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Light Play

by (is)

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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Bonus Items included with both digital & cassette purchase:

    *jpeg of poster artwork for Light Play by Vin Tanner
    https://linktr.ee/hologramvin

    Artist receives 75% of all proceeds of digital only sales. The remaining 25% supports Grimalkin's label and mutual aid fund and helps us towards sustaining our work.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $10 USD  or more

     

  • Limited Edition Cassette
    Cassette + Digital Album

    Digital download of Light Play included with each cassette purchase, as well as:

    *Handwritten thank you note

    *a couple surprise stickers & pins from Grimalkin Records

    Bonus Items included with both digital & cassette purchase:

    *jpeg of poster artwork for Light Play by Vin Tanner
    linktr.ee/hologramvin

    Tape proceeds go to The Philadelphia Sex Worker Fund.
    sites.google.com/view/phillyswfund/home?authuser=0

    Includes unlimited streaming of Light Play via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Sold Out

1.
were all dissolving well some of us are dissolving were all dissolving well some of us are dissolving 350 million years between me and dorycrinus 350 million years between me and dorycrinus and im holding microcrystaline fracture and float and im holding microcrystaline fracture and float a near miss past the bones of a near miss past the bones of a dry ocean our teeth used to be homes a dry ocean our teeth used to be homes for coral polyps and now were all cavernous well for coral polyps and now were all cavernous well some of us are cavernous anyway some of us are cavernous anyway speleogenisis takes a long time speleogenesis takes a long time and the rent keeps going up here some of us and the rent keeps going up here some of us hold fast to sea floor and never leave hold fast to sea floor and never leave any record that we were alive any record that we were alive extinction is only punctuation hard edge extinction is only punctuation hard edge of shale under limestone soft space of held breath of shale under limestone soft space of held breath all water recedes all water rises all water recedes all water rises did the bryozoa try to form a tenants union did they sell did the bryozoa try to form a tenants union did they sell their crowns to make rent on their exoskeletons their crowns to make rent on their exoskeletons maybe the tetrapods had the right idea after all then again maybe the tetrapods had the right idea after all then again maybe not all water recedes all water rises maybe not all water recedes all water rises it takes a long time to carve out a cave and im holding it takes a long time to carve out a cave and im holding stones prised up from glacial erratic in my chest stones prised up from glacial erratic in my chest like this microcrystaline fracture is home like this microcrystaline fracture is home now was always home but with a tightrope now was always home but with a tightrope walk of a catch and too much history to hold on walk of a catch and too much history to hold on to cut to roadcut to mountain view open mouth of the earth to cut to roadcut to mountain view open mouth of the earth in manganese silence teeth rot from the bottom up in manganese silence teeth rot from the bottom up every other house is soot black and plywood windows mausoleum every other house is soot black and plywood windows mausoleum of somebodys rent money every other house of sombodys rent money every other house is a seven year sentence speleogenisis takes a long time is a seven year sentence speleogenesis takes a long time i fell asleep in a cell and someone closed the door i fell asleep in a cell and someone closed the door i fell asleep on the lawn and now theres leaves i fell asleep on the lawn and now theres leaves in my hair and my words are like another tongue in my hair and my words are like another tongue in my mouth like the burned out ruin of a castle someone in my mouth like the burned out ruin of a castle someone built on the edge of a sinkhole like the space inside built on the edge of a sinkhole like the space inside a bell before someone strikes a match the tap a bell before someone strikes a match the tap water tastes like sulfur here and were all thirsty water tastes like sulfur here and were all thirsty all the time keep waking up thinking about unpaid all the time keep waking up thinking about unpaid bills swallow hard water and try to get warm bills swallow hard water and try to get warm if you go deep enough underground its a constant if you go deep enough underground its a constant sixty degrees and no one has eyes anymore sixty degrees and no one has eyes anymore it takes a long time to carve out a cave and the faucet it takes a long time time to carve out a cave and the faucet has been dripping since before we moved in has been dripping since before we moved in the body learns fear acclimatizes to thin walls the body learns fear acclimatizes to thin walls and low ceilings to kerosene heat and carbon monoxide and low ceilings to kerosene heat and carbon monoxide to drink the words hexavalent chromium to drink the words hexavalent chromium dysplastic compound nevus impound and eviction dyspalstic compound nevus impound and evitiction speleogenesis takes a long time speleogenesis takes a long time speleogenesis takes a long time speleogenesis takes a long time
2.
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Full Empty 04:20
5.
Departure 08:07

about

April 15, 2022: Isobel Bess aka (is) has been releasing experimental music under her own name and various others for the last two decades. With a varied palette of bass, synthesizers, field recordings, spoken word, and electroacoustic sound manipulation, her output maintains a hazy focus on texture, spatiality, and the possibilities of deep listening. She is the author of several books of poetry, the most recent of which is called anyway i saw a light there.

(is) resonates beyond and between the temporal boundaries of truncated futures, a discorporate signal encoding the unrealized. They are received in our present moment as a psychoacoustic phenomenon most closely approximated by digital Frequency Modulation synthesis.

Light Play is the first full-length collaboration between sound artist Isobel Bess and the discorporate extratemporal signal known only as (is). The album draws atmosphere from the speculative futures of writers like Samuel R. Delany, Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, and Octavia Butler to shape a sonic space of expansive synth textures, sparse beats, and interstitial static. The result is an ambient album for the apocalypse. Hovering somewhere between signal and noise, Light Play echoes back from (im)possible futures to ask a singular question of the uncertain present: what now? Its languid synths offer respite only as an ellipsis, Frequency Modulation as prelude to riot. What now?

credits

released April 15, 2022

All tracks written, produced, mixed, and mastered by Isobel Bess/(is) in the Chillout Room.
isobelbess.bandcamp.com

Light Play cover art by Vin Tanner.
linktr.ee/hologramvin

Thanks to everybody who hung out with me in the Chillout Room while I worked on these sounds. Thanks to Jamie for the conversation where some of these ideas took root. Thanks to Grim and everyone at Gr for helping me put them out there. Thanks to Amy for everything.

itch: achenesense.itch.io
Bandcamp: isobelbess.bandcamp.com
Twitch: www.twitch.tv/snaprecipient

Huge thanks to New Noise Magazine and Tabitha Timms for featuring this album in their Bandcamp of the Day section: newnoisemagazine.com/bandcamp-of-the-day-isobel-bess/

Huge thanks to Jon and Liam for premiering Light Play: varioussmallflames.co.uk/2022/04/15/is-light-play/

Huge thanks to George at Astral Noize for premiering the single Psychoprobe Console and pre-order for Light Play: astralnoizeuk.com/2022/03/04/premiere-is-pychoprobe-console/

Huge thanks to Jon and Brainwashed for playing Light Play on their podcast: open.spotify.com/show/7yoYvIwWmRx8UQfx1xania

Huge thanks to A Closer Listen for mentioning Light Play in their Spring Music Preview 2022 ~ Electronic Synthezoids section: acloserlisten.com/2022/03/15/spring-music-preview-2022-electronic/

Thanks to Bathory Zine for sharing our press release for this album on their blog: www.bathoryzine.com/2022/04/grimalkin-records-june-releases.html?spref=fb&fbclid=IwAR23yoc5SFQOr99Lf3W8r8TcPHknZMjjj7ycgJZvaNWanolNmi055kyN1Qo

Thanks to River City Limits at WRIR for playing the track Full Empty on their show: www.wrir.org/2022/12/10/time-doesnt-exist/

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