Bass Communion
Encyclopedia
Bass Communion is a side project of Steven Wilson
, best known for his lead role in the rock band Porcupine Tree
. Records released under the name "Bass Communion" are in an ambient
or electronic vein - lengthy drone-heavy compositions. They come about as experiments in texture made from processing the sound of real instruments and field recordings.
Bass Communion's albums have often featured collaborations from other musicians, including Robert Fripp
of King Crimson
, saxophonist Theo Travis
, Bryn Jones (also known as Muslimgauze
), and Vidna Obmana
.
experimental
electronic music
artist such as Tangerine Dream
, Klaus Schulze
, Conrad Schnitzler
, Wilson, along with childhood friend Simon Vockings, formed the group Altamont in 1983. Wilson and Vockings experimented with primitive analog synthesizers, recording the performances live, without the use of multitracking
. These recordings were compiled on the tape Prayer for the Soul in September 1983 and released on the Acid Tapes label, then run by future Imaginary Records
boss, Alan Duffy.
By the 1990s
, Wilson began to notice an increasing amount of music inspired by the same experimental artists who inspired Altamont. Hearing artists such as Paul Schutze
and Biosphere
, Wilson felt that it was an ideal time to revisit experiment electronic music. The first self-titled Bass Communion album, often referred to as Bass Communion I
, was released in April 1998.
Steven Wilson
Steven John Wilson is an English musician, best known as the founder, lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of progressive rock band Porcupine Tree...
, best known for his lead role in the rock band Porcupine Tree
Porcupine Tree
Porcupine Tree is a progressive rock band formed by Steven Wilson in 1987 in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England. Their music is difficult to categorise, being associated with both psychedelic rock and progressive rock, yet having been influenced by trance, krautrock and ambient due to Steven...
. Records released under the name "Bass Communion" are in an ambient
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
or electronic vein - lengthy drone-heavy compositions. They come about as experiments in texture made from processing the sound of real instruments and field recordings.
Bass Communion's albums have often featured collaborations from other musicians, including Robert Fripp
Robert Fripp
Robert Fripp is an English guitarist, composer and record producer. He was ranked 42nd on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and #47 on Gibson.com’s "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". Among rock guitarists, Fripp is a master of crosspicking, a technique...
of King Crimson
King Crimson
King Crimson are a rock band founded in London, England in 1969. Often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history...
, saxophonist Theo Travis
Theo Travis
Theo Travis is a British saxophonist and flautist.Travis received his degree in flute and saxophone from the University of Manchester and has worked among others with Robert Fripp, Gong, Porcupine Tree, The Tangent, Bill Nelson, Bass Communion, No-Man, Steven Wilson, David Sylvian, Harold Budd,...
, Bryn Jones (also known as Muslimgauze
Muslimgauze
Muslimgauze was a music project of Bryn Jones , a prolific British ethnic electronica and experimental musician, influenced by conflicts in the Muslim world with an emphasis on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict...
), and Vidna Obmana
Vidna Obmana
Vidna Obmana is a pseudonym used by Belgian composer and ambient musician Dirk Serries. The name Vidna Obmana, a phrase in Serbian, literally translates to "optical illusion" and was chosen by Serries because he felt it accurately described the music...
.
History
Bass Communion has origins in Steven Wilson's earliest work as a musician. Taking influence from GermanGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
experimental
Experimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
artist such as Tangerine Dream
Tangerine Dream
Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music group founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The band has undergone many personnel changes over the years, with Froese being the only continuous member...
, Klaus Schulze
Klaus Schulze
Klaus Schulze is a German electronic music composer and musician. He also used the alias Richard Wahnfried. He was briefly a member of the electronic bands Tangerine Dream and Ash Ra Tempel before launching a solo career consisting of more than 60 albums released across five decades.-1970s:In...
, Conrad Schnitzler
Conrad Schnitzler
Conrad Schnitzler was a prolific German experimental musician.Schnitzler was born in Düsseldorf. He was an early member of Tangerine Dream and a founder of the band Kluster. He left Kluster in 1971, first working with his group Eruption and then focusing on solo works...
, Wilson, along with childhood friend Simon Vockings, formed the group Altamont in 1983. Wilson and Vockings experimented with primitive analog synthesizers, recording the performances live, without the use of multitracking
Multitrack recording
Multitrack recording is a method of sound recording that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources to create a cohesive whole...
. These recordings were compiled on the tape Prayer for the Soul in September 1983 and released on the Acid Tapes label, then run by future Imaginary Records
Imaginary Records
Imaginary Records was an independent record label based in Heywood, Lancashire, England, which specialised mainly in indie rock and post-punk. It was created and owned by Alan Duffy, known for his lyrical contributions to Porcupine Tree's first two albums, On the Sunday of Life and Up the...
boss, Alan Duffy.
By the 1990s
1990s in music
For music from a year in the 1990s, go to 90 | 91 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99This article includes trends in popular music in the 1990s....
, Wilson began to notice an increasing amount of music inspired by the same experimental artists who inspired Altamont. Hearing artists such as Paul Schutze
Paul Schütze
Paul Schütze is an Australian artist resident in London. Over thirty years his work has spanned composition, performance, installation, video, printmaking and photography....
and Biosphere
Biosphere (musician)
Biosphere is the main recording name of Geir Jenssen , a Norwegian musician who has released a notable catalogue of ambient electronic music. He is well known for his "ambient techno" and "arctic ambient" styles, his use of music loops, and peculiar samples from sci-fi sources. His track "Novelty...
, Wilson felt that it was an ideal time to revisit experiment electronic music. The first self-titled Bass Communion album, often referred to as Bass Communion I
Bass Communion I
- Personnel :* Steven Wilson – Instruments* Theo Travis – Soprano Saxophones on "Drugged"* Robert Fripp - Soundscapes on "Drugged 2" All tracks written by Steven Wilson.- Release history :- External links :* at Steven Wilson Headquarters...
, was released in April 1998.
Albums
- IBass Communion I- Personnel :* Steven Wilson – Instruments* Theo Travis – Soprano Saxophones on "Drugged"* Robert Fripp - Soundscapes on "Drugged 2" All tracks written by Steven Wilson.- Release history :- External links :* at Steven Wilson Headquarters...
(1998) - IIBass Communion II- 2002 and 2009 editions :- Vinyl edition :- Release history :- References :...
(1999) - Atmospherics (1999)
- IIIBass Communion III- Track Notes :Three Pieces for Television: appeared previously on Atmospherics* "Sonar" appears as "Sonar"* "Lina Romay" appears as "Night Creatures"* "Grammatic Fog" appears as "The Fog"- Personnel :* Steven Wilson – All instruments...
(2001) - Ghosts on Magnetic TapeGhosts on Magnetic TapeGhosts on Magnetic Tape is the name of the fourth studio album released by British musician, songwriter, and producer Steven Wilson under the pseudonym Bass Communion. It was created primarily from processing 78rpm records and piano sources...
(2004) - Indicates VoidIndicates VoidIndicates Void in the name of the fifth studio album released by British musician, songwriter and producer Steven Wilson under the pseudonym Bass Communion, and was limited to 300 12 inch LP copies in hand made sleeves, 100 copies in a silver sleeve, 100 copies in a gold sleeve, and 100 copies as...
(2005) - LossLoss (Bass Communion album)Loss in the name of the sixth studio album released by British musician, songwriter and producer Steven Wilson under the pseudonym Bass Communion, and was limited to only 450 copies on vinyl....
(2006) - Pacific Codex (2008)
- Molotov and HazeMolotov and Haze- Release history :...
(2008) - ChiaroscuroChiaroscuro (Bass Communion album)Chiaroscuro is a live album by British musician, songwriter and producer Steven Wilson under the pseudonym Bass Communion. The title track was recorded live in Antwerp in November 2008...
(2009) - Cenotaph (2011)
EPs and Singles
- Vajrayana (2004)
- DroneworkDroneworkDronework is an EP by Bass Communion, one of Steven Wilson's side projects. It consist of single title track. The CD-R was originally available as part of the Twenty Hertz Droneworks series as Drone Works #6. It was withdrawn in December 2004 and reissued on Wilson's own label, Headphone Dust in...
(2005) - Haze ShrapnelHaze ShrapnelHaze Shrapnel is an EP by Bass Communion, a side project of Steven Wilson. It contains an out-take from the Molotov and Haze sessions, titled Haze Shrapnel, as well as a remix of the same piece by Freiband , retitled Scherven. It was released as an on-demand 3 inch CDR by My Own Little Label...
(2008) - Litany (2009)
Collaborations
- Bass Communion V MuslimgauzeBass Communion V MuslimgauzeBass Communion V Muslimgauze is a CD of remixes of Muslimgauze material by Bass Communion. Additional remix material was released on Bass Communion V Muslimgauze EP....
(1999) - Bass Communion V Muslimgauze EPBass Communion V Muslimgauze EPBass Communion V Muslimgauze EP is a CD of remixes of Muslimgauze material by Bass Communion.This material makes up the material that was omitted from the CD Bass Communion V Muslimgauze.-Track listing:#"Six" - 9:30#"Seven" - 9:02...
(2000) - Bass Communion (Reconstructions and Recycling)Bass Communion (Reconstructions and Recycling)Reconstructions and Recycling is a collection of remixes of music from Bass Communion II by leading figures from the experimental, electronic and ambient music scenes...
(2003) - Jonathan Coleclough / Bass Communion / Colin PotterJonathan Coleclough / Bass Communion / Colin PotterJonathan Coleclough / Bass Communion / Colin Potter is a collaboration with drone artists Jonathan Coleclough and Colin Potter that grew out of the Bass Communion remix project. It was originally limited to 500 copies with a second edition of 500 copies being issued in January 2005.The first CD...
(2003) - Bass Communion & Vidna Obmana - Continuum 1Continuum (music project)Continuum is a collaborative ambient and drone music project between Bass Communion and Dirk Serries...
(2005) - BCVSMGCDBCVSMGCDBCVSMGCD is an album credited to Bass Communion/Muslimgauze. The album compiles Bass Communion V Muslimgauze and Bass Communion V Muslimgauze EP.-Track listing:#"One" - 8:36#"Two" - 7:14#"Three" - 13:04#"Four" - 4:58#"Five" - 10:38...
(2006) - Bass Communion & Vidna Obmana - Continuum 2Continuum (music project)Continuum is a collaborative ambient and drone music project between Bass Communion and Dirk Serries...
(2007) - Bass Communion / Pig - Live in Mexico CityBass Communion / Pig - Live in Mexico CityLive in Mexico City is a live recording of a performance of ambient and drone by Bass Communion, the musical project of British musician Steven Wilson, with Mexican noise improvisation group Pig, in Laboratorio De Arte Alameda, Mexico City on 27th Feb 2008. It was limited to 500 copies in screen...
(2008) - Freiband/Bass Communion - Headwind/Tailwind (2009)
Various artists
- Behind These Silent Eyes (Parts I-IV)" (17:50), a construction by Bass Communion on the album of Theo TravisTheo TravisTheo Travis is a British saxophonist and flautist.Travis received his degree in flute and saxophone from the University of Manchester and has worked among others with Robert Fripp, Gong, Porcupine Tree, The Tangent, Bill Nelson, Bass Communion, No-Man, Steven Wilson, David Sylvian, Harold Budd,...
: Slow Life 2 LP Tonefloat – TF31 (2007)
External links
- Bass Communion Page
- Bass Communion at last.fm
- Burning Shed Records
- The Seaweed Farm - Bass Communion / Steven Wilson related news
- Vajrayana - Bass Communion unofficial site