Return of The Silver Surfer Out Now at i-Tunes

Solipsism

By Shoosh & Solipsism stuff

You can buy Shoosh releases from the following outlets, please click the logo to go directly to the page.


































You can buy Solipsism releases from the following outlets, please click the logo to go directly to the page.




































Solipsism

Shoosh Review at Is This Music?

Shoosh
Orpheum Circuit (Herb)

Swirling synths
Picked guitar and then left.
Soundscapes of uncomfortable beauty
Pulses
Dadaist in theory and practice
Beat with no beat, you dig.
The spoken word unspoken, the synthesis of nature formed and then de-con-struct-ed.
Drone…and on. The sadness of a modulating tone and the pleasure in its repetition.
Explain.
SOUND!!!
Beautiful in its scope, majestic in its sweep yet personal and claustrophobic.
Names: Godspeed, you black Emperor. Explosions in the sky. Fennesz. Yet not quite.

An album of outstanding music. That should be heard by all fellow travellers.

Enjoy.

I did.

Solipsism

Shoosh Review At Boomkat

Shoosh is a trio of musicians, combining guitars and Americana-influenced songwriting with all manner of perplexing electronic programming and treatments. 'Snake Eyes' is a little like Sparklehorse or perhaps Benoit Pioulard - all distorted and twisted out of shape, with a squeaky, obfuscated vocal in place to remind you that you're listening to an actual song rather than the Fennesz-influenced soundscape it might otherwise resemble. The vocal will almost certainly take some getting used to in fact, but once you're accustomed to the sheer oddness of Neil Carlill's delivery (imagine a cross between Dose One and Mark E. Smith) there's an awful lot to like about this record - in a world crammed with electronically treated songwriting efforts, Orpheum Circuit somehow manages to sound like it's really out there on its own.

Boomkat

Solipsism

Orpheum Circuit Out Now At Boomkat

Hi Everyone,

just a quick note to let you know that the debut album by Shoosh titled Orpheum Circuit, is now available in digital formats from Boomkat.

Orpheum Circuit is the debut album release for the inventive, electro-folksters Shoosh. Fronted by 90s' indie pioneer Neil Carlill, who was formerly the lead singer with Delicatessen (rough Trade) and Lodger (Island). Their sound is a unique blend of american folk, modern ambient and surreal, dadaist lyrics, that are delivered in a highly distinctive and thoroughly compelling style. Carlill is backed up on acoustic guitar by Ed Drury, a composer with over 60 titles to his credit and Craig Murphy on synthesizers. Murphy has released under various names including Solipsism (Electronica) and ch.pm (Ambient).



So far Shoosh have one release to their name in the critically acclaimed 2007 Awkward Silence 3" Split, mini CD, currently available from Boomkat, Bleep etc. This release has seen the band likened to such luminaries as Pink Floyd, Animal Collective, Mercury Rev, David Bowie, Current 93, Bob Dylan and Neil Young to name a few! Despite these welcome comparisons, Shoosh have undeniably managed to carve a new niche out all for themselves.

Tracklist

1. Elastic Soil Video
2. Snake Eyes
3. Come In From The Cold
4. Mock Table Rakes
5. Boo Ssh
6. Peddle Picnic Wires
7. Space & Thyme
8. Pestilence
9. Overthrow Turn


Shoosh - Elastic Soil by Myppa from Myppa on Vimeo.


The video for Elastic Soil is by Myppa

www.shooshmusic.com
www.myspace.com/shooshmusic

www.herbrecordings.com
www.myspace.com/herbrecordings

Shoosh - Orpheum Circuit Out Now At Boomkat

Solipsism

Shoosh Album Out Today!

HERB008CD Shoosh - Orpheum Circuit

Solipsism

Craig Murphy Flash Music Player

Solipsism

Shoosh - Elastic Soil Video by Myppa

thanks to Myppa for this fantastic video.


Shoosh - Elastic Soil by Myppa from Myppa on Vimeo.

Alien Genome Project Review At Textura

Textura



ch.pm: Alien Genome Project
Ambidextrous

Craig Murphy is a man of many projects: the Herb Recordings founder tackles electronica under the Solipsism guise, electro-psychedelia in Shoosh alongside band-mates Neil Carlill and Ed Drury, and deep ambient under the ch.pm name. Alien Genome Project finds Murphy fashioning a three-part opus that's about as immersive as ambient gets with the album's eight sections featuring multi-tiered synth swells and billowing masses so immense you could disappear within them altogether. The material's galaxial feel and trippy ambiance intensify when distorted voices echo across the limitless expanses of deep space, and nowhere is that epic pitch achieved more intensively than during the title piece which unspools over ten trance-inducing minutes (the sound is so huge, it reduces the voices that occasionally surface to indecipherable mumbles). A thirty-six-minute work of varying moods, Alien Genome Project takes its inspiration from the “Panspermia” theory—the idea that “micro-organisms or biochemical compounds from outer space are responsible for originating life on Earth and possibly in other parts of the universe where suitable atmospheric conditions exist”—but the work can be experienced just as easily on purely musical terms as an engrossing exercise in synthetic dronescaping. If anything, its unapologetically pure synth-based sound has more in common with ‘70s-styled ambient recordings (early Tangerine Dream, say) than a more current release where granular static and other noise might accompany the drones. That Alien Genome Project leaves such a strong impression is due in part to the forceful intensity of its presentation.

September 2008

Solipsism

Shoosh Split Now At Boomkat

CHEJU & SHOOSH - Split
Awkward Silence
3" CD // £6.49
ELECTRONICA
Catalogue Number: AWKWARD24CD
Estimated time of shipping: 1-3 days




After something of a hiatus, Awkward Silence returns, and it's with another one of those famed split releases. This one combines the forces of Wil Bolton's Cheju and new artists Shoosh, a trio comprised of Ed Drury, Neil Carlill and Craig Murphy. As you'd expect from this label, the first thing that greets your ears is a flurry of crunchy IDM beats and some breezy, miniature melodies stemming from Bolton's laptop and manipulated guitar lines. The second track is a little less heavily treated and relies upon warm synth strings and a kind of bitcrushed harpsichord sound. Shoosh present a far folksier prospect, first with the digitised folk of 'Elastic Soil' - which avoids all that Tunng-style folktronica business thanks to its strained and unhinged vocal - and the rather lovely 'Come In From The Cold', another swirl of guitars, screeching synthesis and that strangely compelling, warped voice. Limited to 300 copies.

http://www.boomkat.com/item.cfm?id=125054

Solipsism

Have A Listen!

Solipsism

Alien Genome Project Review At Leonard's Lair

Leonard's Lair

Review: ch.pm - Alien Genome Project
Published August 9, 2008 Reviews

ch.pm is the solo project of Craig Murphy, perhaps better known as one half of electro-psychedelic outfit Shoosh. ‘Alien Genome Project’, however, is like listening to an old-school ambient record, where melodies shift extremely slowly. Indeed, Tangerine Dream and Brian Eno would certainly approve of Murphy’s work.



Although consisting of eight tracks, the album could be viewed as one long instrumental piece. As the title implies, it does recall a journey in to a world of alien lifeforms but one where said life forms are peaceful beings and no danger is ever threatened. Fragments of dialogue can be heard but they’re so buried under ambient drones, it’s hard to ascertain what’s being said. ‘Replicate’ could be accused of being a Boards Of Canada cast-off but otherwise it’s a warm, slowly shifting journey; content to drift along at its own pace.

It’s true to say that ‘Alien Genome Project’ belongs to a group of any number of records over the last thirty years which follow a similar space/alien/ambient theme For those post-midnight listens with just the headphones and a bed for company, though, this atmospheric music is the ideal solution.

Web Sites:
Craig Murphy MySpace
Musiz Zeit Download Shop Site

Further Listening:
Brian Eno, Tangerine Dream, Avrocar, Boards Of Canada

Solipsism

Sonic Frontiers Volume 3

Hi,

just a quick message to let you know about a new compilation that my band shoosh are featured on, that's available for free download from Sonic Frontiers.



Sonic Frontiers
Volume 3: Untitled

Released: August 5, 2008
Download (80mb)


After months of seeking out the best new tracks the world wide web had to offer, we are proud to introduce our third installation of the Sonic Frontiers compilation series. Featuring sounds that span electronic, acoustic, polyrhythmic, vocal and instrumental techniques, Sonic Frontiers: Volume 3 is by far our most diverse and experimental compilation yet. The release features 10 tracks clocking a total of 54 minutes, and showcase some of the most adventurous approaches to music this year has seen.

Cover artwork provided by Justin Gray of Amok Recordings.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tracklist

1. Kingbastard - "[ o n c e a' ]"
2. Justin Gray & The USB Orchestra - "cbcbc"
3. Shoosh - "Snake Eyes"
4. Tupolev - "Reaset"
5. Renfro - "Broken Little Pieces"
6. The Brothers Pus - "A Lonely Night's Drive"
7. Chuter - "Reel In"
8. con_cetta - "sad.ay"
9. Automassage - "Death in 7/4"
10. Forming Meteors - "Sung in Silent Whispers"

Solipsism

Shoosh Split EP Out Now At Bleep

Hello,

just a quick message to let you know that our split ep with cheju is now available from Bleep.

Solipsism

Alien Genome Project Review

Music Miscellany

I'm old enough to remember Erich Von Daniken and his potty theories about how earth's civilizations were brought about through alien contact. There was quite a hoo-ha about it all when I was a kid, and his books flew off the shelves. I've just glanced at Wikipedia and was surprised to learn that he's still with us, and only the same age as Leonard Cohen! Bizarre. Panspermia is the hypothesis that the seeds of life exist all over the universe, and that life on earth is nothing unique, nor even originally from here. Nice theory, but it hasn't a whiff of evidence to support it (nor to discount it – it's one of those hypotheses which are simply acts of faith). Exogenesis is something else entirely – the theory that life originated elsewhere and came to earth during the asteroid bombardment of the Pre-Cambrian era, before the planet had an adequate atmospheric shield. Anyway I digress. The reason I brought the topic up at all was that the panspermia theory is the inspiration behind Alien Genome Project, a self-released album by Craig Murphy (whose band Shoosh are featured on the Phantom Channel compilation) under the moniker ch.pm.

The album consists of drones, cosmic synth chords, and disembodied, distorted vocal samples. It has echoes of Kosmische Musik acts like (early) Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze as well as their spiritual descendants such as Pete Namlook. But there are equally nods to Stars of the Lid, Brian Eno's Apollo and Murcof's Cosmos projects. The eight tracks unfold slowly. Some are short and fragile; others, like the title track, have a suitably cosmic grandeur. "Hybrid", the closing section, has a slowed down echoing voice that has the rhythm of whale song, and sounds like the last, fading sounds of a dying civilization. It's quite a spooky end to a seriously trippy suite of music. Only it isn't quite the end. There is also a bonus 36 minute mix of the album entitled "Alien Genome Project (Full Blown)". The album is available from Musiczeit at the address below.

Tracks
Part One:
1 Source Of Light 1:33
2 Junk Code 7:20
3 Transference 5:19
Part Two:
4 Replicate 1:36
5 Mystic Structure 6:33
Part Three:
6 Source of Light (Reprise) 1:52
7 Alien Genome Project 10:18
8 Hybrid 6:29
Bonus Track:
9 Alien Genome Project (Full Blown) 36:07

Websites


http://www.musiczeit.com/directory.php?artist=439&title=ch.pm


www.myspace.com/solipsism

Solipsism

Photos

here's some new photos i had taken recently, if you need hi res version for reviews/features, contact me through the ch.pm Myspace page.











Photos by Canadian Bob

Important Changes

Hi,

I am no longer running the solipsism page on myspace exclusively for solipsism material. I have a number of different projects and it made sense to have them focalised on the one page.

The new material on the page will now be taken from my 6 difference projects, namely shoosh (band), solipsism, weird fields (audio-visual), Alien Genome Project, The Partisan and my soundtrack project with ed drury, ed drury & craig murphy.

cheers
craig

Interview With Craig Murphy At Sonic Frontiers

Sonic Frontiers Interview

Craig Murphy
Interview by Sean Butze
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For those who don’t know, Craig Murphy is a British composer of ambient electronica and IDM, as well as the founder of Herb Recordings and Ambidextrous Records. He records under two different projects, Weird Fields and Solipsism, and is also a member of the experimental folk band Shoosh. While preparing to release his next album, Craig was kind enough to take time out of his busy schedule to fill us in on his roles as a composer and record label operator.

----

SF: As a music artist, you’re involved in several different projects. Could you talk a little bit about your role in each, as well as what significance they hold for you?

Craig Murphy: The three main projects that I’m involved with are Solipsism, Shoosh and Weird Fields. Solipsism was always my main project, but over the past 6 months or so, I’ve been slowly winding it down as I don’t plan on doing any new Solipsism material for the foreseeable future. However, I won’t rule it out permanently. Weird Fields and Shoosh both grew out of the Solipsism project in many ways. I always did ambient tracks as Solipsism, usually between one and three on each release. However as time went on, I felt more and more that these tracks didn’t really flow with the main solipsism material and despite the fact that I often preferred these tracks personally, I couldn’t see where they fitted on the Solipsism project any longer. Therefore, Weird Fields in the first instance was simply my outlet for doing more ambient material.

There was interest in Weird Fields quite early on and that inspired me really to expand the project beyond what was originally planned and give it more focus. My first Weird Fields EP “Destruct Science” was meant to be released on an American label, but things never worked out as planned and I decided to start Ambidextrous Records, simply to give it a platform. Both of the Weird Fields EPs are now being released on the American netlabel Zenapolae, www.zenapolae.com. Who incidentally are celebrating their 10th Anniversary this year or next, I’m not 100%. I’ve known the label since I first came online almost and I’m very pleased with the development.

Shoosh is what I consider the main project now, the band I’m in with multi-instrumentalist Ed Drury and singer/lyricist Neil Carlill. That’s mainly because we’re working on a new album right now which should hopefully be finished for around March 2009. For those of you unfamiliar with the Shoosh project, it could loosely be defined as psychedelic folk music and it’s probably the most experimental project I’ve been involved with. It’s also the project I’ve enjoyed working on the most. We’ve had mild success so far, with the release of the Split EP on 3” CD along with Boltfish Recordings’ Cheju, available now on Awkward Silence Recordings which received good press if that’s anything to go by. We’re hoping that our first album titled “Orpheum Circuit” will be released this year, but can’t make any promises.

SF: When did you first get involved in composing electronic music? What is it about electronic composition that you prefer over conventional instrumentation?

CM: I first started recording electronic music about 6 or 7 years ago now, though I’d flirted with it briefly in my late teens/early 20s. I was a massive fan of techno when I was younger and like many electronic artists, techno was my first conceived output. However, as my listening habits evolved, so did the style and it simply developed from that. I don’t prefer electronic composition over conventional instrumentation, ideally these days I prefer a blend of electro and acoustic, hence the direction of Shoosh. But both have their pros and cons and it’s really best to work with whatever you are most comfortable and importantly, have available at your disposal.

SF: As someone who records under multiple project names, how do you differentiate between the music you compose for each? Do you sit down and say “Okay, I’m going to write a track for Weird Fields, or for Solipsism” or do you just write what you want and worry about where it will fit later?

CM: Solipsism and Weird Fields were always interchangeable. Mainly because Weird Fields really started as an ambient extension of Solipsism. Though 9 times out of 10, I know which project I’m going to be working on when I start it. Shoosh isn’t interchangeable with the other projects though, simply because it’s so different.

For people who listen closely, they may have noticed that the tracks "Sun Up" from my Solipsism EP Solarism and "Over The Horizon" from my Weird Fields EP Destruct Science are essentially the same melody. I took the melody from "Sun Up" in midi format and slowed it down to 70bpm. I then changed the dynamics of the sound on it and did the Weird Fields track with it. It wasn’t a conscious decision to do this, it just happened. But there have been maybe 2 or 3 occasions when I’ve done similar.

SF: In addition to composing music, you’re a video artist as well. The videos you’ve done for your various projects all feature a very experimental and abstract visual approach. How you go about creating these videos? What inspires you to create visuals in this way?

CM: I honestly don’t see myself as a video artist as such, I enjoy working on videos for people from time to time and I get a great deal of satisfaction from them but it’s really just a hobby that allows me to promote myself and artists/bands I like through another medium. I’ve always been fascinated by abstract artists and I don’t just mean in a visual sense. I’ve been heavily inspired by people who had strong abstract and psychedelic themes in their work, be that visual, audio or literature and anything in between. People like Frank Zappa, Ken Kesey, Aldous Huxley, Salvador Dali & Pink Floyd have all been a huge influence, though I’m certain many more have filtered in throughout the years, many of which will be purely subliminal.

I try to make the videos look like abstract/impressionist paintings coming to life if that makes sense, or moving paintings more bluntly. I’ve always hated the stereotypical music video as they became so clichéd over the years and I simply wanted to try something that was slightly different and visually appealing, something that other people would like and appreciate too. I’ve been surprised with how popular they’ve been though, the video I did for the Glasgow Shoegaze band Ursula Minor even got a mention on the radio!

The process itself involves taking everyday mundane footage mostly, then processing it through repeatedly filtering, layering and overlapping, while continually adjusting the colour and contrast. I use what I would consider, very basic techniques to be honest. But try to deliver them in an original and eye-catching style that will hopefully resonate with the person watching it.

SF: You also run two record labels, Herb Recordings and Ambidextrous Records. Considering both labels release very similar music, what are the distinctions between the two? How do you go about deciding what to release on each label?

I actually co-run Herb today, all decisions are reached jointly between me and my partners Mark and Gordon, who are better known to most people probably as Rubens. I founded the label in 2006 and Mark and Gordon came on board not long after that and together we built the label up from a small digital only operation, to the point now where we have physical distribution in Europe, North America and the Far East. More recently, we’ve also been joined by Mark Millar who does a fantastic job as our press officer and he’s helped us get exposure that small labels could often only dream about. Of course, the fantastic music we release on Herb is a huge help too!

Ambidextrous isn’t a label in any real sense of the word. As I mentioned earlier, I set up Ambidextrous originally as a small platform for my Weird Fields release that was meant to be going out on the American label. It was always going to be for promotion only and I expanded it slightly to include a few more projects…mainly more of my own projects, but Kingbastard, an artist I have great admiration for, recently did a release for us and there’s a couple of new guys going to be doing stuff too. It was and still is though for promotion only, I will try and help the artists get some reviews and I’ll post their music on last fm, myspace etc but that’s it basically, a small window of opportunity. There’s no policy with the releases I promote through Ambidextrous with regards to genre either. If I like the music and feel what the artist is doing is worthwhile, regardless of genre or medium for that matter (I’d gladly promote other art forms), then I would let them use ambidextrous as a promotional tool.

SF: Ambidextrous Records is what many would call a non-commercial “netlabel.” That is, you release all the music digitally and free of charge. As both a label owner and an artist, what do you feel are the advantages of offering music for free? Do you think all artists and labels should do the same?

CM: I don’t really consider Ambidextrous to even be a netlabel to be honest. In my opinion, netlabels are labels who operate along a similar structure to regular music labels with the only real difference being, they give the music away for free. All of the releases on Ambidextrous can be removed at any time by the artists, as it’s only for promotion. Ambidextrous isn’t about ambidextrous and creating a brand that people want to attach themselves too, it’s all about the artists and each artist can be as individual and diverse as they like as there is no release policy, other than me liking what they do. I have very diverse tastes, ranging from classical to 300bpm techno mayhem, so anything is possible.

Quite honestly, there’s very little advantage to serious artists by releasing free music, other than the small amount of exposure you may get through it and the satisfaction of knowing that people are listening to your stuff. But it must be the only job in the world where people expect you to work for free and frown upon you for expecting to be paid. The advantages of doing free releases are diminishing rapidly also as the market is completely saturated now and people are finding it harder to get music they like. The major labels have recently signed an agreement with a company called Q Trax which will see their entire catalogues be available for free download. So the age of universal free downloads is only around the corner anyway and then independent artists will find that the free download/promotional route is an even trickier path to tread, when they’re going head to head with huge bands and vying for people’s attention.

I would say though that when you are first starting out, releasing free music is really the way to go now as you have an instant audience in the internet. It’s something no bands in the past could ever have dreamed of and it’s the quickest and best way to get yourself some exposure and cut your teeth. Once you’ve spent a while developing online, you can then think seriously about taking it to the next level and decide whether you want to go for a commercial release or not. I don’t think however, that all artists and labels should just give their music away for free.

SF: What’s currently on the horizon for you in terms of upcoming releases, projects, etc.?

CM: On a personal level I’m currently busy working on the new Shoosh album and I’ve also started a new project that’s still in early development under a new name. It’s only going to be a one off project though, so I’ll let you know about it when it’s finished!

On the label front, I’m really busy with Herb as we have a lot of new releases coming out over the next few months, kicking off with Engine7 and then we have releases coming from Rubens (re-release of CD), Kingbastard, Shamanic Technology, Skytree and Zerova. We may have a few surprises in the pipeline too, so stay tuned!

Shoosh - Pestilence Video

Hello,

here's the new video I did for my band shoosh's track Pestilence.

Shoosh - Snake Eyes Video

Hello,

here's the new video for Snake Eyes



cheers
craig