Rival Consoles - Landscape From Memory - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Rival Consoles returns with a resonant and explorative soundscape of original music, composed for renowned choreographer Alexander Whitley's contemporary dance production Overflow.Exploring themes of the human and emotional consequences of life surrounded by data, the piece echoes the concept of social media, advertising, marketing companies and political factions exploiting our data to gain wealth, political advantage and sow division. Key reading for the project was based around the contemporary philosophical work Psychopolitics Neoliberalism and New Technologies of Power by Byung-Chul Han.1. Monster 2. I Like 3. Hands 4. Pulses of Information 5. Noise Call and Response I 6. Overflow 7. The Cloud Oracle 8. Tension in the Cloud 9. Noise Call and Response II 10. Scanning 11. Flow State 12. Touches Everything 13. Making Sense of It All Album Tracks 1. Monster 2. I Like 3. Hands 4. Pulses of Information 5. Noise Call and Response I 6. Overflow 7. The Cloud Oracle 8. Tension in the Cloud 9. Noise Call and Response II 10. Scanning 11. Flow State 12. Touches Everything 13. Making Sense of It All

London-based musician and producer Ryan Lee West, aka Rival Consoles, creates driving, experimental electronic music that makes synthesisers sound human. His consistent desire to create a more organic, living sound, sees him forming pieces that capture a sense of songwriting behind the machines. Over the course of a critically acclaimed fifteen-year career, Rival Consoles' music has diversified from the challenging output of his early EPs to gradually become more conceptual and metamorphic, such as 'Articulation' (2020) which used drawings and sketches to imagine and develop each track, to 'Overflow' (2021), which explored themes of the human and emotional consequences of life surrounded by advancing technologies and social media.'Now Is' marks a new chapter in an ongoing quest for refinement and evolution. More playful and melodic, the album draws from much experimentation in minimalist songwriting and seamlessly blends synthesisers and acoustic instruments. InchThere are some pieces that are influenced quite strongly by the isolation and anxiety of these times. There are also pieces which are more optimistic and vibrant, which I think is a consistent attitude of my records, as I want art to express many aspects of life.InchFrom the elevating arrangements of 'Beginnings' and motorik beats of 'World Turns', to the isolation of 'Frontiers', influenced by the barren landscapes of Iceland, Rival Consoles' eighth studio album subtly morphs and evolves. InchThe title of the record 'Now Is' interests me because it is the beginning of a statement, but it is incomplete. I like art that is open and suggestive of ideas even if they are inspired by very specific things. With my previous record 'Overflow' being very dark, heavy and almost dystopian, I wanted to escape into a different world with this music and ended up creating a record which is a lot more colourful and euphoric.

'Howl' is the new album by Rival Consoles, London-based electronic producer Ryan Lee West, set for through Erased Tapes on 16th October 2015. Foremost a guitarist, growing up listening to rock rather than club music, West continues to strive towards finding a more personal balance between music for home listening and larger spaces. The title track was inspired by the howl-like tones he developed by running synths through guitar pedals. InchBy slowly drifting the pitch through distortion and delays, the result sounded like vocal cries – something which was perfect for the song and this inspired me to take on a darker set of tones across the whole album. It was made over the past few years, inspired by capturing small performances on synths, touring with some of my musical heroes, playing with feedback when I should have been catching a train, sampling my voice in unexpected conditions and recording textures in different countries.” The album explores a wide range of emotions; from the dissonance eruptions and primal rhythms in 'Howl', to the mournful improvisations of '3 Laments', which features a sample of his own voice. Alongside his performances on Moog, Prophet, tape delay and guitar, West enlisted the help of drummer Fabian Prynn for ‘Low’ and cellist Peter Gregson for ‘Walls’, both long-time collaborators of Erased Tapes peers Douglas Dare and Michael Price.InchThis album features a lot of my own recordings, rather than simply using samples that I have sitting on my computer. This gives the album a more personal feeling, which is very important to me because I think we live in a time where there is just so much recorded material out there, and accessible at a click of a button, that the joy of recording your own drum sounds, your own percussion, your own claps, seems redundant – but it’s not! That should be a priority because its often more interesting and make