Kern-Host, by James A. McDermid

Kern-Host

by James A. McDermid

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Ambiance Glitters "Kern-Host" is healing. James A. McDermid completes the trilogy with beautiful sonic textured drones over Paris night skies. The elegant ambient haze of James' creativity shimmers throughout expressions of experimental sound. Favorite track: quand il m'a touchée.

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Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
Each highly limited collectable Whitelabrecs release is built around a set format as follows:
50 x vinyl-effect CDrs with card vinyl-style sleeves, rubber stamped titling, a polaroid print of the cover artwork housed inside a plastic case to keep it looking mint. Ink, font style and sleeve colours will vary for each release, chosen by the artist.

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

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Streaming + Download

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

Purchasable with gift card

£7 GBP or more
Full Digital Discography

61

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Get all 61 Whitelabrecs releases available on Bandcamp and save 60%.

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of ODD, Taiga, The Other Gold Side, Any Given Moment, Suspended In Silence, asymmetry, Vihne, Grønland, and 53 more. , and , .

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1.	[proheme] 01:48	buy track
2.	quand il m'a touchée 04:43	buy track
3.	fais-le tomber 03:53	buy track
4.	tendre 03:44	buy track
5.	elle était une hardi combattant 05:32	buy track
6.	fantôme 02:43	buy track
7.	ballade des pendus 03:38	buy track
8.	il ne t'a montré que l'ombre 05:52	buy track
9.	la mort d'un seul innocent 15:17	buy track
10.	[mettre fin] 04:34	buy track

about

James A. McDermid is a Bristol, UK based artist who has also spent some time in Portugal. He became inspired to write music under the name Like Kisses of Thread after discovering artists such as Philip Jeck, Janek Schaefer, Christian Marclay and Kaffe Matthews; a project which ran alongside the curation of his label Nastycandy, which even piqued the interest of a certain John Peel, who played a piece on his Radio 1 show. The label ceased operation in 2005 due to work commitments and the rigours of running the demands of a job and a label simultaneously.

James stopped writing and recording music in 2010; this was until the sudden tragedy of his sister Harriet being diagnosed as terminally ill threw his world upside down. Struggling to understand the gravity of it all - or know what to do to help - he turned to music once more. In fact, the music poured out of him to the extent that he decided to create a trilogy of albums all dedicated to the memory of Harriet. The initial record ‘Ghost Folk’, made up of 25 tracks, was released on Polar Seas in 2017 and earlier this year KrysaliSound released the follow-up, ‘Tonal Glints’. The triptych is now complete with the final piece which is ‘Kern-Host’. 'Ghost Folk' represents his sister’s diagnosis and worsening condition, 'Tonal Glints' represents her death and the immediate aftermath, while 'Kern-Host' embodies closure. In the three albums, James tried to focus on melody and structured each track around it. Not all of the tracks worked out this way but working through his grief seemed to lend itself to finding melodies.

'Kern-Host' began as James spent some time alone in Paris. He’d walk around the city during the day and then work on music at night in his hotel room. He’d sift and rework sounds he had captured at home; he has a piano, a couple of accordions, a violin, guitar and ukulele. Using his laptop, headphones and a tiny keyboard controller he is able to work in a location away from the environment that his sample library had been created and Paris became the backdrop to this project. The ten recordings, aptly titled in French, feel as if James has recorded a sonic diary of his time spent alone in Paris and the beautiful texture to these drones will help you feel a part of his solitary visit. The accompanying cover artwork is of arranged, dried flowers against a plain background. Of the trilogy, this is the first cover that is in colour to represent the themes of closure that are present in Kern-Host.

credits

released November 18, 2018

"For my sister, Harriet (1975-2016)"

Written and produced by James A. McDermid
Written in Paris, Bristol and the Algarve
Mastered by Tim Diagram
Artwork by James A. McDermid
Thanks to: Inês; Harry; Brad; Francis; Paul; Tom; Susie; Al.

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Whitelabrecs England, UK

UK based experimental record label established in 2016, specialising in highly limited runs of white-label-style vinyl-effect CDrs.

Announced as one of A Closer Listen's best labels of 2017: bit.ly/2nCAXVy

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