ARMSTRONG,CRAIG/FRASER,SCOTT - Rosa Morta (Sealed) (LP)

Downloadcode.Vinyl version of the “Rosa Morta” album, originally only released on CD in 2016. From the outset Craig Armstrong and Scott Fraser decided their collaboration would be based on an electronic aesthetic. We intentionally limited ourselves almost entirely to using vintage synthesisers, modern hardware synths and soft synths. The use of electronic bass and piano were the only exception to this rule. As a composer who regularly works with orchestras this was of course liberating and fun. Out of mutual fascination with early synthesisers from a young age this was often the catalyst for the beginning of each track. Each track was composed within one day often without much change thereafter. This gives the tracks an improvised feel. We also gave no limitation to the length of the tracks; they are as long as felt necessary or as short as they demanded. The direct melodic and immediacy of impact was purely the result of each working day and what felt right at the time. Musically we are influenced by electronic music from throughout the decade but only subconsciously after a lifetime of listening and playing. As composers we have written in several genres and feel all musicians should feel free to express themselves whether in the abstract, tonal, experimental, song improvisation etc. Two tracks were used in the soundtrack to Peter Mullan's 2010 film NEDS, a film about gang culture in the 1970's in Glasgow.