Cepia: Cepia is available now on iTunes and from the Cepia Store.
Download a free track from the new self-titled album here.
Cepia: Cepia arrives December 7th.
The last remaining copies of the Dowry EP 12" are available here.
Say hello on Facebook.
A free 19 track compilation from [adult swim] and Ghostly which features an exclusive Cepia track called "Ithaca" is out now.
Download Ghostly Swim here.
All of the Cepia releases on Ghostly are now available as DRM-free digital downloads from the Ghostly Store.
A live Cepia set from the Wordless Music Series in NY is available for download here.
I will be performing at NY's Good-Shepard Faith Church on Wednesday, November 28th for the Wordless Music Series with Assaff Weisman and Max Richter.
Tickets are available here.
BuyGhostly has sold out of Natura Morta CDs. It is still available for purchase online from Other Music, as well as your local record stores and digital distributors.
courtesy of Ghostly
Cepia: Cepia (CD/Digital)
Cepia Music 2010
Cepia: Natura Morta (CD/Digital)
Ghostly International 2007
Cepia: Brown (Digital)
Ghostly International 2007
Cepia: Atlantic Blood (CD/Digital)
Sublight 2006
Cepia: Pearl EP (Digital)
Ghostly International 2006
Cepia: Dowry EP (12"/Digital)
Ghostly International 2004
"Hoarse"
Ghostly Essentials: SMM One (CD/DIGITAL)
Ghostly International
"Algiers"
Unusual Animals (CD/digital)
Asthmatic Kitty
"Ithaca"
Ghostly Swim (digital)
Ghostly International/Adult Swim 2008
"Opening Parade"
Break-A-Way Planets (CD)
Ghostly International 2007
"Ramp" and "Hoarse"
Idol Tryouts Two: Ghostly International Vol. Two (2xCD/3xLP/digital)
Ghostly International 2006
"Ncoin Arrange"
Aurora 2 (CD)
Merck 2005
"Wavebnc1"
Cottage Industries 4 : Meadow (CD)
Neo Ouija 2005
"The Marina, The Bank, and The Eels"
Ghostly International : Avant-Pop (CD)
Ghostly International 2004
"Sqr Exp" and "Ramp"
SMM Vol. 2 (12")
Ghostly International 2004
"Sqr Exp"
Crossfaded Vol. 2 (CD)
Firetrunk 2004
"Flat (Cepia Remix)"
Podgelism (CD)
Ghostly International 2007
"X To M (Cepia Remix)"
Fragments (CD)
Merck 2007
"I've Already Forgotten (Cepia Remix)"
Hazardous Materials (CD)
Consumers Research & Development Label 2005
"You Need (Cepia Remix)"
Mr. Projectile - Sinking Remixes (12")
Semisexual 2004
"Naoise (Cepia Remix)"
Dosh - Naoise EP (CD/12")
Anticon 2004
"Cepia Remix"
Tiki Obmar - Seasons (CD)
Merck 2004
"Flat (Cepia Remix)"
Lusine - Flat Remixes (12")
Ghostly International 2004
Forthcoming
M.I.A. - XXXO (Cepia Remix)
XL Recordings/Interscope
Maximum Balloon - Groove Me (Cepia Remix)
DGC/Interscope
Cepia - Cepia (CD/LP/Digital)
-5.15.10 St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club w/ Tarlton, Dark Dark Dark, Hildur Victoria
-4.24.10 Minneapolis, MN @ Hexagon Bar w/ Lookbook, Mystery Palace,
Nyteowl, Mux Mool
-1.25.10 St. Paul, MN @ Clown Lounge w/ Fat Kid Wednesdays
-4.17.09 Minneapolis, MN @ Kitty Cat Klub
-3.5.09 Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St. Entry w/ Alpha Consumer, Dosh, Ghostband
-2.21.09 Minneapolis, MN Spark Festival @ Bedlam Theater w/ Pole
-11.12.08 St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club
-9.19.08 Minneapolis, MN @ Kitty Cat Klub w/ Pat Morita, Heckadecimal
-9.5.08 Minneapolis, MN Wordless Music Series @ Southern Theater w/ Andrew Broder, ICE
-5.16.08 Minneapolis, MN @ Kitty Cat Klub w/ Pat Mortita
-4.25.08 Minneapolis, MN @ Kitty Cat Klub w/ Pat Morita, Chicken Man
-4.3.08 Iowa City, IA @ Mission Creek Festival
-3.29.08 St. Paul, MN @ Minnesota Museum of American Art
-3.5.08 Minneapolis, MN @ Uptown Bar w/ Mystery Palace
-1.5.08 Minneapolis, MN @ Kitty Cat Klub
-11.28.07 New York, NY @ Wordless Music Series w/ Max Richter
-11.17.07 St. Paul, MN @ Minnesota Museum of American Art
-11.13.07 Chicago, IL @ Sonotheque
-10.20.07 Minneapolis, MN @ Kitty Cat Klub
-9.15.07 Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock w/ Fog, Tarlton
-9.14.07 Northfield, MN @ Pause w/ Tarlton
-8.24.07 Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St. Entry w/ Carbon Carousel
-6.15.07 Minneapolis, Mn @ Kitty Cat Klub
-5.19.07 Minneapolis, Mn @ Kitty Cat Klub
-4.14.07 Minneapolis, Mn @ 400 Bar w/ Halloween Alaska
-2.24.07 Minneapolis, Mn @ Spark Festival w/ Morton Subotnick, Richard Devine
-2.24.07 Mineapolis, Mn @ 7th St. Entry w/ Mystery Palace, Carbon Carousel
-11.2.06 Minneapolis, Mn @ Weisman Art Museum
-11.11.06 Northfield, Mn @ Pause
-5.26.06 Minneapolis, Mn @ Kitty Cat Klub w/ Yard, M50
-5.5.06 Minneapolis, Mn @ Kitty Cat Klub w/ Pat Morita, DJ ChickenMan
-3.31.06 Minneapolis, Mn @ Dinkytowner w/ Rob Hall
-2.25.06 Minneapolis, Mn @ Spark Festival w/ Ben Neville, Randy Jones, Thinkbox
-2.24.06 Minneapolis, Mn @ Kitty Cat Klub
-1.27.06 Minneapolis, Mn @ Kitty Cat Klub w/ Foodteam, Toiletooth, Ghost Band
-12.23.05 Minneapolis, Mn @ Kitty Cat Klub w/ Mr. Projectile, Adam Johnson
-11.18.05 Minneapolis, Mn @ Kitty Cat Klub w/ Pat Morita, Jon Ackerman
-11.12.05 Beloit, Wi @ C-Haus
-11.11.05 Madison, Wi @ Inferno
-10.16.05 Minneapolis, Mn @ Soap Factory w/ Benoit Delbecq
-9.25.05 Seattle, Wa @ Decibel Festival w/ Isolee, Thomas Fehlmann, Tipper
-9.17.05 Minneapolis, Mn @ Kitty Cat Klub
-9.15.05 Minneapolis, Mn @ The Whole
-9.14.05 Northfield, Mn @ The Cave w/ Mobius Band
-7.08.05 7th St. Entry, Cepia with Fog, Dosh, Kill The Vultures, JG Everest
-3.21.05 Empty Bottle, Chicago IL - Cepia with Fog
-3.06.05 Rogue Buddha Gallery, Cepia with Glory Land Ponycat
-12.23.04 Acadia, Cepia with Sean Connaughty, Food Team, Fadladder
-12.17.04 Kitty Cat Klub, Cepia with Dosh, DJ Pat Morita, Data General
-11.11.04 Kitty Cat Klub, Cepia with Greg Davis, Signer, Ariel Pink
-11.08.04 Danny's, Chicago IL - Cepia with Dosh
-11.04.04 Triple Rock Social Club, Cepia with Dosh
-10.23.04 Kitty Cat Klub, Cepia with Solvent, Lusine
-10.22.04 Riverhorse, Milwaukee WI - Cepia with Solvent, Lusine
-10.21.04 Catacombs, Madison WI - Cepia with Solvent, Lusine
-10.01.04 Dinkytowner, Cepia with Richard Devine
-9.30.04 Dinkytowner, Cepia with Mr.Projectile, Deceptikon
-9.18.04 Strictly Butter on KFAI, Cepia with Norton Fortune
-9.18.04 Soulful Science on Radio K
-9.17.04 Kitty Cat Klub, Cepia with Miles Tilmann, Quantazelle, and Adam Johnson
-8.21.04 Triple Rock Social Club, Cepia with Christian Marclay/Andrew Broder/George Cartwright,
Dosh (Anticon)
-8.14.04 Uptown Bar, Cepia with Happy Apple
-8.08.04 Triple Rock Social Club, Cepia with Bill Mike, Tiki Obmar (Merck)
-7.24.04 Ghostly Showcase @ Triple Rock Social Club, Cepia with Dabrye,
Matthew Dear, DJ SV4
-6.25.04 Kitty Cat Klub, Cepia with Dosh (Anticon), Andrew Broder (Lex), Sevendollars,
DJ Kasi Wynn Engler
-6.11.04 Kitty Cat Klub, Cepia with Team Shadetek (Warp), DJ Pat Morita
-4.23.04 Kitty Cat Klub, Cepia with Eric Skogen (EEM), DJ Pat Morita
-4.14.04 Bryant Lake Bowl, Cepia with Hymie's Basement (Lex)
-4.09.04 Kitty Cat Klub, Cepia with Bill Mike
-3.26.04 Kitty Cat Klub, Cepia with Signaldrift (Wobblyhead), Miles Tilmann (Toytronic),
DJ Robert Sinewave (Consumers Research and Development)
-3.25.04 Dinkytowner, Cepia with Tiki Obmar (Merck), Your Friend Kid Tiger, Kasio
-3.12.04 Kitty Cat Klub, Cepia with Tiki Obmar (Merck), Joe Schreiner (Narita)
-2.20.04 Spark Festival, Cepia with Gregory Taylor, Jeremy Bernstein
-2.13.04 Kitty Cat Klub, Cepia with Dosh (Anticon), DJ Pat Morita
-1.18.04 Tabu, Cepia with Pat Morita, Surfacenoi3
-1.09.04 Kitty Cat Klub, Cepia with Adam Johnson (Merck), Joe Schreiner, DJ Pat Morita
-1.04.04 Clown Lounge, Cepia with Andrew Broder, Happy Apple, Fat Kid Wednesdays,
James Everest, Kasio
-12.31.03 Karl's Cabin, Detroit MI- Cepia with Lusine (Ghostly), Mr.Projectile (Toytronic),
Miles Tilmann (Toytronic)
-12.29.03 Danny's, Chicago IL- Cepia with Mr.Projectile (Toytronic), Miles Tilmann (Toytronic)
-12.26.03 Kitty Cat Klub, Cepia with Dosh (Anticon), Mr. Projectile (Toytronic), Dave Olson (Parotic),
Rod Smith, Eric Skogen (Surgery), Tiki Obmar (Merck), DJ Pat Morita, Region
-12.20.03 Kitty Cat Klub, Cepia with Bill Mike
-11.21.03 Ghostly Showcase @ Kitty Cat Klub, Cepia with Lusine, Twine
Cepia - Cepia
[Cepia Music, 2010]
Electronic music so often focuses on texture and rhythm at the expense of melody, or at least sidelines it, so when presented with something that so obviously makes melody its chief concern, the effect is oddly disarming. My first reaction to Cepia's second album, following his debut Natura Morta on Ghostly International, was one of confusion. In some sections, its emphasis on center-stage catchy melodies lends it an almost simplistic feel. Along with generally brief tracks and an overarching preference for straightforward structures, there's something attractively childlike about Huntley Miller's self-titled album. All of these tendencies are amplified in the album's opener, "Untitled III," a soft lullaby with an uncomfortably predictable melody.
But those are first impressions, impressions that partly arose because of the album's rather restrictive source material (or lack thereof). Huntley Miller made every single sound on the album himself: pure synth, no samples. The result is a somewhat antiseptic and pastel record, a gently blurred IDM vision that obscures borders and rounds off corners, all pale shades of off-white. The closest analogue I can think of is recent Autechre, particularly the softer moments of Oversteps and Quaristice, but comparisons like that are missing the point of Miller's intent. The 31 minutes of Cepia are tightly packed, with textures and ideas reappearing self-referentially throughout, endowing the small package with a hefty weight.
More interesting is Miller's inspiration: he claims that 1970s classic rock lay at the heart of this record, rather than your typical electronic music touchstones, which helps to shed some light on the record's vacuum-sealed sound. There's something about the dry beats and naked separation that drags up images of shag-carpeted studios and analogue tape: think Fleetwood Mac's Rumours, or as Miller himself will tell you, Neil Young's Harvest. A recent mix for Self-Titled Magazine provides concrete glimpses of these influences: when placed alongside Cat Stevens' warm and inviting songcraft, for example, "Untitled III" suddenly seems a whole lot more interesting.
This all makes for an album that appears facile and surface-level but in reality plumbs impressive depths. Peek between the beats and you'll find shimmering synths that flick on and off like effects pedals ("Ithaca") or tremble like globs of mercury ("Hootenanny"). The album doesn't so much shift genres or styles as subtly tweak and mutate its surfaces to fit whatever mold necessary. When it goes ambient ("Public Address"), it's with the same slurred vocabulary that its most driving and decisive moments are expressed. In the end, Cepia is a gorgeous and nostalgic little record that seems to exist solely in its own blissful state of paradise. Even its anxious moments sound put-on, or streaked with an exuberant ecstasy: the mournful album highlight "Me and My Gin" extracts as much grinning pleasure as wracked pain from its unforgettable cyclical melody.
Resident Advisor
Cepia - Cepia
[Cepia Music, 2010]
As genre tags go, "electronica" couldn't be less specific, to the extent that it pretty much serves as a catchall for anything with beats that clearly isn't house, techno, trance, dubstep, etc. As genres go, it's one of few in electronic music to often attract practitioners adept at playing physical (read: "real") instruments. So it was with Huntley Miller. By the time the St. Paul native traded his bass rig for a Mac in '02, he'd already studied with jazz great Anthony Cox, played in a rock band or two, and put in years of distinguished service with local live drum 'n' bass innovators Suki Takahashi and Poor Line Condition.
Thanks in part to background, and part to natural inclination, he's always insisted on putting a lot of music in his music. Starting with his first release as Cepia--2004's Dowry EP--Miller's consistently made a point of front-loading his elegant chamber funk with way more melody and harmony than many ostensibly kindred spirits would ever consider, without sacrificing anything in the way of textural or rhythmic richness. This capacity for balance makes him a natural for distance collaborations: Cepia's first brace of remixes found a home on 2006's Atlantic Blood. A high-profile New York show and a spate of TV-friendly tracks have since enhanced his profile, leading to an invite from remix glutton M.I.A. and an understated treatment of Maya's "XXXO."
Though more inclined to bang a bit than on 2007's Natura Morta, Miller brings the same light touch to his second full-length. Even the stuttering break beats on opener "Untitled III" are full of light and air--all the better for accommodating layers of interlocking synth melody. Graced with a central theme that wouldn't be out of place in a John Legend song, "Ithaca" explores the middle ground between contemporary boudoir funk and instrumental hip-hop--not the album's only instance of such. It's this manifest love of pop strategies and song structure (along with an accompanying penchant for brevity--no song on the album passes the four-minute mark) that puts Cepia well ahead of the laptopping pack.
A.V. Club
Cepia - Cepia
[Cepia Music, 2010]
With the simply titled Cepia, Minneapolis-based Huntley Miller returns after a year-three absence with his first Cepia collection since Natura Morta appeared on Ghostly. Perhaps the title is intended to reference how direct and to-the-point Miller's music has become, and certainly not a moment is wasted when not a single one of the recording's ten tracks exceeds the four-minute mark. Despite their brevity, Miller's tracks are marvels of construction, with plenty of detail squeezed into their compact form. Think of it as melodic IDM-tinged electronica grounded by crisp beatwork and refined atmospherics and served up in succinct, three-minute packages.
"Untitled III" inaugurates the album on a bright and effervescent note with jubilant, sing-song melodies and stutter-funk percussive figures. "Ithaca" takes the kind of skittering beat snap and chiming melodics one associates with Autechre but rather than having the parts splinter apart Miller corrals them into a clear-headed song structure one might classify as IDM-funk. "Incurvatus in se" (Latin for "curved inward on oneself ") finds Miller in a suitably introspective mood, casting his gaze within to find querulous melodies and grainy surges rubbing shoulders with off-kilter beat shuffle. "Me and My Gin" catches one's ears for the loose, jazz-like swing with which Miller underscores the tune's insistent melodic intertwine. One might have expected something exaggerated from a track with a title like "Hype Man," but it turns out to be a lullaby-like interlude of gossamer, waltz-timed melodic patterns. Softer moments emerge in other places too, including "Public Address," a grainy, heavily processed ambient soundscape, and "Cord," which caps the release with fluttering ambient gestures.
The release is available in CD and LP formats, with the latter perhaps the ideal presentation. Hearing the album's ten tracks split five per side recalls the days when vinyl ruled and CDs and digital downloads were options decades removed from realization. Cepia is high-quality stuff for sure; one only hopes that the infrequent appearance of new Cepia material coupled with the album's modest running time won't result in it getting lost in the shuffle. Miller's meticulous handiwork deserves better.
Textura
Cepia - Natura Morta
[Ghostly, 2007]
Obviously there's no war between record labels in electronica--no equivalent of hip-hop's Bad Boy/Death Row tussle, no real gauntlet thrown down in the Big Pond. It's not part of the art- and artist-centric culture of the genre at large, but struggling to grab the attention of the same sea of ears (not to mention new ones) is. Two tracks in on Cepia's second CD, Natura Morta, and we hear floating above the zen state funky-drummer fills of "Opening Parade" tones that damn near meow at you, tones we've heard before and love to this day. This is not to say that Cepia's ripping off anyone; it's more like he, Huntley Miller, is settling into a style or hitting a harmonic or using a particular instrument/sample that sends us into orbit. Even with a roster featuring up-and-comers like Lusine and Matthew Dear, it is this album in sum that delineates just how much ground Ghostly and their ilk have gained on stalwarts such as Warp. Yes, stuff like Squarepusher's sociopathic jazz is inferred at the start of Cepia's "Clay Face," but Miller eventually contorts that skronk into approximations of classic rock guitar riffs. The opening spirals of "Tape" stay in that oeuvre by recalling the intro of David Bowie's "Fashion," and then Miller twists the rest back into shape: it still revels in synthetic majesty, just violinesque glitch and brass-like swooshes full of bravado instead of Bowie's androgynous divadom. Where electronic acts have remixed indie-rockers often beyond recognition, you might also mistake "Hoarse" or "The Undeniable Bend" for instances of turned tables--Coldplay hypothetically softening the edges of Autechre, for example, with the results sounding nowhere near as frightfully bad as you might imagine. We even find nods to the eerie: drumbeats like gasps of air and loops that suggest failing motors, detuned music boxes, slowing windup toys, a submerged carousel. Amid all the lively activity it's these sounds that really make us wonder about what inspired Miller to hunker down at home in Minnesota and polish up this little gem. There is far greater depth on Natura Morta than is suggested by its 33-minute length; it's more a mine from which to reap benefits rather than a cave in which to get lost. (AB)
e/i Magazine
Cepia - Natura Morta
[Ghostly, 2007]
'Natura Morta', Cepia's first album, was recorded in seclusion over two years and is supposedly a highly personal response to the events and circumstances of his life at the time. What those circumstances are remains a mystery, but 'Natura Mora' hints at melcancholy, fragility, long periods of reflection and finding beauty in detail.
Fans of Manitoba, Fridge, and Four Tet circa 'Pause' will instantly be on familiar ground. 'Natura Mora' has an organic feel derived from sounds that (sometimes almost exactly) mimic nature mixed in with obviously electronic bleeps. It sounds like Cepia, aka Huntely Miller, has absorbed a foresty wilderness and tried to express all the branches, droplets and leaves through his synthesiser. There are beats, sure, but they are so fragmented and irregular as to provoke thoughts, not toe-tapping. On a fair few of the tracks such as 'Opening Parade' and 'Hoarse' Cepia juxtaposes skitty backgrounds with long tones and child-like piano and glockenspiel tunes. Even though this trick is used more than once, it's a credit to Cepia that the songs have real longevity with repeat listening proving very rewarding.
Elsewhere on 'Natura Morta', the church bell melody and frenetic morse code of 'Clay Face' is a treat and 'Dot' sounds like circuit boards singing underwater. Opener 'Braile Wounds' and 'Wavebnc' are gorgeous soundscapes that evoke beautiful skies whilst 'Untitled II' has a glacial intensity that makes it arguably the best track on the album.
'Natura Morta' means 'dead nature', which is an intriguing title, especially for an album which was made with machines. It also neglects the fact that this album has a certain quality that sounds, in a furtive, unsure way, very much alive. Let's hope it doesn't get pillaged by the advertising industry.
Resident Advisor
Cepia - Atlantic Blood
[Sublight, 2006]
Fans of Cepia's Ghostly EPs Dowry and Pearl will have to wait a little bit longer for his full-length debut: though an album in track number (actually more a mini-album at 31 minutes), Huntley Miller's Atlantic Blood mixes three originals with six remixes, often making it seem more a compilation with Cepia (pronounced 'SEP-ee-uh') contributions the unifying factor. The album's most encouraging aspect is that the three originals are perhaps its strongest material which therefore makes his eventual full-length coming-out all the more enticing. Opener "Atlantic Blood" is suitably oceanic (though the water temperature is more a warm bath than the frigid cold of the lower depths) and also one of the loveliest electronic pieces heard in recent days. Cepia clothes a sing-song melody in muffled granular garb during "574" and lifts the vaporous cloud "Arount" up to the heavens.
Miller typically imbues the remix material with a stately dreaminess and intensifies its machine dimension, regardless of the originals' stylistic contrasts. On the sweeter tip, Miles Tilmann's "I've Already Forgotten" glistens beatifically while the (untitled) Tiki Obmar overhaul sweetly blossoms into a mass of shimmering tones, garbled voices, and machine ripples. Cepia adds a faded electro-ambiance to the propulsive remix of Mr. Projectile's "You Need" and rides a smeared funk-hop groove under a melancholy, child-like vibes figure in Dosh's "Naoise." The most unusual of the lot, Fog's "Can You Believe It?" embeds vocals in a creaking, carnivalesque haze. Whether originals or remixes, it's all ultra-refined and exquisitely rendered. Now about that full-length...
Textura
Cepia - Pearl EP
[Ghostly Digital, 2006]
The second installment of the Ghostly Digital series finds Idol Tryouts/SMM staples Cepia coming to the plate to deliver a digital-only EP filled with the IDM-pop goodness one has come to expect from the Minnesota native. But what's surprising about this EP is that it is easily some of Cepia's most polished and innovative work, and a curiosity as to whether or not this a teaser of what could possibly be a full-length. The opening ambient landscape sets the stage for an all-out three-track assault of glitches, cuts, pops, and quirks all floating above a frantic percussion track which, when stripped of rhythm, seems to be measured chaos. The results are potent and engaging, with the only release coming in the EP's final seconds, when ambient swells wash away the debris.
All Music Guide
Cepia - Dowry EP
[Ghostly International, 2004]
With its multi-layered comminglings of clanking beats and melancholy themes, Dowry, the first release from Minneapolis-based Huntley Miller (aka Cepia), follows in the mechanical footsteps of Autechre and more recently Traject. The familiarity of its style is more than compensated for by the quality of its tracks, however, even if one ("Gas") is a mere fragment. On the atmospheric tip, there's the gently percolating "Countrytime" and "L2," a mournful coda of gauzy ambience. Harder-edged bass pounds and fuzzy skitter enliven "The Marina, The Bank and The Eels" but the title track, where stately melodies stubbornly bleed through entangling tendrils of squawks, whirrs, and clicks, is the real stunner. A strong debut from Mr. Miller.
Stylus Magazine
