Uriarra 
Road is the new album from Charles Sage’s (one half of Hessien) y0t0 project. Available now for pre-order through our sub-label Facture…

A Russian novel of Australian rural decay; 14 tracks of densely layered processed guitar, crowd melody, rain noise, electronic manipulation and birdsong.

Inspired by the film ‘In The Winter Dark’, Uriarra Road charts the decline of an outback town chasing survival as industry money crawls back to the city limits; left in its place is a confused and aging collective memory, drunk on nostalgia and the feral rantings of a right wing press.
Cabin fever, writ large.

Helping y0t0 map the town in question are Downliners Sekt, Jasper TX, Ghosting Season, Field Rotation, Spheruleus, Relmic Statute and Seaworthy, all of whom navigate the intersections and resentful front rooms of Uriarra Road with skeletal reinterpretations of the main street.

y0t0 is the solo project of Charles Sage of Hessien; assisting in construction are guitarist Ben Carter and vocalist/partner Jane Sage. Previous EPs No Myths and Baraku have been reconstructions of dialogue from documentaries No Maps For These Territories and Goddo Supiido Yuu! Burakku Emparaa, but Urriara Road sees a full album’s exploration of the hope found in abandonment, using a broad palette of field recordings, guitar noise, sparse electronica, minimal beats and bottom end drone. Mastered by Taylor Deupree, and to be released digitally only on Fluid Audio’s sub-label Facture late July, Uriarra Road will be made available on preorder for an introductory price the week prior to general release. The digital package contains a short film by Antonymes to accompany one track, along with a PDF artwork booklet and individual artwork embedded for each track.

Head over to the Facture web site for full info and purchase options

“Acoustic Tales”, the new release on Fluid Audio by Field Rotation, is more of a trip to another country than it is an album…

Where albums are generally collections of songs, this release is comprised of territories, each vast in scope – rolling hills, panoramic horizons and acres of fields. Each track is a full day in this wilderness – traversing hillsides, rivers and embankments, up hill and down dale. Each trip is undertaken differently, with the sun in the sky throwing different angles of light and illuminating hidden aspects of the terrain.

Christoph Berg built this world throughout a two-year period, with the stated aim of integrating the literary traits of Kafka and Hemingway into an auditory form, seamlessly blending cinematic character with a subtle and mature melodic personality. The restrained arrangements are draped around melancholic yet triumphant airs, representing a dramatic leap into the assured and dignified confidence of a skilled practitioner at work.

Nils Frahm at Durton Studio in Berlin has mastered the project from analogue tape, and the deep corners of the tracks are tactile and textured as a result. Assisting is cellist Danny Norbury, adding signature flair on ‘Tale 4’.

Continuing Fluid Audio’s well-established tradition of elaborate and bespoke presentation, the letter pressed packaging draws together themes found in the gaunt vignetted 20-page booklet with stunning photographic artwork by Antonymes. The artwork and music is also presented in conjunction with themed poetry from Estela Lamat, continuing her association with the label.

Also in continuation with Fluid tradition this limited release will be constrained to 200 copies, not to be reprinted.

The literary worlds Berg is channeling often represent alternate worlds to the ones we inhabit, reimagined as familiar but distant metaphysical versions of places in time. “Acoustic Tales” is the same – a window into a black and white slow motion landscape, embodied in a master class of modern classical composition, textural acoustic sound design and subtle electronic layering.

Available mid December: Anyone on this mailing list will be given the opportunity to reserve a copy with a one off 24 hour pre-order coming soon.

www.fluidaudio.co.uk
www.fieldrotation.de
www.myspace.com/fieldrotation

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Early Review:

“Acoustic Tales” by Field Rotation, the most recent release on Fluid Audio, could be something approaching a modern classic.

Without being overly hyperbolic (and one could be forgiven for being skeptical about a review from the site releasing it), it is without question the high water mark of Christoph Berg’s career thus far, and threatens sees him leap into territory many would not have expected to see him occupy. After I reviewed Christoph’s release on Hibernate from earlier this year, “Why Things Are Different”, I could not have honestly said I would have expected this from him within the same calendar year.

The album is the culmination of two years work – musical creations from 2009 to 2010, a collection of pieces intended to replicate in auditory form the literary short stories of Kafka and Hemingway. Whilst the ambition may sound horrifically pretentious, the execution is flawless and Berg has blended many elements (strings, electronics, subtle percussion, drones, textures, hiss, foreground and background melody, organ, piano, field clatter) to create a release that sounds at once familiar but distinctively original.

The album is clothed in the characteristically elaborate Fluid Audio pressed packaging, in this instance themed around black and white photography of rural and industrial landmarks. I was fortunate enough to see the video accompaniment to ‘Acoustic Tale 9’ as my introduction to the piece, and was impressed with the consistent tone and theme that the designers have managed to impart on the production – it all reads as a roadmap to an undiscovered or remote territory.

The photography in the 20-page booklet is really quite striking, as is the previously mentioned video. Danny Norbury has also contributed cello to one track, and this record in its entirety feels like a “sum of its parts” – contributors working towards a high standard and all achieving that common goal. Estela Lamat contributes poems, similar to the last Hessien release on the label but the tone is more direct and fractionally less elaborate than “Obelisk|Stelea”.

Rereading the last paragraph, it strikes me that tone here is indeed the key – that quality being an almost an indefinable element, and it can be all that can distinguish average work from great work. The TONE here is fantastic, and I’m not talking about a musical tone – rather an ability to marry different elements without resorting to cliché, or cheese, or to overplay the elements.

A mark of a mature artist, and here in spades.

I’m reminded of several contempories – Loscil, Max Richter, a less morbid Erik K. Skodvin as a starting point – some bass surges at the tail end remind of Solo Andata’s bottom end experimentation. Some delayed guitar notes bring to mind post rock minimalism, and some incredibly moving chord changes in some tracks bring to mind post rock’s direct emotional heft also.

It’s also worth stating that mentioning common touchstones should not be confused with direct comparison – the overall character of the music is such that it has its own distinct personality. That personality is by turns hopeful and resigned, and it never sinks to outright despair – the overall mood is one of restrained cathartic release, and it is an affecting one at that.

The mastering deserves to be singled out for high praise – the production is something else. Clean, crisp, warm and enveloping; the project was apparently brought to disc from analogue tape in Berlin and the process was worth the time. Nils Frahm, the mastering engineer, has worked some magic here.

This year has seen some great records, some of which were released in the last month or so. I’m confident we won’t see something of this standard within the last few weeks, so I’m confident in saying it is one of the best of the year.

Those lucky enough to secure one of these rare gems will doubtless return to it repeatedly over the years. Get one if you can.

- Review by Alex Gibson for Fluid Radio

We are pleased to announce that the new sub-label for Fluid Audio (Facture) is just around the corner and already has some seriously good releases waiting in the wings. For now here is a new film taken from the upcoming Hummingbird remixes…

Under the lamplight, which is a small, insignificant light, yet enough to light the whole room, the distant sound of a guitar rumbles throughout, shaking the core, reaching the bone. Hessien are providing the impetus to remove oneself with their new release “Obelisk/Stelea”; an album that engulfs the listener in blinding rays of light that peek through a perceived pallor and solemnity. As Hessien, Charles Sage & Tim Diagram deliver obtuse soundscapes, augmented by hazy textures, and an ever-evolving penchant for disorientation and serene exploration.

Positing the listener in a tranquil stasis, the opener “Gazed and Pale Reflections” reveals a darkness permeated by shiny consonance, guitars ring out over and beneath one another, the listener drifts off, leaving the lamplight behind. As the title suggests, we revert to a pensive mood, pleasing thoughts replace the guttural voices and images weighing heavily on our mind. As the first of four original pieces on this release – the four remaining works are reimaginings by Solo Andata, Jasper TX, Zelienople, and Konntinent – “Gazed and Pale Reflections” sets the tone for this remarkable work. Leading into “A Letter from Engels”, a simple recurring sound, with a somewhat jarring effect, marks the arrival of a captivating mixture of sounds that slowly build walls around the listener to touch and feel, sending shivers down the spine.

Clarity is revealed on “Five Sisters”, while a gauzy vocal courtesy of Jane Williams gently glides around far-away discordant guitar sounds, separated just enough from the splendor of the acoustic guitar. The sounds reach a breaking point near the end before becoming more distant and varied and, finally, splintering into a million pieces and fading away. This motif is carried into “Breaking Webs”, which again finds the duo searching for a balance of clarity with discordance. The dichotomy allows the forceful sounds of the track to mingle with the glistening light poking through, creating a dynamic that alleviates the strong disorientation with lucid tranquility.

The reimaginings are arranged in exactly the same order as the Hessien originals, and Solo Andata, with their recently released exploration into the unknown, “Ritual”, begin the proceedings with their take on “Gazed and Pale Reflections.” The listener is transfixed at the distant sounds occupying the better part of the piece, intent on making them out and reaching whatever place they’re emanating from, before being taken over by a wave of noise that comes rolling through the speakers or headphones, springing through every pore in your body. Jasper TX uses “A Letter from Engles” as a springboard into the ether; the wall of sound created by Hessien is heightened and much more tangible, yet bears very little resemblance to the original creation. Both affect the listener in different ways, but the effect is just as monumental.

The trio, Zelienople, focus on repetitive patterns of sound with minor variations and additions that make all the difference in the world on “Five Sisters”. The gauzy vocal still remains and the end result is reminiscent of Steve Reich and his use of cyclic patterns. Konntinent, reimagining “Breaking Webs”, leans more to the discordant and disorienting nature of Hessien’s music, with pulses of guitar noise that are blown-out completely, leading to a very haunting conclusion that leaves the listener with the uncanny feeling he/she will return again and again.

This wonderful release comes carefully packaged in letter pressed covers that slip nicely into organic silk-screened cotton pouches. It is a Handstitched* /Fluid Audio split release and limited to 200 copies. An 8-page full colour booklet containing exclusive images and 4 specially commissioned poems by Estela Lamat, themed around the 4 original songs by Hessien, also accompanies the release. Readers are urged to act fast before missing out on one of the year’s best releases.

- Review by Michael Vitrano

Other reviews:

Morpheus

Wasistdas

London News

Christoph has finished his debut album which will be coming up on Fluid Audio directly after the Field Rotation ‘Acoustic Tales’ project. For now here is a sneak preview video from the release…

www.christophberg.tumblr.com

With the new Hessien release ‘Obelisk’ soon to be available on Fluid Audio we thought you may like to know that there recent project ‘Skurjn’ is now available in digital format….

Digital release of ‘Skurjn’ by Hessien — originally released on 29 January 2010 and available in limited edition 8cm cd packaged in cork sleeves and stitched by hand. The cork for the packaging was gathered from a sustainable source. The paper parts printed on recycled paper stock.

Grab the digital version here
Some physical copies of ‘Skurjn’ may still exist at Norman Records

www.hessien.net
www.handstitched.net
www.handstitched.bandcamp.com