Steve Jansen is reissuing his first two solo studio albums: Slope and Tender Extinction.

Released by The state51 Conspiracy, these are available now on double 12’’ heavyweight vinyl 
with new redesigned artwork by Carl Glover and remastered tracks by James Ginzburg on Tender Extinction.

 

SLOPE

Based on his consistently excellent creative output, it’s not surprising that he’s also had time to fit in a clutch of excellent solo albums. Although on first listens the music on Slope and Tender Extinction can seem austere and chilly, it certainly bears further listening. Songs that might seem impenetrable can shyly give up their secrets - a moment of tenderness, say, or soaring strings, or a wistful chord change. Slope, his debut, was described by The Observer upon its release in 2007 as “unclassifiable”, a description that goes some way to detailing the album’s crystalline synthetic peaks, dusty analogue depths, and wide experimental sweep. To hear the icy IDM of ‘Grip’ rubbing up against the drone-led modern classical in ‘Sow The Salt’, and the strange sound experiments in ‘Gap of Cloud’ juxtaposed with the fractured emotion of ‘Playground Martyrs’ is to hear an artist capable of ploughing his own unique furrow through music. 

 

TENDER EXTINCTION

Although nine years and another glut of projects (an ambient album called A Secret Life made with John Foxx and Steve D'Agostino, an array of instrumental pieces, Jansen and Japan bandmate Richard Barbieri’s fifth album, Lumen, and the list really does go on and on) came between Slope and second album, Tender Extinction, the same restive spirit remained that first prompted Jansen to go it alone. Tender Extinction is a more meditative affair than its predecessor, one where comet tails of synthesiser stretch across a song and fathomless sonic depths simmer and roll like an ocean. James Ginzburg’s brand new remaster will render the hiemal beauty and sumptuous arrangements of tracks such as ‘And Birds Sing All Night’, ‘Captured’, and ‘Her Distance’ even more perfectly than before.