I adopt the cause of the colour

Oppressed by the Line

Bio

Jon Thompson grew up in a small industrial town outside of Houston, Texas. Close to the coast, it’s the sort of small American town where his only window into the bigger world of music was staying up until 1am on a Sunday night to watch 120 Minutes on MTV. Perhaps it was this, as much as anything else, that led him to pick up a guitar and seek solace amongst the rhythm and the sound.

After stints in many bands, Jon turned his 4-track diversion into his main project. Upon visiting the Tate Modern in London, he christened the project Oppressed by the Line; named after a quote on a placard under a painting by Yves Klein. The quote read, “I adopt the cause of the colour oppressed by the line”.

The painting is gone, but the music remains. After 3 years in London, in which he released his debut, “The Cause of the Colour” on Club AC30, OBTL released the follow up. “Soft Focus”, is overall richer in texture and more thoroughly realized than it’s predecessor. Soft Focus is 10 tracks of mournful melodies and sonic bliss.

During summer of 2006, Jon spent two weeks traveling in Japan. The bones of his third release "Kiku" were written during that time. The tracks were unearthed and finished during the autumn of 2008. Each track was written in a separate context, different cities and locations.

Latest News

New Site Up and Running

Happy to have a new website up and running. I hope you like it as much as I do. A while back I had and unrecoverable incident with the previus version of this site. I pointed the site at my Facebook page for a while. Now we're back in business.

Releases

Kiku

Kiku, the third release from Jon Thompson under his Oppressed by the Line moniker, was written while on holiday in Japan during July/August of 2006. The tracks were unearthed and finished during the autumn of 2008. Kiku follows on from the well recieved albums “The Cause of the Colour” on UK label Club AC30 and 2008’s “Soft Focus” (Drifting Falling).

“Mountain Mist was written after visiting Fuji and Hakone. Sunset From the 16th Floor was written while sitting on a wide window sill in Oita looking out at a beautiful sunset. Paper Cranes was written in Hiroshima. One Thousand Red Stars was written on a high floor in a hotel in Tokyo over looking the city at night. Shinkansen was written on a bullet train en route to Oita.”

Soft Focus (Selected Tracks)

After 3 years in London, in which he released his debut, “The Cause of the Colour” on Club AC30, OBTL releases its follow up. “Soft Focus”, is overall richer in texture and more thoroughly realized than it’s predecessor. Soft Focus is 10 tracks of mournful melodies and sonic bliss.

The Cause of the Colour

Oppressed by the Line started as a 4-track diversion for guitarist Jon Thompson. In the winter of 2001 Jon was introduced to computer based music and production methods, at least the rubber band and duct tape version, playing with the band Of Normandy.

Now familiar with the concepts of electronic music production, Jon’s interest in his solo project was refreshed, and thus began his transition from 4-track to laptop. After a trip to London, Jon re-christened his project Oppressed by the Line. The name is taken from a quote on a placard under a painting by Yves Klein at the Tate Modern in London. The quote reads, “I adopt the cause of the colour oppressed by the line”. The painting depicts a blue void… Something that Jon felt not only represented his general disposition, but was also a visual representation of his music. After making the monumental move from Houston to London in 2004, Jon brought OBTL to the stage supporting such acts as Hood, The Telescopes, Client, Sing-Sing, Logh and Epic45.

The Cause of the Colour sound has been likened to a genetic hybrid of a synthesizer and a warm winter blanket or a circuit board made out of all your favourite shoegazer records.

Contact

We're still building out this site, so in the meantime the best way to contact Jon is through the Oppressed by the Line Facebook Page.