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OK, it’s just a celebration I had by myself, but it still counts and I just had to do this silly ceremony of putting all the vinyl in the studio where I made the album. These arrived yesterday and honestly, they floored me: they are by far the most beautiful embodiment of my music ever… Thick spine, gatefold, reverse board, full color inner sleeves, gold and silver vinyl for our special edition on the Thrill Jockey webshop (ships from the US or Berlin) or my Bandcamp (ships from US only), clear with gold vinyl for shops (as well as regular black), with the stunning artwork of @gomez_servin_andres and the stellar layout of @dnks_mx . I am also very happy with the extra texture that comes from Andrés’s cyanotypes being printed larger than original size, it looks almost closer to fabric than to paper. We are now 2 months away from the release of the album @thrilljockey , which is also bang on the day that I start my US tour (Friday 22nd September, NYC @publicrecordsnyc ), and I cannot wait for you to have these in your hands.
The song I put on this reel is one of the shorter tracks on the album and it just gives me so much joy, it’s probably the bounciest thing I’ve ever done!
Setup: @moogsynthesizers Grandmother into MF-104M Analog Delay
Again I cannot wait to play all this stuff for you live, and I am excited to let you know quite a lot more shows are being planned in Europe!
And as always thank you for your support!!!

“Subterranean”, the first single(s) and opener of my 8th album Le jour et la nuit du réel, out on September 22nd on Thrill Jockey Records and available for a special preorder here or here, is made of 3 movements that evolve both harmonically and sonically from a group of chords and a set of settings on the Moog Music Inc. Grandmother going into the MF-104M Analog Delay. On the album the pieces are separate, but they will flow into one another when I play them live, which gives me a nice opportunity to show you how the synth settings evolve from one movement to another. This is a partial, condensed version of the 3 movements, which actually makes it easier to see and hear the group of chords that reoccurs over the 3 movements. Because life is unfair, I actually prefer the mix on this live version than on the album – damn!!!

Please listen with headphones or an amp

Also I am launching my own Youtube channel, partly out of being annoyed by how poorly my videos do on Facebook (as opposed to photos), and partly because I think that one day both Instagram and Facebook will disappear or morph into something else and without even really thinking about it, I’ve actually put all my video content through those platforms, so this is an effort to reclaim those videos. All videos will be in HD, so more detail too. Please suscribe if you feel like it (the video above is the first one I’m uploading on the channel and I will work on playlists soon to gather older videos)!

Grandmother notes:

ARP is on, the order of notes really matters to give the appropriate feel on Mvt I, with Mvt II and III being more forgiving and allowing more of a hands-down-as-if-to-play-a-chord (Grandmother being monophonic, you can’t play chords as such – part of the fun for me on this album was to play with this limitation in as many creative ways as I could think of).

The Stepped Drone patch (from the Grandmother manual) only enters on the 3rd movement via the Attenuator, turned all the way down in full counterclock wise position to provide inverse modulation.

Patch: Sample and Hold into Attenuator into Mult – sent to 2 destinations: Osc 2 Pitch In and Filter Cutoff In.

My US and European tour start on 22nd September, I am looking forward to playing for you so much!!! All details and tickets on my Songkick or here.

PS: clothes made by myself, color-coordinated to the album artwork by Andrés Gómez Servín because I’m crazy that way. Cropped Hadley top (Grainline Studio patterns) in bamboo silk from Raystitch, self-drafted shorts in upcycled indigo cotton.

Back in 2002, when I made what became my first album, released 20 years ago today, I didn’t know if I would find a label that would be willing to release it, and had no clue that it would be the first of many albums, and the first stone on the path that led me to being a full-time musician. I had loved music passionately from the age of 13-14 onwards, but I would *never* have guessed my life would take that direction.

I am so grateful for every person who has contributed in one way or another to this unlikely unfolding of my life. Making a living from this can only happen in an ecosystem: I’m in charge of the music, but definitely need other people to manufacture and distribute the physical objects the music is embodied in, spread the word about it, run venues where I can play live, and of course – OF COURSE – none of this is possible without listeners who invest in the music through their time, attention and money.

Some of you have been so faithful that I know you by name and give you a hug at shows, even when these are spread apart by several years. And some of you have been supporting me for more than 20 years now, which to me is incredible by any standard. THANK YOU TRULY, and thank you to anyone who has joined along the way.

A special thank you too to the wonderful people at Thrill Jockey Records!

Going back on tour feels like a proper celebration, I really can’t wait! Individual tickets for my show at Kings Place London, the city where everything started, are now available + US and EU tour info via my Songkick or website here.

If I had to choose 3 songs to represent my music, the title track off my first album would definitely be one of them, and here is the full album for your listening pleasure.

Thrill Jockey still have black and white vinyl copies left over from the last Leaf Label repress, here.

There were 2 different cover artworks for this album: pink for CD, white for vinyl, both by Florence Manlik, design by Event 10. Album originally released by The Leaf Label.