Packaged in a black die-cut cardboard jacket, with a glossy photographic print insert, custom text sticker work and an in-house duplicated/printed white CD-R.
Includes unlimited streaming of Springthaw II
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Initially conceived as a more open-ended project, Springthaw manifested itself as four near-half-hour pieces that herald the arrival of Spring. This second volume contains the third and fourth pieces recorded for the project - Dark Room and Wind Hues - both bubbling over with organic textures and floral hiss. Deep dub techno basslines and rhythms anchor a drifting pastoral landscape of melting ice, blossoming color and bounding green hills.
Springthaw was improvised and captured live in the White Pillar Workshop, using a Gemini PDT-6000 turntable to select sides of heavily processed vinyl (solo piano pieces and chamber music) which set an atmospheric tone above/below a Korg ER-1 drum machine, Yamaha QY-70 sequencer, Grass S10CTCMA and a Unisonic "Chippendale" 8-track receiver (channeling local AM radio stations), augmented by FX units including three Moogerfoogers, Alesis Quadraverb, Pioneer spring reverb box, Boss RV-3, SL-20 & RC-20 and a Behringer US600. Everything was mixed on a Peavey FX24 hybrid mixer, and resident collaborator John-Paul Kramer (Coal, Casio Commander) assisted with pitch and modulation of the vinyl sides during three of the four performances.
Springthaw is (at present) a two-volume set, much like the previous Earthworks, Autochromata and the as-yet-unpublished Cedar Mastodon. Time, and seasonal change, will tell whether or not there will be further installments next year. The two volumes make a solid companion/postscript to the recently reinstated 24xCD-R set Dripping Earth, which also venerates Spring in its own way.
credits
released May 30, 2017
W/P by Brian Grainger. Recorded live at White Pillar Workshop, March 2017. Assisted by John-Paul Kramer on "Dark Room". Mastered by The Analog Botanist, April 2017. Photograph by Brian, Dayton 2017. This is Milieu Music number ABX63.
A spacious 2.5 hour soundtrack for Eufloria, an ambient strategy game currently available on Steam, Nintendo Switch and the Playstation Network. Coppice Halifax
A triple-album "beginner's guide" with 50 tracks selected from the first 10 years of Milieu releases. As apt a starting point as you're likely to find. Coppice Halifax
Excellent long form dronescapes from Brian! My favorite release in the CH catalog. It is is a lot of music to digest, but well worth the time it will take to listen to the whole album. It is the biggest box set I have ever bought, with 24 discs! They come in a binder with 24 photos, one for each disc. This physical release is stunning! I highly recommend this release despite the the price tag. I also love the cover photo of the flowers!! Kris Knab