Alex Young: Interview and upcoming exhibition
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010Alex has a solo show opening at the London Miles Gallery, Thursday April 1st. In preparation the guys there have posted a decent in-depth interview about his background and inspirations.
You can find the image above among a selection of other work from Mr Young in our recent Capsule 01 print project.
Sepalcure: Feeling That I Know So Well
Saturday, February 20th, 2010Something soulful for the weekend…
Forthcoming on Hotflush Recordings I believe, Travis (Machinedrum/Tstewart) and Praveen team up as Sepalcure. Accompanied here by time lapse footage of Sougwen doing her thing with pen and paper…
“Sepalcure’s combination of love for bass and 90s house acapellas is the culmination of a cathartic two week collaboration between Machinedrum and Praveen. Their mix of tribal dub, house and two step beats works equally well for both late nights in the club and rainy, introspective nights at home. Detroit techno chords cut through wooden beats, neon synths and dubbed out atmospherics. Future lovestep.”
Looking forward to the full release from these guys soon.
Sougwen is a featured contributor in Capsule 01
Nest: Retold (Serein, 2010)
Tuesday, February 9th, 2010Last week saw the release of Retold, the debut LP from Nest. I’ve been sitting on this for a while now and it’s great to finally be posting the info and sample tracks below.
From the Serein website…
“‘Retold’ is an apt title for this body of work, at times light and serene, other times dark, brooding and sinister – Nest are expert storytellers. Taking cues from film soundtracks and contemporary classical music, the story is woven using a myriad of instrumentation. Dulcet piano tones are backed by string and horn arrangements, unidentifiable plucked instruments and the sound of the Welsh harp; often heavily processed, Retold is an album that has as much in common with experimental electronic music as it does with modern classical composition.”
“Nest is the collaborative project of Otto Totland and Huw Roberts. The first six tracks on this album were originally released in 2007 on the eponymously titled Nest EP; they are presented here again having been remastered alongside five new pieces composed in 2009. A revised edition of the track ‘Cad Goddeu’ was created especially for this release.”
Huw has been a good friend for a number of years now. Along with a handful of others who populate the contact list of my chat client on a daily basis, he’s the closest thing I have to any real work colleagues right now. Always on hand for discussion and feedback, his consistent high standards and objectivity are a real asset when I’m stuck procrastinating on a project that’s not progressing as I’d like it too.
You may remember seeing my original post on this blog when the Nest EP was released back in 2007. Huw had played me material he’d worked on previously but when it arrived back then the EP really blew me away and became an all time favourite that I’d go back to again and again. It’s one of those rare gems that’s so immediately accessible but also manages to reveal more depth with every listen.
Huw also runs the Serein label and when he explained his plans to make the transition from a back catalogue of digital mp3s to manufacturing and distributing physical product my first thought was how much I wanted a well crafted Nest release and in this regard ‘Retold’ delivers on every level.
An update to something with which you already have a strong relationship is often a cause for concern but the results here are very welcome. The new material sits beautifully alongside remastered tracks from the original EP adding new layers of depth and fidelity. I’m won’t say anything more about the music itself, you have the sample tracks above for that.
I’ve taken a batch from Huw that are available direct from our new online shop and although things may seem a little quiet around here from the outside, I’m working hard to get Multilink moving again at a proper pace. Purchasing products here is a great way you can help speed up the process and support the artists behind each project.
Buy Nest ‘Retold’ from the Multilink online shop (£7.99)
Multilink presents… Capsule 01 Art Book
Friday, January 1st, 2010After several months of planning and assembly I’m pleased to announce the release of Capsule 01, a collection of art from some of my favourite international image makers and the first in a series of Multilink related print projects…
Let me begin by making it clear that the Capsule series is in no way intended as a replacement for the online magazine (which is still due to return in the near future), serving instead as a physical extension with it’s own functionality and agenda in line with the nature of the format. To explain a little further…
Since publishing the first digital issue of Multilink Magazine people have often enquired about a print version and expressed an interest in getting their hands on the featured artwork in a more tangible format. There’s a number of reasons why the magazine has always made more sense to me in a digital format both in terms of production and distribution as well as the flexibility needed to accommodate the diversity of what’s been featured in each issue. That’s not to say I don’t fully appreciate the desire to interact with content away from the computer sometimes. There’s so much to soak up online that it’s often hard to really give things the level of attention they deserve and regardless of what quality monitor you use it never really feels the same as leafing through well printed pages on a nice weighty paper stock.
Multilink Magazine has always been a purposely chaotic mixture of people and ideas across as wide a variety of disciplines as possible. The idea is to celebrate the diversity of creativity while at the same time trying to highlight the common fundamentals involved. This has meant issues of various sizes are released at irregular intervals, one of many logistical considerations that alongside the fluid nature of the content in each issue really doesn’t sit too well with the kind of unavoidable financial model required to produce and distribute a project in print.
Capsule has been conceived as a high quality and collectible series of art books and prints that span the same diversity of visual culture found in the free online magazine without the editorial. Many of the same principles remain in place such as the variety of content and desire to elevate some incredible talents, generally operating beneath the popular radar. But where the online magazine is a platform for all kinds of creative endeavours, these books and prints provide a more focussed catalog of art and illustration. High production standards have been a key consideration and considering what we’ve achieved with the magazine in it’s ‘virtual’ environment I’ve been keen to ensure that the physical quality of the end product justifies the move to a manufactured format. On a similar note, I’m happy to say that we’ve kept tightly in line with all FSC standards, using environmentally sound inks and paper from well managed forests and other sources. It was essential from the start to try and make the books as affordable as possible and collectible over time forming a much larger resource and archive. With that in mind they all feature an extra durable PUR binding to ensure you won’t find pages starting to drop out over the coming years. You can also open them up nice and wide too without worrying about any disturbing cracking sounds from the spine.
So enough introduction from me, follow the link below (or in the left hand menu) to see more details of who’s in the first volume. It’s currently available direct via our new online shop and will soon be joined by some initial limited prints from this volume and a handful of other non-Capsule related items that will also appear here on the blog in the coming weeks.
If you’re having any problems with the order process or have any questions at all, don’t hesitate to drop me an email via the address on the info page or via the contact page on the shop.
A new online issue of Multilink Magazine is incoming too I promise so please do keep checking back.
For more details and to order a copy at £7.99 click here.
Make It Count: Chapter 3
Wednesday, November 4th, 2009Part 3 of the element documentary is out. I was a little skeptical when this series started, expecting to enjoy the early period but lose interest as it moved into more recent history. I’m pleased to say I was wrong and with this latest episode I’m understanding a lot more about the brands trajectory from what I remember in the mid nineties to where it is today.
“MAKE IT COUNT is a four-part documentary, which showcases Element’s defining moments and delves into its compelling story. From its humble beginnings, to a forward thinking global brand, this film covers two decades of stories and imagery.”
Here’s links to the Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 posts with embedded video as above. Visit the Make It Count website to watch and download each episode in a variety of resolutions.
