A.M.: Press

Do you ever have an album that you want to listen to over and over again?
Do you ever feel that way after the first 2 minutes of the first track on the album?

"Let's Spend the Day Together" is the new album by the Toronto based Electronic Musician A.M. (aka Andrew Moore, Elementary School Teacher) and it evoked those exact emotions in me.

I first heard from A.M. on a CBC Radio 3 podcast, I believe it was "Shoulder Pads and Shiny Shoes" off of "Today Is..", an album sampling years of home video. I ordered two of his albums within a week and was instantly in love with them.

The new album took a different approach from his previous two (Underground was released in 2006 and featured samples from Toronto's subway) in that A.M. asked for material, rather then collecting it on his own.

He asked anyone in the world to record the audio of whatever they were doing on May 23rd, 2008 and send it to him. The result, released on May 23rd, 2009, is "Let's Spend the Day Together."

And what a result it is. From a cloudy Montreal morning with More or Les ("Party in the Bathroom") to Smoothie Day at a highschool in Toronto ("Breakfast Club") to cutting wood in West Lake ("First Cut") to the announcement of Canada's best record store with Grant Lawrence ("True Patriot Groove"), this album takes you through the day of 14 strangers who are all now connected by one artist. Through his skillful use of samples A.M. has managed to make even the most menial task like picking up a prescription (see above linked song) sound spectacular.

One of my favourite things about A.M. is his range in style. Sure it's all electronic, relying heavily on samples and beats, but it conveys so much more through the variation in styles. One song sounds ready for the club, while the next seems like it would fit perfectly as I fall asleep, or drive down a country road, or am on a patio with a group of friends.

This album is spectacular. I was very nervous when I received the pack in the mail today, I actually waited to listen until the end of the day. Within the first minute I knew I had nothing to worry about. My expectations were high, but they were undoubtedly met. This album will be in my CD Player and iPod, played on my patio, in my kitchen and in my car all summer long.

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.