Isan: Analog Dreaming

During the mid-1990's, when artists such as Aphex Twin and Autechre emerged and introduced the underground electronica world to their abstract and disassociated glacial blips, Robin Saville and Antony Ryan created the perfect complimentary sound through their collaboration under the name Isan (standing for "Integrated Services Analogue Network). Isan's response to the then-modern electronic music consisted of warm synthesizers, dreamy drumboxes, and childlike melodies that knit together perfectly, surrounding the listener with an agreeable ambiance that hinted at a charming innocence.

Uniting their interest of "using dodgy old keyboards to made dodgy old noise," Ryan and Saville founded Britain's first home for neglected and abandoned synthesizers. Based within a secluded garden in southern England, the duo constantly finds themselves immersed in mythical landscapes and fantastic story lines. They draw inspiration from their garden of wonders, and at the end of the day they feed their enchanting stories- in the form of glimmering tunes and reverberating bleeps- to their instruments. Their harmonious collaborations are often sparked by characters such as the salamander that scrabbled over the cords of their synthesizers, or the lucky transient cat that wandered into the garden. Gradually, they included new additions to their lineup of old keyborads and disassembled circuit boards; soon an orchestra of guitars, glockenspiels, and miscellaneous percussion intruments found themselves home among the rekindled and happily-humming synths. Soon the duo started working separately across the UK, sending files back and forth via the internet, adding layer by layer until they hit perfection.

Isan's latest work, "Plans Drawn In Pencil," is the long-anticipated follow-up to 2004's incandescent masterpiece, "Meet Next Life." Instead of recreating their characteristic velvet electronica, Isan transforms themselves by immersing sounds into a darker landscape, all the while still managing to froth up an inviting cup of adventure. "Plans Drawn In Pencil" is a lushly arranged delicacy- with blurry filters, analog ripples, and quirky layered synths. From the dreamlike hums of "Cinnabar," to the sudsy stop-and-go electronics of "Amber Button," Isan presents us with yet another dynamic lambent piece of imagination-candy. Glowing, gleaming, and flickering with a soft radiance, Isan invites everybody to their flourishing garden for a gorgeous aural treat.

Visit Isan's webiste for tour dates and free live downloads, or check their MySpace page and show them some MySpace love.

Listen and love: Cinnabar, Amber Button

Timothy Teasley + Math = Music

Originally starting out as a music major, independent artist Timothy Teasley discovered that his switch to becoming a math major was an unexpected outlet for the inspiration behind his work. Currently working on an exclusively GarageBand-recorded summer music project, Timothy takes a moment from composing to have a few words with Synaesthetic Sounds.

Synaesthetic Sounds: How would you describe your musical identity?
Timothy Teasley: I haven't quite pinpointed my musical identity. I feel as if I am just starting to fall into a style.

How would you describe this style?
It is peaceful, I'd like to think. I like to create simple music.

What pushes you, or inspires you to create your compositions?
I think everyone feels the need to have something of their own that they can claim and show the rest of the world. Similar to how writers show their friends an award-winning article or a book they wrote, or how directors show their films to the world. It's not important to me if a lot of people listen to my music. My music is not really that special, but it is important to me to have some music out there. People get a chance to see a side of me that won't come up in conversation.

With names like "The Buoyancy of Crocodiles," "The Science of Separation," and "The Clouds Covered the Ocean Like a Soft Blanket," how do you find inspiration behind the titles of your compositions?
Sometimes that is very easy, and sometimes not. If the song is about something -and when I say "about," I mean "inspired by," since my songs have no words- I just come up with a title that sums up what the song is about. Also, since I am studying the sciences, that also tends to influence my titles.

Where would you like your music to go, direction-wise?
This summer is the most that I have written in three years. I feel my music has evolved a great deal in that period of time. Perhaps getting away from [my music] helped me express myself even better. I will probably back away from music again to focus on school. My hope is that when I start up again, I will know what to do next with my music.

Your music reflects jumps from musical genre to musical genre. To what extent are you influenced by other artists?
I am more of a fan of music than I am a composer of it. I am very inspired by other artists. There are different types of inspirations when I listen to music. Sometimes I hear something so good, it just makes me want to write, even though what I write is nothing like what I heard. Sometimes when I am listening to music, I will hear a song that will wash away my writer's block.

Do you have any artists in particular that act as forces of inspiration?
I would say that Sigur Rós and A Silver Mount Zion are two of the biggest influences on me. I am also heavily influenced by film music.


Timothy Teasley creates all of his music on GarageBand, and currently has a MySpace Music page. Check back for more updates on his upcoming album, Everything You Do Is Wrong! How Dare You Be So Much Like Me.

A site is born.

This is a project and work-in-progress for a music, arts, and culture site of sorts. I hope to play host to a slew of new and innovative music reviews and interviews sometime in the near future. Wish me luck, because I certainly will need it. I am playing David in a world full of music website Goliaths. Regardless of those odds, I have a feeling that this will be a hell of a ride.

I love you, everyone!

Warmest Regards,
Masa