Hello,
In winding down with the year, I spent the last few weeks cleaning my drives and reorganizing data — as one does. While I did that, I came across a massive corpus of recordings spanning several years of rehearsals, demos and performances.
My infrequent releases as Reckoner mean that there is always a latency between where I am musically, and the songs that represent me on the internet; I constantly fight the urge to say “I don’t sound like this anymore” every time I show my music to someone new.
So, as a winter solstice gift, I’ve decided to share these recordings from the archive with you. They have been published to Youtube, where they will continue to live as part of the Reckoner Library.
One of these tracks is a live code jam with tape distorted drums from 2018, which went on to inform the rhythmic cores of Supply Chain and Winter Fingers. There is also the early-pandemic experimentation around live arrangements for Red Spiders Cometh. How about an outtake from Safe Mode EP, or an early version of Books and Video where the lyrics are all wrong?
In the Library, you will also find rehearsals for more recent shows from 2022-23. These tracks are closer to what I sound like nowadays. They also carry an element of surprise because I don’t know what they will turn into. Perhaps the pitch-shifted whole-tone passage from a 20 minute jam will the become the bridge of a song, the granulated chops of guitar chords a verse, or a frenzy of vocal loops a chorus. It’s really a toss up and I think that’s exciting.
Given their instrumental nature, these recordings are excellent accompaniments for heads down work, or long drives. If not, perhaps these imperfect and vulnerable recordings will serve you as cozy company when your flight home gets delayed a fourth time.
I plan on uploading more as they come. So, subscribe. Maybe even leave a kind note in the comments?
Happy winter solstice!
Take care,
Sumanth