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MONOS (DARREN TATE & COLIN POTTER) - Age and Transformation

Format: do-CD Label & Cat.Number: Infraction Records INFX 044 Release Year: 2012 Note: re-mastered re-issue of a lim. CDR release from 2006, plus new material on disc 2; MONOS = DARREN TATE & COLIN POTTER with their special kind of field recording-based ZEN-ambience.. lim. 700 mini-gatefold styled cover Price (incl. 19% VAT): €16.00 More Info "To say that this has been planned for some time would be a bit of an understatement. The original Age and Transformation was released by Darren Tate in 2004 on his own Fungal imprint (and issued again in 2005). Both were released as CDRs in editions of 100 copies. Around 2006 the subject of doing a reissue was discussed, and discussed/planned/discussed, and now 6 (six!) years later Age and Transformation with an exquisite Colin Potter remaster along with an entirely new piece, Aged and Transformed remixed from the original is just about here. Darren's work has always been that of a drone eccentric, and proof positive of that is the micro-editions released since 2003 on his own Fungal Records. True modern-day psychedelia, drawn out drone excursions, electric guitar scraping and expansion, synth noodling harbored into small private recordings for the chosen few. The limited number of those exposed to Darren's view, which was not intended to be exclusive, just small updates as to where/what was happening with Darren in terms of gear, mood and circumstance. There is an inherent feel that little editing takes place, just captured recordings with the reel-to-reel on. Tate has worked extensively with other collaborators: Andrew Chalk (together known as Ora), Colin Potter (as Monos), Paul Bradley, Andrew Liles, and Ian Holloway to name a few. Collectively a solid block foundation of great U.K. drone artists. In a collaborative setting, there may be a bit more judicious editing employed for better (or for worse) depending on where one sits in appreciation of refinement over improvisation. Which brings us to Age and Transformation. Two tracks, both around the half-hour mark and presumably recorded in one take each. The first track ('Untitled') contains all elements of what makes a Tate recording effective: gentle guitar scraping, echoed city recordings, air vibrations oscillating an overall nocturnal hush that shrouds the whole piece. The second track (again, simply 'Untitled') is undoubtedly one of Tate's finest solo moments. A defining impressionistic recording captured in the middle of the night. It opens with the sound of a freeway , a very distant light traffic flow filtered through the forest. A lonesome organ sonata, languid chords with silence in between weave in and out at various points throughout. Tate sitting by the window capturing the sounds of the freeway, voices, haunting arias both human and industrial. The second disc is a reworking by Colin Potter. Extracted from the quiet of Age and Transformation, the first track 'Aged' is an encapsulation of the entire recording with the small dervishes, organ melodies and drone wrapped up in an almost tidy nine minutes. The second, 'Transformed,' is over 40 minutes of water tower acoustic sustained tones, layered subtle guitar hum... a perfect complimentary refinement on a classic ambient improvisation." [label info] www.infractionrecords.com