Faultline (musician)

Faultlineis the musical alter ego of producer and artistDavid Kosten.

Faultline
Birth name	David Kosten
Also known as	Faultline
Origin	North London, United Kingdom
Genres	Electronica IDM
Labels	Leaf Tiny Consumer
Website	faultline.co.uk

Working under the name Faultline, Kosten produced the largely instrumental debutCloser, Colderand the follow-upYour Love Means Everything,which featured guest vocals fromColdplay'sChris Martin,The Flaming Lips,& R.E.M'sMichael Stipe.

While work is ongoing for his third Faultline project, Kosten has continued to produce albums for other artists, notably gaining recognition withBat for Lashes(doubleMercury Music Prizenominated andIvor NovellowinningTwo SunsandFur and Gold,and 2012 albumThe Haunted Man), andEverything Everything(Mercury Music Prize and Ivor Novello nominatedMan Aliveand 2013 albumArc).

Kosten co-produced withMarina Diamandisher third studio albumFroot.The album was released internationally on March 16, 2015.

Background

Early years

As a youth, Kosten burst his lung while playing clarinet for the National Youth Orchestra.A London-based art school drop-out, Kosten spent the better part of his twenties in his home studio, teaching himself recording and production techniques and exploring far-flung combinations of sound. Faultline's debut single, "Control", was built around death threats left on Kosten's answering machine.It transpired that the intimidating messages had been left by a singer with whom Kosten had refused a collaboration.Kosten appropriated the messages, applying the threats alongside wayward noise, rhythms andSteve Reich-inspired neo-classical music.

Closer Colder

On his debut album,Closer Colder,released via theLeaflabel in 1999, Kosten continued this approach to music making, using samples in place of vocals. Most notably, the album's title track liftedDennis Hopper's voice fromBlue Velvet.Kosten is reported to have obtained permission to use the sample directly from Hopper andDavid Lynch.

Closer, Coldershowcased Kosten's arranging abilities, and this elegant blend of soundscape and avant-garde was met with widespread acclaim:

• The Times 25/9/99"...an album so supremely modernist that it approaches the classical...Closer, Colder can both stir deep emotion and chill to the bone. The sweetest cello, trumpet and violin resonate against a background of abrasive electronica...emotional and sonic disjunction are rarely as eloquently expressed as this".
• DJ 10/99"...a quite breathtaking, visionary album that promises to take listeners to places they've never been before....one of the finest experimental albums this year."
• Q 11/99"...Closer, Colder brims with invention...An accomplished, intriguing, distinctly Lynchian debut."
• Esquire Magazine top 10 album of the year.

Your Love Means Everything

Released three years later,Your Love Means Everythingwas an instant testament to the fruits of Kosten's ongoing sonic experimentation, as well as his skill at creating an environment in which inspiration strikes his collaborators.

The album, originally released onRough Tradeowner Geoff Travis'Blanco Y Negroimprint in 2002, fell prey to label politics, but re-released by EMI/Capitol in 2004, and awash in spectral electronic melancholy, it received high praise:

• “Faultline's heady combination of electronic avant-garde classical/dance is, thematically, about complicated as it sounds but Kosten's vision translates, aurally, as a series of threadbare, hauntingly programmed compositions, each simplistic and engrossing”.– Pitchfork
• "Exquisitely moving"- Mojo
• "Devastating and compelling"- The Sunday Times
• "A must-hear record...12 songs of heart-shattering sadness"– NME

OnYour Love Means Everything,the Faultline attitude to 'voices' was inverted, with vocal contributions from Coldplay's Chris Martin,Jacob Golden,the Flaming Lips'Wayne CoyneandSteven Drozd,Cannibal Oxand R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe.

Coldplay's Chris Martin hadn't even begun recordingA Rush of Blood to the Headwhen he sang on two Faultline tracks: "Where is My Boy?" and "Your Love Means Everything Part 2".

The Flaming Lips were just outgrowing their cult status when they collaborated on "The Colossal Gray Sunshine". With gentle, hypnotic beats that kaleidoscope into multicoloured, atmospheric sounds, the tone of "Your Love Means Everything" can be summed up with this track. With its cinematic, nightmarish feel, the song serves as the lynchpin of the album, whichRolling Stonecalled"a masterpiece of widescreen psychedelic soft rock."

R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe collaborated on a cover of "Greenfields",a piece of dark Americana from late-50s folk revivalistsThe Brothers Four.(Kosten expressed incredulity about recording this, his favourite childhood song, with the R.E.M. singer).

"We Came from Lego Blocks" is a fractured, downbeat lullaby featuring vocals fromVordul Megilahof East Coast underground hip-hop duo Cannibal Ox.

Cult singer/songwriterJoseph Arthurcollaborates on a truly eerie cover ofThe Rolling Stones' "Wild Horses", while "Biting Tongues" features Ras B, a ragga-styled MC fromAdrian Sherwood's On U-Sound crew.

Other album tracks like "Your Love Means Everything", "Theme for Half Speed" and "I Only Know Myself" reveal the many degrees of Faultline's ghostly, sublime and orchestral sound.

Third album

Kosten is working on his third Faultline album.

Discography

Albums

• Closer Colder(27 September 1999)
  1. "Awake" – 4:52
  2. "Tiny Consumer" – 5:27
  3. "Mute" – 8:51
  4. "Papercut" – 4:03
  5. "Control" – 3:21
  6. "Closer Colder" – 5:40
  7. "Salt" – 4:44
  8. "Partyline Honey" – 5:11
  9. (Untitled) – 6:41
• Your Love Means Everything(10 September 2002)
  1. "Your Love Means Everything" – 3:41
  2. "Where is My Boy?" (featuringChris Martin) – 5:34
  3. "Sweet Iris" – 3:49
  4. "Bitter Kiss" (featuringJacob Golden) – 3:23
  5. "Waiting for the Green Light" (featuringCannibal Ox) – 4:09
  6. "The Colossal Gray Sunshine" (featuringThe Flaming Lips) – 2:44
  7. "Clocks" – 4:18
  8. "Theme for Half Speed" – 3:13
  9. "Greenfields" (featuringMichael Stipe) – 3:19
  10. "Lost Broadcast" (featuringNick McCabe) – 3:38
  11. "I Only Know Myself" – 3:52
  12. "Your Love Means Everything Part 2" (featuringChris Martin) – 4:03
• Your Love Means Everything(re-issue onCapitol/EMI) (17 May 2004)
  1. "Your Love Means Everything" – 3:41
  2. "Where is My Boy?" (featuringChris Martin) – 5:34
  3. "We Came from Lego Blocks" (featuring Vordul Megilah) – 2:45
  4. "Theme for Half Speed" – 3:13
  5. "Wild Horses"(featuringJoseph Arthur) – 5:13
  6. "Sweet Iris" – 3:49
  7. "Biting Tongues" (featuring Ras B) – 3:28
  8. "Clocks" – 4:18
  9. "The Colossal Gray Sunshine" (featuringThe Flaming Lips) – 2:44
  10. "I Only Know Myself" – 3:52
  11. "Greenfields" (featuringMichael Stipe) – 3:19
  12. "Lost Broadcast" (featuringNick McCabe) – 3:38
  13. "Your Love Means Everything Part 2" (featuringChris Martin) – 4:03
  14. "Missing" (Japanese bonus track) – 3:25
  15. "Surfacenothing" (Japanese bonus track) – 5:00

Singles and EPs

• Papercut EP(1998)
  1. "Papercut" – 4:03
  2. "Partyline Honey" (Remix) – 4:45
  3. "Quarantine" – 3:26
  4. "Not Forgotten" – 7:06
• "Mute" single (1999)
  1. "Mute" – 8:52
  2. "Mute" (Third Eye FoundationRemix) – 6:33
  3. "Dislocate" – 2:37
• Faultline EP(2002)
  1. "The Colossal Gray Sunshine" (featuringThe Flaming Lips) – 2:44
  2. "Missing" – 3:25
  3. "Surfacenothing" – 5:00
• "Biting Tongues" promo single (May 2004)
  1. "Biting Tongues" (featuring Ras B) – 3:32
  2. "Biting Tongues" (The Bug Mix) – 4:09
  3. "Biting Tongues" (RitonMix) – 6:17
  4. "Biting Tongues" (Hot ChipMix) – 7:07
• "Wild Horses" / "Biting Tongues" double A-side single (10 May 2004)
  1. "Wild Horses" (featuringJoseph Arthur) – 5:13
  2. "Biting Tongues" (featuring Ras B) – 3:32
  3. "Biting Tongues" (RitonMix) – 6:17
  4. "Wild Horses" (enhanced video)
  5. "Biting Tongues" (enhanced video)
• "The Colossal Gray Sunshine" promo single (August 2004)
  1. "The Colossal Gray Sunshine" (featuringThe Flaming Lips) (remix) – 2:47
• "Send In The Clowns" single (2017)
  1. "Send In The Clowns"featuringLisa Hanniganon vocal for anAudicar TV commercial - 4.51

External links

• Official Faultline Website
• Official David Kosten Website
• "Faultline on Apple Music".Itunes.apple.Retrieved26 May2020.
• "Your Love Means Everything - Faultline | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic".AllMusic.Retrieved26 May2020.
• "| RFB".Rockfeedback.Retrieved26 May2020.