The Sound of Heaven with tsewart aka Machinedrum

Channeling the ethereal with the multi faceted Travis Stewart.
This month marked the release of a new album from tstewart, the alias of Travis Stewart who more regularly operates beneath the guise of Machinedrum.
Over the past twenty odd years he has released arguably some of the most innovative and original electronic music of the 21st century. From key albums such as ‘Rooms’ and ‘Vapor City’ to more recent collaborations with the likes of Freddie Gibbs, Poirier and Dawn amongst others he has firmly cemented himself as Machinedrum – a definitive force within the realms of jungle, drum & bass, ambient and beyond.
However, what many may not know is that this has not been the only outlet by which Travis has released music. Many years back he first formed a close relationship with pioneering Scottish record label LuckyMe on which he released numerous tracks as tstewart.
It offered him the chance to focus on instrumentation, mainly guitar based elements and loops, which would be used to form the basis of the resulting songs which sat somewhere between ambient folk, psych and electronica. It had seemed as though the alias had long been since banished and had disappeared for a number of years – until now.
With the help and encouragement of Bonobo, Travis has breathed new life into the project and his new album “Elysian” shines a light on a different side to his musical personality.
We invited Travis to explore this element of his own taste further, picking tracks which have helped guide and define his own interests.
Topics
“Laraaji is truly a master of experiencing pure bliss through sound. All of his songs explore the connection between mysticism and music. This song, produced by Brian Eno, takes you away to a meditative state with the hypnotic and psychedelic sounds of Laraaji’s famed zither. I imagine Laraaji with his eyes closed as he gently strums his zither in peace.”
Must Reads
Guarded Existence
Matias Aguayo reflects on the role of musicians following prison outreach project
Anarchy And ‘Acab’
Why The Turn Of Phrase?
Not Just A Brain In A Non Existent World
Justin Robertson & Markus Gabriel tell us why the world does not exist.
The Rainbow Does Not Offend
How the Polish LGBTQ+ music scene is fighting for their community
Trending track
Alfredo and Ricardo brought me here
Bawrut
Shop NowCrane
Vanishing
Shop NowWater Groove
Yoann Pistermann
Shop Now