colin andrew sheffield
slowly
(ms65) CDR

Colin Andrew Sheffield is mostly a sound re-contextualizer & re-interpreter, and also a self-taught musician... now Seattle based, after initial first exercises in Texas with various combos, he quickly veered to electronic music...
Starting with the sole manipulation of digital fragments, he went over to a rather unique use of recombined selected tiny excerpts of commercially available recordings... the aim of this method is to reach the essence of the source & retranslate it into new forms of finely-shaded soundscapes... an art of supreme polished audio-collage & recycling... Colin Andrew Sheffield is the curator of the always excellent Elevator Bath label, through which he has besides released some of his own solo works... he has also been published by Invisible Birds, Bee Eater Recordings, and Compost And Height...

The artwork for this release is an adaptation by Daniel Crokaert of original photographic work by Matthew Swiezynski.

Released in a gorgeous edition of 120 numbered copies.

Best known as the owner of the excellent Elevator Bath label, Colin Andrew Sheffield also produced a fair amount of releases, mainly on his own label, exploring microtonal drone music. This is what he does here too, via four lengthy excursions. Its hard to say what goes into the machines (which machines? synthesizers? computers?), but no doubt, seeing this released on Mystery Sea, there is no doubt some aquatic, nautical origin to the material. But its not to be heard. The outcome is however like slow, tidal waves banging on nocturnal shores. Highly atmospheric, in various shades of grey and black, but mostly grey. In the first part its all gentle, but it seems to me that towards the fourth piece, things get a bit more louder and chillier. Maybe we hit upon an ice-berg or we sunk down into the vast, depths of the Atlantic? Here a metallic ringing appears in the sound, admits a deep wash of nautical drones. Maybe I just hear things that are not there, really. Maybe I am just interpreting the music towards the labels' aesthetic. I am not entirely sure either. But these slow pieces are indeed great. Suitable relax music for a grey winter's day.
- Frans de Waard, Vital Weekly