The Tenth Annual Decibel Festival 2013

I’ve already been lucky enough to attend Substrata Festival this year following my move to the Pacific North West, but a few months ago the sudden realisation hit me that I’d also be in with a chance to attend the tenth anniversary of Decibel Festival in Seattle. From it’s humble beginnings in 2003, Decibel is now one of the worlds leading Electronic festivals, with a heavy focus on live performances, interactive multi-media art and state-of-the-art sound technology and education.

The line-up for this year’s celebratory edition has been drip-fed to us these past few months over three announcements and now we’ve got all the players on paper, I thought it was about time to feature a few who i’m more than excited to see in my new country of residence. To say the line-up is impressive is an understatement. This year’s festival manages to combine some classic acts alongside many of my favourites of recent years – most of which I could only have dream’t seeing in the USA.

My hit-list for the weekend-long city festival is long to say the least. Childhood heroes Moby, Peter Hook (New Order) and the legendary Orb will be performing, the latter of which is obviously pretty special – getting these guys together seems almost impossible nowadays, but I hear that they will be in full attendance for this performance.

But what’s really getting me excited about this year’s festival are the two Optical A/V showcases featuring a wide selection of international ambient, neo-classical and experimental music. Hosted at the Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall and the Triple Door Dinner Theater (remember that live recording from Helios?) Optical 1 will feature Hauschka who i’m yet to see live, and the debut live performance of  Oliveray – the collaborative project of Nils Frahm and Peter Broderick.  Their beautiful improvised neo-classical album, ‘Wonders’ was released on Erased Tapes back in 2011 but this seems to be the first time the duo will perform together as one.

The second Optical showcase will be a mirror of one of my favourite gigs of all time, when Erased Tapes’ Ólafur Arnalds and Nils Frahm take over the Illsley Recital Hall on September 27th. if it’s anything like the performance they put on in London last year, then this is set to be another special night. Since that night, Ólafur has seen his latest album ‘For Now I Am Winter’ come and go with high praise, and Nils has been busy in the remix world, both providing (for the likes of Ralph Starck) and receiving (Juno reworked – where fellow Decibel attendee Luke Abbott is also involved). It’ll be interesting to see what this amazingly talented pair throw at us on the night.

In addition to the Optical Showcases, I do of course like the nights to extend a little every now and then, and needless to say there’s plenty of artists to satisfy the all night crazies. Ranging from the electronic genius of Max Cooper, Ghostly’s new signing Dauwd, and the always ASIP celebrated Lusine, the electronica side of Decibel is also looking strong. I may even be tempted to visit my old techno favourites Âme and one of my more recent favourite producers, Kink.

I haven’t even mentioned The Sight Below, Shigeto, Speedy J, Teen Daze or the illusive Kompakt After-hours showcase thats scheduled for 2am on September 28th… Persuaded yet? I’ve picked out just a couple of tracks from some of my favourite artists to feature this year below. If you can join me up in Seattle, then be sure to give me a shout.

Both festival and individual performance tickets available on dbfestival.com

Ocoeur – Light As A Feather (Exclusive stream)

“Au coeur” translated into English is simple: “to the heart”, so get ready for yet another great album to hold a special little place in your beloved 2013 music library.

A name which is brand new to me, Franck Zaragoza has previous releases on the Spanish netlabel Musica Vermella, and has now signed his new album with n5MD – a perfect home for such a vivid, melodic piece of electronica and exactly the type of release that helps hold n5MD in high regard amongst us melodic electronica fans.

An organic start, the album begins with ‘Light’, a dramatic soundtrack with quivering strings and a poignant melody – a darker side to something you may come to expect from Rhian Sheehan for example. It quickly takes an even starker dive with squelching beats and a distant echoed tinkering in ‘Resonanace’ which serves as a perfect prerequisite to a lighter track with beautiful instrumentation, ‘Reconstitution'; cello and violins taking center stage amongst an innocent foreground.

Don’t let this fool you into thinking we’re on to another soundtrack-esque album.’Dream Pursuit’ sets the tone for straight up electronic brilliance. If there are any deep techno DJ’s out there reading this, then you’ve just found a killer – ‘Astral Projection’. The dark and dingy club scene is primed and the crowd are gently rocking with the atmospheric chugging. The “holy shit what is this track?” moment. It’s tracks like this that inspire me to revisit my record collection and put together a mix with this as the pinnacle moment.

But don’t be forgetting the very first sentence of this post. This album has emotion and ‘My Love’ is it the heartbreaker. A distant rainy day, accompanied by a soft and gentle piano. Nothing else, apart from a gentle break in the album and sudden recognition that ‘Light As A Feather’ is going beyond your expectations.

The sharp, snappy beats that we come to love from many electronica n5MD artists such as (ghost), Proem and Crisopa, make their mark on ‘1.11’ and the album ends on a sweeping ambient number full of distant children’s voices and deep, prolonged pulses in ‘Envol’. By now,Ocoeur has you dangling from his fingertips, but should you invest in the album and get the two additional bonus tracks, you’ll fall victim to two of it’s finest moments. ‘Kids Playing’ and ‘Out The Road’ – I don’t even want to comment on these two, I just urge you to get this and experience the full journey from start to finish.

Yet another accomplished album which depicts a tale of highs and lows, joyfulness and dark, symphonies and glitches, intelligence and simplification. 2013, and n5MD has adorned us with (ghost) and now Ocoeur; this may be one of the label’s best years yet.

ASIP is lucky enough to have the first full album stream below and you can pre-order with immediate MP3 download now.

(ghost) – ‘Departure’ exclusive stream

I’m always excited to share new music, especially from new artists on great labels. So it gives me pleasure to bring to you all an exclusive first listen of (ghost)‘s new album, ‘Departure’ soon to be released on one of our favourite outputs, n5MD.

(ghost) is Brian Froh, from Connecticut, USA. Influenced by the likes of fellow label mate Proem, as well as the notorious Boards of Canada, ‘Departure’ is a personal journey blending together “an eclectic series of moods including hope, fear, and the pursuit of a better self”. The mixture of evolving and dynamic states are clearly evident throughout the album, wrapped amongst skittering beats, addictive melodies and evocative synth-work.

A sound similar to the likes of Loess, Ametsub, Crisopa and the aforementioned Proem are evident throughout, but (ghost) does a very good job of evoking feeling throughout – something that’s very hard to do with this kind of electronica. Complex beat structures and multiple instruments sometimes do little to compensate the narrative of music, but as the likes of Aphex Twin and Autechre have mastered, when it works, it works well and (ghost) is definitely someone who has started to nurture this process with Departure.

It’s an album that evolves, and does much to the imagination, a superb debut and an even better addition to the ever-growing roster on n5MD.

Depature will be available on the 9th April through n5MD and can be pre-ordered here

Follow (ghost) on Facebook.

Kiyoko – Sea Of Trees

You’d be forgiven for thinking this new album from the Auxiliary outfit (ASC’s label) was conjured in the deepest forests of Japan, surrounded by calm lakes, endangered flowers and Geisha girls. Maybe it was… but given it’s Manchester’s answer to the 30BPM that lie between the 140 and 170 range, I have a feeling this is just one-hell of a superb depiction of escapism from a cold and wet studio in Northern England. That’s just my kind way of saying… transporting a listener in this kind of way requires one hell of a talent.

Don’t let my cold light-of-day put you off. You can listen to this album and not touch the shores of Europe let alone England. And, just like my perceived origins, you’d have no clue as to what type of producer would be be behind such an album.

Not alone, Synkro (Joe McBride) has teamed up with Bering Strait (Jack Lever) – a newcomer it seems, to flip his original sound, to the most extent, on it’s head. If Synkro is the pairs masculine side, then the delicate touches of Kiyoko are the epitome of a feminine side – or at least that’s what ‘Kiyoko’ translates to.

Needless to say, the Japanese influence in here is rife. From the background vocal samples to the three-stringed Shamisen sounding guitars, three things stay true to Synkro’s style:

Emotion; it’s there in buckets and the atmosphere in ‘Sea Of Trees’ is pitched perfectly in between considered observation and personal reflection. Sit back and let the swathes of analogue sounds immerse.

Attention to detail: ‘Sea of Trees’ is beautifully simple, but there’s the odd touch of perfection, take the squelchy sounds balanced against a simple guitar in ‘Open’ for example.

And lastly, spaced-out beats. Just like the autonomic sound Synkro is becoming versed with, this album bases itself on some beautiful head-nodders and scarce percussion. Take ‘Shinagawa’ – probably the most upbeat track on the album, but definitely one of the best.

Like the impact Desolate’s ‘Invisible Insurrection‘ had on 2011, ‘Sea of Trees’ is one of the best albums of the year, and all for the right reasons. It’s come out of nowhere, from a producer experimenting with something new, and it’s refreshingly unique. This one will be on many ‘best-of’ reviews come end of year if it gets the traction it deserves…

 ‘Sea Of Trees’ is available as MP3/FLAC via Boomkat and of course, with any CD orders I’m sure the label would appreciate those direct here.

Aphex Twin – Five Selected Ambient Works

The majority of you will read this and needn’t go any further. There’s nothing new here i’m afraid. No secret bootlegs or tribute mix. The only news is that one of the best (if not the best) ambient electronica albums to be made has been repressed and now available to buy again (I snapped mine up from the brilliant Norman Records). So, if you’re feeling a little nostalgic and have been lacking in the Aphex ambient love department recently, read on!

Listening back to this record on a turntable, with subtle and very pleasing vinyl crackles as opposed to slick MP3s, reminded me just how great this album is (yes I finally made the decision to remove the plastic wrapper from the LP). And, if for some reason, someone was to stumble across this post not having listened to this album before, then, well i’ll be damn pleased I made the effort to put this together, because you (if that is you) will be just as pleased you started reading and listening.

And, if like me you listen to this release like a christian reads a bible, then let this be another excuse to listen to the work of a genius. I could talk about every track on the album but in the interest of not over-aphexing, here’s five tracks either from, or associated with the album.

1. Rhubarb - one of the most beautiful pieces of music I have ever heard. Not to forget some amazing remixes of it too.

2. Stone In Focus – this track was only available on the vinyl and cassette versions so is likely to be one of the lesser known on the album, so just in case you haven’t heard it… here it is.

3. Fourtet remix of ‘Cliffs’ – Released in 1999 – a perfect example of why Mr Hebden is so talented, even when producing in his teens. This is by no means better than the original (and I would include the original), but I wanted to feature this remix as it’s not that well publicised.

4. Blue Calx – my second favourite track on the album, and the first track to successfully use a ticking clock/metronome sound which hasn’t sent me insane, followed by none other than Global Communication’s 14:31.

5. Z-twig. An amazing example of how a repetitive melody, in a short space of time, can be so utterly beautiful, and one of the shortest tracks on the album which I wish went on forever.