Much like their last Devastations LP (2007’s Yes, U), Conrad Standish and Tom Carlyon’s debut album as Standish/Carlyon (Deleted Scenes, out today via Felte) doesn’t just create an atmosphere and leave it hanging in the balance like a black-lit sheet of mere background music. It maintains a melancholic mood for minutes on end, letting morose melodies and hushed harmonies drift through a pitch dark chasm of weighty/widescreen dub rhythms, laser-guided loops and synthesized samples.
Meanwhile, a story emerges–scrambled transmissions about high society’s pleasure principles, an insular world of washed-up celebrities, epileptic flash bulbs, dagger-drawing designers, joyless jacuzzis and lapsed credit limits. At least that’s what it appears Standish is singing about. Embrace the duo’s ultramodern ether long enough and you’ll also notice subtleties that are both surreal and sensual, as well as lyrical nods to absurdism, tropical diseases and utter degradation.
In the following exclusive mix, Standish/Carlyon examines “some recent favorites and some not so recent, a mixture of humidity and colder tensions. [A] pretty all over the place selection/mix but hopefully it makes sense. TG members are unconsciously represented pretty heavily on this, though no Chris & Cosey. Next time. RIP Guru”…
Standish/Carlyon, Needle Exchange 122:
The Pedigree – Dean Blunt
Dem Never Know (Sleeparchive Remix) – Rhythm & Sound w/ Jah Cotton
Who’ll Tell – Coil
Hoomanau Nooi – Mike Cooper
Warm Weather – Pieces Of A Dream
Muzak For Frogs – Dave Ball & Genesis P-Orridge
Episode 3: From Prescott To Los Angeles – Luc Ferrari
As X Is To Geff – Threshold Houseboys Choir
Passage D´insectes – Bernard Parmegiani
Unthinkable (Physical Therapy Remix) – Alicia Keys
In A Hole – Invisable Conga People
So Far So Clean – Inga Copeland
Moment Of Truth – Gang Starr
