About Djinnestan
Djinnestan is a collaborative sound art project pooling the shared aesthetics of C.P. McDill and Aria Nadii. Both are visual artists and writers who combine their knowledge of other media with their love of experimental audio.
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Originating in 2003 as a spinoff from Saluki Regicide, another project of C.P. McDill, the original focus of Djinnestan was on textures and moods, spaces sculpted in sound, with emphasis on relaxing repetitions.
The first album of Djinnestan was Selling the Wind, which was a collection of 16 relatively short pieces constructed mainly from pads and ambient sounds originally used by or created for more complex works by Saluki Regicide.
Next came Purr, a very different sort of album. Extremely minimal, it contains 76 minutes of soothing, synthesized purring, with no changes or progressions. Just purring. And despite that it is a highly popular release which some listeners play on a nightly basis to help them relax at bedtime.
Rain 1, Rain 2 and Rain 3 are Djinnestan’s contributions to Webbed Hand Records’ successful Rain series. These are CD-length mood pieces, dark, illustrative, and yet also relaxing. The Rain albums are generally rich in detail, but consistent in texture, and are meant to be played at low volume as a background ambience. Like the Purr CD, these are often being used as sleep soundtracks. And we’ve heard from a lot of people that they serve as catalysts for amazing dreams.
Ghosties EP was crafted in one session, on Halloween of 2004. It is a semi-conceptual album, illustrating the experience of a child with a high fever, lying in a creepy Victorian hospital haunted by ghosts (or hallucinations?). There is a lot of variation in style between tracks. Like the others, this album is a good one for listening with headphones.
Hasenpfeffer followed several months later. The compositions on this album are somewhat longer than on “Selling the Wind” and “Ghosties” and also differ in the way samples are used. Next to “Purr” and “Rain 1″ this is one of our personal favorites.
Kittenhead, the newest release, is a long-form ambient album representing newer directions for the project. In this we are moving further into the inclusion of our own recorded vocals and instrumentation, however heavily processed. This release reveals a transition toward more strictly studio-recorded products.
Currently another album is in the early stages of production, and this will continue the new direction for Djinnestan. Whereas the earlier recordings were almost entirely electroacoustic, with heavily effected samples derived from sources such as antique recordings, the next project will use more recordings of vocals and instruments played by group members. It’s hoped that the general flavors and textures will be consistent with the earlier work.
