Headaches: 'Aluphor'
Release Date: November 6, 2015
Patience is an art not easily mastered, nor frequently highlighted in the hyper-sensory environment that is 2015. Perhaps for this reason, we are most moved when an artist hypnotizes with calm reserve rather than with embellishment and force. Headaches is the musical project of Canadian-born Landon Speers, an interdisciplinary artist whose experiments in sound serve as his most meditative form of expression. As Headaches, Speers has released a string of dance singles and honed a precise, deliberate sensibility as a DJ on tour with the likes of Purity Ring. However, with Aluphor, Speers reveals his talents as an ambient composer, sharing his most coherent and self-realized body of work to date on digital, audiovisual, and cassette platforms.
The raw sonic materials (primarily synth and cello) are cast into sheets of sound, laying the foundation for a landscape equally natural and surreal. Much of Aluphor unfolds in “open” meter, favoring an intuitive sense of time. Movements II, III, and VI, however, feature a defined a rhythmic structure, outlined by phasing pulses in the vein of Steve Reich.
Standing as one distinctly unified whole, Aluphor is a monolith in sonic form. Its glacial exterior disguises a warm, glowing core. Here, at the center, a swarm of feelings circulate the subconscious, funneling upwards towards clarity. Oscillating between moments of strength and gentle tranquility, the album is a balanced offering of immersive music for those seeking the kind of transcendent experience invoked by Aluphor.
Press Highlights:
'Aluphor' Audio/Visual Stream on FACT
Headaches Interviewed by Stadiums & Shrines
"VI" Reviewed on Exclaim!
"VI" Reviewed on Impose
"V" Premiered on The Ransom Note
"Steev" Reviewed on XLR8R
"Steev" in Hypemachine's Stack Newsletter (9/30)
"Rona" Reviewed on Exclaim!
“Stagest” Reviewed on XLR8R
“Snacks” Reviewed on No Fear Of Pop
“Snacks” Reviewed on XLR8R
Follow Headaches:
Soundcloud | Instagram | Twitter
*For more information about Headaches, please contact label manager Brandon Sanchez (brandon@humanpitch.fm).