 |
[ RELEASES - 'SKYLINES' ] |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
Press Release:
Artist:
Seán Quinn
Album: Skylines
Release Date: February 2005
Re-Release Date: Early 2006 (with bonus tracks/remixes and worldwide
distribution)
Cat. No.: PSY 013
Distribution: Gael Linn (Ireland), Cargo (UK)
Seán
Quinn is an electronic musician / composer / producer who grew up listening
to the music of Kraftwerk, John Foxx, Tangerine Dream, Brian Eno, La Düsseldorf.
He is the only Irish person ever to be signed to the legendary ambient
label E.G. Records whose roster included Brian Eno, Robert Fripp, Harold
Budd etc.,
Has worked with producer & System 7 mainman Steve Hillage. He has
also worked with the Penguin Cafe Orchestra & Language recording artist
TAO from Japan.
As one half of electronic duo The Vivid he released 2001’s unanimously
critically acclaimed “Stripper” album which was used on a Channel
4 documentary on Creamfields and was released in Germany via New Music
GmbH where it’s predecessor “Shiny” sold 10.000 copies.
“Skylines” is his first solo release and began life when E.G.
Records asked him to record an ambient album for their Editions EG imprint.
Unfortunately the label is now dormant but he went ahead and finished
the record which is due for release in February 2005 on Psychonavigation.
The tracks “Skyline” & “Loop Thereof” are being
used as the soundtrack to the documentary “Identity” on the
life of Nelson Mandela by South African film maker Johan Allers which
is currently being edited and is due to be screened in several countries
(including Holland) in Spring 2005.
PROMO:
Seán has already performed “Skylines” live at several
venues in Dublin and is looking forward to playing live in his hometown
of Belfast in 2005 and also London.
Psychonavigation has run a series of press ads in the WIRE magazine with
more to follow in the new year.
[ Press release also viewable in PDF format here
]
|
Track
Listing:
|
|||
|
01
|
Skyline | Listen | |
|
02
|
Dead Air | ||
|
03
|
Windscale | ||
|
04
|
Yellow Magnetic | ||
|
05
|
Recedes From Memory | ||
|
06
|
Isolator | ||
|
07
|
Imbrium | Listen | |
|
08
|
Geometric | Listen | |
|
09
|
I'm Here (Twice) | Listen | |
|
10
|
Loop Thereof | ||
Reviews:
There's a grand melodic tug to much of Belfast-born, Dublin-based producer Sean Quinn's début collection, and it's this quality which marks it out for careful consideration. Previously part of The Vivid and once signed to Brian Eno's EG imprint, Quinn's solo work exudes a quiet, intuitiveconfidence. While many slow-motion electronica albums are merely excuses for ambient grandstanding and irksome navel-gazing of a kind never envisaged by the genre's pioneers, Skylines stands up to scrutiny because Quinn has invested heavily in melodies. Instead of simply letting whatever technology was at his disposal dictate individual directions (as is often the case), Quinn has spent time crafting each track from the foundations up, making much of the album - from the smart, widescreen drama of Loop Thereof to the playful Dead Air - a resilient, punchy and charming affair. 3/5
[Jim Carroll, The Irish Times]
Hold on a sec. Am I back in the early eighties? Maybe it´s the mellotron. Is this some kind of version of "Oxygene" by Jean-Michel Jarre I hear? No, it´s the opening track to Seán Quinn´s newly produced CD Skyline.
And I´m now certain it´s not the eighties, because here´s some drum´n´bass, on the track "Dead Air". Quinn´s CD is an interesting confluence of influences and impressions from throughout the history of electronic music. "Windscale" is all flutey, with a treated voice repeating famous nuclear power plant disasters like a ghost mantra. "Yellow Magnetic" provides more yeoman d´n´b against a sweet piano figure. "Isolator" with it´s vintage synth sounds...curiously "un"dated! The low bass and tinny percussion make for a nice combination. "Imbrium" - the synth stabs sound they might have been recycled from Klaus Schulze or Tangerine Dream, but the tune has a nice dramatic swell and ebb.
"Geometric" might well be considered the centrepiece of the album and one of the most successful tracks in marrying the "then" to the "now". It has a definite narrative vibe going on, and is somehow complex in its simplicity. Or simple in its complexity. It may drift from one mood to another, or choose to take a sharp turn to get there. Either way, it´s highly entertaining and the track I found myself coming back to most often.
This Dubliner´s new album akes you a bit nostalgic for the time when electronic bands were young and unafraid to experiment, before they began taking themselves too seriously and started demanding sixty-piece orchestras to back them up (I´m looking at you, Emerson, Lake and Palmer!).
[Stephen Fruitman, sonomu.net]