On The Nature Of Electricity & Acoustics

Stephen Rennicks enthusiastically reviews On The Nature of Electricity & Acoustics on his website Abstract Analogue:

“On The Nature of Electricity & Acoustics is a CD and download compilation (curated by composer and artist Daniel Figgis) of various Irish electro-acoustic artists which came out last year. If you have any interest in this type of music, then this album is a perfect introduction and in fact is the only one of its type that I’m aware of. Thankfully Figgis knows his stuff in this department.

Electronic maverick Roger Doyle’s playful ‘Baby Grand’ from 1978 opens the album in a minimal fashion with programmed over-lapping piano runs and he returns again about the midway point under his Operating Theatre guise in a piano and electronics piece from 1982.

Deep Burial’s deeply narcotic ‘Glue Bag Lung’ is another standout track for me and comes just before Ian Wilson’s deeply moving and melancholic ‘Devotional 3’ which places violin on a bed of electronics. Pat Daly’s ‘Com-Plex’ reminds me of and could be seen to be responding to Roger Doyle’s opening piece in its arrangement and playfulness. Very engaging indeed.

It’s great to finally get to hear something by Vincent Doherty. I previously only knew of him as a longtime collaborator of Daniel Figgis. His ‘Snow din’ is a lovely way to spend 2 minutes of your time, as you add him to your list of artists from this collection to make an effort to hear more from. Like a number of the other artists here, Doherty works outside of the conventional context of a musician that plays live, releases albums etc, working as a composer and sound designer for theatre and radio.

Cathal Coughlan’s ‘Second City Bicycle Bounce’ (a “recomposition” of music by Daniel Figgis) is a curious instrumental from 2002 that keeps growing on me each time I hear it. He’s managed to weave some fairly unusual elements together that somehow continue to reveal new angles and sides to them you might not have heard at first listen.

The gtr/bass/drums of ‘Devilcock!’ by Princess Tinymeat announces the first and only rock out so far. An early Figgis project from 1986 it makes me want to hear more of their music for sure. The track sounds on the verge of crashing to a halt or spinning off to one side, which is not a bad thing in this case. A welcome unreleased instrumental track from Schroeder’s Cat, “Goodbye”, commissioned by Figgis for his “poisonhats” event, is the penultimate track before ‘Lucky’s Bad Day’ from Figgis’ Skipper (1994). This is still one of my all time favourite albums and this track still sounds so bright, so full of wonder and potential, and after so much time I expect it always will. A return to the familiar so, after an illuminating and thrilling journey in the company of artists who have long been pursuing and honing their own unique vision.

There are also 12 extra tracks on the iTunes version. The album’s artwork is superb. Heresy Records is quite a new label, but already has shown a real eye for design and a great sense of style and taste in the music it has released so far.”

Buy the iTunes release of On The Nature Of Electricity & Acoustics (features 12 additional tracks)
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This review from last May of On The Nature Of Electricity & Acoustics from Canadian music magazine slipped through the net.

“With this album we are treated to the inimitable Irish sound under the influence of experimentation and boundary pushing.”

Read the full review

Buy the iTunes release of On The Nature Of Electricity & Acoustics (features 12 additional tracks)
Buy the On The Nature Of Electricity & Acoustics CD

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Hear selected tracks from On The Nature Of Electricity & Acoustics

WQXR the most listened to classical music radio station in the United States features On The Nature Of Electricity & Acoustics on it’s contemporary music station Q2 as Album of the Week.

Q2 focuses on musical discovery, world premiere recordings and fresh perspectives on today’s classical landscape.

“On the Nature of Electricity & Acoustics is a somewhat disjunct thrill-ride of a listen. But that’s the point. Few listeners outside of Ireland’s academic or underground scenes will have heard this music, but as the compilation proves, it’s a rich and diverse world worth visiting.”

READ THE FULL REVIEW & STREAM THE ALBUM

Buy the iTunes release of On The Nature Of Electricity & Acoustics (features 12 additional tracks)
Buy the On The Nature Of Electricity & Acoustics CD

The two leading New York radio stations for classical and new art music, WNYC and WQXR have featured On The Nature Of Electricity & Acoustics.

New music guru, John Schaefer and presenter Charlotte Mundy have both featured the album on their programmes. Schaefer’s, influential programme, New Sounds, on WNYC featured numerous tracks, as did Mundy’s incisive overview of the avant-garde, The New Canon on WQXR.

Listen to New Sounds
Listen to The New Canon

Classical Music download site, ClassicsOnline in conjunction with Heresy Records is offering a special promotion for the download of On The Nature Of Electricity & Acoustics.

Customers will receive a discount of 1/3 off the retail price by entering the promotional code “electric” when purchasing the album.

This promotion runs until Tuesday 16th April 2013.

On The Nature Of Electricity & Acoustics, an anthology of Irish electronic music, features many of Ireland’s most prominent composers, electronica artists, and sound experimentalists. The Irish Times gave the album 4 Stars, Audio Magazin (Germany) hailed it as “A wake up call for the senses”, The Quietus wrote “As an introduction to the work of a diverse group of artists and composers, On The Nature Of Electricity & Acoustics is unparalleled…” and the BBC’s Stephen McCauley praised the album as “Wildly ambitious…incredible and fantastic”.

BUY NOW from ClassicsOnline.com
Don’t forget to use the promotional code “electric”

BP Fallon, Stephen McCauley & Bernard Clarke have all featured Heresy’s new release On The Nature Of Electricity & Acoustics on their radio shows over the weekend.

BP Fallon featured 8 tracks from the album on his BTR (breakthruradio.com) show BP Fallon’s Wang Dang Doodle describing it as “a very fascinating anthology of many of Ireland’s most esteemed contemporary composers and cutting edge electronic artists… excellently curated by Daniel Figgis”

Stephen McCauley, on his BBC Radio Ulster show played Tóirse Ó’Ríordáin’s Atop D’Seefin from the iTunes release of the album saying:  “it is wildly ambitious… incredible and fantastic”.
Listen to the podcast

Bernard Clarke featured 5 tracks from the album on his Lyric FM show Nova – both Clarke and McCauley will feature On The Nature Of Electricity & Acoustics on their shows over the coming weeks.

Buy the CD fron the Heresy Shop

Buy the iTunes release with 12 additional tracks

To celebrate the launch of On The Nature Of Electricity & Acoustics, Heresy Records are having a live instore at Tower Records, 6-8 Wicklow Street, Dublin 2 on Thursday April 4th at 7pm featuring performances by:
Roger Doyle
Vincent Doherty
The Jimmy Cake
Enda Bates

UPDATE

More photos from the Heresy Records launch at Tower Records, Dublin

The Contemporary Music Centre, Ireland have made Heresy’s new release On The Nature Of Electricity & Acoustics their Album of the Month.

cmc.ie

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Buy the iTunes release with 12 additional tracks from iTunes

Irish Times journalist, Tony Clayton-Lea, gives Heresy’s latest release On The Nature Of Electricity & Acoustics a 4 Star review.

“This Electro Acoustic mix should not be mistaken for a pleasing sedative to help you fall asleep à la Enya. From the opening track by the legendary Irish Avant-garde composer Roger Doyle this album is a wake up call for the senses.

All of the 23 tracks on this high-voltage compilation were written in Ireland between 1978 and 2013 and beg the question: Which sounds were created with acoustic instruments and when are electronic sounds and effects to be heard? While the stylistic diversity of the album makes it impossible to pigeonhole or classify generally, the stylistic origins of the individual works are often apparent.

An exciting instrumental music project that combines experimental coolness with lovely Irish Folk harmonies.”

Winifried Dulisch

Heresy’s first release of 2013 features an anthology of rare instrumental works from many of Ireland’s most renowned contemporary classical composers and cutting-edge electronica artists.

Curated by Daniel Figgis, On The Nature Of Electricity & Acoustics is available in two formats, a 23-track CD and an iTunes Exclusive Album that features the work of 35 artists.

Beginning with Baby Grand (1978) by “The Godfather of Irish Electronica”, Roger Doyle, and moving forward to the present day, On The Nature Of Electricity & Acoustics presents a wide range of works demonstrating the diversity, creativity and originality of one of Europe’s most innovative contemporary music scenes over the past generation.

From hauntingly lyrical compositions to lo-fi sound experiments, rousing electronic anthems to transcendental explorations of Celtic mysticism and pure sonic mayhem On The Nature Of Electricity & Acoustics introduces you to Ireland’s most experimental and avant-garde musical idiom, one that exhibits international stylistic and compositional influences but is distinctly Irish in temperament and character.

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