Solvent

"New Ways"

suction025

2014

•  2xLP Black Vinyl + Bonus 7" Vinyl
•  2xLP Limited Red Vinyl + Bonus 7” Red Vinyl
•  CD
•  Digital Download

TRACKLIST:

VINYL:

A1. King Vincent
A2. Transfer Function
B1. Burn The Tables
B2. Sender
C1. Elephant Generators
C2. Bucket Brigade
D1. Quantimations
D2. LPGs Over Hawaii
D3. Transfer Function (Reprise)

BONUS 7":

E1. Themogene (I Dream Of Wires Theme)
F1. Pattern Recognition

CD / DIGITAL:

1. Themogene (I Dream Of Wires Theme)
2. Transfer Function
3. Quantimations
4. Sender
5. Wow
6. Elephant Generators
7. Burn The Tables
8. Pattern Recognition
9. King Vincent
10. Bucket Brigade
11. LPGs Over Hawaii
12. Transfer Function (Reprise)

Suction Records is pleased to announce the release of Solvent's sixth full-length LP, "New Ways: Music From the Documentary I Dream of Wires".  Solvent is the venerable recording alias of Toronto's Jason Amm and after more than a decade of releasing music through esteemed labels Ghostly International and Morr Music, "New Ways" marks the return of Solvent to his own Suction Records label with his first album for the label since 1999.

For the past 3 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.  Currently making the rounds (on Blu-Ray/DVD) is the 4-hour Hardcore Edition cut, with the theatrical cut of "I Dream of Wires" set to premiere in the spring.

Before he came on board as producer, Solvent was commissioned by the "I Dream of Wires" Director to create an original soundtrack for the film.  At the time, Solvent's relationship with modular synthesizers was conflicted.  Of course he had long been lured by these elusive, esoteric machines but was also weary and wondered if these instruments would be a step away from music making and more toward a lifetime of expensive, obsessive tinkering.  So many electronic musicians have fallen into the modular "black hole", never to be heard from again.  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 a body of work.  The result is New Ways, which is heard prominently throughout the film and was 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 "New Ways" is not only a continuation of the "I Dream of Wires" nod to Numan, it also pertains to Solvent's all-new modular synthesizer toolkit, introducing many new forms of synthesis to his arsenal of electronic sound.  In many ways, the modular synthesizer caused an artistic reset, bringing Solvent's sound full-circle to his late-90s Suction Records albums.  "New Ways" doesn't revel in the classicist synthpop motifs or vocoder-pop of Solvent's Ghostly catalog but instead focuses on making strange sounds sing.  "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 like "King Vincent", "Pattern Recognition" and "LPGs Over Hawaii".  "New Ways" also includes the "I Dream of Wires" theme song "Themogene"; a soaring piece of epic synthesizer minimalism already heard by the 250,000+ people who have seen the documentary trailer to date.

 

AUDIO PREVIEWS:

VIDEOS:

ARTIST PROFILE / OTHER RELEASES:

> Solvent