SPARKLING WIDE PRESSURE
Grandfather Harmonic
CIRCA212
Preservation 2012
06 Tracks. 50mins32secs

SEAWORTHY
Bellows And Breath
CIRCA112
Preservation 2012
08 Tracks. 38mins38secs

Grandfather Harmonic
Amazon UK: CD | DLD US: CD | DLD Boomkat: CD | DLD iTunes: DLD
Bellows And Breath
Amazon UK: CD | DLD US: CD | DLD Boomkat: CD | DLD iTunes: DLD

The first two in Preservation’s second batch of releases for their Circa project, which aims at showcasing lesser-known artists with a taste for exploratory experimentations, these two albums, released in a series of 300 copies each on CD and as unlimited downloads, come from Tennessee-based artist Frank Baugh (Sparkling Wide Pressure) and Cameron Webb, from Sydney (Seaworthy). Although both already have a number of releases under their respective belts, most of Baugh’s have been very limited runs, for the most part on cassette. Webb on the other hand has been publishing records since the late nineties and has appeared on Steady Cam, Low Point and 12K, for whom he has recorded two solo albums and a collaboration with Matt Rösner. Circa originally comprised a set of six releases by Fabio Orsi, Aaron Martin & Justin Wright, Nickolas Mohanna, Aera C, Deep Magic and Quiet Evening, all published through 2011. Continue Reading »

Finnish musician Oli Aarni first appeared a couple of years ago as Ous Mal on Australian imprint Preservation, but after just one album, he decided to pull the plug on the project and start anew. His new album, once again published on Preservation, was released as Nuojuva, and while it shares a certain feel for ghostly aesthetics with some of his compatriots’ work, his music is undoubtedly personal. Here, he discusses the reasons behind his change of name, why he keeps vocals to rather enigmatic textures, and how he feels about the Finnish music scene.   Continue Reading »

GREG HAINES
Digressions
PRE034
Preservation 2012
05 Tracks. 55mins30secs

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

Since his first album was published on Miasmah six years ago, Greg Haines has become one of the most consistent modern classical composers and musicians, yet he has released relatively little music compared to the likes of Peter Broderick, Nils Frahm or Ólafur Arnalds for instance. Indeed, Digressions is only his third  solo album, yet, he has also released material recorded with Danny Saul, Peter and Heather Broderick, Machinefabriek or Xela to name but a few.

Following his debut, Slumber Tides (Miasmah) and sophomore effort, Until The Point Of Hushed Support (Sonic Pieces), Haines has joined the ranks of Australian imprint Preservation with his latest offering Continue Reading »

NUOJUVA
Valot Kaukaa
PRE033
Preservation 2012
09 Tracks. 45mins40secs

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

The first time Finnish producer and musician Olli Aarni appeared on Australian imprint Preservation, in 2010, he did so under the name Ous Mal, with his debut album, Nuojuva Halava. Two years on, it is with a different project that Aarni returns. While undeniably carved from a very similar bloc, Valot Kaukaa (Lights From Far Away in English), focuses much more on the atmospheric nature of Aarni’s work and on developing a tight relationship between acoustic instruments, electronics and vocal textures. Indeed, while none of the tracks featured here can pretend to qualify as songs in the traditional meaning of the word, they are infused with vocal fragments which radiate through the whole record as they float amongst other components. These ghost-like layers are, for the most part, distorted and processed to the point of losing even their gender aspect, and incorporated as part of Aarni’s dense sonic constructions.

Existing somewhere between the dreamy effusions of fellow Fins Paavoharju or Icelandic collective Múm and the kitsch ambient electronica of The Gentle People, Nuojuva weaves a complex and quixotic web as Aarni slowly works up his layers into consistent ethereal pieces. Continue Reading »

RICHARD SKELTON
Marking Time
PRE018
Preservation 2008
07 Tracks. 40mins54secs

Richard Skelton doesn’t mark time in the sense of someone wading through the nugatory paradise of the weekend, but of someone partaking in an attentive re-collection of moments, corroded and crumbling. There’s no point in progress in a work such as this. Skelton embraces entropy at a stroke and only continues to settle in. Continue Reading »

AARON MARTIN
River Water
PRE026
Preservation 2008
10Tracks. 46mins56secs

River Water is a more varied and energetic outing than Aaron Martin’s sober debut, Almond, published on Australian imprint Preservation in 2006. Martin takes the ephemeral world music concept and pushes it forward boldly, and although it’s something of a bitty collection, it’s one packed with episode and intense detail.

The compositions are finely detailed with a bevy of instruments – cello and violin feature predominantly, backed by flute, singing bowls, spanish bells, mandolin, harmonica, ukulele, and a variety of other non-conventional instruments. Martin’s playing is generally flinty, and he oscillates between backgrounds that are relatively sparse to other more heavily textured, a decision which allows the music to be both intimate and suggestive of a grand scale. Continue Reading »