British experimental duo that strictly adheres to their own rules and only uses sounds from guest musicians. Nightports is a collaboration between Mark Slater and Adam Martin, British musicians. It explores freedoms of restriction. The duo, like Matthew Herbert, create music following their own rules. They state that they use only sounds created by featured musicians. These sounds can however be altered and reshaped in almost any way. The result can range from glitchy, experimental pop to complex electro-acoustic sounds depending on who is featured. Martin and Slater started Nightports in 2010. Their first release was Ports, an EP that featured Emily Lynn. She sang soulful pop songs against a background of glitchy electronic sounds created from her voice and body. Skywide was the second Nightports EP. Nightports Acoustic followed in 2013. Nightports Acoustic contained unplugged versions of songs from both EPs. Nightports Acoustic was released on piano and guitar. Gilles Peterson released the acoustic version Nightports’ “Nowhere in Between”, on Brownswood Bubblers Eleven in 2014. Nightports issued Depart in 2014, a compilation of their previous EPs and newer songs. Nightports began to collaborate with Matthew Bourne, a pianist. The duo recorded Bourne on several vintage pianos during three sessions. They then arranged the recordings into compositions that range from delicate reflections to dissonant, scattered rhythmic parts. Leaf released Nightports with Matthew Bourne in 2018.
