Tuesday, September 21, 2010

vital weekly clarification

This review by Frans De Waard below showed up in Vital Weekly 748, a couple things that require clarification:

1. The label name/link is misspelled:
2. I never said or wrote that the album, "fits the 2010 trend of cassette revivalist culture, analog synthesizers and nostalgic aesthetics." The album description states otherwise.

"BRANDON NICKELL - AND IF YOU SET THIS MIND OF MINE AFIRE THEN ON MY BLOODSTREAM I YET WILL CARRY YOU (CD by Isounderscore)
Another artist leaving behind his old 'band' name and working under his own name: Brandon Nickell used to work as Aemae. For his first work under his real name he drew inspirations from personal experiences, extensive research with auditory hallucinations and a poem by Rainer Maria Rilke. Nickell writes that his new album fits the 2010 trend of 'cassette revivalist culture, analog synthesizers and nostalgic aesthetics', he uses also computer based sequencers, a Sequential Circuits Pro One synthesizer, the human voice and various other digital and analog means. I believe that can be heard. The sound is raw at times, but has a great refined character, all recorded crisp and clear. Nickell joins the ranks of those artists that come from the world of noise (although in his case never that loud), that seem to be moving away from the strict noise sense and start working with a sound that is deeper, more complex and more layered than just a set of random noise bleeps. Not every moment is great however. 'Time Throne' takes too long to move away from random loops into a more organic structured piece. That is however the only downside. The other four pieces have this organic approach and make indeed a great audio hallucination. Working with quite an obscure set of sounds, Nickell creates a great world of sound. Sustaining sounds, gliding scales, part firmly rooted in the world of drones, but never too 'soft', but nicely 'present'. An intelligent and excellent release, with a great cover. (FdW)"

Saturday, September 4, 2010

two new albums released today


over three years in the works, finally the "and if you set this mind of mine afire then on my bloodstream i yet will carry you" full-length cd is now available on isounderscore and can be purchased directly through the label here. the record will also be available through the usual suspects of distributors and stores in a week or thereabouts.

tracklising:
1. hanging on by a golden thread
2. and if you set this mind of mine afire then on my bloodstream i yet will carry you
3. iad wave
4. time throne
5. the roughest jewel in your glittering crown (second key)

"And If You Set This Mind Of Mine Afire Then On My Bloodstream I Yet Will Carry You" Album Mix by Brandon Nickell

description: "exactly five years after the release of his debut album “the helical word” under the aemae project, brandon nickell has released his third album eponymously, “and if you set this mind of mine afire then on my bloodstream i yet will carry you” which was recorded, mixed and fully realized beteen winter 2007 and spring 2010. the album is inspired by personal experiences and extensive research with auditory hallucinations (particularly while living in east oakland in the early 2000’s) and the title is taken from the german poet rainer maria rilke’s (1875-1926) poem “put out my eyes” with minor revisions in the title. 2010 is an age of cassette revivalist culture, analog synthesizers and nostalgic aesthetics; however the album makes no apologies in not conforming with these trends and instead opts to use all tools at the creator’s disposal to achieve a unified vision that has been a painful three year undertaking in order to create a work that is unique in scope. the album was recorded with virtual analog synthesizers using computer based-sequencers, the sequential circuits pro one synthesizer, the human voice, and features further extensive use of analog and digital synthesis. the fifth track is the studio version of a live piece which was originally released on the black horizons tape in 2009. mastered by james plotkin in summer 2010; artwork by and design by brandon nickell using a two-dimensional tessellation of the tesseract pressed with gold foil on black matte cd jackets. never to be re-pressed in its original form."


also released today is the human quena orchestra record "a natural history of failure" released on utech. i contributed vocals and electronics on track five. also featured on the record along with ryan unks are jason zeh, renata castagna, david graham, and matthew h. reis. the record can be purchased through utech records. more information, credits and audio clips can be found there.

The Human Quena Orchestra "A Natural History Of Failure" - Track 5 by Brandon Nickell

description: "emotional distance. scientism. abuse. greed. love. self destruction. a study of modern, alienated, forced-individualists, wired together in our hell. initially a collection of high-volume live pieces by unks and graham, this work was crafted into album form with contributions from a group of like-minded friends who performed together during the tours of the same name in 2009. weapons-grade trogotronic electronics utilized throughout. four-panel poster sleeve. photograph by olli kekäläinen."