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New release with Ali Roberston / Chocolate Monk

Delighted that recordings made via the internet during lockdown 2021 by Ali Robertson and me have been released by the consistently wonderful Chocolate Monk.

The always excellent Chocolate Monk has turned this collaborative effort into a limited edition of 60 limited edition CD-Rs with gorgeous artwork by Karen Constance. You can get them at: https://chocolatemonk.co.uk/available.html

The Longest Forty Miles

“The last train is at 11:30pm and I wouldnae recommend the night bus. It’ll be full of Lothians troglodytes, Cumbernauld carbuncles and folks what like their improv idiomatic. Best hop in our taxi. It willnae be cheap and, with two drivers pulling in opposite directions on the same wheel, you’ll be unsure which way is up let alone which is East or West. Ensure you’re wearing your seat belt on this tour of the Scottish Central Belt as your escorts are predisposed to unleashing belters for strings, gobs & kerfuffle and you’ll get pure pelters if you dinnae subscribe to their version of the Highway Code.”

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Reviews – a few Interzone updates

Audio Crackle Non-Music Roundup June 2023

“‘Interzone’ is a mesmerizing and captivating work of experimental sound art. These haunting and beautiful soundscapes of layered vocals and various immersive noises effectively capture the dream-like twilight state that marks the end of the day, and also heralds the coming night…”
https://audiocrackle.blogspot.com/2023/06/non-music-roundup-june-23.html

The Skinny Scottish New Music Round-Up June 2023

“Sound design fans will be well-fed this month. Nichola Scrutton’s Interzone (15 Jun) earns its experimental distinction with innovations in performance and post-production, as well as themes of liminality, or in-betweenness. In-studio, Scrutton performs idiosyncratic vocal techniques, guttural chanting and sharp intakes of breath, which are intermixed with abstract accompaniments, modulating into the notes themselves. Unfamiliar methods of distortion create the sense that this is all a distant dream, or, as Scrutton’s voice becomes more overwhelming and antagonistic, a restless nightmare.” https://www.theskinny.co.uk/music/new-music/scottish-new-music-round-up-june-2023

MUSIC NOW playlist at The Skinny

Delighted Trio from Interzone to has been included on the Music Now: New Scottish Music playlist, 30 Scottish bands and artists. Listen at: MUSIC NOW – Spotify

Late Junction Radio 3

Quartet B was included in Late Junction 9th June 2023
“…Elsewhere in the show, we hear some energetic Cameroonian bikutsi from the late Roger Bekono, experiments on a toy glockenspiel from Australian producer Broken Chip, and vocal reflections on the space between wakefulness and sleep from Glasgow-based composer Nichola Scrutton.” More at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001mdc4

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Interzone Release on Nonclassical

New album Interzone was released on Nonclassical label on 15th June 2023, and is currently available in CD and digital formats.

https://nicholascrutton.bandcamp.com/album/interzone

The Interzone series of tracks on the album were composed with voice, field recordings and archive materials by Nichola Scrutton in her studio, then mixed and mastered by Jim McEwan of Bark Bark Dog Studios. The second second series of voice tracks were recorded live in Solas Sound Studios by Jim McEwan, and then mixed and mastered by Jim at Bark Bark Dog Studios.

Cover art: Nichola Scrutton

Interzone has been supported by the PRS Foundation Open Fund for Music Creators, Creative Scotland and Nonclassical.

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Night Vision Released on Bandcamp

The Night Vision album is now available to buy on Bandcamp in both limited edition CD and digital formats.

https://nicholascrutton.bandcamp.com/album/night-vision

Night Vision is a project I’m working on through 2023, and it has several iterations. At the core of Night Vision is a large body of text written in the middle of the night lying down in a semi-conscious state over a two-year period – a very different approach for me as a composer and artist. 

On the album, excerpts are performed by five vocalists in chronological order, set in a soundscape I composed with ensemble voices and my own voice/studio recordings.

Vocal performers on the release are:
Alison Peebles, Louise Montgomery, Nalini Chetty, Ian Spink and Mairi Morrison.

The live voices were recorded by Jim McEwan at Solas Sound Studios. All tracks were mixed and mastered by Jim McEwan at Bark Bark Dog Studios.

Many thanks to Sarah Praill for the cover design, which includes a few drawings/marks from the original journals.

Night Vision is supported by Creative Scotland.

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Colliding Lines Tape and Digital Album Artwork

I am delighted to have produced some new drawings for the cover of tape / digital album River . Pathway . Static – at Colliding Lines. Release date is Monday 19th July 2021. More info and link for tape purchase at Colliding Lines (which includes a digital version). The digital version is also available at Colliding Lines Bandcamp

Colliding Lines are also broadcasting on Resonance Extra – info and listening links at #18 Nettles and Chalklines.

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Sonic Bothy Ensemble Album Launch

Sonic Bothy inclusive new music ensemble I work with launched its debut album Fields with a performance at Mono in Glasgow on 28th February 2019.  The album was recorded near the end of 2017 at Riverside Studios. Read more at Lost Art Agency and at Glasgow City Music Tours…The album is available at Bandcamp.

More Information

For more information on Sonic Bothy Ensemble, and all the charity’s activities, please visit Sonic Bothy’s website.

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Voix Brutes Vol II

A recording of Songs for a Stranger: (v) in the midst has been selected for the documentary audio compilation Voix Brutes Vol II, to be released by Audition Records on 15th May 2014. The focus of the Voix Brutes compilations is the voice in live performance – its extended forms, techniques and possibilities.

More info including the list of selected artists is here.

[ar093] VOIX BRUTES | International Compilation | Vol.II listen

More info here about Songs for a Stranger.

And here’s Vol I – listen