Neotropic

Riz Maslen

St Leonard's on Sea

Riz Maslen has been part of the electronic music scene since 1996, being one of the few female producers around to have gained much acclaim for her work. Riz started her career fronting many bands whilst growing up in the West Country, moved to London during the late 80’s and met and worked with ambient kings Future Sound of London, featuring on many of their albums, and singing on Top of the Pops with their hit “Papua New Guinea”. She signed to Ninja Tune’s sister label Ntone in 1996, and released three critically acclaimed albums, culminating in a fourth released in 2004 on highly respected U.S. independent label Mush - “White Rabbits”. During Riz’s career she has toured extensively in the UK, USA, Europe and Australia, where she has played solo shows, more recently with a full band. The aim of her visual shows is to take the audience on more of a journey than most. Not only does Riz write and perform the music, she also produces photographic slides and (Super 8) films as part of her live set-up to create a cinematic, multi-media experience. Her work is often highly personal and about ‘journeys through life’ of her own. The visuals and music synchronise to give us a soul-baring glimpse in her experiences, the end result being something, which the audience can hopefully relate to and be moved by. In 2000 Riz set up her own independent label Council Folk Recordings with long time collaborator Paul Jason Fredericks and has released under the name Frederick and Nina, along with Dose One from Cloudead. Riz has worked with many artists who have collaborated on many of her music projects including Nick McCabe (The Verve), Low, Kaffe Matthews (sound artist) and Brian Dougans (FSOL). Riz is about to release her 7th studio album (Equestrienne) in December 2009 on her own label Council Folk Riz also is working with George Demure featuring as one of the Demurettes both in the studio and live. DISCOGRAPHY 1995 Neotropic “Neotropic” (EP) (Ntone) 1995 Neotropic “15 Levels Of Magnification” (LP) (Ntone)“A talent to watch” (The Wire) 1996 Neotropic “15 Levels Of Magnification” (Remix EP) (Ntone) 1997 Small Fish With Spine “The Hilltop” (EP) (R&S) 1997 Small Fish With Spine “Ultimate Sushi” (LP) (Oxide) 1998 Neotropic “Mr Brubaker’s Strawberry Alarm Clock” (LP) (Ntone) 1999 Neotropic “Ultra Freaky Orange” (Remix EP) (Ntone) 2001 Neotropic “La Prochaine Fois” (Audio visual LP/CD with full-length film) (Ntone) “Inspirational…. A gamut of emotional, feeling music within, detailing love, hate, anger, hope and despair.” (Mixmag) 2002 Neotropic “Sunflower Girl” (7” single) (Ntone) 2004 Neotropic “White Rabbits” (Mush Records) 2007 Neotropic Prestatyn Ep (CouncilFolk Recordings/Net31) 2008 Neotropic – Whiter Rabbits (CouncilFolk Recordings/Squids Eye) 2009 Neotropic – Equestrienne (CouncilFolk Recordings) FILMOGRAPHY Dish - written and directed by Meloni Poole, Film Four and Film Council. Shown at London Film Festival 2001 and competition at International Film Festivals. Remote Control - Kohoutek documentary shown at various film events around London. Murder in Paradise - documentary for Channel 4 broadcast early 2002. La Prochaine Fois - directed by Riz Maslen, shown at Leeds Film Festival 2000, Pompidou Centre, Paris 2000 and Sundance Film Festival 2002. Vigilarie - directed by Riz Maslen and Kaffe Matthews, a film about surveillance shown as part of the Future Sonic Festival in Manchester 2001. Seafood - written and directed by Robin Baker for Film Council Digital Shorts. Released 2004 for distribution at International Film Festivals. Small Moves - a collection of short films written and directed by Oliver Marlowe, Released on DVD November 2004 Lap – Written and directed by Meloni Poole (Tartan Films), 2005. Lift – Written and directed by Riz Maslen & Michael Wallace Urban Canyons 2007 – Ident for ICONS series SOUND & ART INSTALLATIONS Erasure is Maslen & Mehras’ and Riz Maslens’ first collaborative work. The artists combine imagery and sound to create an experimental screen based work, which questions the aggressive transformation of areas of East London due to the upcoming Olympics. 3.18 minutes ERASURE has been screened at the following exhibitions and festivals Olympic Visions - Nunnery Gallery London 19th June 2009 VIDEOHOLICA INTERNATIONAL VIDEO ART FESTIVAL 2009, VARNA 2nd EDITION PEKING DUCK OR VIDEO IN TIME OF CRISIS August 4-13, 2009 REMIX WORK Mantronik - Low - DJ Food - Skinny Puppy - Frank Chickens - Fujiya & Miyagi - Sky Cries Mary – Ekko - Mitch Gerber –Ulver –Thread - Alias and Tarsier Papercutz (2008) - Hipnotica (2009) - Bonfire Madigan (2009) Global Warning Project curated and set up by Jimmy Cauty (2009)