Rise

Format

• ---

  45BCCDCD  £10.00

Label

Border Community

Luke Abbott

Wysing Forest

The slow-burning success of his 2010 album debut 'Holkham Drones' was something of a dream induction into the world of professional music-making for Norfolk's Luke Abbott the
“game-changing electronic opus” stood out as “far and away one of Drowned in Sound's favourite records of 2010” and landed in Mojo's 'Electronica Albums of 2010' list, amongst wide-spread critical acclaim.

Yet far beyond this initial flurry of praise,a steady trickle through of sales long after the year of its initial release has continued to win over convert upon convert as 'Holkham Drones'' joyous arpeggios and rolling primal rhythms seduce wherever they are heard, sustaining an accompanying live touring schedule that has kept Luke and his handcrafted hardware-jams rumbling across the clubs, gigs and festivals of Europe throughout the intervening four years.
Then finding yourself in the position of having to live up to the expectations of such early promise is a rather less enviable scenario, and it is a bold producer indeed that at this juncture chooses to shun the unending cycle of hype and hits to take a step back tothe basic principle of making music as art. But that is just what Luke Abbott has done on his 'Wysing Forest' follow-up, named after the Cambridgeshire countryside's Wysing Arts Centre which during the winter of 2012 hosted Luke as their first ever musician-in-residence.
The improvised compositions which form the 'Wysing Forest' album stem from this six week stint in one of the centre's on-site studios, culminating in an intimate improvised performance in one of the Wysing complex's bespoke exhibition spaces which was then edited and compiled after a period of after-the-act reflection into one rapturous movement
.
The finished article's 52 minute duration may have been chopped into 9 track-sized chunks for the sake of convention, but this is most definitely an album which is greater than the sum of its parts, designed to be listened to in one immersive, indulgent go. Oh, and this one starts quietly, as John Peel would surely have said. With an educational background that encompasses Norwich's respected art school and a degree in Electro acoustic Composition from Norwich's UEA. Luke is no stranger to the
experimental avenues that run through electronic music's leftfield, and his considerable arsenal of music gear is bolstered by his own circuit bent hardware and custom software and midi-controller creations. His pop music historian father Kingsley – author of biographical tomes on Sixties luminaries like The Beach Boys and Phil Spector – had ensured that Luke's Norfolk fenland upbringing was one surrounded by records. But it was via the now sadly defunct but no less legendary Output Recordings that Luke first saw his own
vinyl release the wackily-titled 2006 12” 'B'B'B'B'B'B'B'B'B'B'B'B'B'B'B'B' had the dubious honor of being the last slice of wax ever pressed by Trevor Jackson's much-mourned imprint. A split 7” for London's Trash Aesthetics followed soon after, before Luke eventually found a home for his sprawling catalogue of unreleased goodies with Border Community in 2008, showcasing a
schizophrenic range of electronic sub-species from 8-bit glitch through to ambient field recordings across the 'Tuesday EP' and 'Whitebox Stereo' 12”s.

Tracklist

• 1. Two Degrees
  2. Amphis
  3. Unfurling
  4. Free Migration
  5. Highrise
  6. Tree Spirit
  7. The Balance of Power
  8. Snippet
  9. Amphis (reprise)