7 / 2 / 09 /// CENTRE PRESS



The July issue of Textura includes reviews of Centre's two new EPs, Another Year and L'Enfant Coma. An excerpt or two:

"'Take It or Leave It' makes its entrance dressed in full Joy Division garb with McKinney 's vocal buried in a swollen, hot-wired mass of burning synthesizers and guitars, pulsating machine beats, and goth-punk atmosphere."

"'L'Enfant Coma' works guitar washes and dubbed-out drum treatments into an aggressive dreamscape... If there's a common denominator to the EPs, it's McKinney's electric guitar playing and, to a lesser degree, a rather skewed “pop” sensibility that inflames the more song-oriented tracks."

You can read the entire review here. The two EPs are available to download or to purchase as a two-CD set - just use the links to the right.


6 / 23 / 09 /// FLIGHT ON THE BIG SCREEN



This Friday, Sean Patrick's film Flight (SQR019) will be screened at the State Theatre in Ann Arbor as part of the Hott Lava film festival. It should prove appropriately monolithic to see those ink shapes ten feet tall, so you should go see it. Look at hottlava.net or andrasklang.com for all the details. A few copies of the CD / DVD / book version of Flight are still available for a lucky few.




6 / 14 / 09 /// TOKYO PHOTOS

Hello..... Here are some photos from the recent Tokyo Morose performance at the Festival for the Arts in Grand Rapids.

We have some other big news regarding upcoming releases and the like, but things are still getting finalized, so stay tuned, as they say.










6 / 3 / 09 /// UPDATE!

Good evening. If you're in Grand Rapids this weekend, you may be aware of a little get-together known as the Festival of the Arts. Last year Spectral Mornings turned in a riveting performance, and this year it's the turn of Tokyo Morose. The band will be playing this Sunday (June 7) at 10am on the Fountain Stage. We know it's early, but that's never stopped us before....

The band will be performing quite a lot of new material, some of which you may have heard at their performance at Little Bohemia in April. This new stuff is quite different from the acoustic chamber pop of their debut album (SQR015 - Specific Ocean).

Here's a poster for the show. Click on the image to see it all nice and large.




5 / 14 / 09 /// HELLO..........

We just returned from a west coast sojourn, where we spent a week driving fast cars along Mulholland Drive and looking at a large body of water. You can see some classy photos on our Flickr page.

Textura.org has given Sean Patrick's Filght CD/DVD project a glowing review:

"There is a discernible change in character from one piece to the next, with each becoming progressively more naturalistic. ... In one setting, teal and blood-red elements are gradually buried under oil-black shapes until the screen turns completely black too. Flowing shapes in another resemble the kind one might discover gently swaying at sea's bottom, until, that is, they transform into ice-like shards of blue and violet colour. The translucent overlays that result are strikingly beautiful, especially when displayed on a large screen, and make for a natural analogue to Patrick's music."

You can read the entire review here. Flight (SQR019) is still available in limited quantites - you can buy the deluxe version or download mp3s with the links on this page.




4/ 22 / 09 /// ART AND THAT

This Saturday Crystal Brown, one-time member of thirty (over) thousand and part of Square Root's extended family, will be presenting her thesis project, Heavy Platypus, in a warehouse location in Grand Rapids. Crystal's work focuses on headresses, restriction of movement, position pods, and the combination of texture and light. The show takes place this Friday from 7 to 10 pm, on Grandville between Wealthy and Logan. Live music will be provided by Spectral Mornings...

Here are some pictures of Crystal's recent work, which we stole from her blog. Take a look at it for some more photos.




4 / 15 / 09 /// LIVE FRIDAY...



Tokyo Morose and Spectral Mornings will be performing live this Friday at Little Bohemia in Grand Rapids, from 8pm to 10pm. This is part of some rather extravagant Friday art festival throughout Grand Rapids. This is the first time Tokyo Morose will be playing some new electronically-tinted material, which is quite a departure from their Specific Ocean album, released a few months ago.

Click here or on the image above to see a large image of the poster, designed by Dan Streeting.


4 / 7 / 09 /// SQR015 + SQR016



Today we're proud to present two new EPs from Centre, Another Year (SQR015) and L'Enfant Coma (SQR016). You can download them as zip files with mp3s and artwork right here, or from the menu to the right.

AnotherYear.zip
L'EnfantComa.zip

These long-awaited releases constitute Centre's first new recordings in almost four years. The two EPs form a pairing of sorts, with one focusing on digital post-punk and the other focusing on melancholy guitar ambience.

Chad McKinney has been writing and recording for the better part of the last fifteen years, drawing inspiration from acid house, shoegaze, post-punk, ambient guitar, techno, and folk music. McKinney started recording under the name Centre around the turn of the century, and he contributed two tracks to Square Root Records' Catalog compilation album in 2005, including the impeccable Last Impression. McKinney also played with Square Root band Spectral Mornings in 2006 and 2007, a period that culminated in the band's self-titled 2007 EP.

4 / 4 / 09 /// CENTRE CENTRAL

In anticipation of next week's Centre releases, we thought we'd give you a little glimpse into his recording studio. Check back on Tuesday for two EPs of goodness...










3 / 31 / 09 /// TWO NEW RECORDS



Next Tuesday we'll be unleashing two new records from Square Root's man from the north, Centre. This is a big deal for us, since these two recordings are Centre's first new output in almost four years. He's come back with two EPs: Another Year (SQR015) and L'Enfant Coma (SQR016).

You might remember Centre's two contributions to our Catalog compilation in 2005, including the immortal track Last Impression, arguably one of the purest and catchiest slices of pop songwriting that we've ever had the pleasure to put on a CD. Centre's two new EPs continue this pop-based trajectory, drawing inspiration from acid house, shoegaze, post-punk, ambient guitar, and techno. Another Year is the digital half, while L'Enfant Coma is its hazy counterpart.

Even though we originally billed Square Root Records as a rather experimental label back in 2005, we've always flirted with the elusive concept of pop music. Avid readers of this site might have seen the word "pop" appear with alarming regularity, particularly with the recent Conifer Rock and Tokyo Morose albums. All of our artists regularly move from one place to another along a spectrum from pop to abstraction, and the reason most of us make music is to work out the connection between the two, stumbling across some sort of catharsis in the process.

Another Year and L'Enfant Coma will be available to download and purchase on April 7. Thank you...........




3 / 24 / 09 /// SQR019 - FLIGHT



Today we're proud to present Flight, a film and music project by Sean Patrick. Flight is a joint release with AndrasKlang, Sean's label based in Ann Arbor. You can download Flight as a zip file, containing four mp3s and the twenty-two minute film, by clicking here: Flight.zip

You can purchase one of the limited edition book versions for twenty dollars by using this nice PayPal button, but copies are in short supply..........

SQR019 Tracklisting:

1. Gatwick
2. Norfolk Sides
3. International Airspace
4. Springs Slowed (End)

"Flight" consists of four atmospheric instrumental pieces accompanied by twenty-two minutes of breathtaking visuals. The music is built around piano, mellotron, moog, tape loops and guitar, all wrapped in a bed of delay, reverb, and digital manipulation. We hesitate to use the terms "drone" or "ambient" to describe these works, since those words have become buzzwords of a sort, but "Flight" does indeed share characteristics of those forms of music. It's effective as background music, working on some sort of subconsciously emotional level, and at the same time it rewards close listening by revealing subtle melodies, panning effects, and so on.

The word "flight" is a particularly appropriate title for this project, as the album's three pieces have a psychological connection to the disorienting experience of flying. The album's otherworldly tones and stately pace evoke a sense of being caught between two worlds -- the same unsettling feeling one gets while marooned in a nameless departure lounge halfway around the world. The first piece in particular (appropriately titled "Gatwick") is built around the idea of persistent fuzz, which brings to mind the ambient background noise of a muffled airplane journey, inhabiting the space between night and day, evoking that strange sense of disconnect so peculiar to long flights. Through these sounds, the idea of flight becomes a metaphor for a journey between interior worlds as much as a journey between exterior locations, between a sleeping state and a waking state, between one mooring and another.

The twenty-two-minute "Flight" film examines these ideas in a visual context. The entire film consists of long shots of various liquids dropping into water, swirling, interacting, and settling. The effect is uncanny, at times resembling clouds, smoke, sea life, interior body membranes, molecular structures, vector shapes, and planet surfaces. The images are both alien and intimate; in a single glass of water we move from feathers to icebergs and back again.

We hope you enjoy Flight. As always, you can e-mail us or e-mail andras and tell us what you think. In the meantime, here are some screenshots from the Flight film to whet your appetite.

3 / 17 / 09 /// CAN YOU FEEL IT?



Flight's release date is coming up quickly -- one week from today. The album will be available in two versions: the regular mp3 download version, and the deluxe physical edition, which Sean Patrick describes thusly:

"The deluxe edition of flight is now complete. they really look beautiful. they are chock full of serious things, photos, paint, professional gloss and back breaking print schedules.

You get this:

- a signed/numbered, 8.5"x11" full color 20 page book on 80lbs semimatte stock.
- the two disc cd/dvd pack on select matte black discs in brown matte cases.
- a small photographic print made in the andras darkroom./// complements to the chef, etc."

We've seen copies of the deluxe package and they are indeed quite impressive. They'll be available for sale from both squarerootmusic.com and andrasklang.com for twenty dollars, starting next Tuesday. They've been produced in a limited run, so look out...

Incidentally, it's pretty odd to refer to a "deluxe physical edition" of an album. Is the alternative virtual? Maybe we're getting old...


3 / 12 / 09 /// SOON...



Sean Patrick's Flight project will be released on March 24th, a little under two weeks from now. Flight is an exploration into fuzz and confusion, touching on ambient noise, tape loops, and distorted piano and guitar. Sean's been working with this kind of material for quite some time now, and we must say that the effect of listening to the finished pieces on Flight is quite uncanny. It's both freedom and claustrophobia.

The album is being presented in conjunction with Andras Klang, and it represents our first foray into the world of film, since Flight consists of both a CD and a DVD. The auditory portions will be available to download on this site, but to get the full effect you should really buy a physical copy. They're going to be constructed in a very limited edition, housed in some sort of elaborate packaging that we haven't even seen yet. You'll be able to buy them here or from Andras Klang on March 24th.

Sean's also made a rather jarring short film about ferromagnetic fluid, shot in the Ann Arbor District Library and featuring music from his band, In Braille. You can see it on the YouTubes here.




3 / 5 / 09 /// PRESS FOR CANTILEVER



Cyclic Defrost, an electronic music magazine based in Australia, has written an interesting review of SQR013, Cantilever's Idalis/Hadalis record. An excerpt:

"As pointed out, the music itself is quite nice in its use of established modes to create gentle, textural datasound. And listened to simply on those terms it is successful..."

Read the whole review here. There's going to be some rather exciting Cantilever news in the next few months. Three-minute pop songs. What?


2 / 24 / 09 /// SQR018 - CONIFER ROCK / EXPLODED VIEWS



Today we're proud to present Exploded Views, the brand new record from Conifer Rock. This is Conifer Rock's fifth release for Square Root Records, and as such it offers a new direction in his musical evolution. You can download the entire seven-track album, including artwork, as a zip file by clicking here: ExplodedViews.zip

SQR018 Tracklisting:

1. Sure Fire
2. Finite Hearts
3. Young Professionals
4. Cross Sections of You
5. Honey Lies
6. Foreign Lands
7. Rocket Pops

With this EP, Conifer Rock has focused his attention on creating grimy pop songs, drawing inspiration from 1970s glam rock, ambient production experiments, shoegaze, funk and soul, and even a touch of early-1990s alternative guitar music. The seven tracks on the album are built primarily from guitar work and chopped-up percussion, both from live drum kits and from drum machines and laptops. These instruments have been combined countless times before, particularly in recent years, but we think this EP offers a fresh take on certain ideas. It's basically a lo-fi approach to twenty-first century production techniques -- pop music from a world that's more interested in emotional content and sound juxtaposition than with laying a glossy sheen over the top.

Within this environment lies a set of powerfully emotional songs, beginning with the off-kilter instrumental "Sure Fire" and ending with the ethereal droning of "Rocket Pops." Other highlights include "Cross Sections of You," with its stop-start drum machine editing, and, in particular, the otherworldly fx ballad "Foreign Lands," which seems like some sort of cross between Eno and the Smashing Pumpkins. Or something.

You can download the album as a set of mp3s by using the link above, or the link over on the right. You can also buy the album on CD, housed in a hand-painted chipboard sleeve with a poster, for the low price of five American dollars. Just use the PayPal button below.

We're also running a little contest. Take a listen to the album and send us some sort of creative interpretation of how it makes you feel -- it could be a haiku, a limerick, an MS Paint drawing, whatever. Email it to trevor@squarerootmusic.com. The 5 most interesting entries will win a deluxe version of the Exploded Views CD, with a T-shirt and other nice things.




2 / 21 / 09 /// EXPLODED VIEWS IMMINENT!



The long-awaited Conifer Rock EP, Exploded Views, will be unleashed this Tuesday. As a little teaser, we've put together another little video clip, which you can watch on the Square Root Records YouTube site, right here.

Here are a few pictures from the Conifer Rock show in Grand Rapids last week... You can see more of them (and larger images) on the Square Root Flickr site.










2 / 11 / 09 /// CONIFER ROCK LIVE IN GRAND RAPIDS



Conifer Rock will be performing at the Mixtape Cafe in downtown Grand Rapids next Tuesday (February 17th) at 6:30pm. He'll be playing new material from his Exploded Views record for the first time, in anticipation of the EP's release on February 24th. I've also been told that he'll be dipping into the Conifer Rock back catalog, which is very exciting...

Here's a poster for the show designed by Trevor Edmonds, Conifer Rock himself:




2 / 8 / 09 /// PLANS FOR THE YEAR



2008 was a particularly exciting year for us - we released seven records, almost half of our entire catalogue. These releases included dynamic new material from label stalwarts Cantilever and Conifer Rock, in which both artists explored new sonic territory -- acoustic songwriting, microscopic instrumentals, etc. We also brought you the debut recordings from Timwarrenmusic and Tokyo Morose, two new additions to our artist roster that took our music in unexpected new directions.

2009 is going to be just as good. We have a slate of new projects lined up, starting with four releases for the next couple of months. Take a look...

SQR018 - CONIFER ROCK / EXPLODED VIEWS Available - February 24, 2009 -------------------------------- After exploring fuzzy rock on the Show Me Some Heart single and acoustic ballads on the Wood Creaks EP, Conifer Rock turns to gritty glam pop with Exploded Views. This record is a concentrated barrage of dirty synths, guitars, and expertly crafted percussion, with layers of vocals on top. This is Conifer Rock's "pop" album, if you will, but pop like only he could do. We're very excited about this one, which comes out in two weeks...

SQR015 - CENTRE / ANOTHER YEAR Available - March 2009 -------------------------------- Centre makes his long-anticipated return with two EPs, Another Year and L'Enfant Coma. Drawing inspiration from post-punk, acid house, ambient guitar, and shoegaze, Centre's music is pop from an alternate universe. Another Year is a more digital affair, focusing on synth pulses, drum machines, and delay pedals. The EP is built around the solitary vocal track, Take It or Leave It, an exquisite pop gem up there with the likes of New Order and the Cure.

SQR016 - CENTRE / L'ENFANT COMA Available - March 2009 -------------------------------- While the Another Year EP is connected more to the digital post-punk world, its companion piece, L'Enfant Coma, moves towards atmospheric guitar, somewhat akin to the Durutti Column or R.E.M. The three-track instrumental EP incorporates subtle drum machines, pitched bells, effects loops, and the occasional field recording to create a subdued sense of melancholy, ending with an extended ambient drone version of the title song.

SQR019 - SEAN PATRICK / FLIGHT Available - March 24, 2009 -------------------------------- After the pop obsession of the previous three records, we turn to Sean Patrick's Flight project, a study in distorted ambient music, white noise and tape loops. Sean's been experimenting with these sorts of sound manipulations for the past few years, and we think this is some of his strongest work yet. Flight is a joint release between Square Root and Andras Klang, Sean's own label, and it will be a CD/DVD release. That's right, we're getting into films....

All this and more: We have new material from Cantilever and Timwarrenmusic in the works, as well as the long-awaited full-length album from Spectral Mornings. We have more live performances lined up, as well as the odd surprise or two... We've also started a blog, so you can check that out, if you feel so inclined: squarerootrecords.blogspot.com.

To join our e-mail mailing list, click here to contact us.


2 / 5 / 09 /// REVIEWS FROM TEXTURA



Good evening... This month's issue of Textura includes lovely reviews of both Cantilever's Idalis/Hadalis album and Tokyo Morose's Specific Ocean EP. Textura's a great site, and we appreciate being mentioned...

Here's what they had to say about Idalis/Hadalis:

"The primary pieces, “Idalis” and “Hadalis,” were created as a single, multi-layered composition which was then split into separate pieces by adding and removing specific layers. Consequently, the two pieces sound both similar and different, and the same basic description is applicable to both: each fuses crystalline IDM melodies with grimier electronic funk patterns that incessantly whirr, sputter, shuffle, and writhe, and with mangled beats that babble and pop throughout—the one amounting to a slightly distorted refraction of the other."

"In executing the project, Streeting set out to explore a number of themes, such as the effects of juxtaposition and the ease with which digital technologies enable endless variations to be generated from a set number of materials. The recording succeeds in realizing said explorations but also as a purely musical exercise that one can enjoy with no awareness of the formal strategies that were involved in its production."

And here's what they had to say about the Tokyo Morose EP:

"The trio strikes an appealing balance between spontaneous interplay and through-composition, and a human heart beats audibly at the material's center when the playing carries with it traces of human imperfection. With Lenau making full use of the instrument's singing tone and mournful cry, the viola is an effective lead voice, and the others embroider the surround with rich instrumental embellishments."

"Augmented by acoustic picking and pump organ, viola leads the charge in “Women Who Can't Say No,” as breezy and insistent as a summer bicycle ride through the countryside."

"Also noteworthy is Cantilever's bold “Here's the Man” makeover which pushes the material through a digital shredder and gives it a rambunctious funk thrust in the process."

You can read the Idalis/Hadalis review in full here, and the Specific Ocean review here. Both albums are available for free download, or you can purchase them on an old-fashioned CD.



2 / 1 / 09 /// IDALIS/HADALIS GETS SOME NICE WORDS



Forest Gospel had some nice things to say about SQR013, Cantilever's Idalis/Hadalis record:

"Idalis/Hadalis is basically two ten minute tracks named “Idalis” and “Hadalis” followed by two additional ten minute tracks with these first ones variously folded atop one another. The compositions are compacted thickly with a barrage of various percussive clicks, ticks and tocks and propelled by warm, synthesized melodies throughout. Assessed simply, Idalis/Hadalis is perfect electronic ear candy for traversing through any modern city. In fact, it sounds kind of like what you would imagine after seeing transit - whether pedestrian or by car – that’s been videoed from a still shot and then fast-forwarded. I love it. It’s super solid stuff in the vein of Morr Music before they started dipping their toes into more pop oriented pools. I’m thinking Mum when they released Yesterday Is Dramatic - Today Is OK. It’s pretty straight-forward, heady, brain exhilarating electronica."

You can read the whole review here. Idalis/Hadalis is available for download right now...


1 / 29 / 09 /// SQR017 - SPRING RAIN



We thought we'd give you a nice little present today, in the form of Spring Rain, the new single from Spectral Mornings. The band quite radically rearranged its sound in the beginning of 2008, moving away from epic post-rock-influenced structures towards a smaller, more minimal sound, drawing inspiration from synth-pop and post-punk. Spring Rain was the first song that the band wrote under this new aesthetic, so it's only fitting that it has become the first single from the band's forthcoming album.

The song comes accompanied by a b-side, Ballroom Beaches, which is a rather stately affair, built on hushed electronic percussion, off-kilter synth loops, and a globular chorus that might have Vangelis or Klaus Schulze turning their heads.

Both songs also prominently feature vocals, another important component of the band's new sound. You can download both songs with artwork by clicking on the link to the right, or you can listen to individual mp3s here:

Spring Rain
Ballroom Beaches

You can even purchase the single on CD, like in the old days. It comes packaged in a nice chipboard sleeve, assembled by hand, accompanied by a poster. The Paypal link is over on the right.

Have a good day...




1 / 22 / 09 /// MARQUETTE + SPRING RAIN



Just a quick reminder -- if you should happen to find yourselves in the middle of Michigan's Upper Peninsula this Saturday (January 24th), you can see Spectral Mornings perform at the 231 benefit concert at the Northstar Academy. This is the first time Spectral Mornings have performed in Marquette since 2005, so we're very excited about the show. It's for a good cause, too.

If you're at the show, you'll be able to pick up an advance copy of the new Spectral Mornings single, Spring Rain (SQR017). These are some nice, old-fashioned CD singles, with a b-side entitled Ballroom Beaches, a song which ranks among the Mornings' best work to date. The CDs come packaged in a beautiful chipboard sleeve, along with a poster print.

The single will be available to download and to purchase on CD from this site next week.



1 / 19 / 09 /// AWARD NOMINATIONS...



Hello.... We're pleased to announce that two of our 2008 releases have been nominated for awards at the Jammies, WYCE's annual awards show. This is the tenth anniversary of the Jammies here in Grand Rapids, and WYCE is a strong independent voice on the airwaves, so we're very proud to have been part of their playlists this year.

As for the nominations -- Sitzmaschine by Timwarrenmusic (SQR010) and Specific Ocean by Tokyo Morose (SQR014) have both been nominated for best alternative/electronic record of the year. Tokyo Morose have been nominated for best new artist and for best local contemporary artist or group. The Sitzmashine and Specific Ocean albums are also in the running for album of the year, which would be quite spectacular... Both albums have also been nominated for the People's Choice award, and you can vote for either record by following this link: WYCE People's Choice

You can read an article on Mlive with all the Jammies nominations right here.

It's worth mentioning that Tim Warren is obviously involved with both of these projects, so, if he should win one of these awards, he will forever have to deal with the concept that he is, in some way, better than himself...



1 / 17 / 09 /// CONIFER ROCK GETS BACK



Square Root's own Conifer Rock has been toiling away throughout the winter working on his next record, Exploded Views, and we must say that this one is absolute monster. Glam rock meets noise textures meets lo fi meets live electro. You have been warned.

The EP is due to drop at the end of February. Between now and then, we'll be teasing you with a few video clips, the first of which you can see on YouTube right here.




1 / 10 / 09 /// SPECTRAL MORNINGS RETURN TO MARQUETTE



Incredibly, Spectral Mornings' debut live performance was in Marquette, Michigan over five years ago. It was at the Upfront & Co in October, 2003. The band's history has a direct connection with the town of Marquette, since it developed its early sound by playing at a large number of local shows between 2003 and 2005 and making some great friendships within the Marquette music community. One of the most important parts of that community was the 231 House of Muses gallery. The gallery was the site of many great memories, both for Spectral Mornings, who first played there in the spring of 2004, and, of course, for the Marquette music scene as a whole. Unfortunately, the 231 gallery was destroyed in a fire recently, and a cornerstone of Marquette's indepenent art and music scene was lost.

The determination of that music scene was not lost, however -- a memorial compilation album has been put together to document the gallery's musical history. Spectral Mornings are proud to be a part of this album -- their track "I Have Lost Everything," recorded in 2007 with third member (and Marquette native) Chad McKinney, will be included on the CD.

Spectral Mornings will also be performing at a benefit concert for the 231 House of Muses, which will be held at the Northstar Academy in Marquette on Saturday, January 24. This will be the band's first performance in Marquette in over three years, and they can't think of a better reason to make their return.

The band will have a new CD single, Spring Rain / Ballroom Beaches, for sale at the show, and all proceeds from the sale will be given directly to the 231 House of Muses memorial fund.

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