Deep Earth is a project that began in May 2015, with the initial recordings happening a few months before. It was conceived as a monthly series that would yield a minimum of 20 minutes of sound per installment, plus peripheral installments of discarded material (or forĵetitaj). The series was set up as a subscription service, wherein supporters would exclusively receive the "forĵetitaj" recordings, in addition to the main run of releases. By May 2016, the project held enough support to be considered a success, and was subsequently reinstated for a second year, starting in June (which is currently running now).
Musically, Deep Earth sounds like almost nothing else in the entire Milieu Music catalog. It is almost entirely recorded live, in a dark bedroom studio, using old amps for monitors (no headphones), tape machines, archaic laboratory equipment, vintage rhythm boxes, analog and digital synthesizers and a wide array of traditional and unorthodox FX units. It is the closest I've ever come to achieving a kind of total sonic isolationism, the aural equivalent of a long-lost military bunker beneath the polar ice, whose tunnels lead downward into a hidden underworld of unmapped hollow earth. Exploration as performance, improvisation in lieu of composition.
There was such a wealth of material recorded for the first year of Deep Earth, that the idea of an exhaustive box set collection became attractive (and you know how much we like our box sets here at Milieu Music), so I'm finally beaming with pride as I bring you this Year One Compleat set of 16 discs. Year One Compleat contains all twelve of the monthly Deep Earth installments, all twelve of the "forĵetitaj" installments (previously only released to subscribers) as well as the Unuopaĵojn (singles) double-album, the precursor recording Antaŭparolo (also subscriber-only) and...FIVE HOURS of previously unreleased Deep Earth recordings. Outtakes and alternative versions from throughout the series, a truly comprehensive tableaux of everything that was Deep Earth - from its embryonic moments to its current heavy momentum - arranged carefully across sixteen discs, with custom stickers, 16 photographic print inserts, hidden messages and a sturdy lidded plastic box. A monolith of greyscale electronic music, with equal parts throbbing techno, dusky ambient, minimalistic drones and texture-thickened experimentalism.
NOTE: Out of respect to the Deep Earth subscribers and their incredible support of this project, I've turned off streaming for the Forĵetitaj material, as well as the five hours of new unreleased material. Basically, since the subscribers paid for this content, it is packaged only in the downloadable and physical editions of this release. You can stream 1:30 of every track from the unreleased five hours at Soundcloud here, if you'd like to know what you're getting into:
soundcloud.com/coppice-halifax/deep-earth-year-one-compleat-bonus-5-hours
released December 16, 2016
W/P by Brian Grainger. Recorded at Botany Bay, January 2015-May 2016. Mastered by The Analog Botanist. This is Milieu Music number [DE-1C]. Photography by Brian at Botany Bay, 2015.