Peter Broderick & Machinefabriek
Blank Grey Canvas Sky

A Norman Records recommendation (26th November 2009)

This record left our Brian feeling happy.

Now then, now then. Another exciting collaboration is in our midst. I'm holding a CD on Fang Bomb that comes in a lovely new designer digipak and the artists are Peter Broderick & Machinefabriek so if that doesn't juice your sack of oranges right up, you're nothing but a grumply ol' husk y' hear? As you can imagine, from the off, Peter's minimalist piano caressing is suspended & secreted from all orifices and angles in this sound sphere whilst eerie, fizzing electronic static & pulsating atmospherics offer no respite from the listless aura. But then Adam Selzer plinks the ivories on the utterly magical 'Planes' which sounds like the heartstopping soundtrack to a snowy fantasy world. Then 'Kites' changes tack again, an abandoned sombre piano and wispy chamber style strings can be heard discreetly, buried under a fog of wavering, feedbacky drones & drifting organ, the tension & majesty continually building until you're totally immersed in absolute grandeur. With another 3 tracks to go I'm not gonna burden you further, for rest assured this is one pretty essential package from some gifted producers! 'Blank Grey Canvas Sky' it's called!

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Sound clips for Blank Grey Canvas Sky

Departure Play

Planes Play

Kites Play

Rain Play

Blank Grey Play

Homecoming Play

What their label says...

"We tried a lot of different things on this album, pushing ourselves to explore new areas… And for me the result is the collection of music I feel most proud of so far."- Peter Broderick.

 

Over the past few years the output of Peter Broderick and Rutger Zyudervelt, aka Machinefabriek, has gained them both global reputations for their respective, unique insights into sound, music and performance…separately. Not to say this was inevitable, but some might say it was only a matter of time until the two were brought together. ‘Blank Grey Canvas Sky’ is the pair’s first full length collaborative outing, and the results speak for themselves.

 

‘Blank Grey Canvas Sky’ joins the dots between Broderick’s impeccable ear for melodies and hooks, and Zyudervelt’s mastery as a sound technician, able to draw the most unlikely results from an array of sound sources. Here we are treated to six pieces of exploratory, instrumental soundscaping; Broderick’s sorrowful fleeting string passages and minimal piano improvisations meld perfectly with Zyudervelt’s subtly dark, droning undertones and audio treatments, creating compositions which rise and fall with effortless beauty.

 

Anyone already familiar with Peter Broderick or Machinefabriek’s music will recognize their individual signatures through the album – the emotive, melancholic nature of the pieces found within possess a quality all of their own. Not surprisingly, somewhat comparable at times to their solo works, there are still yet moments of spontaneous brilliance which capture what it is about both these artists that makes this pairing work so perfectly – these compositions are intuitive, organic, ever growing.

 

‘Departure’ offers a dark yet melodic introduction to the album, its low drones and sparse piano fragments setting the tone for the journey to come. ‘Planes’ is propelled forward by Broderick’s rhythmic, minimalist piano style which grows into a euphoric crescendo of sound. Further in, ‘Kites’ rests upon a single note organ tone, building layers of submerged instrumentation and buried melodies, comparable at times to Gavin Bryars’ ‘Sinking Of The Titanic’, at others seemingly related to the textural sonic explorations of artists such as Jasper TX, Liondialer and Erik Skodvin (Miasmah/Svarte Greiner/Deaf Center). A guest vocal appearance from Susanna Lundgren on ‘Rain’ gives the album its’ most stripped down ‘song’ moment; a duet with Peter, led by harmony vocals and nylon string guitar, which perfectly combine with Rutger’s crackling, unfathomable ambience, creating the record’s most ‘laid bare’ moment - the result is a moment of sheer intimacy.

 

Peter Broderick and Machinefabriek, both restless artists and performers with ever expansive back catalogues, have accomplished something of a masterclass in collaboration here - an album which is as distinct as the individuals that created it. With compositions as flawless as these, we can only hope that there is much more of this calibre to come…

 

‘Blank Grey Canvas Sky’  - Music and words by Peter Broderick and Machinefabriek in 2009 & 2009.

Vocal on ‘Rain’ by Susanna Lundgren.              Mastered by James Plotkin.

 

Tracklist: 1) Departure  2) Planes  3) Kites  4) Rain  5) Blank Grey  6) Homecoming

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