about
The MAN, or the Mutual Appreciation Network is a joint project in "iterative electronic composition” from Henri Sizaret (AkA / France), John Peacey (Microchip Junky / UK) and Jason Hobman (Takuya / Japan).
At the core of The MAN, a friendly love for each other's work and the lust to compose subtle and fine electronic landscapes under a digitally driven composition flow.
Each track began with a sound. It could have been anything; a loop, a tone or an atmosphere, short or long. That initial sound was then passed to another member for transformation, in whatever way he desired. It then passed to the third member who would further process a transformation of the sound. The rules were simple : there were none. The iterative process occurred three times, so that each track was eventually transformed a total of nine times.
At the beginning, we did not know where we were heading, but the result is an incredibly soft and smooth bedspread of waves with lovely and subtle rhythms, where each iteration preserves and fuses the audio space of each of us.
Do yourself a flavour : indulge into “Shaft”, “Hallucinogen” and “Elena” and discover the wonders of subtle electronics, found sound, and analog/digital synthesis, brought together from across the globe, by The MAN.
April 2017
Henri, John, Jason
credits
released April 14, 2017
Henri Sizaret is one of the three makers of the Mutual Appreciation Network. Henri’s electronic music journey started in the 1980’s with a Synsonic drum machine. In 2000 Henri formed the AkA project, with one aim; to Clean Your Ears with sharp and rich tracks. The AkA audio stamp is about shameless artificial sounds and computer generated instrumentation, with tight rhythmic control. At the core of each AkA track are innocuous sounds at first, which are given a new life and punch via intricate processing and hard beats. Here, there is no space for natural instruments. We leave that to others.
akamusik.bandcamp.com
John Peacey is one of the three makers of the Mutual Appreciation Network. In 1981 he started making electronic sounds with a Sinclair ZX81 computer. In 1983 he bought a Jen SX1000 monophonic synthesiser, and he has been making noise ever since. In 2012 John began writing and recording as Microchip Junky, and his noise has been described as “dangerously addictive” and “electronic bliss.” He is meticulous in his patch programming and processing of sound. Microchip Junky utilises analog, PM, FM and modular synthesis. Equally his compositions can incorporate anything that makes noise.
microchipjunky.bandcamp.com
Jason Hobman, a.k.a. “Takuya,” is one of the three makers of the Mutual Appreciation Network. Jason is a glitch prodigy from Tokyo. He began his work on a Sony Playstation gifted to him on his 12th birthday. Due to the limited memory of the machine, he had to be inventive in his approach and established a number of techniques which still perforate his works to this day. You can now find him playing live in Tokyo’s fashionable underground bars, or composing in his home studio with Ableton. Takuya doesn’t need controllers; he makes everything with his clicking finger.
soundcloud.com/ichionmusic
Cover art from the portfolio of David Scott Smith (used with kind permission)
davidscottsmithceramics.com/home.html
Artwork for each individual track by Henri Sizaret
license