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Double Vinyl is limited to 500 copies Side A/B is solid red vinyl and side C/D is solid green vinyl. Tracklisting is different to the CD.Visit product page →
Harmonics of the Night' is the third in what he conceived of as a trilogy of recordings from guitarist Andy Summers. Following on from 'Metal Dog' and 'Triboluminescence', 'Harmonics of the Night' began its life as a guitar improvisation for a museum installation of Andy's own photos. He did not like the music they had chosen in the gallery so sat down and recorded some guitar improvisations.
Summers says that he built this set out from there. These songs and the photos that inspired them have become a staple of his solo guitar shows. Stand out tracks: 'A Certain Strangeness', 'Harmonics of the Night' and 'City of Crocodiles'. The album will be released by Cargo Records on October 15th (to accompany a new exhibition of his photos at the Leica Gallery, Mayfair starting on October 21st) Andy explains more about the album - The music for Harmonics of the Night came from a real-life situation, which was the occasion of a retrospective exhibition of my photography at the Pavillion Populaire in Montpellier.
I was able to visit the museum in advance of the opening and decided this time( instead of the usual unsuitable music being played by the whatever gallery! ) that I must make a music installation to accompany the photography on the wall, a piece that could be looped and thus provide a continual musical counterpoint to the visual. I made a twenty minute single guitar improvisation. A Certain Strangeness .
This piece put a certain approach in my in my head and pointed me in the direction of eleven more tracks. It was the guiding spirit. These pieces which vary from minimalist approaches to African influenced dance pieces and are what I consider the sonic parallels to the photography.
The vinyl version of ‘A Certain Strangeness’ is 19:20 whereas the CD version is 11:00.
Vinyl Tracklisting:
A Certain Strangeness
City Of Crocodiles
Aeromancer
Chronosthesia
Harmonics Of The Night
Mirror In The Dirt
Prairie
Fantoccini
Aphelion
Spell
Inamorata (Vinyl version)
Micrografia (Vinyl only)
Ecstasy Blooms (Vinyl only)
A Joint In Kensington (Vinyl only)
CD Tracklisting:
1. A Certain Strangeness
2. City Of Crocodiles
3. Aeromancer
4. Chronosthesia
5. Harmonics Of The Night
6. Mirror In The Dirt
7. Prairie
8. Fantoccini
9. Aphelion
10. Spell
11. Inamorata
12. Strange Return -
Visit product page →Vinyl 2xLP contains Bonus Tracks not on the CD.
Andy Summers rose to fame in the early 1980's as the guitarist of the multi-million record selling rock band - The Police.
The Police were the number one band of the time and dominated the music scene and the media in the 80s with several number one records.
Summers'innovative guitar playing created a new paradigm for guitarists in this period and has been widely imitated ever since. Prior to the Police, Summers played with various bands in the London scene, including The Animals, Soft Machine, Kevin Coyne and Kevin Ayers. After the band's dramatic exit from the music scene, Summers continued to develop his interest in photography as well touring, recording as a solo artist, composing for films (including 2010, Down and Out in Beverly Hills, The Wild Life and Weekend at Bernie's), writing books, and exhibiting his photography.
Over the years, Summers has collaborated with many fellow musicians as well as a number of fellow-guitarists, including Robert Fripp, John Etheridge, Victor Biglione, Benjamin Verdery, Roberto Menescal , Fernanda Takai and Rodrigo Santos..
Triboluminescence: Triboluminescence is the follow up recording by Andy Summers to his 2016 release Metal Dog. In this latest release, Summers once again delves into the deep exotic textures which characterized Metal Dog saying that part of his quest is always to find fresh if not alien sounds that avoid all the standard electric guitar clichés.
'We are now living in a world of a billion guitarists 'he says 'so the struggle to swim upstream, sound different and make original music has become more difficult, but then maybe that is a good challenge. I play for an audience of one - yours truly.
Maybe it's the music of narcissism-although that's not how I think of it- but I have to end up with something that I like outside of commercial concerns - but if you in the game these days you face a barrage of likes and dislikes. Everyone is a critic now - ¦'But if Summers takes a position on his music he proves it with the disparate exotic threads and lyricism heard on the tracks of Triboluminescence - generated from non-standard tunings - hammered guitars in tandem, looping , baritone guitar , terz guitar percussion and fretless bass and cello.
Summers plays all instruments on the album apart from cello by Artyom Manukian
Tracklisting:
1. If Anything
2. Triboluminescence
3. Adinkra
4. Elephant Bird
5. Shadyland
6. Haunted Dolls
7. Gigantopithecus
8. Pukul Bunye Bunye
9. Garden Of The Sea
Bonus side of tracks not featured on the CD version:
10. Help From Jupiter
11. Sweet Milk
12. Better Than Earth
13. Do Aliens Really Eat Dark Carbon
14. Cool Red Dwarf
15. Garden Of The Sea -
Available as a limited edition of 500 copies worldwide on 180gm vinyl and with an Andy Summers art print included - First time on vinyl.Visit product page →
Metal Dog is the stunning new release from guitarist Andy Summers (The Police).
An all instrumental album replete with razor edge guitar that pushes to the outer edges of generic description. Kicking off with the title track which opens with a compulsive metallic figure that insinuates itself immediately, the track bursts into almost an indie rock chorus in its B section to be followed by a quirky fuzzed out guitar solo that rises and rises -until it merges back into the song like choruses that take us out.
Tracks in the middle of the LP Qualia and How Long is Now are loaded with freaky almost Balinese textures. These compositions- exotic as they are - retain a sunny mood, rather than the darkness that is associated with so much loop style music.
This feeling is carried further by Summers in the following track Harmonograph which opens with a guitar solo that pierces the honeyed texture like an arrow- eventually falling into a wild blanket of harmonic distortion for a release that is like bathing in warm waters.
Ishango Bone the fourth track on the LP presents a seemingly simple guitar figure that snakes along in what might seem to be a dark and primitive landscape , but then falls into what might be a radiant valley indicated by the soaring guitar and then- as if night falls - returns to the primal source from which it emerged.
There are many other track on Metal Dog that highlight Summers innate guitar skill but more importantly these tracks illustrate the use of the instrument to achieve a modern guitar music that is fresh and challenging and a style that pushes past the standard ideas of genre. At turns lyrical, dark and cinematic the result is one of intrigue and ultimate reward.
Tracklisting:
Side 1:
1. Metal Dog
2. Animal Chatter
3. Ishango Bone
4. Vortex Street
5. Bitter Honey
Side 2:
6. Qualia
7. How Long Is Now?
8. Harmonograph
9. Oceans Of Enceladus
10. Mare Imbrium
