Biffy Clyro will release the surprise new project ‘The Myth of the Happily Ever After’ on October 22nd. The record is a homegrown project that represents a reaction to their #1 album ‘A Celebration of Endings’ and a rapid emotional response to the turmoil of the past year. It is the ying to the yang of ‘A Celebration’, the other-side-of-a-coin, a before-and-after comparison: their early optimism of 2020 having been brought back to earth with a resounding thud. It’s the product of a strange and cruel time in our lives, but one that ultimately reinvigorated Biffy Clyro.
“This is a reaction to ‘A Celebration of Endings’,” says vocalist / guitarist Simon Neil. “This album is a real journey, a collision of every thought and emotion we’ve had over the past eighteen months. There was a real fortitude in ‘A Celebration’ but in this record we’re embracing the vulnerabilities of being a band and being a human in this twisted era of our lives. Even the title is the polar opposite. It’s asking, do we create these narratives in our own minds to give us some security when none of us know what’s waiting for us at the end of the day?”
Grounded by lockdown, Biffy Clyro recorded ‘The Myth’ in a completely different way to how they approached ‘A Celebrations’. Rather than spending months in Los Angeles, they traded one West Coast for another by recording for just six weeks in their rehearsal room (converted DIY style into a fully functional studio by rhythm section brothers James and Ben Johnston) in a farmhouse closer to their homes.
The trio went in with the intention of completing some unfinished songs from ‘A Celebration’, but instead ‘The Myth’ took over as it started to take shape late in 2020, with everything written and recorded within a ten-mile radius. Traditionally, 90% of Biffy songs have been written in Scotland before the band head to London or Los Angeles for recording, but this represented the first time they’ve ever recorded in their homeland. As Simon jokes, “It’s our first full-on tartan album!”
‘The Myth’ blends experimental flourishes with flashes of old school Biffy. ‘Existed’ is the moment that shaped the record an elegant expression of self-doubt that redefines the sonics of the band’s catalogue of vulnerable slowburners, while ‘DumDum’ is an even bigger departure, having been constructed primarily around soft synths sampled from Simon’s voice. And ‘Slurpy Slurpy Sleep Sleep’ is just as audacious a closer as ‘Cop Syrup’ from ‘A Celebration’. It also represents one of a selection of “easter eggs” or “turns of phrase” that subtly complement and contrast the two records.
At the other extreme, devoted fans will connect with the feral anger of ‘A Hunger In Your Haunt’, the arena-scaled drama of ‘Errors In The History of God’ and the sheer catchiness of ‘Witch’s Cup’.
‘The Myth’ has been launched alongside the new track ‘Unknown Male 01’. In six adventurous minutes, the band explore every facet they’re renowned for, taking in the unguarded emotion of its introduction, a skewed off-kilter breakdown, and a jagged, spiralling riff that builds towards a cataclysmic crescendo. The song reflects on friends who have taken their own lives.
“When you lose people that you love deeply and have been a big part of your life, it can make you question every single thing about your own life,” he says. “Like a lot of creative people, I struggle with dark thoughts. If you’re that way inclined you realise you’re staring at darkness, but you don't want to succumb. Those moments don’t stop. As the song says, ‘The devil never leaves.’ There’s never a day where you wake up thinking, ‘I feel great, it won’t cross me ever again.’”
A recurring concept of the album is the power of personal convictions, which have taken on an almost religious fervour via the echo chambers of social media and news platforms. But that idea has the nuance to rise above contrasting sides of an argument, arguing that greater unity and open-mindedness is the only way forward. Elsewhere, it spans everything from gaslighting to the ultimate devotion of cults and the beautiful failure of a Japanese racehorse.
‘The Myth of the Happily Ever After’ is now available to pre-order here, with ‘Unknown Male 01’ provided as an instant download. It will be released on CD and digital formats, as well as a limited edition red vinyl which is packaged with a must-have bonus CD for fans: full audio of the acclaimed livestream show that Biffy Clyro performed at Glasgow Barrowland in August 2020 to commemorate the release of ‘A Celebration of Endings’.
After headlining Reading and Leeds in August, Biffy Clyro will also play further large-scale outdoor gigs this summer at Cardiff Bay and Glasgow Green. Plans for 2022 are also taking shape, with April’s long sold-out ‘Fingers Crossed’ intimate tour and a huge Saturday night headline set at Download. Please see the band’s official website for a full list of shows and ticket information.
Buscar:human error
Biffy Clyro will release the surprise new project ‘The Myth of the Happily Ever After’ on October 22nd. The record is a homegrown project that represents a reaction to their #1 album ‘A Celebration of Endings’ and a rapid emotional response to the turmoil of the past year. It is the ying to the yang of ‘A Celebration’, the other-side-of-a-coin, a before-and-after comparison: their early optimism of 2020 having been brought back to earth with a resounding thud. It’s the product of a strange and cruel time in our lives, but one that ultimately reinvigorated Biffy Clyro.
“This is a reaction to ‘A Celebration of Endings’,” says vocalist / guitarist Simon Neil. “This album is a real journey, a collision of every thought and emotion we’ve had over the past eighteen months. There was a real fortitude in ‘A Celebration’ but in this record we’re embracing the vulnerabilities of being a band and being a human in this twisted era of our lives. Even the title is the polar opposite. It’s asking, do we create these narratives in our own minds to give us some security when none of us know what’s waiting for us at the end of the day?”
‘The Myth’ has been launched alongside the new track ‘Unknown Male 01’. In six adventurous minutes, the band explore every facet they’re renowned for, taking in the unguarded emotion of its introduction, a skewed off-kilter breakdown, and a jagged, spiralling riff that builds towards a cataclysmic crescendo. The song reflects on friends who have taken their own lives.
Deep down in the sediment – you will find the element – of human being error. CLEAR006 is the cure. The next edition of cooperations, cross-overs and contemplations on current events brings you the soundtrack for the basements in which you will be allowed to go to again soon. Enjoy this blend of dystopian funk, battle ship movements and laid-back tributes while it’s still cold (-80°). Sorry, that we kept you waiting, but research does take time.
Side effects may include Nausea, Dizziness and Muscle Twitches.
Tracks by T-Error, MagikBitum, Digitizer, Kind Human Being, Kitbuilders, DVS NME and Noise and Noise. The Time Capsule project, also known as 808 Box, is a project created by Fundamental Records. The six boxes released in recent years include 56 records with over 300 tracks from artists from every corner of the world. Some warehouse copies have surfaced of the 10th Anniversary 808 Box, and these will be available individually. These are new copies in perfect condition, with the original sleeves printed with the images of the classic Roland TR-808.
Limited edition of 12′ vinyl release. Presents its sixth vinyl release with an interesting collaboration between a contemporary project such as Dot Product, the tandem formed by Adam Winchester and Christopher Jarman, and the Japanese legend of experimental rock and noise Kazuyuki Kishino. Known as KK Null, this artist had a first stage as a guitarist in several bands, it is worth remembering that at that time he collaborated with Merzbow in several albums and that years later he changed the guitar for electronic devices. 404 Not Found opens side A with a first cut by the English duo. Error Message combines grainy, strummed textures with a humanized sonic profile in which a beautiful melody makes its way in the face of bleak adversity. The second cut of this side is by KK Null, in this track the Japanese artist shows a high dose of metallic sounds that travel at the free will of the author to end up yielding in front of a complex and disorderly structured rhythm. Unlike side A, side B of this EP shows a work created jointly by Dot Product and KK Null. Pause Frames is an industrial cut, with hard percussion and numerous sound patterns such as pads, strong resonances and highly saturated components. 10-4-10-409-Conflict is the fourth and final track on the release, again employing a hard-hitting rhythm with a series of crunchy textures and a harmonic conjugation of dissonant chords. Picture: Stefan Alt / Salt (Ant-Zen) Mastered: Daniele Antezza / Dadub Written: Kazuyuki Kishino, Adam Winchester and Chris Jarman
5th album from Tangent. Limited edition white vinyl with DL card.
Evolutionary Cycles is the 5th full length from Dutch ambient beats duo Tangent. Their previous album Approaching Complexity leaned heavily on piano motifs. In contrast, Evolutionary Cycles spotlights the duo's adeptness at creating an atmosphere that focuses on moody elongated synths and tightly syncopated percussion experiments.
The album can be viewed as one of their more sullen efforts. During the writing process, the duo used the impact the human race has on nature as their overall inspiration; While this is a troubling and topical subject, there is always lightness in juxtaposition to Tangent's emotional weight.
Like many electronic artists, Ryan Lee West aka Rival Consoles spent his early years experimenting with IDM, glitch and dance, but one consistent element in his musical journey has been his desire to create a more organic, humanised sound. Through these experimentations he has found a process of producing electronic music that feels close to this urge. Restricting himself to a small selection of analogue equipment, West engages his hands directly with instruments and is very selective about what he then records into the computer. He reduces musical parts even further, leaving enough space around the sound for it to breath.
‘Odyssey’ is a reflection of West’s quest to create atmosphere and space from minimal arrangements. ‘I don’t like music to sound overly laboured, so I restrict how much is going on. I’m kind of obsessed with the idea of reduction.’ The new 5-track EP was mastered by Naweed and will be released worldwide on October 21 in the form of a 12" Vinyl and Download via Erased Tapes.
‘Odyssey’ and ‘Voyager’ are both incredibly stripped down and have a great sense of space throughout them. It's all about using the right ingredients at the right points in time. A lot of these ingredients are short recordings, such as ice cracking, mechanical clicks, clicks from synth errors, sounds of debris, guitar plucks etc., which interact with the simple arrangements and create little hints of rhythm. I also love the technique of swelling in music, but I realised that hardly anyone has done that in electronic music. So when I first got the synth to swell in and out with the opening chords of ‘Philip’, it was a great moment. Because it creates a human mood in a matter of seconds, which is very difficult to do with electronic sounds. That track is very important to me, and I think it will influence how I make music in the future.’ – Ryan Lee West
West will perform alongside his contemporary composer mates Ólafur Arnalds and Nils Frahm for a special electronic Erased Tapes night as part of London’s The Hydra series on October 18. The same day will also see a special in-store event at Phonica Records, where West will showcase the ‘Odyssey’ EP amongst other tracks on his beloved analogue gear, joined by South London artist Supermundane creating a live art piece in the shop window.
Lucrecia Dalt's Anticlines is a volume of bodily and geological substrates within poetic theory and sound. It is a place where skins and minerals dissolve and commingle, where gaseous subterranean leaks inflate lungs, where brain cavities echo interplanetary waves bent from passing through atmospheres.
A former geotechnical engineer from Colombia currently residing in Berlin, Dalt's concern with boundaries and edges shape the lyrics and music of Anticlines, her sixth album. Paying careful attention to pace, breath, and texture, Dalt microtonally shifts the distance between speech and song while using traditional South American rhythms to support her contemporary electronic composition.
Lucrecia arrived at the atmosphere of Anticlines after several months of studying and creating new patches for the Clavia Nord Modular, forming a rhythmic feedback flow with it, a Moogerfooger MuRF, and her voice. The overall effect of cavernous space backdroping Dalt's intimate vocal phrasing rewards contemplation, supported in the physical formats of Anticlines by a lyric booklet documenting Lucrecia's collaboration with Australian artist Henry Andersen.
The album opens with Edge,' bordering on a pathological circlusion of self upon other. The lyrics depart from the Colombian myth of El Boraro, an Amazonian monster who turns its victims insides to pulp before sucking them dry and inflating their bodies like balloons to lifelessly float away. Tar' ponders human dependence on earth at the boundary of the heliopause, where to inhale might be like breathing tar. Dalt's distant and obscured vocals end with, we touched only as atmospheres touch.'
The sonic rise and fall of Analogue Mountains' is inspired by martian traces found in Antarctica embedded by meteorite ALH84001, suggesting that we might well be living in mountains transferred from Mars.' The steadily winding music on Concentric Nothings' descends with the lyrical exercise of dissolution let my touch be indistinct and instinctive.'
Interspersed with the lyrical pieces of Anticlines are instrumental interstitials that demonstrate preceding concepts — as if to say, this is what antiforms sound like, and this is what the universe's indifference sounds like.' Dalt's ongoing experiments with visual artist Regina de Miguel support these ideas, their practice allowing the objects of their attention to slip in and out of being.
Mystic of matter, Lucrecia Dalt has previously performed and worked with Julia Holter and Gudrun Gut, her slippery spoken word and performative nature recalling the work of Laurie Anderson, Robert Ashley, Asmus Tietchens, or Lena Platonos. While touching stones, The Thing by Dylan Trigg, Cascade Experiment by Alice Fulton, and Wretched of the Screen by Hito Steyerl are but a few formative scripts that support Dalt's exploration of the betwixt and between.
In preparing a live set for Anticlines, Dalt plans to stage an uninterrupted configuration, like a kind of alienated lecture, aiming for gestures that create tensions with non-existent objects.' Dalt intends to provide meaning and a place for the listener to meditate or relate to the concerns and ideas' she presents.
- Lucrecia Dalt is a Colombian recording artist, songwriter, and producer.
- After studying civil engineering in Colombia, Dalt worked at a geo-technical company for two years and has since lived in Barcelona and Berlin, where she currently resides.
- She has released five solo albums and has collaborated with musicians Julia Holter, Laurel Halo and Rashad Becker, to name a few.
- Dalt has composed for sound design installations and performance pieces for institutions such as the Santa Monica Art Centre, Reina Sofia Museum and the Maisterravalbuena gallery of Madrid, in collaboration with visual artist Regina de Miguel.
- Anticlines is Dalt's sixth solo record, and her first on RVNG Intl., following the release of 2015's Ou.
- Anticlines explores the boundaries and limitations of human consciousness. The album's poetic lyrics were written collaboratively between Dalt and Henry Andersen during a weekend in Brussels, Belgium.
'It is now clear that humans are no longer the most important things in the universe, that their knowledge, creativity and intelligence are ultimately limited.'
The Posthuman realises that the ultimate questions about existence and being do not require answers and accepts that humans have a finite capacity to understand and control nature. Even just to know the ultimate nature of the universe would require knowing everything about the universe, everything that has happened and everything that will happen. If one thing were not known it would imply that all knowledge of the universe is partial, potentially incomplete and, therefore, not ultimate.
Humans privilege to order over disorder on the assumption that the essential laws of nature are gradually being discovered. This is a fundamental error; nature is neither essentially ordered or disordered. What we perceive as regular, patterned information we classify as order; what we perceive as irregular, unpatterned information we classify as disorder. The appearance of order and disorder implies more about the way in which we process information than the intrinsic presence of order or disorder in nature.
The humanist era was characterized by certainty about the operation of the universe and the place of humans within it. The Posthuman era is characterized by uncertainty about the operation of the universe and about what it is to be human.
What is a human Is there such a thing
No finite division can be drawn between the environment, the body and the brain. The human is identifiable, but not definable.
Consciousness, (the interaction body-brain) and the environment (reality) cannot be separated; they are continuous that defines the being.
All technological progress of human society is geared towards the transformation of the human species as we currently know it; the posthumans regard their own being as embodied in an extended technological world. In such 'synthetik' reality power no longer needs to impose physical regulations, as it is able to manipulate and shape up the minds directly, becoming part of it.
There won't be any resistance from the individual, as he will have embodied the needs of the system in his own being, and their ambition will serve the economy.
Currently the output of machines is predictable; the Posthuman era fully starts when the output of machines becomes unpredictable, so that complex machines, apparatus whose workings we do not fully understand or control, become an emerging form of life.
In the Posthuman era, the future never arrives.
..from ´The Posthuman Manifesto´, Robert Pepperel, 1995
* To celebrate the second anniversary of Khemia Records we are pleased to welcome back In Aeternam Vale, the legendary French artist who inaugurated the imprint on a split Ep with Bronze Teeth in March 2016.
* This is the first single-artist Ep produced by the label, initiating a new series that will run parallel to the V/A editions.
* The tracks 'Dave' and 'Circles' form an elliptical conundrum composed of various references including Kubrick's alchemical allegory 2001 A Space Odyssey, (sampled in French) with it's existential narrative of a schizophrenic artificial intelligence lurking in the shadows. The Deus ex Machina wondering if mankind is still useful to machines, or perhaps even dangerous to them The infamous Seveso chemical disaster at the pharmaceutical laboratory ICMESA caused by human error, the glowing blood-red sphere of HAL 9000, the all-seeing eye of the sentient super-computer and the circular composition of the toxic compound 2,3,7,8 Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), released into the atmosphere at Seveso. With this cryptic feedback loop, Laurent Prot is suggesting that the new technologies we are developing now, for use in our near future could result in catastrophe when human control is lost to the self-learning of AI. The homicidal consequences of a machine take-over find visual form in the bleak, dystopian aesthetic of Evelyn Bencicova's cover artwork.
Inspired by the early industrial pioneers, dead crooners and the unrelenting speed of change, Uncanny Valley combine homemade metallic resonators, pound-shop contact mics and sellotape synthesisers, with human error for unusual effect. Remixes come from the fantastic Manfredas and Mondowski.












