New Releases :

Paul Bradley & Colin Potter
The Simple Plan

Recorded and completed at the end of 2008 and on into the first months of 2009, ´The Simple Plan´ offers a change in focus from previous collaborations between these two artists.

Comprising five tracks, ´The Simple Plan´ is purely instrumental, recorded in real-time and subjected to only minimal digital processing.

Before recording began, the decision was made to create a simpler, more organic piece of work, using computers only sparingly to record the tracks and help with arrangements. There was to be no extended manipulation of sounds, so what you hear, is basically what was played together with no overdubbing and captured live in the studio, as both artists alternated between playing vintage synthesizers  (the active use of synthesizers being a first for Paul Bradley) and guitars whilst being aided by a selection of new and classic effects pedals. Although not completely analogue in realisation, it was analogue in its intent.

All at once harmonious and dissonant, melodic and atonal, calming and animated, these juxtapositions marked the beginning of significant new chapters in the personal lives of both artists and this influenced the work to an almost undeniable degree and is something that subsequently underpins the fundamental nature and feel of ´The Simple Plan´. There is somehow an abstract sense of desire and resolve that although never initially intended as a concept, naturally informed the final recordings.

The first 135 special edition copies come with a bonus disc of additional tracks titled ´Accretion´ which offers reworkings of the original recordings where the rules that governed the original sessions were not applied. ´Accretion´ is therefore quite a different selection of pieces offering alternative combinations and views of the original.

Special edition 2 cd available for
£11 from Twenty Hertz Retail

Monos
Above The Sky

Part One : Back in March 2006 Monos performed their one and only live show, comprised on the day of Darren Tate, Colin Potter and Paul Bradley. The show is recorded on a handheld recorder placed somewhere within the audience by Darius Akashic. Sometime later (probably 2007 no one can remember exactly) the material captured on that recording is revisited in the studio where the track (A Place Of Voices) is recreated over a couple of afternoons and many cups of tea. After that, not much happens.

Part Two : Cut to several months (possibly over a year) later and the recordings are revisited again. This time rather than recreating the material in the studio the original live recordings are used and supplemented with some extra new studio material to create a second track (Cloudless Day). This second track is far more abrasive, abrupt and low-fi than the first and the two pieces stand together in interesting contrast to each other. The familiar and unfamiliar, the context changed, the final result very different, yet at the same time completely natural and cohesive. Then again, not much happens for a time.

Part Three : Skip to sometime late 2008. The two tracks are revisited again along with a third piece that was discovered from a period prior to the performance in 2006 that seems to lay some of the foundations for what was presented live. Originally consisting of raw synthesizer and guitar recordings that were later remixed, effected, spat back out and complimented with other sounds and existing recordings and mixed in the studio to create what was later to be called Rivers (from the bonus disc). A few adjustments are made to A Place Of Voices and the three tracks are prepared for a final release.
In early 2009, it is decided to create a fourth track to complete the project and Perhaps (from the bonus disc) is born. The project is now nearly finished and along with some financial assistance from the ultimately very patient Marek Nawrot, almost ready for pressing. Then again, nothing much happens as the project is delayed due to some personal upheavals. It is not until late 2009 that the artwork is finally completed with the help of Jonathan Coleclough, and everything sent for manufacturing, which is then delayed again not only due to the holiday season, but also because of some very severe wintery weather.

Part Four : So, early 2010, after almost four years since it´s initial inception, with tracks spanning that entire period and from even earlier, Above The Sky is finally completed. Delivered from the manufacturers on a snowy day, where ankles are nearly broken hauling the boxes up some very icy steps; it is finished.

It has also come full circle; the night of the original concert back in 2006 was also marked by the sheer ice rink that slid downhill outside the venue as we all left in the dark and several of the audience (and some performers) were seen slipping in the air and sliding down the hill on their backs. A strange coincidence.

There are 135 special edition two disc copies that come with the bonus album titled Below The Earth which offers an overview of the entire story, and also a standard one disc edition is available that presents the main body of work.

It was a long journey, but well worth it.

Special edition 2 cd available for
£11 from Twenty Hertz Retail

Update :

Suhina is a new sound, music and art organisation based in Valencia, Spain run by Paul and Ruben Garcia. "The primary focus of Suhina is on developing the production, promotion and research of experimental sound art, music and other artistic practices and facilitating presentation and teaching activities with the purpose of establishing itself as a platform for the experimentation, sharing and dissemination of sound and performance works, installations, and other artistic disciplines such as video art and allowing sound artists, musicians, film makers and many other art and cultural professionals to develop their work."
More information can be found at www.suhina.org  though the website is currently under heavy construction, so please return over the coming weeks to see what is happening as there are a number of projects currently under discussion.