Ryan Lee West, the man behind Rival Consoles strives to humanise and at the same time emphasise entirely computerised sounds to defy categorisation in modern electronic music. According to West this record was all about creating genuine emotions with a synthetic set of sounds. ‘Even though the sounds that have been used are entirely synthetic, like a lot of computer game music, they can create moments of human emotion – moments of hope. I really love it when electronic music can do this to you’. Born in November 10th 1985, Ryan Lee West grew up in the small city of Leicester in the midlands of England. Fascinated by sound from an early age, Ryan chose to dedicate his time to studying, experimenting with and producing sound at De Montfort University Leicester. Rival Consoles combines hard-hitting beats with catchy pop melodies, classical theory with dance. There is more to this 27 year-old than meets the eye, for those not content with 4/4 beat dance floor stormers; West is fast establishing himself as both a sound designer and programmer. Having repeatedly performed at the Tate Britain Museum in London, where he drew over 2000 visitors into his unpredictable, yet detailed sound drawings. New York based composer Nico Muhly and UK producer Jon Hopkins are amongst the first to receive West’s trademark remixes. Hes currently working on new compositions involving analogue synthesisers and debuting his brand new live set at selected summer festivals.[erasedtapes.com]