* En anglais uniquement
The English electro-Krautrock duo
Warm Digits feature multi-instrumentalists Andrew Hodson and Steve Jefferis, who borrow inspiration not only from
Can,
Neu!, and
Kraftwerk, but also from
My Bloody Valentine's dense sonic layers and
Brian Eno's wispy analog melodies. Hodson, who is based in Newcastle upon Tyne, released an album in 2006 with his band
the Matinee Orchestra, and also runs Seed Studios. As a producer, his clients include
Maxïmo Park's Paul Smith and the folk duo
Cath and Phil Tyler. Jefferis, who is based in Manchester, released several albums and singles of playful electronica as Cathode. After remixing tracks for
UNKLE and
Maxïmo Park and performing with the likes of
Barbara Morgenstern,
Goblin, and
Field Music,
Warm Digits worked on their first album, recruiting
Field Music's David Brewis to play bass, and edited their improvisations into the ten tracks of Keep Warm... with the Warm Digits, which Distraction Records released in late 2011. Early in 2012, the band collaborated with
Field Music's David and
Peter Brewis on a performance for the BBC Radio 3 show Late Junction, which was later issued digitally and on vinyl.
The following year saw the release of Interchange, an audiovisual project
Warm Digits created for Half Memory, an initiative spearheaded by Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums encouraging artists to use the museum's artifacts to create new works. Inspired by '70s images of the building of Tyneside's Metro transit system, the band crafted a film and accompanying soundtrack revolving around the concepts of futurism and nostalgia.
Warm Digits also composed music for Esther Johnson's Asunder, a documentary that traced World War I's impact on North East England. The duo, along with
Field Music and Bob Stanley, performed the score alongside a string ensemble at a 2017 screening at the Barbican Centre. That year, Hodson and Jefferis also released their third album,
Wireless World, which introduced the vocals of friends including
Peter Brewis,
Saint Etienne's
Sarah Cracknell, and
Devon Sproule to their motorik-powered musings on the destructive and constructive sides of technology. ~ Heather Phares