Contemporary Ruin, by Baltic Furs

Contemporary Ruin

by Baltic Furs

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Cassette + Digital Album
Professional duplication and printing. Cassette edition of 100 copies.

Created as a companion piece to the Contemporary Ruin cassette is The Anarchist Lookbook, a dystopian set of photographs, paintings and photomontages by Matt Irwin (Baltic Furs).
Produced by Imperativ Press of North America / Artifactory Publishing
5" x 8" / BW / 36 pp.
Limited to the first 30 copies ordered.

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Full Digital Discography

31

releases

Get all 31 Round Bale Recordings releases available on Bandcamp and save 75%.

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Whiskey Walkin', Contemporary Ruin, Jumpthefox, Sneaking Into the Light, Away & Instinct, True Songs, Rock Music, The Dream of Change, and 23 more. , and , .

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1.	Burnt Beaches 14:15	buy track
2.	The Arms 05:28	buy track
3.	Color of the Year 09:24	buy track
4.	Halcyon 05:26	buy track
5.	As Kestrels Above a Clicking City 14:47	buy track
6.	Aerials 03:44	buy track
7.	Final Form 04:16	buy track

about

After offering samples of his sound work through his Bandcamp page over the past few years, Contemporary Ruin marks the first proper physical release from Baltic Furs, the solo project of Matt Irwin, the multi-talented creative force responsible for much of Round Bale Recordings’ visual presentation. A professional graphic designer by day, Irwin has also been fine-tuning his sound experiments as Baltic Furs, which he originally conceived of as an outlet for power electronics and doom-drenched noise. The project, however, has evolved considerably as Irwin’s compositional skills have expanded alongside each new module in his synth set-up, introducing more melodic elements into his pieces. In the early aughts, Irwin was a drummer in the Minneapolis-based groups A Whisper in the Noise and Wive, and his penchant for off-kilter percussive and rhythmic details are also present in Baltic Furs’ layered sound.

On Contemporary Ruin, Irwin presents a remarkably cohesive vision: an electro-acoustic sonic mapping of a dystopian fever dream filled with crumbling cities, burned-out landscapes, persistent paranoia, and complete disconnection. Complimenting the ominous but never oppressive sound environments that he creates on Contemporary Ruin, Irwin has also assembled a limited edition, thirty-six page, 5" x 8" companion set of dystopian photographs, paintings, and photomontages called The Anarchist Lookbook. Taken as a whole, Irwin has created a bold and thoroughly engaging debut statement that instantly positions him alongside such contemporaries as Helm, Tim Hecker, Rashad Becker, and Valerio Tricoli.

credits

released November 11, 2022

Recorded and Mixed by Matt Irwin in 2022.
Mastered at Imperativ Press of North America - St. Paul, MN.
Additional synthesizer on Aerials by Meghan Irwin.
Made with modular synthesizer, Koma Field Kit, tape machines, field recordings, Max/MSP, and Morfbeats percussion devices.

Thanks to David Perron, Meghan, and Miles.

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about

Round Bale Recordings Mankato, Minnesota

Round Bale Recordings is a record label associated with the Free Form Freakout radio show & podcast series (aka FFFoxy Podcast) that focuses on small edition releases across various physical formats.

freeformfreakout.com

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