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LISTEN: Oliver Alary Remixes Ian William Craig
Christian Eede , January 12th, 2017 12:14

The French composer takes on a track by the Canadian tape experimenter; listen below

FatCat imprint 130701 tomorrow releases a two-track split EP from Ian William Craig and Oliver Alary in which each producer takes on a track by the other. Above, you can hear Alary's remix of Ian William Craig's 'A Single Hope' streaming exclusively.

The remix retains William Craig's vocals over an icy bed of gorgeous, ambient pads, bringing his voice to the fore before galloping, restrained drums enter the mix at the halfway mark. For the remix, Alary decided to restrict electronic elements to a minimum, using purely acoustic instruments to construct the track instead.

"Some of the [instruments] are processed, but I tried to keep the integrity of their sonic nature," Alary explains. "From the original piece, only the vocals were kept. Then I recorded a clarinet choir to replace the original organ. Some flutes and naturally detuned according were added to add an eerie quality to the chords."

The drum sounds were produced from found objects with an accordion case being used in place of a bass drum and some sheets of paper hit by brushes making up just some of the sounds featured. The two-track EP, entitled Remixes, is available as a digital-only release and is out tomorrow. Alary's debut solo album, entitled Fiction / Non-Fiction is set for release in March while Ian William Craig's Slow Vessels, an acoustic reinterpretation of last year's Centres album, is due in May.