RECORDINGS
ALBUMS
DANIEL LEA & JAMIE MICHAEL MCCARTHY –
HTOCNEA
VAST HABITAT 2024
THE INDISTINCT MOMENTS BEFORE THE HORIZON COMES INTO FOCUS. A GLACIAL LAKE SHROUDED IN A LUMESCENT MIST, ITS OUTLINE SMUDGED.
HTOCNEA IS AN INVITATION TO NEW AURAL VISTAS, SHARP FOCUSED TRACKS ROUNDED OUT WITH THE MYSTERIOUS AND THE UNSEEN. THE RESULT OF A DECADE-LONG MUSICAL COLLABORATION BETWEEN JAMIE MICHAEL MCCARTHY AND DANIEL LEA, THIS NEW BODY OF WORK PAINTS THESE AURAL HORIZONS WITH VIOLIN OR CELLO MOTIFS, LAYERED AND MIXED WITH THE TORQUE OF DRONES AND ATMOSPHERIC PROCESSING.
NEW CORRODED – PASS LIGHTLY
VAST HABITAT 2024
DANIEL LEA (CURA MACHINES, HELIOCHRYSUM AND L A N D) AND GUY BREWER (SHIFTED & CARRIER) ARE NEW CORRODED ON DEBUT COLLABORATIVE LP PASS LIGHTLY.
SET FOR RELEASE VIA LEA’S VAST HABITAT IMPRINT, THE RECORD WAS COMPOSED REMOTELY AND DOCUMENTS AN ABSTRACT, ALMOST ARCHITECTURAL PROCESS OF SOUND COLLAGE THAT RELIES AS MUCH ON SYSTEM, BALANCE AND CAREFUL ENGINEERING AS IT DOES ON CHAOS AND CHANCE. THE RESULT IS A COHESIVE AND DETAILED LP THAT DELIVERS A MODERN TAKE ON THE IDEAL OF SOUND AS A MALLEABLE FORCE – OF SONICS AS A VEHICLE FOR PHYSICALITY, AS MUCH AS AURAL PLEASURE.
CURA MACHINES – NEURO
BEDOUIN RECORDS 2024
WHAT THE LISTENER MIGHT ENCOUNTER ON THIS ALBUM GOES ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE SOUND OF A NEURON TRANSMITTING PAIN, BEATITUDE OR ANY ONE OF THE COUNTLESS SENSES AND IMPRESSIONS WE FEEL ON ANY ONE DAY OF LIFE. N E U R O IS THE DEBUT ALBUM BY CURA MACHINES, A NEW PROJECT BY DANIEL LEA WHOSE TRACKS ARE AT ONCE SCIENTIFIC IN THEIR CAPTURING OF THE MORPHING OF BODY CELLS AS WELL AS THE LARGER EXPANSES OF A POETIC FILMSCAPE OF THE CONTEMPORARY METROPOLIS.
THE NAME CURA MACHINES COMES FROM A SIGN LEA SAW ON A TRIP TO ANCONA, ITALY AT AN ABANDONED HOSPITAL: PRIMA E DOPO LA CURA (BEFORE AND AFTER THE CURE). THE SOUND IN BETWEEN, OF WHAT WAS LOST OR FOUND, TRANSMUTED IN THE HEAVILY MANIPULATED AND PULSATING SYNTHESISERS, IS THE RESTORATION HERE. WITH A PHYSICALLY VISCERAL MIX BY BEN FROST AND SOARING RE-AMPED BASS TEXTURES FROM YAIR ELAZAR GLOTMAN, THE ALBUM IS LUSH WITH TRANS-MORPHING APEGGIA THAT SHUDDER, QUACK AND SOAR INTO ASHEN SPARKS.
DANIEL LEA – ENTHEOGEN
VAST HABITAT 2023
AS A COLLECTION OF TRACKS ENTHEOGEN, DANIEL LEA’S LATEST SOLO ALBUM (L A N D - IMPORTANT RECORDS, HELIOCHRYSUM - BEDROOM COMMUNITY AND CURA MACHINES), CHARTS A JOURNEY THAT IS BOTH VISUALLY AND AURALLY KALEIDOSCOPIC, EXPANDING AND UNFOLDING IN A SERIES OF WAYPOINTS THAT JUST AS THEY MAY THREATEN AN OVERWHELMING SENSORY CLOUDBURST, THEY DUCK AND SHIMMY JUST IN TIME TO ALLOW THE LISTENER TO COME UP FOR AIR, TAKE A BREATH, BEFORE RE-ENTERING A NEW WORLD. OR INDEED, UNIVERSE.
AS SUCH AN HALLUCINATORY MUSICAL JOURNEY IT CAN BE QUITE SUBTLE, SUCH AS ON F L O A T W I T H I N, WHICH APPEARS EARLY ALONG THE ALBUM’S PATH: THE SHIFT FROM MINOR TO MAJOR AND BACK AGAIN IS REPLETE WITH SUBTLE MACHINES BEEPING AS THE TRACK GOES ON TO BECOME STRATOSPHERIC. ON A TRACK LEVEL, ‘ENTHEOGEN’ CONSTANTLY SHIFTS HARMONIC GEARS: TWO OR THREE ACT STRUCTURES BURBLE AND PULSATE IN ESCHERESQUE COMPOSITIONS.
HELIOCHRYSUM – WE BECOME MIST
BEDROOM COMMUNITY 2021
HELIOCHRYSUM IS THE WORLD BUILDING MEETING OF MICHAEL DERAGON AND DANIEL LEA ( L A N D, IMPORTANT RECORDS), IN WHICH A COLLABORATION BECOMES A SCULPTED JOURNEY INTO NEW AURAL AND IMAGINATIVE COSMOLOGY. WE BECOME MIST USES ANALOGUE AND DIGITAL PROCESSES TO MINE THE DEPTHS OF INDUSTRIAL AND SCIENCE FICTIONAL, PSYCHEDELIC SOUNDSCAPES, OFTEN CINEMATIC IN TONE AND TEXTURE.
TAKING THEIR CUE FROM A SHARED PALETTE OF SOUNDS, TEXTURES AND RHYTHMS, HELIOCHRYSUM CREATE A UNIFYING SCORE THAT IS AT ONCE IMPROVISATORY AND SONICALLY CERTAIN. WE BECOME MIST IS NOTHING SHORT OF THE PROGRESSION FROM A SOUTERRAIN AWAKENING TO THE TERRAFORMED SOUND OF A NEW WORLD COMING INTO EXISTENCE.
HELIOCHRYSUM – FORBIDEEN STRUCTURES
BEDROOM COMMUNITY 2021
HELIOCHRYSUM IS A BRAND NEW PROJECT BASED IN LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, CONSISTING OF ESTEEMED FILM COMPOSER MICHAEL DERAGON, AND SOUND DESIGNER/COMPOSER DANIEL LEA (L A N D, IMPORTANT RECORDS).
THIS DEBUT EP IS A VISCERAL INTRODUCTION TO THE DUO'S WORK: RICH, DEEP AND EXPLORATORY. MIXED BY BEDCOM ALUMNI BEN FROST AND MASTERED BY LABEL OWNER VALGEIR SIGURÐSSON, THESE TRACKS USE ANALOGUE AND DIGITAL PROCESSES TO MINE THE DEPTHS OF INDUSTRIAL, SCIENCE FICTIONAL AND PSYCHEDELIC SOUNDSCAPES - OFTEN CINEMATIC IN TONE AND TEXTURE. THIS EP INTRODUCES AND PRECEDES MORE AV AND RECORDING WORK IN 2021.
CURA MACHINE – NEURO
IMPORTANT RECORDS 2018
WHAT THE LISTENER MIGHT ENCOUNTER ON THIS ALBUM GOES ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE SOUND OF A NEURON TRANSMITTING PAIN, BEATITUDE OR ANY ONE OF THE COUNTLESS SENSES AND IMPRESSIONS WE FEEL ON ANY ONE DAY OF LIFE. N E U R O IS THE DEBUT ALBUM BY CURA MACHINES, A NEW PROJECT BY DANIEL LEA WHOSE TRACKS ARE AT ONCE SCIENTIFIC IN THEIR CAPTURING OF THE MORPHING OF BODY CELLS AS WELL AS THE LARGER EXPANSES OF A POETIC FILMSCAPE OF THE CONTEMPORARY METROPOLIS.
CURA MACHINE – XENIAL
INFINITE MACHINE 2020
XENIAL BY CURA MACHINES, THE SYNTHETIC AND IMMERSIVE ALIAS OF COMPOSER DANIEL LEA WITH THREE SHATTERING PIECES THAT EXPLORE MULTIDIMENSIONAL RESONANCES AND UNCANNY ATMOSPHERES IN THE MOST STIRRING WAY. BETWEEN THE HISTRIONIC AND THE UNEARTHLY, XENIAL IS A GHOSTLY COLLECTION OF OVERWHELMING AURAL ENVIRONMENTS EMBODIED IN THREE SOUNDTRACK-LIKE COMPOSITIONS. THE FUTURISTIC MOTIVES OF THESE EERIE LIKE SOUNDSCAPES EMERGE AS A SCI-FI NARRATIVE THAT RESONATE IN FORSAKEN SURROUNDINGS WITH MYTHICAL AMBIANCES.
L A N D – ANOXIA
IMPORTANT RECORDS – 2015
THE SECOND L A N D ALBUM ANOXIA SEES DANIEL LEA RETURN ALONE WITH AN OUTING THAT MARKS A SHIFT FROM THE INDUSTRIAL INFLECTED JAZZ NOIR OF THE PREVIOUS ALBUM INTO DISTINCTLY NEW TERRAIN. MIXED BY BEN FROST AT GREENHOUSE STUDIOS IN REYKJAVIK THE ALBUM WAS MASTERED IN BERLIN BY RASHAD BECKER AT D&M.
AND WHILE ANOXIA MEANS THE TOTAL ABSENCE OF OXYGEN, IN LEA'S HANDS IT HERALDS AURAL ENVIRONMENTS THAT ARE FULL OF THE DREAMS OF MAN THAT MAY WELL BE DEVOID OF HIS LIVING PRESENCE. AS WE ALL KNOW, THE ANTHROPOCENE ERA IN WHICH WE LIVE HAS MANY MANMADE MONUMENTS THAT ADD UP TO A TOTAL PRESENCE WE WILL LEAVE BEHIND: THE LABYRINTHINE ARRANGEMENTS OF LEA ARE A SOUNDTRACK TO SUCH A WORLD, ONE WITHOUT MAN THAT IS NEVERTHELESS A WORLD FULLY MARKED AND CONSTRUCTED BY HIM.
L A N D – NIGHT WITHIN
IMPORTANT RECORDS – 2012
GUEST CONTRIBUTIONS INCLUDE DAVID SYLVIAN, DANIEL O'SULLIVAN (MIRACLE AND ULVER), DUKE GARWOOD AND MANY OTHERS WITH THE TWO CREATORS, DANIEL LEA AND MATTHEW WATERS, BOTH TAKING A DIRECTORIAL ROLE.
THE ALBUM WAS SCULPTED IN REYKJAVIK BY BEN FROST, ENHANCED BY HIS SIGNATURE AURAL PHYSICALITY AND VISCERAL SUB BASS. THE ALBUM IS A VAST COLLISION OF SOUND, FROM FREE BRASS AND WOODWIND TO "GEOMETRIC" BOWED CYMBALS AND METALLIC PERCUSSION.