Solvent's sixth full-length LP, New Ways: Music from the Documentary I Dream of Wires, to receive a Deluxe Edition reissue, to coincide with I Dream Of Wires’ 2015 Netflix/iTunes/DVD release. This expanded edition features all-new artwork, and contains a full 74 minutes of additional bonus material, including previously unreleased Solvent music from the film, and new remixes from artists who were interviewed for the film, including Wrangler (feat Cabaret Voltaire’s Stephen Mallinder), Chris Carter (Throbbing Gristle, Chris & Cosey), Orphx, Martial Canterel, and more.
For the past few years, Solvent's obsession with synthesizers and electronic music has taken him on a new path, a journey deep into the world of modular synthesizers. Serving as producer, co-writer and interviewer for I Dream of Wires, a documentary about the history, demise and resurgence of the modular synthesizer, Solvent's Jason Amm has played a pivotal role in creating one of the most talked-about and revered electronic music documentaries in recent years. I Dream of Wires features interviews with influential electronic musicians including Trent Reznor, Gary Numan, Morton Subotnick, Vince Clarke, James Holden and Carl Craig, and after a long run of festival screenings, is set to debut August on iTunes and Netflix.
Before he came on board as producer, Solvent was commissioned by I Dream of Wires' director to create an original soundtrack for the film. Solvent took on the soundtrack LP as a challenge; determined to expand his synthesis palette with the new possibilities of modular, but with a firm focus on completing an engaging body of work that would stand on it’s own outside of the film. The result is New Ways, heard prominently throughout the film, and created, programmed and composed entirely on modular synthesizer systems. Through some generous loans, Solvent was given access to several large-format modulars during the course of the album, including a classic vintage Moog System 15. But the real revelation came from his own newly-acquired, contemporary Eurorack system; for the first time in many years, Solvent found himself thinking outside the "vintage synth" box.
The album title is not only a continuation of I Dream of Wires' nod to Numan. New Ways also pertains to Solvent's all-new modular synthesizer toolkit, introducing many new forms of synthesis to his arsenal of electronic sound. New Ways is Solvent's return to instrumental, headphone electronica. From the harsh, IDM/hiphop hybrid of Burn The Tables, to the Radiophonic menace of Sender, Solvent showcases the modular synthesizer as perhaps the ultimate tool for noisy, alien soundscapes. Alternately, Solvent's penchant for sweet, heartbreaking melodies can be heard clearly alongside the intricate modular sound design on standout cuts King Vincent, Pattern Recognition, and LPGs Over Hawaii. New Ways also includes I Dream of Wires' theme song, Themogene, a soaring piece of epic synthesizer minimalism that aptly opens the film.
Tracklist
Part 1: New Ways
01. Themogene (I Dream Of Wires Theme)
02. Transfer Function
03. Quantimations
04. Sender
05. Wow
06. Elephant Generators
07. Burn The Tables
08. Pattern Recognition
09. King Vincent
10. Bucket Brigade
11. LPGs over Hawaii
12. Transfer Function (reprise)
Part 2: Bonus Tracks + Remixes
13. Subharmonics
14. Clustering
15. Hadron
16. Small and Efficient
17. ModDub
18. Interstitial C
19. King Vincent (Wrangler remix)
20. Sender (Interval remix)
21. Elephant Generators (Chris Carter remix)
22. Burn The Tables (Orphx remix)
23. Quantimations (Bronze Teeth remix)
24. King Vincent (Martial Canterel remix)
25. Fasten
26. Tassels
In the late spring of 1982 an electro-pop band from Canada calling themselves Land of Giants released an independent 12" single called Cannibal Dolls / Seven Men. Land of Giants featured the talents of Henryck Jesiak, John Tucker, Anya Varda and Marc Wonnacott. The single went on to receive respectable radio play on college radio (where it reached #1) and on alternative radio stations in Canada and abroad. John Peel even played it on his BBC show!
The Toronto-based label Artoffact Records, who have also reissued vinyl with Canadian luminaries such as Front Line Assembly, Cevin Key, Psyche, Rational Youth, and Of Tanz Victims, will reissue Land of Giants' complete original works on vinyl this October.
In the 1980s, although interest in Land of Giants included the likes of producers Rusty Egan (Visage) and Midge Ure (Ultravox), the band never released any material beyond the original 2-track 12". Several tracks were recorded, however, amongst which a collaboration with Kenny McLean of Platinum Blond is a high-light. These tracks eventually made it onto a compilation CD, self-released by the band in 2008 but have yet to see a vinyl issue.
After its initial success as a dance floor hit, the original single garnered a small but extremely loyal following around the world, and little did the band know they would be considered pioneers of the "Cold Wave / Minimal Electronic" scene more than 30 years later. To the band's surprise, when they self-released their CD in 2008, praise came from the likes of Pitchfork, NOW Magazine, and Trendland.
The vinyl reissue on Artoffact Records is remastered and will also include 8 tracks that have never appeared on vinyl. A white vinyl edition limited to 100 copies will also be available.
The next edition of the Film Music & Sound Seminar will focus on 'British Film Music' and will take place on Thursday 22 October 2015 from 9h30 a.m. to 4h30 p.m.
Film Fest Gent annualy organises the Film Music Seminar in collaboration with the University College Gent, School of Arts and curated by dr. Martine Huvenne. Year after year, famous and important professionals of the film music industry teach participants about film music or sound design.
The first part of the seminar will be a conversation with composer George Fenton. We will focus on his longlasting collaboration with director Ken Loach, among other directors. The second part we will invite several British composers for a debate concerning the difference between collaborations for British and North American productions. Dr. Martine Huvenne will be leading the debate.
Dr. Martine Huvenne is researcher and lecturer sound and music for film at the Faculty of Audiovisual Arts of the School of Arts Gent, University College Ghent and LUCA School of Arts. She completed her PhD on “Sound as Inner Movement in the Transfer of Experience in film: a Phenomenological Approach” at the University of Amsterdam. During the years following a Laban training course with Rob Struyf (who himself was trained by Kurt Jooss), she organized dance workshops exploring the interaction between music/composition and movement /composition.
Martine Huvenne is also curator and co-organizer of the Ghent Film Fest’s annual seminar on music and sound design in film. She coordinates the curriculum development for a European Master of Arts in Sound (www.emasound.org) which is intended to start in August 2015.
Film Music & Sound Seminar- Thursday 22 October 2015 - 9:30 - Kinepolis
Tickets (€15 / €20)
GREAT BRITISH FILM MUSIC - Saturday 24 October 2015 - 20:00 - Bijloke
Tickets (€20 / €30)
Film Fest Gent and Vooruit are working together once again. From 13 to 24 October, we'll be taking you on a journey through events that will expand your musical and cinematic horizons.
14 October: Nozinja & Hiele
Nozinja's Shangaan electro will be joined by new visuals from video/internet artist La Turbo Avedon, who also directed his most recent clip for 'Baby Do U Feel Me'. Over the past decade, Nozinja has successfully made the move from mobile phone repair tycoon in the Soweto region of South Africa to global ambassador and icon of Shangaan electro. Hiele, the Antwerpian prodigy deep-acid-house prodigy, will open for Nozinja with a show designed especially for this evening.
17 October: The Rileys: Gyan & Terry Riley
Terry Riley, pioneer of minimalism and guru to legions of musicians from classical to rock, takes the stage with his son, guitarist Gyan Riley. The duo will perform music to a film of their own choice. California composer Terry Riley launched what is now known as the 'Minimalist Movement' with his revolutionary classic 'IN C' in 1964. This seminal work provided a new concept in musical form based on interlocking repetitive patterns. Its impact was to change the course of 20th Century music and its influence has been heard in the works of prominent composers such as Steve Reich, Philip Glass and John Adams and in the music of Rock Groups such as The Who, The Soft Machine, Tangerine Dream, Curved Air and many more.
21 October: Jerusalem in my Heart & Tashi Dorji
Jerusalem in my Heart (JIMH) is a project of contemporary Arabic and electronic music interwoven with 16mm film projections and light-based (de)constructions of space, exploring a relationship between music, visuals, projections and audience. Jerusalem in my heart aka Radwan Moumneh has worked with Suuns, Cursed and A Silver Mt. Zion in the legendary Hotel2Tango studio’s in Montréal. Ben Chasny (Six Organs of Admittance) was the one to put guitarplayer Tashi Dorji in the spotlights for the first time.
During a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive. Millions of miles away, NASA and a team of international scientists work tirelessly to bring “the Martian” home, while his crewmates concurrently plot a daring, if not impossible rescue mission. As these stories of incredible bravery unfold, the world comes together to root for Watney’s safe return. Based on a best-selling novel, and helmed by master director Ridley Scott, THE MARTIAN features a star studded cast that includes Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Kate Mara, Michael Peña, Jeff Daniels, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Donald Glover.
In Theaters - October, 2015
Cast: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Michael Peña, Kate Mara, Sean Bean, Sebastian Stan, Aksel Hennie, Donald Glover, Mackenzie Davis, and Chiwetel Ejiofor
