related ephemera
by robert millis
tommiecz
tommiecz
I grew up in musical reality in Seattle and the experimental music scene there, as well as industrial and other probressive musical expression. To actually experientce this in physical experiences in - for example - Seattle center, warehouses on Martin Kingmemorial way. . Love to y'all
Favorite track: matters of court.
Favorite track: matters of court.
Concrete Violin
Doug Polgardy
atsushi tanabe
SHINICHI ARAI
conatala
jaxpads
Jeff D
xio
metawyrd
Urminne Musik
William LaSota
JpMsSs
yhoward76
gravelcomb
Stefano
michele
poesboes
Black Lodge Productions
Vesica Piscis
Nigel Yang
dogoo
richard chartier
Dan Kletter
George Grella
Jason Walker
Jay
e45
candlesnuffer
D L F
soopoib
crowwithnomouth
upchuck
MIKE GOODSELL
jekegil
MK_Ultra
krh
Dgromfin
Charles Pridgeon
James Coleman
shoichi
Tom Bowden
Jim Flannery
HARUO UEDA
Chris Videll
Liam Stefani
淳 浅井
martiensgohome
jessepaulmiller
Beeswax
John Hubbard
Rachael
Forrest Norvell
KottonKrown
bagpainter
H.Von.Kerpot
Bill Hartnett
carolcrow
Ron Kane
dj damon creed
Joris Vermeiren
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Streaming + DownloadIncludes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.Purchasable with gift card
$7 USD or more
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Limited Edition 12" Vinyl
Record/Vinyl + Digital AlbumIncludes unlimited streaming of related ephemera via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.Sold Out
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Second Pressing 12" Vinyl
Record/Vinyl + Digital AlbumPressed for a second time on quintessential black vinyl. Even more limited than the first.
Includes unlimited streaming of related ephemera via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.Sold Out
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1. |
samsara
20:27
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2. |
matters of court
04:44
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3. |
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4. |
only here a short while
03:20
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5. |
solo for a broken toy
01:37
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6. |
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7. |
about
the globe-trotting robert millis returns to helen scarsdale for this beautifully fragile album of dissolved glass rendered as a collage of recontextualized minimalism. to astute listeners, millis should be a household name due to his work in the unpredictably diverse climax golden twins as well as his impeccable curations for sublime frequencies (collections include the deben bhattacharya: men and music on the desert road and indian talking machine books). his previous solo work include relief (released here on the helen scarsdale agency in 2013) and the lonesome high for the sun city girls’ abduction records in 2016. his scholarship into the hidden corners of music across the world has also earned him guggenheim and fulbright fellowships.
related ephemera is an album composed mostly from the hiss, the crackle, the surface noise of 78rpm shellacs and wax cylinders. “horrifying,” millis explains “is the concept to record collectors that vinyl degrades and can be easily damaged. however, initially records were considered ephemeral, especially 78rpm records. they were novelties. fleeting. entertainment.” millis intends for the album to be a feedback loop whereby the patina of handling, playing, living with the record will circle back to the original source material. furthering that metaphor, millis amplifies and dilates feedback tones generated from his collection of vintage gramophones.
that said, millis does cite the intrusion of exactly one field recording, a broken toy, and a few notes from a cello. but the construction of these rarified tones, crispy textures, ghostly rattles, and fluid resonance that ripples through all of related ephemera has its origins in the tactile nature of the vinyl medium. it’s hardly the stuff of sentimental nostalgia though. related ephemera is more an act of time travel, slipping backwards and forwards with the scratch of a needle (watch out! what pre-recorded needle jump sound is not your turntable going haywire!). the emotional core to the album is that of a resigned melancholy, almost bergman-esque in its starkness but not without a brief moment of dark humor.
here is an album that aligns itself aesthetically with nurse with wound’s soliloquy for lilith, philip jeck’s more languid collages, and even some of harry bertoia’s sculptural atmospherics.
the vinyl was mastered and cut by helmut ehler at d&m berlin, whose expertise was necessary given that part of the original compositions from millis’ reworked surface noise were exceedingly problematic to cut. the d&m cut does temper the composition into a mysterious, diaphanous cloud; where the digital-only mastering provides a cascade of insects gnawing within your inner ear. two facets. one piece of music.
related ephemera is an album composed mostly from the hiss, the crackle, the surface noise of 78rpm shellacs and wax cylinders. “horrifying,” millis explains “is the concept to record collectors that vinyl degrades and can be easily damaged. however, initially records were considered ephemeral, especially 78rpm records. they were novelties. fleeting. entertainment.” millis intends for the album to be a feedback loop whereby the patina of handling, playing, living with the record will circle back to the original source material. furthering that metaphor, millis amplifies and dilates feedback tones generated from his collection of vintage gramophones.
that said, millis does cite the intrusion of exactly one field recording, a broken toy, and a few notes from a cello. but the construction of these rarified tones, crispy textures, ghostly rattles, and fluid resonance that ripples through all of related ephemera has its origins in the tactile nature of the vinyl medium. it’s hardly the stuff of sentimental nostalgia though. related ephemera is more an act of time travel, slipping backwards and forwards with the scratch of a needle (watch out! what pre-recorded needle jump sound is not your turntable going haywire!). the emotional core to the album is that of a resigned melancholy, almost bergman-esque in its starkness but not without a brief moment of dark humor.
here is an album that aligns itself aesthetically with nurse with wound’s soliloquy for lilith, philip jeck’s more languid collages, and even some of harry bertoia’s sculptural atmospherics.
the vinyl was mastered and cut by helmut ehler at d&m berlin, whose expertise was necessary given that part of the original compositions from millis’ reworked surface noise were exceedingly problematic to cut. the d&m cut does temper the composition into a mysterious, diaphanous cloud; where the digital-only mastering provides a cascade of insects gnawing within your inner ear. two facets. one piece of music.
credits
released July 17, 2020
all tracks composed and realized by robert millis, 2013-2019
digital mastering by mark gergis
vinyl mastering and cut by helmut ehler at d&m berlin
design by helen scarsdale
all tracks composed and realized by robert millis, 2013-2019
digital mastering by mark gergis
vinyl mastering and cut by helmut ehler at d&m berlin
design by helen scarsdale
license
all rights reserved
tags
about
helen scarsdale California
post-industrial research, surrealist collage, refined minimalism, caustic electro-acoustics, sublimated dream-pop,
obfuscated field recordings, recombinant noise, existential vacancy, and then some.
no demos accepted. full demo policy explained here: helenscarsdale.com/about.htm
... more
discography
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Dec 2023 -
Nov 2023 -
Aug 2023 -
May 2023
contact / help
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