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    Synthetic sound collage

    Daron Letts
    Northern News Services
    Published Wednesday, September 10, 2008

    SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Experimental sound artist Tamsone introduced himself to the Yellowknife music scene a few years ago as leader of the punk band Westervert.

    Since dissolving that project about a year ago, the musician has recorded a string of solo compositions on his laptop.

    He laid down about 25 tracks so far with several more in development. He will release his first demo album soon.

    'Mellowtronica' is what he dubs his genre of slow, spacey, ambient electronica. His sound evokes the relaxed mood of later instrumentals by British digital composer Brian Eno.

    Tamsone creates his music using a mix of gentle acoustic and electric guitar, synthesized drums, sound samples and keyboard.

    "I've been developing my music for a really long time now," he said. "I finally figured out how to play all my music solo with a loop pedal."

    He performed at an underground private show in Yellowknife this summer along with bands Haste; Inhale and Naked Operation and will play another basement gig this fall.

    Fellow artist and friend Ben Westergreen set three of his tracks to video.

    Westergreen created a surrealist animation of a face on canvas that morphs into various shapes to accompany Tamsone's twinkly instrumental titled Northstarr.

    "I've spent a lot of time with Tamsone while he records and produces his music and I wanted to make something that came from the same mental space," Westergreen said.

    "His work, I think, comes from a very intuitive place. Creating a video to his slow pace is different. You have to match the pace and the feel; the way it fluctuates and stays static at the same time."

    A third video is almost complete. It accompanies Tamsone's first love song, I Will Never, which incorporates vocal effects reminiscent of the 1990s duo Daft Punk.

    The videos are accessible online through Tamsone's MySpace page and on the art sharing website DeviantArt.

    "I'd like to get into producing other artists and bands, too," Tamsone said. "I've done a lot of my own recording so I feel comfortable recording other people."

    Tamsone is also producing visual art for public display.

    His graffiti-inspired images play with clean lines and shapes that mimic elements of modern architecture. He disrupts the geometric order with his intricate and colourful tags. Flowing arrows are a signature symbol in much of his art.

    He works on canvas with acrylic, paint pens and spray paint.

    "What I've been really thinking about for a while now is getting into sculpting to make statues of my grafitti in 3D using metal," he said.

    At 21, Tamsone said he looks forward to developing his artistry for many years to come.

    "I plan on doing this for a long time," he said. "This is what I plan on doing for the rest of my life so look forward to seeing more stuff."