Welcome to Neotropic.
"I breathed a sigh of relief/That shook the mountain down"
Riz Maslen has had an extraordinary career so far – playing live at Coachella and the Montreaux Jazz Festival, composing for Kew Gardens and the English National Opera, and releasing work on a who's who of independent labels including R&S/Apollo, Oxygen Music Works and Ninja Tune.
First marked out as a trip hop artist by critics, Riz Maslen had actually arrived in London from the West Country where she had been playing in several indie bands.
The story of her involvement with Future Sound of London and The Beloved at the inception of acid house is well-documented, as is her loan-funded move into production and subsequent releases on R&S, Oxygen Music Works and Ninja Tune.
But scratch beyond those beginnings and an extraordinary trajectory emerges – of an artist building an aesthetic that breathes both electronically and organically, in which can be heard jazz, folk, psychedelia and post-rock, alongside those electronics, samples and field recordings which characterise her early output.
Beyond the musical, those early incorporations of field recordings and found sounds have developed into audio artworks including installations for Kew Gardens and The Southbank Centre.
And beyond the aural, her work has frequently included or required visual elements, both still and moving – in fact, La Prochaine Fois (2001) was both an audio CD and a film directed by Maslen that screened at Sundance.
Now homed in St Leonards On Sea, she has completed her sixth Neotropic studio album, formed improvisation super group Non Blank with Oliver Cherer, Jack Hayter and Darren Morris, and collaborated with Zeroh for several festivals.
Often intensely personal, her focus on honesty in performance makes her a compelling live act.
35 Responses to Home
jay foley says:
Glad to see you healthy and creating again…go get 'em…!!!
Years ago, I was at a lounge in New Orleans. It was dank, dark, and candlelit, on the outskirts of the French Quarter, and there was this amazing DJ spinning there who played a Small Fish With Spine record – actually, a remix record. The "I Hate You" remixes, with the View From A Space Pod remixes by Coldcut. I can't find them anywhere, stopped thinking about them years ago, but I just woke up thinking about them. Do you have any idea where I can get a copy? It can be anything – electronic, vinyl, cd, tape, 8 track… I don't care. Those songs had a profound effect on me that has lasted up until now.
Neotropic says:
Hello matt
I can send you an Mp3 but do not have any copies left, never seen any in a long while
A. K. says:
Discogs has some for sale
You make great stuff !
i used one of your songs on my tumblr i hope you don't mind ..
Ray Wilson says:
Shoutcast random and thought "damn what a nice song"
Neotroic – Nana
Need more gurls like you 🙂
Thank you Ray! 🙂
sangpo108 says:
Check out The Angel. I've dreamed for years of she and Riz collaborating. I've suggested it to Angel.
Matchew says:
I have been just itching for all of the tracks on your Fugu EP from '98. I can only find it on vinyl…in poor shape at that. Do you know where I would be able to purchase the tracks as mp3's?
My apologies…that would be the Fugu Remixes…from '97.
It would make my month to be able to listen to those tracks again.
I will have a look and see if I can find them and post them up on my bandcamp page
Thank you so much! That is the only one I am missing in my collection from your late '90's/early '00's…I have spent many an evening with those albums and a pair of good headphones.
You are so kind
Compound Eye says:
Hey Riz,
Wow, you've been busy… Dug out my old 15 Levels CD tonight – Frozen Hands is still as beautful as ever – and went hunting for 'more' online. Here you are. So good to see 'Ultimate Sushi' on mp3. I will have to bag that, as I used to have it on CD along with everything up to / including Mr Brubaker & the UFO ep.
What strikes me about your more recent stuff – after dipping into Bandcamp – is how delicate and haunting a lot of it is. Tracks like Inch-Inch and Farewell Home could almost be from some early 70s Herzog fillum… Well, I think they have shades of Popol Vuh, with a bit of Medieval Rennaisance / Claire Hamill thrown in for good measure.
Anyway, good stuff! I'm going to have a lot of new faves to play over & over soon, thanks to your kindness in posting hard to find lovelies on BC.
Thank you for the lovely comment. yes am always whirring away in my studio….keeping the creative fire burning
ShrykeAbysmal says:
Just wanted to say that I love all of your music. So innovative and capable of sending me on journeys. I have a special place in my psyche that only songs like Half Day Closing from Portishead go and I've got to tell you Saucer Song is right there with it. Most hair raising, eerie song I've ever heard. I loop it constantly and the chorus with that insane singing is one of my ringtones. Terrifies me every time it goes off in the middle of the night. Thanks for that. 🙂
Thank you for the comments, its much appreciated. Riz 🙂
honkinberry says:
I've always loved your song Beautiful Pool, and last night I happened to be watching the Columbo episode "A Deadly State of Mind" where the sample comes from. It was delightful!
Thanks! gotta love Columbo…and theres just one more thing…..
DragonRaid says:
It's funny how things fall into place. About a month ago, I started watching through Columbo. Then about two weeks ago, at the Goodwill, I ran across a compilation CD that had "Beautiful Pool" on it…loved the song. About an hour ago, couldn't sleep, four in the morning, watching "A Deadly State of MInd" and hear the sample. Of course, I spent about 30 minutes lining up the track with the episode and was tickled. Then a quick search found this post. Case closed…roll the credits.
Always nice when you find that one artist under different monikers are indeed the same artist.
Ta for the musical journey. More!
trakinos says:
beauty-full
You do all the voices?
rupertpod says:
Do you do all the voices?
Yes all voices are me thanks!
Awesome job! It inspires me!
Thanks for creating that!
kris irizarry says:
Dug the tumbleweed EP out for another go….absolutely brilliant and holds up well. Wound up going all kinds of ntone neotropic for a while….here I am slays me. Saw your show in nyc with Pole and it was great. Please make some more tunes, it's been too long.
Thank you Kris! always great to hear my music still inspires! I am in the process of writing a new album and have been collaborating with a lot of different artists over the last few years. Thanks Again…
Martyn Gallina-Jones says:
Big shout out from Brooklyn NY!!
Maybe 20 years or so ago, I shot photos of you for URB Magazine or Muzik Magazine – forget which ( as I said it's been about 20 years).
Anyway I'm rockin' Drake's new release – "If You're Reading This it's Too Late" I've got it playing pretty much all the time I'm in the car, driving through NYC, old habits die hard, I tend to want to saturate when I hear new material . . . So you gave me a CD back then, which I played and played and played whenever I was in London for a shooting assignment as I drove through the streets of London.
I'm having a kind of spatial, temporal reverb today 'coz I just realized that Drakes track Wednesday Night Interlude so, so reminds me of some of the loops you were putting together back in the day . . .
I don't know if his producer sampled you but the feeling is uncannily eerily similar to my ear. Anyway, it brought a smile to my lips as I remembered you and you beautiful swirling sounds.
Hope you're well, happy and productive!!
Martyn.
hi riz,
Just wondering if you can put up Fugu EP on your bandcamp page. Would love a copy of He builds the world. (hope its the same one from rockers hi-fi mix album) Love your music 15 levels is in top5 albums for me.
Hi Cameron, thanks for the message and the lovely words of support much appreciated. we are in the process of re-issuing a lot of my back catalogue over 2016 so there will be announcements as this happens. 🙂
URSS says:
When my Girlfriend ( togheter 30 Years) dyes from Cancer, I was lost on Earth. Ur Music was a Rock for me.
thanks for this message and I am very sorry to hear of your loss 😦 words cannot express how you must feel. Music is a great healer!
I am sorry it took me so long to reply. Thank you!
Serge says:
Hi, Riz!
Thank you for the music!
For the first time I heard your music when I was a kid – it was "something" !!!
When I heard the tape "Mr Brubakers Strawberry Alarm Clock" – I was amazed!
I'm from the Republic of Belarus and people here listen to your music!
Beached – one of the world's best tracks for me, deep and heartfelt!
thank you Serge! I have a new album out early 2018
happy new year! x
Oh, that's great!!!
Happy New Year too!
I wish you creative success next year!