While reading Eckhart Tolle’s ‘A New Earth’ I was exposed to the Dharmic concept of Atman, which, when following the Hindu interpretation, roughly translates as the global soul, also called ‘universal energy’. It also means one’s true self, the self beyond one’s own of worldly existence. This idea is one that artist are familiar with, as it is from this ‘universal energy’ that inspiration flows out of. It is from this universal energy that all creativity is created from.

If one follows the Buddhist teachings, the meaning is a bit more vague, and, as with most things in Buddhism, it’s meaning is set in a riddle. Wikipeda says that ‘the belief in the existence of an unchanging atman is the prime consequence of ignorance’. Mr Pedia goes on to say that an unchanging atman is one of the major causes of samsara, the circle of death and rebirth that the unenlightened are doomed to repeat. It is important to note here the word ‘unchanging’, for a mailable atman will lead a person out of the circle of samsara.

At it’s core atman is the pure, un-burdened self beyond thought and ego. It is full of love and lives ‘in the light’ . Here are a few images that express this concept in a graphical way.

I am no Dharmic scholar, not even close, and I am constantly learning more about this metaphysical world everyday, but, this concept of atman has transformed my life. Personally, atman is about transformation and self-actualization from a non-egoic position. It represents the ultimate form of the self beyond the physical world. It is the inner truth of who we are, and it at the core of  what we are. It is inherently good, full of love and is completely selfless. When we acknowledge that our true self is atman, the realization of the construct of the egoistic self, and our rejection of this ego enables us to forgo short term pleasures to attain true long term happiness. It is about fulfilling one’s true purpose in life, however that may be interpolated.

My recent release, Atman, has been reviewed and featured on the homepage of Big Shot magazine. Click here to read the review on their site.

Full review copy below.

From the outset, New York’s Richard John Valeo has trained the world to cave in at any moment, grumbling undercurrents a speciality as he pushes down the plunger on IDM soundscapes of metronomic fractures and composure embedded in hulking walls of sound.

“The Whole Truth,” with its poking, stuttering rhythms, is a balancing encourager that sets off a succession of greater hope through repeated electronic tapping, picking up speed and subsiding like the wind catching a rain shower. “Richter Scale 6” consequently handles home listening from an arena-size lookout, and the aforementioned composure becomes Atman’s bedrock. It’s as if Valeo has discovered how to manage the white noise after an antagonistic opening, getting the producer’s pent-up feelings of being impeded out of the way. The clockwork innards to “Saturday Morning” exhibit timidity, and the exploration of the neatly titled “When Things Weren’t So Complicated” retires to a world beneath the sea, of an ear-blocking tranquility reducing Valeo’s fears to a twitching, fading memory.

This is a, more or less, and accidental release. During the day yesterday, while working, a lot of information pertaining to analog tape kept coming up throughout the day. Blank tape adverts, cassette shell websites, blogs about the return of tape culture. I hadn’t realized that there is a whole culture around one of the things I loved most about the 80’s — cassettes! They were mean, kinda cranky (when you spilled beer on them), but always loved.

All this talk of tape was completely inspiring, so I pulled out a few songs from the archive, dusted them off, mastered them and put them up on soundcloud. Some cover art was needed, so off through the image archives I went and I found this image.

All of these songs were originally recorded on cassette between 1991 and 1995. For most of the songs they are exactly as they were when they were done. In a few (select) cases an edit or 2 were made to them.

All tracks mastered July 2010.

Relics V1 by rjvaleo

** TFIB is proud to present the NYC leg of the Schematic’s Dukes of the Stratosfear tour, 2010. **

Heads up! This Saturday’s TFIB event is co-producing with the Schematic crew out of Miami. Oh hell yeah!

The label that introduced you to Richard Devine, Scott Herren (aka Prefuse73),Otto Von Schirach, and many more wild acts is hitting the road again. This time a trio of performers from the label are blazing their way across the East Coast. It is one of those extra special events that we look forward so much here to at The Futu…re Is Beautiful. The last time Romulo (of Phoenecia fame) played in NYC we damn near broke our ankles jumping around like idiots to Freestyle, Miami Bass, Electro and booty house. Joe Lentini (the newest Schematic signing) will be playing his debut live set in NYC, guaranteed to make your feet move or your money back. Rounding out the Schematic roster is Ohio’s Ay (of Ken Rei), performing beaty weirdness that you didn’t know you loved until just now.

Representing Brooklyn we have David Last, recently back from Mutek who will be performing a special one-off live set as David Last. He’s bringing the heat with a melt-your-face-off beats and bass set like nothing you’ve heard from him before. TIFB’s Isomer Transition will be playing a one-off live set of deep dub techno goodness, mixing in tracks from past and future releases, and yes, he will even be bringing the San Pelegrino. Rounding out the Brooklyn posse is Schematic’s own Brooklynite Unjust will be laying down the electro/freestyle grooves.

And all of this on a top-notch soundsystem we are bringing in to the PA Loft just for this event and you’ve got a lineup and event that is not to be missed. Man, are we excited about this one!

Public Assembly Loft
July 24th, 2010
10pm – 4am
$7 !!! (that is like, almost free)

The Lineup for the evening is:

10:00 – Unjust (Schematic, Brooklyn)
11:00 – David Last (Konque, Brooklyn)
11:45 – Isomer Transition (Archipel, Brooklyn)
12:45 – Ay (of Ken Rei)
1: 10 – Joe Lentini (Schematic, Philly)
2:00 – Romulo Del Castillo (Phoenecia, Schematic, Miami)

Special TRANSELECTRONIC.NET Invite Only Deal
send a message to rsvp@thefutureisbeautiful.com for $5 admission!

Romulo Del Castillo (of Phoenecia / Soul Oddity)
“Like Latin Rascals meets Cabaret Voltaire.”- Billy Graham

Joe Lentini
“Really good, funky, clubby electronic stuff with some attitude!” -Unheard Music (LOL!!!)

Ay (of Ken Rei)
“Supersonic swirls, wild beats spinning madly, warped voices and tings, the Top 10 pop tunes run amok…beautiful jagged music” – Foxy Digitalis

FACEBOOK EVENT HERE:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=136838896336519

Schematic Tour Info Here:
http://www.bananaseatgirl.com/schematictourpress.html

On June 1st 2010 RJ Valeo will release his follow-up album to his highly acclaimed Type Records release ‘September’, entitled ‘Atman’. Drawing inspiration from his recent study of Buddhism, coupled with his love of modern classical composers, Valeo creates a sonic universe that is meditative, serene, familiar yet entirely new and unique all at the same time.

Scheduled for release digitally on June 1st 2010, followed by the physical release in August, the project is a multi-disciplinary endeavor, encompassing the visual arts as well as video and sonic landscapes.

Valeo, always working with the cutting edge of technology and leveraging it for the advancements of artistic expression and dissemination has linked up with Kickstarter.com to fund the initial round of vinyl production for the release. In addition Kickstarter.com, Valeo is utilizing Bandcamp.com to sell the ‘Limited Edition Digital Version’ of the release, which will have artwork per track, alternate versions of compositions and other ‘exclusive’ material not available anywhere else. More into to come shortly.

Below you will find the initial press release for Valeo’s Atman, followed by some examples of the additional artwork that will be available in the limited edition digital version of the release.

Official Atman Press Release

Atman by RJ Valeo
Release Date: June 1st 2010
Format: CD, LP, Media Card, and Digital download
Imprint: Io Records

With a work such as RJ Valeo’s Atman there are many things we could call to your attention. We could call out the fact that the title, Atman, has two very different meanings depending on if you choose the Hindu or the Buddhist translation. We could talk about how Atman’s compositions have been inspired by modern art movements and minimalist composers such as the Bauhaus movement and Steve Reich, and has been informed by modern electronic artists such as The Orb and SND. We could also note that Valeo creates and maintains his own unique musical voice throughout the entire release drawing ideas from but never copying his influences. We could comment on the lack of obvious musical references to techno on this release. Quite surprising given Valeo’s
releases as Isomer Transition which have made their way on to two separate Fabric mix CDs in 2009.

We could eloquently point out that the compositions on this album have sounds that were sourced from field recordings, hardware synths, software processing, were sampled from old vinyl records, and are from recording sessions with musicians Trevor Sias and Justin Michael Miller. We could proudly tell you that it took over a year and a half to compose and record, and made extensive use of a compositional technique Valeo has developed, a technique he calls ‘live performance capture’. We could say all of these things.

We could put forth the fact that RJ’s label, Io Records, is a one man shop. And without sounding too pompous we could mention that he produced and record the album himself, mastered the album himself, did all the artwork for it himself, hand-made all the packaging for the release himself, and views the entire process and product as art. We could talk about all of these things in great detail and to great length. We could do all of this, but we won’t.

What we will do is ask that you allow yourself the luxury of time to experience Atman as a complete work.

Atman will be released on Io Records on June 1st 2010 physically and digitally in a variety of formats and distribution methods.

We humbly thank you, and are grateful for your attention in these matters.

Available June 1st 2010 on Boomkat.com, Beatport.com, iTunes, Amazon and most other digital retailers.

Track Listing
01 – Chasm
02 – Safe harbor
03 – Through the noise
04 – The whole truth
05 – Richter scale 6
06 – Saturday morning
07 – The world of tomorrow
08 – Late night hours
09 – The other one
10 – When things weren’t so complicated

Physical Formats: CD, Vinyl, and Media Storage Devices

Digital downloads will be available via Bandcamp, Boomkat, Beatport, iTunes, Amazon,
eMusic and other fine digital retailers.

The vinyl will be funded via Kickstarter.com, a DIY crowd-sourced approach for VC for artists and micro-entrepreneurs. All physical goods are limited editions are hand-made in Brooklyn, NY.

For more information about this release, its various formats and associated art products
please visit http://io-records.com/atman after May 31st 2010.

Dear Resident Advisor,

I’ve felt this for a while, but since I make dance music (under one of my monikers) it didn’t seem as important an issue to champion when people seemed to thought that I was ’spinning’ (how I loathe that dreaded term) when I was playing live. Today I saw something that pushed me over the edge to do something about it.

Terry Riley has a DJ page? Really? REALLY? A DJ PAGE? The godfather of modern minimalism who used to hook a vacuum cleaner up to a harmonium and play arpeggios for 13 hours in the 60’s in Haite Ashbury has a dj page? Really? Yeah, maybe kinda sorta like a 13 hour dj set, but actuality played for 13 hours for christ’s sake! I don’t think he used the wheels of steel for that one bub.

Honestly, it is disrespectful to have Terry as a dj and not an artist. Not disrespecting djs, but there is a huge difference between a dj and a Terry fucking Reily. Really. How can you say differently? You really just can’t.

Please, please, please see what you can do to draw a distinction between an artist/composer and a DJ, for Terry’s sake if nothing else. I get it that you started as a place to list DJ related things, but you are growing, maturing, expanding beyond simply being related to DJs, as wonderful as they are.

It would do you, and everyone who writes and is associated with you a world of good to draw a distinction between a composer/producer/artist and a DJ. All do wonderful things, but are completely different animals.

I hope this doesn’t fall on deaf ears or get swept under the rug.

Cheers!

‘A Scattering of Seeds’ builds on the dark and atmospheric ideas presented in last year’s ‘The Hardware Excursions Volume One’. Sound design, drones and field recordings are manipulated in real time using granular synthesis, delay, reverb and sample playback parameter modifications to create an other-worldly soundscape reminiscent of music scored for your favorite yet-to-be-released science fiction movie.

Available now on Io Records.

Available for purchase and download from Boomkat HERE.

The Boomkat review is as follows:
“Another winning entry into Richard J Valeo’s more experimental catalogue, this two-part exploration of high-end synthesis and avant-garde digital drone finds the Isomer Transition man shifting into some of his most engrossing material to date. ‘When Darkness Falls’ boasts a dynamic range that stretches between beams of metallic resonance and hushed, spooky sci-fi tones evocative of something you’d expect to hear in an abandoned space station. ‘Beside The Beach’ offers a more textured palette, gathering up yet more artfully constructed drone signals and combining them with coarsely tactile field recordings. This is no easy-going, conveniently harmonious confluence of sound waves though, and there’s an undercurrent of darkness running through the EP that’s highly refreshing.”

Over the next several months I am going to be assembling a series of EPs entitled ‘Behind the shadow of the moon’. Ordinarily the process of grouping and ordering the tracks, coming up with the final names, making and edits to the tracks, and art creation all happens behind closed doors. No one usually hears or sees or anything until the release is finalized. Well, for this EP series I am going to be doing things a little differently.

For this EP series these steps in the process will happen out in the open. The community will be able to see the changes that are being made as they happen. They will also be able to participate in the process by making suggestions and comments for the order of the songs on the different EPs, the final track titles, track edits and so on. All of this will happen online and out in the open.

While it is an open and participatory process it isn’t a free-for-all. Those who would like to participate will need to do a few things. If you want to participate you’ll need a Soundcloud account, and you’ll need to ‘follow’ my account to have access to the songs. Once you have an account you can comments, suggest things to be done.

As each EP is completed on Soundcloud, meaning, the song titles and order are finalized and all edits are done, the EP will be removed from Soundcloud, mastered, and then released on Boomkat, Beatport, iTunes and the other digital retailers.

The EP series will be broken down in to several releases – how many I am not sure yet as there is still a lot of work to be done.

Here is a link to the first group of tracks. To make things easy to participate this group of tracks is not walled up behind the login system so everyone can see and comment on them.

Behind the shadow of the moon by rjvaleo