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Shifts

[b]Shifts[/b] was a [a=Frans de Waard]’s solo project, started in 1995 to explore the depths of ‘guitar ambient’ music. In the mid-nineties De Waard was frequently communicating with [url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/435056]Richo Johnson[/url] of [l=Fourth Dimension Records], who specialized in noise and loud guitar music, and eventually decided to make some music in the similar manner. He recorded a short improvisation on electric guitar with some effects, and then slowed it down via tape manipulations on 4-track recorder to create a longer piece. (This debut work was released only five years later, on limited edition [r=917271] 10"). A few shorter pieces were soon recorded and released by Frans through his own [l=Korm Plastics] label. Without any skills of playing a guitar, Frans de Waard soon borrowed a tiny motorized device from [a=Freek Kinkelaar] (his partner in [a=Beequeen]) and repurposed it to mechanically play the strings on acoustic and electric guitars – in the manner somewhat similar to famous machine guitars of [a=Remko Scha]. Guitar sounds were further processed with various effects and layered on tape to produce a denser, textured noise ambient. The majority of tracks were based around De Waard playing guitar himself, but a few pieces explored additional possibilities: on [r=536578] 7" he treated and processed [a=Roel Meelkop] playing a guitar, while [r=327303] 7" and [r=262499] (7" lathe cut) were created as plunderphonics experiment with guitars sampled from well-known bands. Two albums were recorded without guitars at all: [r=291886] 10" on piano and [r=498650] CD-R with a single cymbal. Even though it was always intended as a studio-only project, in 1998 Frans de Waard agreed to present Shifts material in concert. Several live performances were organized, most notably an improvised set with [a=Zoviet France] on [l=MS Stubnitz] moored in Stockholm. He also played at [l=Extrapool] in Aug 1998 and participated in (k-raa-k)³ Festival '99 at [l=Democrazy, Gent]. In the late nineties and early 2000s, Shifts released three CD albums, several CD-Rs and limited vinyl editions through acclaimed European, American and Japanese independent labels, such as [l=Meme], [l=(K-RAA-K)³], [l=BOXmedia], [l=ERS], etc. The initial phase of the project was concluded with an epic 2xCD [url=https://discogs.com/release/311602]remix project[/url], which contained Shifts source records recycled by [a=Vidna Obmana] and [a=Asmus Tietchens]. A couple years later, Shifts was revived with [i]Vertonen[/i] cycle. Original seven tracks, recorded back in 1995 for a cancelled album on [l=Freedom From] label, were reworked on computer by Frans de Waard who shifted very far from a source guitar sound. These compositions were published on [r=361441] CD-R by Norwegian label [l=Humbug]. From 2004 to '07, he continued making new Vertonen tracks (most of them – by recycling previous Shifts recordings), ranging from full-length albums to shorter pieces. They were released on [l=Public Eyesore], [l=Verato Project], [l=Beta-lactam Ring Records], [l=The Locus Of Assemblage], and other experimental labels in UK, Europe and USA. In 2004, Frans de Waard recorded three final pieces for Shifts project, all created on a 4-string Spanish guitar purchased for 1 euro. They were released on [r=810159] (2006) mini CD-R by French label [l=taâlem], and a limited edition [r=1078577] LP on British label [l=Entr'acte]. In November 2013, a complete Vertonen cycle (consisting of 22 tracks) was published online via [l=KormDigitaal], and soon after most Shifts albums were reissued in digital format. Lost and forgotten demo tracks from 1997 were rediscovered and released on a limited edition [r=7954568] cassette by [l=Maneki Neko Tapes] in 2015.