Bittles‘ Magazine
xAs you know we quite like to champion exciting new talent here at Titel-Magazine! And as Bluredism is relatively new to these ears, and extremely talented we thought it was about time we got him in for an interview. The lavish praise he has received from Panorama Bar regulars Ryan Elliot and Martyn shows just how well-respected Bristol-based sonic adventurer Bradley Albertides is. Having previously treated us to some rather funky beat-based 12 inches under various guises he has just sneaked out his very first artist album. By JOHN BITTLES
Beautiful Ugly Collection should be in shops both real and virtual as you read this, coming out on the cool-as-fuck house imprint Teng. The record’s ten tracks move elegantly from piano-led ambience to gorgeously deep broken house. If you’re an electronic music fan seeking something with a bit of musicality, emotion and depth then this could very well be the album for you. And if you don’t want any of these things in your music then take a good long look at yourself and change your life before it’s just too late.
5:01 Intro is a captivating opener, and a subtle statement of intent with its swirling sense of disquiet and unsettling air, before Winning Colour introduces some house style beats and drum n’ bass style breaks into proceedings. If That’s It is a stunningly beautiful piano-led piece that is mournful, and brimming with the type of splendour that can very easily make you swoon through the simple knowledge that something so spellbindingly gorgeous can actually exist. Also seek out Pages of You which recalls the glacial stillness of Moby in its sense of grandeur.
Dots In Patches and Darkness Lights sound akin to post dubstep with their dark head-nodding grooves. Another highlight is I Want To Breathe (feat. Anna) with its claustrophobic vocals and calypso drums recalling the majestic might of Burial even as it gently urges you towards the dancefloor. The record ends with a double-dose of heart-stopping ambience with The Wind Stole My Hat and No Other Thought leaving the listener thoroughly entranced and eager for more.
As you can probably tell already, I am a bit of a fan. So it was an absolute pleasure to have Bradley answer my questions for the mag. Anyone who wants to hear some of the album while reading this should link up with his Soundcloud page at https://soundcloud.com/bluredism
For those unfortunate people out there who haven’t heard your music yet, can you tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do?
My name is Bradley, I’m from a small town in South Wales called Barry, but I’m now living in Bristol. I have been making music for a good while, about 14 years or so.
I started making music in the late 90’s under the name DiverseConcepts, creating hip hop, jungle and drum and bass mostly, but always the more experimental side of the genres.
As the music world evolved, so did I, changing my name towards the end of last year to Blured/Bluredism and began focusing my energy towards techno and soundscapes.
Your debut album Beautiful Ugly Collection is out on Teng on the 14th October. What made you decide the time was right to release an album?
I have made a lot of music over the years that vary in genre. I never stick to one type of music and a lot of my stuff is experimental, that probably would never get released as a single or 12″.
So over the period between 2003 and 2010 I compiled 20 odd tracks that I would like to use as an album, mostly soundscapes or just melodic, evolving loops and the odd bit of house/techno that is a little bit different. Earlier in the year I narrowed that down again, to about 12 tracks which I then blended together as a sort of mix and called it The Beautiful Ugly Collection. I had been talking with Teng about the Life And Bad Girls release and was asked how I feel about putting some of the tracks from The Beautiful Ugly Collection together as an LP to be released. To be honest I was a bit dubious because I had only had 1 other release at this point under the name Blured and I also wanted to keep my name Blured separate from other genres I was making. Having only one release it seemed a bit soon to do an album, but the way I felt, I have been making music so long that I thought I was ready and capable of putting together an album. So I picked the 10 tracks that I thought suited and had meaning for me, because like I said, these tracks are from the past rather than what I am doing now.
The record is a pretty diverse yet completely satisfying listening experience. Were the tracks created with the intention of working as a whole?
As I said in the above answer, all the tracks were made at different times between 2003 and 2010, so I didn’t make all the tracks in the notion of making an album, more of a collection of my more diverse music. I had thought about making an album because I have so much music, but nothing ever come of it until now, which I am very grateful for.
If That’s It may just be the most beautiful piece of music I have heard all year. How did this track come about?
Really? Ha! Thanks! Well, this and Pages Of You were made in the same week. It was a part of my life where good and bad things were happening. My frame of mind was like, well if thats it, thats it… It sort of sounds sad, but it’s more about evolving from a bad point to a good point. So as the track progresses, it becomes more happy. Ha! I don’t know if that makes any sense?
If you had a market stall selling your album what would your pitch be?
Haha! These are pretty good questions! Well… The only thing I can think of is,
beats for a paaaand, come on, get your beats for a paaaand! Job lot a tenner!
I Want to Breathe is another highlight for me and sounds eerie and spooky yet with a warm comforting vibe. Can you tell us a little bit about this track?
I distinctively remember making this track. I was living in Bristol at the time and was working nights in a dodgy old car park. I worked from 7pm till 2am 6 days a week. When I would get home after my shift I would be up all night, wired from excessive coffee drinking and chain smoking. By the time I got to bed it was gone 5am and I wouldn’t wake up till 4pm, so my day was gone. So, this track was made over a week between 2am and 5am minus the vocals. A guy I was working at the car park with, Si Merry, ( Bad Habitz ) a hip hop producer, invited me over to his studio to work with this girl Anna, a classically trained vocalist. He bounced her vocals and passed them on to me to work with. So my track which was based on the fact I had no time to breathe, just work and her haunting vocal with the lyrics, I want to breath just seemed to work well with the composition coincidentally.
If your album could slightly change the world for the better yet only sell 5 copies, or slightly make the world worse and sell a million copies which would you choose?
Ha! The way I see it, the world as we know it is a pretty bad place. So if I could make it slightly better, that would benefit a lot of people, including my family and friends. As long as those 5 people that bought the album spread the love, I’m sure it wouldn’t really matter how many are sold as long as 5 people are happy with their purchase and everyone’s got a grin on their face for a day, that could make the world a slightly more better place. Not sure how Teng would feel about that though ;)
Beautiful Ugly Collection is Teng’s first ever artist album. Did this make you feel any extra pressure?
I didn’t feel any pressure to be honest, but I feel privileged to be their 1st LP release. I was shitting myself with the reviews though! The only reason being because I am a relatively new artist on the circuit and all these tracks are from my back catalogue. I was thinking that maybe people would feel the album was dated or it would be something they wouldn’t expect from me because of my previous release on Y.C.O Records with, It’s Quite. I would like to think it is something people will listen to more than once, so it’s not disposable.
What was it like working with the people at Teng?
Great! Nick and Filippo are a pleasure to work with. They keep me in the loop with details and reports, always offer help and support if needed and have a lot of belief in the artists they work with. I hope I can keep working with them in the future.
What was it that made you decide to get into music production?
Having grown up in a town where there is not much to do to keep you busy, you sort of get up to all types of mischief. I used to do graffiti art and met writers who also made music. A friend of mine, Andrew or better known as Hoxe had a ridiculous set up and showed me the music he was making. It was the most technical drum and bass I had ever heard. I think that was the moment, the divine inspiration that led me to want to take music production seriously.
A lot of your tracks have a real cinematic quality. Would you ever consider moving into the world of soundtracks?
Indeed! This is an area of music I would be very excited to work in. I make all my deeper/experimental tracks based on memories or something that is happening to me at that time, so it’s kind of like when I create the music, I am making a soundtrack for my thoughts.
I don’t know much about that part of the industry but I hope over the next few years I can work with artists and film makers to create the atmosphere for their visions.
Do you have a favourite soundtrack?
I love a lot of soundtracks, but not in their entirety. I find there are either a couple or a few pieces that stick out, or some that are just nice to listen to but don’t grab your attention. My favourite soundtrack is from Eternal Sunshine For The Spotless Mind by Jon Brion. It is composed so well and accents the moments in the film with atmospheric precision.
Do you have any plans to tour the album?
I don’t really DJ and don’t have the facilities to play live. With this album I would like to play it live rather than rock up with a couple of CD’s and mix various BPM’s to a crowd that would probably appreciate it more if they could watch the creative process rather than just listen to tracks they would relax in their rooms to. I will be working on getting more equipment and sussing out the live scenario in the near future. So maybe not this time round but when I can, I will.
If you could have created or been involved in the creation of any song from any time which would it be and why?
This is a difficult question! There is so much great music from the past and now that I would have loved to create or be involved in. I think I’m going to go with Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody. That was the 1st record I ever owned, well my Mother gave it to me as a kid. That track was mind-blowing to me, the riffs, drums and solos, it was amazing. The way it switched tempo, the bridges in between, Freddy’s voice, everything about the way it was crafted. It still gives me goosebumps now! Ha!
And on that bombshell we take our leave. The album is available to buy here Enjoy!
| JOHN BITTLES
