from 'Walizka' [CD|LP|DIGITAL]
Denovali Records · den201
available on all formats at [http://denovali.com/johnlemke]

Working across a variety of media John Lemke explores all things sonic through live performance, sound design and his work as a documentary film composer. The Walizka EP is his latest solo release on Denovali Records.

Three items in a suitcase, a clarinet, a looper and a microphone - is how it all started. 

A free improvisation with friend & collaborator Łukasz Bernacki (on clarinet) sparked John’s desire to bring his compositional and production approach back down to the most basic elements. Creating simple, yet distinctive rhythms only through tapping contact microphones run into noisy guitar amps became the base for the EP’s three tracks, consequently inspiring its live, lo-fi feel. Written and recorded between John’s native Berlin and his adopted home of Glasgow, Walizka (Polish for ‘suitcase’) somehow absorbs the defining atmospheres of both cities in its core.

Previously released digitally as a teaser for John’s debut album, the Walizka EP actually presents newer material, progressing the electro-acoustic nature of ‘People Do’ towards more dub drenched territories. Refining John’s blend of prepared piano and field recordings with hand crafted beats and swampy bass lines, this deeply moody and danceable release bends genres with refreshing ease.

The EP is furthermore enhanced by a second half of remixes by fellow Denovali artists Piano Interrupted, SaffronKeira and Petrels and the ever elusive Everyday Dust. Far from conventional remixes, these pieces fall more in the category of re-imaginations, complementing the EP’s first, more rhythm anchored half with a coherent ambient counterpart.

Written, performed, recorded & produced by John Lemke in 2013
Mastered by Alex Gámez at Störung Studio
Artwork by Łukasz Bernacki

Walizka

John Lemke - Walizka (Piano Interrupted Remix)

A glitch remix of the piece 'Berlin By Overnight' by Max Richter. 

Released on Vinyl and download by Deusche Grammophon

http://www.deutschegrammophon.com/gb/cat/4793988

Max Richter  - Berlin By Overnight  (Tom Adams Remix)

Dazzling light will coat the walls and you may wonder, if it's even real, why you'd choose to see it

Scorpio

Buy / Stream Album: https://lnk.to/wsmsettlers

Follow WSM on Bandcamp: http://westernskiesmotel.bandcamp.com
 
'Settlers' is the new album from Western Skies Motel in a limited edition of 170 gatefold 180gram vinyl, CD and digital formats.  'Settlers' was mastered for vinyl and digital by Taylor Deupree, with master lacquers cut by Roger Siebel at SAE.  The first 50 Vinyl & CD's ordered come with a bonus EP, 'Generations' mastered by Kirk Marrison of Kiln.

In the dry desert of Arizona that Lost Tribe Sound calls home, a letter is received from guitarist René Gonzàlez Schelbeck who’s eager to share a collection of intimately composed songs, titled 'Settlers'. Upon listening, we are immediately enthralled. There’s a timeworn, arid, and almost badlands quality to Schelbeck’s hypnotic, cyclical guitar style. It seems to perfectly capture the lonely, barren landscape of the American West. 

Yet, there are curious dynamics at play here as Schelbeck, who makes music under the alias Western Skies Motel, is from Denmark and far removed from any upbringing in the rough-hewn Americana style of folk guitar. Conceivably, his music has more in common with the lonesome, calculated tone of Berlin's modern classical scene or the rainy day folk of the UK. Those are intriguing parallels, since the collective mood of Western Skies Motel's music would adapt so well to either environment. 

Words hardly do justice to the rich, immersive experience of 'Settlers'; yet a few may help to set the stage. Schelbeck is a remarkably well rounded instrumentalist, who spent his early days losing his hearing in local punk rock bands. This youthful love for walls of sound and discordant guitar squalls survives in his modern sound palette. However, a more mature approach to these techniques brings moments of palpable tension, adding in uneasy waves of guitar feedback and droning harmonium. 

But ultimately, the truth of what Schelbeck hopes to convey through his music may rest rmly in his subconscious. In hindsight, 'Settlers' is about moving between worlds: not in the dimensional sense, but more as a constant change in form. Each influence and sound Schelbeck incorporates into his music feels native to the delicate ecosystem of these songs and each turn feels as organic and nuanced as that of the natural world. Just as a tree’s leaves wither and fall; a fire sparks and expands only to expend its last bit of fuel, extinguished and left for ash. So true are the parallels we find in our own existence, the complex ritual of growing old and returning to dirt. Decay is inevitable for all life, yet through this it becomes the rich soil for all things proceeding. Western Skies Motel's weighty instrumental mantras may root in this and other meanings yet to be culled. One thing is clear, this music contains signicant power, and, regardless of our conceived themes or geographic locations, it tells a story that is lasting and instantly familiar. 

'Settlers' sees a 180-gram heavy weight gatefold release very similar to the recent Mute Forest debut, 'Deforestation'. The acetate and test pressings were scrutinized for anomalies on world-class vinyl setups at Arizona’s esteemed audio dealer, Arizona Hi-Fi.

Western Skies Motel is building upon a busy year in 2015, having released two very different full-length albums 'Prism' (Preserved Sound) and 'Buried and Resurrected' (Twice Removed).

Settlers

Whirl

Buy Album

Western Skies Motel - Whirl (from Settlers)

first track from upcoming CD.  

out March 25th on Dronarivm

order here: https://dronarivm.bandcamp.com/album/branches

Branches came into being during a long time planned project between Tui (Orla Wren) and Cyril Secq (member of the band Astrïd). Having worked together when Cyril contributed guitar to the Orla Wren’s previous albums the idea then formed to do something further and even more collaborative. At the same time, Cyril had recorded many guitar parts, as a ‘solo’ project, that had never been released. And they were the basis, the bones for Orla to work, completely free.

It’s a duet between acoustic strings and processing, field recordings, edits and organic arrangements. This music is steadily ramifies, growing out of itself like a wild tree. The tunes woven together and untwine again as a branches shaken by the wind. It sounds focused, calm and distinct. Although everything has been done in distant places (France and Scotland) the result sounds like two musicians experimenting in the same room, sharing their background and culture.

The beautiful photographic work from Spanish born Nieves Mingueza brought the whole project together in the form of these two very special editions of Branches.

Credits:

Cyril Secq – acoustic guitar, harmonium, piano (asrtid-music.fr)
Tui – piano, organ, electronics, field recordings, processing and mastering (orlawren.eu)
Nieves Mingueza – photography (nievesmingueza.com)

Buy full CD

Cyril Secq / Orla Wren - Première Branche (from Branches, CD)

Download

Beneath A Blanket (with Niklas Paschburg)

Taken from the forthcoming album 'Asylum For Eve', released February 10th 2017.

Featuring new material and reworked soundtracks, the album drifts from plaintive piano-led passages to brisk chamber music and back again, tied together by the textured layering of found sounds and instruments that distinguishes Thomas’s music.

After tracking down an old Bechstein Model 9 upright piano for ‘Asylum For Eve’, Thomas set about modifying and preparing it with cardigans, screws and nails in order to provide the textures and timbres which characterise the album’s dense, affecting sound. Techniques employed for the album include the intricate layering of bowed guitars and ukuleles, and fingerpicked violins, banjo and charango. It’s processes such as these, coupled with Hill’s high quality composition and musicianship, that see the album at once expansive and intimate.

Asylum For Eve

Buy on iTunes

Thomas William Hill - Cirrostratus

Track taken from the upcoming album 'Letting Go Variations' by Kirill Nikolai...

http://fluidaudio.bigcartel.com/mailing-list



Letting Go Variations

Kirill Nikolai - Reconstructions, For Lack Of Anything Else

Cover artwork by Melanie Kurhan
Mixed by Jacob Pavek & Hannes Kretzer
Mastered by Jacob Pavek

Jacob Pavek - Hello Montevideo

Albecq is the project of Angus MacRae, James Jones, and Thom Robson, three London-based experimental artists and composers. The collective was formed in late 2016 based on a love of vintage synths, unhurried free-flowing soundscapes, and the pioneering ambient expeditions of Basinski and Stars Of The Lid. 

Taken from their debut album - A Distant, Guiding Sun - released 7th September.

Pre-order: https://albecq.bandcamp.com
albecqmusic.com

LACE

Jóhann Jóhannsson - Odi Et Amo featuring Iskra String Quartet (Brussels, April 2009)

A Distant, Guiding Sun
Released 7th Sept

Angus MacRae
Thom Robson
James Jones

LACE

Albecq

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