Written & performed by Ben Lukas Boysen
Published by Erased Tapes Music

Ben Lukas Boysen – Gravity

Unveil

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Julia Gjertsen - Unveil

To give buoyancy of the murmurs in the abyss within us:

A meditative piece, and an experiment between 3 different melodic cells where the second and third cell has an additive note.  Each cell repeats once the melody reaches the note E until the combination of the notes are played full circle.   The pulses in between notes are measured carefully and are equally considered in the cycle. 


Release date:
29 March 2021

Photo by Sean Shimmel

Discordance Within

The other day I watched a video of a pianist signed to a major record label performing his latest magnum opus. It was so bad. I hate to talk smack on the platform which I have purposely devoted to the absolute positive expansion of the music. But there was just something about that particular performance that really turned me off. Was it the formulaic basic chord progression? Was it the senseless pounding on helpless piano keys? Or was it simply a lack of all emotion, in which the execution of this piece seemed to exist? I was a bit dismayed [to say the least], and so I actually sat down and then composed a piano piece myself. I guess it was a sort of insurrection against the mass-produced, the stamped and truly tepid. I guess I simply wanted to make sure that feelings still may be conveyed. So it's no wonder that this morning I turn over to one of my favourite independent labels and their latest upcoming release from Tom Adams to premiere his beautiful and tender track. At just a bit over two minutes in length, the deceptively simple notes gently fall upon these spent and tired ears, and suddenly I am cradled in the warmth of intimate and sensitive sounds, and suddenly I hear the emotion and the soul. It's not the instrument, the chords, and not the melody. It's not the colours, not the flavours, not the words. It's how these all transmit from one towards another. It's how the message is conveyed and then received. And if it fails to carry all that must be mentioned, then maybe it's not worth in saying it at all. But in the case of Adams' morning afterglow of sounds, I'm glad he shared it with Moderna and with me.

"Golden waves is an album about experiential flow, and the many forms in which it can be enjoyed. In the winter of 2021 a series of heavy storms hit the south west of England, in their wake came lines of swell that broke upon the coastline of Cornwall in a joyful rhythm. During that time I went out each day searching for waves with my surfboard. As the sun set the light would often reflect golden across the water and the lines of arriving swell. After the surf, and with visions of those golden waves still playing in my mind I recorded a series of late night piano improvisations. This album is a collection of my favourite moments from these sessions." - Tom Adams

Golden Waves

Afterglow 1

TRACK PREMIERE : Tom Adams - Afterglow 1

Tamsin

Brombaer Complete Discography:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5Tb2Ely0vng2ikdeEBnSda

Spotify ▸ https://open.spotify.com/artist/6YfaSFnkikJYEHnjmau9cJ
YouTube  ▸ https://youtube.com/channel/UCuCOvssxIhl71OAsXcfqTJQ?sub_confirmation=1
Website ▸ https://brombaermusic.com

Firefly

Brombaer & Poiken - Firefly

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

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Western Skies Motel - Whirl (from Settlers)

from 'Landscapes of the Unfinished' [CD|LP|DIGITAL]
Denovali Records · den251
available on all formats at [http://denovali.com/pianointerrupted]

Recorded partly in Senegal with local musicians playing traditional instruments, "Landscapes Of The Unfinished" is Piano Interrupted's 3rd album for German experimental label Denovali.

This album sees pianist Tom Hodge and “electronician” Franz Kirmann explore a more introspective approach to their sound. The sonorities and recordings the pair brought back from West Africa are deconstructed, mangled and texturised, turned into a pointillist landscape until only a faint and distant souvenir remains.

These beds of pulsating soundscapes and earthy textures serve as base for Hodge’s delicate piano phrases and intricate compositions, interlaced with long-time collaborator Tim Fairhall's fluid double bass playing.

Harsher territories are also visited during the 9 tracks that compose the LP; fuzzy Senegalese radio voices and the distant memory of African percussion collide with distorted bass and buzzing drones or screaming textures battle with screeching double bass sounds and tortured piano strings.

The overall tone of the album reflects the duo’s desire to musically translate the experience of the Dakar trip (where Franz Kirmann grew up), but also to break away from the first two albums' intricate programming and editing and instead go towards a writing and recording experience directly inspired by their live experience. Hodge’s clarinet, an important facet of the Piano Interrupted live show, is captured on record for the first time. 

This surge towards documenting a moment, leaving a trace or examining something concrete is further reflected in the choice of titles (all named after the musicians who took part in the recordings) and also the design, which is for the first time a photograph. Taken by filmmaker Cath Elliott, who travelled with the pair to Dakar to document the process, the album artwork captures one of the numerous half-built structures, infinite and abandoned, surrounding the studio in the suburbs of Dakar, and provides both an unfinished urban landscape and yet when viewed as a single moment in time, one of many compellingly complete landscapes of the unfinished.

Landscapes of the Unfinished

Piano Interrupted - Vieux

Single track of the album Reminiscence by Aukai
Stream & Download: https://aukai-music.lnk.to/P6haa
Order Limited Edition CD: https://aukai.bandcamp.com/album/reminiscence

Markus Sieber - piano, ronroco, guitars, bass
Alexander Nickmann - synth, melotron, vibraphone
Miguel Hiroshi - drums

Mixed by Moshik Kop, London

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Reframe

Bonus Track Remix by Ben Lukas Boysen from the album 'Branches Of Sun' by Aukai www.aukaimusic.com
More about Ben Lukas Boysen: https://benlukasboysen.com/
Erased Tapes: https://www.erasedtapes.com/

Branches Of Sun

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Distracted By Clouds (Ben Lukas Boysen Remix)

Happy Piano Day 2021 people! A new quiet filled the air last spring as nature had the chance to become loud again through lockdown. Instead of the sound of traffic, I noticed the chorus of life in the garden: the abundance of bees, birdsong and new blooms. I wanted to respond to this in music, with sounds equally as hopeful, light and delicate as the unfolding of life in spring. I hope it brings some joy :-)

Piano, Glockenspiel & Violin Pizz - Joel Pike
Saxophone - Andy Lowe

Mastered by Noel Summerville at 3345.
Written and produced by Joel Pike - all rights reserved.

Tamsin

Bill Covill

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