Ivan the Tolerable
Good morning.
Today we’re listening to Ivan the Tolerable, the stage name of multi-instrumentalist and composer Oli Heffernan from Middlesbrough, UK. We discovered him via Janie Jones’ NTS show, a wellspring of “kraut, psych and other treats” in her words. Since 2012 Heffernan has put out mostly instrumental records as Ivan the Tolerable, influenced by artists like Can, Sun Ra, Neu!, The Necks, and many others.1 We’re first playing Infinite Peace, which came out this past March, on which Heffernan is credited for “bass / guitar / synths / drones / shruti / electric piano / field recordings.” We’re also playing The Aleph from 2022 – yes Borges is the reference – which features Ben Hopkinson on sax and Thomas House on guitar.
Infinite Peace - Ivan the Tolerable (80m, no vocals)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music / Bandcamp / Tidal
The Aleph - Ivan the Tolerable (50m, no vocals)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music / Bandcamp / Tidal
Have a tolerable Thursday.
It’s Psychedelic Baby Magazine’s fantastic interview with Oli
Very nice of you to play my music. Thanks. ✊🏻
Love this material. In fact, listened to "Infinite Peace" after hearing piece on earlier episode mix, so listening to "The Aleph" now. Sax & strings work nicely. Maybe a tad too danceable for desk fare, but so fun.