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SERIOUS GERMAN POLKA
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| Fates are American composer Django Voris and British-born artist PJ Norman. They met in New York City in early 2009. Their shared passion for electronic experimentation led to a set of improvisation sessions with Swiss electronic artist Moritz Wettstein. The sessions were recorded at Harvestworks, the foundation co- founded by Bob Moog to support experimental music. The recordings led to "Murky Circuits", an LP release on 100m Records in 2010 which met enthusiastic reviews from the electronic music press, describing it a "post-glitch triumph" (Cyclic Defrost) and "one of the most original electronic records of the year" (The Milk Factory). |
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| The departure of Wettstein in late 2010 back to his hometown of Zurich, Switzerland, meant that Voris and Norman were free to explore more tonal pastures. Norman elaborates: |
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| “On “Murky Circuits” Moritz was handling a lot of the beat work, he’s a glitch-maestro. When he left, Django and I were challenged to fill the space. We didn’t want to impersonate Moritz (I’m not even sure that would have been possible), so we decided to explore more tonal and harmonic ideas, working in multiple keys simultaneously over simple loops. Then, when we wanted more rhythmic ideas we brought in a live drumkit. That’s where Claudio came in.” |
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| Recorded over a series of sessions at the group’s studio in DUMBO, Brooklyn, between 2010 and 2012, ”Serious German Polka” continues the strict electronic improvisation ethic that Voris and Norman established with Wettstein on “Murky Circuits”, culminating in the epic, 15-minute title track, featuring Swiss drummer Claudio Strüby on drums. Voris describes the process of working with Strüby: |
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| “Before we brought Claudio in PJ had been laying down the drums, on Morning USA for example. But then we had this long fifteen-minute improvisation that just required something more complex, more bombastic. PJ had met Claudio back in Zurich and invited him to sit in. It was incredible to watch, Claudio listened once through what we had laid down and then improvised two takes over it start to finish. He’s a serious professional... I mean, we were working in multiple, overlayed time signatures.” |
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| Norman explains how they came up with the title: |
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| “After Claudio had finished tracking, Django and I were both dumbfounded. He looks at us and says,”That was some serious german polka”. We knew right away that was the title.” |
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| SOME LINKS |
| www.fatesarekind.com |
| www.100mrecords.com |
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FATES AT GLASSHOUSE
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| In Fall, 2012, Fates were invited to bring their improvised electronics to a residency at the Glasshouse gallery, Brooklyn, in a series of events, including two 24-hour audio/visual performances, utilizing the gallery, project space and apartment space as an open system to source, disseminate and interpret the electronic performance. The series, titled "Play Me", used the space as an open access recording studio; and found the pair orchestrating installed sound sculptures using motion sensors and ball bearings, live ambient location recordings and re-projected visual sources throughout the building turning the space into an audio/visual instrument and dynamic canvas simultaneously. |
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| Glasshouse is a versatile art-space dedicated to the community at large which functions in tandem with the actual home of artist-duo Lital Dotan & Eyal Perry. First realized in Tel-Aviv in 2007, Glasshouse was founded on the basic concept that "Art should be experienced in a place that allows staying". The aim is to promote artistic experiments that encourage participation and collaboration in performance and installation art within the domestic sphere. |
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| Recently re-located to a 2,500 square foot multi-level space in Brooklyn, the newly acquired space in Williamsburg is comprised of a street-level storefront and basement, which also includes direct access to the residential unit next door and vice versa. This arrangement allows for the further expansion of programs and activities of Glasshouse by providing a physical link between these public and otherwise typically private spaces. |
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| The Glasshouse can now encompass cross-disciplinary performance events, residency programs open to artists and the public, and a flexible rotating schedule of lectures, workshops, shows and much more. Visitors are welcome during all posted gallery hours and also by appointment. |
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| Lital Dotan & Eyal Perry (a.k.a: Glasshouse) have been a collaborative team since 2001. Their work is best described as interdisciplinary performative art, integrating elements of video, photography and installation into performance; challenging ideas pertaining to the role of art in society, the role of the audience in art and the very nature of art itself. |
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| In their performative pieces they often involve the public, seriously examining public morality and the deeper, more hidden motivations behind social interactions. In 2010 the Glasshouse project was hosted by seminal performance artist Marina Abramovic at her institute in San Francisco. |
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| In addition to their work as Glasshouse, Lital & Eyal's works have been exhibited internationally in museums and galleries (the Israel Museum, the San Francisco Jewish Modern and the National Museum in Cracow among others) and can be found in public and private collections worldwide. |
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| SOME LINKS |
| www.fatesarekind.com |
| www.perry-dotan.com |
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RELATIONS
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| Relations is the musical brainchild of Terence Murren and Michael Sanders. They first joined forces in a New England high school more than a decade ago, as part of a Modern Lovers cover band. Through their subsequent musical and geographical journeys the two have remained the closest of friends, corresponding throughout on their musical comings and goings. In 2011 the two decided it was time to compose and record. |
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| Sanders descibes how they set about writing the EP: |
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| “The creative process happens in a number of ways. Each song is a journey. Some start as beats and grow into parts that become songs... some are snippets of hours and hours of jamming... and others are fully formed ideas that I bring in to be arranged by T and myself.” |
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| They built on their disparate musical journeys, ranging from screaming loud indie rock to traditional jazz, in an attempt to create something eclectic and push each other out of their comfort zones. This created a sonic narrative of where they have been, and where their ears have begun to pull them. The result is strange, gritty, and somehow nostalgic. |
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| “At an early stage in the project we decided to only program drums and play all the keyboards live. This, coupled with vintage amps and verb, keeps everything living and breathing on top of the electronic drums.” |
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| On Relations, their self titled EP recorded and produced in Brooklyn by Glass Rifle's PJ Norman, you hear their decade long, musical correspondence. Through a rush of noisy guitar and synths, detailed drum sequences, and riding bass lines, they present the polaroids of their musical journey. Spanning across decades of influences, you are likely to hear a little Blur, Kraftwerk, New Order, The Lemonheads, The Knife and Pavement. |
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| SOME LINKS |
| www.relationsband.com |
| www.100mrecords.com |
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| "There’s a coolness that runs deep, all the way back to the revolt against messy, apathetic, no-future punk, and borrows from the bleak factory landscape. It’s a nostalgic vision of the possibilities of technology and the warning shot. 8.6/10" - Jason Dean, QRO Mag |
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| "Reminiscent of the early, dark and tense post punk days, when bands like Joy Division and Wire ruled the rock world." - The Deli Magazine |
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| "Hits you like a punch from the opening, beginning with a screen door like squeak of noise before becoming a noise guitar duel of Daydream Nations vein...with one of the best songs I’ve heard all year." - The Creative Intersection |
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| "The synth-punk songbirds finally take flight on this masterful EP" - ExclusiveMagazine.com |
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| "Love the EP from Relations, great stuff!" - John Rose, Host, "Hidden Treasures Of Rock'n'Roll", UIC Radio |
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| "These four tracks get that precarious balance of pop hooks, odd electronic sounds, and dissonant outbursts right to create memorable songs." - Creaig Dunton, Brainwashed |
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| "The guitars on this are fiercely savage in the way Wire or Wedding Present drive you with subtle use of feedback. They got good tone. The bass peddles you around the bases of this EP with somewhat of Joy Division factory influence here which we think you should check out being there is a drum machine employed as part of the backing band. This EP is over before it begins and we're already looking forward to more." - Review Stalker |
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LOVE AMERICAN SKIN
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| 100m Records announce the soundtrack to photographer Diana Scheunemann’s feature-length documentary film Love American Skin. The soundtrack was provided by the label to support Scheunemann’s stunning debut as a filmmaker and is arranged into a thirteen-song, thirteen artist compilation release including new tracks from PJ Norman's tKatKa, Fates, and Iamprimate projects.. |
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| In the summer of 2010, Scheunemann undertook an eight-week road trip clockwise around the USA, starting and ending in New York City. The aim of the trip was to photograph, film and explore the multiple facets of the American identity. Fueled by a curiosity for the stereotype of the Mid-West, she was convinced that New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, and Las Vegas are not an accurate portrayal of the USA. With her boyfriend, PJ Norman, and their dog they drove 10,128 miles, and through 21 states to attain a more accurate understanding. |
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| Scheunemann elaborates: |
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| “Over 60 days we filmed, photographed and explored over 60 people. We experienced temperatures between 35 and 118 degrees Fahrenheit, my boyfriend became my husband, and the car’s engine was used as a cooking stove. Love American Skin replicates our journey’s spontaneity, freedom, eccentricity and discoveries.” |
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| Love American Skin is about the American people and their landscape; a surface which invites curiosity, lustfulness, tragedy and love. A single American skin encompassing much history and various points of origin. Peeling back the surface exposes the unique, miniature stories of individual cells in the corpus, and the collective story of a country’s complexion. |
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| The 80-minute feature is accompanied by thirteen superb compositions by 100m artists and friends. Ranging through wonderfully organic electronic soundscapes, thoughtful acoustic singer-songwriters, catchy pop tunes and urgent, driven rock the soundtrack perfectly captures the variety of American cultures and landscapes depicted in the film. |
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| SOME LINKS |
| www.loveamericanskin.com |
| www.dianascheunemann.com |
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GLASS RIFLE
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| Glass Rifle are Americans Dan Colby, Ryan Francini, and British-born PJ Norman. The roots of the group lie in the Boston DIY punk scene where Colby and Francini first met. After stints on drums for Hydrahead stalwarts The Huguenots, and Jade Tree Record’s The Explosion, Colby formed The Cignal with Francini. In the mid ‘00s, after a well-received 7”, The Cignal disbanded and both Francini and Colby moved to New York City. It was here, several years later, that they met PJ Norman. |
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| Norman, whose reputation as an electronic producer with the 100m Records Collective is well established (tKatKa, Fates), relished the opportunity to develop the guitar style he had with North London underground act Death By Sadie. Where Death By Sadie was a two guitar four-piece, the power trio format of Glass Rifle really pushes Norman’s striking guitar work to the forefront, enhanced by the intense Colby/Francini rhythm section that clearly displays the pair’s longstanding musical connection. |
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| In early 2010 tracking began on the first Glass Rifle recordings. The Foebic/Cutters single was recorded at Melody Lanes Recording Company in Brooklyn, New York. It was recorded and mixed as a joint effort between the band and Melody Lanes producer Jay Braun (Elliot Smith, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Cat Power). The stunning results were then mastered at The Magic Shop, NYC, by Grammy award winning mastering engineer Warren Russell-Smith (Rolling Stones, Tim Buckley). |
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| The single is released digitally through 100m Records and is accompanied in true DIY style by a limited edition run of 300 exquisitely letter pressed, hand-numbered CDs, designed and printed by Letter From Brooklyn. |
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| SOME LINKS |
| www.glassrifle.com |
| www.letterfrombrooklyn.com |
| www.jaybraun.com |
| www.warrenrussellsmith.com |
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| "A degree of genuine punch and something feels fiercely independent about it." - Daniel Dylan Wray, Glasswerk |
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| "Urgent Post-Punk attack, kicking the living shit out of your ears…in a good way!" - Route For The Underdog |
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| "Like a Hold Steady raised on London punk and based in Brooklyn, Glass Rifle's delivery stays true to the varied roots of all its members by distorting the relentless energy of British rock with a Williamsburg flair." - Joe Puglisi, Baeble Music |
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| "Impossible to ignore." - Joe Marvilli, Consequence Of Sound |
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| "Glass Rifle are a sonic battering of dischordant power pop, with killer guitar licks offsetting fierce beats that literally pummel you into submission." - Zolton, Lost At E Minor |
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| "It's tight, incredibly crafted and stands alongside any classic American underground sound… Both of these tracks are pushing that complex hardcore formula to it's limits, it's just an impressive contemporary take on a genre that remains relevant thanks to Glass Rifle." - Jason Dean, 7Inches |
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| "Moving, unconventional and provocative. Blazing a new trail in contemporary music." - Tony Mastrianni, National Music Writer |
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| "A singular sound that gets you tight to your chair... Awesome." - RJ Frometa, Vents Magazine |
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| "Early Mission of Burma filtered through the earliest releases on Invisible Records. Somehow it feels very familiar, yet completely new at the same time… For anyone who longs for the heyday when Amphetamine Reptile and Touch and Go weren't just labels, but institutions, this is as inviting as it gets." - Creaig Dunton, Brainwashed |
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MURKY CIRCUITS
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| Murky Circuits is the debut album from electronic improvisation group Fates. American composer Django Voris, Swiss electronic artist Moritz Wettstein, and British-born artist PJ Norman met in New York City in early 2009 where their shared passion for electronic experimentation led to a series of recording sessions at Harvestworks, the foundation co-founded by Bob Moog to support experimental music. |
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| “The recording process was really the key to the sound,” says Voris, “ We would set up three laptops with as many devices as we could connect to them.” |
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| Some of those devices were hand built by Wettstein who, with his work in Algoritmo Caliente and Callboys, specialized in transforming everyday objects like telephones and shopping trolleys into electronic instruments, and has worked alongside many prominent electronic acts as they passed through the Zurich arts scene. |
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“The Fates sessions would end up as a huge mess of interconnected cables and peripherals all on one table,” adds Wettstein, “We would approach each live performance in the same way, plug everything together in different
variations and explore how it interacts.” |
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| This arrangement meant that the trio could record the sounds live, process them on the fly, and then resample each other - all in real time. The result was a series of extended live improvisations that explored a vast sonic palette, more in the vein of 60’s/70’s German psychedelic acts like Can and Neu! than modern forms of composed electronic music. |
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| Tasked with mixing this down into a coherent set of short compositions was tKatKa producer PJ Norman, who decamped to Zurich, Switzerland with the master sessions to tweak and distil each track into its final form. |
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| “New York has this energy that influences the creative process so much. Just the background noise of the city is a constant influence, a soundtrack…” says Norman, “I wanted to separate the process of composition from the mixing,
to get an objective viewpoint over the material… the lake in August was for me a great contrast to the buzz of NYC.” |
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| This mix of extreme artificiality with a living evolution is crucial to the digital/organic sound of Fates. All the sounds, textures and frequencies on this record were created using computers in a live environment. The equipment and methods were artificial; the process was one of growth. |
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| SOME LINKS |
| www.fatesarekind.com |
| www.djangovoris.com |
| www.moritzwettstein.com |
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| "Nebulous post-industrial soundscapes constantly tweaked and realigned to create one of the most original electronic records of the year to date. 4.5/5" - The Milk Factory |
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| "Literally one in a million; tweaking and meshing uncommon sounds to create one of the most original electronic pieces I have heard all year. Abstract art for the ears most certainly." - AW Music |
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| "A post-glitch triumph that goes by quickly but not without making one’s head spin." - Cyclic Defrost |
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| "When you listen to this material with headphones it really takes on a life of its own as all of the various textures come together to create lush soundscapes." - Cosmos Gaming |
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| "Murky Circuits sounds like a highly caffeinated robot took over a decrepit Radio Shack and had its way with anything it could grab." - Chubby Jones |
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| "Experimental, rampant and very energetic." - Radio Onde Furlane |
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| "Dizzying and compelling." - Brainwashed |
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