Lawrence Hart & Casually Here - Many Worlds
writing, production, mixing
Album written, performed, produced & mixed by Nic Nell & Duncan Tootill
Mastered by Beau Thomas except ‘Ochre’ mastered by Christian Wright
Artwork by Alexander Brown
‘Wanderlust’ appears on the Hotflush 20 triple vinyl compilation marking the 20th anniversary of Hotflush Recordings availble here
Hotlfush Recordings | 2019
Heavenly Stems - Florals
Algebra Records
The debut EP from London based musician and producer Heavenly Stems released digitally and as one side of a limited edition lathe cut transparent green 12” with Florals’ sister EP Shell on side B.
Available on Bandcamp
Algebra Records | 2021
Heavenly Stems is the first solo project of electronic producer Ben Rimmer, founding member and producer of Oxford band Trophy Wife. Following a remix of Lake Turner (Algebra/Kompakt)’s ‘1990’, Florals and Shell mark the first solo releases from Heavenly Stems, working both independently and as the first two steps of a larger body of work, each unfurling a shimmering tapestry of off-kilter rhythms, haunting soundscapes and yearning strings. The music falls to its own rhythm, like a drifting signal from pirate radio beacons bobbing on the bay. Turbulent sub threatens beneath layers of bristling electronics, lifting piano, then violins, as the listener is drawn deeper into ever-shifting imagined landscapes.
Heavenly Stems is born of Ben’s love of sample culture and electronica, and a desire to produce in a way that brings all the feel of live performance into the recording process. Each track is constructed from live takes, sampled, manipulated, re-sampled and re-performed, resulting in a familiar-yet-estranged arrangement. The tactile nature of the composition maintains an arm’s length from the safety of the grid, each beat falling elsewhere but somehow just where it needs to be.
Florals and Shell owe much to pioneering inspirations such as J Dilla, Jon Hopkins and Burial; however, these tracks were also penned as expressions of admiration for trees. Taking a moment to break from the path, the record pulls to another quiet corner of existence, outside, away from the street although still in earshot; heading onward into the dense undergrowth and marvelling at the interconnectedness of it all.
Florals begins with a fleeting memory in Take (featuring Swedish composer Ljudvägg) before the boisterous title track Florals kicks in with misshapen beats and sun-warped synth. A feather-light piano refrain drifts in and out of focus, leading to a crescendo of skittish rhythm and countermelody. Summit conjures the clear air of the mountain top, swirling around in ebbs and eddies, faltering and falling back to give way to Link, akin to Florals in its energy and five-leggedness while introducing a more sample-driven note. Fall closes the EP in a heady mix of piano loops, strings and glitches, and features Italian composer Paulo Cattaneo.
Shell opens with Scintilla, an urgent, kinetic piece. A distant signal is picked up as Overstory gathers pace building ominously, suddenly igniting into a tension that evokes catching a train that is already in motion. Roiling, fizzing synths and drops bring the piece to a simmer before rolling away again on the wind. The Only Thing Happening, midway point of the record, arrives as if emanating from the stereo of a passing car, all driven sub and hazy vocals. The title track Shell rises out of the birdsong that follows, tracing itself into existence in a knot of winding tape and vocals. All at once it breaks like a cresting wave, shingle crashing together as the beat hits, pushed forward onto the beach and pulled back into the surf. Shell ends on Last Year, a bright composition of loops and cello which swells to a fever pitch of cacophony and dies away, hanging on a final note and farewell of songbirds.
The artwork for the EPs is based on interpretations of the landscapes imagined in the music and mirrors the simultaneously constructive and destructive methods used in the record’s composition.
The EPs were mastered by LA based producer Leo Shulman aka Somni.
Typography by João Pedro Fonseca.
Heavenly Stems - Shell
Algebra Records
The debut EPs from London based musician and producer Heavenly Stems released digitally and two sides of a sold out limited edition lathe cut transparent green 12” with Shell;s sister EP Florals on side A.
Available on Bandcamp
Algebra Records | 2021
Heavenly Stems is the first solo project of electronic producer Ben Rimmer, founding member and producer of Oxford band Trophy Wife. Following a remix of Lake Turner (Algebra/Kompakt)’s ‘1990’, Florals and Shell mark the first solo releases from Heavenly Stems, working both independently and as the first two steps of a larger body of work, each unfurling a shimmering tapestry of off-kilter rhythms, haunting soundscapes and yearning strings. The music falls to its own rhythm, like a drifting signal from pirate radio beacons bobbing on the bay. Turbulent sub threatens beneath layers of bristling electronics, lifting piano, then violins, as the listener is drawn deeper into ever-shifting imagined landscapes.
Heavenly Stems is born of Ben’s love of sample culture and electronica, and a desire to produce in a way that brings all the feel of live performance into the recording process. Each track is constructed from live takes, sampled, manipulated, re-sampled and re-performed, resulting in a familiar-yet-estranged arrangement. The tactile nature of the composition maintains an arm’s length from the safety of the grid, each beat falling elsewhere but somehow just where it needs to be.
Florals and Shell owe much to pioneering inspirations such as J Dilla, Jon Hopkins and Burial; however, these tracks were also penned as expressions of admiration for trees. Taking a moment to break from the path, the record pulls to another quiet corner of existence, outside, away from the street although still in earshot; heading onward into the dense undergrowth and marvelling at the interconnectedness of it all.
Florals begins with a fleeting memory in Take (featuring Swedish composer Ljudvägg) before the boisterous title track Florals kicks in with misshapen beats and sun-warped synth. A feather-light piano refrain drifts in and out of focus, leading to a crescendo of skittish rhythm and countermelody. Summit conjures the clear air of the mountain top, swirling around in ebbs and eddies, faltering and falling back to give way to Link, akin to Florals in its energy and five-leggedness while introducing a more sample-driven note. Fall closes the EP in a heady mix of piano loops, strings and glitches, and features Italian composer Paulo Cattaneo.
Shell opens with Scintilla, an urgent, kinetic piece. A distant signal is picked up as Overstory gathers pace building ominously, suddenly igniting into a tension that evokes catching a train that is already in motion. Roiling, fizzing synths and drops bring the piece to a simmer before rolling away again on the wind. The Only Thing Happening, midway point of the record, arrives as if emanating from the stereo of a passing car, all driven sub and hazy vocals. The title track Shell rises out of the birdsong that follows, tracing itself into existence in a knot of winding tape and vocals. All at once it breaks like a cresting wave, shingle crashing together as the beat hits, pushed forward onto the beach and pulled back into the surf. Shell ends on Last Year, a bright composition of loops and cello which swells to a fever pitch of cacophony and dies away, hanging on a final note and farewell of songbirds.
The artwork for the EPs is based on interpretations of the landscapes imagined in the music and mirrors the simultaneously constructive and destructive methods used in the record’s composition.
The EPs were mastered by LA based producer Leo Shulman aka Somni.
Typography by João Pedro Fonseca.
Clock Opera - Run (Remixes)
mastering
Remixes mastered by Nic Nell
2020 | League Of Imaginary Nations
Sunplus - MORE COLOUR
Algebra Records
The debut album from electronic producer Rob Shields’ alias Sunplus released digitally and as a run of uniqure sold out lathe cut transparent 12”s on Algebra Records.
Art direction by Rob Shields & Nic Nell
Cover painting by Matt James Healy
Available on Bandcamp
Algebra Records | 2020
Sunplus is the alias of electronic producer Rob Shields, whose critically acclaimed first solo LP Green was released in 2017 on Yen. He followed this with the minimalist drone album Boketto and the abstract ambient house EP Splashy Splash, both released on his own imprint Art Therapy.
Sunplus marks a new direction for Shields, who with More Colour has created a vibrant and exhilarating collection of psychedelic, blissful electronics. Existing in an otherworldly place, More Colour lies somewhere between the real and the fantastical, molecular and galactic, between inner and outer space.
More Colour retains elements of house and techno in its DNA, but is more at home at an ecstatic ritual than a dance floor. Four-on-the-floor rhythms of Shields’ earlier work have become the polyrhythmic patterns of African and Balinese music, alongside driving, motorik rock beats. The LP is influenced by Japanese experimental acts such as Expe and Seiichi Yamamoto, '70s German acts Neu! and Can, and the hypnotic productions of Shackleton.
Sonically More Colour is brighter than Shields' solo work, though with a similar sense of bliss; his familiar lo-fi sound is set aside in favour of sharper, fuller production. The six pieces are his most complex arrangements to date. Live drumming and percussion is layered with multiple sources of swirling sound textures and harmonics; high-frequency sine waves, flutes, granular synthesis, FX-laden guitars, and various field recordings including whistling birds in Indonesia, the sonar squeakings of a bat colony, and heavy rain in Tokyo.
The cover art takes inspiration from the abstract expressionist movement, portrayed by Matt James Healy.
Holographic Field - Afterglow (Casually Here Remix)
remix
Remix of Holographic Field’s ‘Afterglow’ taken from the album Window Gazer.
Window Gazer released on limited edition transparent silver glitter cassette with artwork printed on metallic card stock on Algebra Records available to buy on Bandcamp.
Algebra Records | 2016
The Maccabees - Feel To Follow (Casually Here Remix)
remix
Remix of The Maccabees’ Feel To Follow featuring a new vocal from Orlando Weeks, taken from their third album Given To The Wild.
7" Vinyl on Fiction Records | 2012
