Ashenspire - HOSTILE ARCHITECTURE (Full Album Official Stream)

Official stream of the second Ashenspire album "HOSTILE ARCHITECTURE", out July 18th 2022 on Code666/Aural Music. HOSTILE ARCHITECTURE is a sonic exploration of the ways that subjects under late capitalism are constrained and set in motion via the various structures that uphold stratification and oppression in urban contexts. It is inspired by brutalist, postmodern and utilitarian architectural structures that are found throughout post-industrial cities, hauntological in nature, being designed to provide for the populace through affordable housing but ultimately cost-cutting exercises and unfit for purpose. The term hostile architecture refers to design elements in social spaces that deter the public from using the object for means unintended by the designer, e.g. anti-homeless spikes, which the album presents as emblematic of a foundational contempt for the poor and working class, an exemplification of a status quo fortified in concrete. The album invites the listener to explore the dissonance of these contradictions in their own circumstances and perhaps consider possibilities for a world beyond what Mark Fisher called “Capitalist Realism.” Purchase/stream HOSTILE ARCHITECTURE on Vinyl/CD/Digital: ashenspire.bandcamp.com 0:00 THE LAW OF ASBESTOS 8:33 BÉTON BRUT 13:52 PLATTENBAU PERSEPHONE PRAXIS 20:40 HOW THE MIGHTY HAVE VISION 23:18 TRAGIC HEROIN 26:33 APATHY AS ARSENIC LETHARGY AS LEAD 31:26 PALIMPSEST 34:33 CABLE STREET AGAIN Performing on HOSTILE ARCHITECTURE: Alasdair Dunn - Voice, Drums Fraser Gordon - Guitars, Backing Voice Ben Brown - Bass Guitar James Johnson - Violin, Backing Voice Matthew Johnson - Saxophone, Backing Voice Scott McLean - Rhodes, Prepared Piano Rylan Gleave - Tenor/Bass Voices Amaya López-Carromero - Soprano/Alto Voices Otrebor - Hammered Dulcimer Recorded, produced and mixed by Scott McLean at La Chunky Studios, Glasgow. Mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege Engineering, Portland OR. Artwork and Layout by Tobias Holmbeck. Video shot and edited by Alasdair Dunn in Leith, 2022.