Browse by Artist: RIVAL CONSOLES

Artist:	RIVAL CONSOLES
Title:	The Decadent EP
Label:	ERASED TAPES (UK)
Format:	10"
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	ERATP 005EP

2007 release. Rival Consoles is IDM/acid-smith Ryan Lee West from Leicester, UK. Influenced by impressionists like Claude Debussy and modern electronic artists such as Autechre and Squarepusher, he created his unique signature, a playful and brutal mix of electronic beats and warm, emotive synth/string arrangements. The Decadent EP is a fusion of traditional and contemporary formats. The package contains a digital download code that allows the purchaser to be able to get the entire EP plus the bonus track digitally for free.

Artist:	RIVAL CONSOLES
Title:	IO
Label:	ERASED TAPES (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	ERATP 016CD

This is the highly-anticipated debut full-length release by UK-based electro-genius Ryan Lee West aka Rival Consoles -- a youthful purveyor of intelligent dance music. After releasing four previous EPs on Erased Tapes, he has crafted an electronic record to transcend the discerning and flirt a little with current club culture, while also attempting to humanize and at the same time, emphasize, entirely computerized sounds that defy categorization. Rival Consoles combines a clever and complex mix of hard-hitting beats with catchy acid melodies. Or as he describes it in his own words: "Rival Consoles is a musical project where I take ideas which are cheap and processed, and combine them with rich, unpredictable patterns -- resulting in music which appears commercial yet typically against commercial music at the same time." Earlier EP releases clearly define his progression, from The Decadent EP and the 7" Helvetica, where instead of X-Box vs. Playstation, classical theory meets dance. There is more to this freshly-graduated artist than meets the eye, for those not content with 4/4 beat dancefloor stormers; West is fast establishing himself as both an accomplished sound designer and programmer. Full of blippy arcade sounds, dub echoes, acidic whines, glitched beats, pops, zigzags and clatters, IO is a panoply of sound that is meticulously constructed and purposeful. It will be impossible to keep this off the dancefloor.

Artist:	RIVAL CONSOLES
Title:	Kid Velo
Label:	ERASED TAPES (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.50
Catalog #:	ERATP 031CD

Ryan L. West, the man behind Rival Consoles, strives to humanize and at the same time emphasize entirely computerized sounds to defy categorization in modern electronic music. According to West, this record was all about creating genuine emotions with a synthetic set of sounds. With track names that could be straight out of a comic strip, the atmosphere of this album reminds of video game sagas such as Zelda or Final Fantasy. Kid Velo makes the perfect fictional super hero with "Eve" being his fragile yet powerful female counterpart and "Vos" as the classic antagonist. Tracks like "S.P.K.R.S." evoke images of an evil, corrupt police force, lurking deep in the futuristic suburbs. Surrounded by studio equipment, this record possibly is a result of spending more time with speakers than people. It doesn't take much to see some parallels between the fictional character Kid Velo and its creator. Rival Consoles combines hard-hitting beats with catchy pop melodies, classical theory with dance. No wonder he released a split 12" with label mate Ólafur Arnalds' minimal-techno outfit Kiasmos. There is more to this artist than meets the eye, for those not content with 4/4 beat dancefloor stormers; West is fast establishing himself as both a sound designer and programmer, having repeatedly performed at the Tate Britain Museum in London, where he drew over 2,000 visitors into his unpredictable, yet detailed sound drawings "using self-created sound manipulation tools in MAX/MSP and Super Collider."

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