TEAM RNS PRESENTS

TITLE: Space Settings

LABEL: Scape Records

195kbps avg - Electronic
0hr 42min total- 61.7mb

RELEASE DATE: 2004-05-03
RIP DATE: 2004-04-16

04 Grasping Claw (The Beginning)  2:17

09 Previously Smooth              4:57

10 Sound Of A Squint              4:40

Three years ago Allen Avanessian, Plug
Research supremo and keen producer in
his own right, decided it was time to
bring his extended family a little
closer together:  "I had always wanted
to work with different producers from
my label as well as producers and MCs I
respected from around the globe, to
create an album that would fit the
aesthetic of what we feel is a
progressive move for electronic music."

This general idea - which had been brewing
in Allen's mind for quite some time
finally took shape when Stefan Betke
(~scape) asked him to contribute an
electronic Jazz track for his
Staedtizism compilation series
(staedtizism 2) , followed by the request
for an entire album.

In addition to running Plug Research,
Allen has been DJing since he was 12 and
producing since he was 17, while Jimmy
Tamborello, his prime collaborator on
Headset and a producer from the
equally tender age of 13, is
responsible for some very successful
electronic albums, including Dntel,
The Postal Service, and Figurine.

From this nucleus of Allen and Jimmy who
produced most of the album Headset soon
expanded to a loose association of
illustrious contributors with
additional production by John Tejada
and Daedelus, while Thomas Fehlmann
(Orb, Ocean Club) added atmospheres to
"Sound of A Squint". Words to the beats
came from a number of local and distant

true spirit of musical networking
Non-GENETIC of the Shadow Huntaz (featured
on Then Again & Back Before) not only
brought Metalogic and his cousin Rocmon
(who is also featured on "Then Again")
along to the recording, but also
introduced Headset to Lady Dragon, whose
rhymes over "Grasping Claw" in Japanese,
had such an impressive flow "that made
us all feel like we actually understand
the lyrics. To our surprise, she also
decided to sing on 'Grasping Claw', adding
crisp lightness to the track."

Local hero Subtitle, contributed his
atypical rhyming style on "Breath
Contrails", probably closest of all to
the West Coast sound, while Beans (Anti
Pop Consortium) got involved via a
long-distance exchange: when Allen sent
him a beat, he came up with "Jaw
Modulation", already destined to become a
timeless hip hop classic.  Nevertheless,
the production duo's secret favourite
turned out to be "Breath Contrails",
originally written by and for Dntel,
here simply flipped and twisted into an
electronic/hip hop hybrid, slithering
through the entire track with its
breathless vocal acrobatics.

Overall, "space settings" is constructed
from what it isn't: "This is not a hip
hop record, not an electronic record
and definitely not a jazz record, but
we're influenced by all of these and
love to create our own interpretations
of these genres. That's really what makes
making music so much fun for us. We were
listening to a lot of hip hop over the
years, and sometimes
feel that commercial hip hop producers
bring a lot of new ideas and a fresh
approach to making music, so yes, this
record was influenced by people like
the Neptunes, Timbaland, Dr. Dre, Kanye
West, as well as producers on our label.
Here at Plug Research, all we do is work
records, make beats, DJ, do radio shows,
play live events, buy records, and
share musical knowledge with each
other." So it was only natural to exploit
these synergies and energies in a loose
collaborative effort of like-minded,
but very much independent souls.

By inviting friends and acquaintances to
contribute parts of their sound, views
and vision, Headset has become a true
blueprint of the current Plug Research
periphery - musically, spiritually and
geographically, this is a joint effort,
and an enlightened one.  Uncannily
coherent - considering the amount and
variety of participants - it is the
underlying attitude which spins a
common thread. With its a relaxed
urgency and relentless dedication,
"space settings" has become a true
collaboration without any need for
compromise: "All of us are extremely
proud of the result, plus it has given us
all more inspiration to keep working
with each other."

In the US & Canada the cd is also
available through Plug Research under
the exclusive license from Scape.