Orindal

ROBERT STILLMAN- Portals (2022 Remaster) ORD-31 / KR46

Release date: January 21, 2022

UK/EU record buyers: Please visit kitrecords.com

Portals is an album of minimal electric piano improvisations by UK-based multi-instrumentalist & composer Robert Stillman. Inspired by American ‘new-age’ luminaries like Laraaji, Iasos, and Stephen Halpern, Stillman’s layers of playful, meditative electric piano figures, saturated by warm tape hiss & psychedelic delay effects, are occasionally accompanied by “found sound” field recordings, creating a compelling yet calming listening experience.

Portals was recorded at home in Broadstairs, Kent during the winter of 2016-2017 & originally released on cassette in December 2017 by Orindal Records. Three subsequent represses followed, & Portals became the most repressed cassette release in Orindal’s 11 year history. This new vinyl edition, co-released by UK label KIT Records, is remastered by Matt Barnhart & includes bonus track “Portal 8 (The Stranger).”

Here’s Robert Stillman’s original statement on the original cassette release of Portals:

Portals is an album of multi-tracked improvisations on Fender Rhodes electric piano. The music’s repetitive structure is intended to encourage a state of ‘no-mind’ in the listener, acting as a gateway out of thoughts and into the present moment. Headphones are recommended for the ideal listening experience.

Aquarium Drunkard's 2017 review:

Watch out for those late in the year surprises. Eclectic composer Robert Stillman sneaks in just under the 2017 wire with Portals, a new lp of Fender Rhodes improvisations. Recorded at his home in Kent during the winter of 2016-2017, right around the time his remarkable album Rainbows was released, the new album drifts into lo-fi ambient territory. Stillman designed it as a headphone album and it excels with a nice pair on, its layers pulse with warmth and the gentle abstraction afforded by a classic electric piano.

Tracks

  1. Portal 1 (4:21)
  2. Portal 2 (5:19)
  3. Portal 3 (3:34)
  4. Portal 4 (3:21)
  5. Portal 5 (6:01)
  6. Portal 6 (5:48)
  7. Break (0:57)
  8. Portal 7 (4:33)
  9. Portal 8 (The Stranger) (4:07)

    10. Pressing Information

    Vinyl edition
    High quality, 150g black vinyl LPs in extra heavyweight, reverse board, 3-color jackets. 9 tracks, 38 minutes.

    Co-released with Kit Records (UK):
    250 copies on black vinyl (North America only)
    250 copies on orange vinyl (UK/EU only)

    All purchases include a lossless download ofPortals (2022 Remaster). Downloads will be delivered on the January 21, 2022 release date.

    Portals (2022 Remaster) is distributed by The Business.