The Golden Filter is an American/Australian
electronic music
Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...
duo from
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, formed in 2008, now based in London. The band consists of
Penelope Trappes and Stephen Hindman.
History
Lead singer
Penelope Trappes grew up in
Lismore, near
Byron Bay, New South Wales
Byron Bay ( Minjungbal: ''Cavvanbah)'' is a beachside town located in the far-northeastern corner of the state of New South Wales, Australia on Bundjalung Country. It is located north of Sydney and south of Brisbane. Cape Byron, a hea ...
, Australia, while analogue synth programmer and producer Stephen Hindman is originally from
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
, United States.
They produced their debut single, "Solid Gold", in July 2008,
after being influenced by italo mix CDs given to them by Josh Cheon (Dark Entries records). "Solid Gold" was eventually released on February 15, 2009 on Dummy Records. Its video was filmed in Australia, near
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
.
They have also remixed tracks for artists such as
UNKLE,
Cut Copy
Cut Copy (sometimes stylised as Cut/Copy) are an Australian synth-pop band formed in 2001 by Dan Whitford (vocals, keyboards and guitar). Originally a home-recording project, the band now includes Tim Hoey (guitars), Ben Browning (bass guitar), ...
,
Empire of the Sun
''Empire of the Sun'' is a 1984 novel by English writer J. G. Ballard; it was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Like Ballard's earlier short story "The Dead Time" (published in the anthology '' ...
,
Peter Bjorn and John
Peter Bjorn and John are a Swedish indie pop/rock band formed in Stockholm in 1999, named after the first names of the band's members: Peter Morén (vocals, guitar and harmonica), Björn Yttling (bass guitar, keyboards and vocals) and John Eriks ...
, and
Yeasayer
Yeasayer () was an American experimental rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2006. The band consisted of Chris Keating, Ira Wolf Tuton, and Anand Wilder. They announced their split on December 19, 2019.
History Formation
The band's thr ...
.
The Golden Filter performed at the
SXSW
South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...
Music Festival at least seven times in March 2009, and toured North America with
The Presets
The Presets are an Australian electronic music duo of Julian Hamilton (vocals, keyboards) and Kim Moyes (drums, keyboards). Formed in 2003 and signed to Modular Recordings, Modular Records, The Presets released two EPs (''Blow Up (EP), Blow Up ...
between March 30 and April 20, 2009, performing on sixteen dates altogether. They have also done two short UK tours and a European festival tour in 2010.
They appeared at the
Iceland Airwaves Festival on October 16, 2009. On November 16, their second single, "Thunderbird", was released by Dummy.
Their debut album, ''Voluspa'', released on the UK label
Brille Records
Brille Records is an independent record label based in the UK, which has released work from bands including Whirlwind Heat, Good Shoes, Envelopes, Operator Please, The Bridge Gang, The Golden Filter, Gwilym Gold, Amateur Best, Casimer&Casim ...
on April 26, 2010, is named after the ancient Nordic poem ''
Völuspá
''Vǫluspá'' (also ''Völuspá'', ''Vǫlospá'' or ''Vǫluspǫ́''; Old Norse: 'Prophecy of the völva, a seeress'; reconstructed Old Norse: ) is the best known poem of the ''Poetic Edda''. It tells the story of the creation of the world and ...
'' which relates the story of the creation of the world and its coming end. Promotion of ''Voluspa'' started on January 16, 2010 with a fifty-second viral video called "Open Your Eyes".
In 2011, The Golden Filter collaborated with Norwegian director Kristoffer Borgli to create a ten-minute short film titled ''Syndromes''.
The film stars Emma Aars and is set in a small town in Norway where "a young girl with a secret talent finds herself unwillingly entwined in an elite underworld of healing that only the ailing wealthy are aware of."
The narrative is based on the song "Mother", whose lyrics "revolve around a beautifully tragic personal story about the fear of inevitable loss."
The film was released on 10 October 2011 as a CD/DVD package on the duo's own Perfectly Isolated label, along with an accompanying soundtrack featuring six original songs, which was also released digitally as well as in a special limited vinyl and art edition of 300 copies, including an exclusive poster hand-signed by the duo.
The vinyl edition is housed in a
gatefold
A gatefold cover or gatefold LP is a form of packaging for LP records that became popular in the mid-1960s. A gatefold cover, when folded, is the same size as a standard LP cover (i.e., a 12½ inch, or 32.7 centimetre square). The larger gatefo ...
sleeve, and also includes a DVD of the film.
"Mother" was released digitally on September 11, 2011.
In 2014, The Golden Filter debuted their side project SO SO IN LUV with the single "1+0nly". The project was inspired by their "befriending a few inspiring and talented people at
PC Music
PC Music is a record label and art collective based in London and run by producer A. G. Cook. It was founded in 2013, making its music available on SoundCloud that year. Artists on its roster have included Hannah Diamond, GFOTY, Danny L Harle, ...
" following their move to London in 2014. SO SO IN LUV released several singles, compilation tracks, and mixes over the next few years, and while the project was initially anonymous, they revealed their identity when the alias was retired in early 2018.
They had continued to release music as The Golden Filter during and after this time, as well as releasing solo music (Penelope Trappes under her own name and Hindman under the name "Quays").
Discography
Studio albums
*''
Voluspa'' (2010
Brille Records
Brille Records is an independent record label based in the UK, which has released work from bands including Whirlwind Heat, Good Shoes, Envelopes, Operator Please, The Bridge Gang, The Golden Filter, Gwilym Gold, Amateur Best, Casimer&Casim ...
)
*''Unselected Works Vol I'' (2014 -
The Vinyl Factory
The Vinyl Factory is a large music company based in London, United Kingdom. It includes a record label, vinyl pressing plant, and a venue space. It also publishes ''Fact'' magazine and owns Phonica Records store.
Overview
The Vinyl Factory be ...
)
*''Unselected Works Vol II'' (2014 -
The Vinyl Factory
The Vinyl Factory is a large music company based in London, United Kingdom. It includes a record label, vinyl pressing plant, and a venue space. It also publishes ''Fact'' magazine and owns Phonica Records store.
Overview
The Vinyl Factory be ...
)
*''Unselected Works Vol III'' (2014 -
The Vinyl Factory
The Vinyl Factory is a large music company based in London, United Kingdom. It includes a record label, vinyl pressing plant, and a venue space. It also publishes ''Fact'' magazine and owns Phonica Records store.
Overview
The Vinyl Factory be ...
)
*''Still // Alone'' (2017 - Optimo Music)
Mini albums / EPs
*''Syndromes'' (2011 - The Vinyl Factory)
*''PS1103'' (2015 - Optimo Music)
*''End Of Times'' (2017 - Optimo Music)
*''Dub Of Times'' (2018 - Optimo Music)
*''Dislocation'' (2018 - 4GN3S)
Singles
*"Solid Gold" (Dummy, 2009)
*"Thunderbird" (Brille, 2009)
*"Hide Me" (Brille, 2010)
*"White Nights" (Brille, 2010)
*"Mother" (Perfectly Isolated/Vinyl Factory, 2011)
*"Kill Me" (Perfectly Isolated/Vinyl Factory, 2012)
*"Quiet Town" (Visage Musique, 2012)
*"Start Over" (Optimo Music, 2015)
*"Dust" (Optimo Music, 2017)
*"End Of Times" (Optimo Music, 2017)
*"Aya" (Cin Cin, 2018)
*"Talk Talk Talk" (4GN3S, 2018)
Compilation appearances
Remixes
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Golden Filter, The
American musical duos
Electronic music duos
Electronic music groups from New York (state)
Musical groups established in 2008
Musical groups from New York City
Nu-disco musicians
Remixers
American synth-pop groups