One half of Soldercup, Rhodri Davies, is the 'Invisible Jukebox' subject in the August 2010 edition of The Wire.
You can now have a taste of Soldercup, as I've added mp3 versions of two of the album tracks to this website.
Visit the Soldercup page and you can now click on tracks B12 and B13 to get an idea of the album. Enjoy. Enjoy, then buy a copy. You know it makes sense.
The wonderful collaborative work by Rhodri Davies and Louisa Hendrikien Martin, Soldercup, is now available to pre-order on site in advance of its release on 25 May 2010.
The music started life as improvised harp pieces created by Davies, which were then subjected to a series of electronic manipulations by Martin. The results of this then formed the backdrop for further live improvisation; a bewitching, stark and surprisingly refined exploration of quietness and texture.
Soldercup was created on three separate occasions in 2006. Using electronic means to manipulate sounds derived from recordings of Davies’ harp, an initial recorded improvisation was used as a starting point. Davies and Martin then improvised alongside the recording, editing the results, and repeating the process one more time. Soldercup is the result of this process, and marks the beginning of an ongoing collaboration with artist Benedict Drew as the trio Portable.
This is the work of Rhodri Davies and Louisa Hendrikien Martin. Davies is extremely active in the experimental / improv / avant-garde scene, being a frequent collaborator, usually playing harp and electric harp. Elsewhere, Martin keeps herself busy in the fields of live sound and visual performance. The foundation of the album was a Harp improvisation which was then manipulated electronically, the artists then improvised along with the recording then edited and repeated the process. The results are sounds which sonically seem a million miles away from the sound of a harp, rather strange electronic tones, glitches, crunches, crackles. Occasionally I’m reminded of Alva Noto’s stranger moments but really I cant think of any real obvious or immediate comparisons. Adventurous, bold and truly experimental audio. Hand numbered edition of 200 copies. (4/5)Ant, Norman Records
A1. timony
A2. dimium
A3. liid
A4. mergo
A5. urybrass
A6. s
A7. affivian
A8. chri
A9. ronickle
B10. urah
B11. ungostena
B12. tegol
B13. dinpewter
The wonderful transform011 is now in production, and is heading for a release date of 15 march 2010. It will be a full-length vinyl album by soldercup, limited to 200 copies only and available from this website.
