"But to leave all declamatory speeches in praise of divine music, I will confine myself to my proper subject: besides that excellent power it hath to expel many other diseases, it is a sovereign remedy against despair and melancholy, and will drive away the devil himself." (Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, 1621)

"La mélancolie dans le sens antique permettait de vivre le deuil, se dépasser ou encore de trouver un sens à la vie, en d'autres termes, c'est un passage en temps de crise (qui n'aboutit pas toujours à un résultat négatif). Et c'est là que la mélancolie prétend dépasser ces états de tristesses. Face à cette dernière interprétation, Jean Clair, historien de l'art a proposé qu' «une nouvelle vision et utopie devrait inclure la mélancolie (et le travail de deuil), comme paradoxe. Ce serait un nouveau projet historique révolutionnaire.»" (Wikipedia)

Mélancolie Douce Mixtapes

BANGNMEDIA's Piano and Jazz Collection

fave listenings of this month

*

in the pic: Johann Johannsson

"musica assoluta" (marzo 2025)

Danish instrumental duo Svaneborg Kardyb deliver the final Sunday Mix of the year, closing out the series with a warm and gentle set of jazz, folk and ambient fit for whatever kind of Sunday lies in store.

Check out the tracklist on crackaud.io: crackm.ag/3j0wFaK
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Sunday Mix: Svaneborg Kardyb

"Sweep away the broken glass
Some things were never meant to last
Don't cut your skin on things that linger in the past
Be sure to clear away the shards
Lest a piece should pierce your heart
Taking splinters with your fingers is an art" (Matt Elliott)

This was the 20th episode in my Mélancolie Douce mix series
You can listen to the previous installments on Mixcloud: www.mixcloud.com/antonindebemels/
And please follow me here if you'd like to hear the new ones 🤍

Drawing: Sandrine Nicaise

1	Antonin De Bemels - Le début de quoi (Glabre Cover)
2	Harold Budd, Brian Eno - First Light
3	Alva Noto - A Forest
4	nthng - Unfinished
5	Antonin De Bemels - Comptine bis (Thomas Turine Cover)
6	Yasmine Hamdan - Hal
7	Joep Beving - Etude
8	Brian Eno, Jon Hopkins, Leo Abrahams - Abandoned Ship
9	Tomberlin - easy
10	The Cure - All Cats Are Grey
11	Antonin De Bemels - Serpentine (Ephemeral Cover Band Cover)
12	Matt Elliott - Song of Consolation

Tracks 1, 5 and 11 taken from https://thinconsolation.bandcamp.com/album/retour-des-confins

Mélancolie douce XX

"If only tonight we could sleep
In a bed made of flowers
If only tonight we could fall
In a deathless spell
If only tonight we could slide
Into deep black water
And breathe
And breathe…" (Robert Smith)

Mix enregistré le 1er février 2023, pour L.

Image: Jean-Claude De Bemels (Oosduinkerke, 1964)

1	Dmitry Evgrafov - Evgrafov: Unasked Questions
2	Aphex Twin - # 3
3	Clarice Jensen - Love
4	Bachar Mar-Khalifé - Amal
5	Rodolphe Coster - Birdstroke
6	Ramin Bahrami - J.S. Bach: Sonata nach Reinken in A Minor, BWV 965 - 1. Adagio
7	nthng - Son
8	Sophie Jamieson - The Weight Comes
9	Plaid - Perspex
10	Low - I Remember
11	Burial - Forgive
12	Easter - Bone Marrow Stem Cell
13	Alessandra Celletti - Truman Sleeps
14	Nine Inch Nails - A Warm Place
15	The Cure- If Only Tonight We Could Sleep
16	Moses Sumney - Doomed
17	Vanessa Wagner - Celeste
18	Dulces Exuviae, Bor Zuljan - La Canción del Emperador
19	Marika Hackman - I Follow Rivers

Mélancolie douce XIX

"And if you could drive
You could drive her away
To a happier place
To a happier day

That exists in your mind
And in your smile
She could escape there
Just for a while" (Martin Gore)

Mix enregistré le 26 octobre 2022, pour L.

Image: Bettina Grolleau -> https://grolleaubettina.wixsite.com/gravures ou https://www.instagram.com/bettgrll/

0	"La nuit n’est jamais complète" de Paul Éluard
1	Yael Naim - Shine
2	Fluxion - You Are
3	Anika Noris - Little 15
4	Keith Jarrett - Part XI (Live)
5	Sam Haven - Heaven Sent
6	Bill Evans, Jim Hall - I Hear A Rhapsody
7	Bohren & Der Club Of Gore - Prowler
8	Laura Marling - What He Wrote
9	Keeley Forsyth - Bring Me Water
10	Ramin Djawadi - A Forest
11	David Lang - I Lie
12	TWO LANES - Phases (Aparde Remix)
13	Daniele Luppi, Greg Gonzalez - Last Drink
14	Tamino - You Don't Own Me
15	Stranded Horse - So High
16	Brambles - Unsayable

Mélancolie douce XVIII

Composer, pianist & singer Nicky Harris aka NiCKY - the tragicomic love child of east London’s queer performance scene & Zippos Circus - supplies us with an exquisite mixtape for Piano Day.

Nicky Harris aka NiCKY makes music that exists in an utterly unique space. With playful, melancholic songs inspired by the vibrant stagecraft of drag, cabaret and contemporary queer performance as well as the classic artistry of the circus and the vaudeville, NiCKY could be a Ru Paul finalist as envisaged by Jean Cocteau; an imaginative, resplendent persona situated somewhere between Anohni, Elton John, Leigh Bowery and David Bowie circa 'Ashes to Ashes'.

Recently released by @prahrecordings, NiCKY's debut EP 'by' collects seven songs influenced by early Sylvester and The Carpenters, recorded with Euan Hinshelwood (Cate Le Bon, Meilyr Jones, Wesley Gonzalez) on analogue tape machine and vintage Barrett & Robinson piano.

Intended as a theatrical suite, bookended by the symbolic rise and fall of the stage curtain, 'by' is imbued with an intimate, dramatic sense of atmosphere, bringing to mind some hallowed nightclub headliner, all sparkling sequins by candlelight. There are lively, irreverent detours but mostly NiCKY crafts songs of tenderness; serenades in the spotlight which evoke 'Closing Time' era Tom Waits if he frequented the Bethnal Green Working Men's Club instead of dive bars in 70s LA.

For all the vivid pageantry, NiCKY’s songs recount everyday stories with lots of heart, humour and sensitivity, encompassing “road journeys, love affairs, surreal encounters & lost connections”. Their cover of the Sandy Denny / Fairport Convention original 'Who Knows Where The Time Goes' is also the best we've heard.

Following the release of 'by' and ahead of some mooted remixes and prospective plans to play End of the Road and Glastonbury, we reached out to NiCKY for a mixtape. Appropriately enough, NiCKY responded with just over an hour of music in honour of Piano Day, celebrating some eternal moments of piano-led prowess, from the virtuosities of Nina Simon and Bill Evans to the serenities of Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru and Duval Timothy to the high camp of Liberace and beyond.

Tracklist
Anohni + The Johnsons: Cripple + The Starfish (ending)
Nina Simone: You’ll Never Walk Alone
Dana Suesse: Cocktail Suite Bacardi
Chilly Gonzales: Bermuda Triangle
Billy Tipton: Begin the Beguine
Yama Warashi: Hankyu Denshya
Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru: The Homeless Wanderer 
NiCKY: 4frida
Tony Njoku: Lost Forever
Ashkenazy: Chopin in C sharp Minor 
Only One: Tearjerker
Duval Timothy: Wood vs. Yu Su
Aphex Twin: Nanou2
Nils Frahm: Nils Has a New Piano
Bill Evans: Peace Piece 
Gonzales: Guiding Light 
Peter Ivers: Love In Flight (Piano Overture)
Liberace: The Way We Were
Gen Ken Montgomery + Conrad Schnitzler: Untitled

Send in the Clowns: NiCKY’s Piano Day Mixtape

"Dans nos cœurs comme des tambours
résonnent le sang et la vie
La fenêtre donne sur toujours
Et l'horizon est infini
Au loin, les souvenirs
Au loin, les souvenirs"

(Mansfield.TYA)

Image: "Femme bouquet" (détail) par Priscilla Beccari -> https://priscillabeccari.com

1	Dakota Suite & Quentin Sirjacq - Nu Dat Deze Dag Voorbij Is (1)
2	Susanna - The Willow Song
3	Dakota Suite & Quentin Sirjacq - Nu Dat Deze Dag Voorbij Is (2)
4	Douglas Dare - Red Arrows
5	Chatham Baroque - Gaitas
6	Ivo Dimchev - Traveling Light
7	Chatham Baroque - Ausente del Alma
8	Daniel Hart - Whatever Hour You Woke
9	Alfred Deller - François Couperin: Leçons de Ténèbres: Première leçon (1)
10	Emily Wells - David's Got a Problem
11	Chatham Baroque - Folías
12	Nina Simone - Why Keep On Breaking My Heart
13	Dave - Black
14	Douglas Dare - The Piano Room
15	Mansfield.TYA - Petite Italie
16	Adrianne Lenker - Terminal Paradise
17	Alfred Deller - François Couperin: Leçons de Ténèbres: Première leçon (2)
18	J. Ralph & Antony - Manta Ray
19	Jordane Tumarinson - Éléphant blanc
20	Blue Hawaii - Follow
21	Keaton Henson - Party Song
22	Alfred Deller - François Couperin: Leçons de Ténèbres: Première leçon (3)

Mélancolie douce XVII

"Il n'y aura plus de place pour le soleil si un jour tu m'oublies
Il n'y aura plus de place pour le soleil si tu m'oublies..." (Hugues Aufrey)

Artwork: Sandrine Nicaise

Playlist:

1	John Prine - Falling in Love Again (feat. Alison Krauss)
2	Grouper	- Driving
3	aYia	- Crystal
4	Hughes Aufray	- De velours noir
5	Dodie	- dot
6	Vetle Nærø	- And There She Stood
7	Sarah Mary Chadwick	- Always Falling
8	Víkingur Ólafsson	- Badzura: Muse d'eau
9	Emika	- Dilo 22
+ "Droit de regard" de Jacques Prévert dit par l'auteur
10	Noël Akchoté	- Le Mépris (d'après Georges Delerue)
11	Serge Reggiani	- Cet amour (d'après Jacques Prévert)
12	Woodkid & Nils Frahm	- Winter Morning I
13	Sea Oleena	- If I'm
14	Jon Hopkins	- Wintergreen
+ "Je suis comme je suis" de Jacques Prévert dit par Madeleine Renaud
15	Jacques Prévert	- Les enfants qui s'aiment
16	Lucinda Chua	- Until I Fall
17	Kate davis	- True Love Will Find You in the End
18	Grouper	- Thanksgiving Song
19	Ex:Re	- Misery Is a Butterfly
20	Alfred Deller	- Music for a while (Purcell)
21	Broken Twin	- The Aching
22	Max Richter	- Richter: Mirrors
23	Sohn	- Song to the Siren
24	Vetle Nærø	- Stuck in a Dream
+ "Chanson" de Jacques Prévert dit par Simone Signoret
25	Noël Akchoté	- Falling In Love Again

Mélancolie douce XVI

Devine light is about the light which can arise from our deep inner self, which can be gifted from the Universe if we open our hearts, if we fullfill ourselfs with pure, true love and kindness. Playing such music it`s like connecting to the Universe and let the Devine light go deeply to your hearts through my hands freely 🤍
The music is based on my own live improvisation. 
I bealive it will help you in positive way, heal your body and soul. Enjoy it!

feel free to subscribe on my youtube channel :
https://www.youtube.com/@RelaxingPiano8

Devine Light | 1 hour of Relaxing Piano Music (live session) | calming nature sounds

YunChan Lim - Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58

Piano Concerto #3

Rachmaninov plays Rachmaninov

LIve recording from premiere at the Festiwal Muzyczny Trzy-Czte-Ry. Konteksty. Kontrasty. Konfrontacje – 19.11.2024 / Studio Koncertowe Polskiego Radia im. Witolda Lutosławskiego  w Warszawie

Andrzej Karalow – Some whispers of mists and water above, hidden in the rocks (2024) for clarinet, violin, cello and piano

The work is inspired by japanese poetry dedicated to landscapes, nature and its atmosphere and it reflects the sound and mood of constantly flowing water. In the steadiness of the subtle wall of sound, I try to integrate and mix timbres of all of the instruments. This composition can be connected to ambiental sounds, to static structures, which are slowly fluctuating or evolving over time. It can be also connected to water flowing through the waterfall.

Andrzej Ciepliński – clarinet
Małgorzata Wasiucionek-Potera – violin
Marcel Markowski – cello
Andrzej Karałow – piano

Andrzej Karalow – Some whispers of mists and water above, hidden in the rocks (2024)

here and there
upon scorched fields
wild violets

by: Arii Shokyu-Ni
Picture by A C

here upon wild - naviarhaiku582

Live performance from Hashtag Lab 27.10.2024 in Warsaw

Andrzej Karalow - Luminous Gardens (2024) for vocal-instrumental ensemble and fixed electronics

Luminous Gardens is an ambient space in which the listener freely chooses the path, voices and layers to listen to. The structure of the composition consists of consonances, harmonic structures that shape the narration and segments of individual parts-sound gardens. The musical material consists of vocal-instrumental motifs separated by sections of silence and processed field recordings interspersed with pads recorded with the original Roland Juno-6 synthesizer.
Light, sound "organisms", space, reverberation - these are the main features that make up the sound environment of Luminous Gardens.
The composition was written for Hashtag Ensemble.

Match Match Ensemble (SSAATTBB) 
Hashtag Ensemble
Łucja Chyrzyńska – flute
Bartłomiej Sutt – vibraphone
Aleksandra Demowska-Madejska – viola
Dominik Płociński – cello

Lilianna Krych – conductor

Wojciech Błażejczyk – sound engineer

Andrzej Karałow – Luminous Gardens (2024) for vocal-instrumental ensemble and fixed electronics

« Prière pour notre terre » pour piano, bande magnétique et récitant
Ma nouvelle composition réalisée ce Dimanche 2 Mars 2025
Franck Douvin © 2025 Contemporary Chamber Music
Thanks for listening & sharing
I hope you'll enjoy !

« Prière pour notre terre » pour piano, bande magnétique et récitant (Ma nouvelle composition)

A solo bass piece that I've been working on for a couple of weeks. The bass is tuned C F Bb Eb G C.

Ghosts

Il y a toujours eu un piano à la maison. Mon oncle Pascal en jouait parfois, ma mère à de rares occasions. Moi je n'ai jamais "appris", mais j'écoutais, m'aventurais parfois à pianoter quelques notes… Ce que j'ai continué à faire jusqu'à aujourd'hui, écouter beaucoup, pianoter un peu. Il y a toujours un piano ici qui ne sert pas beaucoup, avec sous chaque touche cette sorte d'émotion latente, particulière, au potentiel immense, qui ne demande qu'à être activée par un toucher sensible. Et cela tout le monde en est capable, musicien-ne ou pas. D'où cette idée de faire un mix spécial Piano Day, avec un maximum de contributions originales enregistrées pour l'occasion. J'ai lancé des invitations à participer, trouvé un bon micro à prêter - merci Yvan! - et enregistré quelques beaux moments, la plupart improvisés (ou presque). Parmi les participant-e-s, il y a des ami-e-s dont la musique n'est pas forcément la pratique principale (ou le piano pas forcément l'instrument de prédilection) et d'autres que je ne connais pas mais dont la musique m'a touché lors de mes pérégrinations internautiques... Ci-dessous la playlist, et encore plus bas des liens pour suivre les artistes qui vous auront le plus fait vibrer. Bonne écoute!

Photo: session studio avec Jann Dūne, 25 mars 2025

Playlist :
Antonin De Bemels - Ceux qui restent, module piano 1
Eva Koliopoulou - Η Μνημειώδης Απόδραση του Οράτιου Σουώρτς
Antonin De Bemels - La douceur (piano solo), variation
Hughes Devos - 17 mars impro I
Lucy Claire - Dear Shadows
Antonin De Bemels - Ceux qui restent, module piano 5
Marco Lucchi - [year's end] Farewell
Haroun - Sirène inversée
Mr. Pepper aka A.Sh feat. Edward Burton - Moent
Antonin De Bemels - Ceux qui restent, module piano 3
Boris Gronemberger - About Luc
David Christophe - 21 mars impro IV "si tu m'entends"
Marco Lucchi - Music for a film to come
Antonin De Bemels - La douceur (piano solo), thème principal
Olivier Taskin - 25 mars impro XII
Lucy Claire - Willow
Hughes Devos - 17 mars impro II
Jann Dūne - Birds in the Attic (25 mars, prise 4)
Olivier Taskin - 25 mars impro V
Juju - 15 mars impro "constellation"
Lucy Claire - Nettle
Julie Nayer - 15 novembre 1993
Olivier Taskin - 25 mars impro III
David Christophe - 21 mars impro III "sans filet"
Rachel Langlais - Latinitas
Antonin De Bemels - La douceur (piano solo), final
Olivier Taskin - 25 mars impro IV
Hughes Devos - 17 mars impro III
Rachel Langlais - Institutioni
Olivier Taskin - 25 mars impro IX
David Christophe - 21 mars impro I "départ"
Antonin De Bemels - Jour de neige
Olivier Taskin - 25 mars impro VI

Pour approfondir :
Antonin De Bemels (Bruxelles) -> https://antonindebemels.bandcamp.com
Eva Koliopoulou (Athènes) -> https://soundcloud.com/eyaklp
Hughes Devos (Bruxelles) -> https://thinconsolation.bandcamp.com/album/la-place-des-yeux
Lucy Claire (Londres) -> https://soundcloud.com/lucyclaire
Marco Lucchi (Modena) -> https://soundcloud.com/marcolucchi
Edward Burton (Saint-Petersbourg) -> https://soundcloud.com/edwardburton
Alexey Shlykov (Saint-Petersbourg) -> https://soundcloud.com/alexey-shlykov
Boris Gronemberger (Bruxelles) -> https://www.riverintolake.com
David Christophe (Bruxelles) -> https://davidlundmusic.bandcamp.com/album/ever
Jann Dūne (Bruxelles) -> https://soundcloud.com/nina-sky-w-k-coeur
Julie Nayer (Bruxelles) -> https://cimarra.be/julie-nayer/
Olivier Taskin (Bruxelles) -> https://soundcloud.com/olitaski
Rachel Langlais (Saint-Arnoult) -> https://unjenesaisquoi.bandcamp.com/album/dothe

Mélancolie douce XXVIII (Spéciale Piano Day)

Antonin is an artist from Brussels. He makes music, mistakes, mixtapes and masks. All with love.