SLOW STATE — THE SILENCE WE CREATE

⌾ LISTEN TO SLOW STATE, THE SILENCE WE CREATE ⌾

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There is a sense of epic landscape swathed in peals of feeling in Australian artist Slow State's 'The Silence We Create' — but it's not something necessarily present from the beginning of the track. Instead, this intertwined emotive, environmental atmosphere comes into gradual focus, beginning with textures jostling with one another, unsure of themselves, hesitant almost, crackling with ghostly static, the rustle of dry leaves. A vocal sample struggles to finish a phrase (the title of the track), cutting itself off.

Gravely bass thumps splash and fizzle into bold tracts of silence, creating a dramatic, heavy portion that shifts the aesthetic from intricate soundscape to something more illustrative, experimental. "[The song] was written for a someone who I shared a memory with," Slow State tells yes/no via email.

"We walked into a sunset on Greenmount Hill, up in Perth City, and as the sun fell the scintillating lights of the city started shimmering. One of those moments you just wish you could grab, you know?" he continues.

The final section of the track — fraught with synth and clanking percussion — begins to mirror the weight of this twilight, the vocal sample on loop and variously pitch-shifted like a reflection of windows beginning to glow in buildings. 'The Silence We Create' is a purposeful setting aside of language, of commentary, in order to be imbued with the drama of the turning earth, the tale of an ending day.

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• 🔔 'The Silence We Create' is taken from Slow State's eponymous SlowState EP, which you can listen to on SoundCloud. The artist himself calls the project "a respite from everything that is far too fast."

  He continues: "It's introspective and reflective, but driven with intent. If space is the breath of art, then I believe silence is the breath of sound. I try to capture moments of silence floating in and out like a breath within the pulse.

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📠
☟ Slow State Internet Presence ☟
facebook ⚘ soundcloud ⚘ spotify

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🌏 PHOTO DIARY — SOUTHEND-ON-SEA

It's January and in the UK that means it's dark, cold and wet. At this time of year it can be en effort to try and peel yourself from the sofa and make yourself do something actually constructive. On Sunday, after having a week that felt like we had done nothing more than work, sleep and then work some more we decided that instead of slouching around the house all day we would get up and get out and go explore somewhere in our own country we had never seen before.

Southend is one of those far off places we've always hear about mentioned by market sellers in EastEnders but it seems as though nobody has actually been. When we mentioned we were heading there for the day to people we know, the response was often, 'oh I haven't been there in years' or 'oh your Grandad used to go there!'

We arrived mid-afternoon after an emotional hungover drive which was fulled by coffee and a multi-pack of croissants and a few tense moments of trying to get into the right lane for the Dartmouth tunnel, but we were so glad we had made the effort. The sun was shining making the the sea and the sky perpetually reflect each other in shades of blue. We paid £1 to walk along the longest pleasure pier in the world (what a claim!) all 1⅓ mile of it. We did the British thing: drank tea and ate cake at the cafe on the end of the pier while we watched the sun sink into the horizon and turn the water a lighter spectrum of metallic colours.

On the way home we took a detour and explored a bit of Canvey Island, one of the many islands in the Thames estuary. This one has been in the spotlight recently after a BBC documentary followed the community of Charedim (ultra-Orthodox Jewish) that have moved from Stamford Hill, London, to the island. It felt like a strange place with a classically broken down and rusty feel to its seafront, perfect for taking pictures.

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REBECCA ALICE SAUNDERS
@yesnotravel

SEMAINE MUSIQUE #2

Encore une autre semaine se glisse dans le passé; encore un autre article en français. Si tu ne sais pas de quoi je parle, écoute – je suis anglais, j'écris sur de la nouvelle musique une fois par semaine en français, je lutte. Ça me fatigue.

Mais la bonté de mon coeur me persuade d'écrire plus en plus en plus en français, en anglais, en n'importe-quoi-ais, afin de partager la musique avec de plus en plus en plus des gens dans le monde. Quel noblesse! Tu penses pas? Bof, alors, lis ce que j'ai écrit, écoute la musique que j'ai trouvée, passe un bon mais bref moment. À plus.

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YES/NO Guest Mix 007 :: BLUFRANK's Driving Alone Mix
Le septième guest mix pour YES/NO, celui-ci vient d'un producteur BLURFRANK du Caire. Il s'appel «Driving Alone» (français: «conduire seul») Mix, qui montre ses influences musicales, allant de super ultime chillwave de Toro Y Moi, à la danse lisse du millénaire (c'est-à-dire, Moloko). Les deux sons habitent dans ce morceau de BLUFRANK, où il mélange des cordes chaleureuses et une ambiance hallucinante avec un rythme dure et une tendance pour danser. Sa chanson «TR-808 & A Babe» est un bon exemple.

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Lindsay Lowend – Basement Dweller Overture
Mon dieu! Merde! Cette chanson est géante, sérieux – son créateur est un génie (toutes ses chansons sont incroyables) appelé Lindsay Lowend. Pas «Lohan» – LOWEND. Tu le connais? Si oui, bon, si non, c'est bon aussi, parce que maintenant tu va le rencontrer et sa musique. Dans «Basement Dweller Overture» (français: sous-sol-habitant ouverture) Lindsay Lowend, nom et prénom Antonio Mendez, évoque l'ambiance des jeux-vidéo sans leurs images pour créer une atmosphère imaginative et aventureuse. Presque en trois mouvements symphoniques, le morceau progresse de l'electro qui suinte avec le dubstep lourd et sa basse dodue, puis une rafale de piano frais, finissant avec electro-funk glitch-chargé. Les sons de Lindsay Lowend sont trop délicieux, introduisant le style urbain (hip hop, juke, dubstep, etc.) à la geekerie de la musique jeux-vidéo. Je l'adore.

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SUNSET – Ava
Pour une fois, je suis en train de parler de musique française. Enfin. SUNSET est un duo qui vient de Paris: l'artiste Raphaël Siboni, et Franck Rivoire (mieux connu comme producteur/DJ, Danger). Dans leur nouveau morceau le cerveau est déchiqueté par les synthés épais, pendant qu'une voix ferme parle lentement sur quelqu'un qui est née sur la piste de danse, si c'est métaphorique ou non – c'est à toi de voir. Alors avec des paroles cryptiques et des synthés qui cassent les oreilles, le son deformé coupe avec précision bien produit, je suis sûr que SUNSET va gagner certains fans cette année.

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Onra – Gonna Make You Mine
Maintenant un autre parisien: c'est Onra. Si t'es français tu dois connaître Onra: c'est logique, non? Si non, découvre Onra – c'est un beatmaker né en Allemagne, qui a habité entre la France et la Côte d'Ivoire depuis l'âge de 3 ans, mais il a habité depuis 2000 à Paris. Euh, maintenant il a crée pour la compilation Saint Valentin de Colette (appelé «French Kisses»), la chanson funky «Gonna Make You Mine». Pas exactement le hip hop traditionnel – et plus comme la «future funk» adoptée par vaporwave – c'est plein de guitares punks éclatantes et la basse pulsative et renflée, avec des samples vocaux expressifs et des melodies synthés rosées luisantes. C'est parfait pour la Saint Valentin: doux, lisse, savoureux.

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Aux Jennings – Need Me
Le rap canadien. Et alors? Euh, ben, c'est le rap canadien. Et ce rap notamment – de producteur/MC Aux Jennings – c'est cool, très cool, et il semble d'origine. Avec le hi-hat ombrageux cliquetant et la sub-bass de la grosse caisse lente, le rythme se balance, du lourd, pendant que des cordes synthés simplistes flottent dans l'air répercutant. C'est la perspective nouvelle, avec de la musique totalement pleine d'entrain. Tu peux télécharger gratuitement ce morceau, et aussi le nouvel album «MuckAFolly».

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House Of Tapes – Last Words
Viens d'un nouvel EP, qui s'appel «Last Words» aussi, j'aime bien ce morceau par le japonais House Of Tapes. Ce n'est pas pour le club, c'est pour nul part en fait, en partie parce que ce n'est pas crée à cet effet, mais aussi car c'est bizarre. Ouais, c'est bizarre. Il a un son foncé mais affirmatif, évitant du genre et à la place examinant les sons pour la création d'une atmosphère pseudo-cauchemardesque d'un autre monde. Tout les sons répercutent, comme des bruits dans une caverne secrète; les guitares font cliquetis, avec leurs cordes conjurant le coucher de soleil. Alors, enfin, c'est expérimental, débordant de facticité fantomatique.

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Ben c'est ça, ok? L'écrivant en français est de plus facile, mais encore ce n'est pas parfait ni correcte, probablement. Lis-toi ici la prochaine semaine pour quelques choses nouvelles écrit par moi. Et merci encore pour l'assistance de Nicolas Barrois. Vive YES/NO. Ciao.

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Listen to BLUFRANK on SoundCloud
Follow BLUFRANK on Twitter

Listen to Lindsay Lowend on Soundcloud
Follow Lindsay Lowend on Twitter

Listen to SUNSET on SoundCloud
Follow SUNSET on Twitter

Listen to Onra on Soundcloud
Follow Onra on Twitter

Listen to Aux Jennings on SoundCloud
Follow Aux Jennings on Twitter

Listen to House Of Tapes on SoundCloud
Follow House Of Tapes on Twitter

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SUNSET – AVA

Well, here's something exciting. Music can be fun, lighthearted, addictive, and it can also be exciting. And in this instance, I mean exciting in the way that something epic is exciting. Because this song right here just effuses "epic" – but before we get too much into it. Who or what the hell is SUNSET and why should you care? That's what you're thinking right? Right? Anyway, SUNSET is a duo from Paris, made up of artist Raphaël Siboni and Franck Rivoire (aka Danger). Not much is known about them, but it's that intrigue that keeps people guessing and, in a roundabout way, interested in the music. That's kind of beside the point though, because the music itself works just fine without any intrigue at all (check out their previous song 'Krystal'). Aren't I just contradicting myself… Sorry.

As for the song. It's called 'Ava' and it reaches you in the form of a lyric video; usually badly animated fan-created items, instead SUNSET have created it themselves and literally just provided the lyrics, in small writing, at the bottom of a black screen. And it's a good thing too because I don't speak very good French so understanding the lyrics is a little difficult (not that they matter 100%). Since they're given, it's interesting to note that the lyrics are wildly original, featuring the fictional account of someone's – this Ava perhaps – birthday at a club, where they were born to a techno song on the dancefloor. Bizarre? Yes, but totally captivating in a way. These, I believe, come from the artistic mind of Raphaël Siboni.

On the other hand, we have the music itself. The stoical nature of the spoken-word vocals, in its low register, is drowned by the track's hefty truckload of synth. We have it in lighter, more airy forms, where higher notes criss-cross like icicles in a glitter of reverb; then we have it in almost suffocating, heavy bass crunch form, a dark tooth-grinding saw-wave collapsing your mind and giving it away to the pulse of the song. The drums, booming along in a slow motion ache, almost cripple your ears – the kick in particular nearly escapes the speaker to scoop out your skull. It's a massive sound, wholly entrenched in the mystic, Crystal-Castles-esque side to trance music, yet with a sensibility towards live sound that comes with the high-end production, the distortion being paradoxically cut with precision. What will come next from these guys? It will be interesting to find out; pairing cryptic poem-like lyrics with such a sound is something that will turn a few heads, I'm sure, whilst also breaking some ears with their menacing sound.

Oh and if you're wondering about the "1789" at the end of the video: it's the start of the French Revolution and also the name of Franck Rivoire's label.

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Like SUNSET on Facebook
Listen to SUNSET on SoundCloud
Visit SUNSET official site
Follow SUNSET on Twitter
Watch SUNSET on YouTube

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