Today, 5th October, tastemaker London-based label Slow Dance announced the release of an exciting limited edition vinyl: Of Noise. For the project, six groups of hand-picked musicians were given six hours to create tracks using original instruments sculpted by artists. These musicians included members of bands like black midi, Sorry and Goat Girl. The release is currently available for pre-order on Rough Trade and via the label’s website.

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  We are very excited to announce that @lateworks_  of Noise will be out on @slowdancerecords on 10TH NOVEMBER You can pre-order the limited edition vinyl now via our website in our bio and on @roughtrade The 40 minute album features members of @bmblackmidi @goatgirlofficial @404guild @sorrybanduk @powerplant___  @curlrecordings & more who came into a studio in six groups to record with a set of instruments sculpted by @mathildabgreene @a4ngus @joe.bradleyhill & @jonaspequeno     The groups were only allowed to sample the instruments and their voice, and any lyrics had to be written in the time (of which they only had six hours). You can listen to a sampler and find more information on the Slow Dance & Late Works websites. Tracklist: A1 – “forged in fire” ft.( @djdairy2020 @thegreep @agaujma @silkarmour100 & @jerskinfendrix ) A2 – “diggy diggy fuck off” ft.( @plopper5000 @mrinstargram @maxsyedtollan & @tobyevansjesra ) A3 – “don’t sleep on” ft.( @glowsmusic & @felix.raman ) A4 – “unmenacingly violent” ft.( @marthaskye @krnlnrd @skrillig & @cajm_ ) B1 – “DRAIN MYTH” ft.( @bathwater.404 @devenny.404 @eliot.404 & @sonny.404 ( @404guild )) B2 – “DARK LORE BINGO” ft.( @bianca_scout @jacobfsamuel @homerhands @j_b_glazer @h__smart & @elenaisolini ) Musicians selected by @ggskips @joe.bradleyhill @maddymokeefe & @biancascout . All tracks mixed by the respective artists and @felix.raman and mastered for vinyl by @technodaddy666 (@pva_are_ok ) . Concept + vinyl design by @joe.bradleyhill inspired by Luigi Russolo’s 1913 manifesto “The Art of Noises”.

A post shared by Slow Dance (@slowdancerecords) on Oct 5, 2020 at 4:06am PDT

Ventures like this are typical of Slow Dance, run by three entrepreneurial music lovers Marco Pini, Darius Williams and Maddy O’Keefe. Slow Dance is a label, management, radio and events company that grew organically out of a college art zine. It has been recognised for its status as ‘one of the capital’s finest arbiters of taste’, and for its grassroots ethos, by publications such as NME, Dazed and The Quietus.

Fitting with their artistic origins, Slow Dance have collaborated with intermedia arts organisation Late Works on this project. Late Works founder Joseph Bradley Hill, who designed the concept, was inspired by Luigi Russolo’s 1913 manifesto The Art of Noises which classifies noises into six categories. Hill chose the four sculptors to contribute while O’Keefe, Pini and Bianca Scout weighed in to choose the musicians.

One group of musicians includes Lottie Pendlebury and Rosy Jones from the Rough Trade signed band Goat Girl while another saw DJ Dairy & MC Spritz, from the 2019 Mercury nominated black midi, team up with burgeoning experimental-folk musician Aga Ujma. The musicians were only able to sample the instruments and their own voices. The result is a fascinating cross-genre set of tracks, created over six hours, that demonstrates the innate musicality of its participants.

The physical product is covered in interesting graphics and contains a black and white risographed concertina booklet detailing the project. Projects like these are important because they question the purpose of music and push its parameters.