Forest Spirits and Sable

Sable - John, and Forest Spirits - Liam are two New Zealand electronic producers. They both make lush atmospheric beat driven music. Before John moved to London they released a collaborative EP called 'Carpooling'. I spoke to Forest Spirits and Sable for Music 101 and asked them to describe each others music.


            Forest Spirits and Sable on Music 101

Deadlines

'Deadlines' is part of BATS Theatre's 2012 Young and Hungry Season and I'm the Sound Designer. It's a twisted tale of High School and murder. Here's the blurb:

"Nothing out-of-the-ordinary ever happens at Wellington's prestigious Arrowhead High School, and that's just the way Tracey Aldridge, the ambitious head photographer for Arrowhead's student newspaper, doesn't like it. But when arrogant new student Daniel Ward barrels into Tracey's life with wild claims of murders and cover-ups within Arrowhead's student body, Tracey is thrust into an investigation where the money shot could come at a steep price..."

You don't get an idea of the intense pace of the show from that but perhaps this collage of my sound design demonstrates some of that frenzy.

MayaVanya

On a trip to Auckland earlier this year I spoke to DJ and production duo Mayavanya who favour a tropical dance-ready style. I heartily recommend checking out their Soundcloud page. It was for a piece for Magneto Magazine which you can peruse with your eyeballs here.

I also did a audio version which someone (I assume from the Mayavanya camp) posted on youtube though oddly it seems to have been remixed a bit at the end. The original SDW cut is below:

   MayaVanya - Magneto Magazine Interview by Shaun D Wilson

Ikonika

I've been spinning Ikonika's album 'Contact, Love,Want, Have' album and her unpronounciable EP 'Dckhdbtch' since they came out in 2010. All her stuff is worth checking out - particularly if you grew up playing video games in the late nineties. For Music 101 I phoned up Sara Abdel-Hamid, for an enlightening chat ahead of her New Zealand tour.

 Ikonika on Music 101

Darkstar

Darkstar have just put out a rather splendid album called 'North' on the Hyperdub label. The duo turned trio are one of a number of groups trying to translate the aesthetic of modern British electronic music to a wider audience. In doing this they take more cues from what has gone before than some of their peers, but despite their looking back; this is music moving forward. I interviewed band member James Young for Music 101 on Radio New Zealand National.

Darkstar on Music 101

Triple A-Side

At the moment I am working on two very different EPs to hopefully be completed around the same time. One is a set of unusual new compositions (tentatively titled The Sketchscreen EP) and the other is a take on mashups you won’t have heard before (The Samplecrusher EP).

Because I’m not sure when I’ll buckle down and finish them; now seems as good a time as any to put a taster out.

Be Rough is a mashup made up entirely of artists starting with the letter B.
Extemplified is a journey through disparate sounds melded together with a piece of string and production trickery.
And solely for this mini-sampler is Alala Remix (Lovefoxxx Vocals Version); a remix of my remix of the Cansei de Ser Sexy song. My first remix of it is on The Recover EP.

The Recover EP

The Recover EP was finished in October 2008 and worked on intermittently from February of that year. It is made up of covers and remixes of songs I have unreserved love of and so decided to ruin. I veer far away for the source material to create something that I believe is pretty interesting.

Tracklisting

Alala
A remix of the Cansei de Ser Sexy song.

There's Always Something There to Remind Me
A remix of the Sandie Shaw version of this song.

Beatnik
A cover of The Clean.

God Only Knows (Big Parklife Magic Dance Time)
Featuring Walter Evers.
A cover of The Beach Boys with additional song snippets.

These Words
A remix of the Natasha Bedingfield song.

Crucify
Starring Katie Hayes. A Tori Amos cover.

For more details check the credits that come with download.