russell haswell

In It (Immersive Live Salvage)

**Unique UHJ vinyl cut delivering Ambisonic surround sound + 5.1 DVD** Russell Haswell's third LP of 'Live Salvage' lands on EditionsMego. 'IN IT' consists of surround sound self-recordings of his sets supporting Autechre on tour in 2010, and is most notably pressed onto unique UHJ vinyl - made to deliver Ambisonic surround sound when used in conjunction with quality surround sound processor and Ambisonic UHJ decoder. Along with exacting details of his setup, in the sleeve-notes Haswell stresses that no laptop was used in the playing or recording process "...Having witnessed over 10 years of 'artists' using the space-bar as a 'play' button and pretending to do something". It essence it's an unadulterated gesamstkunstwerk and a study of the ecology of live electronic performance: Haswell is in control of everything; the recording, production, compilation and mastering all handled by himself to best represent the show, which appears with no edits and no crossfades. He's even gone to lengths to represent the individual variables of each space, incorporating LDR light sensors to affect the pitch by interference from the venues stage and hall lighting, temperature and humidity, combined with the individual acoustic characteristics and audience reaction of each room captured by his quadrophonic microphone arrangement (typically prickly/p*ss-taking in Manchester if we remember correctly, or maybe i'd just had too many blue WKDs). The end product is visceral to say the least, and without the Ambisonic surround sound decoder we can't really comment on its effectiveness, but we'd imagine it to be almost as intense/funny as being participating. It's quite obviously not for everyone, but fans of immersive electronic performance should at the least acknowledge his sincere intention to better represent his art through advanced technological means (UHJ vinyl), and at best download the bespoke software required to decode the surround sound and drench yourself in Haswell from six angles. We'd recommended the latter. And then have a wash.