Heavier Sideways is the new EP from electronic musician and instrument designer Tom Richards, consisting of live improvised sessions recorded under lockdown in Richards’ home studio.
The follow up to his 2017 Nonclassical debut Pink Nothing, the EP opens with Big House Tune, a tongue-in-cheek title alluding to the artist’s lockdown listening habits – handbag house classics, Junior Vasquez, Farley ‘Jackmaster’ Funk, and others adjacent to the legendary Paradise Garage in New York. Although pretty far from handbag, the track is four-to-the-floor, a rare approach for Richards. “It’s maybe the closest thing I’d make to a house groove,” he says.
The creation of the EP was spurred on by vintage technology – a 1990s analogue vocoder and a 1980s Soviet drum machine, both of which were integrated into Richards’ hand-built setup. They’ve left their mark on the recordings, with the drum machine’s insistent blips punctuating strangely non-verbal vocoder-mangled synths.
The lockdown setting is referenced in the title of the final track Minor Breach. The track revolves around a sparse groove, with interjections of classical radio ‘breaching’ the electronic sound world and influencing filtered electronic feedback. Live radio is a staple of Richards’ performances, as he shapes and rhythmically injects snatches of broadcasts, borrowing dynamic reshaping techniques from the traditions of musique concrète.
All music written, performed, recorded and produced by Tom Richards
Minor Breach – music video
Music by Tom Richards Video by Alex Heim (using selected film footage from Tom Richards)
Meet the artist
Tom Richards
Tom Richards is an artist, musician, DJ, researcher and instrument designer working in London, UK. He has walked the line between sonic art, sculpture and music since graduating with an MA in Fine Art from Chelsea College of Art in 2004. Richards has built his own idiosyncratic modular electronic music system, with which he creates slowly evolving and heavily textured polyrhythmic improvisations. His individual approach and reductive palette lead to a taut, rhythmically focused sonic experience. He has performed and exhibited widely in the UK, as well as internationally in the US, Germany, Peru, Japan and Sweden. Selected works and live performances have taken place at Tate Britain, The Queen Elizabeth Hall, The Science Museum, Spike Island, Cafe Oto, MK Gallery, Bold Tendencies, and Camden Arts Centre.