Pearl Grey

Order Page: https://seabuckthorn.bandcamp.com/album/turns
Subscription Series Page: http://losttribesound.com/declineseries
Subscribe on Bandcamp: http://smarturl.it/declineseriesbc

After 2016’s well-received EP,  'I Could See The Smoke', experimental guitarist Andy Cartwright (aka Seabuckthorn) returns with his new full-length album 'Turns', releasing April 21st on vinyl, CD and digital with Lost Tribe Sound.  Cartwright immediately caught our attention with his commanding full-length album 'They Haunted Most Thickly' in 2015. With 'Turns', Cartwright further solidifies his anomalous position within the genres solo guitar music, American primitive, and modern classical. 

The vinyl and CD edition arrive in the ever stunning physically and sonically minded fashion that LTS has become known for. 'Turns' takes form with a lush 180 gram audiophile grade vinyl housed in a heavyweight reverse printed jacket (limited to 500). The lacquer process vinyl edition was masterfully cut by Paul Gold at Salt Mastering in NY. Each edition comes with a Bandcamp download coupon. Plus, 'Turns' introduces a new handcrafted panoramic CD design (limited to 150 editions). 

'Turns' is an album wrought with vertical forms, heavily cinematic in design and scope.  It’s an album built from the earth. With eyes closed, one can easily imagine heavy rusted spires rising and collapsing upon themselves, only to be rebuilt from the rubble in the same instant, ever clawing towards the sky, with the rumblings of massive tectonic plates shifting below.  That said, 'Turns' is far more of a cerebral experience than its predecessors. transitioning seamlessly between hypnotic long-form pieces, minimal harp-like ballads and the primal stomping world-builders that have become Seabuckthorn’s calling card. 

Cartwright wields his minimal, yet powerful arsenal in new and intriguing ways throughout 'Turns', comprised of various twelve string guitars, a well worn resonator guitar and heavy waves of lumbering percussion. Plus, for the first time ever, Cartwright invites an outside player, composer and fellow friend of rustic orchestration, William Ryan Fritch to play double bass on three of the songs. In addition, LTS is honored to have worked with visual artist Gregory Euclide (Bon Iver, Lubomyr Melnyk) on the incredible original cover artwork for 'Turns', and sound engineer James Plotkin who handled the mastering.

Turns

Occurring Water

Buy Album

Seabuckthorn - Occurring Water (from Turns)

Pre-order 'Golden Times 1' on EP/DL here: http://phonofile.link/golden-times-1

Electronic producer Max Cooper and ambient master Tim Hecker rework Ben Lukas Boysen on his new EP 'Golden Times 1' – out on Erased Tapes, June 30th 2017.

Championed by many including BBC Radio DJ Mary Anne Hobbs as the standout track from his most recent album 'Spells', Boysen’s 'Golden Times 1' forms the very heart of his new EP with the same name. Boysen entrusted none other than Max Cooper and Tim Hecker to meticulously shape and lure the title track plus second single 'Nocturne 4' into two entirely separate territories, yet never drifting too far away from their original soundscapes. With 'Evensong' the composer himself contributes a previously unreleased piece. It is yet another example that Boysen is still opening new and unexplored doors in a bid to challenge the existing realm of contemporary music he is very much a part of.

Words from Ben and Max, May 2017:

“Spells was somewhat of a conceptual release for me, so the choice of the remixing artists and where the original material could be taken was very important. Max and Tim, both being role models for me ever since I began listening to their work and who delivered this incredible abstraction, I felt were spot on for this release and were dream candidates to work with. Their ability to re-direct and even re-invent the original material, partially subtle, and with an almost brutish sense of imagination, honors the originals deeply.” — Ben Lukas Boysen

“Ben has been one of my most listened to artists of the past year or so. His last two albums in particular, have meant a lot to me, and provided me with focus when I needed it. So I was excited to have a chance to remix his work. I felt like I couldn't improve on his idea, but what I could do was take what was the core for me, and expand it. It was just a matter of running with the feeling I got from his original, sticking with his melodic forms and original instrumentation, and letting the growing intensity continue along it's established path to the only possible end point of total annihilation in chaos and distortion. My version is almost a continuation of his original if it was allowed to blossom into percussive format, rather than a traditional remix.” — Max Cooper

The golden EP cover art was created by Torsten Posselt at FELD as an extension from the initial album artwork he also created for 'Spells'.

TRACK LISTING

1. Golden Times 1	
2. Evensong 
3. Golden Times 1 (Max Cooper Remix)
4. Nocturne 4 (Tim Hecker Remix)

Ben Lukas Boysen - Nocturne 4 (Tim Hecker Remix)

Composer and drummer of Dawn of Midi, Qasim Naqvi, releases his debut album for Erased Tapes on May 3rd. 'Teenages' captures the sound of electronics living, breathing and mutating of their own accord – almost autonomously – with only subtle, sparing but perfectly-judged and masterful guidance.

This album is one singular synergy between Qasim and his machine within a broader milieu of sound, also explored by contemporaries Sarah Davachi, Alessandro Cortini, Caterina Barbieri and also the forefather, Morton Subotnick. At points tonal, textural and rhythmic, over six evolving and growing audio organisms, the album flourishes upwards in stages, from initial micro-sonics to something bigger, brighter and anthemic.

With 'Teenages', Naqvi summoned all the material on an analog modular synthesizer – a voltage-controlled sound generating system comprised of multiple modules. Naqvi built this synth over the course of two years and amassed a collection of works for this album. The album chronicles both Naqvi’s understanding of writing for this type of instrument and the growth of the instrument itself:

“I started with just a few modules. And naturally things had to be layered and pieced together but as the synthesiser and its components grew over time, I was able to create broader and more complex strokes in the moment. And by the time I got to ‘Teenages’, it was possible to create a robust, large-scale piece spontaneously. This is very much an experiential album for me because it was borne out of my direct experience of learning the instrument. And as the synthesiser grew over time with more components, it matured. At times I felt like it was even rebelling against my instructions or surprising me with what felt like its own choices. When everything was finished and I was thinking about track titles, this idea of artificial intelligence came into my head; a machine that reacts to your impulses and is capable of giving you something different from what you ask, and even defying you. It felt like different stages of growth and adolescence, and that lead to the album title, ‘Teenages’.”

Deeply rewarding on close listening, Naqvi has created an inspiring and synapse-stimulating new masterwork, within the analogue/modular cannon.

· pre-order 'Teenages' on LP/CD/DL: https://idol.lnk.to/QasimTeenages

Teenages

No Tongue

Buy LP/CD/DL

Qasim Naqvi - No Tongue

Caught In The Wake Forever is the solo project of Scottish multi-instrumentalist & songwriter Fraser McGowan. 
Treading a path of quiet lo-fi, ambient, folk & modern classical music, Caught In The Wake Forever has had releases on a variety of highly regarded labels such as Archives, Dronarivm, Fluid Audio & Hibernate Recordings. 
From the delicate torch songs of 2011's debut album 'Against A Simple Wooden Cross' to the nocturnal drones of 2016's 'Under Blankets', each recording has dealt with matters of emotional strain and release. 
Caught In The Wake Forever's newest offering 'Waypoints' is the first full length album to step away from this formula. Whilst previous albums drew on deeply personal subject matter to guide the writing process, Waypoints navigates unknown territories using improvisation as its starting point. Recording began with two intense day-long sessions of modular synthesizer and acoustic piano. The resulting hours of improvised material were then gradually shaped over a 4-year period, McGowan relying on his musicianship and intuition to structure the compositions. 

These exploratory pieces retain the abstract textures and sketch-like arrangements from which they were sculpted, finding form with the contemplative melancholy and delicate melodic warmth that characterises Caught In The Wake Forever's music. Seven instrumental works that sound like distant radio signals interspersed with fragments of lonely lo-fi piano, broadcast from an unknown, isolated location. 

Words by Chris Gowers (2019) 

Written & recorded by Fraser McGowan 

Performed by Fraser McGowan 

Rogers Eungblut Upright Acoustic Piano, Yamaha C5 Classical Guitar,
Ibanez Blazer Series Electric Guitar, Korg MS2000, Roland SH101, 
Moog Slim Phatty, Akai S20 Sampler, Make Noise System Cartesian, 
Arturia MicroBrute, Arturia Analog Lab, Harmonium, Pearl Acoustic Drums, AM Radio & Digital Processing 

With 
Colin Morrison 
Ibanez GA5TCE-AM Classical Guitar & Boss RDD-10 Micro Rack Delay (A1 & B3) 

Darren Galloway 
Roland JU-06, Roland Aira TR-8 & Boss DE-200 Digital Rack Delay (B3) 

Yellow6 
Gretsch G6134 Black Penguin Electric Guitar, EHX Platform Compressor & Strymon Flint Reverb (B3) 

Produced by Fraser McGowan & Darren Galloway 
www.connectedbylandscapes.com 

Special thanks to Chris Gowers, Colin Morrison, Darren Galloway, Andrew ‘Woody’ Woods, 
Jon Attwood, Euan & Ali Millar-McMeeken & Agus Mena for making this record possible 

Mastered by Taylor Deupree 
www.12kmastering.com 
Photography by Alexander Kopatz 
www.go70north.com 
Archives58 // ArchivesCD39 
Archives / 2019

Buy Vinyl/CD/Dig

Caught In The Wake Forever - The Houses Here Have Changed Lately

A new track mixing real and virtual instruments.

Sun Prints

Today I'm featuring a track by a Toronto based composer, Joshua Van Tassel, taken from his upcoming album, titled Dance Music Volume II : More Songs for Slow Motion, scheduled to be released in September of this year on Backward Music. During these troubled times, I feel like I keep going back to cinematic, ambient, and sombre music more and more. Almost every email I receive begins with "How are you holding up?" and it's almost awkward to admit that I'm okay, obliged to all this music that surrounds me to keep me centred, calm, and virtually connected to musicians that outpour their soul. Such is the case with music by Van Tassel. "Every day we are exposed to scenes of despair, ugliness, and struggle," says Joshua in the intro, "and I wanted to make a really beautiful album." The album is inspired by an electronic musical instrument named Ondes Martenot which is played by moving a metal ring along a wire (generating oscillations in the transistors). And "like the instrument that inspired it [...] the music is elegant and expressive, the score to a movie inside your head." The "Eternal Turtle" is a slow blooming piece, featuring The Venuti String Quartet, and Van Tassel on the electronics, piano, and of course the Ondea, the modernized version of the instrument.

"‘Eternal Turtle’ was the first piece I recorded for “Dance Music Volume 2”, and features only the Ondea. I had gotten the instrument about 2 months prior, and had been practicing every day, very slowly, and trying to play in tune. It’s very similar in tuning principle to a violin, where the slightest finger turn can cause the note you’re playing to be sharp or flat. I had started to experiment with more effects pedals as well, and created the ambience you hear at the very beginning of the track almost by accident withe a Chase Bliss MOOD pedal. For some reason, the sound immediately made me think of a giant, slow, and very old turtle moving slowly through and even older forest. I improvised the main line that runs through out the piece thinking about how this creature would move, then layered everything else immediately after. Compared to the other pieces on the album which in some cases took weeks, this one came out in one sitting and was the first time I felt like I had touched on the sound of the album I wanted to make. It was a lovely gift from a turtle I hope to thank in person someday." --Joshua Van Tassel

Dance Music Volume II: More Songs For Slow Motion

Eternal Turtle

TRACK PREMIERE : Joshua Van Tassel - Eternal Turtle

Ushering in the first Ambientologist single, Rinnovare offers a duo of stunning pieces that expand with emotion and grace. Washing over with heavenly textures, yet grounded in the soul of the strings and piano, Ingrávido presents a duality of tales, one humble and the other uplifting. 

Download it here: https://bit.ly/3ikpmVJ

More than just a pairing of tracks, these artefacts of rebirth are profoundly important to Rinnovare, and it is Ambientologist's honour and privilege to showcase them.

Ingrávido

Rinnovare - Familiar Illustration

@MattEmery chats to composer @DmitryEvgrafov about his new album 'Surrender', how he came to work with @FatCatRecords 130701 label, dream collaborations with Nigel Godrich, his modest studio setup, his app Endel which creates personalised sound environments to help you focus and relax, hiring a copyrighter to name 500 of his tracks and much more. 

Dmitrys 3rd album 'Surrender' is out now on 130701 available to listen to and purchase here: https://dmitry-evgrafov.bandcamp.com/album/surrender

The Contemplative Podcast

13 The Contemplative Podcast meets Dmitry Evgrafov

American contemporary and neo-classical Sono Luminus appeared on my playlists ever since Collin J Rae became this label's new CEO (I think it was September of 2014). The ultra-high fidelity recordings, released on Pure Audio Blu-Ray format (and regular CDs of course) revealed a new dimension of sound from music by Bruno Bavota, Peter Gregson, and an Icelandic Nordic Affect ensemble. Iceland continues to be "one of those countries where the snow seems to melt into music…" and today's exclusive track premiere is no exception. If you are a fan of experimental folktronica act múm, then you should be no stranger to one of its founding members, Gyða Valtýsdóttir. This Nordic Council Music Prize winner is also a cellist and has appeared on numerous recordings [Headphone Commute alone lists her on albums by Dustin O'Halloran and Atli Örvarsson). This volume is a follow up to her 2016 Epicycle on which she performs music written for her, and in collaboration with, by eight of Iceland's contemporary composers: Ólöf Arnalds, Daníel Bjarnason, Úlfur Hansson, Jónsi, María, Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir, Kjartan Sveinsson, Skúli Sverrisson, and Anna Thorvaldsdóttir. The musical force is strong with this one, folks, and today we offer you an incredible piece by Anna Thorvaldsdóttir.

Shadowy, scratchy, and abundant in texture, "Mikros" is a world of its own, moody and dark, glacial and sensitive. Swelling in the low register of the cello, the notes sigh and glide across the fretboard, sending deep chills down my spine. A little over three minutes in length, this single piece has a lot to convey, using dynamics, time-shifting signatures, and complex articulations. I can only imagine what the sheet music for this one looked like. When I met Anna in Reykjavik, she told me that most of the music she composes is directly written on paper, before every being played at all. In most cases, she hears her compositions for the first time when they are performed. In this recording, Gyda brings out the sound into being, giving it life to be caught and let go.

Epicycle II

Mikros

TRACK PREMIERE : Gyda Valtysdottir - Mikros by Anna Thorvaldsdóttir

The fictitious tour of far-away lands continues, as anonymous artist Glåsbird follows the scratchy, folk-ambience of Norskfjǫrðr with a return to lonely arctic-island sounds. Novaya Zemlya is a Russian-owned island, stretching from just off the mainland between the Kara and Barents seas, with two islands split by the Matochkin Strait.

The Southern island Yuzhny is the home of a few inhabitants whereas the Northern counterpart Severny is pretty much all glacier. The added complication of sea-ice during Arctic winters have made certain parts of this land very difficult to navigate. There are accounts stretching back to the 16th century when explorer Willem Barentsz died on an expedition and his body is rumoured to have been buried on Severny.
Into more recent times, Novaya Zemlya has been a sensitive military area throughout the cold war as well as a nuclear testing site. In 1961 the world's most powerful nuclear weapon was detonated, the 'Tsar Bomba'.

In this album, Glåsbird composes a soundtrack which transcends the years of history, combining themes of explorers and Barentsz's tragic demise, isolation, climate change and polar bears, underpinned by radio broadcasts to give a slightly unsettling undercurrent, hinting back to the cold war. The track Vanya is named after a code name the Russians had for the Tsar Bomba detonation project and this piece sits at the centre of this album, in some of the most dramatic soundtrack work this artist has made to date.

The cover artwork and bonus images within the CD packaging were taken by photographer Uliana Prokhorova, who visited a few locations on the island. As always, this album uses the sounds, photography and track titles to build an imaginary soundtrack in your mind as you listen and immerse yourself in this latest sonic exploration.

Credits:
Written and produced by Glåsbird
Mastered by James Edward Armstrong
Photography by Uliana Prokhorova
Packaging Design by Harry Towell

Novaya Zemlya

wlr080 Glåsbird - Novaya Zemlya

A playlist of contemplative classical music including old friends and new discoveries.

13 The Contemplative Podcast meets Dmitry Evgrafov

Contemplative Classical

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