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Amulets – A Pathway To Drone Heaven.
Amulets is a solo project of Portland based audio + visual artist Randall Taylor, an experimentalist who employs handmade cassette tape loops and live processed guitar loops to create live, lush soundscapes and immersive drones. Through the recontextualization of cassettes, sampling, field recording, and looping, these long-form compositions blur the genres of ambient, drone, noise, and electronic music. Randall’s original inspiration came 5 years ago from keyboard player, Alessandro Cortini of NIN (Nine Inch Nails) in regard to his use of a 4-track cassette recorder as an instrument, since then Randall has been utterly transfixed with the medium, and experimental nature of 4 tracks and tapes.
Amulets most recent endeavour has been to create a short film titled, ‘Where The Land Meets The Sea’, fusing the immersive power of image using an old Canon EOS M camera, in accordance with an arrangement he composed using guitar and recorded tape loop. Here is what Randall explains about the piece:
“So, I recently bought a new (old) camera, a Canon EOS M to be exact, and brought it along for a coastal hike a few weeks ago. I of course also brought along a tape loop to record and capture some sounds with. I ended up filming the tape loop and other random footage on the hike and was floored by how everything came out once I got home and reviewed it. I was immediately inspired and wrote a little piece around the tape loop and cut this short film together. Hope you enjoy it!” – Amulets.
AMULETS | WHERE THE LAND MEETS THE SEA (GUITAR & TAPE
LOOP SOUNDTRACK)
In the future Randall hopes to create a full-length film accompanied by his experimental music and continues to take great pleasure in experimenting with the likes of sound and texture of live and pre-recorded layers as well as staying attentive to adding to his Eurorack (modular synthesizer) collection. The experimental nature of Amulets projects is superbly surprising and hugely exciting as he keeps the tangible, physical rudiments of electronic machinery alive through old tape recording equipment in coincidence with instrumentation and the slick, fast paced nature of pre-programmed computer digitalization.
The fusion of both natural and human produced sounds fuses a diverse textural landscape between organic, programmed and sampled. The amalgamation of both old and new, vision with sound, digital with organic intensifies the human musical experience, feeding into the imagination, heart and soul of electronics and the human sensory spirit.
Randall Taylor – A.K.A – Amulets
Before the end of last year Randall released a profoundly beautiful companion-album titled ‘Mountains Past / Immortal Yeller’ crafted by Amulets and Bus Gas, both Portland, Oregon based drone artists who have both separately examined the emotional nostalgia of texture and physicality in their music. Physical tape copies of this album have sold out over on Bandcamp; however, it is still obtainable for digital download.
At the beginning of March, Amulets announced that he is currently working on a new record and is stoked to be able to use his thrift mini reel-to- reel on his forthcoming release!
If you dig & delve into the soundscapes and imagination of Amulets through his exceptionally special experimental electronic works, then please do follow his forthcoming project endeavours on the following links below….
In many senses, I am still discovering myself through the complex tapestry in which life continues to weave, gaining unique physical experience in order to aid the progression of my precious spirit, this will continue for the rest of my fated days and my understanding of who I am shall be determined through how I learn to react, act and adapt towards the circumstances I face. I do sincerely hope the span of this life is enough to fully come to terms with the potential of my unique existence, through deep-rooted understanding, compassion, and love, and that I may fully acknowledge the absolute full potential of my existence through the network of others.
Thus far the core of my being has learned through unique experience and individual perspective that I am most certainly a creative soul who takes solace in the truth & liberty of artistic expression. Freedom lays behind the eyes within the evocative realm of one's imagination, transforming originality through individual perspective, this is when my art becomes yours. Inspiring, motivating different modes of expression to overall influence and shape a better world, to help elevate to a higher consciousness. We are part of the great web of life and in this way each and every one of us are interconnected, to create a major shift in consciousness. We must wholeheartedly start to believe in what can be created for the greater good of this world, in my view it is most certainly the power of thought and intention which connect us, no matter how near or how far.
Being understood has always been of paramount importance to me, self-expression is something I have been aware of from a very young age. From my point of view, artistic expression has always been the most liberating and uniting mode. When I am not caught up in life's cogs I love to write poetry, short stories, and shoot photographs. I adore and feed off music, so I highly enjoy capturing the live music scene in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. I also enjoy writing for Uk Entertainments website, Louder than War, as well as run my own music blog www.Revel Rousers.org, Amalgamating my love of music, writing, as well as photographic expression (Music, Landscape, Street, Wedding), which gives me a great sense of creative release, therefore forging a strong sense of purpose in the way of documenting life's remarkable moments.
I find working with creatives within the music industry is wholly inspiring even though at times it can be quite challenging, after all, the greatest realizations and lessons learned are born out of challenges. I figured, seeing as I have a platform for my music reviews, interviews and photography I thought it would be time to create a platform for my creative writing and poetry.....It takes courage to expose oneself through the intimacy of poetry, However, that is how we truly unite and grow in compassion and understanding of each other's true essence.
I am a deep thinker, I understand the power of words and their meanings. I also understand how empowering artistic expression can be. There is a raw truth buried within each original idea combined with a power to help change the world. Artistic expression is forever transforming through interpretation, that is what I mean when I say "When My Art Becomes Yours"
My philosophy is to understand more, in order to love more.......
Love ~M~
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