Nightports

British musicians Adam Martin and Mark Slater are the co-founders of Nightports, a collaborative project which explores the freedoms of restriction. Like Matthew Herbert, the duo create music according to self-imposed guidelines. Namely, they state that they only use sounds produced by the featured musicians. However, these sounds can be manipulated and reshaped in virtually any manner. The results range from glitchy experimental pop (2015′s Depart, with Emily Lynn) to complex electro-acoustic soundscapes (releases on Leaf with Matthew Bourne, Betamax, and Tom Herbert), depending on the featured collaborator. Dulcitone 1804, the duo’s second release with Bourne, focused on a scarce Victorian instrument, and was issued in 2024. Martin and Slater began Nightports in 2010, and their first release was Ports, a 2011 EP featuring Emily Lynn, who sang sultry pop songs over a backdrop of glitchy electronics crafted from the sounds of her voice and body. Lynn was also the focus of the second Nightports EP, Skywide, which appeared in 2013, and was followed by Nightports Acoustic, which contained unplugged renditions of songs from both EPs, played on guitar and piano. Gilles Peterson included the acoustic version of Nightports’ “Nowhere in Between” on Brownswood Bubblers Eleven, which was issued in 2014. The following year, Nightports released Depart, a CD compiling their prior EPs as well as newer songs and acoustic versions. Nightports then began collaborating with pianist Matthew Bourne. Using a variety of microphones, the duo recorded Bourne playing several vintage pianos over three recording sessions, subsequently arranging the recordings into compositions ranging from fragile reflections to dissonant, scattered rhythmic pieces. Nightports w/ Matthew Bourne was released by Leaf in 2018. Two years later, the same label released Nightports w/ Betamax, a collaboration with London-based drummer Maxwell Hallett of the Comet Is Coming and Sons of Kemet. Nightports w/Tom Herbert, issued in 2022, found the project collaborating with the bassist from Polar Bear and the Invisible. Minster, created from the sounds of bells ringing out from the tower of Hull Minster, was released in 2023. Nightports reunited with Bourne, who played the Dulcitone, a rare Victorian keyboard. The album Dulcitone 1804 appeared in 2024. ~ Paul Simpson