After a very slack first two thirds of 2019, I shall now start updating the site a bit more regularly again. Hooray and Huzzah.
To start, here is a new 12″ that’s just come out under my “dance music” alias, Halfnelson:
memotone OST for a short film about the burgeoning noise scene in Indonesia by Dan Jay Stockmann.
MEMOTONE & AFRICAN GHOST VALLEY – on TANDEM TAPES
The soundtrack to the great game RUINER by Devolver Digital is released today by Laced Records. A full artwork, gatefold, double vinyl package. It looks pretty HOT. My track RITUAL is on the A side.
My Half Nelson project features on this tape release by Kit Records in collaboration with Swedish zine TIMGLASET. For more info click on the soundcloud link.
Today sees the release of Dmitry Evgrafovs new album ‘Comprehension of Light’ released by 130701 (Fat Cat’s Modern Classical arm) – For which I wrote and performed the cello on the track ‘Ungrounded’ and the clarinet on ‘Tamas’ which has also had a beautiful video made for it that you can watch below.
The listen to the album and purchase the vinyl, either go to your desired retailer or find it here:
BOOMKAT
Here’s what Dmitry had to say about the release:
“The new LP “Comprehension of Light” is OUT NOW!
I would like to thank everyone who helped me to make it: beautiful strings from Iskra String Quartet & Iskra Strings, cello and clarinet parts by William ‘memotone’ Yates, synths on “Znanie” by Abul Mogard, guitar on “Kintsukuroi” by Benoît Pioulard, mixing by Addi 800 – Mixing Engineer, mastering by Martyn Heyne and of course I would like to help my lovely wife Vika Bogorodskaya who not only made the gorgeous artwork for this album, but helped, supported and was my teacher on daily basis all this time. I would like to dedicate this album to her.
I see this album as a chance to manifest my deepest and strongest belief — the inevitable necessity of some inner moral law that is meant to guide us through daily hardships and make us grow better, stronger, kinder and smarter.
In the past I never found it necessary to provide any comments on my works, neither did I consider ‘the concept’ or ‘the idea’ to be an important part of my albums as they were supposed to speak for themselves. But now I see that the reason behind that was actually a lack of strong opinion, self-reflection, of having a responsible and conscious approach both to my music and life in general. Some dark events and changes that happened a couple of years ago made me rethink everything I was careless or blind to.
It may sound strange to those of listeners who believe that behind every nice piece of music stands a good and sincere person, but that is not always true. Often an artist and his art are not wholly interconnected. A bad man can create something unique and beautiful that will touch hearts, but is actually just a matter of professionalism.
For a long time I never had any doubt that I was a man of deep morals, seeking truth, love and god. I cherished a strong spirit, beauty, kindness, sincerity. I believed those were my genuine foundations and I never guessed that in fact they were imposed on me externally — through other people and culture. It was not something I truly experienced myself. My life was easy and my beliefs had no chance to pass a test of time. I was absolutely sure that I lived the life of a good person, but gradually, year after year a big hole started to grow inside me. My faith and values got lost, my inner core blurred, all my moral intentions disappeared. Nothing was left but disguise, snobbery and a facade of generosity that hid my emptiness. It did not come to the surface until this dreadful mixture of unbelief, infidelity, cynicism and immaturity led to irreversible consequences that caused huge pain to me and my wife. Those were particularly dark times. It took a long time and much strength to restore — a process that is still going on.
This album is a reflection of what happened. It tells a story of a lifelong journey, both physical and spiritual, from evil to light. It is a road from ignorance, vanity and emptiness towards a more wholesome approach to life. It is about losing, searching and finally finding a wholeness and a connection to god — a point that is unreachable but nevertheless obligatory for all conscious creatures. Unfortunately, I think there is no one for whom the problem of awareness and mental growth would not be relevant. We are all somewhere on this path. The difference is only whether we remember or not it is necessary to grow at all.
To devote a whole lifetime, which is actually very short, to the service of these highest goals is probably the only worthy way to realise that deep potential that everyone, of course, has. Mental clarity, awareness and rootedness are the best guides in this work. I know that for sure as this is what helped me. When everything inside works correctly, when you are humble and quiet there is no desire for an excess, you start to value things that have an inner depth, a true sense and weight like family, love, dignity, simplicity. In this connection I want to thank my wife for always believing in me, supporting me through all the tough times and bringing me back to my true path.”