released April 13, 2014
The New Land was released on April 12th 2014 as Digital Download, three track Cassette (100 copies) and four track CDr (50 copies).
Cassette label nr. CSca001
CDr label nr. CScd001
Copyright 2014
All tracks by Core Shift
Mastering: Jos Smolders at EarLabs. Bonus track "The Cycle Completed" mastered by Mike Kramer
Cover: Mike Kramer
More music and info at:
coreshift.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/coreshifter
soundcloud.com/coreshifter
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REVIEWS
Gonzo (circus)
Core Shift is een project van Mike Kramer, die u wellicht kent van The Evolution Garden. Die band combineerde allerlei elementen tot wat we gemakshalve maar postrock zullen noemen. Een van die elementen was ambient, en het is die stijl die ruim baan krijgt binnen het werk van Core Shift. Tegenwoordig betekent ambient vaak drones of een zachtmoedige combinatie van synths en omgevingsgeluiden, maar Kramer maakt ambient op een klassieke, pure manier. Op The New Land horen we gestaag af- en aan golvende synthesizer-pads, die voor een taag, weids geluid zorgen. Kramer combineert de onderkoelde abstractie van Thomas Köner met de melodische inslag van het werk van bijvoorbeeld Steve Roach. Halverwege de nummers verschijnen ijle boventonen, en in de verte klinkt soms een beat, maar nergens zo nadrukkelijk dat zijn ambient het achtervoegsel techno verdient. Het geluid lijkt volkomen synthetisch en is erg consistent, wat de nummers een beetje inwisselbaar maakt; Kramer is zeker niet de eerste ambientartiest die dat gebeurt. Dat maakt de donkere ondertoon van een van de nummers een prettige afwisseling. Op de twee eps werkt Kramer het onderkoelde geluid verder uit tot een voller geheel. Meer ritmes, dikkere synths en radiostemmen die langs drijven op de wind. Dat brengt de muziek meer in de buurt van Biosphere, met name op de drie nummers op Out There. Muziek om bij over winterse vlakten te staren. (author: Maarten Schermer)
Raised by Gypsies
Core Shift has an overall vibe on this cassette as sounding like a slowed down electronic band. There are beats, there are lasers and it can even be spatial, but it is all done to a slower pace than something that you might otherwise think of as just being the electro-beats.
There is a synth quality in here that I like to call synthy synth because of how much synth it is, but this goes in and out in waves (Doppler Effect) and then towards the end becomes rather dark and brooding. Even though every sign on this cassette points to something else within the music, by the end of it I’m getting a Lord of the Rings vibe for some reason so I’m just going to go with that.
It’s hard because there are some rather specific moments within the trilogy of movies that would go with this, and on the whole the music would seem out of place as a soundtrack, but for whatever reason that is just the connection that I am making here and I’m okay with it. (author: oshua Macala)
Vital Weekly
Last week I was playing an old, mid 90s release by Vidna Obmana, recycling the work of Asmus Tietchens. It was a little time machine, transporting me so many years back when ambient music seemed to making it 'big', but which turned out was another passing of trends that just didn't make it big. The recent (?) interest in cosmic music seems to be not much else, but, and maybe I sound a sceptical, that's the whole music industry for you: for for the next big thing, or waiting for the next big thing to return. Ambient house, ambient techno and such haven't returned (yet?), but Core Shift is proudly trying an attempt at such. Core Shift is Mike Kramer, whom we know for his earlier work under his own name and way before that The Evolution Garden and perhaps Core Shift re-connects that to his first musical outing. But whereas The Evolution Garden was perhaps more improvised, using guitars, synthesizers and electronics to create an ambient sound, as Core Shift he works with laptop - pictures of him playing concerts tell me so. Maybe that is a bit out-dated by now - playing concerts solely using a laptop - but what do we care? There is a faint beat below the surface in some of these pieces, such as 'The Return to Pangaea', but it's never anywhere close to the world of 'dance' or 'techno'. In stead Core Shift plays long and deep sustaining washes of synthesizer sounds, all from the world of zeroes and ones, digitally generated synthesizers. I might be wrong, but it seems to me Kramer doesn't use any other sounds, such as field recordings and it all remains electronic. Very much along the lines of the aforementioned Vidna Obmana, but also Robert Rich or Steve Roach, all from the same glorious days of ambient. Core Shift plays four great pieces, very mellow ambient, a bit of rhythm and stretches out more glacial shifts than one would expect from global warming. Pretty dark music, but it's also a brave attempt to a revival of music I really liked back then. So, please carry on! (author: Frans de Waard)
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ABOUT CORE SHIFT
Core Shift produces Ambient/Techno spiced with Experimental Electronics. The music is characteristic thanks to the typical use of layered sounds which is both intense and subtle; the listener is carried along in a sonic space similar to water in sea, where Core Shifts sound can be compared as currents that blend and always refresh. Added pulsating rhythms complete the sound to be described as 'Dance for the mind'.
Core Shift, founded in early 2013 is one of Mike Kramer's aliases. Mike is also active as a sound art artist recording and producing sounds for installations and releases. Besides that he is the initiator and artistic leader of (h)ear, a foundation which focusses on sound art and experimental music by organizing performances, lectures, workshops and exhibitions.
