Aside from Stevie Wonder, is there anything “Hotter than July?” Well, August is, for many of us. If you’re going to turn on ANY appliance in August besides the AC or a dozen ceiling fans, it better be for a DAMN good reason!
When August 23 rolls around, prepare to use some electric juice to play the latest two releases from Lawrence English’s Room40 imprint: Todd Anderson-Kunert’s Conjectures and Erkki Veltheim’s Ganzfeld Experiment.
When it came time for Todd Anderson-Kunert to record Conjectures, he decided to look away from the host of modern synthesizers at his disposal at his Melbourne Electronic Sound Studio residency and examine the sound possibilities of one rare instrument. It was anything but precipitous. In examining the Moog System 55 synthesizer intensely, Anderson-Kunert shunned the usual histrionic playing typical of the system’s progenitors and has created a deep drone that flaunts the instrument’s capabilities of creating memorable Moog moods.
The Finnish-born Australian violinist Erkki Veltheim also cuts a wide swath as a composer, film soundtrack creator, improviser, and orchestra performer par excellence. But Ganzfeld Experiment is his first published solo recording. As the title suggests, Veltheim uses telepathic extra-sensory test experiments as an influence to concoct a heady mix of violin signaling and static noise manipulation.
Both releases will be available as digital albums and as vinyl albums (both will have limited edition clear vinyl runs too). You can pre-order Anderson-Kunert’s and Erkki Veltheim’s albums here and here respectively. Extracts from both can be heard below.
Conjectures tracklisting:
01. I See What You Mean
02. It Feels Right
Ganzfeld Experiment tracklisting: