Discography
as Ithaca Trio
- Quiet, Please (2011) – 80mm CDr in Library cards on Coma Architects. Available.
- Clarity (2011) – 80mm CDr Postcard series on Hibernate. Sold Out, but available as a free download.
- Par Avion (2010) – CD-R split with Machinefabriek. Physical copies sold out, download available via Boomkat and iTunes. It is also on Spotify.
- New Music by the Colossal Ithaca Trio & The Deus Ex Machina Arkestra (2010) – A series of unheard, unwritten, unknown compositions.
- Brown Bear (2010) – A fifty-minute ominous piece for tape and broken cymbals
- Tesla Verses The Night (2009) – A mini-album released on Under The Spire Recordings. Physical copies sold out, download available.
- Oxe (2009) – An introductory two-track release for acoustic guitar and glitch.
Reviews
Par Avion
Par Avion made it to no.8 in Fluid Radio’s run down of 2010′s top 100 releases. Which was nice. Thanks Dan & Jess!
“…Oliver Thurley from Leeds is all three members of the Ithaca Trio, and he, or should I say they, wrote a nice letter suggesting they collaborate on a split CD, which emerged a few months ago onExperimedia. I sometimes feel like doing similar myself; asking Zuyderfelt just to follow me around, and provide some sort of ambient electronic soundtrack, perhaps. Or to remix my life. Again, this may be some very quiet music, but there is a lot going on. The Ithaca Trio tracks manage to combine droning and glitchy electronics with live instrumentation (double bass, piano, sax, percussion) and field recordings (bird song, barely-there chatter), leading to something at times quite dense, and always atmospheric. The ever-shifting nature, combined with a background of echo and unidentifiable small sounds, make this music that blurs the boundaries between the real world and the recorded. Perhaps the unintended is in fact one of the other members of the Trio. Machinefabriek’s side opens in more expansive fashion, before the gently pulsing atmospherics of “The Desolate Delay” lead into the harsh “The Harmed Harp”. In the latter I can only assume that Zuyderfelt is actually subjecting a harp to a number of practices which may contravene the Geneva Convention as unsettling scraping, splintering, cracking, and creaking noises puncture the deep rumbling drone and oscillations. I’ve never been a fan of the split CD format, as unlike the split LP, the transition between artists can jar. But here the Ithaca Trio side just bleeds into the Machinefabriek side, as the album highlight “For Ailing Health” almost sounds like one of his slow-building pieces (I’m sure he, or, they, would take that as a compliment) as it collects breath, cymbal, skronk, and lots of coughing as it winds its way up to the plateau.”
- Review by Scott McMillan for the Liminal’s 2010 roundup of Machinefabriek
“Released in an edition of 100, this split album finds Ithaca Trio and Machinefabriek working as pen pals to create a cohesive work, assembled with fine detail and nuance.
Par Avion is an album that belongs in the category of ‘music from another room’. Music of this nature, built on subtlety, has the effect that what your hearing is actually coming from another room, as it exhibits qualities of vast expanse and separateness. After putting on the record and allowing it to fill the space with its presence, the minutia becomes apparent after closer listens but the overall effect is distant and far away. It seeps into corners, into the cracks of the wall, hides underneath floorboards, and comes to rest in thin air; the dust finds company. In this manner, Par Avion makes its fragile nature known through repeated listens, in after thoughts, as it will haunt the listener for some time after hearing it. While never in the foreground, it begs the listener to move inward, through the cracks, the floorboard, the thin air.
Ithaca Trio work in a similar vein to Zelienople, except that in addition to the three members, there is a fourth member whose presence is felt throughout: silence. It seems that as most bands will begin with noise, and use silence when at rest, Ithaca Trio begins with silence, harnesses its power, and works to fill in places with sound where it is absolutely necessary. I am reminded of the note accompanying Sylvain Chauveau’s 10″ release on Type Records, S, which states “For a more realistic listening, please play this recording at low volume.” In a similar manner, Ithaca Trio craft their four pieces around this idea, and, played a low level, the music speaks volumes. On ‘Orca Towards Ground’, the pitter-patter of drums intersects assorted screeches and organic groans. The freeform approach reaches a pinnacle with ‘For Ailing Health’, marked by a slow rumble that defines the somber title.”
- Review by Michael Vitrano for Fluid Radio
Norman Records
Four Stars ****Judging by the front of this A5 sized fun sized package it seems local Leeds lads The Ithaca Trio (previous release on Under The Spire) approached Machinefabriek to see if ole Rutger was interested in doing some sort of collaboration. I reckon he was as it’s here and he’s made the artwork. Funtimes! You get 4 tracks by The Ithaca Trio who seem to make soundscapes created from weird double bass sounds, field recordings and weird noises. It’s all very laid back though and chilled out. Kinda nice in fact as it’s lodging itself comfortably into my brain. There’s some exceptionally strange noises on track 3 which sound like some sort of compressed saxophone but it’s more like Sweep (Sooty and Sweep….) being strangled. Machinefabriek has 2 tracks on here. The Desolate Delay is sparse and as vacant sounding as you can get with some weird delayed piano popping up dead centre amidst a load of ‘hum’ for a quick visit before it fades out to more of a derelict soundscape. As ever best enjoyed with headphones!
Tesla Verses The Night
Ollie Thurley seems to have looked towards the Andrew McKenzie school of solo project nomenclature and made a trio of himself, but unlike all things Hafler, Ithaca Trio is a very approachable, easy going affair, merging together immersive field recordings, soaring processed guitars and other live instrumentation, plus a big scoopful of electronics. Tesla Verses The Night is by no means a minimal example of the ambient genre, and a glance at the list of contributors would suggest as much: for this recording Thurley is assisted by a band of instrumentalist chums, bringing accordion, clarinet, flute, piano and even drums to the table. The outcome of Thurley’s sifting and processing stretches between the epic, pastoral loveliness of ‘Dragon Sleeps Well’ and the quasi-Eastern percussion glitches of ‘Huo Shan (Pt.ii)’, whilst also taking in the Fennesz-like warm draughts of ‘Untitled #10′ and the dismantled piano meanderings of ‘Catching Monkeys’. A very fine example of its genre, Tesla Verses The Night comes with a ringing endorsement. Limited to 150 copies.
Coming Soon… (amongst a plethora of other Ithaca Trio releases)
FEAR ABOUNDS THEE.
