A.M.: Press

Electronic artist A.M. (who also goes by the name Andrew Moore in his other life as an elementary school teacher) is making an open call for participants in his latest project—what he’s calling a "sonic portrait" of the lives of ordinary people on a particular day: Friday, May 23rd, 2008.

Torontoist was impressed by A.M.’s 2006 album, Underground, which sampled the many sounds of the TTC, including the door chimes and the cacophony of the train screeching into the station. For his fourth album, dubbed Let’s Spend the Day Together, he’s planning something more ambitious. He’s calling for people around the world to make an audio recording of some aspect of their lives on May 23—be it walking the dog, sitting in rush hour traffic, or whatever. Moore will use his favourite clips to build a song based on that person’s day.

More information on the project is available on A.M.’s website.

Toronto's A.M. has created an ambient and beatsy fusion of electronic, gospel and folk music with the sounds of our beloved public transit system on his newest release Underground.

An elementary school teacher also known as Andrew Moore, A.M. samples the familiar sounds of the TTC: door chimes, the rumbling, hissing and screeching of a train's arrival in the station, footsteps on tile, announcements on the P.A. system, and a busker's guitar. These familiar sounds are combined with his own music and beats, and he manages to move beyond the novelty of his idea. Put simply, these tracks are pretty good.

Music made from the sounds of a grimy subway system? In my mind, there's only one way it could actually work. So, is the usage of samples recorded whilst riding the TTC's subway system a gimmick, or an integral piece of A.M.'s new pie, titled Underground?

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A mix of electroacoustics, electronica, and soft-pop using samples from the TTC Underground alongside recorded vocals, guitars, and synths, everything manages to come together somewhat nicely. The idea sounds similar to the Matmos album, A Chance to Cut is to Cure, which is largely composed of samples recorded during various operations and cosmetic procedures. In theory, Matmos' concept is pretty cool, but in practice I found it rather dull. A.M. manages to skirt the blandness by not deriving every percussive beat and melody from a subway sample, instead choosing to incorporate the samples into already solid tracks. You'll definitely hear some familiar sounds in the tracks, though, I often wonder if samples like the girl's voices chanting "Boom snap clap ba-boom snap clap" were recorded in a studio or between stops on the Bloor line.

The electroacoustics fan in me wishes there was a more obvious link to Toronto's subway system, but thanks to Concordia University, there's no longer an electroacoustics fan inside me. A.M.'s Underground is therefore recommended listening.