True Peak Limits‘ debut LP, Carriages, will be released on Mesh on May 13th. Max Cooper‘s label offers us the debut of the new incarnation of Welshman Joe Farr, defender of Techno in its most organic and experimental aspects at the same time and a genius in the art of mastering.
We talk about new incarnation because Joe Farr has not just started in the electronic music. His beginnings as a producer date back to 2011, when he started to prepare his first releases, which have arrived over the years under his own name and under other collaborations such as Brecon and Coping Mechanism.
Perhaps due to his passion and knowledge of recording and mastering methods, Joe works sounds in surprising ways to achieve great results.
Let’s talk about how Carriages was conceived. On a train journey from London to his native Wales, Joe collects all sorts of sounds: the murmur of passengers, the rattle of PA announcements, people shuffling their newspapers, doors opening and closing, telephones ringing and music blaring.
All this is joined by bass lines and synthesis to form a work full of rhythmic power at times, with incessant layers of sounds that end up perfectly coupled thanks to the meticulous production of the Welsh artist. In the end, Carriages is an exploration and interpretation of everyday sounds which, although they may seem anodyne because they are commonplace, Farr makes them acquire a previously unknown dimension.
But nothing better than hear its author talking about the album:
“This album was made over a year using sounds I collected on a round trip to London from my hometown – Abergavenny which is just near the Brecon Beacons. The sounds I recorded were from train stations, the carriages, on the underground and the streets of London – announcements, people talking, train noises, street atmosphere and anything else interesting I could point my mic at. Each track has one key element made from the recordings and then I built up the rest of the sounds and textures around that core idea using traditional synthesis and sampling. I have been producing for a long time but this new alias has pushed me in new directions. Specifically, I strived for that emotional connection through the melodic elements which is
something I have always held back in my techno output. That was what really motivated me for this new alias, freedom within the music. I am delighted and reassured that Mesh picked up the LP. Enjoy !”
As a teaser, we can enjoy a track called Hope Detuned, and the album is available for pre-order now here.
