Fragile X "Arboreal" (bc015)

Our latest release is the ambient, tribal soundsccapes of "Arboreal" from Fragile X. It's a body of work that's been two years in the making. A real labour of love that finally gets to bear its fruits through Bricolage. The music itself is an escapism into the trees. It could be a meridian forest, it could be an African jungle, your overgrown back garden or even your local park. Choose your own adventure. Found sounds, field recordings and tribal drum patterns weave into intricate organic and ambient structures and atmospheres. Elements of the worlds natural environment coming together with carefully constructed pads and melodies to provide the listener with a journey to get lost in.

It starts off with the sow burning Geoglyph before moving onto ethnic drones, rhythms and instrumentation with the duo of Lepidoptera and Gecko. Dawn Chorus is next and is the most upbeat track on show. A calming intro gives way to tribal drums and a melodic arpeggio hook that's inspired by bird song. Closing track, Sleeping In The Trees, rounds off the EP with a soothing ambient outro.

You can stream and download the full album below or at our bandcamp.

Leit Motif "Supine" (bc012)

"Supine" is the debut EP from ambient composer Leit Motif and we're thrilled to have him release it through Bricolage. 

As you'd expect from someone with a fondness for the joys of analogue, these tracks are full of warm tone and soft decay. The music on show here is easy to get lost in with the sleepy atmospherics, soaring drones and fractured pianos taking centre stage in each respective piece and ethereal melodies and perfectly constructed passages leading the way with each sound complimenting the next. The art of subtle disintegration in music is rare but Leit Motif does it expertly on this release. Taking his time to ensure that every sound has it's time in the spotlight before drifting off into fragments and dissolving. 

It's his own take on modern classical music that according to the man himself is intended to be listened to "lying in the dark in your room at 4am."

You can stream and download the full EP for free or "pay what you want" over at our bandcamp or below.



Leit Motif (Soundcloud)

Roy Or Bison? 'Barmecide' (bc010)

Today we put out our tenth release. It's a leap year EP from "Roy Or Bison?" containing four lo-fi electronic escapades.

Barmecide

Adjective
1.
illusory or imaginary and therefore disappointing.

Noun
1.
a person who offers benefits that are illusory or disappointing.

"Barmecide" is a swerve from "RoB?"s last outing on Bricolage. His "Night Vision" track was more on the eerie ambient and drone side of things. 'Barmecide' shows that he's capable of downing the darker and harsher tools in favour of creating more "accessible" sounds. This is "Roy Or Bison?" embracing the playful side of electronica. Intricate little loops, glitched out melodies and scattered drum beats all soaked in reverb and effect. It's a welcome addition to our discography. Some keen followers may recognise the closing track "The Breakfast Show" from our second various artists compilation last November, on which RoB? contributed. The other tracks are "Wanaetheywans" (one of those ones for non-Scottish people) , a funky minutes of an evolving glitchy bassline and prickly drums. "Eidetician" is a more slighly fleshed out affair, melodic layers building up and culminating in a whispy, almost electric sounding ending and "Stratagem", a full on tribute and experiment with electronic beats and time signatures.

You can stream and download a copy for free below or at our bandcamp.

Fragile X "The Outer Circle" (bc009)

Our latest release, "The Outer Circle", sees Fragile X invite you to join him on a post-party Sunday morning train trip home through the Glasgow underground rail lines. Field recordings of the trains, the stations and the commuters are interspersed with ambient and electronic music. The sounds range from weary drones to upbeat melodies and beats. It's a truly immersive headphone experience with blankets of harmonic textures, somber refrains and hypnotic layers.

Start your journey at St. Georges Cross in the city's West End and step off at Bridge Street station and out into the morning light. 

It's available for streaming and free download from our bandcamp or below in the embed.



Here's a bit about the idea behind "The Outer Circle"  from Fragile X:

"The concept of the EP popped into my head on a Sunday morning when I was standing alone outside the subway station waiting for the shutters to open and the first train of the day to pull in. Usually I always have my headphones with me and would listen to music on the journey but on this occasion I had managed to lose not only one but two pairs of headphones at the house party I had just left. So I decided to keep myself occupied by taking in the sounds of the station and using my voice recorder to document the upcoming journey. I tied the recorder round my wrist with an elastic band, hit record and set off. During the journey I experienced a range of emotions due to a lack of sleep, social anxiety and a mind and body trying it's best to begin the recovery phase from the effects of being awake for almost 36 hours. To help myself relax, feel at ease and fight off the public paranoia I started concocting noises, hums and melodies in my head. When I finally got home I set about recording all the sounds in my head and structuring them into pieces of music. I ended up with 5 short tracks. I then combined those 5 tracks with the 16 minutes of field recording I had from the journey and mixed them together into the one composition and The Outer Circle idea went from concept to creation."

Oscurito "Octopus" (bc008)

Today saw Oscurito release his debut EP "Octopus". Upon his introduction last November we promised you that you'd be hearing a lot more from the young Glaswegian. We had his January podcast last week to whet your appetite and now these 3 tracks of pulsating. mysterious techno are the perfect way for him to make his next musical statement. A lot of care and thought have went into the proficiency in the music with gleaming production and rich mastering throughout. We start off on sure footing with the solid rhythm of "Imagine Dystopia" accompanied by it's rumbling bass and well placed kicks before being engulfed with moody pads and waves of synths. "Psychic" is next with similar, confident, heavy beats that are rounded off with some shiny percussion. There's a slightly unhinged acid feel about the melodies that gives that psychedelic edge. The last of the trio is the title track "Octopus" , it introduces itself with cascading little dots of sound that are joined by a beat and poignant synths that build the tension before a dense and muscular beat takes centre stage and carries the track and EP through to it's end. 

As far as debut EPs go, it's a fantastic start and ensures that we look forward to working with Oscurito again in the future. Watch this space.

It's available for stream and free download below or at our bandcamp.

Intl. Debris "Thursday Morning, Taylor Swift" (bc007)

Today saw our final release of the year in the form of the "Thursday Morning, Taylor Swift" EP from International Debris.

A slightly surreal but ultimately enjoyable and rewarding stroll around the unconventional world of vaporwave. It's an amalgamation of experimental electronics, samples and field recordings alongside the curious and aberrant sounds that 'Intl. Debris' is consistent with producing. It takes in, but isn't restricted to, elements of ambient and vaporwave and in doing so provides and EP that is a stand out in terms of individuality. Whilst at times the music leans towards the more ambient side of things, it never at any point becomes too chilled or relaxed. There's way too much going on for you to get into that comfort zone. If you listen closely there's always something waiting to happen around the corner. It's a trip that's essentially broken up into six parts and clocking in at just over 25 minutes, it's a short, thoughtful, journey into the mind of it's creator.

It's available to stream and download for free below or at our bandcamp.

Can you spot the Taylor Swift appearance in the tracks?............

Chairman Cow "Cake Toucher" (bc006)

Today we're proud to present to you the "Cake Toucher " EP from Chairman Cow. It's a collection of lo-fi pop gems and toe tapping ditties.

A spongy base of guitar oddities that are covered in syrupy synths, his unique vocals and experienced songwriting craft. Top it all off with a load of pop sensibility and you've got a special cake cut up into 6 different but equally exquisite pieces. There's elements of funk, elements of pop, electronica, krautrock, a little bit of everything really. Let it wriggle into your ears and stay there.

It's available to stream below or at our bandcamp and as always you can grab a free download at bandcamp too.



Here's a quick run through the tracks....

1. "Mindmap" gets the toes tapping right away with it's beat, razor sharp guitar, squelchy synths and the Chairmans impassioned vocals.

2. "Words Unspoken" is a more solemn affair written in the midst of a hangover. It perfectly captures that downtrodden morning after mood.

3. "Dun-Dun-Dee" is a straight up catchy as hell little number that will worm it's way into your brain. Mainly acapella with a little guitar and some clicks and claps creeping their way in later on in the track.

4. "Landscape Mode", a krautrock inspired beat and perfectly executed guitar chops propel this perfect little instrumental along nicely before the lead components take it into overdrive. A great example of how less is sometimes more.

5. "Get Out Of My House" is in the words of Chairman Cow himself "an affectionate homage to DFA Records. It was made with a head full of LCD Soundsystem and the only thing missing is a cowbell." Sounds good to me.

6. "Kiss My Casio" was recorded on cassette and mobile phone. It's the perfect way to finish off the EP with it's chilled out synth and thoughtful spoken word setting the scene before it launches into weird pop territory. And yes, there is a casio involved.

Jazzdefector "Instrumental Love Songs For The Broken Hearted Vol.1" (bc003)

Bricolage presents our second EP release on the net label, "Instrumental Love Songs For The Broken Hearted Vol 1" from Jazzdefector is exactly what it sounds like. It's a collection of instrumental tracks that are rich in emotion and absorbing tones. Somber yet comforting. Full sounding but yet somehow broken. There are times that the notes turn into lingering, melodic drones which results in eight serene and melancholic instrumentals that are happy to let you float away with them. 

An EP tinged with sadness but nonetheless full of shimmering and beautiful, unconditional soundscapes. 

It's available to stream in full below or at our bandcamp site and you can grab a free download of the EP.



soundcloud.com/bricolage-collective

soundcloud.com/jazzdefector

Fragile X "Console" (bc002)

Bricolage is proud to present our second release on our net label in the form of the "Console" EP from Fragile X. It's a loose concept EP based on and partly created from the start up sounds of computer consoles and operating systems. The sounds have been manipulated via both analogue and digital means and elaborated on with further instrumentation to create intriguing and spacious drone soundscapes. 

It's a sweeping journey through 90's and 00's childhood that transforms into a vast collage of reverberations.

Here's a track by track breakdown

1. Ages

The shortest track on the album. It's a voice that any 90s kids or gamers will know as the "SEGA voice". A regular occurrence at the beginning of the Sega Master System start up screen. Here, it's been manipualted into a slow 60 second chant. *Fun Fact* Did you know that the "Seeeeeeegggaaaaaa" audio at he beginning of the original Sonic The Hedgehog game took up 1/8th of the cartridge memory on it's own?

2. x3b6o0x

A quiet echo and a buzz paves a path to allow a slightly somber drone to come to the fore. The Xbox 360 was used in this one.

3. Saturn9ne

A sample of the Sega Saturn here provides huge tension that finally fully expands into a giant encapsulating hum.

4. Dorimukyasuto

Maybe the most gentle of the 6 tracks on the EP. An anxious and atmospheric affair that hums along reflectively. Dorimukyasuto is the Hepburn romanization of the Japanese term ドリームキャスト *Or in English, "Dreamcast" which gives you an indication of the samples used in this track.*

5. Stay Patient

From the most gentle track on the release to the most cold, insular and austere track. The longest track on the EP by far. It's the old Playstation 1 start up sound recorded onto and then stretched out manually over a cassette before also being digitally altered to create a truly ominous drone that manages to almost fully disappear at one point before it comes rumbling back in thunderous fashion and finally fades out for good.

6. C4BH3-P4J7W-9MT6X-PGKC8-J4JTM

Named after a code for Windows XP, the last track has an almost detached feel from the rest of the EP. It has a brighter and warmer tone than it's predecessors and serves as a fitting ending to the EP.

It's available to stream in full below or at our bandcamp site where you can also grab a free download of the EP.



soundcloud.com/bricolage-collective

soundcloud.com/fragilex