DARREN McCLURE (LND003)
The tracks that make up Softened Edges were composed and recorded over a six month period during which McClure collected field recordings to incorporate into his compositions. Many of these sounds have been processed, stretched or slowed down, while others have been left untouched. From recordings of melting snow in January, crunching gravel in April and thunderstorms in June to more subtle sounds like room tones, voices and tunnel ambience, McClure creates soundscapes that express his interest in time and space.
CDR
Edition of 100. Silkscreened cover artwork with printed CDR designed by K. Hall
Available from and/oar and Squidco as well as Retinascan in Germany.
MP3 Download $8.00
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Also available from Itunes and Amazon.
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Check out the interview with Darren McClure over at Earlabs.
Review excerpts: Full reviews available in the review archive.
Touching Extremes APRIL 2008
Lyophilized minimal sapience delightfully rendered in a finely crafted album. - Massimo Ricci
Tofaki JAN 2008
He succedes because “Softened Edges” is filled to the brim with the love of its creator. The details mentioned above are not the product of an obsessively meticulous mind, but of someone who fosters parental feelings towards his tracks... - Tobias Fischer
Squid's Ear DEC 2007
These nine proto-"ambient" works take field recordings of McClure's urban surroundings as their template, get washed through various digital arrays, and come out as giddy new wonders, the better to work their magic through your aural canals. - Darren Bergstein
Textura.org DEC 2007
...Softened Edges proves most rewarding when broached as ‘headphones listening.'
Darren McClure utilizes processed field recordings and software generated sound to create music that focusses on the small details within the larger structure. His emphasis is on sound placement, texture and layers, on top of which fragmented melodies appear and disappear. Originally from Northern Ireland and currently living in Japan, he has released material on labels such as Oblast, Rain Music, Test-tube, Cherry Music, Standard-Klik-Music, Zymogen, Magic Book and Factotum Arts.