Rival Concoles

Erased Tapes' very first signee, London-based producer Ryan Lee West better known under the name Rival Consoles, is notable for making synthesisers sound human and atmospheric.

His consistent desire to create a more organic, humanised sound sees West often draft early ideas on traditional, acoustic instruments like the guitar or the piano; forming pieces that capture a sense of songwriting behind the electronics.

Fascinated by sound from an early age, Ryan chose to dedicate his time to studying and producing sound, graduating from De Montfort University in his hometown Leicester. In the early years as a recording artist West continued to experiment with a broad palette of electronic sounds.

It was with the release of his Odyssey and Sonne EPs in 2013 and 2014 that West started gaining more of a reputation for making thoughtful electronica that spans a wider spectrum of musical ideas. Foremost a guitarist, growing up listening to rock rather than club music, his full-length album Howl released in 2015 saw West strive towards finding a more personal balance between music for home listening and larger spaces.

The increasingly dynamic live audio-visual show, born from bespoke performances at the Tate and for Boiler Room at the V&A Museum featuring self-programmed visuals in Max/MSP, has propelled him to play around the world including appearances at music festivals such as Sónar, Moogfest, FORM, Mutek, Big Ears, Lovebox and Roskilde.

2016 marked the release of his mini album Night Melody — born out of and shaped by long hours working into the night — followed by his acclaimed 2018's full length Persona whose title was inspired by Ingmar Bergman’s film of the same name.

Lone

Whether it’s his long-standing love of 90s hip hop, passing penchant for the bright lights and sounds of hardcore or career defining old school house releases, Lone’s music is steeped in nostalgia. Studio or club born, he teases a dance floor ready sound from the in-between places of your consciousness, making you feel warm and fuzzy without quite knowing why.

Prolific from an early age with six album releases to his name already, it was Nottingham born and now London based Matt Cutler’s energetic 2010 LP, Emerald Fantasy Tracks which truly put him on the artistic map. The accolades amassed from there on, Lone’s last two long-players – the sweet as candy Galaxy Garden and dusty hip-house hitter Reality Testing – catching the ear of the critics, whilst his high profile remixes, including Radiohead, Disclosure, Friendly Fires, Nathan Fake, TEED, Underworld, Steffi and Midland spread his sound to the masses.

Whilst Lone’s sampled and swinging beats speak for themselves, it can’t have hurt to be vindicated by signing with the prestigious R&S Records, where house tracks go to become house classics. This was exactly the fate reserved for his 2013 R&S release Airglow Fires, one of his best-loved releases to date which captures everything we love about the old school house revival of the last few years and was quickly filed under ‘classic’ in the proverbial music shelves of all.

For his freshest release, the intense LP Levitate, Lone has dragged a collection of feverish breakbeats out of hibernation to create a short-and-sweet 34-minute soundscape that was born in the hallucinatory depths of an actual fever, the breakneck psychedelic journey described by Cutler himself as ‘an intense blast’.