Product Info
Limited 2LP: White Vinyl
More Info
Hey!Tonal was the first album by Hey!Tonal, a project helmed by the guitarists, multi-instrumentalists and sound designers Mitch Cheney (Rumah Sakit, Sweep the Leg Johnny) and Alan Mills (Chiisai-oto). Released in 2009 French label Africantape on CD only it has now been remastered by Carl Saff and pressed to vinyl for the first time. 2LP white vinyl, gatefold sleeve with poster and aluminium outer sleeve. Cheney initially conceived it as a project to be named “Drummers’ Perspectives”, and that working title sums up its ethos. He became inspired to write melodies based on the drumbeat being the starting point of the composition.
A fortunate meeting with Alan Mills meant collaborator was now involved with this rhythmic and melodic building blocks. The basic concept for their compositional process stemmed from Cheney’s experience with television editing. They manipulated all the catalogued sounds as if they were visual elements. The result of this unusual approach is a striking record, full of delicate incongruities hidden in the music; happy accidents were meticulously given purpose during mixing, malleable drums and guitars intertwined with a myriad of improvised and shaped sounds. The overall impression is of some oblique explanation to an unsolved mystery and should be manna from heaven to anyone who dug the first Battles EP’s.
Tracklist
If Flash Gordon Was A Sk8r / Uppum / Kcraze / Tao Of Chin Drapery / Smarmy Faulkner / Skitch / Carl Sagan Is The Long Form Of Bitchin’ / The Best Way To Say Goodbye Is With A Silent Ride Off Into The Sunset... Or On A Boat Or Something