Jun Torii, aka Monolithic, creates dreamy, lofi house sprinkled with touches of nostalgia and urban imagery. Born in Japan, raised in Germany, US and the UK, and now based in New York, Jun has certainly seen his fair share of international cityscapes and neon-lit skylines.
Since graduating from the Institute of Audio Research in New York with a certificate in audio recording and production, Jun has gone on to work as an audio engineer and dialog editor for television, film and video games. Always keeping side projects and electronic music on the go, Jun has also managed to carve out a unique niche for himself in the lofi house music community.
Jun describes the Monolith sound as "booming 909 kicks, compressed claps, saturated bass plucks, and dreamy synthwork." A distinct throwback to the sounds of yesterday with a keen ear to the clean, cutting modern production methods of today. Monolith 'Time' serves as a friendly reminder that lofi house can be hazy, nostalgic, crisp and well mixed all at the same time. Serving as the 30th release from Melbourne-based label clipp.art, 'Time' finds a comfortable home within the labels eclectic, feel good discography.
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New ambient release from Keith Kenniff on Ghostly Intl.
For over a decade Keith Kenniff has been recording ambient and electronic music mostly at night through an old lofi tape recorder. Keith prefers noctural producing habits as he states "my mind is less distracted when I know that everything is dark outside". He adds that the cheap, cassette recorder adds a nice final touch to the sound "a lovely little imperfect way to treat sounds."
A Pennsylvanian by birth, Keith Kenniff graduated with honours from the esteemed Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. Taking his technical knowledge and creative spark then applying these to a number of sounds and genres; Kenniff has been the brains behind many critically acclaimed groups and projects. These include his electronica/ambient alias 'Helios', his solo piano project 'Goldmund' and his indie rock band along with his wife Hollie Kenniff called 'Mint Julep.'
His recent release on Ghostly International 'Verditas' follows this lineage of unbound creativity and constant artistic progression. With a focus more on texture and harmony rather than arrangement and structure, this new album introduces new genre-defying concepts and ideas into the Helios catalog. Keith comments on this new approach: "I wanted to explore emotionality within something more static."
The opening track 'Seeming' is a 2 and a half minute journey of stunning ambiance, lush layers of swirling synths, and an undiluted expression in emotionality. The album passes not as a series of individual tracks, but rather a collection of moments that are as fluid and regenerative as they are hopeful and human.
Helios 'Veriditas' releases August 31, 2018 on Ghostly International.
Pre-order the release on limited edition marbled vinyl, CD, or digital.
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