Copy

Hello everyone! 

Bandcamp Friday day is back and it's today!

I'll keep this preamble short and sweet but please note the following things:

Below you'll find a discount code that will give you 25% off the
Mappa Editions catalogue including my own new album, Newfoundout.  Please note that you can also apply this code for 25% anything of mine at nickstorring.bandcamp.com 

I also want to remind you that at the very end of these emails I always provide a brief list of recommendations outside of my own work and that of my publicity clients.  I'd urge you to check that out when you get a chance.

Hope all of you are doing well and managing to find your way outdoors despite the inconsistency of our summer weather.

Sincerely,
Nick

 

                                                             
Nick Storring — Newfoundout 
(CD/DL out now on mappa editions) 25% from now until Monday (see below for promo code!)


Newfoundout is my 7th full-length release following last year's acclaimed My Magic Dreams Have Lost Their Spell (Orange Milk Records). 

I'm proud to report that, in spite of only being out for a week now, it has already been receiving some praise of its own: “I've so enjoyed the emotional hinterlands that he takes us to. Nothing is entirely clear. There are absolutely no clichés at play. He's picking up on the sonic potential around notions of space, notions of repurposed objects, notions of tapping memory and suggestion.”
Kate Molleson, BBC Radio 3

"Every segment of Newfoundout is like a 360º bubble of sounds overlapping, a form of ear only virtual reality. Sounds made of similar things, different sounds following the same pattern, ebbing and flowing, smudged and vectored. 64 illusionary minutes that describe thousands of episodic blocks, interlocking with their partners in an endless dazzle of creativity." — John Nicol, Obladada

 While maintaining a similar methodology that uses acoustic and electromechanical instruments exclusively, it trades its predecessor's cello-heavy quasi-orchestral sound for something that's more elusive but also driving emphasizing wind and percussion instruments.  It's now available on CD and digitally from the amazing Slovak label mappa editions (whose catalogue—which features the likes of Sarah Hennies, Diatribes, Infant and other amazing artists—is something you should definitely).  Speaking of which, now is the perfect time to take a dive into mappa's beautiful discography.  They're offering 25% all releases right now. Just use the code mappka at the check out. (As I said above, you can also use this on everything at my own Bandcamp)

LISTEN AND PURCHASE HERE
Check out reviews from : FoxyDigitalis | PopMatters | Night After Night | À découvrir absolument

 

                                                             
Rat-drifting's triumphant return!

As I mentioned previously... many of you will probably fondly remember the label Rat-drifting that Martin Arnold and Eric Chenaux ran from 2002-11, (until the latter moved from Toronto to France.) In that time, they released a staggering and consistently excellent array of material from the scruffy-but-sumptuous harmonies of The silt to the wayward jazz of Drumheller, and from the strange standards of the Reveries to the Allison Cameron Band's eccentric blend of contemporary composition and various folk idioms. 

Well... good news!  Not only have they put all 22 of their earlier albums up on Bandcamp, they've also started up again with three new releases.  Said trio of albums includes a new one from the Draperies — an improvising trio featuring Chenaux, Ryan Driver and Doug Tielli, Golden Melody Awards — the duo of Driver and Kurt Newman, as well as a recording devoted to the music of eldritch Priest.

Golden Melody Awards — Golden Melody Awards
The Draperies — La Historia Del Sombrero
eldritch Priest — Many Traceries

 

                                                             
Rose Bolton — The Lost Clock
(CS/DL out: June 25th on Important Records/ Cassauna) DIGITAL AVAILABLE NOW! (CASSETTE SOLD OUT!)

The JUNO-nominated Rose Bolton’s first release for Important Records subsidiary Cassauna manages to reconcile the disparate streams of its composer’s rich artistic practice. The shadowy sound palette and delicate volatility of form are a testament to Bolton’s imagination and varied experience, which, in addition to electronic music, encompasses chamber and orchestral works, installation, film scores, and beyond. Her extensive work with instrumental forces is reflected in her meticulous sound design here. Although synthetic in origin, this poignant soundworld teems with a dynamic, breathing tactility.  The Quietus recently called it ""softly addictive, suspending time like staring out over the flickering city lights at night."

The cassette edition is now completely sold out but you can still purchase it digitally:
PREVIEW + ORDER DIGITAL HERE

————————————————————————————

Jessica Ackerley — Morning / mourning
(CD/CS/DL out: May 28th on Cacophonous Revival) AVAILABLE NOW!

This richly textured solo guitar offering serves as an intense and intimate portrait of Jessica Ackerley’s sonic personality. The Canadian-American guitarist and composer became a fixture of the New York scene, performing alongside the likes of Tyshawn Sorey, Daniel Carter, Marc Edwards, Luke Stewart, Ryan Sawyer, Gabby Fluke-Mogul, Nick Fraser, Elisa Thorn at venues including The Stone, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Blue Note. She was recently featured on Adult Swim’s compilation New Jazz Century alongside heavyweights such as Matana Roberts, Anna Webber, Makaya McCraven, and Jaimie Branch.

Recorded during a period of self-isolation, the music on Morning / mourning confronts grief and questions of identity, while paying homage to two of her primary mentors Vic Juris and Bobby Cairns—both of whom passed away recently. The result is a nuanced and idiosyncratic collection of work that embraces lyricism and sonic exploration in equal measure, its poignant and personal performances only amplified by the way in which they were captured.


PREVIEW + ORDER HERE

————————————————————————————

Intersystems — #IV
(LP/CD/DL out: April 30th on Waveshaper Media) AVAILABLE NOW!



"Intersystems create visceral listening experiences that transport you into netherworlds. It’s good to feel uncomfortable sometimes because inside the darkness we find new pieces of ourselves. #4 is one wild ride." — Brad Rose, Foxy Digitalis

Infamous psychedelic multimedia collective, Intersystems, makes a surprise return with their first album since 1968, #IV, out April 30th from Waveshaper Media (of I Dream of Wires notoriety). Comprised of architect Dik Zander, light sculptor Michael Hayden, poet Blake Parker, and musician John Mills-Cockell (of Syrinx, Kensington Market and more), this groundbreaking Torontonian group was known for its hi-tech pan-sensory events, and a trilogy of defiant and disorienting records that have since become coveted collector’s items (and seen lavish reissue via Alga Marghen)

Nearly fifty years on, Hayden and Mills-Cockell decided to revive the long-dormant project with a series of sessions at Hamilton, Ontario’s storied Grant Avenue Studio. This music, documented #IV remains congruent with the project’s original impulse, yet is irrefutably of the present moment. Taking cues from its stark predecessor, a modular Moog synthesizer system is the primary instrument, but here the sonorities that Mills-Cockell conjures are dynamic and diverse. Meanwhile, Parker’s texts are rendered in computer-synthesized voices that alternate between an eerily life-like delivery and slurred cybernetic faltering, bringing a glossy dystopian veneer to the group’s anxious surrealism.


"#IV is an album we have played several times and still remains totally confusing. [...] This album isn’t them mellowing with age or getting cosy. If anything, the huge gap in their discography has just made their uncompromisingly wild art even more concise and elegant than ever. The entire album is an unexpected but gratefully received gift – amazing stuff."
John Nicol, Obladada 

 PREVIEW + PURCHASE HERE

————————————————————————————

Tim Brady — Actions Speak Louder
(3xCD/DL out: April 23rd on Redshift Records) AVAILABLE NOW!

Award-winning Montréal composer and guitarist Tim Brady has spent the good part of four decades unfolding a potent and polymorphous body of work. Once hailed by Guitar Player as one of the 30 most important guitarists for the future of the instrument, Brady’s virtuosity palpably drives his music, generating a surging energy that even illuminates moments of repose. Yet this same energy also propels his imagination well beyond the confines of the guitar. His catalogue bounds effortlessly from symphonic heft to moody electroacoustics, from sinewy chamber works to art-song mutations, all which can be heard over the course of the Actions Speak Louder triptych, sold both separately and as a set from Vancouver's Redshift Records.

"Brady is very much a contemporary composer, equal parts post-Steve Reich and post-King Crimson (and a great example of the kind of compositional thinking that comes when the main instrument is the electric guitar), and so by extension with roots in Bach, Stravinsky, Robert Fripp, Glenn Branca, and others. That’s still a sweet spot for contemporary compositional thinking."
George Grella, Kill Yr Idols


PREVIEW + PURCHASE HERE



                                                            
ADDITIONAL TITLES FROM R~M ARTISTS

Recent coverage for Riparian Media Artists:
Rose Bolton — The Lost Clock at Ambient Blog
Rose Bolton — The Lost Clock at À découvrir absolument
Rose Bolton — The Lost Clock at Loop.cl
Steve Smith features the Rat-drifting re-launch at Night After Night
Nick Storring, Colin Fisher, and Rose Bolton on Don't Trip, NTS Radio
Jessica Ackerley — Morning/mourning in Jazzviews
Jessica Ackerley in Voice of Energy
Intersystems — #IV in Spectrum Culture
Tim Brady interview at Guitar Moderne


                                                            
FURTHER BANDCAMP SOUNDS...

---__--___ — The Heart Pumps The Kool-Aid (Orange Milk Records)
This collaboration between Orange Milk co-founder Seth Graham and Orange Milk artist Mari Maurice (AKA more eaze) has a remarkable and surprising vulnerability to it. Billed as "the expression of Midwestern sadness, the entrapment of class and inexpressible discontent,"
even as the pieces reach frenetic fragmentation, there's an underlying delicate, plaintive quality to it all, with plenty of carefully placed silences and quiet, lean textures happening throughout.  The pair manage to craft an album of songs while revelling in the abstraction for which both of them are known. One could almost regard it as the midpoint between so-called hyperpop aesthetics and the Morton Feldman-school of composition.  I should also mention that there's a whole slew of guests including myself, and the amazing Karen Ng. 

Mas Aya — Máscaras (Telephone Explosion Records)
My dear friend Brandon Valdivia (AKA Mas Aya) is going to be releasing his solo vinyl debut this fall with the excellent Telephone Explosion Records and it's hands-down his most rich and exciting release to date. Valdivia is best known as a drummer—he's one half of Not The Wind, Not The Flag, and collaborates with his tremendously gifted partner Lido Pimienta (who appears on this remarkable forthcoming album), but Mas Aya features him wrangling all sorts of gear: electronics, keyboards, and various flutes, in addition to his primary instrumentation. Máscaras is a difficult album to classify and freely employs elements of ambient music, groove-based electronica, dancehall, dub, and various Latin American traditional sounds.  There's only one track available for preview at the moment but I've heard the whole thing and just trust me... it's great. 


Matt Brubeck & Caylie Staples — The Lily (Self-released)
You might find it difficult to believe, but this intimate set of voice and cello songs from Caylie Staples and Matt Brubeck (yes, of those Brubecks) is purportedly completely improvised—lyrics and all.  If you're listening for it, you can sort of hear them searching a bit for the material but in their case that's a beautiful and fascinating thing to behold. Both have impeccable instincts and exercise insight and restraint here as they uncover these vignettes.


New Chance — Real Time (We Are Time)
For me, Victoria Cheong (New Chance) is one of Toronto's most intriguing electronic musicians. A singer and producer, she audibly draws from the history of dance music but always ends up with something surreal, atmospheric, and unquestionably current.  On her latest release for We Are Time, her palette expands yet again. While there's no shortage of propulsive moments, her signature spoken-and-sung vocals now edge both in the direction of Annette Peacock's odd commentaries and Sade's near-whispers. Meanwhile her colourful backings variously embrace queasy R&B, surging electro, weightless ambience, field recordings, and trip-hop-via-vaporwave eerieness.  Oh and the aforementioned Karen Ng also shows up on this one too!


Jessica Ackerley and Daniel Carter — Friendship: Lucid Shared Dreams and Time Travel (577 Records)
If the lone preview track is any indication, this forthcoming duet release from Honolulu-based guitarist Jessica Ackerley and veteran reed-player Daniel Carter is going to be absolutely essential. Its title seems to be an apt one, as there's a languid and amicable quality to the playing that drifts through various emotional states without ever settling firmly into any one of them. Ackerley is heard here on acoustic guitar, intertwining gently with Carter, yet also providing some unexpected remarks along the way. And having recorded two brilliant improv duo albums already, it's safe to say that she's a master of this notoriously tricky ensemble.


Dr. Joy — Dr. Joy (Idée Fixe)
As I was writing these email, I received another email from none other than Matt Dunn alerting his contacts to this forthcoming collaboration with the band Mr. Joy on Idée Fixe.  I was quite taken with the two preview tracks which demonstrate a penchant for tuneful psychedelic fusion that might evoke Caravanserai-era Santana but shot far out into space.  These tracks are songs, but they're diffuse, dream-like and strange, gliding easily from groove to swirling detours of various kinds.



For more recommendations, check out my collection (and wishlist) on Bandcamp : https://bandcamp.com/nickstorring


                                                             

 
Visit our website!
Follow us on Facebook!
Copyright © 2021 Riparian Acoustics, All rights reserved.