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Ralph Kinsella and the Poetics of Bedroom Listening

October 23, 2020 · Leave a Comment

Ralph Kinsella contacted me through this blog and emailed a link to his just-released Bandcamp-only Abstraction EP. The tunes blew me away — this was an ambient music I wanted to hear, melodic and optimistic, dynamic rather than constant, and featuring guitars, both processed and clear. I wrote about it in a previous #Worktones segment, giving the Abstraction EP high marks. But, behind the scenes, I emailed Ralph asking if he thought of following up with an album. And if he’d like my 8D Industries imprint to release it.

Ralph responded with the completed demo of his album Lessening. Though recorded at the same time as the Abstraction EP, Lessening felt like a step forward. Hearing Ralph’s music at a 50-minute stretch suited his sonic world-building. The music is glistening and evolving, taking on suggestive textures that convey movement from place-to-place. I’m loath to bring up ‘the lockdown,’ but these hopeful, outward-reaching tones are an antidote to seclusion.

Today Lessening is available on all the streaming platforms as well as Bandcamp. I can’t think of a better way for 8D Industries to close out this year of uncertainty — it’s an album of hesitant lightness and a resolve to keep going. 

I briefly spoke to Ralph Kinsella about this album, his music, and the beautiful part of Scotland where he resides. 

——————

I take it Abstraction is your debut under your own name. If so, what’s your background before that? I believe you were in a band or bands, correct? 

Ralph Kinsella: Abstraction and Lessening are the first records I recorded alone, and roughly at the same time, during the COVID-19 lockdown. They are siblings in that way, separated at birth. I wanted to do nothing more than capture something — a feeling, an emotion, maybe. Certainly, the unassailable need for extended and stretched forms of expression. Hopefully, listeners might relate to feelings of detachment and piercing melancholy, as I felt when making the records. 

I spent a long time improvising and experimenting with sounds in the lead-up to these releases. Before making these sounds, I was in various bands (mostly lo-fi bedroom rock). 

Tell me a little about your recording process. Anything surprising, either in technique, location, or even the gear you use? Do you approach the music with a ‘philosophy’? 

I record everything in a spare bedroom, and all the music starts with improvisation — usually on guitar (or synth) with a series of effects pedals. I try to use as little equipment as possible: a Stratocaster, harmonium, delay pedals, a cheapo synth, and a good synth. I use Logic Pro essentially as an eight-track. Limitations are the most important thing for me when working alone. So I avoid using any plugin instruments or too much DSP after recording. Like Keats, the philosophy is ‘truth’ – even though no such thing exists.

As a guitarist, how did you fall into this ambient style of music? Who are your inspirations/long-distance mentors for developing this sound?

The Swedish record label, Häpna, changed my life as a teenager. I’ve been obsessed with experimental music with post-rock leanings ever since. I’d go to Monorail Records in Glasgow and pick up anything new from the label (usually based on the cover art – the aesthetic curated by the label/artists was wonderful). I found the record labels and artists contributing to this creative ecosystem inspiring. It showed me a different model, one centered on creative expression.

At the moment, I enjoy listening to (and trying my best to understand) the music of Elaine Radigue, Francis Dhomont, Loren Conners, and, most recently, Cucina Povera. I think they’ve all been unknowingly collaborating with me for a while now.

When I reviewed the Abstraction EP, I pegged it as “bright, gentle, and optimistic.” Do you think that’s a fair assessment? If so, how do you arrive at that ‘vibe’ when a lot of ambient electronic music nowadays is dark and droney? And the world being dark and droney, too?

You’re right – I’m always looking for a way to make instrumental (and more left-field music) without the ‘higher access mode’ approach (by that I mean, the “my music is hard to listen to, therefore it must know more than you do” approach). I like to thread/tread fine ground between pop/experimental and abstract/structure.

Tell me a little bit about Dumfries and Galloway. I know much of The Wicker Man was filmed in the vicinity, which is wild. How does the landscape affect the music?

Liminal, fringe spaces are always interesting places for creativity. The way that land visually falls away into the sea in the imagery of The Wicker Man has a similar energy to the kind of stuff I’m interested in: where rural and (semi-rural) Scotland uncomfortably meet urban areas. The boondocks, interspersed with fragments of debris and flickering housing scheme street lights. These places (and the artistic exploration of these places) imbue my work. 

Is there an ideal listening environment or frame-of-mind for Lessening? 

The records (as with most music of this genre) require a certain amount of engagement. The pieces are musical conversations – they want to start a dialog with the listener and, I think, reject passivity. I like the poetics of the bedroom for music listening – that’s where I created the music, and that’s where it probably resonates best. 

• Ralph Kinsella’s Lessening is out now on 8D Industries.

Filed Under: Featured, Interviews + Profiles, Listening Tagged With: 8D Industries, Ambient Music, Bandcamp, COVID-19, Guitar, Ralph Kinsella, Scotland, The Wicker Man, Worktones

#Worktones: Ralph Kinsella, epic45, M. Sage

June 16, 2020 · 2 Comments

It’s been a while since I rounded up some #Worktones that are inhabiting the home office via a pair of strategically placed desk-top speakers. Here are three albums that provide a calming concentration in these frazzling times.

Ralph Kinsella is a Scottish guitarist hailing from Dumfries and Galloway, a region primarily known to some (me) as the filming location of The Wicker Man. He reached out to the blog with a ‘check out my music’ email. I do listen when emailed (unless I’ve been bcc’ed, in which case I don’t), but I rarely receive delightful surprises like what Ralph had in store. His Abstraction EP is a gorgeous 5-tracker filled with soft, layered tones and subtle shoegaze moments. The guitar is front-and-center but awash in reverb and delay and accompanied by electronics and atmospherics. I’d describe Ralph’s EP as bright, gentle, and optimistic — as if Sarah Records released ambient music. I’m especially welcoming this sort of music into my life right now, and I can’t wait to hear Ralph’s future efforts. The Abstraction EP is a free download on Bandcamp, so there’s nothing to stop you from grabbing it. [LINK]

Continuing with more UK-based guitar ambiance, I was happy to discover We Were Never Here, the latest release from epic45. Rob Glover and Benjamin Holton, who make up the core of the band, started this project in 1995 while still in their early teens. epic45’s discography is a dozen-plus strong, and, sadly, I’m not familiar with any of it. But I take it this beatless and vocal-free album is a slight departure. A limited compact disc version of the album came with a booklet of photos of “familiar suburban and semi-rural ‘nowhere places’ that exist between large towns and cities.” The music matches this description, as these songs evoke vast, stumbled-upon locations — not the intended destination but compelling nonetheless. The sound is lush and memory-inducing, and, in addition to the occasional guitar, a menagerie of instruments, textures, and field recordings float from track-to-track. We Were Never Here is music for movies you watch with your eyes closed. [LINK]

M. Sage is a #Worktones veteran, and I previously remarked on the ‘happy accident’ spirit and sense of emergence I picked up from his music. Cattails & Scrap Tactics is his “collection of fragments, sketches, environments, and atmospheres,” compiled for Bandcamp’s June 5 artist-appreciation day, with all proceeds donated to Chicago’s My Block My Hood My City organization. I can hear the sound of an artist experimenting and wandering, but these are hardly rescued discards. It’s an album of thought bursts, welcoming attention and standing still as a complete document of the creative question. And it’s often beautiful and filled with exciting ideas. You’ll spot a guitar here, too, alongside a bevy of unidentifiable and mostly peaceful sounds to tickle the eardrums. If you’d like a download, you might be too late — the album was only available for purchase on June 5 as a special one-off. But it’s still streaming on the site — and that might be only temporary, too, so listen while you can. [LINK]

🔗→ Follow me on Bandcamp

Filed Under: Listening Tagged With: Bandcamp, Chicago, epic45, Experimental Music, M. Sage, Music Recommendations, Ralph Kinsella, Sarah Records, Scotland, The Wicker Man, Worktones

What Am I Doing Now? (May 2018 Recap)

June 1, 2018 · Leave a Comment

  • Continuing the story from last month, I spent the early part of May nursing my wounded eyeballs and anticipating a new pair of contacts to help correct my keratoconus. For the past several years I’ve used hybrid lenses for my special vision needs, which were prescribed early in their development. My new eye doctor (who is fantastic btw) recommended a more recent contacts tech, these intimidating scleral lenses. I say intimidating as they are much larger than my hybrids, and they are hard enough to tap on (while the hybrids were mainly floppy, only hard in the center). The first few days with the scleral lenses were hell as my right eye was still somewhat injured and not happy about this unfamiliar lens. Lots of pain in the first 48 hours or so. And removing the contacts with a mini-plunger was a whole new thing for me — I could use my fingers to take out the old contacts — and that took a bit of getting used to. But I am pleased to say that after a few weeks of trial and (lots of) error I am on board with the sclerals. They are comfortable, and I believe I’m getting better, clearer vision than before. The eye saga continues.
  • Good thing I got the eye issues worked out as in the second week of the month I was off to the MusicBiz 2018 conference in Nashville. This is probably my favorite industry conference, partly because it’s amicable and casual, and partly as it’s in the always fun city of Nashville. I took in a lot of panels, with Monday’s offerings being the highlights — the ‘Legal Summit’ panels were all educational, and the new ‘Podcasting Summit’ panels, hosted by Jim Griffin (my favorite panel moderator), were excellent. The issues of music licensing in podcasts were covered in depth, and I appreciated the dive into the weeds. I hung out a bit with Craig from ReverbNation and Mike D. from Chicken Ranch Records (who I’ve known since my stint in college radio when I was like 19) and caught up with longtime friends/Nashville residents Jamie Blaine and Terry Grant. I also floated around some new ideas as to where I’m taking 8D Industries, and everyone I used as a sounding board was receptive and encouraging. Stay tuned.
  • As I’m getting ready to leave for the airport Mike D. asks, “do you have time for a drink with Tyler Mahon Coe?” Thus, on my way out of Nashville, we stop at a local dive bar and have a great conversation with Tyler, who hosts the brilliant Cocaine & Rhinestones podcast (as well as the hilarious Your Favorite Band Sucks podcast). I wrote about Cocaine & Rhinestones in last month’s entry, and Tyler’s show helped me get through the worst days and nights of eye trauma. It was cool to be able to let Tyler know this in person and to relate my podcast-inspired experience listening to Neil Young’s On The Beach for the first time. Tyler was as knowledgeable and cool to talk to in person as you might imagine. I’ll continue to follow his work, and he’s planning some exciting things.
  • I’m only home from Nashville for three days, and then I’m off to Scotland. This was a long-planned vacation with my spouse and my mother, to be tourists and explore the history of the Scottish east coast. My mother has ancestors from the region (and, of course, so do I), so she was interested in seeing it all. We had a fantastic time — I recommend Rosslyn Chapel and Sir Walter Scott’s house if you’re visiting and want some history. I also had time to find my old friends Jaco (Jaco & Co) and Iain (Funky Transport). It’s been too many years since I’ve spent time in Scotland, and this vacation inspired me to plan regular visits once again. My favorite home away from home.
  • What I Read This Month:

    Thinking Fast and Slow

  • What I Watched This Month:

    Nostalghia
    A Man Escaped
    The Wages of Fear
    Borg Vs McEnroe
    The Farthest: Voyager In Space
    Dying To Know: Ram Das & Timothy Leary
    Magnus

  • What I Listened To This Month:

    Cluster – Qua
    Brian Eno – Music For Installations
    Mary Lattimore – Hundreds of Days
    Deutsche Elektronische Musik

  • A Few Other Things I Enjoyed This Month:

    Questlove’s “Creative Quest” talk at Google
    When America’s Hottest Jazz Stars Were Sent To Cool Cold-War Tensions
    Pirate Radio Stations Explode on YouTube
    How The Kent State Massacre Helped Give Birth To Punk Rock
    Ornette Coleman – The Atlantic Years
    My Dad Painted The Iconic Cover For Jethro Tull’s ‘Aqualung,’ And It’s Haunted Him Ever Since
    Yuri Suzuki’s Musical Appliances Are Designed To Enhance Your Mood
    Glenn Branca: Punk Composer Who Turned Minimalism Maximal
    Elliott Sharp Remembers Glenn Branca

Filed Under: From The Notebook Tagged With: Book Recommendations, Keratoconus, Movie Recommendations, Music Recommendations, MusicBiz, Nashville, now, Podcast, Scotland

8sided.blog

 
 
 
 
 
 
8sided.blog is a digital zine about sound, culture, and what Andrew Weatherall once referred to as 'the punk rock dream'.

It's also the online home of Michael Donaldson, a slightly jaded but surprisingly optimistic fellow who's haunted the music industry for longer than he cares to admit. A former Q-Burns Abstract Message.

"More than machinery, we need humanity."
 
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