{"title":"Forest Swords","description":"\u003cp\u003eForest Swords is one producer, Matthew Barnes, from The Wirral\/Liverpool, UK. He creates a unique blend of jagged hip-hop and R\u0026amp;B beats, looping guitar lines and manipulated samples. His evocative and emotional music reflects the sprawling Wirral landscape of river, coastland and woodland with all the haunting melodies of nearby city Liverpool’s enviable pop history.His sound can be compared to artists such as \u003ci\u003eOneohtrix Point Never\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eBlanck Mass\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSteve Hauschildt\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eAndy Stott\u003c\/i\u003e. Forest Swords' music captures a similar atmospheric quality found in the works of \u003ci\u003eTim Hecker\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eActress\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eHoly Other\u003c\/i\u003e. Fans of experimental electronic music will also appreciate his compositions akin to those by Demdike Stare, Fuck Buttons, and Pye Corner Audio.Influenced by a range of genres including ambient, IDM, dubstep, and post-rock, Forest Swords' style resonates with fans who enjoy the soundscape creations of artists like Laurel Halo, Emptyset, and Nosaj Thing.If you appreciate intricate sound design combined with mesmerizing melodies reminiscent of artists\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"bolted-2","title":"Bolted","description":"\u003cp\u003eWorking as an in-demand composer and sound designer – writing music for ballet, film and video games – \u003ci\u003eBolted\u003c\/i\u003e was recorded over the last twelve months in Barnes’ home city of Liverpool. His ad hoc studio in a former vehicle and munitions factory (with connections to shadowy guerilla artists The KLF) became a gateway for him to explore, using a combination of hardware, software and tape machines to mould and sculpt a sound world for the album. Across its 11 tracks he dives deeper into his unique sonic vocabulary (including personal samples of Neneh Cherry and the late Lee Scratch Perry) to weave together a set of tracks that sounds equally muscular and bleak, haunting and euphoric. While his previous album – the acclaimed \u003ci\u003eCompassion\u003c\/i\u003e released in 2017 – saw Barnes toy with widescreen technicolour, the world of Bolted is tightly wound, taught, with a sense of aching urgency like never before.   Recommended if you like… Aphex Twin, Björk, Oneohtrix Point Never, Andy Stott, Boards of Canada, Burial, Massive Attack.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ninja Tune","offers":[{"title":"Green LP","offer_id":50394267910475,"sku":"2053775","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Blue LP","offer_id":50394268533067,"sku":"2053776","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50394267255115,"sku":"2053774","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/ZENDNL297_PACKSHOT_3000_df8eb642_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726435305"},{"product_id":"compassion-2","title":"Compassion","description":"\u003cp\u003eForest Swords, aka acclaimed Merseyside-based producer Matthew Barnes, returns with his eagerly anticipated new full-length record. \u003ci\u003eCompassion\u003c\/i\u003e, the follow-up to 2013's critically lauded debut \u003ci\u003eEngravings\u003c\/i\u003e, is released via Ninja Tune. The album will be followed by a set of projects across multiple mediums by Forest Swords’ own Dense Truth, a new experimental studio and record label, including a series of music videos. \u003ci\u003eCompassion\u003c\/i\u003e engages with an uncertain world we’re experiencing, distilling it into a unique sound territory: Barnes' exploration of the mid-point between ecstasy and frustration, artificial and human feels timely and affecting. The result is an assured, compelling body of work, tying together the ancient and future: weaving swathes of buzzing digital textures, field recordings, clattering beats and distorted jazz sax with fizzing orchestral arrangements. The album shifts from \u003ci\u003eThe Highest Flood\u003c\/i\u003e's skeletal bounce to \u003ci\u003ePanic's\u003c\/i\u003e claustrophobic paranoia; the rapturous hyperballad \u003ci\u003eArms Out\u003c\/i\u003e to the windswept and cinematic \u003ci\u003eKnife Edge\u003c\/i\u003e, navigating through the orchestral glitch of\u003ci\u003e War It \u003c\/i\u003eto decaying jazz thump of \u003ci\u003eRaw Language\u003c\/i\u003e. The album is equal parts disorienting and immersive, balancing bold sweeping gestures and crumbling textures; tracks seemingly disintegrating and reassembling at points across the album. Blending both digital and specially recorded brass, strings and vocals, Barnes's processing never truly makes it clear what's new or old, sampled or unique, constantly blurring and toying with the line between digital and acoustic. Central to this enthralling world is \u003ci\u003eCompassion\u003c\/i\u003e, an album that's as weighty as it is vulnerable, sculpting the most striking parts of his previous work into something that feels urgent and necessary, and cementing Barnes as one of the UK's most significant electronic artists and composers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCD - 4 Panel digi pack.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLP - Standard version of the LP artwork comes with a 12” x 12” insert print.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLP+ - 500 Copies Only. Deluxe version of the LP is a Gatefold sleeve housing an additional 12” x 12” art booklet and 12” x 12” insert.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ninja Tune","offers":[{"title":"LP.","offer_id":50406695829835,"sku":"1009600","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50406696321355,"sku":"1009599","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50406697009483,"sku":"1009598","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/55deb24b-b2d8-4850-bfb1-9c5153fd1325_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726589424"},{"product_id":"engravings","title":"Engravings","description":"\u003cp\u003eForest Swords' debut album \u003cem\u003eEngravings\u003c\/em\u003e is back in print on vinyl and CD for the first time in years, newly remastered by Rashad Becker with previously unheard bonus tracks exclusive to this edition.  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCreated by electronic producer and composer Matthew Barnes, and originally released via Tri Angle Records, 'Engravings' received instant acclaim from the likes of Resident Advisor, Pitchfork, The Guardian and saw Barnes take his hypnotic live show across festivals like Sonar, Glastonbury, Unsound and Le Guess Who.  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhile much of British electronica is defined by its inner cities, 'Engravings' was recorded in Barnes' hometown on the banks of an ancient river in Merseyside, the album's earthy, organic soundscape reflected the landscape and climate: all silt and sandstone, woodlands and wind, with the ghosts of Liverpool's pop music and clubbing history echoing in the near distance.  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe album was a prototype for a sonic vocabulary Barnes has expanded on over the next few years: in critically acclaimed studio albums ('Compassion' and 'Bolted' via Ninja Tune), collaborations with Massive Attack and Neneh Cherry, remixes for the likes of Bjork, as well as commissions for video games, ballet and film scores - of which he has carved a career as an in-demand composer and sound designer.  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eEngravings\u003c\/em\u003e is a snapshot of an artist confidently defining their own language: a piece of work that distills influences like dub, ambient, rave, post-rock and psychedelia into an ancient-futurist musical vision that feels timeless and vital.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dense Truth","offers":[{"title":"2LP - Night Smoke","offer_id":56005541855563,"sku":"R4549-8928","price":28.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":56005541888331,"sku":"R4549-2151","price":11.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/2000x2000bb_9643fcee-64b9-4449-8ee3-2eb6b7967250.jpg?v=1764422803"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/collections\/test_83b00d86_thumbnail_4096_d837f5b1-d7d7-46b6-ba64-1b73c43a0afa.jpg?v=1726435263","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/forest-swords.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}