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Colorful insights ripple through the mind, like waves in a pool of quiet solitude. Inspiration brings renewal – a tranquil bridge of intensity and peace.
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During the Soviet era, art often had to align with propaganda, seemingly fostering a symbiotic relationship between the state and its people. Consequently, in the realm of “Social Realism,” most forms of artistic experimentation were strongly discouraged and even punishable. With few exceptions, 20th-century Georgian classical/chamber music remained quite conservative; however, when faced with dysfunctional cultural phenomena, there will always be gaps in societal walls through which oppressed cultures can carry their historical heritage and unique paradigms.
In 2018, Glonti started collecting LPs of Soviet-era Georgian composers at Tbilisi’s “Dry Bridge” flea market.The records mostly consisted of classical and chamber music released on Melodiya, the singular, state owned record label of the USSR. It was through this process that the idea of Recollection was born, as Glonti aimed to create an album that would utilize samples from his growing collection.
Recollections I-II will be the first release in a series of 7’’ records, followed by three more releases. The artwork by Dmytro Nikolaienko of Day Night reflects the generic qualities of Soviet-era cover art.
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Full Track Streaming:
“Recollections I”
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“Low Fuzz X Mutant Radio X Shape+ [24.05.2024]”
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Sunroof [Daniel Miller and Gareth Jones] have announced details of a new album, Electronic Music Improvisations Volume 3, set for release on vinyl, CD and digitally via the Parallel Series of Mute on 29 November 2024.
Electronic Music Improvisations Volume 3 is a collection of nine improvised tracks, recorded using the duo’s Eurorack modular systems, and builds upon the self-imposed parameters laid out on their 2021 debut. With nothing pre-planned or rehearsed, each of the nine tracks were recorded using four channels (two each) with no overdubs. Explaining that “Our practice is more abstract than thematic. Every time we meet, we attempt a fresh start” the Miller and Jones arrived to each recording session with the spirit, energy and discipline of improvisation and recorded the tracks as live performances, with very little post-production work done once the tracks are recorded.
One exception is on ‘Ensnare’. The original, where glassy percussion works alongside submerged rhythmic beats, has been given two separate remixes by Daniel Miller and Gareth Jones, allowing listeners a glimpse into their very different but intrinsically intertwined processes.
Daniel Miller and Gareth Jones have been collaborating for four decades. Although neither dwell on their past work, preferring to constantly explore new ways to create, Miller and Mute’s legacy is given a nod on ‘Splendid’ which opens with the distinct hiss of analogue tape over a rhythmic heart beat before oscillators burst and collide. This track was recorded using the original 4-track TEAC that Miller picked up second hand in the late 70s and used to record The Normal’s Warm Leatherette 7”.
Daniel Miller and Gareth Jones’ collaboration began in 1982 when Miller asked Jones to work with him on what became Depeche Mode’s Construction Time Again. After Depeche Mode had gone home for the day, the two would stay on to work on their own sessions, a practise that continues to this day. By the mid-nineties Sunroof had become a remix project, reworking the likes of Can, MGMT, To Rococo Rot, Kreidler and Goldfrapp, amongst others, and their first recordings appeared on a compilation paying tribute to Neu!
In 2019, Miller and Jones were heading to a György Ligeti concert at the Barbican and beforehand the pair spent a couple of hours improvising with modular systems. Unusually, this time they decided to record the session and over a pre-concert meal, Gareth asked, “Are we actually going to make a record together before we die?”
The resulting album, Electronic Music Improvisations Volume 1 (2021) was followed by Electronic Music Improvisations Volume 2 (2023), and since 2021, Sunroof have been performing select live shows – at venues such as Café OTO (London), the London School of Economics, the Museum of Modern Electronic Music Frankfurt, Silent Green in Berlin, Ombra Festival (Barcelona), Oslo Cathedral, Golden Pudel (Hamburg), DG Kunstraum (Munich), and IKLECTIK (London) – allowing their live performance to feed back into their recordings. Some of these recordings were released last year as a Bandcamp exclusive, Electronic Music Improvisations Live in London and Frankfurt (see recommendations).
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Daniel Miller – “NovaFuture Blog Mix June 2020”
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Italian musician, instrument-builder, producer and composer, ALESSANDRO CORTINI, has shared the first piece of music from his forthcoming release. Nati Infiniti – 40-minutes of hypnotic work, separated into five movements – debuted as an immersive audio installation that ran across four floors of the Museu de Lisboa’s Fábrica da Moagem, a disused flour mill.
Watch the video, with imagery by Marco Ciceri, to the penultimate piece of Nati Infiniti, ‘IV’, which cascades and surges towards the album’s finale below.
Nati Infiniti reimagines the installation – commissioned by Sónar Lisboa 2022 – capturing the ambience of the original piece, where each of the four floors of the cavernous mill evoked a different state through Cortini’s sound design. Constantly unfolding as the listener travelled through the building, the album harnesses the movement of the piece, highlighting the interconnectedness of all things.
The work – which utilises the Strega instrument that Cortini co-designed with Make Noise – evolves across 40 minutes, and was mixed and mastered by Marta Salogni (Björk, Depeche Mode, Lucrecia Dalt) into five movements. This interpretation of Nati Infiniti – Italian for “born infinite” – will be available on 4 October 2024. The album’s art, designed to mirror this concept, will be offered on vinyl (featuring an embossed silver mirror board sleeve), CD (with a clear varnished gatefold mirror board sleeve), and digitally.
Cortini debuted the live audio-visual performance of Nati Infiniti at Berlin’s Atonal Festival resulting in high praise and, after a series of sold-out performances – each showcasing an improvised version of Nati Infiniti with no two concerts ever the same – Cortini will embark on a tour of North America and Europe throughout ’24 and into ‘25 – with more dates to be added.
Alessandro Cortini is one of the foremost figures of contemporary electronic music, best known for his haunting, atmospheric work. A longstanding member of Nine Inch Nails (his tenure has stretched from 2005 to the present day), he is a highly prolific artist, releasing a steady stream of his own heady music on luminary labels including Mute, Hospital, and Important Records for the past decade. Throughout his shadowy rise to fame, he has collaborated with the likes of Lawrence English, Daniel Avery, and Merzbow. He has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – the only Italian musician ever honoured – and found time to create the Strega (used on his previous album, Scuro Chiaro, which Pitchfork described as “pitched somewhere between purgatory and the planetarium… consistently managing to thrill and surprise”) and the forthcoming module, Bruxa, with Make Noise. Additionally, he has soundtracked catwalk shows for fashion giants Alexander McQueen, Dior, and Fendi, composed for Disney/Hulu’s hit show The Bear, and remixed tracks for Depeche Mode, Mogwai, Death Cab For Cutie, Yann Tiersen, and Vatican Shadow. Balancing dark ambience with smoky, pulsing rhythms, his compositions are perfectly restrained, textured, and mesmeric. His vast and expansive work spans across genres, showcasing his versatile talent and innovative approach to music.
