In 2014, after a highly successful crowd-fund campaign, Joshua Fried developed methods to distill his concert recordings into five-to-ten minute tracks, and set out to create RADIO WONDERLAND’s debut album.
That project has finally come to fruition with the release on November 18, 2016, on the Denmark-based label clang, of SEiZE THE MEANS.
On SEiZE THE MEANS, each track is made of 100% live radio grabbed during a live RADIO WONDERLAND show. To represent RADIO WONDERLAND Fried reviewed over 250 hours of concert audio, picking out shows with the best grooves. As with all things RADIO WONDERLAND, SEiZE THE MEANS is both a musical work and an experiment. As an experiment, the album asks, “can this music really stand up on its own, without the sight of Joshua bouncing around the stage with the boombox, spinning a steering wheel and whacking shoes?”
Halfway through the production, working with Marcelo Añez first as engineer, then as co-producer, the answer emerged clearly, YES. The album tracks are not audio-only shadows of the live shows, but their own beast entirely. What was unexpected is that during the process, Fried and Añez developed techniques for the mix which can be directly translated to the RADIO WONDERLAND live show. Thus here’s another way in which SEiZE THE MEANS typifies Joshua Fried’s work–each effort is part prototype for the next.
SEiZE THE MEANS recalls techno, tech house, microhouse, dub, and IDM. But the randomness of the source material and the transparency of the processes set it apart. At any moment, percussion might morph into a voice, or vice-versa; a loop will contract into a waveform then expand back. The typical solidity of electronic beats gives way to viscous plasticity.
SEiZE THE MEANS by RADIO WONDERLAND is out now worldwide on clang.
Formats are vinyl, USB stick, and all major digital platforms. No CDs!
GET IT ON 180g AUDIOPHILE VINYL
ON USB FLASH DRIVE
ON iTUNES
ON BEATPORT
Yes, the whole album can be streamed on services like Tidal and Spotify.
SEiZE THE MEANS
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Compositions by RADIO WONDERLAND
Produced by RADIO WONDERLAND
with engineer Marcelo Añez (Los Amigos Invisibles, Shakira, Ricky Martin)
Mastered by Scott Hull at Masterdisk
Cover artwork by Paul Dignan and Joshua Fried
Design by Kurt Hoffman