Colin Andrew Sheffield - Images | 12 in Vinyl Record

Colin Andrew Sheffield's "Images" was entirely constructed from heavily edited and manipulated samples from jazz records. These eight electroacoustic mosaics range in style from lush ambient loops to jarring tones like the wails of the damned. Chopped drum solos appear and retreat along with spiraling piano fragments; saxophone and trumpet scraps clash or fall in time with disfigured bass rumblings, etcetera. These song-length explorations are detailed, atmospheric, and surprising. Meticulously composed over the span of a year, this is nuanced and singular music -- a true distillation of Sheffield's interests as both composer and obsessive listener.

As an experiment, “Images” is perhaps noteworthy for its constrained source material and methodology (Sheffield still primarily uses early sampling hardware). As a collection of music, “Images” is an appealing if mysterious assemblage: an approachable album with moments of inscrutability as well as melancholic beauty. It is the most fully formed work to date from a veteran sound artist working at the height of his abilities.

Since the mid-'90s, Colin Andrew Sheffield's audio collage work has consistently focused on the use of samples: deconstructed loops of hidden melodies and textures found in his collection of physical media. These snatches of sound are layered in harmony and/or at odds with one another, giving rise to the ethereal undercurrents inherent in his selections. As a student of hauntology, Sheffield wrestles with unspoiled detritus of the past in service of an impressionistic conception of the future.

"An excellent record that is never what you think (or want?) it to be; not jazz, not ambient, but a bit of everything combined and cut together into some haunting narrative."
- Frans de Waard, Vital Weekly

"Neither shimmering soothe nor noise and distortion, 'Images' finds an intriguingly meditative balance between the two...."
- Ned Raggett, Shfl

"....Easily among the most engrossing albums I’ve heard this year."
- Simon Cummings, 5:4

"Many melodies emerge from these hidden instrument sounds. The obsessively recurring textures sometimes sparkle with metallic noise, but also with delicate streams of music." "A beautiful and unique album with a hypnotic tone."
- Michał Majcher, Anxious Musick Magazine 

credits

released June 16, 2023

Mastered by James Plotkin.
Photography by Holly Doyel.


Distributed by Fantastique: fantastiquehq.com
and Groove Distribution: groovedis.com