The Sight Below is an American

ambient techno Ambient techno is a subgenre of techno that incorporates the atmospheric textures of ambient music with the rhythmic elements and production of techno. It was pioneered by 1990s electronic artists such as Aphex Twin, Carl Craig, the Black Dog, ...

/ shoegaze act from

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, Washington. Its main member is the American post-minimalist composer Rafael Anton Irisarri. Sam Valenti IV signed The Sight Below to his

Ghostly International Ghostly International is an American independent record label founded in 1999 by Samuel Valenti IV and currently headquartered in Brooklyn, New York City. Chief artists include Matthew Dear, Dabrye (a.k.a. Tadd Mullinix), Com Truise, Tycho, Go ...

imprint in 2008 after listening to a demo tape. A promotional EP '' No Place for Us'' was soon released by the label as a free MP3 download on August 26, 2008. The Sight Below debuted its live set at Seattle's

KEXP KEXP-FM (90.3 MHz) is a non-commercial radio station licensed to Seattle, Washington, United States, specializing in alternative and indie rock programmed by its disc jockeys for the Seattle metropolitan area. The station is owned by the no ...

radio station on September 20, 2008. The in-studio session was recorded and is available on Ghostly's website as a

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...

GhostlyCast #18
. A well-received performance followed at the Ghostly International showcase during

Decibel Festival Decibel Festival was an annual music and digital arts festival in Seattle, launched in 2004 by Sean Horton and a team of volunteer staff. The Decibel Festival was dedicated to live electronic music performance, visual arts, and new media. Histor ...

. These performances paved the way for an extensive European tour that saw the artist perform at 18 different cities in the continent, including

Unsound festival Unsound Festival, also known as Unsound, is an annual music festival that takes place in Kraków, Poland, dealing with evolving and mutating forms of music, as well as related visual arts. Apart from the main festival, Unsound regularly takes plac ...

in Krakow, Poland, EME Festival in

Lisbon, Portugal Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...

, S.O.Y. Festival in Nantes, France and TimeZones Festival in Bari, Italy. The Sight Below's debut album ''

Glider Glider may refer to: Aircraft and transport Aircraft * Glider (aircraft), heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for unpowered flight ** Glider (sailplane), a rigid-winged glider aircraft with an undercarriage, used in the sport of glidin ...

'' was released in the United States in November 2008 and January 2009 worldwide. It is available as both a physical and digital release. The album was very well received by the press and music community, including praise from Radiohead's

Thom Yorke Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician and the main vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. A multi-instrumentalist, he mainly plays guitar and keyboards and is noted for his falsetto. He has been descri ...

, who charted "At First Touch" on his January 6, 200
"Office Chart"
posting on the band's website

Dead Air Space Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass); ...

. '' Murmur EP'' followed in 2009, including remixes by

Biosphere The biosphere (from Greek βίος ''bíos'' "life" and σφαῖρα ''sphaira'' "sphere"), also known as the ecosphere (from Greek οἶκος ''oîkos'' "environment" and σφαῖρα), is the worldwide sum of all ecosystems. It can also ...

Eluvium In geology, eluvium or eluvial deposits are those geological deposits and soils that are derived by ''in situ'' weathering or weathering plus gravitational movement or accumulation. The process of removal of materials from geological or soil horiz ...

and Simon Scott (of

Slowdive Slowdive is a British rock band that formed in Reading, Berkshire, in 1989. The band consists of Rachel Goswell on vocals and guitar, Neil Halstead on vocals and guitar, Christian Savill on guitar, Nick Chaplin on bass and Simon Scott on d ...

). The Sight Below's second full-length, '' It All Falls Apart,'' was released on April 6, 2010. It features music written with the aforementioned Simon Scott and a cover version of

Joy Division Joy Division were an English rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist Ian Curtis, guitarist/keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris. Sumner and Hook formed the band after atte ...

's "

New Dawn Fades "New Dawn Fades" is a song by English rock band Joy Division from their 1979 debut album ''Unknown Pleasures''. The song opens with a backwards and heavily modified sample from a previous song, "Insight", presumably added by Martin Hannett, post-p ...

" (with guest vocals by

Tiny Vipers Tiny Vipers (born 1983) is the stage name of Jesy Fortino, an American musician from Seattle, Washington. ''Life on Earth (Tiny Vipers album), Life on Earth'' was released on July 7, 2009 on Sub Pop. Luckyhorse Industries released a limited ed ...

). Described by All Music Guide as ''"impeccably made ambient thump-and-drone"'',

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

called it ''"A beautifully bleak cloud of sound"'' while

XLR8R ''XLR8R'' (pronounced "accelerator") is a website that covers music, culture, style, and technology. It was originally also a print magazine. History and profile ''XLR8R'' was founded as a newsprint zine in 1993 by publisher Andrew Smith in Sea ...

magazine gave it a 9/10 ranking and praised it as ''"an astounding range of visceral sonic possibilities…a hurricane passing over an ocean, gathering heat and force while simultaneously cooling the waters below."''

Live performances

The Sight Below has performed extensively throughout North America and Europe. During the multimedia live performances, the artist creates his own visuals, manipulating images and footage until they are only recognizable as slow moving shapes, providing a counterpoint to the heavily treated wall of guitar textures. Soon after the ''Glider'' release a US tour followed in February 2009 with labelmate

Lusine Lusine, formerly L'Usine, L'Usine ICL, and Lusine ICL, is the stage name of Jeff McIlwain, an ambient/ IDM musician. A native Texan, McIlwain now resides in Seattle. In 1998, he attended California Institute of the Arts to study 20th century el ...

. Later on, appearances at DEMF (Detroit, Michigan) and MUTEK (

Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pe ...

, Canada) would continue showcasing The Sight Below's brand of immersive guitar music and visual art integration. In June 2009, The Sight Below performed at

Sónar Sónar is a festival dedicated to music, creativity and technology, founded in Barcelona in 1994 by Ricard Robles, Enric Palau, and Sergi Caballero. The festival has been divided into two parts since its inception: Sónar by Day and Sónar b ...

Festival ( Barcelona, Spain), this time joined by

member Simon Scott on guitars and vocals. Together they toured throughout the Summer in the EU and UK, including a show at the historical Sacred Trinity Church in Manchester, London's The Luminaire club, and a notoriously loud performance during Ghostly's 10-Year Anniversary party at

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

's infamous

Berghain Berghain () is a nightclub in Berlin, Germany. It is named after its location near the border between Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain in Berlin, and is a short walk from Berlin Ostbahnhof main line railway station.

nightclub on June 26, 2009.

Collaborations

In the studio, The Sight Below has worked extensively with the aforementioned Scott and Tiny Vipers, plus Benoît Pioulard, while remixing

School of Seven Bells School of Seven Bells (often stylized as SVIIB) was an American indie rock band from New York City, formed in 2007. It originally consisted of Alejandra Deheza (vocals, guitar), her sister Claudia Deheza (keyboards, vocals) and Benjamin Curtis ...

, Detroit's Echospace, and Germany's

Pantha Du Prince Hendrik Weber (born 1975 in Bad Wildungen, Germany),Fennesz Christian Fennesz (born 25 December 1962) is an Austrian producer and guitarist active in electronic music since the 1990s, often credited simply by his last name. His work utilizes guitar and laptop computers to blend melody with treated sample ...

, performing live at

in Seattle and Interferenze Festival in Italy. In January 2011, Irisarri collaborated with Benoît Pioulard on a tribute to Broadcast's

Trish Keenan Patricia Anne Keenan (28 September 1968 – 14 January 2011) was an English musician and singer. She was the lead vocalist and founding member of the electronic band Broadcast, which she formed in 1995. The band released a total of five studio a ...

, covering the track 'Until Then', from the band's 2000 album

The Noise Made By People ''The Noise Made by People'' is the debut studio album by English indie electronic band Broadcast. It was released on 20 March 2000 by Warp. The band recorded and produced the album themselves after being dissatisfied with the results of earlier ...

Discography

;Studio albums *''

'' (2008) *'' It All Falls Apart'' (2010) *''Glider (Expanded Edition)'' (2011) *''Glider 10 (2018 Remaster)'' (2018) *''Glider 10: Reworks'' (2018) EPs *'' No Place for Us'' (2008) *'' Murmur'' (2009) *''Unfurled EP'' (2015) ;Remixes *"Waltz" by

The Naked and Famous The Naked and Famous are a New Zealand indie electronic band from Auckland, formed in 2007. The band currently consists of Alisa Xayalith (vocals, keyboards) and Thom Powers (vocals, guitars). The band has released four studio albums: ''Passi ...

(2014) *"The Sun" by The Naked and Famous (2013) *"Seadance" remix for

Saroos Saroos is a post-rock trio from Berlin, Germany. It consists of Florian Zimmer, Christoph Brandner and Max Punktezahl. History Saroos released the self-titled debut album, ''Saroos'', on Alien Transistor in 2006. The second album, '' See Me Not ...

, Alien Transistor (2013) *"A Nomad's Retreat" remix for

Pantha Du Prince Hendrik Weber (born 1975 in Bad Wildungen, Germany),Rough Trade (2011) *"N-Plants_Remixes" remixes for

, Touch (2011) *"Bye Bye Bye" remix for

, Vagrant

(2010) *"Substraktive" remix for CV313 , Echospace Detroit (2010) *"Ultravioleta" remix for papercutz , Ultravioleta rmx's Apegenine recordings (2008)

Videos

Further Away
Filmed at

Deception Pass Deception Pass is a strait separating Whidbey Island from Fidalgo Island, in the northwest part of the U.S. state of Washington. It connects Skagit Bay, part of Puget Sound, with the Strait of Juan de Fuca. A pair of bridges known collectivel ...

(2008)

References

External links

Official MySpace pageThe Sight Below @ Ghostly InternationalYoutube.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sight Below, The Musical groups from Seattle