'Crossing the Sea by Radio'

Crossing the Sea by rRadio

Click here to buy 'Crossing the Sea by Radio' at iTunes

We produced around 70 CDr copies of this one, but forgot to count properly. Produced in our home studio, using a Nord Modular Synthesizer our Latronic Notron and Ableton 4, we sold them to fans and people in the streets. It can still be bought at iTunes, but our official CDr copies have been sold out for a long time.

Tracklisting:

1. 'Crossing the Sea by Radio' 11:08
2. 'This Summer' 05:52
3. 'The Spiral at the Window' 10:54
4. 'Staph Haven' 07:21
5. 'Crossing the Sea by Radio (Reprise)' 02:37

My ancestors came here by radio. Transmitted by sound broadcasting stations then received, demodulated and amplified so they could move around freely. Acquired from the atmosphere where they formed into living, breathing organisms. A Celestial object such as a supernova remnant or a quasar, that is a source of radio waves. My ancestors came here by radio sent by radio signals. They were in radio. They think radio is poor these days.

~

R e v i e w s

The Wire reviewed 'Crossing the Sea by Radio' in the December 2005 Issue 262:

'An involving EP from this mysterious Nottingham based duo, the opening title track being especially good. It's a loose, deep sea skank, constructed from submerged radio voices and wobbly, gelatinous synths just about kept in check by a wayward bassline that I suspect is actually processed speech. Now, while dilettantism, like ridicule, is nothing to be scared of, the five tracks on this EP bear such scant resemblance to one another that the whole just doesn't hold together as a unified document. 'This Summer' is a jaunty IDM romp that has some of the low key charm of Kim Hiorthoy's work, whilst 'The Spiral at the Window', a creepy montage of frozen ambience and beats that sound like zombies banging on the inside of their coffins, is just crying out for a Genesis P.Orridge monologue. 'Staph Haven', meanwhile, sounds a lot like Tangerine Dream circa Rubycon. It's all interesting stuff, but jeez! Talk about an identity crisis. Before listening to 'Crossing the Sea....' I didn't know who Formication were. Now that I've heard it I'm not sure that they do, either.'

Amanda Young of Leftlion reviewed 'Crossing the Sea...' here:

"Electronica layered, synthetic sounds creating an ambience of the underwater world. There is a slow evolution over a maximum amount of time as scrambled vocals and synths reverberate and become obscured. Track three is dark and mysterious full of acoustical serenity. Exciting and enticing, an exploration of humans and space unfolds from the ambient soundfield. Ace."

Review from Hassni Malik of Vitamin B12 & Theme fame:

'Many have tried but few -the noble few- have succeeded. Formication
have strayed into the darkened undergrowth once marked Coil and dug a
burrow all of their own. Alec and Kingsley have an air about them that
recalls (in sensation and effect) ‘Gold is the Metal’ in all its
primordial urges, assembling a complex series of sounds (found, played
and conjured) into an extravagantly presented album. Far from being
merely a terrific listening experience, they have the good fortune of
being able to seal off your listening room and plunge you into an
unknowingly ritualised theatre where your instincts for ritual and
revelation are triggered. Their results come from extended periods of
hermetic practice but still I wonder if they quite realize what they
are capable of. There are flashes of colour sensed only at the corners
of your eye; peculiar under pinnings of tone and hidden rhythm that
cause a disturbance of the heart; an uneasy awareness of things
revealed where once there was banality. Voices carried over radio waves
sound more and more like the voices of those who live in the parallel
universe; the Blake-ian angels who live amongst us, unseen but sensed.
Formication reveal what your soul already knew.

This album came from nowhere. It appeared with a request to hear it.
And now I find myself hidden away in the room with these precisely
defined tracks which set fire to the air.

Like all great artists, they demand the very best of themselves, with
no compromise. The presentation of the album is a lesson in how an
album is more than something you listen to. It -sound recordings- are
the very lifeblood of what we are. If not, then what are you doing
reading this? The ‘whole’ is a piece in itself. The artwork, the
design, the photography. Every aspect is integrally linked to the
creation of this one piece.

There are many things worthy of your attention and repeated listening, but more than this Formication are something that will grow into a structure for your own life. '

"...way too delicate to be noise"

"...this would work great in a movie, in a scene on a subway where the main character is looking blankly out of a window, flashing back about the nun who looked like his older sister that he just strangled...."

"Clean thin metal feel, containing tiny tunes - like a toy cathedral - a fleeting memory."

"...I did quite like this piece of audio you have created here. Musically, I think its horseshit, but as a piece of audio I really enjoyed it's soothing qualities."

"...reminds me of Mass Transit, catching little fragments of conversation that you're not really a part of. Very cool."

"...I don't think my headphones are working properly?"

"Insistent rhythms and the afterglow of the bass on your skin, you can't help but feel that the summer sun is setting when the track reaches a close."

~

This form Maire M over at CDBaby:

'I am a woman of few words. Seriously, CD was great, unique and extremely cool. I give it 4.75 stars!!'

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

	'Crossing the Sea by Radio'	February 15, 2007

	Click here to buy 'Crossing the Sea by Radio' at iTunes We produced around 70 CDr copies of this one, but forgot to count properly. Produced in our home studio, using a Nord Modular Synthesizer our Latronic Notron and Ableton 4, we sold them to fans and people in the streets. It can still be bought at iTunes, but our official CDr copies have been sold out for a long time. Tracklisting: 1. 'Crossing the Sea by Radio' 11:08 2. 'This Summer' 05:52 3. 'The Spiral at the Window' 10:54 4. 'Staph Haven' 07:21 5. 'Crossing the Sea by Radio (Reprise)' 02:37 My ancestors came here by radio. Transmitted by sound broadcasting stations then received, demodulated and amplified so they could move around freely. Acquired from the atmosphere where they formed into living, breathing organisms. A Celestial object such as a supernova remnant or a quasar, that is a source of radio waves. My ancestors came here by radio sent by radio signals. They were in radio. They think radio is poor these days. ~ R e v i e w s The Wire reviewed 'Crossing the Sea by Radio' in the December 2005 Issue 262: 'An involving EP from this mysterious Nottingham based duo, the opening title track being especially good. It's a loose, deep sea skank, constructed from submerged radio voices and wobbly, gelatinous synths just about kept in check by a wayward bassline that I suspect is actually processed speech. Now, while dilettantism, like ridicule, is nothing to be scared of, the five tracks on this EP bear such scant resemblance to one another that the whole just doesn't hold together as a unified document. 'This Summer' is a jaunty IDM romp that has some of the low key charm of Kim Hiorthoy's work, whilst 'The Spiral at the Window', a creepy montage of frozen ambience and beats that sound like zombies banging on the inside of their coffins, is just crying out for a Genesis P.Orridge monologue. 'Staph Haven', meanwhile, sounds a lot like Tangerine Dream circa Rubycon. It's all interesting stuff, but jeez! Talk about an identity crisis. Before listening to 'Crossing the Sea....' I didn't know who Formication were. Now that I've heard it I'm not sure that they do, either.' ~ Amanda Young of Leftlion reviewed 'Crossing the Sea...' here: "Electronica layered, synthetic sounds creating an ambience of the underwater world. There is a slow evolution over a maximum amount of time as scrambled vocals and synths reverberate and become obscured. Track three is dark and mysterious full of acoustical serenity. Exciting and enticing, an exploration of humans and space unfolds from the ambient soundfield. Ace." ~ Review from Hassni Malik of Vitamin B12 & Theme fame: 'Many have tried but few -the noble few- have succeeded. Formication have strayed into the darkened undergrowth once marked Coil and dug a burrow all of their own. Alec and Kingsley have an air about them that recalls (in sensation and effect) ‘Gold is the Metal’ in all its primordial urges, assembling a complex series of sounds (found, played and conjured) into an extravagantly presented album. Far from being merely a terrific listening experience, they have the good fortune of being able to seal off your listening room and plunge you into an unknowingly ritualised theatre where your instincts for ritual and revelation are triggered. Their results come from extended periods of hermetic practice but still I wonder if they quite realize what they are capable of. There are flashes of colour sensed only at the corners of your eye; peculiar under pinnings of tone and hidden rhythm that cause a disturbance of the heart; an uneasy awareness of things revealed where once there was banality. Voices carried over radio waves sound more and more like the voices of those who live in the parallel universe; the Blake-ian angels who live amongst us, unseen but sensed. Formication reveal what your soul already knew. This album came from nowhere. It appeared with a request to hear it. And now I find myself hidden away in the room with these precisely defined tracks which set fire to the air. Like all great artists, they demand the very best of themselves, with no compromise. The presentation of the album is a lesson in how an album is more than something you listen to. It -sound recordings- are the very lifeblood of what we are. If not, then what are you doing reading this? The ‘whole’ is a piece in itself. The artwork, the design, the photography. Every aspect is integrally linked to the creation of this one piece. There are many things worthy of your attention and repeated listening, but more than this Formication are something that will grow into a structure for your own life. ' ~ "...way too delicate to be noise" "...this would work great in a movie, in a scene on a subway where the main character is looking blankly out of a window, flashing back about the nun who looked like his older sister that he just strangled...." "Clean thin metal feel, containing tiny tunes - like a toy cathedral - a fleeting memory." "...I did quite like this piece of audio you have created here. Musically, I think its horseshit, but as a piece of audio I really enjoyed it's soothing qualities." "...reminds me of Mass Transit, catching little fragments of conversation that you're not really a part of. Very cool." "...I don't think my headphones are working properly?" "Insistent rhythms and the afterglow of the bass on your skin, you can't help but feel that the summer sun is setting when the track reaches a close." ~ This form Maire M over at CDBaby: 'I am a woman of few words. Seriously, CD was great, unique and extremely cool. I give it 4.75 stars!!' ~ This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.