Far over on the west coast of the USA we find a room full of drum
machines, samplers and keyboards. Hard at work is Israel ‘Iz’ Gravning
aka Tone Scientist, who’s been using this Seattle studio to produce
genre-defying future music for more than 25 years.
An avid student of jazz fusion, hip hop, house, techno and others, he
was galvanised to build his own studio after hearing jungle and drum &
bass on a trip to London in 1995. His musical course thus intersected
with the collectives then pushing new dancefloor sonics rooted in the rich
tradition of Black music – like Nuyorican Soul over on the east coast,
and the new broken beats of IG Culture, Dego and Bugz In The Attic in
London. Then, in the early 2000s, Iz put out a handful of EPs under
different aliases, including ‘Lion Dub’ on the Guidance sublabel
Subtitled, but soon stepped back from the public stage. That’s not to say
he stopped making or playing music, though. Far from it.
Fast forward two decades and our very own Walrus, chilly but happy in
the depths of a Toronto winter, happened across ‘Lion Dub’ in the
legendary Play The Record store. Intrigued, he tracked Iz down and
discovered he had been active all this time. A short email exchange later
and this 2xLP of archive material was born.
These six tracks explain fully why Iz calls his studio the ‘Time Machine’:
vintage equipment and instruments converse with up-to-date software;
classic sounds and textures twist into fresh configurations; and Iz’s own
creativity and musicality sings to us from a location beyond the trappings
of time or genre.
All music written, produced and mixed by Israel Gravning aka Tone
Scientist in Seattle/Washington between 2005 - 2008 except for “Things
Get Done”, written and produced in 2003, and “Bossman”, originally
produced by Kris Moon and remixed by Tone Scientist. Zion12 was the
name used by Israel for releasing Jungle/DnB and when DJing
professionally around Seattle and elsewhere. Mastered & cut by Stefan
Betke at Scape Berlin. Brought to you by Crevette Distribution
Brussels/Belgium. All artwork by Camiflage. Printed by Bichel at
Chromodrome Brussels/Belgium. Liner notes by Joe Delon. Israel would
like to thank Mom, Dad, my brothers Gabriel & Jagger and their families,
Cord, Andy, Kiva, the Ninjas at DSF, the Grid crew & the Great Spirit.
Basic Moves would like to thank Jakob, Pim, Camiel, Boudewijn, Deg,
Ailsa, Mike, Jordan, Kimcom & Joe. Keep buying records/don’t stream
your life away. Underground club culture: one love/one circle