The Leaf Label: NEWS ARCHIVE FOR MAY 2024

Joseph Dierker (1968-2024)
Published 3 May 2024 by TM

It was with great sadness that I learned that Joseph Dierker of 310 recently passed away at his home in Seattle, Washington, at the age of just 56. Along with Tim Donovan, Joe was one half of Leaf’s first non-UK-based signing, and released three albums on the label, as well as a series of EPs and a compilation of two earlier albums, all between 1999 and 2003 - which seems to me now like an impossibly short period of time. Their visual aesthetic - using dozens of found photos, many of which included the number 310 - was Instagram ready two decades ahead of its time.

When I started the label I quickly became conscious of the possibilities that the internet opened up to work with artists internationally - suddenly the world had become a lot smaller - and it was something we seized upon over the following years. I don’t remember how we originally made contact, but Joe was an early adopter of the world wide web, and would go on to make a career out of it. He also loved to travel, having spent a peripatetic youth living all around the US as the son of a military family, and shared my enthusiasm for new places and new experiences.

310’s first proper release on the label, the NOD EP, was released exactly 25 years ago today - astonishingly, a quarter of a century ago. The first time I met them in person was in New York in 1999, having only communicated by email until that point. The details are a little sketchy at this remove, but I have a vivid memory of being invited to preview what would be their first album for Leaf, THE DIRTY RoPE, at a high-end studio in Manhattan where Tim worked, which seemed impossibly glamorous to me at the time - I wasn’t used to artists who worked in actual studios. The album blew my mind, although I will admit the experience was somewhat 'enhanced’.

Joe and Tim made several trips to Europe to perform live during the time we worked with them, including memorable trips around the Lowlands in an overloaded hatchback, a slot at 333 in Old Street immediately before DJ Harvey played, and a trip to Barcelona for Sonar, which was probably the last time I saw Joe in person. He moved to Seattle around this time, and our paths sadly never crossed again. 310 continued to make music, making a total of 10 albums, with the most recent, Lighten The Load, released just days before he died. You can find their more recent work on Bandcamp. We will be adding 310's Leaf releases to this page very soon, to bring their entire catalogue together in one place.

Joe was very well read, always intellectually stimulating and appreciative of the finer things in life. He could also be devastatingly funny. 310 were a delight to be around, and I will miss him very much.

Tony Morley

You can read Joe’s full obituary here.

Joseph Dierker - 9 February 1968 - 12 March 2024

Nightports w/ Matthew Bourne - 'Plads' single
Published 7 May 2024 by DM

It’s time for another taste of the new Nightports w/ Matthew Bourne album, which you will recall is ‘the first album made entirely on the Dulcitone probably™’. Take a listen to new single ‘Plads’, which follows ‘Machell’ into the rare Victorian keyed instrument record books.

<a href="https://nightports.bandcamp.com/album/dulcitone-1804">Dulcitone 1804 by Nightports w/ Matthew Bourne</a>

While Nightports’ rule of restriction remains in place, the process has evolved over the years, and on Dulcitone 1804 they’ve taken a more spontaneous approach. The whole album was made in one day as a live improvised performance between the three. “We sampled and captured Matthew playing tiny fragments of ideas, which we then processed into warped, skewed instruments that we could use as part of our collective improvisation,” Slater explains. “It’s an imprint of us responding to each other – searching for space, making space, vying for space.” It results in a more immediate sound – melodic and free. A beautiful document of a forgotten corner of music history.

Dulcitone 1804 will be released May 24th on limited edition CD and digital. Pre-order now.

Matthew Bourne - This Is Not For You.
Published 14 May 2024 by DM

Matthew Bourne has been a busy man of late, but now he’s back at the piano and the world can start healing. Possibly.

Over the last twenty or so years, you’re as likely to find Bourne piloting Moogs, bothering cellos and harmoniums, covering Kraftwerk, Charlie Chaplin and Phil Collins, collaborating with the weather or unearthing rare Victorian keyboard instruments as you are “playing” the piano. His fingerprints are all over a huge number of diverse projects.

For such a restless and forward-thinking artist, perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that Bourne can be a little reluctant to return to the instrument on which he made his name. At least in public. That would be too easy.

<a href="https://matthewbourne.bandcamp.com/album/this-is-not-for-you">This Is Not For You. by Matthew Bourne</a>

This Is Not For You. is the first full-length Matthew Bourne album for solo piano since Isotach in 2017. These days Bourne tends to find himself seated at his first instrument when working on collaborations or commissions for film and television projects. It’s often in these moments that inspiration strikes and the pieces are committed to tape. With outside deadlines, those sparks can often be left. Forgotten about. Recorded over.

This is Not for You. was born from an off-hand comment by one of Matthew Bourne’s confidants. His instruction, “Do not delete,” provided Bourne with a commission of sorts, an ideal restriction to work within. Everything on the album was given a chance to shine in the studio, to be worked on amongst the freedom of that no deletion diktat - new inspirations now lie beside deep-mined remembrances. Cello and Dulcitone have been added sparingly for colour, but this is Bourne playing for his own enjoyment. Intimate. Reserved even. The real Matthew Bourne?

The title track is out now, with the album to follow on July 12th. Watch Bourne explain how the album came about.

This Is Not For You. is available to pre-order now on limited edition LP and CD, as well as digital.

MINING - 'Ophelia (Remapped)'
Published 15 May 2024 by DM

If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll know that the MINING LPs and CDs will finally be hitting shops in the UK and Europe this Friday (June 14th for the rest of the world). We wouldn’t necessarily blame you if this had slipped your mind. There have been plenty of world-weary updates about vinyl production which are easy to blank out, but it’s time to start paying attention again!

The key message: the Chimet vinyl is looking and sounding fantastic. You can purchase in confidence.

By way of a reminder, MINING have released a reworking of opening track ‘Ophelia’. Don’t worry though, they’ve remixed it with ‘data’ rather than a generic house beat.

<a href="https://mining.bandcamp.com/track/ophelia-remapped">Ophelia (Remapped) by MINING</a>

This is what MINING have to say of the process: “'Ophelia (Remapped)' is a fresh take on the sonification of the opening movement of Chimet. It has been a chance to re-evaluate the relationships between the output of data and their sonic representations. By changing emphasis and focal point, it provides a new listening experience of Storm Ophelia's aftermath, and includes elements present throughout the entirety of the album.”

The download is available on a pay-what-you-want basis.

Nightports w/ Matthew Bourne - Dulcitone 1804 - OUT NOW
Published 24 May 2024 by DM

The record that kicked off the most unlikely craze in popular music - or at least will do shortly.

Dulcitone 1804 is released today and is the first album made entirely on the Dulcitone - a rare Victorian-era keyboard instrument. So if you're wondering why the Dulcitone is racing up the 'must have presents of Christmas 2024' lists, you can blame Nightports and Matthew Bourne.

It's an otherworldly sound they've created. Melodic but hard to place. Timeless even.

<a href="https://nightports.bandcamp.com/album/dulcitone-1804">Dulcitone 1804 by Nightports w/ Matthew Bourne</a>

Dulcitone 1804 is on your streaming service of choice and record shops in the UK and Europe. It will be in shops in the rest of the world on June 7th.

You can also order on CD/digital via Bandcamp now.

Nightports and Matthew Bourne will be performing with the now famous Dulcitone at the Howard Assembly Room in Leeds on June 9th. It's part of the Brudenell Piano Sessions and entry is on a pay-what-you-feel basis. You can't say fairer than that.