Digitonal
Biography
?There are aspects of Save Your Light For Darker Days that aspired to be a big symphony orchestra, kick-ass, film music kind of thing,? says Digitonal?s Andy Dobson. ?We are called ?cinematic? a lot and there?s definitely a case for that, but having something that?s more intimate actually suits the vibe of a lot of the writing. It wouldn?t work if it was overblown.?
In fact, Digitonal?s second album has more of a pared-down, chamber ensemble economy of sound. Yet at times its electronics, beats and instrumental lines sketch out some pretty wide-open spaces.
It?s similar, in this respect, to the music of 21st century Mexican soundscaper, Murcof, and to Artificial Intelligence-era Warp Records, the early 90s dance-music-for-the-head made by the likes of Link, B12 and Beaumont Hannant (who Dobson particularly admires). But play them back-to-back with Digitonal and they are sonically quite different. With violinist Samy Bishai?s bittersweet lines a crucial element, their music is equally rarefied, but warmer and more organic.
93 Years On features a strange and beautiful combination of Dobson?s clarinet and Kat Arney?s harp, and the guitar on After The First Death, played by Joe Shrewsbury from 65daysofstatic, is fed through delays, giving it a glinting, hall-of-mirrors effect. There are lots of elements moving beneath the surface of the mix, including synths, loops, crackling static and vocal chorales on Silver Poetry.
Dobson has been recording and playing live as Digitonal since 1997. A classically trained musician, former chorister in the National Youth Choir, soundtrack composer and DJ, his own music is informed by his eclectic tastes.
?I was listening to minimalist composition and listening to Electronica, and thought all I really wanted to do, rather than listen to the Orb sample Steve Reich or the likes of Plaid taking off Satie, was make those connections explicit in my own music. And I always wanted to work with classical musicians.?
A talented session violinist, Bishai possessed both the requisite musical chops and the desire to explore similar musical avenues. His instrumental abilities had been honed by having had his ?ass kicked? by his teachers at music school in Cairo. ?They gave me a really hard time. They could wither you with a glance. They were proper ex-Communist, ex-Moscow Conservatoire people. Very good for the technique, though.?
?Samy is definitely unique amongst classical musicians I?ve come across in being able to improvise, but also to understand where a track is going immediately,? says Dobson.
?It?s a fucked-up combination on both of our parts,? Bishai expands. ?We both betray our classical roots, but then we have each developed different ways of working through our different musical experiences.?
Digitonal have played at the Big Chill festival, but although their music is melodic and seldom abrasive, would it really be right to slap a chill out label on it? ?I certainly wouldn't call us smooth and I would hope that we avoid the clich?s that the chill out compilation industry thrives upon,? Dobson replies. ?Frankly I'm not completely sure that the direction the chill out scene has gone in has much room for us anyway ? I think we feel more at home in the artier side of electronic music.?
Links
Official Digitonal Website
Digitonal's MySpace 
