The second foray into Séance Centre's “Speculative Ethnography” series is an icy and tender missive of glacial piano, ambient electronics, samples, treated sax, and drum machine rhythms from snowbound Canadians Joseph Shabason & Vibrant Matter (Kieran Adams).
Shabason and Adams have been collaborating for years, forming the production team behind the celebrated experimental synth pop trio Diana, but their relationship has often been fraught with creative tension. Fly Me to the Moon is their ‘make up’ EP, a redemptive voyage through uncertain times. During lockdown Adams found refuge in routine, practicing drums every morning in Shabason’s Toronto studio. Afterwards, the pair would chat in the alleyway behind the studio, drinking espressos, a daily practice that became an antidote to the chaos of pandemic life. Through this daily ritual a creative spark was reignited and they decided to start exchanging ideas, but rather than working together in the studio as they had in the past, the circumstances required them to collaborate remotely. Through this distanced connection the youthful tension and ego of the past eroded, evolving into a deep trust.
Escaping the gravitational pull of a planet in distress, the duo composed a sonic love letter adrift in weightless ambient electronics, fourth world jazz visions, and cyborg IDM riddim technologies — an ode to a long friendship which has strength because it has travelled through so many galaxies and vortices. Who says you can’t fall in love all over again - ‘Fly me to the moon / Let me play up there with those stars / Let me see what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars’.
Fly Me to the Moon is a limited edition pressing with risograph printed insert and designed for future archives.
RIYL: Ramzi, Photek, Mo Wax Headz, Jon Hassell, FSOL, Aleksi Perälä, Nuron, Ismistik
credits
released March 4, 2022
All tracks written, recorded and performed by Kieran Adams & Joseph Shabason. All tracks mixed by J. Shabason at Aytche Studio except for Chain which was mixed by K. Adams.
J. Shabason: Alto Sax, tenor Sax, Synths, Piano, Bells
K. Adams: Programming, Synths, Samples
supported by 26 fans who also own “Fly Me to the Moon”
this record is so evocative of a specific time of day, in a specific room, in a specific time of my childhood in 1991, that I get kind of lost in memory when I listen. this is music overflowing with warmth and kindness, a soft world for anyone who needs it Ashley Rivera
The Singaporean producer samples and recontextualizes Malaysian music with love, care, and just a touch of irreverence. Bandcamp Album of the Day Jun 28, 2018
Reimagining soundtracks for David Lynch films is a daunting task, but these pieces sare perfectly unsettling and carefully composed. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 23, 2019
Hong Kong's FuFu Records presents a compilation of electronic music from artists across Asia to raise money for One Tree Planted. Bandcamp New & Notable Jun 22, 2021