We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Accidentally (On Purpose)

by Steve Lawson and Daniel Berkman

supported by
neale bairstow
neale bairstow thumbnail
neale bairstow This album is just perfect : bought as part of the £10 for 10 albums offer - as my grandmother used to say, "at this price, NOT buying it would be more expensive!" Steve also deserves support for his way of completely redefining the artist/audience interface in the digital, post-record label age. Give him some of your money! Favorite track: Pets You Can Keep In The Fridge.
Alex Alexander
Alex Alexander thumbnail
Alex Alexander This album blew me away as soon as I first heard it. Such fluid, spontaneous song structures crafted with expert musicianship and sprinkled with neuron-tingling textures. To find out that it was a live improv from two folks who'd never practiced together... I still can't wrap my brain around that, but I don't need to. I'm just ecstatic that this record exists at all. Steve & Daniel's collab catalogue is singularly brilliant. Favorite track: Accidentally (On Purpose).
Philip Graham
Philip Graham thumbnail
Philip Graham I am going to get so so lost in this music.
And I am going to enjoy every minute of it. Favorite track: Not Two, But One.
more... more...
/
  • Digital Album
    Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    these are 24bit recordings, so you may 'feel the benefit' of downloading the FLAC or ALAC versions, should audiophilia be your thing.

    Please feel free to listen here first to as much of the music as you like - We're very appreciative for your time and investment in our ongoing quest to make sense of the world around us through music!
    Purchasable with gift card

      £3 GBP  or more

    You own this

     

  • With the USB Stick completely sold out years ago, this is the only way to get all 1- shows from me (or see Daniel if you want them in some physical form, I think he has all 10 on the USB stick that he sells at shows!)

    You'll get a download link for one of the albums as soon as you buy it, and I'll email you the others as soon as I possibly can (usually within an hour of ordering it, but sometimes up to half a day)

    ...Honestly, We Had NO Idea!
    Accidentally (On Purpose)
    FingerPainting
    The New Normal
    Nie mój cyrk, Nie moje małpy
    Academia
    Everything Is Possible In This Best Of All Possible Worlds
    The Sound Of Being Understood
    Serendipity
    Free Fall

    Plus two PDFs of sleevenotes (an extended essay on the birth of the project and an album by album breakdown)

    Includes unlimited streaming of Accidentally (On Purpose) via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ... more
    ships out within 1 day
    Purchasable with gift card

      £10 GBP or more 

    You own this  

     

  • Full Digital Discography Full Digital Discography

    Get all 64 Steve Lawson releases available on Bandcamp and save 70%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Time Stops Vol 1, Time Stops Vol 2, Blue, Episode 50: A New Hope, Best of Steve Lawson Pt6 (The Longs - Collaborations), Steve And Lo's Melancholy Christmas, Best of Steve Lawson Pt5 (The Longs - Solo), Best of Steve Lawson Pt4 (Collaborations, 2014-2021), and 56 more. , and , .

    Excludes subscriber-only releases.

    Purchasable with gift card

      £53.70 GBP or more (70% OFF)

    You own this

     

1.
2.
3.
4.

about

Steve says:

in my music-life thus far, there have been a number of collaborators who have proved to be far easier to work with than perhaps any musical relationship should be... Three of those are already on record - Jez Carr, Theo Travis and Mike Outram - and now, Daniel Berkman.

The difference with Daniel is that we had little idea who each other were before the first gig. An amazing mutual friend, to whom we shall both be forever indebted, suggested that we play together. We met at the soundcheck of the first of two sessions that were planned, and fully expected to play a solo set each followed by some kind of improvised collaboration at the end.

The soundcheck, such as it was, suggested otherwise. For in the process of plugging everything in and making sure it was all working, we fell into the kind of musical dialogue that made it very clear solo sets would be a bit of a wasted opportunity. So over the next two nights we played about 2 hours of improvised music.

Improvising is, I often find, even more fun when you have no clue at all how your musical collaborator is making the noises they are making. With Daniel’s on-stage set-up looking like something out of the Fifth Element - all pointy chrome and unusual instruments - it was left to my ears to make sense of what he was doing. Which is where that most valuable of improv currencies kicks in - trust. I instinctively knew that whatever I did, he’d make it sound better. I’ve said before many times that that’s my criteria for playing improvised music - a commitment to allowing the other person to turn my music into something bigger than I could ever have imagined. And vice versa - I throw myself into using the full range of my musical ideas and experience to build on their vision and see where we end up. It’s conversational, collaborative and hugely life affirming stuff.

I commented at the time that meeting Daniel and playing those two shows was a lot like falling in love - totally taken by surprise by the depth of connection and the level of communication possible between us on stage. It was an emotional ride, and one that has produced, I think, some of the finest music I’ve ever been blessed to be a part of.

So, thanks Daniel. :)

credits

released January 11, 2013

Modulus Basses, Looperlative loopness, lots of unbasslike noises - Steve Lawson
Roland Handsonic, Akai Synthstation 25, Gravikord, Line 6 DL4, Laptop and general genius things - Daniel Berkman

Recorded live at The Orange Room in Oakland (this is a single gig, in order, minus the two solo pieces).
edited, mixed, mastered by Steve
Cover design by Steve, featuring a painting by Brian Travers entitled "Concierto de Aranjuez, 2nd Movement" - www.numberninethegallery.com/index_numbernine.php?artist=briantravers

Huge thanks to Artemis for match-making this most amazing of musical matches (and for helping with the naming of the tracks!)

license

tags

about

Steve Lawson UK

The UK's most celebrated and prolific solo bassist - alternating between solo and collaborative releases - have a rummage around and see what you find. The subscription is by FAR the best way to keep track of the many musical goings on!

contact / help

Contact Steve Lawson

Streaming and
Download help

Shipping and returns

Redeem code

Report this album or account