Uriarra Road by y0t0 is a Russian novel of Australian rural decay; 14 tracks of densely layered processed guitar, crowd melody, rain noise, electronic manipulation and birdsong…

Inspired by the film ‘In The Winter Dark’, Uriarra Road charts the decline of an outback town chasing survival as industry money crawls back to the city limits; left in its place is a confused and aging collective memory, drunk on nostalgia and the feral rantings of a right wing press.
Cabin fever, writ large.

Helping y0t0 map the town in question are Downliners Sekt, Jasper TX, Ghosting Season, Field Rotation, Spheruleus, Relmic Statute and Seaworthy, all of whom navigate the intersections and resentful front rooms of Uriarra Road with skeletal reinterpretations of the main street.

y0t0 is the solo project of Charles Sage of Hessien; assisting in construction are guitarist Ben Carter and vocalist/partner Jane Sage. Previous EPs No Myths and Baraku have been reconstructions of dialogue from documentaries No Maps For These Territories and Goddo Supiido Yuu! Burakku Emparaa, but Urriara Road sees a full album’s exploration of the hope found in abandonment, using a broad palette of field recordings, guitar noise, sparse electronica, minimal beats and bottom end drone. Mastered by Taylor Deupree, and to be released digitally only on Fluid Audio’s sub-label Facture late July, Uriarra Road will be made available on preorder for an introductory price the week prior to general release. The digital package contains a short film by Antonymes to accompany one track, along with a PDF artwork booklet and individual artwork embedded for each track.

Release Date: 29.07.11

Pre Orders available:

When you preorder, you get the first 7 tracks delivered to you immediately, and then the last 7 are delivered a week later on the official release date.

www.facture.bandcamp.com/album/uriarra-road

In our recent Hessien interview for “Home is where the Ghost is”, Charles Sage and Tim Diagram mentioned working on musical accompaniment to a short animated film by their web designer Cameron Chamberlain. The film was recently completed and screened at the National Film and Sound Archive in Australia last week…

Audio for the project included manipulated field recordings taken at the Australian National Botanic Gardens, and at the recently installed Turrell exhibit  “Within Without” at the Australian National Gallery.

Chamberlain had this to say about the piece -

“We have always been intertwined with nature. This relationship was vital for our creation and continues to be important for our survival. Wae strive to progress past our technological and physical boundaries, often to the detriment of this connection. Prometheus references work by artists working in many disciplines, Miyazaki Hayao, Khien Yimsiri, James Turrell and Tadao Ando. It draws upon these artists’ responses to nature and humanity to explore the relationship between them.

The title references the ancient Greek mythological titan Prometheus, and the story of him giving fire to mankind. The myth also makes strong use of cyclicality. In my film, fire represents the technology that humanity uses to progress society. Cyclicality is used in the film to show that nature will keep on growing back, even if we destroy it and in the process ourselves. As in Jurassic Park, ‘life will find a way’.

Mood is one of the most important elements of my work. I am always very mindful of the pacing of my films and what effect it will have on the viewer. This slow, deliberate pacing is drawn from Miyazaki Hayao’s work. He always knows when to slow things down, or speed things up to gain the maximum impact. It is always very enticing to speed things up, move faster, cut quicker. The soundtrack that Charles and Tim have created helps set the mood and pacing that reflects my directorial intent.

The bronze that forms into the central character represents technology and technological progress. Bronze allowed humanity to create much stronger tools than were previously possible. Which also helped our destructive nature, forging stronger weapons with which to harm each other and, often unintentionally, our environments.”

“Home is where the Ghost is” by Hessien has just been made available for download at the Handstitched* Bandcamp site. There may still be a couple of copies of the limited release CD left for sale – contact handstitchedinfo@gmail.com for further information.

www.cameronchamberlain.com
www.handstitched.bandcamp.com
www.hessien.net

With the recent review of Hessien’s ‘Home Is Where The Ghost Is‘ signed, sealed and delivered, Tim and Charles kindly took time out from their busy schedule to discuss the intricate process of creating the album and plans for the future…

I understand the majority of work on the album was completed within a couple of days. Could you tell us a bit more about the recording process of Home Is Where The Ghost Is?

- Tim Diagram: The majority of the tracking of the guitar elements were laid down as rough parts during a week or so. The actual album wasn’t recorded in this initial week. We’d already planned how the album was to sound in the weeks running up to starting the album but also knew (from past experience) at the back of our minds that ideas and thoughts can change in a short space of time. We started work on sketches and re-tracked parts using pre-existing source material from earlier works which got left behind from other projects – adding layers of acoustic elements then we improvised on both the acoustic and electronic “live” parts, some of which stuck and some didn’t. Gradually a few songs turned into ten and we made heaps more songs to choose from for the final 13 that appear on the album. The whole album, in reality, took 6-9 months to complete.

Being from opposite ends of the world, do you find a lot of the recording is done by file exchange or do you still find time to meet in the studio? How do you find the two processes differ?

- Charles Sage: All of the things we do, bar none, are done by file exchange through the Hessien transfer network. I’ve never met Tim face to face, only spoken once by phone, and that largely wasn’t music related. The entire thing is created of the internet, whereby our respective inboxes generate music at odd times of the day. I find the process fascinating, and likely will never tire of it. I’m endlessly baffled by the idea that I can record parts into my laptop, go to bed, and there are entirely finished musical pieces sitting in there the next day.

To answer the question, I think in regard to studios it doesn’t matter how relaxed you are, there’s still an expectation that SOMETHING needs to be delivered while you’re in there. If it’s being done from home, I automatically function more productively because that pressure is no longer present. I tend to think that because you aren’t constricted by time or self imposed focus that you can attempt different things without the fear of going down a “black hole” of time wastage costing you hours of studio time with no result. Mind you, I get distracted by the television at home, but not too often.

Much of your work incorporates recognizable instrumentation, with relatively little processing alongside the more pure electronic sounds. Is that a deliberate move, to contrast the acoustic and electronic?

- Tim Diagram: The definition was a deliberate move as we both wanted to create something real-sounding that sits with the more organic, electronic textures on the album – rather than having a more processed sound where some instruments are lost due to the effected nature of the processing. We wanted to differentiate between the two elements but still have them working in tandem with each other. That being said, the “Broken” EP released on Audio Gourmet in October was created so the instrumentation was intentionally held-back from the main structure of work without those distinctions being apparent.

There is also a very human element to the album; the music obviously takes precedence over too much neatness. Do you find that some ambient, electronic music can start to sound rather lifeless with over production and is that something you try to avoid?

- Charles Sage: I think anything overproduced becomes lifeless, absolutely. Finding the balance between spontaneity and consideration is the hardest part. I like the idea of there being “life” in the tracks, you know? I’m coming to appreciate the imperfection in things more as I get older. One of the things I really like about the record is that the life hasn’t been compressed out of it; it has a character that changes depending what sort of stereo or headphones you’re listening to it on. I also like the fact that it has a warm and (at times) wide bottom end, it’s really “subby” in a way some ambient stuff isn’t.

Home Is Where The Ghost Is a lot sparser than your previous material, was this something you had in mind for a full-length release rather than an EP?

- Tim Diagram: The album was conceived with this in mind – to keep things less-cluttered for the most-part of the album to start working on sounds from scratch and to purposely not build the work up into a more dense sound as previous releases such as “Skurjn” which was quite dense in texture and varies quite a lot to the new album but it still manages to retain that signature sound. If the pieces on the album initially worked as they were laid-out in earlier stages then we kept the piece intact with as little human-input and arrangement as possible.

Did you find yourselves faced with new challenges working on a longer release?

- Charles Sage: The only major obstacle we had was one I threw up. Tim had written a really nice string part for Overarchangel and I suggested (foolishly, in hindsight) trying to find a cello player to track them. The cello tracks took something like three months to be completed. And then when they came back they were totally unsuitable for the song. In the end we ended up approaching the song differently and now I can’t imagine it any other way, but if I hadn’t suggested it the album would probably have been done some months ago! My thinking was that the album deserved some finessing, but in the end it really didn’t need it.

The hardest part was making it sound cohesive but I think that it is, in the end. I tried a lot of different things from my end, there are some faint pacemaker clicks in the back of one song that I’m pretty happy with, along with some nice grimy fuzz bass and E-bow howl.

Your unique sound seems to originate from your differing yet complimentary musical backgrounds.  How do you find this works when writing together?  What does the writing process involve?

- Tim Diagram: The contrast in style works as most variants and opposites do when put in that situation, whether intentional or not. The musical structures and styles of our respective solo projects vary in both our background and knowledge and with regards to the musical approach we take. There are various ways we approach the way we work together, sometimes Charles makes parts for me to work to and visa-versa, it’s the most flexible way of working for us. It’s more creative and produces different openings and often unexpected results in the early stages of constructing pieces.

Judging from the press release to Home…, there is an underlying visual element to your work. It certainly does conjure up images, is this something you set out to do or something that occurs naturally?

- Charles Sage: Not deliberately, for me anyway. Tim’s photography has always been a pretty integral component of the exercise, but if I’m being honest I don’t “see” things quite as visually as I think other people do. The New Wave reference in the press release probably has more to do with the way the process of distributing music works, where the existing structures that fund and sell artwork as a commodity are completely baffled by the way it’s consumed by the public. It’s intended as something of an oblique compliment towards people who bypass commercial networks to find value in unorthodox music.

On the visual side, I can mention that we’re working on music for a short animation piece called Prometheus by our web designer Cameron Chamberlain. It’s an interesting process; trying to get music to flow to a visual cue is certainly different from the usual approach. I’d certainly be interested in doing it again.

What next for Hessien?

- Tim Diagram: Next up for Hessien are a couple of compilation appearances, one on “Air Texture”, a double CD compilation, curated by Brock Van Wey and Andrew Thomas and an appearance on the new Symbolic Interaction compilation “The Silence is Warm” from The Retail Sectors label from Japan. There are other projects in the pipeline which must remain a secret for now but also we are planning a new Hessien album to follow next year.

“Home is the where the Ghost is” is released on Handstitched* on 21st November 2010. Super-limited to 100 copies, packed in digipack cd sleeves with artwork by Zenbullets. The album will be available via Norman Records and other good record shops.

Pre-orders are welcomed – they will be limited to one copy per person and will be limited to a first come, first serve basis. Contact: handstitchedinfo@gmail.com for more info.

- Interview by Katie English for Fluid Radio

Discography;

Hessien EP (Handstitched*)
Skurjn EP (Handstitched*)
Beko_33 (Beko DSL)
Obelisk|Stelea (Fluid Audio/Handstitched*)
Broken (Audio Goumet)
Home is where the Ghost is (Handstitched*)

www.hessien.net
www.handstitched.net

The ever prolific Hessien follow up last month’s Broken with their debut full-length album Home Is Where The Ghost Is…

Working under their Hessien guise, acoustic sound artists Charles Sage and Tim Diagram produce beautifully crafted works that merge the acoustic and electronic together to form a seamless whole. Home… is noticeably sparser than Hessien’s previous works, allowing the album to grow as a whole over a longer period of time. Fragments of melody appear and retreat amongst a gentle hum of ambient noise and softly distorted guitars drift through the distance, while static crackles flit all around.

As on previous Hessien releases, what stands out here is the lack of processing on much of the guitar work. This is taken to a new level on Home… with its distinctly instrumental leaning and although there are plenty of electronically processed sounds there is a noticeable human element that can so often be lacking in much of what is termed organic electronica. Through a more minimal approach, the sounds at work here are given room to flourish, allowing each minute sound to be heard and develop fully.

The duo have confessed to seeing this album as an American New Wave film; the kind that goes on for hours with no obvious plot, instead comprising a series of beautifully grainy wide-screen shots of neverending landscapes and this seems a very fitting analogy. The work as a whole immerses the listener, taking them on a journey through an imaginary film full of endless dusty roads, alienated suburbs and setting suns. Themes come and go throughout the album, be it a dissected guitar melody or fragment of noise, creating a unified work that becomes more and more familiar over time.

Tracks such as The Invisible Man have an almost song like quality to them, with the acoustic guitar lines interspersed with gentle electronic tones and abstract flickers of static. This is also evident on Overarchangel with its ominous tones, clicks and harmonic shifts contrasted against the gently repetitive guitar and bass lines. Other tracks, as in The Death Of Abba and Loch Quoich, are more drone based with snippets of melody creeping in through the atmosphere, only to retire into the enveloping fog once again. Beautifully crafted, these pieces show a sensitivity of writing that allows the listener to become immersed in the soundscape, while still allowing for aspects of melody and acoustic instrumentation to creep through.

There is a wonderful use of repetition of melodic lines on this album, always kept engaging by continual changes to afew cleverly chosen elements. Sasparilla is one such piece, comprising a beautifully hypnotic loop of a three note melody around which minute sounds and snippets of noise weave their way alongside a slowly shifting tonal background. Closing track Centipede is a simply stunning end to the album with layers of slide guitar, vocals and skittish noises building up to an immersive crescendo before gradually dying away to nothingness.

Overall this is a beautiful full-length work that grows on what we have already witnessed from this superb duo. Showing that Sage and Diagram have truly settled in their work together, Home Is Where The Ghost Is is a well considered and thoughtful work that proves even more rewarding with repeated listens. With further releases already promised for later this year and beyond, it will be very interesting to see where they go next.

- Review by Katie English for Fluid Radio

Pre-orders for “Home is where the Ghost is” are welcomed – they will be limited to one copy per person and will be limited to a first come, first serve basis. Contact: handstitchedinfo@gmail.com for more info.

www.handstitched.net
www.hessien.net

Following on from the recent success of ‘Obelisk/Stelea’, Hessien return with a stunning new release entitled ‘Broken’ on the Audio Gourmet Net Label…

The muffled voices in the walls and the murmurs behind doors of Hessien continue on “Broken” — the new release on Audio Gourmet. Something of a departure from recently released material, this outing sees a subdued and distant approach to the melancholic side of implied melody.

The dirty windows display looped field recordings, sustained acoustic delay and the fragile vocals of Jane Sage; the dark hallways are layered, wide-open passages that create the impression of motion. The rotting staircase is flickering static and kaleidoscopic distortion, leaning into organic textures and echoing reverb; all affected with a layered, instrumental composition that gives the sense of coming from or going to a faraway place.

The letters under the floorboards are the three tracks waiting to be uncovered —three compositions leaning towards organic textures and blissful drones. They remain disguised until they are eventually discovered, released from imagination.

The rustling in the bushes indicate that Hessien are currently finalising their debut album, due out in Autumn/Winter 2010.

The bones in the backyard mean that “Home Is Where The Ghost Is” is released on Handstitched*; an ultra—limited CD run of 100 copies, packaged in digipack CD wallets with artwork by zenbullets.

Hessien’s recent release on Fluid Audio is now almost out of stock. A handful of copies are still up for grabs here

www.handstitched.net
www.hessien.net
www.music.audiogourmet.co.uk

Under the lamplight, which is a small, insignificant light, yet enough to light the whole room, the distant sound of a guitar rumbles throughout, shaking the core, reaching the bone. Hessien are providing the impetus to remove oneself with their new release “Obelisk/Stelea”; an album that engulfs the listener in blinding rays of light that peek through a perceived pallor and solemnity. As Hessien, Charles Sage & Tim Diagram deliver obtuse soundscapes, augmented by hazy textures, and an ever-evolving penchant for disorientation and serene exploration.

Positing the listener in a tranquil stasis, the opener “Gazed and Pale Reflections” reveals a darkness permeated by shiny consonance, guitars ring out over and beneath one another, the listener drifts off, leaving the lamplight behind. As the title suggests, we revert to a pensive mood, pleasing thoughts replace the guttural voices and images weighing heavily on our mind. As the first of four original pieces on this release – the four remaining works are reimaginings by Solo Andata, Jasper TX, Zelienople, and Konntinent – “Gazed and Pale Reflections” sets the tone for this remarkable work. Leading into “A Letter from Engels”, a simple recurring sound, with a somewhat jarring effect, marks the arrival of a captivating mixture of sounds that slowly build walls around the listener to touch and feel, sending shivers down the spine.

Clarity is revealed on “Five Sisters”, while a gauzy vocal courtesy of Jane Williams gently glides around far-away discordant guitar sounds, separated just enough from the splendor of the acoustic guitar. The sounds reach a breaking point near the end before becoming more distant and varied and, finally, splintering into a million pieces and fading away. This motif is carried into “Breaking Webs”, which again finds the duo searching for a balance of clarity with discordance. The dichotomy allows the forceful sounds of the track to mingle with the glistening light poking through, creating a dynamic that alleviates the strong disorientation with lucid tranquility.

The reimaginings are arranged in exactly the same order as the Hessien originals, and Solo Andata, with their recently released exploration into the unknown, “Ritual”, begin the proceedings with their take on “Gazed and Pale Reflections.” The listener is transfixed at the distant sounds occupying the better part of the piece, intent on making them out and reaching whatever place they’re emanating from, before being taken over by a wave of noise that comes rolling through the speakers or headphones, springing through every pore in your body. Jasper TX uses “A Letter from Engles” as a springboard into the ether; the wall of sound created by Hessien is heightened and much more tangible, yet bears very little resemblance to the original creation. Both affect the listener in different ways, but the effect is just as monumental.

The trio, Zelienople, focus on repetitive patterns of sound with minor variations and additions that make all the difference in the world on “Five Sisters”. The gauzy vocal still remains and the end result is reminiscent of Steve Reich and his use of cyclic patterns. Konntinent, reimagining “Breaking Webs”, leans more to the discordant and disorienting nature of Hessien’s music, with pulses of guitar noise that are blown-out completely, leading to a very haunting conclusion that leaves the listener with the uncanny feeling he/she will return again and again.

This wonderful release comes carefully packaged in letter pressed covers that slip nicely into organic silk-screened cotton pouches. It is a Handstitched* /Fluid Audio split release and limited to 200 copies. An 8-page full colour booklet containing exclusive images and 4 specially commissioned poems by Estela Lamat, themed around the 4 original songs by Hessien, also accompanies the release. Readers are urged to act fast before missing out on one of the year’s best releases.

- Review by Michael Vitrano for Fluid Radio

Available from Fluid Audio

www.fluidaudio.co.uk
www.handstitched.net

www.hessien.net
www.myspace.com/soloandata
www.myspace.com/jaspertx
www.myspace.com/zelienople
www.myspace.com/konntinent

Release Date October 4th: Limited to 200 copies for the world. Fluid Audio and Handstitched* have joined forces to release an EP by Hessien entitled “Obelisk|Stelea” including exclusive reworking of the original source material by Solo Andata, Jasper TX, Zelienople and Konntinent…

Surprising astrologists everywhere, Hessien continue to generate spontaneously out of the ether near the equator, somewhere between Australia and the UK. The most recent occurrence being “Obelisk|Stelea”, constructed in between the north-south divide.

Free Bonus Track For Download:

“Obelisk” – as Hessien’s landscape evolves, the sound continues to push into an environment littered with obstacles. Although not obvious at first, there is a relationship between these objects; a focus on submerged, hazy rhythms and textures that mirror the unconventional landscapes and surrounds. Prominent on this release is the human voice, represented in snatches of field recordings and overheard conversations, including vocals contributed by Jane Williams. Acoustic tones continue to underpin the tactile electronic arrangements – loops, delays, e-bow, cello, pedals, creaking furniture and low-fi hiss rearing up then dropping away as quickly as they came.

“Stelea” – these four pieces have been intercepted in various states of formation by – Solo Andata – combining distant parts of the original composition with their faultless signature sequences, unmistakable and balanced.

The ever-prolific Jasper TX – weaving his acoustical, drone-style magic into the mix, floating into a territory with a never-ending haze as the backdrop.

Zelienople – an open-handed reinterpretation shines and guides the way forward with acoustic/prog interestingness, flowing with a staccato pulse.

And finally, Konntinent – transporting the listener into an irregular, avant-garde-like version, fuzzed-up, resampled and re-routed via a tape deck.

All four reworks have been broken down, inspected, and then put back together. Four pieces becoming eight tales of dislocation, separation and musical connectivity. Hessien and the four remixers conspire a bizarre plot and an equally bizarre, larger-than-life conclusion.

Packaged in letter pressed covers that slip nicely into organic silk screened cotton pouches, this Handstitched* /Fluid Audio split release is limited to 200 copies. An 8-page full colour booklet containing exclusive images and 4 specially commissioned poems by Estela Lamat, themed around the 4 original songs by Hessien, also accompanies the release.

Songs 1-4 produced by Hessien (Charles Sage & Tim Diagram) 2010. Recorded on location in Queanbeyan, Australia and Cambridgshire, UK. Songs 5-8 remixed by Jasper TX, Solo Andata, Zelienople and Konntinent.

1. A Letter from Engels
2. Gazed and Pale Reflections
3. Five Sisters
4. Breaking Webs
5. Gazed and Pale Reflections – Solo Andata Remix
6. A Letter from Engels – Jasper TX Remix
7. Five Sisters – Zelienople Remix
8. Breaking Webs – Konntinents’ Analogue edit.

Available soon through Fluid Audio, Norman Records and Experimedia.

www.fluidaudio.co.uk
www.handstitched.net

www.hessien.net
www.myspace.com/soloandata
www.myspace.com/jaspertx
www.myspace.com/zelienople
www.myspace.com/konntinent

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

Baraku is a four track EP based around samples taken from the 1976 Japanese documentary God Speed You! Black Emperor…

Intended as a tribute to both the band and the film it took it’s name from, the project was recorded in two days using a Macbook, DVD player, an acoustic guitar, a bass, slide, e-bow, and effects pedals.

In regard to the legality of the samples – numerous attempts made to contact director Mitsuo Yanagimachi were unsuccessful, the film appears to be openly distributed and sold around the internet without a nominated rights holder and the project here has been designated Attribution Non Commercial through Creative Commons.

If you are a representative of Mr Yanagimachi or are offended in any way by the use of this material, please feel free to contact me through the link provided above. I will concede that my inability to read or speak Japanese may have hindered my ability to exhaustively research the above. It is intended as a homage and not a crass money grab.

Any monies generated by the sale of these files will be used to offset the modest cost of mastering the project to an acceptable audio standard (my standard, anyway). – Charlie

Download here

Really excited to see that Skurjn, the recent limited edition cd from Hessien is now available digitally in all formats…

Digital release of ‘Skurjn’ by Hessien — originally released on 29 January 2010 and available in limited edition 8cm cd packaged in cork sleeves and stitched by hand. The cork for the packaging was gathered from a sustainable source. The paper parts printed on recycled paper stock.

Grab the digital version here
Some physical copies of ‘Skurjn’ may still exist at Norman Records

www.hessien.net
www.handstitched.net
www.handstitched.bandcamp.com

The video was produced by Tom Hudson