Constructive. An unspecified variety of music, sometimes with a visual counterpoint.
Constructive is the sister label to SN Variations.
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After four years away from the studio Orazbayeva re-emerges with an original piece based on an ancient Chinese poem + a bold electronic rendition of John Dowland's 'In Darkness Let Me Dwell' made in collaboration w/ Iranian electronic musician Peiman Khosravi.
'With My Lute' is Aisha Orazbayeva’s first release in four years, featuring her own 17th century inspired composition alongside a bold reimagining of a Renaissance lute song written in 1610 by the English composer John Dowland.
'With My Lute' is an extended version of a song originally written for 'OUR SOLO', a dance piece made in collaboration with Claire Croizè and Etienne Guilloteau (ECCE production, 2023). The text is an adaptation of Richard Stokes’ English translation of Gustav Mahler’s 'The Farewell' (from 'Song of the Earth'), which itself is a German translation of a 7th century Chinese poem by Mong-Kao-Jen. The song is loosely written in the form of a passacaglia, featuring violin, theorbo (Toby Carr), cello (Jonny Byers) and synths (Peiman Khosravi). 'With My Lute' explores the concept of 'melancholy' which was regarded as one of four 'humours' in ancient medicine and often referenced in Renaissance art and music.
The reflection on the musical past and 'melancholy' continues with an electronic interpretation of John Dowland’s 'In Darkness Let Me Dwell'. Normally performed on Renaissance lute with a classically trained voice, Aisha and Peiman reimagine Dowland's song with synthesised sounds, rhythmic minimalism and a striking post-human vocal that amplifies the solitary, sorrowful airs of the original and situates the song firmly in the present.Digital
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For her second album ‘Al les Axes’, Parisian visual artist & composer Aude Van Wyller aka Oï les Ox (The Death of Rave, Primordial Void, Kraak) returns with a labyrinthine suite of gnarled, spiralling electronics and oblique song forms. Engaging with themes of technological malfunction and identity loss, ‘AI les Axes’ emerges as a captivating fever dream of otherworldly dysfunction.
Alongside protean vocalizations and effervescent soundscapes, Oï les Ox incorporates a dismantled dialogue in her native French that resembles AI-generated vocabulary and syntax, forming an opus of dislocation that arguably carries a sense of lyricism and intimacy. Oï les Ox will also be playing Cafe Oto for the first time on October 16th as part of a SN Variations/Constructive night.Cover artwork: Prompt by Raphaël Schwarz, generated on DALL-E. Copy painted by Aude Van Wyller. Design by Joe Gilmore Mastered by Stephan Mathieu for Studio Schwebung.
Limited edition LP / Digital.
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Scapegoat is the new album by the prolific Tokyo-based composer & experimental string musician Atsuko Hatano aka Triola, an improvisational viola player who forms innovative compositions with contemporary classical arrangements and intricately constructed electronics. Although recorded as an instrumental opus, Scapegoat is described by Hatano as an ‘imaginary opera’, comprising eleven ‘scenes’ connected by one overarching drama, with a song or a poem scripted for each composition. Exploring the symbolism of light, space, and precious gemstones, as well as themes of solitude, memory, self-fulfilment, self-deception, rebirth and reinvention, Hatano masterfully shapes exquisite, free-flowing movements of strings and percussion, marked by subtle infiltrations of aleatoric electronics and found sound.
Design by Chris Bigg Mastered by Joe Talia Distributed by Kudos
Limited edition LP / Digital.
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Whether it is to be Utopia or Oblivion will be a touch-and-go relay race right up to the final moment. Humanity is in a final exam as to whether or not it might qualify for continuance in the Universe.” (Utopia Or Oblivion: The Prospects for Humanity R. Buckminster Fuller) Constructive are pleased to announce a a compilation of work by 10 artists inspired by and in response to the work of R. Buckminster Fuller, specifically from the essays Utopia Or Oblivion first published in 1963. Featuring Tujiko Noriko, Adam Janota Bjowski, Adrian Corker, Robert Lippok, No Home, Richard Skelton and Corey Fuller, Sylvia Kastel, Ale Hop and David Prior. R Buckminster Fuller was a polymath and futurist, a contemporary of John Cage and Isamu Noguchi amongst others, renowned for his comprehensive perspective on the world’s problems. There will also run a website which will serve as a focal point for a series of essays, articles, artists work and information resources that will be derived from the same broad remit offered to the musicians.
Design by Joe Gilmore Mastered by Stephan Mathieu for Schwebung Mastering Distributed by Kudos
Limited edition 12" / Digital out 4th November 2022.
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Constructive are pleased to announce our fifth release, reworks by TIBSLC of Adrian Corker’s recent album ‘Since It Turned Out Something Else’. Having met earlier this year when TIBSLC played at an album launch in London for Jack Sheen at Cafe Oto, Corker asked if they would be interested in taking the tracks as raw material to create a new set of pieces. The original acoustic worlds of the tracks, a combination of contemporary composition and electroacoustic techniques , are transformed into complex ever shifting digital landscapes. Performances by players such as Aisha Orazabayeva, Tatsuhisa Yamamoto and Ligeti Quartet are dissolved into strata of sound with fragments appearing from time to time like hints of archaeological ruins.
Design by Joe Gilmore Mastered by Graeme Durham at The Exchange Distributed by Kudos
Limited edition 12" / Digital out 4th November 2022.
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Constructive are proud to announce the release of the original soundtrack for the British film ‘Surge’ by Tujiko Noriko and Paul Davies. Directed by Aneil Karia and starring Ben Whishaw, the film is set in London over twenty-four hours and is a stripped back thriller about Joseph. A man who goes on a bold and reckless journey of self-liberation.
The album consists of sixteen tracks and presents the soundtrack in a non-conventional form. Sound design and composition are presented side by side as equal components in the score.
'Surge' is a Rooks Nest production with BBC Film and the BFI.
Artwork by Joji Kayama
Mastered by Paul Davies
Constructive is proud to present some radical reinterpretations of four tracks from Takuma Watanabe’s debut album ‘Last Afternoon’ by Vladislav Delay.
‘Clouds Fall x Tactile’. Like taking a widescreen trip through Takuma’s perfectly constructed digital worlds. Loops of conversations, sheared sounds and bursts of low-end frequencies fill the air. All underpinned by those unmistakable strings.
‘Text x Bruges’. Hyper chemistry of rhythmic urgency and Joan La Barbara’s vocals. Cut up and used as percussive ammunition.
Originals by Takuma Watanabe
Deconstructed by Vladislav Delay
Artwork by Joe Gilmore
Mastered by Joe Talia
The second release on Constructive is ‘Last Afternoon’ by Japanese composer Takuma Watanabe. Released in an edition of 300 clear vinyl and 200 CDs.
Having studied at Berklee College in the USA he is currently living in Japan where he composes for film using a string ensemble founded by himself.
This is Watanabe’s first full length artist album.
‘Last Afternoon’ features collaborations with American vocalist and composer Joan La Barbara known for her recorded works with John Cage, Morton Feldman, Robert Ashley and composer and software developer Akira Rabelais known for his collaborations with Bjork and David Sylvian.
String ensemble: Anzu Suhara (violin 1), Atsuko Hatano (violin 2), Naoko Kakutani (viola), Seigen Tokuzawa (cello), Hiroki Chiba (bass)
Mastered by Jim O'Rourke
Cover photo by Anders Edström
Wabi-Sabi by Akira Rabelais
Vocals on ‘Text’ by Joan La Barbara
Adrian Corker’s score for ‘Tin Star: Liverpool’ gets a limited release on 300 neon yellow vinyl.
Working with a 12-piece string section as well as brass and percussion, Corker draws out a rich palette of volatile sonics. Analogue tape processing helps re-shape things further, slowing and stretching the sound giving rise to unusual shapes and colours. And woven amongst all this are field recordings by Corker and Chris Watson, recorded around Liverpool in 2019.
In addition to the field recordings, the ensembles were recorded in London and then replayed and re-recorded or ‘worldised’ (Walter Murch) in different buildings and outdoor locations in Liverpool adding new sound spaces onto the music.
This is the third and final chapter in the Tin Star story, and the third time Corker has worked with many of the same players.
Tin Star is a British television crime drama. Created by Rowan Joffe and broadcast on Sky Atlantic. Starring Tim Roth, Genevieve O’Reilly and Abigail Lawrie.
Performed by Orchestrate (Mica Levi / Bobby Krilc)
Field recording by Chris Watson
Tape processing by Lewis Durham
Mixed by David Prior
Design by Chris Bigg
