Almost two years before Ignition of the Sun was released, Brian gave me a teaser for a future release: an album made entirely using EMS equipment, unrelated to EMS : Piano. Nothing was heard again until February 2016, with the announcement of the Synthi A project.
“Coming from the home of Future Sound of London and credited to their ‘producer’ Yage, Ignition of the sun is a deep and evolving journey through liquid spewing analogue sequences, warm saturated swampy sine waves. It calls back to a time from the early 70s with bands such as Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze.
All sounds were created and sequenced entirely on the EMS Synthi AKS, multitracked and mixed to 15ips 1/4 Revox tape. The EMS Synthi AKS was first introduced in 1971, one of the earliest Synthesisers available and as used by Radiophonic Workshop, Pink Floyd, Brian Eno.”
Certainly there are hauntology aspects to the Electric Brain Storms series, and some of the side-projects have similarly ’70s inspired aesthetics, but this is the first release by the band to be actively retro in approach. Brian explained further.
“My dad ran an electronic studio in Scotland – In 1973 he purchased the magazine (pictured above).
This was why he bought the Synthi – Bill (my dad) purchased one of the first 10 to be made, 7th actually. According to Robin Wood from EMS, who I visited recently, he actually showed me the original receipt of my dads purchase in 1973 – mental. He told me other buyers were Pink Floyd, Tangerine Dream, to name a few – so my dad was right there.
I have all my dads recordings using the Synthi. I may release them at some point. Some interesting stuff, filtering field recordings through the Synthi triggering frequencies etc.
Ignition of the Sun – Synthi A – has been fully generated using only the Synthi and some FX. I wanted to limit my self to only one piece of kit – Synthi was the perfect choice. We were very careful to keep the signal path as analogue as possible – analogue desk – recording to tape – and finally mastering to 1/4″. I’m fascinated by the transfer of sound and image to mediums – the physical actual change of a material – 35mm film / 1/4″ tape – a new compression occurs – lovely – can’t beat it…”
All very fascinating, and quite clearly Brian oriented, although he was keen to point out that Gaz is involved on at least some level.
A video for ‘Rutt Etra’ was added to YouTube as the first preview of the album, giving an idea of just how… difficult the album was going to be. The first edition of the album came out on 4th March, exclusive to FSOLDigital and Bleep. Slightly disappointingly, it came released on a CDr, rather than a glass mastered CD, in a simple card sleeve. Perhaps understandable for a very limited, small scale release. At 63 minutes, with very few overt melodies or grooves, it’s an extremely difficult listen, moreso than most of the 2007 alias releases, and a few fans were somewhat baffled by it. It’s certainly the sort of thing you have to be in a specific mood for, unless you’re already a massive fan of early analogue electronics (and there are more than a few of those out there, to be fair). There are gaps present between most tracks.
A few weeks later, a vinyl edition appeared on Amazon, with what looked like a subtly different tracklist. Shortly afterwards, track times were added, showing that almost all the pieces had been cut, some quite dramatically, with four new tracks added. Videos for new tracks ‘Wave Length’ and ‘Dilation of Time’ appeared on YouTube, both boasting a very different sound, with mellow, melodic synth lines and more conventional atmospheric elements. Running to 14 minutes shorter, and with a handful of much more accessible tracks, the vinyl mix has proved considerably more popular with most fans, taking an intriguing but difficult record and turning it into a much more easily approachable album. I rarely listen to the CD edition, but the LP version gets regular plays. The four new tracks were even made available to purchase as a small collection of MP3 or FLAC files under the name ‘Sounds From…’ via FSOLDigital.
The cover art is very clearly inspired by Urs Amann’s cover art for many of Klaus Schulze’s 1970s albums, the painting here – ‘Saint Wolfgang and the Devil’ by Michael Pacher – cheekily overlaid with the demon holding an EMS module. A full equipment list is included on the rear cover Robin Wood, current owner of EMS and employee of the company since 1970, is thanked on the sleeve, and the LP edition is dedicated to “a dear friend now gone,” presumed to be Brian’s father. FSOLDigital, Herd Killing and curves logos are present on the back cover. The 12″ labels appear to be designed as a homage to the Sounds from….. EMS – Synthi promotional 7″ flexi-disc from 1972, as heard on Electric Brain Storm Document Eight. Brian received a fair bit of correspondence from fans, users and developers of EMS gear in response to the album, further deepening the band’s connection with the instruments.
As a release, it’s quite an odd one, not only for the uncompromisingly dark and experimental music, but also the release campaign: with different edits, tracks and even running orders over two different formats, it feels less like a single album and more like a collection of pieces given different contexts.
The FSOL Bandcamp only includes the vinyl edition of the album, with the CD version still only available from FSOLDigital.
Release date: 4th March 2016 (CDr), 4th May (LP).
Tracklists
CDr / Digital download
1. Ignition of the Sun
2. Garden of Syn
3. Pathway to I
4. Rutt Etra
5. Subterranean Hattusa
6. Oblique Towers
7. Disparity in Oscillations Ab
8. Bridge Between Tal
9. Rivers of Occasion
10. Opalis Amar Xam
11. Moons in Dissidence
12. Liquid Light Voids
13. Return Beyond the Inner Voice
LP (FSOLD LP6)
A1. Ignition of the Sun
A2. Oblique Towers
A3. Wave Length
A4. Garden of Syn
A5. Rutt Etra
A6. Dilation of Time
A7. Return Beyond the Inner Voice
A8. Moons in Dissidence
B1. Rivers of Occasion
B2. Sirens from a Distance
B3. Opalis Amar Xam
B4. Pathway to I
B5. Lifecycle
B6. Bridge Between Tal
B7. Liquid Light Voids
Digital download
1. Ignition of the Sun
2. Oblique Towers
3. Wave Length
4. Garden of Syn
5. Rutt Etra
6. Dilation of Time
7. Return Beyond the Inner Voice
8. Moons in Dissidence
9. Rivers of Occasion
10. Sirens from a Distance
11. Opalis Amar Xam
12. Pathway to I
13. Lifecycle
14. Bridge Between Tal
15. Liquid Light Voids
Credits
All sounds created and sequenced on the EMS Synthi AKS.
Multitracked and mixed to 1/4″ tape.
Kenton CV interface / Shine-E Distortion / Doepfer A-141-2 / Roland RE 201 / Electro Harmonics Micro Synthesizer / Drawmer Gate / Dungeon Plate Reverb / Electro Harmonix 16 Sec Delay / Digitana Matrix Interface.
Mastered to Nagra 4-2 15ips Revox 1/4″ tape.
Engineered and produced by Yage for EBV 2016.
Thanks to Robin Wood Electronic Music Studios.
Original cover painting ‘Saint Wolfgang and the Devil’ by Michael Pacher (CD).
A product of FSOLDigital.
Copyright Futuresong Publishing.
Dedicated to a dear friend now gone… (LP).
Fractional Difference 