A walk with… Lubomyr Melnyk
Originally posted on The 405
Recently I returned for the first time in quite awhile to the leafy area in which I grew up, a place that of course helped formulate who I am today and my general existence.
As you do I took a lengthy walk around old neighbourhoods and previously well-travelled countryside, with my head swimming in nostalgia and foggy memories stirred by the sights and ever-circling train of thought, past events merging and separating into one another like in a non-sequitur dream state. Lubomyr Melnyk soundtracked this experience and it could not have been a better introduction to his stunning work.
The classically-trained Ukrainian composer plays what he calls “continuous music” that he has been developing since the 1970′s – a wholly sui generis piano-playing technique producing an immersive, flowing feel amid a very contemporary style. Complex note patterns are played at such a rapid level reaching a mind-blowing 19 notes per second and for a long-period of time, that the resulting sound achieves an almost zen-like quality.
Anyways back to the walk. Sometimes it’s a little better to travel than to arrive so the old adage goes and this is true for a bucolic aimless walk – the journey is where it’s at, fuck your destination. This is all mirrored in latest album Corollaries that nestled firmly in my headspace – the repetitive, hypnotic note-playing producing a sense that time is but an irrelevance, collapsing deeper into a freefall of trenchant thought. It’s tempting to categorise the sound in Max Richter territory as it’s evocative of a similar feeling, but does not have the ‘blockbuster’ payoff that Richter often utilises, whose work tends to build towards something. Here the pilgrimage is enough in itself for Melnyk. Left foot forward. Right foot forward. And again. Once again. Walking without Read more…
Dingus Khan – ‘The 405 Birthday Song’
Essex oddballs Dingus Khan took some time out of their schedule to record us a very, er, unique happy birthday video message.
Kicking things off in dedicated fashion, front man Ben Brown sings an acoustic cake-related 405 birthday song: “I thought it would be sweet, to buy the 405 a treat, I thought it would be nice, we all could have a slice.”
The camera then pans down to show the cake in question, which is actually a Homer Simpson-style doughnut, and then chaos ensues. Thanks, Dingus Khan.
Deptford Goth – Electrowerkz, London 24/04/13
“Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt”
For many people, and particularly for those possessing a certain character type, life in the epoch of your 20s is one of a surprising transition. Gone is the safety net of childhood, the more carefree later teenage years (as savage as they can be) have lost their novelty, and in comes a barrage of gaudy life lessons to take in your nomadic, aimless stride. Daniel Woodhouse knows this and creates purifying music under the name of Deptford Goth that reflects some of these introspective strands of thought, as seen in the recently-released and powerfully emotive Life After Defo LP – one of the outstanding releases from Quarter one in 2013.
“Everything that comes together
Everything that falls apart in here
In every single living thing.”
In my mid-20s living in various pre-gentrified South London boroughs, I would stumble my way through life undecided whether to live in the now and say ‘yes’ to all, or train my mind for what tomorrow could hold, and probably did neither in the end successfully. I hold a specific dichotomous memory that’s intensely vivid but wholly abstract and vague after indulging in some euphoric substances one opprobrious summers night, the kind of night with a luxuriant urban energy, where you can almost kiss the air. At 5am having departed from whoever (and wherever) I was with I found myself sitting on a patch of undulated dry grass on my lonesome surrounded by the rich, ambient light of high-rise council flats and warm street lights in a sort of midsize courtyard, as a dark now-navy-blue sky hugged me and kept me safe, enclosed in an equilibrium of happy thoughts and a tinge of impending doom (known as tomorrow). And I stayed there for an hour. Literally an hour in Read more…
Washed Out Wednesday // 17.04.13
On the playlist this week is new tracks from Gold Panda, oOoOO, Lapalux (ft. Shadowbox) and East India Youth. Enjoy.
Washed Out Wednesday // 10.04.13
Playlist for my Washed Out Weds on 405Radio show featuring new Ifan Dafydd, old Deptford Goth and lots of other nonsense.
Stephen Bevan and myself created this session for the 405.
For a better experience, view it large and in HD here.
It’s been over five years since Benga released a full length album under his own name, and much has changed in the musical landscape during this period – none more so than in the genre of dubstep.
The charismatic man from Croydon is credited as one of the co-founders of this movement in the early 00′s and inevitably his own style has evolved since then – wanting to become “a Dre or Timbaland” kind of producer, as he discusses in a loquacious interview with us. Third album Chapter II has now finally got a release date after a myriad of minor delays; six singles of his were released in 2012, though only one is to feature on this upcoming LP (‘To Hell And Back’). He gives us the full story as to why, and how other projects he was involved in also lead to the delay – such as how he contributed a raft of songs (or “gave away”) for Katy B’s pop-smash On A Mission, describing that it “felt like that I had been robbed.”
For a full-lowdown of what to expect from Chapter II in terms of individual songs, multiple collaborations, and the feel of the album, watch below. The third single taken from it is the Kano-featured ‘Forefather/Stuck’ that got a Record Store Day release as a white label pressing; and Chapter II is out May 6th on Sony Music. Preorder now.
You can watch the interview below, or via our TV Section. It’s also available via our Youtube page (please watch in HD when possible).
Created by Stephen Bevan & Tim Boddy
405tv Session: Gabriel Bruce – ‘Sermon on The Mount’
Stephen Bevan and myself created this session for the 405.
For a better experience, view it large and in HD here.
Header portrait by me.
Gabriel Bruce has something of a star-status about him. It could be his buccaneering, dashing looks coupled with flowing yet unkempt locks, it could be his remarkable baritone vocals that penetrate directly into your soul, or it could be his cocksure delivery, charming debonaire-facade, and earnest confidence that the Londoner oozes.
All this is very good and well, but means little without some decent music and songwriting ability to back it all up – something that Mr Bruce fortunately very much possesses. He was kind enough to perform a new/old track titled ‘Sermon on The Mount’, new in that it is to feature on Bruce’s upcoming debut album and old in that it has been around for a bit now. This crashing waltz-y number can be found on Love In Arms that is out 6th May via Luv Luv Records, and can be preordered on iTunes.
You can watch the session below, or via our TV Section. It’s also available via our Youtube page (please watch in HD when possible).
Created by Stephen Bevan & Tim Boddy
Sound mix by Ed Blow
