Released: September 2024
Taevalaotus - Ringlus
CAT# TAEVA002 / 12" heavyweight 3-color marbled vinyl - 150 copies
In a way, everything eventually returns to its starting point. With everything in constant movement, departure and arrival are nothing more than the beginning and the end of a circle. “Circulation” as an album wanders along the path of its creator’s fantasy. No third-party samples are used, the music’s fabric is woven from original, natural sounds such as analog oscillators, vibrations of bass guitar strings, sonic echoes of nature, and cracking of the ice recorded underwater. The tracks contain sound and field recordings from the years 2013 to 2017 that were almost forgotten but then rediscovered from Studio Master 468 archive tapes. The aim was to circulate without taking notice of time and to create soundscapes with original resonance, structure and flow that serve as an antidote to contemporary rushed consumerism.
Tracklist
- A1 - Ring
- A2 - Kuurort
- A3 - Lauge
- B1 - Foobia
- B2 - Koloonia
- B3 - Ring (Octal Industries remix)
Album story
„Circle“ invites us on a journey through the sounds of a Tibetan singing bowl modulating a 16-voice fully analog synthesizer. Man-made movements, translated to rhythms, are guiding us towards a clear horizon.
„Resort“ takes a dive underneath the surface of a frozen lake, where trunks of fallen trees collide in the icy water. The trunks lay down a steady beat that pushes through the sharp cracking of the floating ice. These sounds were recorded with a hydrophone in a southern Estonian forest lake where Taevalaotus as a traveler and aficionado of ice swimming comes to regenerate his body and senses. A personal ritual described in the deep language of electronic music.
„Slanting“ continues the liquid journey to envision playing bass guitar underwater. Due to water resistance, bass strings would not really work there, but in order to try and recreate that reality, various hardware effect pedals were used, inviting us down the gentle slope and into the underwater fantasy world where the sun rays that have penetrated the surface play on the muddy bottom of the lake.
As cleansing tends to reveal hidden blemishes, „Phobia“ stands for opposition and a constant fight with one’s wicked self. It begins with a pronounced dissonance that dissipates as if by itself as the point of view is adjusted. As the second half of the track travels to the artist’s childhood, the phobia is pushed to the background and playfulness erases the wounds of the past.
„Colony“ is a vision of drum and bass without all the noise. Taevalaotus was a key part of the atmospheric drum and bass duo Nemos, a group that significantly impacted the Estonian electronic music scene with their albums. „Colony“ is the offspring of an extinct culture on new, fertile ground.
The last track of the album features a different vision of the opening track „Ring“ by Octal Industries, infusing a more dancefloor-oriented vibe compared to the original. This remix introduces a slightly faster tempo, blending deep basslines with rhythmic echoes that invite movement. It’s a perfect closing, adding a finishing touch to the album’s ambient journey.
Hardware used: Alesis A6 Andromeda, Dave Smith Instruments Evolver, Elektron Analog Rytm, Yamaha electric bass, Tibetan singing bowls, wooden drum, Otari MTR-12, Drawmer 1974. 1973 & 1978, various analog effect pedals, scientific hydrophone in ice lake, Konka hand made (“organ-pipes”) long distance microphone and portable Sony pcm-d50 in the field recordings.
