Aarktica
Aarktica is the longest-running and most productive project of Los Angeles-based musician Jon DeRosa. Debuting with the wintry, guitar-based drone of 2000's No Solace in Sleep, Aarktica evolved to encompass electronic dream pop on 2002's Or You Could Just Go Through Your Whole Life and Be Happy Anyway, as well as Indian classical and jazz influences on releases like 2005's Bleeding Light, incorporating brass, harmonium, strings, and other acoustic instruments. While DeRosa began producing chamber pop under his own name during the 2010s, he kept Aarktica active for his more glacial, atmospheric work, including 2019's Mareación.
After playing in punk and hardcore bands as a teenager, DeRosa was inspired by artists on ambient goth label Projekt. While dealing with permanent hearing loss in his right ear, he began making minimal, guitar-based soundscapes in order to express how he perceived sound. He created his debut album as Aarktica, No Solace in Sleep, using a four-track recorder in various New York University dorm rooms during the late '90s, and Silber Records released it in 2000. This was followed by Morning One, an EP issued by Ochre Records in 2001. Released in early 2002 as volume 18 of Darla's Bliss Out series, the more vocal-heavy Or You Could Just Go Through Your Whole Life and Be Happy Anyway featured contributions from Lorraine Lelis of Mahogany and downtempo/IDM DJ Aaron Spectre.
In February 2003, Aarktica returned to Silber Records with Pure Tone Audiometry, an album that intersected gentle lullabies with atonal screeds and feverish percussion with sedate drones, reflecting DeRosa's studies with minimalist pioneers La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela. Pure Tone Audiometry was co-produced by Flare's Charles Newman, and included contributions from Plexus bassist Ernie Adzentovich, and Mahogany's Andrew Prinz and Lelis on cello and vocals, respectively. In February 2005, Aarktica released Bleeding Light, a conceptual dedication to New York, on Darla. A split EP with Spectre, Ocean, appeared on German label Moonbunny.
After relocating to Southern California, DeRosa released Aarktica's lushly orchestrated fifth full-length, Matchless Years, in 2007. He returned to Silber with 2009's In Sea, which included a cover of "Am I Demon?" by Danzig, one of the New Jersey-born DeRosa's formative influences. This was followed by In Sea Remixes, which included interpretations by Landing, thisquietarmy, Yellow6, and others. DeRosa began releasing singer/songwriter material under his own name in 2011, but he continued recording more experimental work as Aarktica, and the limited EP Ceremony was issued by Fnord Tapes in 2015. Mareación, a meditative full-length inspired by ayahuasca journeys, appeared in 2019. A year later, Projekt released Eating Rose Petals, a collaboration between Aarktica and Black Tape for a Blue Girl, containing label founder Sam Rosenthal's interpretations of one of Mareación's highlights.
© Kenyon Hopkin & Paul Simpson /TiVo
Diskografie
18 Album, -en • Geordnet nach Bestseller
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No Solace in Sleep
Rock - Erschienen bei Silber Records am 01.01.2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Eating Rose Petals
Aarktica, Black Tape For A Blue Girl
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Projekt Archive am 04.12.2020
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
...Or You Could Just Go Through Your Whole Life and Be Happy Anyway. / Bliss Out v.18
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Darla am 11.02.2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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In Sea Remixes
Rock - Erschienen bei Silber Records am 09.02.2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
In Sea
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Silber Records am 27.10.2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Matchless Years
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Darla am 30.10.2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Morning One (2023 Remaster)
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Projekt Archive am 30.04.2001
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Gymnopédie No. 1
Ambient - Erschienen bei Aarktica am 23.06.2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pure Tone Audiometry
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Darla am 10.01.2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bleeding Light
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Darla am 12.01.2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Bridge of Fire (Emiliano Melis Remix)
Electronic - Erschienen bei Darla am 27.01.2023
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
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Christmas in Prison
Aarktica, Cottage Sounds Unlimited, Kendall Jane Meade
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Mother West am 04.11.2022
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Blood Positive (Original Soundtrack)
Pop - Erschienen bei Mother West am 19.11.2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo