THE MUSIC OF JIM TETLOW
Jim has been recording music since November 1990 when he made his first tapes recorded from the song memory of a Yamaha PSS-790 keyboard at the tender age of 16. In the time-honoured tradition of the bedroom musician in the 80s and 90s a 4-track cassette recorder, effects units and a second-hand Commodore Amiga followed. Already at this time he had a fondness for weaving minimalist patterns into his music.
In the spring of 1997 a meeting with a childhood friend led to his first involvement with Leicester's thriving and diverse music scene. He also met and became friendly with the Freeman brothers whose record shop Ultima Thule was somewhat legendary for lovers of music outside of the mainstream. Their own sonic explorations inspired a change of direction for him which lasted around a decade before he began to combine this musical world with his more rhythmically-based earlier style into the definitive hybrid aesthetic he works in today. Since 1999 he has collaborated with them in the far-out and often innovative improv trio Endgame. Alan Freeman has this to say: "Some of the early solo work Jim played me was very Tangerine Dream circa 1974 to 1984 inspired, melodic synth, but with an edge that was all his own. With his solo works on Auricle he'd largely dumped the melodic context in preference for ambient abstract exploration, and unique techniques involving live manipulation, feedback processing and such-like. You may also hear elements of Brian Eno, Jon Hassell, Sylvian & Czukay, Coil, Cluster, Vangelis, Bayle, Parmegiani and Morphogenesis, all in varying amounts in his music. Yet Jim is not at all copyist in any of what you'll find here"
Jim enjoys making music in various projects with a host of musical friends, many of whom involve themselves in Chris Conway's monthly Quadelectronic sessions at Leicester's Quad Studios, where improvising experimenters from a variety of musical heritages meet and see what happens. Chris has collaborated with Jim since 2010 in the improv duo Memory Wire and its fourpiece offshoots Bridge, Audible Light and latterly Starfish Haiku.
Scorpiomind (2020-) Michał Wojciechowski, JT
InFlotation (2020-) Steve Escott, JT
The Inhabited Sky (2019-) Steve Carroll, Alison Dunne, Steve Escott, Les Hayden, JT
Starfish Haiku (2018-) Carise Zangerle Murray, Chris Conway, Ludwik Szczylik, JT
Approaching Infinity (2018-) Alan Freeman, JT
Windfall Light (2017-) John Hinks, JT
UV Spectra (2017-) Andy Atyeo, JT
Symbiotica (2014-) Linda Faulkner, Les Hayden, JT
Audible Light (2014-) Andy Atyeo, Chris Conway, Les Hayden, JT
Jaipur School Orchestra (2013-) Neil Donoghue, Will Fidoe, Dylan Menzies, JT
Muted Fnord (2011-2013, 2020-) David Dhonau, Andrew Johnston, Ola Szmidt, JT
People With Manners (2011-) Dylan Menzies, JT
Bridge (2010) Chris Conway, Kafka Wilde, Christina Wigmore, JT
Harper Bourne (2010) Victoria Bourne, Chris Harper, JT
Memory Wire (2009-) Chris Conway, JT
Focal Gaol (2009-2010) Glenn Boulter, David Dhonau, JT
Multimorph (2009-) Maureen Anderson, Kevin Hewick, Rizz James, Darren Baxter, Helena McLeod, JT etc
Tetlow & Broadhurst (2007-) julian Broadhurst, JT
2/3 (2004-) Nigel Harris, JT
The Zircon Game (2004) Alan Freeman, Steve Freeman, Nigel Harris, JT
Extremities (2002-) Alan Freeman, Steve Freeman, Dave Powell, JT
Endgame (1999-) Alan Freeman, Steve Freeman, JT
Hemamorphite (1999-2000) Nina Bell, Jane Hodgson, JT
Opal (1998-) Pete Rigg, JT
Shapeshifter (1998-1999) Maureen Anderson, Dave Johnson, Alan Freeman, Willow Songsmith, JT
Jim is interested in soundtrack work, having produced what might be termed sonic responses to a couple of experimental videos by Austrian artist Jacqueline Cheval.
Pieces from 1998 in a particular aesthetic
Experimental works from 1998; 2014 development featuring Victoria Bourne on vocals and flute
Material from early 1998 exploring newly bought equipment
"This solo debut finds Jim combining diverse elements into an ambient, floating, but also complex layering of sounds, all in a vaguely melodic frame. Roughly exploring a style that hints a little at the Sylvian & Czukay collaborations, the more abstract realms of Coil, Cluster and the melodic end of the electronic avant-garde. In all, it's a unique sound, showing the aspect of Jim's earlier work in Endgame" ~ Alan Freeman, Auricle Music
1998 forays into cosmic territory
Melodic/thematic pieces from 1998
A concept album from September 1998, each of the 14 pieces a direct sonic/musical response to a painting by the surrealist Max Ernst
Cosmic experimental work from October/November 1998
Two experimental pieces from March 1999
Experimental electronic works from 1999-2000
Three long pulsing experimental pieces from 1999
Works derived from my contributions to early Endgame pieces, late 1999
Three pieces recorded entirely on an electric guitar with delay systems, late 2000
"Wiki says: Oneiromancy (from the Greek Oneiros) is a form of divination based upon dreams; it is a system of dream interpretation that uses dreams to predict the future. Aptly Jim's Oneiromancer is quite dreamlike, yet surreal with it too! For Jim this is unique in that it features no synthesizers or conventional instruments whatsoever, with hints of the weirder end of Vangelis, onto Bayle, Parmegiani or even Morphogenesis." ~ Alan Freeman, Auricle Music
"Aptly fragile music, but dark, and best played with the lights out! This is Jim being both dark and ethereal, with lots of twisted melodic tones, undulations, glissandi, mutated sonics, glass / crystalline tonalities, subtle but vivid. There is a melodic edge there to hang on to, but it's always kept elusive, out of reach - don't touch it, else it will shatter!" ~ Alan Freeman, Auricle Music
A collection of darker experimental works from 2000-2001, comprising pieces previously released on Auricle Music and previously unfinished pieces
"As the title suggests, this is music that tends to hang in the air, that sometimes develops imperceptibly, that moves with a sloth lethargy. Yet it is also deep (dark and even bordering on the menacing in its use of strange frequencies) and not at all your usual 'wallpaper music'. It exists, and can be experienced on many different levels. Some may even call it electroacoustic sound art. Whatever - 'Sloth' is in a world of its own." ~ Alan Freeman, Auricle Music
2005 album previously released on Auricle Music, exploring various facets of the aesthetic of liquid metal and glass tones
Free download - experiments with harmonic displacement recorded in a single evening in Summer 2007
Electroacoustic works
An album compiling ambient explorations recorded between 2006 and 2008
My most accomplished piece of electroacoustic music, in its abridged 15 minute form and its original hour long suite Cover photograph by Doug Brown; design/typography by Jim Tetlow
The sequel to 2004's ambient album Sloth, again following the concept of five oozing 15 minute soundscapes
A dark ambient soundscape for fans of Blade Runner
Improvisations for delay loop systems Cover painting by Carolyn La Reux (1969-2014); design/typography by Jim Tetlow
Improvisations for delay loop systems Cover painting by Carolyn La Reux (1969-2014); design/typography by Jim Tetlow
Improvisations for delay loop systems Cover painting by Carolyn La Reux (1969-2014); design/typography by Jim Tetlow
A longer edit of 'We Too Found the Light of Home' from the Progressions II album
An hour long piece of algorithmically generated ambient music
A 43 minute long piece of algorithmically generated ambient music
Ambient aural responses to haiku poetry
Electronica works made over a decade or more
First instalment of the series, recorded May-November 2017
Second instalment of the series, recorded November 2017 - February 2018
Third instalment of the series, recorded March-October 2018
Fourth instalment of the series, recorded November 2018 - November 2019
Fifth instalment of the series, recorded January-September 2020
A selection of pieces from the earliest phase of recordings
A diversity of pieces developed from home recordings, early 1995
A mellow/atmospheric phase from the summer of 1995
A new sophistication from computer sequencing, latter half of 1995
A newly dark and emotive phase from the first half of 1996
Continuing the dark phase, summer/autumn 1996
A diverse and particularly creative collection from late 1996
A time of experiments, particularly with vocal samples; early 1997
Experiments with styles including flirts with drum'n'bass, 1997
A strong, vivid collection from the prolific month of December 1997
Pete Rigg, Jim Tetlow; recorded 1998, completed 2013
Alan Freeman, Steve Freeman, Jim Tetlow; recorded 2006
julian Broadhurst & Jim Tetlow; recorded 2007. Cover design by Tetlow & Broadhurst.
Andy Atyeo, Chris Conway, Les Hayden, Jim Tetlow (with guest Chris Thornhill); recorded live 2017. Cover image derived from photography by Laryn Kragt Bakker, typography by Chris Conway.
John Hinks, Jim Tetlow; recorded 2017
Chris Conway, Jim Tetlow; recorded 2018. Cover typography by Chris Conway.
Carise Zangerle Murray, Chris Conway, Ludwik Szczylik, Jim Tetlow; recorded 2018. Cover photography by Carise, typography by Chris Conway.
Andy Atyeo, Jim Tetlow; recorded 2019
Steve Escott, Jim Tetlow; recorded 2020
Victoria Bourne, Jim Tetlow; recorded 2020