The analog audio/visual artist will release his brilliant Flenser debut LP, Blooming, on April 2nd.
“one of the most talented and distinctive tape loop artists in the world” - Brainwashed
The prolific, Portland-based Randall Taylor is an audio/visual artist best known for his musical project, Amulets. His new album under that moniker— Blooming, set for release on April 2nd, 2021 via The Flenser— pays homage to the paradox of memory and growth, and creates a deeply immersive musical landscape in the process. Today, we’ve unveiled a music video for the album’s stunning new single, “The New Normal,” which is textured and nuanced, yet dreamlike and vulnerable like Blooming itself.
Watch the music video for “The New Normal” now on FLOOD Magazine (or share directly from YouTube).
Written and recorded fully in quarantine in Taylor’s home studio in early 2020, Blooming came to be as his personal life was in upheaval as was the world around him — the isolation, sadness and change had him missing “… what it felt like to feel alive and the need to feel that again,” he says. With widespread global pandemic and social distancing protocols in effect, Taylor would go on daily walks to clear his head and was struck by all of the blooming flowers surrounding him during springtime in Portland. Within that beauty came his realization that nothing lasts forever and that everything is cyclical— ultimately resulting in themes of growth, decay, melancholy and beauty inherent throughout Blooming.
By constructing and modifying tape loops and repurposing antiquated cassette players, Taylor creates dense, never-ending, looping soundscapes for both his live performances and sculptural sound art installations. If you aren’t yet familiar with Randall Taylor’s ingenuity, check out a short a short documentary about the artist, titled “Tape Wizard” (directed by Killian Vidourek), here on YouTube.
Amulets dazzling new full length Blooming is a fitting debut for The Flenser — look for the album to be available on April 2nd, 2021 and pre-order it here.
Amulets, Blooming track listing:
1. Blooming
4. Observer Effect
5. Tears in the Fabric
6. Collapse in Memory
7. Empty Tribute
8. Whirl
