Monday, May 30, 2011

[Cotton Goods 01 lp] Hybernation - E2 & E8 CDr (Album) 2010

Hybernation - E2 & E8
Label: Cotton Goods
Catalog#: 001 lp
Format: CDr, Album, Limited Edition
Country: UK
Released: 23 Jul 2010
Genre: Electronic, Non-Music
Style: Field Recording, Ambient

Credits: Photography - Stuart Bowditch and Damien Robinson
Written By, Recorded By - Stuart Bowditch

Notes: Third release in Cotton Goods 'Lending Library' series. Packaged in hand-made and stamped card envelope with inner wallet. The outer envelope is sealed with gumstrip. On purchase sealed outer envelopes were stickered with recipient's address and mailed out like that.

front flap of inner wallet contains'lending library' library card with limitation info.

Fold-out printed map insert pasted into inner wallet. Map insert also contains track details and credits. For each track there is a corresponding location on the map where sounds were sourced from, given by a grid-reference, along with a photo of each location.

''All songs written and recorded by
Stuart Bowditch
Cars borrowed from Indigo Luksch
Photography by Stuart Bowditch
and Damien Robinson''
Edition of 100

Tracklist:
E2
1 Lock 7
2 Columbia Road
3 Haggerston Park
4 E2
E8
5 Cars On The 7th Floor
6 Washing Machine Vs Dishwasher
7 A London Field
8 A Forgotten Patch

The first full-length on Cotton Goods' Lending Library offshoot, this album arrives in the label's customarily handmade packaging, housing eight compositions by Stuart Bowditch, aka Hybernation.  This British composer/producer draws much of his work from the continual flow of sounds surrounding everyday life, and E2 and E8 finds him interacting with sound recordings of unfolding auditory happenings - weaving his own musical narrative into the fabric of these events/environments.  Sounding like a duet with a slightly rainy, blustery day, opener 'Lock 7' seems to fade in with footsteps sploshing around in shallow puddles while quietly pensive synth melodies begin establish themselves in the foreground.  It's often hard to pin down exactly what you're listening to, but you might make out more tramping around during 'Cars On The 7th Floor', as Bowditch apparently documents the sound made by roaming about in squelchy rubber boots before outlaying a more tuneful setting with high register keyboard motifs.  Occasionally Bowditch sheds the location recordings in favour of more purely musical compositions, leading to the predominantly synth-based motions of 'Columbia Road' and the ambient electric piano routines of 'E2'.  Although there's the odd moment of gently bucolic soundscaping (as best put to use on the pastoral, open air loveliness of 'Haggerston Park'), Bowditch also manages to coax the rough beauty out of household appliances during 'Washing Machine Vs. Dishwasher', which offsets the surprisingly rowdy, motorised venom of the titular devices with some ear-pleasing drones.  Once again, Cotton Goods showcases the wares of a new artist that somehow slots perfectly into the label's uniquely approachable brand of experimental music. Limited to just 100 copies - don't miss out.

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