The fifth release on Wood And Wire and the debut of Canberra-based producer Felix Idle aka Shisd (and latterly WA?STE).
Tracklisting:
1. Canyon (5:38)
2. Charcoal 26th May (4:38)
3. Without You, Walking (5:50)
4. Bay Wash (3:02)
5. Pale Ghost (3:35)
All music written and performed by Felix Idle aka Shisd, with contributions from Fenn Idle aka Cape North on tracks 1, 2, 4 and 5.
Shisd Thanks: To my brother Fenn for his advice and contributions to my tracks. To Hugh Luscombe, Sebastian Muecke, Justin Tam, Paul Gough and Marcus Whale for invaluable advice and encouragement Also to Holly Frielander Liddicoat for her support and promotion advice and, Tonje Thielsenn and Ian Stanley for noticing and writing about my work. Further to Kal, Cat, Jeremy, Joel, Felix, Kelton, Ellen, JA, Caitlin K, Oscar, Josh Preston, Tommy P, Sassy P, Takuroh T, Option Command, Brain Drain, Sophie B, Gab Strum and Kael for listening to my stuff and appreciating what I was doing.
Released June 2012.
Notes:
しsd – EP is the self titled debut release of the 19-year-old, Canberra-based producer Felix Idle aka Shisd. A passion for the pop of the 1960s and an intuitive ear for texture and harmony inform this carefully constructed EP. Delicate vocal work (mostly courtesy of his brother and some-time collaborator, Cape North) is underpinned by complex and thoughtful musical arrangements. Simultaneously spacious and claustrophobic, this is what laptop music would have sounded like in 1967.
“Juggling hip-hop rhythmic aesthetics with undulating musical arrangements, and collaborator Cape North’s vocals wafting in and out of the mix, adding and subtracting harmony and texture like the turns of the tide. This kid sounds like he knows what he’s doing – but he is learning as he goes. The power of these songs is dulled only by the knowledge that his next foray into sonic manipulation promises so much more.”
Sonic Masala
“combines thick, digitally manipulated atmospheres, warm sine-wave bass and mournful cathedral-‘verb drenched harmonies in an elegy to escapism”
The Siren Sound
“cold and depressed but sensitive and strangely graceful”
Derives (on Charcoal 26th May)
Biography:
Felix Idle grew up in Darlinghurst, Sydney with his two musical siblings, playing piano. On the way he encountered composers such as Ryuuichi Sakamoto and Phillip Glass, who have had a lasting impact on his approach to sound and arrangement. Discovering Garageband at 16 he began making humorous pastiches of second-long samples from Indie rock, language listening tapes and field recordings. In late 2010, under the influence of his brother he made his first serious attempt at “pop” music – “Bay Wash”. He now lives in Canberra where he studies oil painting and Japanese, and produces long-form vocal pop music based around the processing of field recordings, samples and the sparse use of synthesizers.
