations

Katie also runs Recluse events showcasing electroacoustic/experimental music.

www.myspace.com/isnajdui
www.fboxrecords.co.uk
www.recluse01.com

A few months back I put together a mix for the station entitled Off Key. Over time we received many emails from listeners asking if a second edition could be created and so I set aside some time today to do just that…

“From my tattered walls, an infinite reflection corrupts me. The light striking my eye congeals into an opaque silence and, irremediably, I listen. All the words are falling, enveloped by the astral noise of your eyes. In the inclination of your gaze, I see a white hole coming back at me: an interstice of light, a sound tattered by the tongues of the wind”

Track List:

Antonymes – Endlessly
The Colossal Ithaca Trio & The Deus Ex Machina Arkestra – My Mind To Your Mind
Hummingbird – Uncertainty in Copenhagen
Sophie Hutchings – Sunlight Zone
Christoph Berg – Poems Written By An Old (prepared) Piano
Ólafur Arnalds – Kjurrt
Gary Jules/Michael Andrews – Mad World
Machinefabriek and Peter Broderick  -  Extract from In Session
Anna Rose Carter – My Piano Is Broken
Peter Broderick – Intake Part 2
Max Richter – Journey 5
Max Richter – Journey 3
Louisville – Forest
Adam Williams and Leonardo Rosado – What Has Gone is Lost Forever
Fieldhead – Planks of Wood
Hummingbird – Uncertainty in Copenhagen (Unreleased Edit)
Hessien – A Letter from Engels (Japser TX Remix)
Foxes in Fiction – Basement Window
Male – House of Ride
Field Rotation – Never Build A Bridge Into Nothingness
Evan Caminiti – Westward Sun
Damian Valles – Ground Truth
Clem Leek – The Burnt Home
Nest – Trans Siberian
Mains de Givre – Un Choeur Dames en Detresse
Scott Tuma & Mike Weis – Rubadub
Noveller – Fades
Aaron Martin – Kept Ashes
Field Rotation – Acoustic Tale 4