Experimental cellist and producer Oliver Coates heralds his new album with an emotional mix.
Oliver Coates has been immersed in classical and electronic music from a young age. Though he started learning cello at the age of seven and has played in the London Sinfonietta and London Contemporary Orchestra, his solo albums have experimented with dance and ambient music, utilising cello and effects as well as synths and software to create hybrid forms.
Outside of his solo work, Coates is a prolific collaborator who has worked with artists including Radiohead (on their 2016 album A Moon Shaped Pool), Mica Levi and Dean Blunt. In 2015, he teamed up with visual artist Lawrence Lek to provide the score for Lek’s dystopian simulation Unreal Estate.
Later this month, Coates releases the follow-up to 2018’s acclaimed Shelley’s on Zenn-La on RVNG Intl. Titled skins n slime, the album sees Coates make use of two digital loopers, distortion and chorus to create viscous layers of “slime” that modulate the cello’s strings into a metallic sheen, channeling both “suffering and joy”.
Coates marks the release of skins n slime with a Fact mix that charts similarly honest emotional territory, travelling through music from Malibu, The Caretaker, Cocteau Twins, Enya, James Ferraro, Joanne Robertson, Dean Blunt and more.
“On being too much for ourselves,” Coates says cryptically of his mix. “Through the gaps in unconditional love we create untold imaginings and mourn for lives not lived. ‘The way we miss our lives is life.’ MARION were my favourite band as a teenager, they stole my heart.”
skins n slime is released on October 16 and can be pre-ordered here. Coates will also be performing at this year’s Semibreve Festival in Braga, Portugal, which takes place at the Monastery of São Martinho de Tibães and will be accessible online. For more information visit the Semibreve website.
Tracklist:
Malibu – ‘Camargue’ – 05:47
The Caretaker – ‘The way ahead feels lonely’ – 07:50
Kool Music – ‘Sand Fly’ (from Zen Guitar) – 11:54
Enno Velthuys – ‘Swamp’ – 14:33
The Cure – ‘To Wish Impossible Things’ – 19:07
My Bloody Valentine – ‘Who Sees You’ – 23:40
Cocteau Twins – ‘Serpentskirt’ – 29:42
Thomas Newman – ‘The Night Window’ (from 1917) – 33:34
Enya – ‘Caribbean Blue’ – 36:28
James Ferraro – ‘Memory Theater’ (from Marble Surf) – 40:20
Grouper – ‘Water People’ – 42:45
Relax Kevin – ‘you!’ – 46:37
Joanne Robertson – ‘Hi Watt’ – 50:06
Bar Italia – ‘how did you get into the building did someone open the door for you’ – 53:03
Marion – ‘I Stopped Dancing’ – 53:48
Dean Blunt – ‘Siege’ – 56:42
The Jesus and Mary Chain – ‘Taste the Floor’ – 58:45
Bar Italia – ‘inbeth ubdream’ – 1:01:38
The Something Puffs – ‘The Locker of Excellent Strikes’ – 1:03:06
Darkthrone – ‘Beholding the Throne of Might’ – 1:05:45
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