TAYLOR DEUPREE
Shoals
12K1060
12K 2010
04 Tracks. 45mins18secs

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

Musician, sound artist, photographer, graphic designer… Taylor Deupree is above all an artist who uses a wide array of tools to document the world around him. He has collected part of his interpretations of it on several albums and countless EPs, published primarily on his own 12K imprint, but also on labels as diverse as Mille Plateaux, Spekk, Fällt, Plop, Room40 and Raster-Noton. Beside his solo projects, Deupree has also published a number of collaborative works with artists such as Christopher Willits, Kenneth Kirschner, Solo Andata, Savvas Ysatis or Stephane Mathieu. It has been three years since his last album, Northern, was published, and although he has been far from inactive during that time (he has released a number of shorter formats), Shoals is his first full length release since.

The project originates in an artist residency program Deupree was invited to undertake at the University of York Music Research Centre at the end of 2009, with the aim of conceiving a piece of work which he would not normally be able to create in his studio. Discovering the vast collection of Javanese and Balinese gamelan instruments, Deupree rapidly developed an interest in the sounds he could capture by using the whole instruments as source rather than documenting their natural use, and processing them using a specially developed looping program. Returning to his studio in Brooklyn, Deupree used these sources to create the four pieces collected on this record.

The result is a particularly textural and organic collection where surface noises and tiny sound particles dominate. Despite the processing that has taken place during and after the recordings, Shoals is above all about acoustic components and ambience. This occasionally takes the shape of Deupree’s movements caught by the microphones used, or tape hiss, as noticeable on the title track. Like always in such case, these imperfections give the final recordings an element of vulnerability and render them extremely real. Each of the four tracks is built from one loop which is left to develop progressively from a basic setting into much more complex and layered forms.

Expectedly, the pace is very slow and the tone contemplative, but there is, like often in Deupree’s work, an underlying cinematic aspect which places this record on a different level to a purely ambient record. Here, he creates rather startlingly vast soundscapes which, at times, evoke the icy surroundings of polar expanses, and at others hectic microscopic life forms. There is also an unusually earthiness, possibly characterised by the materials the source instruments are made of (wood, skin essentially). This is tempered by occasional glittering bells and chimes, especially on Falls Touching Grasses, which give the pieces a resonance which would otherwise be absent.

The electro-acoustic nature of Shoals places it quite singularly in Taylor Deupree’s body of work. He has experimented with similar settings before, and has, in recent years, moved towards a more acoustic-based approach, but it takes here a very different connotation. Despite its introspective and contemplative tone, this album has an impressive stature which makes it one of Deupree’s best recordings to date.

4.7/5

Taylor Deupree | Taylor Deupree (MySpace) | 12K
Amazon UK: DLD US: DLD Boomkat: CD | DLD iTunes: DLD

:PAPERCUTZ
Do Outro Lado Do Espelho (Lylac Ambient Reworks)
AB029
Audiobulb Records 2010
12 Tracks. 57mins53secs

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

Originally the project of Porto-based musician Bruno Miguel Pereira Pinto, :Papercutz soon expanded to incorporate vocalist Melissa Veras, with other musicians joining the pair for live performances. Released two years ago on Canadian imprint Apegenine, Lylac, the band’s first album, bridged the gap between stark atmospheric electronica and elegant contemporary pop music to create a superb hybrid, served by Pinto’s delicate blend of acoustic instrumentation, electronic textures and beats on one side, and by Veras’s softly ethereal vocal tones, occasionally reminiscent of Anneli Drecker, on the other. The album was followed by a single, Ultravioleta, which featured remixes by The Sight Below, Neotropic, Spandex and Signer. This is partly what encouraged Pinto to let other musicians give their own vision of his work. The resulting collection of remixes, published on Audiobulb, features reworks by Helios, Simon Scott, Taylor Deupree, He Can Jog, Autistici, Astroboy, Chris Bissonnette, Jasper TX,  Rameses III, Emanuele Errante and Feu Follet.

Expectedly, the tone is somewhat subdued and, occasionally on the verge of reflective here, but, despite involving artists from very different horizons, this album is extremely consistent all the way through, and actually sits comfortably next to Lylac by complementing it rather well. Indeed, while each artist interprets a given song in their own way, bringing their own universe into that of :Papercutz, they all do so very respectfully of the original work by retaining much of the layered aspect of songs. These are however for the most part radical reworkings, which see soundscapes developed into lush new ambient forms or retract into spacious drones, while the voice is in turn wrapped in textures and treated as just another sound source, or isolated as primary organic element to increase its impact.

On The Gift Of Self, Simon Scott focuses on expanding just a fraction of guitar tones into a rising drone around which circles distant voices, while Taylor Deupree turns the somewhat stripped down Do Outro Lado Do Espelho into a rich and vivid soundtrack above which Veras’s voice appears as in suspension. He Can Jog brings things back down to earth for a moment with a stabbing distorted electric guitar on A Way To Emerge, but soon the tone softens again and allows for another dreamy space to develop, away from the marimbas and percussions of the original. Perhaps the most striking remixes are found toward the end, first with the breathy Astroboy version of Lost Boys, which retains the rhythmic pattern of the Lylac version, but dips it into a much hazier sound setting, while he pushes the voice slightly deeper in the mix, then with Jasper TX’s magical take on Broken Treasure. Building on a single looped chord progression by slowly adding delicate piano lines, then burying them under layers of sound, Dag Rosenqvist delivers here a truly magnificent version.

Remix projects can be difficult to carry through without impacting in one way or another on the original versions, especially when an entire album is concerned. In the case of :Papercutz, the great respect with which each of the contributors treat Bruno Miguel Pereira Pinto’s delicate arrangements and Melissa Veras’s soft interpretation ensures that both original and remixed versions can exist side by side, complement each other which retaining their own identity.

4.5/5

:Papercutz | :Papercutz (MySpace) | Audiobuld Records
Amazon UK: CD | DLD US: CD | DLD Boomkat: DLD

Lylac (He­lios Remix) from Audiobulb on Vimeo.

STEPHAN MATHIEU + TAYLOR DEUPREE
Transcriptions
KK019
Spekk 2009
08 Tracks. 48mins53secs

CD: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Boomkat Download: Boomkat

Neither Stephan Mathieu nor Taylor Deupree need any introduction, so extensive and emblematic their respective work is. While both are serial collaborative workers, this is the first time they have brought their sound worlds together and collaborated on a common project, quite a surprising fact if considered that they are united not only by a similar passion for sound, but also by a common interest in graphic design and photography.

The starting point of this project is Mathieu’s use of wax cylinders, an ancestor of the vinyl record, and 78s, playing the cylinders through two portable gramophones and recording them straight on the computer via a microphone, processing the recordings in real time. From there on, Deupree added guitar textures and old synthesizers to give the original sound sources a warmer glow. The resulting eight compositions are rich evocative sound worlds, with beautiful textural surfaces and absorbing depth.

Opening the proceedings is Nocturne, a magnificent piece where distant echoes of human voices and continuous waves that comes crashing upon a thick mat of crackles and noises in slow motion all peacefully lead to a sumptuous pastoral ending sequence, paving the way to Largo which follows. The mood is equally as peaceful there, a condition that is inherent to the whole record, but the constant reflux is given a much earthier feel here. There is also something quite autumnal in the tone of the piece, as if it was covered by a lingering fog, softening the edges of each sound used. Later, White Heaven develops over twelve minutes, rising from a cluster of distortions into a beautifully bright and warm sequence, which, as the distortions recede in its last section, reveals a stunning dreamy slant.

Solitude and Remain also seem shrouded in a thick cloud, rendering their respective landscapes through extremely soft brushes. The former occasionally recalls the contemplative tones of Dead Can Dance, especially as a distant bell tolls over an elegant layered drone, while the latter is ridden with crackles and interferences, giving it a thoroughly exquisite patina. The album then seems to take a turn toward much denser sound formations, especially on Andante, Genius and Solitude Of Spheres. On Andante, the pair create once again a majestic textured drone, which while appearing almost entirely static, actually progresses very slowly. Upon it, they add what sounds like wooden percussions, placing them in isolation deep into the mix. Genius is grainier, its surface flawed by a processed distorted electric guitar and punctuated with random percussive sounds once again. Solitude Of Spheres, which closes, has a more bucolic feel, reflecting upon the epic White Heaven before it, but once again there are some added textures here which give the piece a slight abrasive undertone, perhaps an illustration of the friction made by a needle on a record, until a lone acoustic guitar spells the end of this introspective journey.

This is a collaboration that has been expected for some time, and which doesn’t disappoint, Stephan Mathieu and Taylor Deupree’s partnership demonstrating strong symbiosis. Mathieu’s original work is perhaps the most prominent here, with Deupree restricting his contribution to enhancing the elements brought by his friend, yet this doesn’t create any uncomfortable equilibrium. Indeed, this actually serves the record and gives it its stunning consistency and tone.

4.6/5

Stephan Mathieu | Taylor Deupree | Spekk
CD: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Boomkat Download: Boomkat

VARIOUS ARTISTS
1 | Favourite Places
AB016
Audiobulb Records 2008
10Tracks. 54mins04secs

A foray into the psychological swamp of today’s practitioners of experimental electronica, the simple though direct and ultimately telling quality of the question that underlies this compilation shines through the ensuing compositions like light through a stained glass window. “What is your favorite place in the world?” the label asks and Aaron Ximm, Taylor Deupree, Biosphere, and Leafcutter John, amongst others, are those who give voice to their private sentiments on the matter.

Apart from the aural evidence provided, each artist scrawls a brief gambit concerning their selection, where the sounds are protruding from and why it seems pertinent. It is pulled off with poise and a certain sense of importance, and this makes it something in which investments can be made, won, and lost, rather than something that asks for little and is content to be thumbed through casually.

In his piece 6am, Deupree records the calming burr of insects as they awaken from their mildewy bed just steps outside his home. These noises are then spliced with clean drones and hushed tones lulling time away in a state of suspension. Many others seem equally enamored with the place they call home, with its inherent spatial and acoustic potential, though the recording shows some variety, with others opting for public spaces – such as museums – or memorable vacation spots. RF, accompanied by Midori Hirano, is one of the latter, and their piece provides one of the more song-based moments harbored by the document. The piece is paved with field recordings of the two sauntering through the Shimogamo Shrine, a forested place near the centre of Kyoto, but it reverberates with a soft guitar melody and Hirano’s delicate, rather beautiful voice.

In such circumstances a purely sentimental response would be all too easy, and while the nature of the question doesn’t go without taking its victims, over the course of the album, many portray something personal while still managing it with technique and proficiency.

3/5

Audiobulb Records
Buy: CD | iTunes

SOLO ANDATA/SEAWORTHY/TAYLOR DEUPREE
Live In Melbourne
12k2008
12K 2008
03Tracks. 49mins.37secs

Photographer, sound artist and label manager Taylor Deupree took to recording the festivities housed under the Social Club one April night in Melbourne, Australia. With good reason, too, for the night displayed here bristles with a vast array of events, too numerous to catalogue. The sonic endeavors of Solo Andata, Seaworthy, and Deupree himself, are filtered through a refined sensibility, resulting in a work of coherent flow and balance, and, perhaps most importantly, an ephemeral elegance bound to a very real sense of time and place.

Solo Andata, who released the splendid Fyris Swan on Hefty Records some while ago, gives this album its first breath. As on that album, the duo display a feel that is gimlet-eyed and spartan, with woozy but tight harmonies winding through loops and whispers of distortion added for tonal color. There is something quite alluring about the discernment and lightness of touch that the duo possess in the ease with which they see the elements carefully through a varied series of deconstructions and reconstructions – moving blithely and effectively from glassine timbral masses, with piano rotating in eccentric orbits, to ethereal and minimalist, to finally a tempered sort of jazz, where isolated guitar lines sound over a shimmer of metallophones, embedded in a galaxy of bass drones.

From here, Seaworthy provides a variation on a track initially featured on his 12K release, Map In Hand. His performance style is intensely fleet. Over the course of the nineteen-minute composition, slow, moving acoustic guitar figures tighten and relax across continually shifting tempos, found sounds, and sonorous humming. In a piece that seems lo-fi in comparison to the meticulous nature of his full-length albums, Deupree says the final farewell with a staid, intimate, and attractive electronic composition that constantly seems to be withdrawing into itself so as to amass itself upon itself. On a whole, there is a reasuring, wraparound quality to much of this recording, like soaking in a forest pool.

4.2/5

Solo Andata | Seaworthy | Taylor Deupree (MySpace) | 12K