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Lie Symmetry

by Aperus

supported by
Stuart McDonald
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Stuart McDonald this is a stunningly beautiful album, current favourites are "when the mountain wear black hats and VLA2" ... Great job Brian
ambient_landscape
ambient_landscape thumbnail
ambient_landscape An extremely unique & captivating album within the "ambient/experimental" genera. I read about this on ello, clicked & immediately purchased 'Lie Symmetry'. It will, no doubt, make its way onto a future studio mix! Favorite track: Marsh Lake, October.
elm0e
elm0e thumbnail
elm0e This is such a cool album. Field recordings have always been an important part of Aperus' music but on this release they are more up front and integral to the soundscape. The results are hypnotic and amazing. Listening to this on headphones makes the experience even more immersive.
Richard Gürtler
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Richard Gürtler "Lie Symmetry" is spectacularly transporting recording with a massive amount of rewards, it's extraordinarily colored exploration just like all those unexpectedly occurring photographs. Abstractly enveloping and sophisticatedly polished, yet organically provoking! Top-notch sound quality with fascinatingly engrossing visuals on top of all that. "Lie Symmetry" CD is a truly magnificent release from beginning to end! Another great job, Brian!!!
David Jackson
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David Jackson I'll let it wash over me more, but I was moved immediately on my first listen. The internal journey created by the referencing of the unknown external physical world in Aperus' soundscapes is astounding. Experiencing discovering my own personal aural topography and imagery via this epic work.
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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    This 2018 release on the artist's own Geophonic Records label is assembled by hand and features a striking double sided gatefold cover with an additional gatefold insert. The audio is professionally replicated from a glass master onto CD.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Lie Symmetry via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 2 days

      $12 USD or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $6 USD  or more

     

1.
VLA 1 06:12
2.
3.
4.
Himalaya 03:21
5.
VLA 2 07:46
6.
7.
8.

about

On Lie Symmetry, Brian McWilliams (aka Aperus) creates an ambient work of highly saturated color and sound, blending resonant analog synths with warm textures and a compelling selection of field recordings. Here, McWilliams works as sonic sculptor - exploring the edges, pushing the sound as far as possible and shaping the music and artwork together into a nearly synesthetic vision. Defying easy categorization, the album moves between ambient, electronic, environmental and drone music to create a wide array of emotional tones. With all of its layers and contours, Lie Symmetry is sure to reward repeated listens and appeal to fans of various ambient styles.

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From the liner notes:

I first heard the term “Lie Symmetry” on the radio segment "Finding Beautiful Symmetry Near Absolute Zero". There, physicist Alan Tennant described his study of transitions in the quantum states of deeply cooled ions - “when water goes from ice to liquid, there are transitions between these states. At the exact point where you change from one state to another, that's where you get the really important stuff ... In fact, [these transitions] are quite beautiful. The quantum aspect of the system provides a kind of a simplification, an extra layer of order that you wouldn't expect.” This order or symmetry is known as E8 or Lie Symmetry.

I held onto Lie Symmetry as a title for years hoping to return to it for the right project – supplying diagrams, text and photos from scientific studies as part of the artwork. But ultimately, I found the research difficult to connect with and even harder to explain.

Then, unexpectedly, I found a series of photos taken by accident after a recent hike. The simplest explanation is that I left my phone in camera mode while it was in my pocket, triggering the shutter as I walked. These accidental landscapes suggest the light and contour of the high desert but are nothing more than abstractions captured from a covered lens. Many of the photos show distinct center lines with heavy bands of color and a symmetry all their own. When I saw them, I knew that the artwork I was looking for had suddenly appeared while I wasn’t looking. Maybe the physical world wasn't behaving predictably as I walked through it that day or perhaps I projected the landscape I saw onto "film" as a kind of thoughtography.

In the end, I suppose “entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily”. It’s my hope that the music and photos link back to the concept of Lie Symmetry in a way that invites curiosity and further exploration.

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credits

released April 18, 2018

REVIEWS

"It is all about setting the mood ... in which you close your eyes and see some flickering of light, the shimmering of sound ... This is overall a great production"
Frans de Waard, VITAL WEEKLY
www.vitalweekly.net

"The drone evocations and darkening underworlds lean strong towards Roach’s deep organic netherworlds, creating overall mysterious, nocturnal and haunting atmospheres ... ambient fans should check out this spacious sounding, well mastered recording"
Bert Strolenberg, SONIC IMMERSION
www.sonicimmersion.org

"pure, raw, ambient. In the final stretch comes the low roar ... Paced diaphanous layers of drone build gradually as new percussive details are transmitted. The roar grows, and recedes. A certain sense of power looms ... the ambiguity gives this its strength and character. It releases with it a certain sense of unrest"
TJ Norris, TONESHIFT
www.toneshift.net


CREDITS

APERUS: DSI OB6, Roland Juno 106, Roland JP8O8O, Ensoniq ASR10, TAL UN-O-LX, Synplant, shortwave radio, ebow guitar, drum loops, wind chimes, thunder drum, rattles, field recordings, sample manipulation

All songs recorded and mixed by Brian McWilliams at the Sound Observatory. Mastered between 2016 and 2018 with assistance from Ron Sunsinger, Jan Roos and Jason Goodyear.

Aperus
aperus.bandcamp.com
remanence.bandcamp.com
geophonicrecords.com

Ron Sunsinger
ronsunsinger.bandcamp.com

Jan Roos
superfata.bandcamp.com

Jason Goodyear
prettylittlepaw.com

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about

Aperus Santa Fe, New Mexico

Aperus is an ambient, electronic musician and photographer living in the high desert of northern New Mexico. With each recording he filters natural and technological sound through a surf of electronics, noise and field recordings, creating large-scale, echoing soundscapes that hear the world as if from a vast distance. He is also known for his work with the ambient / electronic duo Remanence. ... more

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