Blue Fields Artist Bio

A Canadian DJ (Mike Shannon), a Japanese guitarist (Takeshi Nishimoto) and a Turkish vocalist (Fadila) meet in Berlin.Together they record an ambient album that harnesses the experimental spirit of jazz and the aesthetic austerity of minimal electronica.These are the elements that comprise and distinguish Blue Fields’ Ghost Story due on Haunt Music, 2012. But they are hardly the whole story.

Individually, Blue Fields are Mike Shannon, the left-field electronic artist behind Cynosure recordings;Takeshi Nishimoto a classical guitarist who also collaborated with mini-tech artist John Tejada as I’m Not a Gun; and Fadila, German-Turkish singer who has previously appeared with Shannon on Wagon Repair and Cynosure.

The convergence of their personas, talents and influences yields a stripped-down imaginary soundtrack that is brooding and seductive, reminiscent of trip-hop duo Lamb, neo-soul turntablists Zero 7 and electronic composers Ryuichi Sakomoto and Steven Reich. It is an expansive reach.Thanks to the gifts of all involved, including some top session musicians on the electronic and nu-jazz scenes, it is handily within Blue Fields’ versatile grasp. From the book-end intro “Open Your Eyes,” and outro “Close Your Eyes” to the title of the album, it is clear the trio are jamming on a transcendent arc.

Timeless instrumentals complement Nishmoto’s fluid, ethereal guitar and Fadila’s smokey vocals; up-tempo beats tap into Shannon’s dance-floor impulses. “Sequenced Love Affair” is root-chakra body music, celebrating the alchemy between precise machine and erratic emotion. “Sequenced Love Affair”’s slinky back beat and noddy groove set the tempo for the haunting score that follows. Other gently bumping tracks include “Carmens Ghost,” “The Hive (Nothing to Hide)” and “Bones and Butterflies,” marked by Fadila’s diaphanous cooing. Shannon’s mercurial finesse and Nishimoto’s acoustic dexterity shine in instrumental pieces like “Best Served Cold” and “Eternal Fields,” where both artists flash their jazzier, improvisational inclinations. Sparse, atmospheric tracks like “That’s What it Was” exercise their sophisticated sense of intimacy and restraint and thread the entire collaboration together.

In just a few eloquent tracks, Blue Fields bridge the gap between that which is familiar, earthy and remembered and that which is exotic, cosmic and imagined.Their double-edged jabs of sonic love will tame the industrial beast about us enough to reconnect listeners with their own temporal vibrations. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.