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The Sight Below

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Instruments
  
Guitar, laptop

Labels
  
Ghostly International

Years active
  
2008–present

Members
  
Rafael Anton Irisarri

The Sight Below cdnghostlycomimagesartists149albums229GI7

Occupation(s)
  
Producer, composer, musician

Associated acts
  
Rafael Anton Irisarri Simon Scott Benoit Pioulard ORCAS Pantha Du Prince TNAF School of Seven Bells Tiny Vipers Biosphere

Origin
  
Seattle, Washington, United States (2008)

Genres
  
Intelligent dance music, Shoegazing, Electronic dance music

Albums
  
Glider, It All Falls Apart, No Place for Us, Murmur

Profiles

The sight below at first touch


The Sight Below is an American ambient techno/shoegaze act from Seattle, Washington. Its main member is the American post-minimalist composer Rafael Anton Irisarri.

Contents

The Sight Below The Sight Below Ghostly International

Sam Valenti IV signed The Sight Below to his Ghostly International imprint in 2008 after listening to a demo tape. A promotional EP No Place for Us was soon released by the label as a free MP3 download on August 26, 2008.

The Sight Below The Sight Below presents It All Falls Apart Ghostly International

The Sight Below debuted its live set at Seattle's KEXP radio station on September 20, 2008. The in-studio session was recorded and is available on Ghostly's website as a podcast (GhostlyCast #18). A well-received performance followed at the Ghostly International showcase during Decibel Festival. These performances paved the way for an extensive European tour that saw the artist perform at 18 different cities in the continent, including Unsound festival in Krakow, Poland, EME Festival in Lisbon, Portugal, S.O.Y. Festival in Nantes, France and TimeZones Festival in Bari, Italy.

The Sight Below The Sight Below Ghostly International

The Sight Below's debut album Glider was released in the United States on November 2008 and January 2009 worldwide. It is available as both a physical and digital release. The album was very well received by the press and music community, including praise from Radiohead's Thom Yorke, who charted "At First Touch" on his January 6, 2009 "Office Chart" posting on the band's website Dead Air Space.

The Sight Below The Sight Below Secret Thirteen Mix 088 Secret Thirteen

Murmur EP followed in 2009, including remixes by Biosphere, Eluvium and Simon Scott (of Slowdive).

The Sight Below's second full-length, It All Falls Apart, was released on April 6, 2010. It features music written with the aforementioned Simon Scott and a cover version of Joy Division's "New Dawn Fades" (with guest vocals by Tiny Vipers). Described by All Music Guide as "impeccably made ambient thump-and-drone", Pitchfork Media called it "A beautifully bleak cloud of sound" while XLR8R magazine gave it a 9/10 ranking and praised it as "an astounding range of visceral sonic possibilities…a hurricane passing over an ocean, gathering heat and force while simultaneously cooling the waters below."

The sight below murmur


Live performances

The Sight Below has performed extensively throughout North America and Europe. During the multimedia live performances, the artist creates his own visuals, manipulating images and footage until they are only recognizable as slow moving shapes, providing a counterpoint to the heavily treated wall of guitar textures.

Soon after the Glider release a US tour followed in February 2009 with labelmate Lusine. Later on, appearances at DEMF (Detroit, Michigan) and MUTEK (Montreal, Canada) would continue showcasing The Sight Below's brand of immersive guitar music and visual art integration.

In June 2009, The Sight Below performed at Sónar Festival (Barcelona, Spain), this time joined by Slowdive member Simon Scott on guitars and vocals. Together they toured throughout the Summer in the EU and UK, including a show at the historical Sacred Trinity Church in Manchester, London's The Luminaire club, and a notoriously loud performance during Ghostly's 10-Year Anniversary party at Berlin's infamous Berghain nightclub on June 26, 2009.

Collaborations

In the studio, The Sight Below has worked extensively with the aforementioned Scott and Tiny Vipers, plus Benoît Pioulard, while remixing School of Seven Bells, Detroit's Echospace, and Germany's Pantha Du Prince.

Irisarri has also collaborated with renowned Austrian guitarist Fennesz, performing live at Decibel Festival in Seattle and Interferenze Festival in Italy.

On January 2011, Irisarri collaborated with Benoît Pioulard on a tribute to Broadcast's Trish Keenan, covering the track 'Until Then', from the band's 2000 album The Noise Made By People.

Discography

Studio albums
  • Glider (2008)
  • It All Falls Apart (2010)
  • EPs
  • No Place for Us (2008)
  • Murmur (2009)
  • Unfurled EP (2015)
  • Remixes
  • "Waltz" by The Naked and Famous (2014)
  • "The Sun" by The Naked and Famous (2013)
  • "Seadance" remix for Saroos | Alien Transistor (2013)
  • "A Nomad's Retreat" remix for Pantha Du Prince | Rough Trade (2011)
  • "N-Plants" remixes for Biosphere | Touch (2011)
  • "Bye Bye Bye" remix for School of Seven Bells | Vagrant Ghostly International (2010)
  • "Substraktive" remix for CV313 | Echospace Detroit (2010)
  • "Ultravioleta" remix for papercutz | Ultravioleta rmx's Apegenine recordings (2008)
  • Videos

  • Further Away Filmed at Deception Pass (2008)

  • The Sight Below

    Songs

    At First TouchGlider · 2008
    Life's Fading LightGlider · 2008
    A Fractured SmileGlider · 2008

    References

    The Sight Below Wikipedia