Categories
1998 Descent downloads releases

Descent

The DESCENT project was conceived by me in 1997 as an outlet for the group of Ealing based producers to release music that did not fit into the dancefloor mould of the labels they had in existence at the time.

In keeping with the philosophy that techno is not to be restricted exclusively to the dancefloor, but is a medium for free expression of ideas, sensations and emotions, a 74 minute compilation of abstract pieces was constructed. The project reached fruition in August 1998. Only 100 copies were made, and these were distributed free directly to DJs, CDJs and other artists.

This restricted distribution was due to several reasons, not least the nature of the music contained on the CD, which would have been difficult to market via the channels we had access to, but also the fact that most of the featured artists were still relatively unknown on the techno scene at the time. For these reasons it was decided that the best method of getting the music to people was by giving it to the artists most likely to play it in a public forum.

‘PREACHING THROUGH THE CONVERTED’ seemed an appropriate name for the CD, as we were indeed using like-minded individuals as a medium for our ideas.

Described by Miles Ahead magazine as “a truly free representation of Ealing idealism” and “a mind blowing insight into the way the Ealing producers are and the manner in which they think about their music”, the album is available for download in lossless FLAC format.

Download the Descent CD in flac (zip, 357Mb)

Categories
2010 downloads releases

Tommy Gillard – “Epiphanies”

In 2001 the Exist label came into existence courtesy of the Exist CD compilation. I seem to remember that at the time a number of ideas existed, both music and non-music related, for how Oliver would continue the label. As far as I’m aware, though, no other physical releases ever appeared, as other projects took over.

One of the projects which never saw the light of day was a piece of music by Tommy Gillard entitled “Epiphanies”. I’m glad, with Tommy’s permission, to now make this piece available as an mp3 file.

“Epiphanies” was actually made up of a number of recordings going back as far as 1995. In Tommy’s own words:

I made it with DAT, CD player, and (I seem to remember) a (detuned) radio! All through my [studio] mixer. I think I added loops from the [Roland] JD-800 [synth] as well. I think I had to make up some sounds and phrases, as well as the recordings, so I could mix between more sources.

Download “Epiphanies” (mp3, 169Mb)