Hyperdub launches new spoken-word sub-label, Flatlines, with Mark Fisher & Justin Barton soundscape

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  • On Vanishing Land is meant to "evoke a walk along the Suffolk coastline in 2006."
  • Hyperdub launches new spoken-word sub-label, Flatlines, with Mark Fisher & Justin Barton soundscape image
  • Hyperdub have started a new sub-label for spoken-word and audio essay releases, called Flatlines. The first release, out late next month, is an audio essay and soundscape by the late theorist Mark Fisher and sound artist Justin Barton titled On Vanishing Land. The piece is meant to "evoke a walk along the Suffolk coastline in 2006," according to the press release, "from Felixstowe container port to the Anglo-Saxon burial ground at Sutton Hoo." The soundscape includes new compositions from Ultravox's John Foxx, Gazelle Twin, Raime, Skjolbrot and Ekoplekz and gestures towards works such as Joan Lindsay's 1967 novel Picnic at Hanging Rock and Brian Eno's 1982 album On Land. The LP cover features photos taken by Fisher and sleeve notes written by Barton. The idea for Flatlines was born out of Hyperdub's monthly Ø parties at London's Corsica Studios. On Vanishing Land was presented as an installation at the February 2018 edition. The piece was initially part of a 2013 exhibition commissioned by artist collective The Otolith Group and London gallery The Showroom. It's the second audio-work collaboration between Fisher and Barton after 2005's londonunderlondon. There will be a Pitchblack Playback listening session for the album at Homerton's Castle Cinema on July 23rd. Listen to a 2017 episode of the RA Exchange about Fisher's impact on the electronic music scene.
    Flatlines will release On Vanishing Land on July 26th, 2019. Photo credit: Mark Fisher
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