The Sight Below
Encyclopedia
The Sight Below is an electronic music
/shoegaze act from Seattle, Washington
. Its main member is American post-minimalist
composer
Rafael Anton Irisarri
.
Sam Valenti IV signed The Sight Below to his Ghostly International
imprint in 2008 after listening to a demo tape. A promotional EP No Place for Us
was soon released by the label as a free MP3
download on August 26, 2008.
The Sight Below debuted its live set at Seattle's KEXP
radio station on September 20, 2008. The in-studio session was recorded and is available on Ghostly's website as a podcast
(GhostlyCast #18). A well-received performance followed at the Ghostly International showcase during Decibel Festival
. These performances paved the way for an extensive European tour that saw the artist perform at 18 different cities in the continent, including Unsound Festival
in Krakow, Poland, EME Festival in Lisbon, Portugal, S.O.Y. Festival
in Nantes
, France
and TimeZones Festival in Bari
, Italy
.
The Sight Below's full-length debut album Glider was released in the United States on November 2008 and January 2009 worldwide. It is available as both a physical and digital release. The album was very well received by the press and music community, including praise from Radiohead
's Thom Yorke
, who charted "At First Touch" on his January 6, 2009 "Office Chart" posting on the band's website Dead Air Space
.
Murmur EP
followed in 2009, including remixes by Arctic techno pioneer Biosphere
, Eluvium and Simon Scott (formerly of Slowdive
and Lowgold
).
The Sight Below's second full-length, It All Falls Apart
, was released on April 6, 2010. It features music written with the aforementioned Simon Scott and a cover version of Joy Division
's "New Dawn Fades
" (with guest vocals by Tiny Vipers
). Described by All Music Guide
as “impeccably made ambient thump-and-drone”, Pitchfork Media
called it "A beautifully bleak cloud of sound" while XLR8R
magazine gave it a 9/10 ranking and praised it as “an astounding range of visceral sonic possibilities…a hurricane passing over an ocean, gathering heat and force while simultaneously cooling the waters below.”
Soon after the Glider release a US tour followed in February 2009 with labelmate Lusine
. Later on, appearances at DEMF (Detroit, Michigan
) and MUTEK
(Montreal, Canada) would continue showcasing The Sight Below's brand of immersive guitar music and visual art integration.
In June 2009, The Sight Below performed at Sónar
Festival (Barcelona, Spain), this time joined by former Slowdive
and Lowgold
drummer Simon Scott on guitars and vocals. Together they toured throughout the Summer in the EU and UK, including a show at the historical Sacred Trinity Church in Manchester
, London
's The Luminaire
club, and a notoriously loud performance during Ghostly's 10-Year Anniversary party at Berlin
's infamous Berghain
nightclub on June 26, 2009.
, while remixing School of Seven Bells
, Detroit's Echospace, and Germany's Pantha Du Prince
.
Irisarri has also collaborated with renowned Austrian guitarist Fennesz, performing live at Decibel Festival
in Seattle and Interferenze Festival in Italy.
On January 2011, Irisarri collaborated with Benoît Pioulard on a tribute to Broadcast's Trish Keenan, covering the track 'Until Then', from the band's 2000 album The Noise Made By People
.
EPs
Remixes
Interviews:
Reviews:
Articles:
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...
/shoegaze act from Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
. Its main member is American post-minimalist
Minimalist music
Minimal music is a style of music associated with the work of American composers La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass. It originated in the New York Downtown scene of the 1960s and was initially viewed as a form of experimental music called the New York Hypnotic School....
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
Rafael Anton Irisarri
Rafael Anton Irisarri
Rafael Anton Irisarri is an American composer, multi-instrumentalist, producer and media artist based in Seattle, Washington. He is predominantly associated with post-minimalist, drone and electronic music, exploring textural aesthetics for over half a decade...
.
Sam Valenti IV signed The Sight Below to his Ghostly International
Ghostly International
Ghostly International is an American independent record label. Chief artists include Matthew Dear, Dabrye , Mobius Band, and Skeletons & The Girl-Faced Boys, all of which are innovative contributors to the world of music....
imprint in 2008 after listening to a demo tape. A promotional EP No Place for Us
No Place for Us
No Place For Us is the debut EP by shoegaze/techno act The Sight Below, released on August 26, 2008 by Ghostly International. It is available as a free, promotional download on the label's website. The EP was recorded live in Seattle, Washington during the winter of 2007–2008...
was soon released by the label as a free MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
download on August 26, 2008.
The Sight Below debuted its live set at Seattle's KEXP
KEXP
KEXP-FM is a public radio station based in Seattle, Washington, that specializes in alternative and indie rock programmed by its disc jockeys. Its broadcasting license is owned by the University of Washington, which operates the station in a partnership with Paul Allen's Experience Music Project...
radio station on September 20, 2008. The in-studio session was recorded and is available on Ghostly's website as a podcast
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
(GhostlyCast #18). A well-received performance followed at the Ghostly International showcase during Decibel Festival
Decibel Festival
Decibel Festival is an annual music and digital arts festival started in 2003 in Seattle by Sean Horton. Decibel is dedicated to live electronic music performance, visual art and new media. The core of the festival comprises concerts, performances, commissioned work, film screenings and exhibitions...
. These performances paved the way for an extensive European tour that saw the artist perform at 18 different cities in the continent, including Unsound Festival
Unsound festival
Unsound Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Kraków, Poland, dealing with evolving and mutating forms of music, as well as related visual arts....
in Krakow, Poland, EME Festival in Lisbon, Portugal, S.O.Y. Festival
Soy Festival
Soy Festival is a yearly music festival happening in the autumn in Nantes, France. The festival focuses on avant-garde rock, experimental rock, noise rock and other experimental music genres...
in Nantes
Nantes
Nantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants....
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and TimeZones Festival in Bari
Bari
Bari is the capital city of the province of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, in Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples, and is well known as a port and university city, as well as the city of Saint Nicholas...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
The Sight Below's full-length debut album Glider was released in the United States on November 2008 and January 2009 worldwide. It is available as both a physical and digital release. The album was very well received by the press and music community, including praise from Radiohead
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
's Thom Yorke
Thom Yorke
Thomas "Thom" Edward Yorke is an English musician who is the lead vocalist and principal songwriter for Radiohead. He mainly plays guitar and piano, but he has also played drums and bass guitar...
, who charted "At First Touch" on his January 6, 2009 "Office Chart" posting on the band's website Dead Air Space
Dead air space
Dead air space may refer to:*Dead Air Space, a blog maintained by the members of the band Radiohead*The spaces between panes of glass in insulated glazing...
.
Murmur EP
Murmur EP
Murmur is second EP from The Sight Below, released on October 27, 2009. It contains two new songs and three remixes of other The Sight Below songs by Eluvium, Simon Scott, and iconic Norwegian ambient producer Biosphere.-Track listing:#Murmur - 6:37 #Wishing Me Asleep - 6:23 #The Sunset Passage ...
followed in 2009, including remixes by Arctic techno pioneer 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...
, Eluvium and Simon Scott (formerly of Slowdive
Slowdive
Slowdive were an English shoegaze band that formed in 1989. The band formed in Reading, Berkshire and primarily consisted of Nick Chaplin , Rachel Goswell , Neil Halstead , and Christian Savill...
and Lowgold
Lowgold
Lowgold are an English indie rock band formed in 1997 in St Albans, comprising vocalist and rhythm guitarist Darren Ford, lead guitarist Dan Symons and bassist Miles Willey....
).
The Sight Below's second full-length, It All Falls Apart
It All Falls Apart
It All Falls Apart is the second full-length album from ambient techno musician The Sight Below. It will be the first album as a full collaboration between The Sight Below and former Slowdive and Lowgold drummer Simon Scott.-Track listing:# "Shimmer"...
, was released on April 6, 2010. It features music written with the aforementioned Simon Scott and a cover version of Joy Division
Joy Division
Joy Division were an English rock band formed in 1976 in Salford, Greater Manchester. Originally named Warsaw, the band primarily consisted of Ian Curtis , Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris .Joy Division rapidly evolved from their initial punk rock influences...
's "New Dawn Fades
New Dawn Fades
"New Dawn Fades" is a song from the 1979 album Unknown Pleasures by Joy Division. It opens with a backwards and heavily modified sample of a lyric from previous song "Insight", presumably added by Martin Hannett, post production. The song relies on an ascending guitar riff by Bernard Sumner played...
" (with guest vocals by Tiny Vipers
Tiny Vipers
Tiny Vipers is the stage name of Jesy Fortino, an acoustic musician from Seattle, Washington. After having started as out a more conventional pop singer-songwriter, she has since developed a very distinct style...
). Described by All Music Guide
All Music Guide
Allmusic is a service of music guide, owned by All Media Guide. Allmusic was founded in 1991 by popular-culture archivist Michael Erlewine as a guide for consumers. Its first reference book was published the following year...
as “impeccably made ambient thump-and-drone”, Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
called it "A beautifully bleak cloud of sound" while XLR8R
XLR8R
XLR8R is a magazine and website thatcovers music, culture, style, and technology. It was founded as anewsprint ‘zine in 1993 by publisher Andrew Smith in Seattle; themagazine currently has offices in San Francisco and New York...
magazine gave it a 9/10 ranking and praised it as “an astounding range of visceral sonic possibilities…a hurricane passing over an ocean, gathering heat and force while simultaneously cooling the waters below.”
Live performances
The Sight Below has performed extensively throughout North America and Europe. During the multimedia live performances, the artist creates his own visuals, manipulating images and footage until they are only recognizable as slow moving shapes, providing a counterpoint to the heavily treated wall of guitar textures.Soon after the Glider release a US tour followed in February 2009 with labelmate Lusine
Lusine
Lusine is Texan Jeff McIlwain, an ambient/IDM musician. Originally a Texas native, Jeff now resides in Seattle. In 1998, he attended California Institute of the Arts to study 20th century electronic music and sound design for music and film...
. Later on, appearances at DEMF (Detroit, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
) and MUTEK
Mutek
Founded in 2000, MUTEK is an international festival organization dedicated to the promotion of electronic music and the digital arts. Its central platform is an annual five-day event in Montreal that takes place in late May and early June...
(Montreal, Canada) would continue showcasing The Sight Below's brand of immersive guitar music and visual art integration.
In June 2009, The Sight Below performed at Sónar
Sónar
Sónar is an annual three-day music festival held in Barcelona, Spain. It is described officially as a festival of Advanced Music and Multimedia Art. Music is by far the main aspect of the festival....
Festival (Barcelona, Spain), this time joined by former Slowdive
Slowdive
Slowdive were an English shoegaze band that formed in 1989. The band formed in Reading, Berkshire and primarily consisted of Nick Chaplin , Rachel Goswell , Neil Halstead , and Christian Savill...
and Lowgold
Lowgold
Lowgold are an English indie rock band formed in 1997 in St Albans, comprising vocalist and rhythm guitarist Darren Ford, lead guitarist Dan Symons and bassist Miles Willey....
drummer Simon Scott on guitars and vocals. Together they toured throughout the Summer in the EU and UK, including a show at the historical Sacred Trinity Church in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's The Luminaire
The Luminaire
The Luminaire was a live music venue on Kilburn High Road in north west London, UK. It opened on 1 March 2005 in what was a nightclub called Late, above McGovern's Pub and The Kilburn Bar...
club, and a notoriously loud performance during Ghostly's 10-Year Anniversary party at Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
's infamous Berghain
Berghain
Berghain is a Berlin nightclub, named after its location on the border between Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain. Philip Sherburne described it in 2007 as "quite possibly the current world capital of techno, much as E-Werk or Tresor were in their respective heydays." -Overview:The club is located in a...
nightclub on June 26, 2009.
Collaborations
In the studio, The Sight Below has worked extensively with the aforementioned Scott and Tiny Vipers, plus Benoît PioulardBenoit Pioulard
Thomas Meluch is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, writer, and photographer, best known by his pseudonym Benoît Pioulard.- Biography :...
, while remixing School of Seven Bells
School of Seven Bells
School of Seven Bells is a band formed by Benjamin Curtis of Secret Machines, together with identical twins Alejandra and Claudia Deheza, formerly of On!Air!Library!. The band is named after the School of the Seven Bells, a mythical South American pickpocket training academy.-History:Curtis and...
, Detroit's Echospace, and Germany's Pantha Du Prince
Pantha du Prince
Hendrik Weber, better known as Pantha du Prince, Panthel and Glühen 4 is a German electronic music producer and DJ affiliated with Hamburg's Dial music label and British label Rough Trade.-Career:...
.
Irisarri has also collaborated with renowned Austrian guitarist Fennesz, performing live at Decibel Festival
Decibel Festival
Decibel Festival is an annual music and digital arts festival started in 2003 in Seattle by Sean Horton. Decibel is dedicated to live electronic music performance, visual art and new media. The core of the festival comprises concerts, performances, commissioned work, film screenings and exhibitions...
in Seattle and Interferenze Festival in Italy.
On January 2011, Irisarri collaborated with Benoît Pioulard on a tribute to Broadcast's Trish Keenan, covering the track 'Until Then', from the band's 2000 album The Noise Made By People
The Noise Made by People
The Noise Made by People is the debut album by the English band Broadcast. It was released in 2000 by Warp Records. The album failed to chart in the United Kingdom or the United States but was released to critical acclaim.- Reception :...
.
Discography
Studio albums- Glider (2008)
- It All Falls ApartIt All Falls ApartIt All Falls Apart is the second full-length album from ambient techno musician The Sight Below. It will be the first album as a full collaboration between The Sight Below and former Slowdive and Lowgold drummer Simon Scott.-Track listing:# "Shimmer"...
(2010)
EPs
- No Place for UsNo Place for UsNo Place For Us is the debut EP by shoegaze/techno act The Sight Below, released on August 26, 2008 by Ghostly International. It is available as a free, promotional download on the label's website. The EP was recorded live in Seattle, Washington during the winter of 2007–2008...
(2008) - MurmurMurmur EPMurmur is second EP from The Sight Below, released on October 27, 2009. It contains two new songs and three remixes of other The Sight Below songs by Eluvium, Simon Scott, and iconic Norwegian ambient producer Biosphere.-Track listing:#Murmur - 6:37 #Wishing Me Asleep - 6:23 #The Sunset Passage ...
(2009)
Remixes
- Bye Bye Bye remix for School of Seven BellsSchool of Seven BellsSchool of Seven Bells is a band formed by Benjamin Curtis of Secret Machines, together with identical twins Alejandra and Claudia Deheza, formerly of On!Air!Library!. The band is named after the School of the Seven Bells, a mythical South American pickpocket training academy.-History:Curtis and...
| Vagrant Ghostly InternationalGhostly InternationalGhostly International is an American independent record label. Chief artists include Matthew Dear, Dabrye , Mobius Band, and Skeletons & The Girl-Faced Boys, all of which are innovative contributors to the world of music....
(2010) - Substraktive remix for CV313 | Echospace Detroit (2010)
- Ultravioleta remix for papercutzPapercutz:papercutz is a Portuguese Electronic music project formed in 2005. Bruno Miguel is the only official member of :papercutz and remains solely responsible for its direction but has been working closely with American-born Melissa Veras, since the bands's debut release. After recordings, Bruno...
| Ultravioleta rmx's Apegenine recordingsApegenine recordingsApegenine recordings is a Canadian independent record label. It was established as a subdivision in 2003 by Vincent Fugere and has released music by Montreal's most prominent electronic artist David Kristian, Emanuele Errante, Khonnor, Klaus Lunde , Julien Neto among others.The music it releases...
(2008)
Videos
- Further Away Filmed at Deception PassDeception PassDeception Pass is a strait separating Whidbey Island from Fidalgo Island, in the northwest part of the U.S. state of Washington. It connects Skagit Bay, part of Puget Sound, with the Strait of Juan de Fuca.-History:...
(2008)
External links
- http://www.myspace.com/thesightbelow/ Official MySpace page
- http://www.ghostly.com/artists/the-sight-below/ The Sight Below @ Ghostly International
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kY06J_2CPwk&feature=fvsr
- http://www.last.fm/music/The+Sight+Below/ Last. Fm
Interviews:
- Segal, Dave The Stranger, November 11, 2008
- Totland, Justin FACT Magazine, January 26, 2009
- Two and a Half Questions with The Sight Below, Headphone Commute, February 11, 2009
- Interview with The Sight Below Future Sequence, September 2010
Reviews:
Articles:
- Lea, Tom Producers to Watch in 2009, FACT Magazine, January 13, 2009