Theory Therapy 82: Short Span Records
’00s CD-inspired minimal and techno from Matthew Kent
Hey Matt. How are you today?
sleepy but good!
What was the last song you listened to?
Different World - Belle Isle (KMS)
Where’s your favourite place to listen to music?
laptop
What’s the best music discovery you’ve made recently?
the submerge sessions vol 1. very cool and varied compilation built out of submerge’s tutoring and listening sessions. really lovely and new stuff rising out of detroit, just a perfect melting pot of emerging talent being supported inter-generationally. thanks to richard for the tip on that one.
Blowing Up The Workshop was iconic. What was a personal highlight for you running it for over 8 years?
having people start to really experiment with what mixtapes and the format of the series could be.. It quickly pushed what was possible for me to publish with lots of enthusiasm and absolutely zero resources. to get the feeling of running a label and supporting artists with no starting infrastructure for that!
It got to a place on butw where people often approached the platform with a question of.. how can I do something a little different and unique for this? or can I make something i’m not usually able to elsewhere? maybe let my hair down a bit? and that frequently led to something exciting and which stood out long term.
I’ve tried to foster that philosophy for every project where it makes sense since. sometimes the simplest question for someone you admire (or who you might be nervous about approaching or want to help facilitate in some way ) and who you really want to work with is… what do you want to make that you haven’t had a chance to do? or what would you be excited to work on right now? And the result is often positive and surprising, and leaves a lasting mark on release.
Tell us about your latest project Short Span Records. What inspired you to start it? What releases do you have coming up?
its a new label focused on dub, ambient, techno etc that i’m running solo… occasionally a hallmark is that the records have been fairly long per side so far, which is one reason for the label name (the other bad joke being that I wasn’t really sure how long it would run for initially). as for its starting inspiration? good music coming out currently in a certain mode I guess! some great demos and friends making tunes came through, along with some unfinished or underexplored ideas that I’d contributed while co-running Mana.
a move to sheffield and a change of scene played its part too, the reflections and elements of the city and its particular presence in music backwards and forwards. small pockets of very cool creative stuff happening there like groundwork, grub records, gut level, no bounds etc. though i’m useless at dragging myself out and going to events still. and a network of cool labels and folks getting on with stuff there. its a weird place where it can sometimes feel like there’s a thousand interesting things going on behind a closed door or barred window, a city built of little workshops and experts tucked away making things. with a quietly outsized influence on other louder and more well resourced places.
and i also had an interest in trying to find new ways to work that felt a little quicker and looser publishing music, during a period where it felt like the industry was slowing to an expensive crawl. maybe a little more focused in on tunes that were compatible as dance music as well as home listening depending on the volume, while maintaining a very open and exploratory nature.
coming up, Conna Haraway’s 12” is out on friday. his next release following the wonderful debut EP for Theory Therapy earlier this year. love that record, so excited to have it out. A tune of it gets a spin in this mix. then following that is an amazing record by emer which we’ll announce properly before too long.. and then some more stuff through to the end of the year i’ll keep tight lipped about for now :)
Can you tell us a little about your Theory Therapy mix? What were you feeling when you made it? Where did you record it?
its a sunday afternoon mix. very chilled and loose with some fun minimal and techno that is just really enjoyable to listen to. a few tracks from ‘00s era CDs i’ve found forgotten about in a weird/cool CD only store in Sheffield that has that satisfying ex-HMV racking you can flip through at high speed. no greater feeling than leaving there after an hour with a little envelope sized brown paper bag containing a saint etienne cd, some terrible/great chillout compilation, and a ken ishii thing you’ve not heard before for all of £10.
i think the mix folds in some thoughts about sequencing too, following some pretty intensive work helping artists prepare future short span records from large catalogues of demos and recordings over the last couple of months. ideas around patience and pay off. really fun projects to help nurture.
recorded on laptop
Where would you recommend listening to it?
laptop
Tell us something exciting that's coming up in your life, music or otherwise.
haha, concerning that nothing immediately comes to mind outside of music stuff and maybe some videogames im looking forward to playing. going away for a bit in a month which will be nice, feels like all i’ve seen in the last while is people having wonderful summer hols and festivals etc while im sat thinking about lunch.
some really exciting projects coming up on the label that I can’t wait to share too. there’s enough happening that we might be looking at a release a month or so for the next little while, which is a fun challenge to programme. thanks to all listeners. special thanks to artists with their trust and patience. extra special thanks to people currently working on music in their studio for short span right now.
Tracklist:
norken - gone
the soulscaper - city whistle
dietrich schoenemann - the fever
rawell - verkehrsansage
prism - honeybee whisper mind mirror
lenta - love is silence
mammo - unreleased
sacred grove - a1
lowris - brnwshr
kamran sadeghi - echo phone
lazyfish - partofloop
conna haraway - duration
amp - heli dub (umfang minimal bathtub)