{"id":11191,"date":"2011-10-01T15:01:40","date_gmt":"2011-10-01T05:01:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stuartbuchanan.com\/?post_type=portfolio&p=11191"},"modified":"2021-01-31T05:20:53","modified_gmt":"2021-01-31T05:20:53","slug":"spartak-nippon-new-editions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stuartbuchanan.com\/archives\/2011\/10\/01\/spartak-nippon-new-editions\/","title":{"rendered":"Spartak 'Nippon' (New Editions)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
\nCanberra based duo Spartak<\/strong> return with their third album Nippon<\/em> on the New Weird Australia imprint New Editions<\/strong>.
\nDuo Shoeb Ahmad and Evan Dorrian explore a hybrid sound of \u2018indie\u2019 rock, improvised jazz, electronic music and modern composition \u2013 using a wide palette of delicate melodies, free percussion, processed sound and found textures.
\nSince 2006, they have travelled around Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and Japan numerous times, playing alongside hardcore bands, sound artists and free improvisers alike. They have previously released Tales From The Colony Room<\/em> on hellosQuare recordings and Verona<\/em>, through the English label Low Point.
\nVerona<\/em> met critical acclaim upon its release in 2010, featuring in many publications \u2013 including the respected modern music magazine The Wire<\/em>, who noted Spartak\u2019s \u2018sonic restlessness\u2019 and \u2018organic sense of clarity\u2019.
\nThis new release sees the duo expand on the loose improvisations of their previous work by taking in a more brittle electronic edge, alongside a reclaimed punk attitude, with recordings edited from performances in Kyoto, Tokyo and Osaka on their recent tour of Japan. These shows revisited the original mode of Spartak music \u2013 pre-composed key phrases forming the core basis of the performance each night. This common thread lends itself nicely to the various pieces, tieing them together as a suite, while varying in nature.<\/p>\n

\n

Tracklisting.<\/strong>
\n1. Lover\u2019s Distress 02:37
\n2. Snowflake Reflection (Open) 07:43
\n3. Channels 06:24
\n4. Rail Star Mode 05:47
\n5. Colour Is The Night 09:02
\n6. Wire + Water 03:04
\n7. Snowflake Reflection (Close) 05:24
\nAhmad, A \u2013 guitar, voice, electronics, analog synth, clarinet
\nDorrian, E \u2013 drum kit, percussion, field recordings, voice, computer
\nRecorded + mixed live in Japan, March 2011. \u0003Post-production edits by Shoeb Ahmad at hellosQuare Place, Canberra. Mastered by Taylor Deupree at 12k mastering.
\nPhotos by Shoeb + Kate Ahmad and Evan Dorrian.
\nSleeve design by Heath Killen.
\n[otw_shortcode_button href=”https:\/\/newweirdaustralia.bandcamp.com\/album\/nippon” size=”medium” bgcolor=”#000000″ shape=”square” target=”_blank”]Stream \/ Download.[\/otw_shortcode_button]
\nCatalogue.<\/strong> NWAED08
\n<\/p>\n

\n

Press:<\/strong>
\n\u201cWith sharp edits and no gaps between tracks, Nippon has a snapshot reel feel, so it is ideal then for a collection of live recordings from Spartak\u2019s 2011 Japanese tour. Rarely repeating a style, its breadth makes further nonsense of any attempted genre affiliation for this Australian duo. Out of the vast multitude of low-key post-rock shape makers, Spartak have always been among the most skilful underground players in blurring the lines between drone, guitar music and electronics\/edits \u2026 They are doing something akin to the sync and confusion of the hand-cranking of three dimensional cogs. Nippon slips on and off the slopes of conventionality \u2013 they are too slippery for mutation and too fluidly random to make evolutionary steps \u2026 \u2018Rail Star Mode\u2019 is the disc\u2019s highlight, a track that muddles up Nyoukis-esque broken speech and religious chatter, which stands on the verge of collapse. The song\u2019s beautiful faltering steps are rescued from the brink by a damaged PC reboot\/reset, a mid-record move that\u2019s more beautiful and weird than most bands\u2019 epic finales.\u201d
\nThe Quietus, April 2012<\/a><\/strong>
\n\u201cSpartak is Shoeb Ahmad on guitar, electronics, clarinet and vocals, and Evan Dorrian on drums, percussion, field recordings and voice. The duo has a distinct improv feel, particularly evident in the impressive playing of Dorrian, so the live recording format feels like a fitting way to capture their sound \u2026 Nippon is a well-paced exploration of live performance as document from an engaging duo\u201d
\nReal Time Arts, March 2012<\/a><\/strong>
\n\u201cpossesses a keen improvisational restlessness, balancing elements of jazz, indie rock, noise and modern classical without ever explicitly spilling over into rote performance of either\u2026\u00a0Nippon\u00a0is best experienced all at once, allowing the unique improvisation of Spartak to wash over you\u201d
\nCyclic Defrost, November 2011<\/a><\/strong>
\nInterview: \u201cTwo Minutes With Spartak\u201d<\/em> \u2013 \u201cWe have just released a new record called Nippon on the wonderful New Editions imprint run by the people at New Weird Australia. It\u2019s our own Live In Japan record but hacked apart and taped back together like broken vinyl.\u201d
\nLife Is Noise, November 2011<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Canberra based duo Spartak return with their third album Nippon, the eighth release on the New Weird Australia imprint New Editions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[451],"tags":[1152],"class_list":["post-11191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-weird-australia","tag-new-editions","missing-thumbnail"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stuartbuchanan.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stuartbuchanan.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stuartbuchanan.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stuartbuchanan.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stuartbuchanan.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11191"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.stuartbuchanan.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11191\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15888,"href":"https:\/\/www.stuartbuchanan.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11191\/revisions\/15888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stuartbuchanan.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stuartbuchanan.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stuartbuchanan.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}