SleepResearch Facility

Infobox musical artist
Name = SleepResearch_Facility


Img_capt = Kevin Doherty of SleepResearch_Facility
Landscape = yes
Background = group_or_band
Birth_name = Kevin Doherty
Origin =
Genre = Dark ambient
Years_active = 2000 [CD booklet of the first album, "Nostromo" (work began on the album in 2000)] to present
Label = Cold Spring, Manifold
URL = http://www.resonance-net.com/

SleepResearch_Facility (sometimes abbreviated to SR_F or SRF) is a dark ambient artist from Glasgow, Scotland, specialising in sleep-conducive beatless ambient music which is both artistic as well as functional.

Overview

SleepResearch_Facility consists of the single band member Kevin Doherty. His music usually contains no rhythmic elements (one exception is "2.5" on "Dead Weather Machine"), but instead relies on spacious, extended, richly-textured sounds. Occasionally, true 'musical' elements appear in his work, such as sustained chords (in "c-deck" on "Nostromo" for example), but the majority of his compositions consist of evolving layers of manipulated noise and mechanical drones. He deliberately attempts to avoid any sonic elements which would be likely to disturb a sleepy or sleeping listener, such as sudden loud noises.Foreshadow Magazine interview]

The music of SR_F is also intended to create an aural environment which allows listeners to let their thoughts drift, being gently guided (instead of forced) by the music.http://www.resonance-net.com/learn.htm (info page of the official website)] The following advice is provided for listeners: "recommended playback level: just above quiet". A more detailed overview of SR_F can be found on the [http://www.resonance-net.com/learn.htm info page] of the official website.

The works of SR_F are inspired by power stations, distant motorways, certain sci-fi movies (eg. "Alien") and various aspects of nature, including thunderstorms, empty frozen tundra, deserts, jungles and rushing water.General Info section on http://www.myspace.com/sleepresearchfacility] Two complete albums ("Dead Weather Machine" and "") as based entirely on the manipulation of a three minute recording of a malfunctioning Dimplex electric fan heater.

So far, all albums by SR_F have been produced or engineered at Somnambu-Lab (also spelt Somnambulab) in Glasgow. [CD booklets of "Nostromo" and "Dead Weather Machine"] The correct spelling of the artist's name is "SleepResearch_Facility", but "Sleep Research Facility" is a commonly seen variation.

Discography and merchandise

Albums
* "Nostromo", Cold Spring, 2001 (original release) and 2007 (reissue)
* "Dead Weather Machine", Manifold Records, 2004
* "", Manifold Records, 2004
* "Deep Frieze", Cold Spring, 12 April 2007

Appearances on compilations
* "Deck A – Deck B" on "Chamber", Cold Spring, 2003
* "82°S 45°E" on "Swarm", Cold Spring, 2006

Merchandise
* SR_F appeared on the February page of the Cold Spring Calendar 2007. [cite web |url=http://www.coldspring.co.uk/discography/csr76ca.php |title=Cold Spring Records: Calendar 2007 (CSR76CA) |accessdate = 2007-03-18]

Critical response and public exposure

The majority of feedback on SR_F's work is extremely positive. Steve Roach has written [http://www.steveroach.com/store/store.php?item=318 a very complimentary review] of SR_F's albums "Dead Weather Machine" and "" on his website, and even sold the albums from his online store while stocks lasted.

SR_F's work has also been highly praised by ambient websites such as AmbiEntrance [ [http://www.spiderbytes.com/ambientrance/slerf-n.htm Sleep Research Facility: Nostromo ] ] and Aural Pressure, [ [http://www.auralpressure.com/review/s/srf_dead_weather_machine.html Aural Pressure - Reviews - Sleep Research Facility: Dead Weather Machine ] ] [ [http://www.auralpressure.com/review/s/srf_dwm_reheat.html Aural Pressure - Reviews - Sleep Research Facility: Dead Weather Machine_Re:Heat ] ] and the artist's [http://www.resonance-net.com/guestbook.cgi official guestbook] contains many positive comments which have been submitted since 2004.

In 2005, some of SR_F's music was broadcast [ [http://www.vancooten.com/radiobroadcasts/6th_broadcast.htm 6th Collage:"The Hum in the Room"("We hebben een Zoem") ] ] on Dutch [http://www.4fm.nl/ Radio 4FM] (now known as [http://www.omroep.nl/nps/output/studio6.html NPS Studio 6] ). Radio 6 program [http://folio.radio6.nl FOLIO] broadcast a full SR_F radio special on October 2, 2007. [ [http://folio.radio6.nl/2007/09/26/sleep-research-facility/ Folio » blog archive » Sleep Research Facility ] ]

SR_F has performed live at several venues:

* 17 December 2007 – Altaira ambient night at The White Orchid (Club Z) in Toronto, Canada, alongside Shatterwave, Cauterwall, This Instrument, dreamSTATE and Slopoke (first ever live performance).
* 29 January 2008 – Ambient Ping night at The Drake Hotel in Toronto, alongside Syzygia and Ortiz. [ [http://www.theambientping.com/eventsall.html#2008 The Ambient Ping 2008 events] – [http://www.theambientping.com/events.html The Ambient Ping current events] – [http://www.theambientping.com/images/events/nafany.jpgThe Ambient Ping flyer] ]
* 19 March 2008 – Renaissance Cafe in Toronto, alongside dreamSTATE, Teratoma, Toxia, Ouroboros, This Instrument, Cauterwall, Sighup, and Beta Cloud. [ [http://collect.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=music.showDetails&Band_Show_ID=28123690&friendid=114380863 MySpace music event] ]
* 23 April 2008 – Altaira ambient night at the Renaissance Cafe in Toronto, for Toronto Noise Promotions. [ [http://collect.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=music.showDetails&Band_Show_ID=28698482&friendid=139627884 MySpace music event] – [http://s164.photobucket.com/albums/u5/torontonoisecompany/?action=view&current=April23.jpgToronto Noise Promotions flyer] ]
* 18 May 2008 – The Music Gallery in Toronto, with KTL (Stephen O’Malley and Peter Rehberg) and Németh. [ [http://collect.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=music.showDetails&Band_Show_ID=30073517&friendid=139627884 MySpace music event] ]

The January 2008 edition of "Terrorizer" included a feature on SR_F in the "Breaking Faces" section. [ [http://terrorizer.com/issuedetail.php?issue_no=167&regulars Terrorizer - The World's Leading Extreme Music Magazine ] ]

Interviews

There are three known SR_F interviews available on the Internet, which provide a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the albums, as well as background information on SR_F in general.

Ortus Obscurum

Sometime between 2001 and 2003, [The interview mentions the release of "Nostromo" in 2001, and was first archived by the Internet Archive in 2003] SR_F was interviewed by Ectonaut at Ortus Obscurum, "a webzine devoted to writing about the various types of music referred to as Neo-Classical, Dark Ambient, Ritual, Fantasy, Neo-Pagan, Industrial, Electronic, Experimental and so on". [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20050403115309/http://www.dj-media.com/ortus/ Ortus Obscurum ] ] The [http://www.dj-media.com/ortus/doc/sleep_research_facility.asp original interview] is no longer available, since the webzine is now offline, but the Internet Archive has an [http://web.archive.org/web/20030418062840/http://www.dj-media.com/ortus/doc/sleep_research_facility.asp archived copy] . Other copies are also available [http://www.michaelhogg.btinternet.co.uk/slowspace/sr_f/interview1.txt here] and [http://www.booyaka.com/~al/ambient/nostromo.shtml here] .

Foreshadow Magazine

In September 2004, SR_F was interviewed by Dan_H at Foreshadow Magazine. Unfortunately, the [http://www.magazine.foreshadow.info/ website] is now offline, and although the Internet Archive has archived the magazine's [http://web.archive.org/web/20050404114616/http://www.magazine.foreshadow.info/ home page] , the [http://www.magazine.foreshadow.info/modules.php?name=Sections&op=printpage&artid=4 interview itself] doesn't appear to be archived. A copy of the original interview is available [http://www.michaelhogg.btinternet.co.uk/slowspace/sr_f/interview2.txt here] . Another copy is available on the [http://www.heathenharvest.com/article.php?story=20070927180203617 Heathen Harvest website] .

Cold Spring Supplement

In January 2007, SR_F was interviewed for the January/February 2007 edition of the Cold Spring Supplement, prior to the release of "Deep_Frieze" on the Cold Spring label. The supplement is available [http://www.coldspring.co.uk/Pdf/csr_janfeb07.pdf here] in PDF format, and the interview can be found on pages 10 and 11. Another copy of the interview is available [http://www.michaelhogg.btinternet.co.uk/slowspace/sr_f/interview3.txt here] .

Hidden information on the official website

The official SR_F website used to contain some pages which appeared to be hidden from the general public, since there were no known links to them from anywhere else on the site. These pages have now been deleted, but some of the MP3s which they linked to are still available.

Audio Project Archive

The [http://www.resonance-net.com/apa/ Audio Project Archive] page contained additional information about released albums, details about upcoming albums and unreleased works, as well as free tracks in MP3 format. An archived copy of the page can be found [http://web.archive.org/web/20070210071914/http://www.resonance-net.com/apa/ here] . The [http://www.resonance-net.com/apa/tracks/electronarcosis.sargasso-edit.128kmp3.mp3 Sargasso (edit)] MP3 from the Electronarcosis Series is still available.

Assembler

This little-known project is related to SR_F, and produces mechanically-rhythmic dance music. An overview of Assembler was available in the Audio Project Archive. Currently, no tracks have been released on CD.

Assembler had its own website, which consisted of a [http://www.resonance-net.com/assembler/ home page] , a [http://www.resonance-net.com/assembler/assembler.htm main page] (archived [http://web.archive.org/web/20040117071152/http://www.resonance-net.com/assembler/assembler.htm here] ), and a collection of free tracks in RealAudio format: "Two Towers", "Hack1 quick edit", "Hack3 Final mix", "Whole in 1" and "one tower". MP3s of the tracks [http://www.resonance-net.com/apa/tracks/assembler.sentinals.128kmp3.mp3 Sentinals] , [http://www.resonance-net.com/apa/tracks/assembler.unionstation.128kmp3.mp3 Union Station] , [http://www.resonance-net.com/apa/tracks/assembler.jack2jack.128kmp3.mp3 Jack-2-Jack] and [http://www.resonance-net.com/apa/tracks/assembler.kernals.128kmp3.mp3 Kernals] are still available.

ee also

* List of dark ambient artists

External links

* [http://www.resonance-net.com/ Official site]
* [http://www.myspace.com/sleepresearchfacility Official MySpace page]
* [http://www.coldspring.co.uk/artists/srf.php Releases on Cold Spring]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20070614165437/www.manifoldrecords.com/label/details.html?pid=351 "Dead Weather Machine" on Manifold Records]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20070614165400/www.manifoldrecords.com/label/details.html?pid=350 "Dead Weather Machine_Re:Heat" on Manifold Records]
* [http://www.discogs.com/artist/SleepResearch_Facility Discogs entry]
* [http://www.last.fm/music/Sleep+Research+Facility Last.fm artist page]
* [http://www.last.fm/user/SRFacility/ Last.fm user page]
* [http://rateyourmusic.com/artist/sleep_research_facility Rate Your Music entry]
* [http://www.hypnos.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Store_Code=HOS&Screen=SRCH&Search=Sleep%20Research%20Facility SR_F CDs at Hypnos Online Store]
* [http://www.juno.co.uk/artists/Sleep+Research+Facility/ SR_F CDs at Juno Records]

References