0044 // Lofthaus

Lofthaus is the joint project of Thomas Barnes and Henry Gillet. Together, along with Marie De Cuir, they form 'Algebra of Need'; a collective outlet for a range of art forms including cassette, vinyl, text and film. “We all trust what the other writes and don't care if it isn’t "marketable" - something that is sonorous is far more important” Barnes explains. The collective take their name from a Burroughs poem, and this should give you some indication of the squalidness of their work. The latest release from AoN, for example, is an EP entitled “Alive with Pleasure”, which, according to their Bandcamp, "attempts to show the true emotional side of lust." The EP itself lifts its name from a condom advertisement, and takes issues like premature ejaculation as its subject matter.

When pressed on the concept behind the 'Alive with Pleasure' release, Barnes muses; “I have always found hooking up a sort of Russian roulette. You basically judge someone on purely aesthetic qualities then take a leap of faith, and you do all this because you have a hormonal or social drive to do so. Most songs about making love and romance are contained in a certain style and sound, but for me there is no music about the dirty side of love. I find darker music suits these emotions better. The concept for 'Alive With Pleasure' was to try capture this cluster fuck.” He isn’t kidding. Lofthaus’ productions have a notably disquieting, seedy quality to them. ‘Alive with Pleasure’, for example, opens with a dialogue from an 80′s porno. “Sexuality is one of the strongest forces in the Western world.” Barnes continues. “You need to look no further then companies making bikinis for six-year-olds and offering cut-priced Brazilian waxing to early teenagers. Look how they market pop stars to kids. It’s pretty disgusting, but oh so brilliant.”  Lofthaus have extended these concepts into the latest installment of our podcast series. The mix itself runs through three acts; from soundscapes to warehouse techno to degraded noise. Indeed, this narrative is intentional, as when we first began discussing the idea of a podcast, Barnes formulated the concept; “I find when doing a mix if you aren't playing to anyone at the time its hard to keep focus, so I like to have something to score or an idea to follow. We came up with the idea for this mix to kind of reinforce the idea of the EP in some shape; ‘a drug fueled one night stand - from surprise to accomplishment to shame’.” Listen below.

by Stray Landings on Mixcloud

• Published
• Apr 18, 2015

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