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2LP
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PLR 028LP
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Originally released in 2025. "Perfect Location Records in partnership with the one and only Ear Candy Music presents 00-04, a compilation of early works by Bevan Smith aka Signer, New Zealand's most prominent name in ambient electronica and dub techno. Smith has been producing emotive chords, pop ambience, and thick dub-o-spheres since before the turn of the century. His output is prolific, ranging from various solo monikers (Aspen, Introverted Dancefloor) and collaborations (Skallander, Feeling Flying) to unique projects (Touching the Void soundtrack, Isolated Dreams' 24 EPs and counting). A rare artist with indie crossover appeal thanks to the 2004 Signer album The New Face of Smiling released on Carpark Records (Toro Y Moi, Beach House, Dan Deacon, Montag), Smith has played as a member of bands such as The Ruby Suns (Sub Pop), Over the Atlantic (Involve), and Glass Vaults (JUKBOXR). Encompassing field recordings and evoking a cloudy coastal sky, 00-04 is a collection of mostly unheard material written in the early 2000s as Smith navigated the chaos and stress of living in London just after 9/11. A portion of this release may be recognizable to those familiar with the Involve catalog -- 'Drone Early,' for example, is an alternative version to the dub giant '1201A' -- and to those acquainted with Signer's 2002 Low Light Dreams (Carpark/Involve), an iconic album composed of processed guitar, dub-influenced bass, and synth drones; as if that doesn't sound appealing enough, Low Light Dreams is home to 'Building Memories Without You,' an unforgettably engulfing track featured on Fact Magazine's '25 Best Dub Techno Tracks of All Time.' 00-04 is a (re)issue both nostalgic and new, familiar yet unknown, fresh out of the archive. It possesses the Low Light Dreams aural palette while offering a carefully curated array of never before heard icy-cold moods, soothing minimalism, and shyly optimistic melodies, all glazed with recently finalized additions."
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CD
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CRPK 027CD
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"In 2002, we called it 'Nu-Indie'. That pissed people off (who knew?). At the time, New Zealand's Bevan Smith successfully married the digital and analog worlds with Signer's Low Light Dreams. Now the honeymoon is over and this couple is in it for the long haul. No longer are the two distinct; they have become one. Bevan spent some time listening to his favorite indie slow-jams (Joy Division, My Bloody Valentine, Laughingstock-era Talk Talk et.al) and decided he should make the first proper fuzzed-out pop gem of the 21st century. Signer's The New Face of Smiling chews on all of Bevan's experience in indie bands and electronica and spits them back out into something brand new yet somehow familiar. Those with a sense of humor can call it 'Nu-Gazing'."
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LP
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CRPK 027LP
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CD
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CRPK 020CD
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"First forward-thinking musicians began experimenting with electronic instruments, then some abandoned the traditional band setup (and the band) entirely for the computer. It's a trend that has been observed by New Zealand native Bevan Smith (aka Signer) for many years. Abandoning his indie rock past and embracing the burgeoning 'electronic' scene of the mid 90s, Bevan created many gorgeous IDM and ambient techno records as Aspen and Signer. Yet after a while he felt constrained by the digital music making process. It had become as formulaic as the indie rock he abandoned in the 90s. It was time once again for something new. Low Light Dreams explores a sound that Bevan himself calls 'nu-indie': incorporating elements from first-wave post-rockers like Seefeel, dub-influenced techno, and some of the more blissed-out items from the Kranky Records' catalog."
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