#oneiric formulary

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Sir Richard Bishop — Oneiric Formulary (Drag City)

Oneiric Formulary by Sir Richard Bishop

It’s strange to encounter an album that is so deeply weird and disjointed, and yet feels polished and made with the utmost craft. The result is otherworldly, and plays like a soundtrack to a moody and impressionistic film. Bishop is known for his work with the guitar, often in veins inspired by the world’s non-western traditions (exemplified on past albums like Intermezzo and Tangiers Sessions). Echoes of these forays into mixing of harmonically complex scales with American Primitive/Guitar Soli sensibilities appear here. However, they don’t occupy the totality of the album, which ventures further afield into his at times droney, disquieting and atonal compositions. Where Bishop takes it into non-guitar territory, the use of each instrument/sound is a match for his skill with six strings. The journey between spacey soundscapes and folk-form sketches takes you out of the familiar and brings you back again in a new context.

The trip to the more haunting and dark places begins with the synth flute and discordant organ that start off the album in “Call to Order”. It’s a brief statement that has a sci-fi vibe. The mix between an awkward chord progression, and the totally clean mix of each sound makes you think of an overly airbrushed and thus disturbing picture. Additional uncanny vibes come up in the album’s longest piece, “Graveyard Wanderers”, which drones, howls, and rips its way through the centre of the running order. There are sounds of a dripping cave, and background noises that call to mind ghosts at their most unsettling and malevolent. The piece moves in creepy whispers, yet keeps from being cheesy. Bishop’s use of a crafted space for each sound, with careful placement and effect, makes it an interesting repeat listen.  

It’s then with some amount of relief that he returns to melody, repetition and rhythm. However, the intensity of the pieces stays high, and you’re always on the edge of “what’s next?” throughout his (sometimes terrifyingly) beautiful playing. It’s this sense of an artist pushing their boundaries and investing heavily in making unexpected choices which draws you in. His technique, quickness, and economical use of the guitar shine through on “Celerity” and “Enville”. But it’s when Bishop is playing at a slower pace and drawing it out that his pieces and playing feel most in sync. On album closer “Vellum” the heavier mood of some of the earlier tracks is transformed into a dark and slinky theme that takes its time to sweetly create a cinematic excursion of open tuned guitar tone. Taking the album as a whole, Bishop’s restless quest for new sounds and ideas pays off with an album that is equally hard to understand and fascinating to try to figure out.

Arthur Krumins

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Sir Richard Bishop - “The Coming of the Rats”

[sinceileftyoublog]

Sir Richard Bishop Interview: Scattered

Photo by Alan Bishop

BY JORDAN MAINZER

Experimental singer-songwriter, composer, Sun City Girl, world traveler. Sir Richard Bishop listens and channels influences from all over on his first new album in five years, Oneiric Formulary, out April 17th on Drag City. Taking the same approach he did for Polytheistic Fragments, his drag city debut, Bishop employs a different sound for almost every track, inspired by music from a wide array of nations. There’s the atonal, shrieking opener “Call to Order”, flamenco meets surf rock of “Mit’s Linctus Codeine Co.”, baroque stylings of the appropriately titled “Renaissance Nod”, creepy “Graveyard Wanderers”, and country strummed “Enville”, among others. It’s all quintessential Bishop, using his guitar to conjure exactly what the title suggests, a certain dream-like state.

Bishop answered some questions over email about his approach to making Oneiric Formulary. Read his responses below, edited for length and clarity.

Since I Left You: Why was it time to replicate the approach to Polytheistic Fragments on Oneiric Formulary? Richard Bishop: I had been working with a lot of different material that was a bit scattered as far as any identifiable themes or genres were concerned. A fair amount of that material was much more experimental and didn’t involve using a guitar. And though I had several solo guitar pieces ready for a record, I didn’t want the entire record to be that way. The previous album I did (Tangier Sessions) was all solo guitar, and it was done with one very particular instrument which had one particular sound or tone. The album before that (The Freak of Araby) featured mainly electric guitar, and while it wasn’t solo guitar (except for one song), it focused on one specific genre of music. So, the combination of solo guitar material with a few things a little more abstract and other odds and ends seemed to be the way to go for this one.

SILY: How did you decide what genres, aesthetics, or instruments to explore? RB: With the exception of the guitar pieces, it was somewhat random. Many of my recent sound experiments were originally designed to be used with some short films I have been working on, so the instrumentation varied quite a bit. There was a lot of piano and other keyboard instruments, as well as a midi controller which could produce a nearly unlimited array of sounds. Field recordings of mine were also thrown into the mix. What ended up on the new album was a small fraction of what I had gathered or assembled, but they somehow seemed to fit. SILY: How did you come up with the titles to the songs? Some seem to be more literal or representative of what's in the song, whereas others evoke something more abstract.

RB: Nowadays, I care less about song titles matching what the music sounds like. So yes, some seem to fit well, and others maybe not so much. It often gets to the point where because of deadlines you just scramble at the last minute to come up with titles without giving it much thought or worrying about it at all. In the end, the song title doesn’t really matter; its the music that’s important. SILY: What's the inspiration behind the video to "Celerity"? RB: I’m not sure there was any real inspiration involved. Due to the ever-increasing rise of short attention spans these days, it’s a good idea to give people something to look at in order to hold their attention, hopefully until the end of the song. It isn’t always easy for me to come up with the right visual to represent what people are hearing in the song. I have a lot of film footage from my many travels over the years, and I always try to source my own material before having somebody else make a video for me. So with the song “Celerity”, since the word relates to the idea of speed or velocity, I wanted to have something that moved at the same pace as the music. I stumbled upon this footage of a puppet show that I filmed many years ago, and with some creative editing and speed adjustments, it ended up complimenting the music in a pretty decent way. SILY: Thinking about the album title: Is there anything particularly dream-like to you about the record?

RB: Yes, but probably not in a way that would make sense to anybody else. Three of the pieces were certainly inspired by dreams I had, but that’s a very personal thing. Each song could easily represent a dream-like state if I let my imagination run with it. But it really doesn’t matter. It’s just an unusual album title.

SILY: What's the inspiration behind the album art? RB: I was searching through some of my old photographs, and I just happened to be a bit enamored with this particular photo. It was ambiguous, mysterious, and somewhat creepy at the same time. I spent a lot of time just staring at it, and it seemed to communicate with me as if it was alive. It was obvious to me that this was the one to use. Then I had Kate Widdows, a designer I have worked with on many occasions, take it from there. She gave the album a full antiquarian treatment, which was perfect, since I also work in the rare book trade. I am very happy with how it turned out. SILY: Are you playing these songs live? If so, how are you approaching them?

RB: The solo guitar pieces I will perform for sure, even though each one is in a different guitar tuning. Some of the others may require a bit of trickery in order to make them work. I’m trying to figure out the correct approaches on these. There are a couple of pieces that I don’t think I could do at all without help from others. But we’ll see how it all plays out. SILY: What's next for you? RB: Tour plans are in the works for the U.S. and for Europe in order to promote the new album. I will also being doing a handful of shows with Alan Bishop and Chris Corsano later this year (under the name The Clandestine Trio). I am hoping to hook up again soon with Chris and Ben Chasny in order to record a new Rangda record. And, I will continue to work on new solo recording projects. It will be a busy year. SILY: Is there anything you've been listening to, reading, or watching lately that's caught your attention? RB: No, not a damn thing!

[rainydawgradioblog]

RDR Essentials - Experimental (4/13)

RDR Essentials is a weekly newsletter of alternating genres that outlines key releases of the past month, upcoming events around Seattle and happenings in the specified music genre.

Made in collaboration between Rainy Dawg DJs and the Music Director.

Releases: 

Tuluum Shimmering - Bird Song

The newest release from the one man band with the new age/drone/free folk plan, Bird Song clocks in at a brief (for his standards) 68 minute runtime. If any of you are already familiar with our Welsh friend Tuluum Shimmering, you’ll know pretty much exactly what to expect- the man may have many great aspects to his art, diversity of sound is not one of them. For those of you who’ve not yet had the pleasure of knowing him, I’ll lay it out more plainly. Tuluum Shimmering loves to start pieces with a nice repeating piano or synth riff that is eventually engulfed by a cascade of acoustic guitars and various drone instruments, which will continue for a bit before being punctuated by hand drums (never a drum kit, for drum kits aren’t new age, and breaking new age would be scandalous for him). Then the piece will reverse itself in approximately the same order, except maybe the percussion will stay in, before resolving with the same piano or synth riff that started the piece. You may be saying to yourself, “Gee, this sounds a whole lot like classical minimalism with the phasing and whatnot, isn’t that kind of old-hat?” and you’d be correct. Tuluum Shimmering is a musician whose obsession with nostalgia verges on becoming hauntological, but that isn’t to say there’s nothing interesting or fresh with his music. His exploration of layers, texture, and timbre in music is very rewarding for the attentive listener. Even for those who don’t want to tunnel vision on the minutiae, his music is pleasant to a fault and is as easily enjoyed with a warm cup of coffee as it is with an ice cold beer when you want to relax.

FFO: Natural Snow Buildings, Pelt, Alice Coltrane’s new age stuff

- Cameron Molyneux

Horse Lords - The Common Task

Apologies for turning back time to last month for this one, but we have what many on the internet are considering the breakout album for maybe classical maybe rock probably just fans of Glenn Branca quartet Horse Lords. It’s got everything baby- microtones, polyrhythms, grooves, bagpipes, an extended ambient passage. What more could you ask for? And unlike the criticism lobbed at a certain adventurous Australian Oh Sees cover band, none of it feels contrived or gimmicky. These are quality compositions with a lot of depth to them. Multiple listens reveal more and more about them, so it’s worth being patient. The second track, “Against Gravity,” has the extremely sick microtones. The fourth, “People’s Park,” has the aforementioned bagpipes. Did I also mention that the last song is 19 minutes long? All in all, a very exciting release that has the band sounding at times like Storm & Stress and at others like This Heat. Check it out.

*We regret to inform you that Anthony Fantano gave this album an 8/10 and it is therefore uncool to like it now. Cameron regrets the error*

FFO: Storm & Stress, This Heat, Don Caballero, Glenn Branca, Rhys Chatham

- Cameron Molyneux

Sharks - Skies Look After Us

After my humiliating brush with meloncore in the last blurb, I decided I needed to go with something much lower profile to avoid my past mistakes. And so I bring you the second album released this year by Sharks, a bright young artist who popped onto my radar after a RYM friend gave his first album a glowing review. Much of experimental music is very long, sometimes to the point of belaboring whatever point it was trying to make in the first point. This is why I hold a special fondness for brevity, and also why I took a chance on Sharks’ work in the first place. The first album was a sleek 32 minutes, this one an even more aerodynamic 28. What could I lose from spending that time listening to new music instead of watching an episode of Frasier? Well, the answer is nothing. This is a very promising foray into the more lush ambient side of psych folk. It’s got moments of field recordings, dark ambient, and even a bit of drone. Definitely a cool artistic progression to see happening in real time. Give it a listen n sound off in the comments below on what you think about it. Until next month gamers.

FFO: Grouper, Inca Ore, Paavoharju

- Cameron Molyneux

The Breathing Effect - Photosynthesis

The full effect of this record can only be felt while sitting next to a plant (I recommend a fern). The drums and syncopation in their sound have only grown since 2015’s Mars is the Only Place for Love. The bubbling soundscape their ambience creates is held together by brilliant drum composition and delightfully melodic basslines. The evolving organs make it feel like I’m a small fern being fed by the sun that is The Breathing Effect. Heliotrope is my favorite track off this record; it’s so easy to get lost in the lightness and depth of the instrumentation this one has that I forgot I was writing this and just dissociated for a quick second. Listen to this outside in the sun if you are able to. 

FFO: Keifer, Sam Gendel and Sam Wilkes, Nick Hakim

- Chris Carroll

Upcoming Releases:

4/17: Sir Richard Bishop - Oneiric Formulary

4/17: Mako Sica & Hamid Drake - Balancing Tear

4/17: Oranssi Pazuzu - Mestarin kynsi

4/24: Mark Kozelek - All the Best, Isaac Hayes

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Oneiric Formulary by Sir Richard Bishop

Oneiric Formulary by Sir Richard Bishop

[ad_1] The first full-length solo release for the Sun City Girls guitarist in five years.

Label: Drag City

Release Date: Apr 17, 2020 [ad_2] Source link

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Sir Richard Bishop: Oneiric Formulary

The acclaimed solo guitarist sets aside his beloved instrument for nearly half the tracks on his new album, seeking new routes to convey familiar moods.

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[benju-min]

Oneiric Formulary by Sir Richard Bishop

Oneiric Formulary by Sir Richard Bishop

[ad_1] The first full-length solo release for the Sun City Girls guitarist in five years.

Label: Drag City

Release Date: Apr 17, 2020 [ad_2] Source link