SleepResearch Facility

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SleepResearch_Facility
Kevin Doherty of SleepResearch_Facility
Background information
Birth name	Kevin Doherty
Origin	Glasgow, Scotland
Genre(s)	Dark ambient
Years active	2000^[1] to present
Label(s)	Cold Spring, Manifold
Website	http://www.resonance-net.com/

The correct title of this article is SleepResearch_Facility. The substitution or omission of an _ is due to technical restrictions.

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.

1 Overview
2 Discography and merchandise
3 Critical response and public exposure
4 Interviews
5 Hidden information on the official website
- 5.1 Audio Project Archive
- 5.2 Assembler
6 See also
7 External links
8 References

[edit] 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.^[2]

In addition to being suitable for sleeping, 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.^[3] The following advice is provided for listeners: "recommended playback level: just above quiet".^[3] A more detailed overview of SR_F can be found on the info page of the official website.

The works of SR_F are inspired by noisy industrial environments (such as factories and motorways), certain sci-fi movies (eg. Alien) and various natural environments such as empty frozen tundra and deserts.^[2]

SR_F has demonstrated its innovative talents by creating two complete albums (Dead Weather Machine and Dead Weather Machine_Re:Heat) purely through 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.^[4] The correct spelling of the artist's name is SleepResearch_Facility, but Sleep Research Facility is a commonly seen (incorrect) variation.

[edit] Discography and merchandise

Nostromo, Cold Spring, 2001
Dead Weather Machine, Manifold Records, 2004
Dead Weather Machine_Re:Heat, Manifold Records, 2004
Deep Frieze, forthcoming on Cold Spring, 12th 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.^[5]

[edit] Critical response and public exposure

The majority of feedback on SR_F's work is extremely positive. Steve Roach has written a very complimentary review of SR_F's albums Dead Weather Machine and Dead Weather Machine_Re:Heat 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^[6] and Aural Pressure,^[7]^[8] and the artist's official guestbook contains many positive comments which have been submitted since 2004.

In 2005, some of SR_F's music was broadcast on Dutch Radio 4FM (now known as NPS Studio 6).

[edit] 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.

[edit] Ortus Obscurum

Sometime between 2001 and 2003,^[9] 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".^[10] The original interview is no longer available, since the webzine is now offline, but the Internet Archive has an archived copy. Other copies are also available here and here.

[edit] Foreshadow Magazine

In September 2004, SR_F was interviewed by Dan_H at Foreshadow Magazine. Unfortunately, the website is now offline, and although the Internet Archive has archived the magazine's home page, the interview itself doesn't appear to be archived. The only known copy is available here.

[edit] 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 here in PDF format, and the interview can be found on pages 10 and 11. Another copy of the interview is available here.

[edit] Hidden information on the official website

The official SR_F website contains some pages which appear to be hidden from the general public, since there are no known links to them from anywhere else on the site. It's possible that links once existed to these pages, but have since been deleted. There is certainly no indication that these pages have been deliberately concealed.

[edit] Audio Project Archive

The Audio Project Archive page contains additional information about released albums, details about upcoming albums and unreleased works, as well as free tracks in MP3 format.

[edit] Assembler

This little-known project is related to SR_F, and produces mechanically-rhythmic dance music. An overview of Assembler and some free MP3s are available in the Audio Project Archive. Currently, no tracks have been released on CD.

Assembler has its own website, albeit in a primitive state of construction. The site currently consists of a home page, a main page, and a collection of free tracks in RealAudio format: Two Towers, Hack1 quick edit, Hack3 Final mix, Whole in 1 and one tower.