Tapes and Topographies 'Partial Holograms' [CD]

This special limited edition release is in a run of 100 copies, modelled around the classic gatefold vinyl LP. It includes printed front, rear and inner sleeves featuring artwork by nkl, with design by Andrew Heath. There is also a card sleeve housing a white vinyl-effect CDr.

Partial Holograms is the latest album by US-based artist Todd Gautreau, who records under the moniker Tapes and Topographies. Since launching the project in 2014, Todd has crafted a distinct form of Ambient music which is built around quietly expressive and cinematic textures. He has released on respected imprints such as Past Inside the Present, Dronarivm, Rohs!, Shimmering Moods his own label Simulacra Records. This is his third record for Whitelabrecs, following Amplitudes (2021) and Floating World - Reflections on 36 views of Newland Island (2022) in which he collaborated with painter Jonathan S Hooper. His practice blends analogue and digital processes, drawing from a background in guitar, hardware pedals and synthesizers. His artistic worldview is shaped by the shadowy, poetic sensibilities of filmmakers like Ingmar Bergman and Jean Cocteau.

In Partial Holograms, Todd shifts his usual methods by intentionally removing one of his most familiar tools: the guitar. Though there are timbres that mimic stringed instruments, none were recorded in the traditional sense. Instead, this work leans more heavily into software processing, filtering Ambient textures and melodic fragments through a deliberately limited palette. This approach is typical of Todd’s ethos which is to change direction from one project to the next, by excluding previously used techniques. This creates a sense of evolution without abandoning the core aesthetic of Tapes and Topographies.

Initially, Partial Holograms was conceived as a more melodic record, one that incorporated piano, strings and even brass. This was the version which reached the mixing stage, but something essential felt absent; its atmosphere, its texture. Most of the material was set aside, with only two tracks surviving into the final sequence. What emerged from the second attempt was more immediate, with ideas flowing freely and a final product that strikes a thoughtful balance between melody and abstraction.

While there was no set narrative concept guiding this album, recurring themes began to surface during its creation, of isolation, dreams, memory and loss - all hallmarks of the Tapes and Topographies’ sound. Sometimes these themes are consciously woven in and at other times, they only become apparent in hindsight, or through the interpretations of others. As with his previous work, Partial Holograms invites the listener to drift between real and imagined spaces, forming connections in the half-light of memory and meaning. 

Written and produced by Todd Gautreau
Mastered by James Edward Armstrong
Artwork by nkl
Art and design by Andrew Heath