Published
Wed, Jan 27, 2016, 20:15
- The California Buchla experimentalist will release a full-length on Western Vinyl this spring.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith will release EARS on April 1st.
Smith has been building a reputation over the past few years for her otherworldly synthesizer transmissions, typically composed on a Buchla Music Easel. Speaking on the instrument, she says "nothing compares to the sound of a Buchla. In my mind a Buchla synthesizer has the most human sound in it." For EARS she sought to avoid a computer whenever possible, using the Buchla before arranging for woodwinds and implementing granular synthesis techniques.
As far as influence, the recent LA transplant says she reveres the visual artist Jean Giraud Moebius and the Miyazaki film Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. She goes on to describe her preparation process, saying "I am very intentional about the months leading up to when I am going to compose something new. I really trust the subconscious and try and feed it only information I want it to feed back to me. I make playlists that I listen to nonstop, or have images I look at daily, or I go to places I want to be inspired by."
Smith has worked with Reggie Watts and Suzanne Ciani in the past and did sound design for Panda Bear's "Boys Latin" video. She'll head out on tour with the latter's band, Animal Collective, this spring.
Listen to "Arthropoda" below.
Tracklist
01. First Flight
02. Wetlands
03. Envelop
04. When I Try, I’m Full
05. Rare Things Grow
06. Arthropoda
07. Stratus
08. Existence in the Unfurling
Western Vinyl will release EARS on April 1st.