OBERMAN KNOCKS
Beatcroff Slabs
AP004
Aperture Records 2012
16 Tracks. 68mins40secs

Amazon UK: CD US: CD Boomkat: CD

Oberman Knocks is the project of London-based musician Nigel Truswell. Although he relocated to London in the late eighties, Truswell’s work as Oberman Knocks owes much to the rich musical heritage of his birthplace, Sheffield, home of Cabaret Voltaire, Human League, Heaven 17, ABC to Pulp, Warp or The Black Dog, who still operate from there today, to name but a few. Following a chance encounter with Andrea Parker via Mira Calix’s Chantal Passamonte, Truswell released his debut album, 13th Smallest, on Parker’s burgeoning new imprint, Aperture, three years ago. Dark, intricate and post industrial, the album was an incredibly intense journey through dystopian landscapes.

Three years on, the intensity has increased drastically. Continue Reading »

Three years ago, the first album on Andrea Parker’s new venture, Aperture Records was published. The work of Sheffield-born Nigel Truswell, released under the enigmatic name of Oberman Knocks, 13th Smallest was a particularly dense and abstract electronic record, sounding somewhat like a malfunctioning machine. With his second album ready to be released, once again on Aperture, we caught up with the man to talk about his formative years, rubbing shoulders with Autechre, Mira Calix and Andrea Parker, learning to get to grip about the technology he uses and the prospects of a collaboration which may take him onto a very different path. Continue Reading »

CLIFFORDANDCALIX
Lost Foundling 1999-2004
AP002CD
Aparture Records 2010
13 Tracks. 50mins26secs

Amazon UK: CD | DLD US: CD | DLD Boomkat: CD | DLD iTunes: DLD

Over a period of five years, Seefeel’s Mark Clifford and Mira Calix irregularly got together to make music, with the intention to get back to the recordings at some point and finish them. Due to respective commitments, they were never able to complete the project at the time. With Andrea Parker showing great interest in releasing the result of this collaboration on her new label, Aperture, the pair reconvened some years later but found that the technology used to record had moved on considerably, leaving them with no real possibility to finally get these completed, and decided to present a selection of thirteen recordings in their raw state. Continue Reading »

OBERMAN KNOCKS
13th Smallest
AP001
Aperture Records 2009
10 Tracks. 47mins45secs

Like an ice-cold Autechre starved of natural light and oxygen, Oberman Knocks dispenses incredibly dense and suffocating soundscapes, where sounds are shredded and pulverised, beats constantly falter or freeze in mid-loop and occasional shards of human voice get caught in the complex set of mechanical cogs that maintain this machine alive.

Released on Andrea Parker’s new Aperture imprint, set up to release conceptual experimental works, 13th Smallest is the debut album from Sheffield-born, south-London-based Nigel Truswell, who has previously recorded as Alkin Engineering and WG Machines and released music on Static Caravan, Unlabel and October Man Recordings amongst others. Continue Reading »