SIANspheric

SIANspheric (previously SIANspheric⁴), is a shoegaze/dream pop-oriented rock band from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. ("Sian" is a Hindi word meaning "intelligent" or "bright," and it is a common surname in places where Hindi is spoken.) They formed in 1994, and signed with the then-fledgling record label Sonic Unyon. The following year, "Somnium", their debut album, was released. The band has been compared to Slowdive, The Verve, and Boards of Canada. SIANspheric gigged frequently, mostly in Canada, through most of the late 1990s and early 2000s until they decided to break up. (Fellow Canadian shoegazers Southpacific announced their own breakup while on tour with SIANspheric in 2000.)

The band has also worked with Toshack Highway on a split album entitled "Magnetic Morning/Aspirin Age". A CD with ten tracks, Toshack Highway contributed the first five tracks, and SIANspheric did the remaining five. "It's not two full albums, more two separate EPs, and the packaging and art handles it all with sly wit," said Adam Franklin of Toshack Highway. "More split releases should be like this." [http://www.toshackhighway.com/]

They reformed in Toronto in 2005, and put out a new 7" single, "I Wouldn't Expect You To Understand." They followed this up with a DVD+CD release entitled "RGB", released on Sonic Unyon. The DVD contained live footage of the band recorded between 1997 and 2001, music videos, short clips based on or featuring the band's music. The CD featured surround sound remastered versions of some of their long ambient pieces and fan-favourite songs, demos, and one previously unreleased song, "D'Yer Wanna Be P. Kember?"

As of 2006, SIANspheric is Sean Ramsay (guitars, vocals), Jay Patterson (bass guitar), Locksley Taylor (additional guitars, backing vocals) and Matthew Durrant (drums). All four members are said to contribute to the band's ambient programming/sampling. In June 2006, the band announced that a new album was being worked on, though its release date and title have not yet been determined.

Three songs from the album "Somnium" were used in the TV series of "La Femme Nikita".
* Season 1:
* Episode 4 Charity, Watch Me Fall
* Episode 13 Recruit, Broken man
* Episode 19 Voices, The Stars Above

Discography

Albums

* "Somnium" — 1995, Sonic Unyon (CD)
* "There's Always Someplace You'd Rather Be" — 1998, Sonic Unyon (CD)
* "The Sound of the Colour of the Sun" — 2001, Sonic Unyon (CD)

EPs and singles

* "Magnetic Morning/Aspirin Age" (split EP with Toshack Highway) — 2003, Sonic Unyon (double CD)
* "I Wouldn't Expect You to Understand" — 2006, Black Mountain Records, (7") white vinyl; limited to 300 copies

Compilations

* "Else" — 1999, Sonic Unyon, (CD)
* "RGB" — 2006, Sonic Unyon/Inchroma Multimedia (DVD+CD)

External links

* [http://www.sianspheric.com/ Official site]
* [http://www.myspace.com/sianspheric/ MySpace profile]
* [http://www.sonicunyon.com/sianspheric/ Sonic Unyon subsite]
* [http://www.discogs.com/artist/Sianspheric Discogs.com]