bvdub & James Bernard 'Departing In Descent' [2LP]

160 gram 2xLP one-of-a-kind color vinyl set. The record colors will be exclusive to you alone. It may be opaque, translucent, or transparent with varying characteristics and mixes. The records are housed in a full color, semi-gloss wide spine jacket. PITP branded center labels. Includes download code. Shrinkwrapped. Bandcamp download code included.

Departing in Descent is the first collaboration between James Bernard and bvdub – though, unbeknownst to each other, their lives had traveled silently side-by-side for decades. Officially beginning, perhaps, with Brock's purchase of James' seminal Atmospherics in 1994 after it was mistakenly stocked in his local house record store, what was and always will be his favorite ambient album of all time connected, as abstractly as possible, two people whose journeys through both music and life had been running in secret parallel for as long as either had ever known.

From their lives as ravers deep in the underground, one in NY, one in SF, to years of personal and musical struggles that may as well been written by the same pen, their paths ran in tandem, unknowingly, for virtually their entire lives before one fateful night in LA found them in the same place at the same time – and it all became clear. What had happened. And what would happen as a result.

Written and produced by bvdub & James Bernard
Additional production and vocals on
‘Harmonies In Hesitation’ by marine eyes
Mixed and mastered by Brock Van Wey
Additional mixing by James Bernard
Photography by Cynthia Bernard
Layout by zakè

©℗ Past Inside the Present
This is PITP-V033

◾️◾️◾️ REVIEWS

“Anyone who's cast even the most casual eye over their ever expanding catalogue will have realised that one thing Past Inside The Present do best is bring artists together for unexpected and inspired collaborations. Departing in Descent is the first collaboration between James Bernard and bvdub but their creative conversation effectively started as far back as 1994 when the latter bought Bernard's Atmospherics album in 1994 when it was "mistakenly stocked" in his local house music store. He says it was and remains his favourite ambient album, so when the pair found themselves crossing paths for one night in LA years later, a collaboration was the only logical conclusion. The results are more organic and friendly on the ear than some ambient offerings, with real instrumentation meshed with walls of woozy synths and delays, but no less fantastical and ambitious for it.“

-Juno Records

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“The space between day and night glimmers like a distant pearl, infused with glassine recollections and wistful melodies. Departing in Descent bathes in every last ounce of that light through emotive arrangements, engaging vocal explorations, and a general feeling of sensory overload. This music is maximal in almost every way, from the blown-out production to the layered density, composed to envelop listeners within a harmonic sphere. Voices melt into synthetic valleys where sequenced loops dance and fade away before dawn peaks over the horizon. Crystalized arpeggiations become a road map between crescendos, giving way to introspective laments distilled into intense drones. Departing in Descent is a remarkable collaborative effort that shows both artists’ best sides and creates new ground in the process.”

-Brad Rose, Foxy Digitalis The Capsule Garden Vol 1.41