release date: 26.03.2021 via Jazzland
sonic tapestries blending field recordings with acoustic and electric instruments, often warped into strange new shapes ★★★★ MOJO
a seductive ambient heat haze of rarefied beauty. PROG
a beautifully and slowly evolving album that takes us on a transcendental journey that feels simultaneously unfamiliar, benign and inviting…. Tortusa’s finest and most distinctive work to date
8/10, FUTURE MUSIC
The album has taken three years to create, and features contributions from some of Norway’s finest musicians, including three of his idols: Arve Henriksen, Eivind Aarset and Erland Dahlen. “Bre” is composed of ambient experimental music heavily inspired by nature, and takes the listener on an emotional journey. Tortusa paints with sounds, and the music inspires inner visualisation of the story he tells through his weaving and blending of abstract sonic material.
The sampling of acoustic instruments forms the foundation of the album. Tortusa takes essentially familiar instrumental sounds, and warps, mangles, distorts and modulates them, de-familiarizing them, repositioning them both in the context of themselves and other sounds, creating a new sonic vocabulary that is neither exclusively organic nor synthetic, but is an aesthetically balanced combination of both. This process is the source of the album’s originality and distinction from more conventional approaches to sampling and synthesis.
Tortusa composes his music with an array of hardware and software samplers, that are then fed into various effects or effects chains for further manipulations. His draws inspiration from producers like Biosphere, Flying Lotus, Teebs, and Nils Frahm. Field recordings are an important part of the production and lend additional dimensions to the music and extend the textures and moods. The music is melodic, slowly evolving and meditative.
Bre by TORTUSA
tracks:
Bre (feat. Erland Dahlen and Inge Weatherhead Breistein)
Så Oss Altså Ikke (feat. Eivind Aarset)
Ubevegelige (feat. Arve Henriksen)
Bristen Ingen Kjente (feat. Erland Dahlen)
Gå Nå (feat (Svein Rikard Mathisen)
Lyset Likevel (feat. Eivind Aarset)
Like Overfor
Ikke Tale (feat. Eivind Aarset, Erland Dahlen and Inge Weatherhead Breistein)
Om Bare (feat. Simen Kiil Halvorsen)
Preget Uten Minne (feat. Arve Henriksen)
Noen Må Ha Sagt At Det Er Sant (feat. Erland Dahlen)
Ørten (feat. Svein Rikard Mathisen)
line up:
TORTUSA :sampling/processing
with:
Arve Henriksen: trumpet
Eivind Aarset: guitar
Erland Dahlen: drums, percussion
Inge Weatherhead Breistein: saxophone
Simen Kiil Halvorsen: trumpet
Svein Rikard Mathisen: guitar
*** BIO ***
John Derek Bishop (alias Tortusa) is a Norwegian-American electronic musician and producer from Stavanger, Norway.
A cornerstone in Tortusa´s production is the texture and timbre of sound. He searches for sounds that are out of the ordinary and places the listener in different emotional states. For compositional processes, Tortusa utilizes both hardware equipment and software including retro tape recorders, modular synthesizers, samplers and a diverse array of other tools. On stage Tortusa live samples the musicians he plays with creating an intense and spontaneous experience. Aside from making music he works with photography and has made the cover art for his albums.
Tortusa has previously released 1 solo and 2 collaborative albums on Jazzland Recordings, and plays regularly in Germany, England, Poland and France with his projects. Tortusa´s solo album “I Know this Place” was nominated for the Spellemann Prize 2016 (Norwegian Grammy) and he has performed at legendary Punkt Festival in 2018.
https://tortusa.bandcamp.com
https://bishopnorway.weebly.