CUE DOT 012:
Human Condition
by Fragile X
Fragile X is the alias of Glasgow based musician, producer and sound design artist J.Gorecki, known more widely in electronic music circles for his dedicated work as founder of the Bricolage record label.
‘Human Condition’ charts what he considers as the biggest aspect of the human condition, personal growth.
It’s an album that poses more questions than answers. An album exploring what goes beyond human. Do we transcend? Do we just waste away? Does it matter?
What is important is the present and how we can be better for ourselves and others around us in every aspect of our lives. This album is a representation of the six stages of the human condition. Birth, growth, emotion, aspiration, conflict and mortality. An exploration of the essentials of existence and how we can be more than the sum of our parts.
“Human Condition has something to say to you, has questions to ask of you and, most importantly, it will help you to find answers, not offer them” – Paul Laird, Our Sound Music
“The lasting sense Human Condition leaves the listener with is a sense of honesty, of big themes and of a deep connection to the past, a collective past, the human past.” – Bobby Gant, Iniquitous Glory
“A celebration of all things good whilst asking questions of ourselves that are dreamt collectively in times of solitude” – Benjamin Charles, Igloo Magazine
CUE DOT 011:
The Machine That Made Eternity
by Human Concept
Human Concept is the alias of Hertfordshire based producer Pete Crane, and artist inspired by the 90s rave scene with an ear on contemporary electronic music.
The Machine That Made Eternity began life during the summer of 2020. However, during the writing process Pete suffered a severe downturn in his mental health. The album he’d written wasn’t him. It wasn’t his initial intention. It had become dark and warped. To continue would have meant holding on to the one thing he was trying to escape from.
Late in 2020 he had a moment that changed both the direction and the feel of the album in its entirety. There was more positivity, more meaning, more feeling. The Machine That Made Eternity became a form of therapy for his mental health. He grabbed the idea and ran with it.
This album, in essence, holds a narrative for finding positivity and hope, even in the darkest corners of our lives.
Featured on:
– BBC 6 Music – Gideon Coe Show
“The Machine That Made Eternity is a triumph, a brilliant, honest, ambient triumph.” – Bobby Gant, God Is In The TV
“The Machine That Made Eternity” from Human Concept is not the dull thud of a song you have heard a thousand times before. It is not a theme park ride. It does not shout loudly in your face. It is the word.” – Paul Laird, Our Sound Music
“Human Concept has produced a highly reflective album that serves to remind us all of the frailty of the human condition. Through the medium of some fantastic electronic music, Human Concept makes us think and put things in perspective” – Gordon Rutherford, Louder Than War
CUE DOT 010:
Psychological Colouring Book
by Scissorgun
Scissorgun are an electronic music due consisting of Alan Hempsall, (from the former Factory artists Crispy Ambulance) and soundscape artist Dave Clarkson.
‘Psychological Colouring Book’ follows up their 2017 album ‘Assault Two’ and their 2020 release ‘All You Love Is Need’.
“Before we started writing material for Psychological Colouring Book we sat down with some significant artefacts from our lives and built a vision of what our next chapter would look like. The following week when we switched on our gear for the first time in three months The Grind was the first thing that came out. We’ve tried to find new ways of writing and hearing. We wanted a spectrum of moods. What we got was an album of our favourite things” – Alan Hempsall, Scissorgun
Featured on:
– BBC 6 Music – Gideon Coe Show
‘As a record it speaks for itself, diverse in mood, eclectic in terms of sound, intelligent and unpredictable.’ – Bobby Gant, Iniquitous Glory
‘To have captured so many moods, so many states and for it to sound so utterly original is quite the achievement. A late contender for album of the year…for those who will listen.’ – Paul Laird, Our Sound Music
‘Psychological Colouring Book is an album where you actually feel the humans behind the machines. You can see the wires and the extension leads, the sweat and the toil. It is an album proudly confrontational yet also has a great knack of hooking its claws under your flesh.’ – Simon Tucker, At The Barrier
‘On Psychological Colouring Book Scissorgun manage to balance the “out there” with the dancefloor with enviable skill and taste.’ – Ian Canty, Louder Than War
‘There’s a palpable sense of boundless freedom throughout this excellent album, as resolutely experimental as it is wistful and emotive’ – Carl Griffin, Electronic Sound
CUE DOT 008:
ASH DOME
by R.Seiliog
R.Seiliog is the alias of Snowdonia based musician / sound artist Robin Edwards. His music interweaves threads of ambient electronica, odd techno, drone and field recording into exploratory psychedelia – ‘Ash Dome’ being the Welsh producer’s first full length release since 2018’s ‘Megadoze’, following a series of soundtrack and sound installation works.
Ash Dome draws its title and compositional inspiration from a living sculpture by David Nash – The vortex-like structure of 22 ash trees hidden/protected at a secret location in Eryri was planted in 1977 and has grown quietly through times of social and environmental uncertainty. These trees stand to ask whether heavy-handed human curiosity is an inherent part of nature, or if we are drifting away from it.Each piece was composed after returning from binaural field recording trips in Coed Camlyn, Maentwrog between March and May 2021.
Each piece was composed after returning from binaural field recording trips in Coed Camlyn, Maentwrog between March and May 2021.
Featured on:
– BBC 6 Music – Mary Anne Hobbs Show
– BBC 6 Music – Mary Anne Hobbs, New Music Fix
– BBC Radio Cymru – Georgia Ruth Show
– BBC 6 Music – Gideon Coe Show
– KEXP – Pacific Notions with Alex Ruder
“R.Seiliog has produced a great album full of enchantment, beauty and mystery. It is the type of album you can’t listen to just once…” – Bobby Gant, Iniquitous Glory
“This is a new folk music, a new Welsh spiritual and an album that takes you wherever you need to go… An absolute triumph.” – Simon Tucker, At The Barrier
“This is art. Free from artifice and pretence… This is music of great emotion and real beauty.” – Paul Laird, Our Sound Music
“this is music that works at its best without a beat marking time, and the treble-rich sounds give a lasting brightness.” – Ben Hogwood, Arcana
“A trip worth taking” – James Thornill, Electronic Sound
“…another trip into the druidic domain that you come to expect from this psychedelic lord of light.” – Link 2 Wales
CUE DOT 007:
SHUNYATA : EMPTINESS
by Toby Wiltshire
Toby Wiltshire is a composer, sound artist, saxophonist and meditator who lives in Leeds. His work is predominantly in audio-visual art installations and ‘beatless’ electronic music.
‘Shunyata : Emptiness’ follows on from Toby Wiltshire’s two previous self- released albums ‘Surfacing’ (2019) and ‘Selected Works 2012-2017’ (2017). The album uses imagery and concepts from the Buddhist world as a starting point to inspire musical creation. Toby uses field recordings, modular synthesis and software in a drifting and loose compositional style influenced by abstract visual art, often working with texture and subtle combinations of the natural and the synthetic.
Featured on:
BBC 3, Night Tracks with Hannah Peel
KEXP, Pacific Notions with Alex Ruder
“Toby Wiltshire has been producing and making music for around 20 years. He’s been widely influenced by the visual arts, his explorations in meditation and his experiences working with audio-visual art installations. That knowledge and experience combined with a spiritual sensibility and a deep appreciation of how to listen has led to the creation of a genuinely magnificent listening experience.” – Bobby Gant, Iniquitous Glory
“There is an intelligence and level of originality in this collection that has to be admired, one that creates an utterly enveloping and thought-provoking listening experience. It’s like stepping into a cocoon and isolating yourself from the craziness of the world we live in today. We could all benefit from that…” – Gordon Rutherford, Louder Than War
“An album of profundity and aching beauty. If you are desirous of the profound and seeking beauty, then this is the album you need…” – Paul Laird, Our Sound Music
“Shunyata does have the power to remove yourself from the world for a while and absorb its message. It is beautiful and it is rich and it is easy to say that with it Toby Wiltshire can indeed sit at the table and break bread with the greats of the genre that have gone before…” – Simon Tucker, At The Barrier
“Wiltshire’s free-standing style allows for slow, untethered musical movement, adding field recordings, modular synths and software to the equation. It is music for mindfulness, but with a license to develop along the way…” – Ben Hogwood, Arcana
CUE DOT 006:
HOVERING
by Moth Effect
Moth Effect, is an instrumental electronic music project by Andy Le Gresley. Andy has been making music as Moth Effect since the mid-2010’s using processed guitars, loops and synths to create a spaced-out mix of beats, drones and melodies.
‘Hovering,’ was produced during 2020. Infused by his love of Kosmische Musik, New Wave and anything that stays on one note for too long. It features nine tracks, covering chugging melodies and sinister drones, heavy self-oscillations and spacey ambience
“With Hovering, Moth Effect has crafted an intelligent and bold album, one that wonderfully fuses psych, electronica, space-rock and kosmische. Ultimately though, at its core this is a pop record and a damn good one at that.” – Gordon Rutherford, Louder Than War
“Sometimes you just have to listen to an album to experience the majesty, the joy, the feeling, the power, the quality, the size, the intricacies. Hovering is that sort of album. You should listen to it.” – Bobby Gant, Iniquitous Glory
“Slathered in kosmische synths and enough post-punk guitars to make veteran John Peel fans shudder under their blankets, it’s terrific fun” – Bob Fischer, Electronic Sound
CUE DOT 005:
HERE
by Veryan
Veryan is a female electronic musician based in Scotland. She follows up recent 2020 self-releases (‘Ebb & Flow’, and ‘Hiraeth’) with this collection exploring feelings and associations that come with a sense of place and belonging.
This album is, in part, influenced by Somewhere-Nowhere, an environmental arts and research practice. At this critical time of climate change and biodiversity decline, their work aims to influence government policy, community engagement and environmental activism through shared stories, reflections and insights. Sometimes they are stories of joy and wonder, sometimes they highlight struggle and loss.
HERE is one of those stories.
“It is an album of big skies and wide expanses – an album of awe…” – Bobby D Gant, Iniquitous Glory
“Do you feel like you belong? what is belonging anyway? These are big questions and with this album, Veryan allows you time and space to maybe find a few answers for yourself and any album that gives you that feeling of security to explore such deep emotional themes certainly belongs in your collection…” – Simon Tucker, At The Barrier
“A powerful, life-affirming addition to the Cue Dot Series, and one that reminds you to treasure the precious things in life” – Mat Smith, Electronic Sound
CUE DOT 004:
Everything Fades
by Manfred Hamil
Manfred Hamil is just one of the many aliases used by music producer Steve Kelly.
Steve started producing electronica back in 2001, initially under the pseudonym SK123, but later as his more targeted alter egos, Douglas Deep, Macerator and Manfred Hamil. And it is through Manfred Hamil that Steve chooses to channel the more ambient, cinematic side of electronica, inspired by releases from legendary labels such as City Centre Offices, Erased Tapes and Ninja Tune.
With “EVERYTHING FADES” he continues an emphasis on some of the darker and melancholic aspects of electronic music, yet still creating space for quiet optimism.
As we enter an era of newly defined norms, we feel honoured to share this perfect soundtrack reflecting upon times we’ve endured and the hopefulness of a future to come.
“Cue Dot and Steve Kelly/Manfred Hamil have set the bar high for 2021 with Everything Fades and other releases under the electronica banner will do well to match the brilliance of this collection.” – Gordon Rutherford, Louder Than War
“Manfred Hamil has produced an exquisite album of electronic music. Great art should always be celebrated and this is great art.” – Bobby Gant, Iniquitous Glory
“Everything Fades allows enough space for the listener to paint their own images whilst gently pulling you along. It is a hymn and a celebration for a scene that needs us now more than ever.” – Simon Tucker, At The Barrier
“…typified by a feeling of spaciousness that takes time to revel in its expertly honed, sharp sonic design” – Ben Willmott, Electronic Sound
CUE DOT 003:
Stories From An Island
by SAD MAN and Francis Lowe
SAD MAN is the music producer Andrew Spackman. Francis Lowe is a writer, actor and animator. His career has taken him from working in TV and movies for Turner Entertainment and Boss Films in Los Angeles, to delivering talks around the world on storytelling and drawing.
Together they have collaborated to create and record six stories, each one unique, but each one revealing layers of a mysterious place where magic, the supernatural and tales of the unexpected intertwine across time.
“It’s cinematic in scope, brilliantly written and composed, and it definitely leaves it mark on the listener…Stories From An Island is an endlessly fascinating album” – Bobby D Gant, Iniquitous Glory
“Press play and begin to absorb yourself in Stories From An Island. Close your eyes, listen carefully and allow yourself to be transported.” – Gordon Rutherford, Louder Than War
“The third chapter in the Cue Dot series is a truly escapist and immersive experience of well-crafted, descriptive sonics and winding, brilliant literature” – Monolith Cocktail
CUE DOT 002:
A profound hand into a peaceful death
by Lying Cat
Lying Cat is an anonymous UK producer drawing influence from glitch, ambient, drone and experimental electronica.
Although Lying Cat remains anonymous, the album features contributions from Bristol based experimental electronic art collective, JILK.
The album is a soundtrack to a film story never realised…
“Lying Cat has produced an album that will enthral and stimulate your imagination” – Gordon Rutherford, Louder Than War
CUE DOT 001:
SHORELINE
by Lyndon Scarfe
The first installation in our “Cue Dot Series” is this collection of cinematic ambient drone pieces created by musician Lyndon Scarfe.
Lyndon has been involved in making, producing and releasing music since the early 1980’s when he was an original member of post-punk group The Danse Society.
Since then he has recorded and released ambient, electronic and soundtrack music under his own name, he plays guitar in the group The Black Lamps, and with Sam Horton he makes the experimental, drone, noise project [retreat].
Featured on BBC 6 Music:
– Mary Anne Hobbs Recommends
– 6 Music Ambient Focus
“The overall effect is almost psychedelic” – Mark Roland, Electronic Sound
“An immersive electronic dreamscape… A transcendental masterpiece.” –
Bobby D Gant, Iniquitous Glory
“It’s a blueprint for what ambient music should be… there is something here for all those who appreciate great music, irrespective of genre.” –
Gordon Rutherford, Louder Than War
“it develops from a single note through lush orchestral arrangement to transport the listener to a world of peace and varied beauty.” –
Daniel Crompton, At The Barrier
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