invisible birds | colin andrew sheffield

colin andrew sheffield - born el paso texas, 1976, currently resides in the seattle area

sheffield's work currently focuses on the strict re-contextualization of other commercially available recordings.
his aim is to distill the essential qualities of these works and to then utilize that essence for new recordings.
usually only very brief sections of the original works are selected. these raw components are then contracted,
expanded, layered, and/or otherwise processed until something new is forged. the resultant music is an atmospheric
soundscape, gradually shifting and unfolding, offering subtle nuances and quiet restraint. his recordings often seem to
have much in common with ambient electronic music, though are equally akin to "plunderphonic" audio collage.

in 1998 sheffield founded the elevator bath recording label which has continually issued experimental works from a variety
of artists from the united states and abroad. sheffield has released a number of solo recordings since 1998, including
2005's 'first thus,' his debut long-player.

"the tracks on 'signatures' were very much directly inspired by the ideas behind invisible birds. i chose samples to
work with that included sounds of birds or water or at least references to those elements. some of these sounds are
totally hidden and some are only partially hidden (in "broken light," the low rumbling that appears at the beginning
and for the first few minutes sounds a bit like thunder but is actually the sound of birds' wings flapping upon takeoff).

"i do not use a computer or any software for composing. i use a turntable, a nearly 20-year-old sampler, and a portable
64-track digital workstation as my primary instruments. it's a stripped down method, to be sure. like the french writing
group oulipo (ouvroir de littérature potentielle), i am a big believer in the merits of constraint."

- side one / side two (7") - elevator bath - 1998
- spring (time) / the bridge (7") - elevator bath - 1999
- recycled music - rrrecords - 2000
- in between (10") - elevator bath - 2001
- variations - elevator bath - 2001
- sleeping arrangements - elevator bath - 2002
- vessel - elevator bath - 2002
- music for performance - elevator bath - 2003
- first thus - elevator bath - 2005
- for today from a cleansing ascension - elevator bath - 2008
- signatures - invisible birds - 2009
- broken light (3" included in signatures special edition) - invisible birds - 2009