main
Upon the 1991 dissolution of the British trance-rock quartet Loop, bassist Neil McKay and John Wills formed the Hair and Skin Trading Company, leaving guitarists Robert Hampson and Scott Dawson to found the highly experimental Main, a project combining the aesthetics of ambient music with layered tapestries of droning electric guitar textures and dark, ominous soundscapes. Main's debut EP releases, 1991's Hydra and 1992's Calm -- later collected as the Hydra-Calm LP -- were their most aggressive, as well as the closest to conventional rock idioms; beginning with 1992's stellar Dry Stone Feed, the duo began exploring ambient sounds, gradually eliminating all traces of percussion and rhythm from their work.
With 1993's Firmament and the triple-LP set Motion Pool, Main began pushing into "drumless space," a realm of cold, alien sound with little resemblance to conventional musical structure; 1994's Firmament II severed all remaining ties to tradition, focusing instead on two epic, abstract environmental pieces with no earthly precedent or connection. After 1995's Ligature, a collection of early material remixed by the likes of Paul Schütze, Jim O'Rourke, and Paul Kendall, Main mounted Hz; their most ambitious project yet, it compiled a series of six monthly EPs pushing harmonic drones, industrial intensity, and atmospheric minimalism to their furthest extremes. Upon completing the third installment in the Firmament series, Dawson left the duo in late 1996, and Hampson continued Main primarily as a solo project, returning with Firmament IV in 1998. After the turn of the millennium, Tau was released on K-Raa-K in 2002, followed by Exosphere, part of the Staalplaat label's Mort aux Vaches series, in 2004. In 2006 Hampson announced he would be retiring the Main name to focus on his solo work, feeling burdened by fans and critics associating his work with the guitar, an instrument he had grown tired of long before. There was a period of dormancy, but by 2010 Hampson was deep into work on several solo albums and by October of the year announced he would be re-instating Main once more. He was joined this time by composer Stephan Mathieu and the two worked together on 2013's Ablation for Editions Mego, the first full-length Main album since 2006.
© Jason Ankeny /TiVo
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The Eight Year Sleep
Pop - Erschienen bei pbhmedia, Kamin Records am 17.11.2023
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Hydra-Calm
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Beggars Banquet am 05.05.1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Split Series #15
Rock - Erschienen bei Fatcat Records am 19.08.2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Firmament II
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Beggars Banquet am 28.11.1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Firmament III
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Beggars Banquet am 01.07.1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Motion Pool
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Beggars Banquet am 01.04.1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ablation
Elektronische Musik oder Musique concrète - Erschienen bei Editions Mego am 15.04.2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dry Stone Feed
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Beggars Banquet am 01.01.1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Firmament
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Beggars Banquet am 16.08.1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Deliquescence (Live at Theatre Municipal, Nevers, France - June 7th 1997)
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Beggars Banquet am 11.08.1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Ligature - Remixes
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Beggars Banquet am 18.09.1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Firmament IV (Main)
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Beggars Banquet am 13.03.1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Tutto da capo
Hip-Hop/Rap - Erschienen bei 3105284 Records DK2 am 17.12.2021
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Ich sitz am Klavier
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei One Man Production am 22.03.2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo