Maps | ||
| Allmusic Biography : Maps is the project of Northampton U.K. sound sculptor James Chapman, who combines indie electronic sounds with atmospheric, sleepy rock that owes as much to Spiritualized and My Bloody Valentine as it does to Four Tet and Boards of Canada. Recording for the Mute Records roster, his 2007 debut earned a Mercury Prize nomination and paved the way for a series of ever-evolving albums like 2013s Vicissitude and the ambitious, highly collaborative 2019 album Colours. Reflect. Time. Loss.. A classical violinist and percussionist in his earlier years, Chapman eventually gravitated toward atmospheric rock and electronic music. In 2005, he bought a 16-track recorder and began recording songs inspired by Spacemen 3 and the Beloved. EPs such as Start Something, which was released via Last Space Recordings in 2006, led to Chapman signing with Mute. The label released Maps 2007 debut album We Can Create, which was co-produced by Valgeir Sigurosson (Björk) and mixed by Ken Thomas (Sigur Rós). Shortlisted for the Mercury prize, the album earned widespread acclaim and set the table for his more electronically inclined follow-up, 2009s Turning the Mind, which explored the concepts of mindfulness and the way the mind reacts to different stimuli. Chapman further honed his sound on 2013s Vicissitude, which featured some of his catchiest and most electronic-based songs to date. The following year the remix collection Realigned, which featured some of the best reworkings of all of Maps music to date and included contributions from Andy Stott, M83, and the Field, among others, arrived. In 2016, Chapman detoured into a new project, collaborating with Mute labelmate Polly Scattergood as the duo ondeadwaves. Resuming work as Maps, he set out to record his most ambitious album yet, working with classical ensemble the Echo Collective and a variety of singers and guest instrumentalists to create 2019s Colours. Reflect. Time. Loss. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 6 Title: Start Something Released: 2006-11-13 Tracks: 6 Duration: 29:12 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Lost My Soul (03:14) 2 Spark in the Snow (05:00) 3 To the Sky (04:34) 4 The Tonic Girl (04:26) 5 Some Winter Song (05:48) 6 Start Something (06:10) |
 | Album: 2 of 6 Title: We Can Create Released: 2007-05-14 Tracks: 11 Duration: 52:11 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 So Low, So High (03:57) 2 You Dont Know Her Name (03:52) 3 Elouise (05:22) 4 It Will Find You (05:33) 5 Glory Verse (05:29) 6 Liquid Sugar (03:53) 7 To the Sky (04:16) 8 Back + Forth (03:42) 9 Lost My Soul (03:50) 10 Dont Fear (06:10) 11 When You Leave (06:07) |
| We Can Create : Allmusic album Review : Crafting a spun-sugar fusion of electronic music, symphonic indie, and dream pop from the confines of his bedroom and a 16-track tape recorder, James Chapman is the one-man band known as Maps. On his debut album, We Can Create, Chapman displays a flair for widescreen arrangements that would normally sound more at home in an orchestra hall than a bedroom, particularly on the soaring "You Dont Know Her Name," which updates the sweetly sleepy vocals and skyward guitars of classic shoegaze with gurgling synths that recall Boards of Canada. Likewise, We Can Creates best moments pair melodies that feel familiar with arrangements that add just the right amount of strangeness: "Liquid Sugar"s melody makes it feel like a lost track from Loveless, but its delicate strings and synth washes are gentler and more unexpected than yet another homage to My Bloody Valentines guitar maelstroms. Maps hybrid of dreamy rock and atmospheric electronic music isnt particularly original; shades of everyone from Boces-era Mercury Rev and Chapterhouse to Dntel, M83, Ulrich Schnauss, and especially Spiritualized pop up on We Can Create (later tracks such as the epic "Lost My Soul" and "Dont Fear" give the impression of coming from a pixilated Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space). However, while Chapman may not take his influences in radical directions, his own spin on these sounds is accessible and appealing. We Can Create will appeal to anyone who enjoys dream pop in any of its past or present incarnations. | ||
 | Album: 3 of 6 Title: Turning the Mind Released: 2009-09-28 Tracks: 12 Duration: 58:59 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Turning the Mind (05:58) 2 I Dream of Crystal (05:24) 3 Let Go of the Fear (04:48) 4 Valium in the Sunshine (04:23) 5 Papercuts (04:02) 6 Love Will Come (05:15) 7 Everything Is Shattering (05:52) 8 Nothing (05:02) 9 The Note (These Voices) (04:07) 10 Chemeleon (04:47) 11 Die Happy, Die Smiling (05:23) 12 Without You (03:58) |
| Turning the Mind : Allmusic album Review : The sonic cathedrals on Maps debut We Can Create suggested that James Chapman had ambition to burn, but the deeply conceptual and personal nature of his follow-up, Turning the Mind, confirms it. From its title onward, Maps second album is inspired by the cognitive therapy method Mindfulness, which uses the acceptance of reality to turn negative thoughts into positive ones. Its also influenced, so to speak, by the effects chemicals can have on the brain to good or ill effect. Chapman explores how drugs and therapy can help or hurt, how they can be crutches or bridges, over the course of Turning the Minds mood swings, which certainly sound chemically altered. Working with Death in Vegas Tim Holmes as his producer, Chapman opts for a more overtly electronic sound as he charts emotional peaks and valleys. To his credit, Chapman mixes his signals a bit, couching pissed-off lyrics like "I Dream of Crystal"s "get the fuck off my case" in billowing clouds of synths. And even though the fittingly named "Nothing" -- which is so dark and whispery, it sounds like the echo of a song -- and the blissful "Valium in the Sunshine" are more predictable choices, they still work. Turning the Mind provides Chapman with a springboard to try new things. "Let Go of the Fear," a collaboration with Berlin-based producer Oliver Huntemann, channels the euphoric energy of Chapmans work into a four-on-the-floor workout. "Die Happy Die Smiling" is even more radical, pairing the most forceful beat ever to appear on a Maps song with streaking synths. Chapman even strips down Maps usually lush layers on the urgent "Papercuts," and to a lesser extent, on "Everything is Shattering," which makes New Orders influence on his work crystal clear. At times, Chapman seems in danger of being too earnest or letting his ambitions get the better of him, but Turning the Mind ends up being a significant step forward for Maps music. | ||
 | Album: 4 of 6 Title: Vicissitude Released: 2013-07-08 Tracks: 10 Duration: 53:58 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 A.M.A. (04:30) 2 Built to Last (06:15) 3 You Will Find a Way (06:18) 4 I Heard Them Say (04:27) 5 Nicholas (06:37) 6 Vicissitude (03:40) 7 Left Behind (05:06) 8 This Summer (05:05) 9 Insignificant Others (05:54) 10 Adjusted to the Darkness (06:06) |
| Vicissitude : Allmusic album Review : Considering that there have been more than a few changes in James Chapmans music since We Can Create, the electro-shoegaze of his debut album as Maps, his third album, Vicissitude, is aptly named. Chapman ramped up his ambition on 2009s intricate, conceptual Turning the Mind, almost to the point where he seemed trapped in those songs inner workings. Here, things are much more streamlined, whether on the sparkling single "A.M.A." -- which serves as a potent reminder that Chapmans music owes as much or more to New Order as it does to My Bloody Valentine -- or the title tracks looping arrangement, which continues the more overtly electronic trend in his work. Much like his Mute labelmate Junip, Maps excels at songs that are thoughtful and stealthily catchy, and Vicissitude boasts some of Chapmans clearest-eyed songwriting yet. As on Turning the Mind, mental and emotional states are of paramount importance, but now Chapman seems more grounded in dealing with lifes vicissitudes. He sounds equally comfortable singing the praises of enduring things on "Built to Last" as he does accepting loss on "Left Behind," and theres a uniquely reassuring quality to songs like "You Will Find a Way" and "This Summer," where Chapman repeats the chorus "forgive yourself" like a mantra. The dreamy fog of Maps first two albums resurfaces on "Nicholas" and "Adjusted to the Darkness," which rivals Spiritualizeds finest moments in its mix of vulnerability and majesty. However, even Vicissitudes most expansive tracks arent pushy, and in its own subtle way the album delivers on the promise and intentions of Turning the Mind. | ||
 | Album: 5 of 6 Title: Realigned Released: 2014-08-18 Tracks: 13 Duration: 2:17:11 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 To the Sky (M83 remix) (04:18) 2 I Heard Them Say (Maps remix) (05:42) 3 It Will Find You (Mock & Toof remix) (06:45) 4 Built to Last (Free School remix) (05:55) 5 Let Go of the Fear (Oliver Huntemann dub) (05:35) 6 I Dream of Crystal (Steve Lawler remix) (08:18) 7 Love Will Come (Paul Woolford Anti-Gravity club mix) (08:12) 8 Die Happy, Die Smiling (Maxime Dangles club mix) (08:57) 9 You Dont Know Her Name (The Field remix) (05:53) 10 A.M.A. (Eule remix) (05:05) 11 Dont Fear (Fantastic Mr Fox remix) (04:00) 12 I Heard Them Say (Andy Stott remix) (06:02) 13 Realigned (Continuous mix) (1:02:29) |
 | Album: 6 of 6 Title: Colours. Reflect. Time. Loss. Released: 2019-05-10 Tracks: 10 Duration: 00:00 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Surveil (?) 2 Both Sides (?) 3 Howl Around (?) 4 Wildfire (?) 5 Just Reflecting (?) 6 She Sang To Me (?) 7 Sophia (?) 8 The Plans We Made (?) 9 New Star (?) 10 You Exist In Everything (?) |