Variant
Detroit/Chicago, USA-based electronic music producer and Echospace [Detroit] record label head honcho, Stephen Hitchell, uses the Variant moniker to release his more long-form ambient dub and ambient techno recordings. Variant's albums invoke various celestial phenomena ranging from comets, to stars, to the aurora borealis. The cosmic preoccupation plays out in the music too, which ranges from warm analog space ambient infused with field recordings to more rhythmically active synthesizer loops and drones. Indeed, Variant's recordings are frequently intended to "score the constellation of mystical events occurring in the depths of space." Later works concern themselves with dream states and oneirology.
Although Variant recordings date back as far as the early 1990s, Hitchell's debut Variant album wasn't released until 2008's highly praised The Setting Sun, which fused "field recordings made whilst experiencing a late night storm in Berlin and a train journey in Japan," acoustic instruments, and synthesizer sounds.
2011's follow-up, Falling Stars, was described by Igloo Magazine as "the chirping of crickets on a still, humid, starry-skied night, a swaying, piped hiss.. blooming strings dissipate, leaving the calmer swell of the delicate pads."
In 2013, Variant released the live recording Thru The Cosmos [Ison + Spica] in response to "perhaps the most anticipated astronomical event of the year as Comet ISON makes its way toward the sun." The recording was intended to score as a soundtrack to the comet's period of closest proximity to the sun.
2014 saw a period of unprecedented activity for Variant via the three-part Oneirology Series: Part 1, Dreaming Thru Vector, utilized a wide array of "analog sequencers, modular systems and homemade effects manipulated bounced down to 1/4" tape." Hitchell used various forms of Vector Synthesis in the recording by incorporating four stages of oscillations through a variety of sound generators and synthesizers resulting in a sound described as "organic arctic noise."
For Part 2, Aurora's Dream, "the objective.. was to create an ever evolving sonic ocean utilizing the enigmatic spheres of ambient structure and rhythm, wherein movements are methodically rendered from various forms of synthesis, subdued with mystical ghostly harmonics and artifacts from aged analog hardware."
Part 3, Chromesthesia "is a near-hour long atmospheric track that comes to life through an array of color. The expansive piece consists of opaque, vibrant dreams created by multiple custom-made effects units & other hardware, such as the cosmic Eventide and TG77. Prismatic pixels of sound match this dynamic art in its entirety. In staying faithful to previous Variant productions, this piece demonstrates the ever-evolving expansion of mystical experience. Kinetic energy meets luminescent colors for euphoric feeling."
In early Spring 2015, Variant's first album The Setting Sun was remastered and reissued featuring a bonus live version of the title track.
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