In Electric Time

レーベルを代表するシンセ奏者がヴィンテージ・シンセサイザーを用いて制作した現行電子音楽の傑作が新ジャケット仕様で発売!

本作『In Electric Time』は、Jeremiah ChiuがロサンゼルスのVintage Synthesizer Museum(VSM)で行った即興セッションから生まれた作品である。2023年6月29日、特別な事前構想もないままスタジオに入ったChiuは、VSMに所蔵されたヴィンテージ・シンセサイザー群を用い、その場で音をプログラムし、レイヤーを重ねていった。

セッションはわずか2日間で録音され、その後2日間で編集が完了した。完全アナログで録音され、Cooper Crain(Bitchin Bajas)もゲスト参加している。作品全体は、Chiuの長年のシンセサイザーに対する研究に基づきながらも、その場の直感によって組み立てられた有機的なエレクトロニック・ミュージックの連なりとなっている。

本作は、Raymond Scottのような鋭い編集感覚とスタジオの生々しい気配を併せ持ちつつ、Harmonia的な即時性とサイケデリックな流動性も想起させる。ヴィンテージ機材の特性や偶然性を"考古学的"に掘り起こしながら、編集においても異なる断片を対話させることで、録音と即興の境界を曖昧にしている点が特徴と言える。

Jeremiah Chiu recorded In Electric Time during a two-day visit to the Vintage Synthesizer Museum in Los Angeles. He tried out over two dozen synths, starting with ones that he was either familiar with already or had researched. He connected a few of them at a time to a mixer and eight-track recorder without any type of MIDI synchronization, and wrote and recorded pieces on the fly, with some assistance from engineer Ben Lumsdaine and Bitchin Bajas Cooper Crain on one song. Then he spent two days editing the recordings, and this process was also quite improvisational, as he would notice bits of separate recordings that worked well together, so he spontaneously came up with ideas mixing them together. A few bits of studio chatter were left in, making the record feel like a dispatch from a laboratory. Chiu seems to prefer synth textures that are bright, shiny, and bubbly, with tracks like "Seawater Swell" approximating sunshine on glistening ocean waves. "Rococco Rondo" (an interpretation of a piece by Charles Cohens short-lived duo the Ghostwriters) applies a few smoky layers of distortion to lapping liquid tones and a truly beautiful melodic sequence. "Static Stone Railway" feels more stripped-down than some of the other pieces, but it also seems to move at a faster current, containing a rapid pulse intertwined with slower, flute-like strands. "Transparent Spheres" balances a gentle, playful groove with a hallucinatory blur of effects, and the title track approaches ambient techno with the addition of flickering percussion, but gets swept away rather than landing on a steady beat. In Electric Time is a heavily exploratory record that feels like a cohesive set of compositions rather than just a demo reel of old synthesizers recorded at a museum. These pieces are vibrant, blissful, and tactile, clearly crafted by someone who knows how to produce electronic music with personality and verve. ~ Paul Simpson