Well, it’s finally happened. All good things must come to an end, but 2021 was certainly a wild roller coaster of a solar revolution. Looking back – Full Spectrum welcomed a whole fresh crop of artists into our label family this year and published a whopping 23 [!] releases. Some of us even managed to play a few shows here and there, a marked improvement over 2020.
To round things out and close the book on the year that was, we are pleased to present the debut from California-born white settler writer, artist, and geographer Maya Weeks. Entitled ‘Tethers,’ this one is but a subtle breeze of an album, as brief and transitory as the ocean’s spray across your face. Clocking in at a svelte 16 minutes, though, ‘Tethers’ is no less lovely and impactful for its brevity.
Co-produced with Andrew Weathers, who Weeks knows from her time at Mills College, ‘Tethers’ consists of collaged audio files captured between January and June of this year. Snatches of looped synthesizer, voice memos, and field recordings fall together into a blissed out patchwork of sound that feels somehow both intimate and unknowable all at once.
The album is built around environmental sounds captured in two places on the California coast: Cayucos [on occupied Chumash and Salinan land] and Bodega Bay [on occupied Miwok land]. Weeks grew up in Cayucos and she is now affiliated with the Bodega Marine Lab in Bodega Bay, where she conducts research on marine pollution. Specifically, she is seeking to understand this man-made environmental catastrophe as a form of violence enacted by masculinist, capitalist norms with European origins.
Over the course of the past year – and subsequent production of ‘Tethers’ – Weeks listened to these two locales as they underwent processes of change due to shifts in production, consumption, and expendability. This intentional listening practice became her attempt to slow down and work against the frantic crescendo of our lives in the face of capitalism’s impending collapse. ‘Tethers’ is our invitation to join Weeks in this pursuit.
credits
released December 4, 2021
all music and poetry by Maya Weeks
Maya Weeks: field recordings, synthesizer, voice
Andrew Weathers: synthesizer, percussion
recorded in 2021 in Cayucos and Bodega Bay, California
mixed & mastered by Andrew Weathers
artwork & layout by Gretchen Korsmo
photos by Maya Weeks
Full Spectrum Records releases the works of experimental musicians and sound artists, with an ear towards idiosyncratic tones, extended time frames and unique compositional approaches.
Beautiful! This album draws you in, asks you to listen closely, and will surprise you just when you think you know what's next. A lovely work, artful and alluring. vB
St Celfer returns with tracks culled from a series of live shows, each one a showcase for his inventive experimentalism. Bandcamp New & Notable Jun 26, 2023
Seattle’s St Celfer returns with four more boundary-breaking electronic compositions sparked with sudden bursts of melody. Bandcamp New & Notable Jun 6, 2022
Recorded on the hottest days in the longest year, "Radioactive Desire" is an avant-garde piece with an almost visceral impact. Bandcamp New & Notable Sep 5, 2021
After 25 minutes of wandering piano keys, gurgling and whirring electronics, unidentified field recordings, solemn French horn and plucked bass, we reach something resembling a “song” at the tape’s end. It’s not the destination, but the journey, some might say, but in this case, the earthy headphone muck asks if the dream quest ever truly ends. https://www.vikingschoice.org/archive/amp-stacked-ambient-japanese-folk-black-rave/ Lars Gotrich