PREMIERE - Andrew Tuttle 'Activation'

Inimitable outlier label Room40 had a stellar 2015, celebrating 15 years in the biz with releases and reissues by the likes of Tim Hecker, Norman Westberg and Lawrence English, as well as shows featuring English, Jim O'Rourke, William Basinski and Grouper among many others. They have now dusted off their avant-garde imprint Someone Good, and first cab off the rank is Brisbane ambiance wunderkind (and rabid cricket and Eurovision fan) Andrew Tuttle with Fantasy League, his second "solo" record after shirking his decade long moniker Anonymeye a couple years ago. He has worked with the likes of Matmos, Dan Deacon, Mike Cooper and English in the past, and his recent support track record (

Tuttle continues to extend the notion of creating a bathysphere in manipulated electronica, floating in sonic amniotic fluids, gently oscillating, expanding, a kaleidoscopic changeling, emotions coalescing and morphing at languid increments, the pastel colours breathing, sparks showering down in high-definition slow motion. Fantasy League aims to capture the listener in a phantasmagoria that calms and enraptures, beguiles and bewitches.

Fantasy League is launched next week - you can pre-order it here. Below is an exclusive stream of aural euphoria 'Activation'. Make me a lifelong member, Tutts. Sonic Masala is proud to be hosting Tuttle at the esteemed Cafe OTO Wednesday April 27, support coming from Chris Rainier and Lisa Busby - get tickets here.

PREMIERE - Sonic Explorer Andrew Tuttle Constructs The Evening With Matmos

HELLLLOOOOOO!

It's been six weeks, but Sonic Masala (the blog) is back! We have plenty to speak about, shit on about, brag about and listen to. We haven't been idle - the sixth entry into the Sonic Masala Records stable, Dollar Bar's third LP Hot Ones, is now out and smokin' hot; the second annual (that's right - watch out 2016!) Sonic Masala Fest kicked arse in Brisbane, Australia; and just last Saturday we had our first live showcase right here in London, featuring Giant Swan, Yaws, mnttab and TOOMS - officially an international concern!

So I thought the best way to come back into the written form is with a bang - so here is the premiere of 'Post Meridiem Construction', the new track of Andrew Tuttle's second proper release Slowcation, out on Room40 cassette imprint A Guide To Saints. Featuring Matmos' MC Schmidt, it is a soft melt, the drip filter of whiteout afternoons, where the sun is out but colour drains from the canvas. A netherland of overt emotion, it provides the perfect platform for reflection, rumination and regrowth.



The album itself perfectly encapsulates the fervent yet awestruck fever one gets when in the presence of a positive energy that Tuttle embeds in all of his work. The A side was created while Tuttle toured the States, taking in such diverse outsider fare as the Goldrush Festival in Denver and hanging out with Matmos and Dan Deacon; while the B side was created back on home soil, with the vacation turbines still winding down. Starting with that familiar warm cut up tone of Tuttle's trusty banjo, 'Vernon City Limits' glistens with an eternal shimmer, like solar flares on a slowed-down Super 8 video of a car journey through an innocent past (with the aid of Christopher Fleeger). There is always a percolating sense of innocence and hope in Tuttle's work (dating back to the early days of his Anonymeye guise), yet on Slowcation there is a innate confidence in his efforts to splice and reorder sonic structures entwined with a subversive joy in overlaying bucolic whimsy and happenstance over synthetic currents that sets this above and beyond what he has put to tape in the past. Even the pinging fray that opens 'Wave Triplet' explodes into cascading colour, aural sparks of kaleidoscopic wonder. Tuttle has become an artist in displaying the computer as a expansive palette, a conduit to further realms for more organic instrumentation, and Slowcation is further proof, if any was needed, that programming and hard edits can provide transcendental epiphany.

Slowcation comes out at the end of the month - pre-order it here. Tuttle has a series of shows coming up to showcase the release, so make sure you get along to one of the below and say g'day - he will definitely say g'day back and have a beer and talk cricket if you are into that sort of thing:

• 23.04.2015: The Bearded Lady, Brisbane. with No Magic + Feeding Fauna + Blank Realm x Monopoly Child Star Searchers DJs. 138 Boundary St, West End. $10, 8pm.

• 03.05.2015: Pretty Gritty @ 107 Projects, Sydney. with AFXJIM + Monica Brooks + CORIN + Samuel James. 5:30pm-9pm, $10/8. 107 Redfern Street, Redfern.

• 04.05.2015: Mundane Mondays @ The Old Bar, Melbourne. with Carolyn Connors + Brite Fight. 8pm, $5. 74 Johnston St, Fitzroy.

Sonic Masala Festival Artist Spotlight - Andrew Tuttle

From today onwards I aim to shine a light on a different artist that will be playing at Sonic Masala's first festival. I went all out  and called it Sonic Masala Fest. Because I'm an ideas man...

First cab off the rack is Andrew Tuttle. He is a much loved and proactive member of the Brisbane music scene for over the last half decade (and a bloody good mate). He has performed in a bunch of acts, most notably his solo pseudonym Anonymeye. Turning a new leaf, he has stripped the moniker and embraced his namesake. To open the salvo he brought out the wonderful little EP 4064, named after the postcode of Paddington, the suburb he lives and has lived around for some time.

Tuttle is in the process of writing new material, the first taste being BickLack, a twenty-eight minute sound collage that sews together a bunch of audio samples, improv runs and unreleased edits recorded last year in a mesmeric yet ebullient whole. One of the important facets of Tuttle's solo oeuvre is his ability to carve out light whispers, tendrils of sonic space that evokes open spaces, lonely streets, the quiet within the urban. BickLack continues in this vein and is a stunning pastiche of where this eccentric banjo-slinger is heading next.

OM Supports Singled Out

Two of my favourite Brisbane acts have both jagged the support slots for the Brisbane leg of US drone merchants OM's national tour. The gig is at the Hi Fi this Wednesday and is going to be incredible (drummer Emil Amos' other band - well, ONE OF his other bands - Grails was a definite highlight of last year also) - you should come and hang out. And in anticipation of the show, they are each releasing a single!

Andrew Tuttle is better known in musical circles as annoying Anonymeye. But he has laid the moniker to rest, preparing instead to trek out under his own biological label, and 'Rain Transplant' is the ceremonial unveiling before his "debut" EP 4064 (the suburb postcode for Paddington where he lives) hits the internet shelves. As you can here, it's not far removed from the instrumental deconstructions that earmarked Anonymeye's ten year oeuvre, which is great to hear, but the change in direction comes in subtle moments  - the amorphous segue into an effects-laden bridge, bookended by interplay between Tuttle's beloved banjo and bubbling synth - that implies there is a lot more to come that will take our breath away. I for one cannot wait.

Ghost Notes is a great instrumental rock band. Furthermore, they endeavour to create mood and sound scapes that fail to adhere to the quiet/loud dynamic that many of their contemporaries misinterpret and bludgeon to death around them, making them a more nuanced (and therefore far more interesting) prospect. It does feel like they have been riding out their last album, 2011's In Cover Of Night, for eons though, seeing as the vinyl launch came over a year afterwards. This is probably most felt by the five-piece themselves, and so they are on the cusp of correcting this conception with not one but TWO albums recorded and waiting in the wings. 'Go Where It Takes You' is the first taste of the first of those albums, entitled Hidden Horizons (out through Lofly), which will hopefully see the light of day in the next few months.

You really should get to OM. I will be posting my excellent interview with Emil Amos on Wednesday, but until then, grab your ticket now.

No More Anonymeye...

 

Sad news. My good friend Andrew Tuttle is retiring! Well, that’s not true at all – but after almost 9 years, three albums, and lots of EPs/splits/compilations etc, his musical moniker Anonymeye is being laid to rest. He has been a staple to the Sonic Masala cause – he’s played a couple of the Sonic Masala Presents showcases, as well as DJing at one, and has been a constant source of inspiration and laughter.

He’s not finished with music, not by a long shot – he’s got plans for further endeavours on top of becoming co-director of purveyors of all things left-field in Australian music, New Weird Australia.

Tonight is the Anonymeye swansong. Come to the Underground in the Fortitude Valley from 8pm to see him off. He’ll be selling some of his music, and having a good time to boot, come and join in. Excellent support from Pale Earth (Ben from Rational Academy) and Oscil_Ether. Also, it's BYO. I implore you though - bring tallies. Its how Anonymeye always wanted it...

1st Birthday of Live Celebrations



(poster by Matt Deasy)

Well here it is, the "Big" announcement. It's actually been floating around the traps and the social medias for a while, but it ain't official before it's launched here. This month marks one year since Sonic Masala started supporting the local bands of Brisbane, putting on DIY shows for friends and bands that I like and want to help out. We have had a single launch, an album launch, and even had a couple interstate and one NZ band join the fray. The future looks incredibly rosy for this arm of Planet Masala, with some bigger shows, niche shows and such planned for 2013, but let's forget about the future and party in the present! As part of local venue The Waiting Room (who are also celebrating its first year putting on amazing shows) we are putting on a three night extravaganza! Its mainly to thank everyone for supporting us over the past year, but also to see bands that we like and who like us. So its a big love in, basically!

THE LINEUP:

Thursday 25 October

Ghost Notes



Anonymeye



Feet Teeth




Friday 26 October

The Rational Academy



Tiny Spiders



Undead Apes



+ DJ Monster Monster

Saturday 27 October

Tiny Migrants



Go Violets



Do The Robot



+ DJs Don Candon & Pete Vegas

Three nights of awesome fun times, Im sure you'll agree! Tickets a $10 on the door, or for $20 you can go to all three nights! And of course its BYO, so you know it will be a cheap and easy night. Tiny Migrants promise to "blow y'all cocks off", so the bar has been set. See you there!

Sonic Masala End Of Financial Year Party Profile #1 - mnttaB

Only four sleeps until the next Sonic Masala party - and it's gonna be a end of financial year hoedown like none have seem before! With irascible rabblerousers Gravel Samwidge, uber laconic pit dwellers Bottlecock and lichen-growing hybrid enthusiasts Motherfucking Morgan Freeman unleashing all kinds of fiscal knowledge from their instruments, and DJ Micronations plying the Dow Jones commentary with the requisite monetary musical mixes, it's going to be hard to maintain control of bodily movement, function and spending.

But it gets better/worse, as taking up top billing is none other than Melbourne's master of musical mayhem mnttaB (pronounced Mount Tab). Otherwise known as Dik (Bastard Kestrel/S:Bahn), mnttaB focuses solely on brewing a glorious mess of tortured rhythms, deconstructed synth-punk and lo-fi yelling. It has evolved/devolved since the Shiny Stones and Miracles EP I spoke about in 2010 here, which is evident on new mini-release Rocky 4, 2 & 3. Head over to his Bandcamp to collect some slices of digital abrasion and buffoonery. I can't promise you will like it - which means you probably will.

mnttaB - Rocky 4, 2 and 3
mnttaB - Hollywood Nights

In A Room Of Concentric Circuits

A great little endeavour, Concentric Circuits is Room40 and The Queensland Conservatorium in conjunction with Crossbows – A Festival of Small Ensembles. The final program includes the likes of Dot.AY, Hunz, Anonymeye, Hugh Francis, Eugene Carchesio, Joel Stern/ Ross Manning, Primitive Motion, Tralala Blip, aa-cell, Botborg, Timothy Tate, and N4rgh1l3 all storming the Queensland Conservatorium on Brisbane's Southbank over May 11-13. The project is free and aims to deliver some of the most exciting electronic leaning acts from Brisbane and beyond. The three evenings of sonic drifts; from chiptune to audio visual psychedelia.

In its inauguration in 2012, the Crossbows Festival is directed at showcasing the work of small ensembles. In its programming, Room40 is taking an open approach towards exploring the notion of ensembles, with first announcement featuring the feedback chambers of Anonymeye; power duo dynamics of Primitive Motion; the multi-sensorial collaboration of AV ensemble Botborg, as well as installation works from Eugene Carchesio and Lawrence English.

For full program details and artist information, see here.

And to celebrate this awesome initiative, here is a new track from Anonymeye! See you there.

Anonymeye - Rendering (All Alone In The Moonlight)

Do Away With The Rain With Sonic Masala Tonight!

I may have laid dormant in terms of posts, but Sonic Masala has been movin and shakin in other realms, predominantly in the live arena. December's showcase featured a blistering set by high-concept grungers Sleepwalks, an intimate sojourn with Do The Robot, some cathartic meanderings courtesy of Nite Fields and some balls to the wall blues bust-ups from El Motel.

Matt & Sarah loved that show so much that Do The Robot will kick off proceedings once more at West End's The Waiting Room tonight in a pre-Australia Day knees-up. It's a holiday tomorrow, so why not start the celebrations early? Joining DoT are the glass-eating Bottlecock, the ambient tantrics of Anonymeye and the noir gleam of Keep On Dancin's. Once again it's all for a tenner, all for giving bands a chance to get paid for their efforts for once, and all really just an excuse to see bands I like whilst getting drunk for really cheap (it's BYO, doncha know?)

Fuck the rain. This party is where the shit goes DOWN.

Frank Fairfield Fiddles; Anonymeye's Adroit Anontendres

I have a couple of juicy little tidbits coming from local muso/promoter/tech wizard/all round good guy Andrew Tuttle to throw your way today.

Firstly he is organising a tour for the amazing young American bluegrass/old-time musician Frank Fairfield in December. He's going to be playing Meredith Festival and eight headline shows along the East Coast in December, including shows in Brisbane (Syncretism at Judith Wright Centre on Thurs 15/12, supported by Ryan Francesconi [USA, Drag City label, member of Joanna Newsom's band and arranger of her last album. Show is a
co-presentation with Tuttle's label Room40) and Gold Coast (The Sound Lounge on Fri
16/12, supported by Laneway from the Coast, and Anonymeye). Fairfield, impossibly young in comparison to his age-old sermons on life and the wilderness from a bygone Southern era, released Out On The Open West, which really showcases this burning talent. There's heaps
of tour info available at www.micronationstours.com.

Frank Fairfield - Poor Old Lance


The second piece of info surrounds Tuttle's solo project, Anonymeye. He recently released Anontendre (on Room40's avant-pop offshoot, Someone Good). He may be a great ambassador for experimental music from all over the world, but what he creates individually is something to behold. Using his usual (don't confuse with traditional) template of acoustic guitar, signal processing, synthesisers, and effects units, Anontendre is a work of art, an ambient sojourn into the off-kilter world that lies beneath the cosmopolis of everyday life, its gentle folk inflections augmented by the digital intrusions. Its a fantastic listen - a melodious composition that marries varying sonic realms with relative ease, creating a gossamer waterfall of elegiac soundwaves. You can grab it from the Room40 store here.

Anonymeye - Federation