Utopia: The Chill Out Room As A Radical Space (Loving You) / NCH
October 23, 2021 § Leave a comment
Curated by Kate Butler, Don Rosco and No Place Like Drone, this event takes place today in the Kevin Barry Room, NCH.
I am honoured to have been commissioned to write a piece for it…
Laura LAIR / Gile Na Gile
October 19, 2021 § Leave a comment
You can hear my newest piece ‘Gile Na Gile’ in the Chill-out Room as part of ‘Utopia’ at the NCH on Saturday.
“On Saturday 23rd October Kate Butler, Don Rosco and No Place Like Drone present The Chill Out Room as a Radical Space (Loving You) from 10am-7.30pm. This free event features new sonic work by commissioned artists and provides a communal space to imagine another future. DJs and music manipulators, No Place Like Drone, Don Rosco and Kate Butler, invoke the chill-out room of the rave era, offering nothing less than blissed out psychedelia, kosmiche, transcendentalism and mysticism, with specially commissioned music by Laura LAIR, Jonathan Deasy and Bambi. At 8pm that night MCs convene on the NCH stage for Utopia: Cypher at 8pm when Rebel Phoenix, Strange Boy, DJ Replay, Dyramid and more guests to be announced will create a freestyle cyper. The unrehearsed, spontaneous show features beats from emerging producers across Ireland, and bars from extraordinary MCs cutting through the noise. “
LAIR / Nigh/T\mare / The Summoning
September 6, 2021 § Leave a comment
Very happy to share a track from the awesome, soon to be released, album ‘Katharsis’ by Nigh/T\mare.
I collaborated with him for the creation of ‘The Summoning’ which was premiered by Lost In Ether and is currently streaming on their Soundcloud
The Summoning was also chosen by Torn Relics to remix and was premiered by Zenevloed and is currently streaming on their Soundcloud
It will be released on vinyl and digital soon on Thrènes Records
“From the depths of an ancient dark underworld, Nigh/T\mare has conjured a powerful offering of burning emotions that light the fires of one’s demons and invite the beginning of an epic journey through the unknown. Via Thrènes Records from Switzerland, this offering is on point with their consistent releasing of top quality industrial/experimental techno. Entitled ‘Katharsis’, this artistically crafted set of tracks in the form a debut album twists and turns its way over tribal rhythms with dynamic feels and beating drums that break down anything standing in the way. A powerful offering from the depths of the soul. “
Terror Cognitive Dissonance / Legions Speak / LAIR Remix
August 23, 2021 § Leave a comment
This is the remix I made of the track ‘Legions Speak’ by Terror Cognitive Dissonance from his newly released EP ‘Evil Signs’ which is out now on Georgia-based label SHISHI Records
LAIR / Mary Leo / Music Video / The Brvtalist Premiere
July 7, 2021 § Leave a comment
I am so happy to share this stunning video created by the super-talented Mary Leo for the title track from my newest EP ‘I Hurt So I Cry’ which premieres today on The Brvtalist
“The Brvtalist is pleased to premiere a new video from LAIR. Following her 2017 self-titled debut EP, releases on Urban Legend and Rhod Records as well as collaborative projects in the visual arts and dance she returns to Eotrax to release I Hurt So I Cry this summer. Building off her previous efforts, we return to LAIR’s dark, meditative, ambient world. Where ethereal vocals meet immersive soundscapes, plunging the listener into a new realm where darkness meets light and nothing is quite as it seems.
Today we are thrilled to host this stunning video Directed by Mary Leo, which is the perfect visualization of LAIR’s haunting work. The EP is out now on cassette and digital. Get yours at: https://eotrax.bandcamp.com/album/i-hurt-so-i-cry
-JRS”
Out Today / LAIR / I Hurt So I Cry EP
June 29, 2021 § Leave a comment
My newest EP is out today on Eotrax
Know the dark and light are one
There is no denying painLook at the unseen
Listen to the unheard
Love the life undoneWe hurt so we cry, so hope may spring
LAIR returns to Eotrax with a new 4-track EP.
Following her 2017 self-titled debut EP, releases on Urban Legend and Rhod Records as well as collaborative projects in the visual arts and dance she returns to Eotrax to release I Hurt So I Cry this summer.
Created using elements of sound healing and sacred sound I Hurt So I Cry can be engaged with from a purely musical perspective or listeners can take advantage of its sound healing qualities and use this EP as an active sound bath- active in that the listener intentionally uses the music to support them in going within and releasing, resting and restoring their body, nervous system and heart.
As with all LAIR’s work, the music is composed using only her voice with one exception, a sampled cello in the EPs first track Foreshadow. This brooding opener inhabits the dark ambient world we’ve come to expect of her music but as the EP unfolds ethereal vocal lines mix with her darker sound and a new, lighter sound world is revealed.
In the artist’s words:
“A shadow falls across our lives, we hurt so we cry, the feeling starts to shift and from that shift hope can spring.”
Both intimate and expansive, the tracks create a feeling of existing outside time. LAIR’s profound connection to nature can be felt through all the tracks – at times in a deep cavern, at times moving through an elvish forest and at times in an Otherworld.
Released on June 29th on red cassette & digital with artwork and design by Goldmoth Media. Mastered by Dominic at Declared Sound.
Laura LAIR / Rachel Wynne / Barely A Person
May 10, 2021 § Leave a comment
I have created the soundtrack for an incredible dance piece choreographed by and starring Rachel Wynne. Rachel is the co-founder of dance company Expandance.
“The expandance technique is part meditation, part mindful movement, and part dance improvisation. Because of these three components, it can be (and is) utilized by everyone from professional dancers to people with mobility issues, chronic pain or injury, people undergoing medical treatment, and anyone who wants to be more mobile and present in their bodies.
The technique draws on decades of Rachel and Laurie’s training as professional dancers and choreographers, and also Rachel’s decade-plus of facilitation training in group and individual healing modalities, Laurie’s many years as a Pilates teacher, and various skill sets and other trainings we’ve done over the years – from Thai massage, to clowning, to capoeira, to comedy improv, to yoga, to acting, to directing, to our work teaching all different walks of life, ages and abilities.”
Rachel has created a stunning and, to me, important piece in ‘Barely A Person’. She and director Jessica Headington gathered audio contributions from a number of women discussing their experiences with post partum depression. I took excerpts of these recordings and weaved them through two of my tracks ‘I Hurt So I Cry’ and ‘Hope Springs’ to form the soundtrack to the stunning choreography by Rachel and beautiful filming and cinematography of Dana Hunt and Sean Pettis.
It is featured in the Heroines, Harpies and Harlots festival alongside three other pieces, with interludes by three pre-teen poets. The show will be available for streaming on May 8, 9, 15, 16 at 2pm (PT) and May 8, 14, 15 at 8:30pm (PT) and tickets can be bought on their website.
I was truly honoured to work with the voices of these courageous women and be part of the creation of such a powerful piece.
Barely A Person
Director: Jess Headington
Concept/Choreographer/Dancer: Rachel Wynne
Soundtrack: Laura LAIR
Camera Operator: Dana Hunt
Director of Photography/Editor: Sean Pettis
Special Thanks: Sarah Jenness, Laurie Schneider, Kayli Duncan
-and to all the anonymous mothers who contributed to this piece: Thank you.
LAIR / Deimos / Urban Legend Records
April 21, 2021 § Leave a comment
Very happy to announce my track Badb is featured on the Deimos EP out on vinyl on the Barcelona-based label Urban Legend Records.
The A side is the title track by Wará with a remix of his track by Sam KDC. And my track Badb is on the B side with a remix from NX1.
In Greek mythology, Deimos is the personification of fear and panic in battles, and twin brother of Phobos who represented fear. Together, they accompanied the god of war in every fight. Two dark and perhaps not very pleasant characters but perfect to represent the series that would be completed with this EP and with which Urban Legend starts a new cycle with more strength than ever.
It’s taken 6 years for Phobos to meet Deimos musically. We believe that it couldn’t have been a more representative moment of what we needed to express due to the uncertainty and confusion we are living. With this work, we explore the somber feelings and existential conflicts that take hold of us in these difficult times, sometimes in contrast with the need for struggle and survival.
Four enfolding tracks by LAIR and Wará, full of shadows and dark voices, will take you on an inner journey to the deepest within you, represented this time by the powerful remixes full of demonic rhythms and underworld atmospheres of Sam KDC and NX1 who, together with the twin brothers, will accompany other terrible demons in their eagerness to drive you mad and, why not, to save you.
UL006 Limited series of 50 handmade vinyls with artwork by Carlos Gonzalez Boy and design by Cannibalismstudio
Vinyl cutting at CUT CUT CUT studios
LAIR / ‘The Gloaming’ / Always Night
March 15, 2021 § Leave a comment
I’m very happy to have a track on the ‘Always Night’ compilation which is beautifully curated by the artist known as Eastern Fear Ritual on his Adaptive Sonic label
All the tracks are influenced by and include bat sounds, with funds from the release going to support Bat Conservation Trust.
“Adaptive Sonic has assembled international talent to join forces with the Bat Conservation Trust for a fundraising effort dedicated to the preservation of our nocturnal friends.
Bats are a vital part of our native wildlife, accounting for almost a third of all mammal species in the UK and occupy a wide range of habitats, such as wetlands, woodlands, farmland, as well as urban areas. They can tell us a lot about the state of the environment, as they are top predators of common nocturnal insects and are sensitive to changes in land use practices. The pressures they face – such as landscape change, agricultural intensification, development, and habitat fragmentation are also relevant to many other wildlife species, making them excellent indicators for the wider health of global wildlife.”
Loads of awesome tracks on this, my current favourite being the compilation’s opener from Hauntist
Laura Kilty 