Sudden Softness

Yes, I have already premiered two tracks this week (see Plïnkï Plønkï and Resina), and yes, this is another premiere of a track, and yet it is immensely needed, wanted, and necessary during these somewhat anxious times. “Rjóður” comes from the Icelandic composer Snorri Hallgrímsson, whom I’ve profiled on many occasions before (see also his In the Studio with… feature), as well as celebrated for his film music, which has been backed by the wonderful Moderna Records (home to many fantastic modern classical and solo piano composers, such as Jacob David, Ed Carlsen, Tim Linghaus, Tambour, and even yours truly). This particular piece appears on Hallgrímsson’s second EP titled Landbrot II – the first having been released last November with five pieces, and now, a year later, with five more. “The collection takes its name from the location of Hallgrímsson’s family cabin in rural Iceland, which he describes as his ‘happy place’. Landbrot translates to erosion or ‘land fractures’, and from this, we can imagine the search for inner calm and acceptance amongst the many obstacles of daily life.”

Read more about this release here: https://hcdi.gs/Landbrot

Landbrot II

Rjóður

TRACK PREMIERE : Snorri Hallgrímsson - Rjóður

I’m taking another quick break in the midst of my Best of the Year feature to premiere this beautiful piece, and then, I promise, I’ll finish up publishing all of these year-end lists [only one more to go!] before the end of this week. Meanwhile, let’s all spend some time in the company of Vanessa Wagner, a French pianist who’s, in my humble opinion, doing something for the modern classical scene, what Martha Argerich did for the contemporary classical in the 20th century. It was indeed the debut recital of Argerich’s 1961 performance that thoroughly captivated me in her execution of Liszt’s Piano Sonata in B Minor [I still think it is the best rendering of that beautiful piece]. And it is Wagner’s solo piano virtuoso performances of music by Philip Glass, Nico Muhly, Suzanne Ciani, Harold Budd, and yes, even Brian Eno & Roger Eno, on this upcoming release on InFiné is what’s raising the bar for the next level of music appreciation from these present classical composers of the ambient and electronic music scenes. The imprint had previously showcased Wagner’s talent when she partnered with Murcof for Statea in 2016. Three years later, we were graced with Inland, on which Wagner played music by Bryce Dessner, Moondog, and Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch, among many others. For The Study Of The Invisible, Wagner continues her exploration of the minimalist repertoire, with many rare and unpublished pieces, some that have never been performed on the piano before. In today’s premiere, I’m sharing a composition by Ezio Bosso, an award-winning Italian composer who sadly passed away in May of 2020. This is a gorgeous minimal piece that resonates in the quietude of early morning and leaves behind the traces of melancholy, yearning for hope, and ultimately the acceptance.

More details, plus a video here: https://hcdi.gs/Before6

Before 6

TRACK PREMIERE : Vanessa Wagner - Before 6 [Ezio Bosso]

In a sonic world which currently appears to be saturated with meditative and reflective music, it seems too hard to meditate and then reflect upon the meaning of this saturation. Is it the fact that we’re all receding into quietude and need a bit more space for all our mental health, or is it simply the machinery behind the scenes that works like a suggestive algorithm to feed us more of what we want? I suspect the truth lies somewhere in between because it’s a little bit of both. Thankfully, I think I can see right through the latter, and bring you closer to the former because there are a few artists, and more importantly, record labels, that really focus on aesthetics, delivering music that connects every listener, and not just dilutes them with more of the same. In this particular case, I am speaking, of course, of Moderna, which since 2015, has been offering us beautiful gems. With their latest release, this Montreal-based imprint is introducing us to a Polish composer and pianist, Piotr Wiese. Building upon a successful string of film soundtracks, singles and albums, Wiese is currently working on a new LP for the label, but today we can get a sneak preview into his world with a charming title track, taken from his upcoming EP in September. “Coming Home” is a lovingly executed solo piano piece, with roots in European romanticism and newly-born branches in contemporary classical and reductionist minimalism genres – exactly how I like it. It’s a poetic melody that comforts and quilts, reminding me so much of those meditative and reflective pieces that I love so much to console in, even if they come from a turbulent mind of my own.

"Coming Home is all about a journey – the one you undertake to get to know your true self. Sometimes a lot of time has to pass to get to the place where you live your own life, rather than the lives of others. And then when you get to that place it feels like ‘coming home’ from a long journey. There can nonetheless be sadness because there are people, often loved ones, you have to leave behind to live in peace with yourself amidst the joy of the return to self."

Coming Home

TRACK PREMIERE : Piotr Wiese - Coming Home

I find it absolutely fascinating and, at the same time, truly inspiring thought, that with the untimely passing of Jóhann Jóhannsson in February of 2018 (wow, almost four years ago now!), he still really lives on through the music he made. And not just through his own. And although he left an incredible void, it's not like someone just stepped into his shoes. Instead, a significant number of collaborators and followers that he touched through the years continued to carry his legacy through their own unique sound. His light didn't go out - it just exploded into hundreds of thousands of fragments of many other lights, that are now expanding, forming their gravity, and with time growing larger. And I sort of wonder if that would have happened if it didn't happen the way it already has. That is an absolutely fascinating and truly inspiring thought with which I opened this write-up. In today's track premiere, we have precisely just that. Danish composer Jonas Colstrup worked closely with Jóhann throughout the years, collaborating on scores for the Japanese films Blind Massage (2014) and The Shadow Play (2018). Inspired by the late musician's approach to neo-classical minimalism carried forth with the cinematic elegance, as well as the incredible score by Ryuichi Sakamoto, Alva Noto and Bryce Dessner for The Revenant (Milan, 2015), and contemporary compositions by William Walton and Arvo Pärt, Colstrup gently sculpts a sonic chrysalis of emotion, in which one wants to wait out all current angst. And if this was a blind listening session, you may have even thought I'd uncovered an unreleased Johannsson track, with those scaling chord progressions and the beautiful arrangements performed by the Budapest Art Orchestra and Theatre of Voices. But to be clear, once again, this is not a copy, made from a mould lifted from Jóhann's work. It is an unmatched gorgeous sculpture, on which you may find his imprint, still warm to the touch.

At The Crest

TRACK PREMIERE : Jonas Colstrup - At The Crest

Taken from the upcoming album 'Längd' - containing over 70 minutes of unreleased material from Hummingbird...

www.fluidaudio.co.uk

Längd

Hummingbird - Längd

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

I don't know about you, but I can always tell whether a piano piece was performed by a human or whether it was programmed into a sequencer, note by note, even when all the latest advances in technology allow for fluid variations in the time signature, dynamics, and timbre of every single triggered key. There is something about those subtle hesitations, where time stops for a brief moment, like a heart skipping a beat, which is somehow connected with the player, and, indeed, with the listener. These tiny deviations tend to disrupt the expected flow of music, and it is in the unexpected that we seem to delight. We tend to get lost, mesmerized, and, for a brief moment, be at peace as the perception of [our remaining time] is expanded and then contracted again in that dreamlike essence of the musical moment. Australian composer and pianist Josh Cohen understands and embraces these nuances in his works. On the album opener, "Tachypsychia", which I am premiering for you today, Cohen emphasizes these delicate pauses, which break free from the constraints of the predicted and the foreseen. They're maybe very tiny, but they're truly there, and these minuscule divergences in time transform this moment into an emotionally resonant piece of music.

"Every time I play this track, the piano keys just melt under my fingers. I love the story that it tells and how it feels like time slows down. The tempo of Tachypsychia is probably my most default tempo when jamming on chords, so it’s no surprise that this track was inspired from a breakdown of a much faster track that I’ve written. I also often find that technology and music notation makes us put everything into neat little boxes because that’s the template we’re given as composers. There are very subtle hesitations of time stopping for the slightest of moments in Tachypsychia, which is where the track title is derived from. It’s subtle, but it really transforms the track for me." -- Josh Cohen

Weird Time Signature

Tachypsychia

TRACK PREMIERE : Josh Cohen - Tachypsychia

Milk And Flower

Solo piano, recorded direct to reel to reel tape using vintage pre amps.

Particle xii (reaction to dancing)

Remix of 'A Bevan Rotation' by Bruised Skies, original version appearing on
'Moon Zero' [CD|LP|DIGITAL]
Denovali Records · den238
available on all formats at [http://denovali.com/moonzero]

Moon Zero - A Bevan Rotation (Bruised Skies Remix)

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

Earlier this year, Icelandic composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Snorri Hallgrímsson released his debut album on Moderna, titled Orbit. I’ve spent more than just a few hours with this wonderful album, often reminding me of more vocal works from Ólafur Arnalds, with whom Snorri has collaborated on many occasions (the album was primarily recorded at Arnalds’ studio in Reykjavik). It was still on the list of albums to share with you, my readers, when an opportunity to premiere this beautiful rework presented itself. Orbit Reworked is an upcoming four-track release on Moderna, featuring remixes and re-imaginations of pieces by Luke Howard, Tom Adams, Slow Meadow and, the focus of this exclusive premiere, London-based cellist, Peter Gregson.

At some time, between all the firm work, and his very own release on the esteemed Deutsche Grammophon, titled Recomposed By Peter Gregson: Bach – The Cello Suites [stay tuned for an in-depth write-up on that, folks], Gregson found a moment to add his beautiful cello touch to the already gorgeous “… og minning þín rís hægt” track (which loosely translates to “and your memory rises slowly” from Icelandic), with its moody swaying passages lamenting over the sparkling piano glimmer. And at only a bit over three minutes in length, this gentle piece manages to capture the weather and the scenery of the internal brewing storm, even without the words to prompt us of the story.

"… the songs on Orbit explore the difficulties of living in and moving between vastly different places: from Mexico’s sunny days to Iceland’s long winter nights and their emotional toll. Orbit is also about people met along the way, of friends and family whose absence is bittersweet. The concept of ‘home’ is replaced by an ‘orbit’ the composer circles from place to place.”

While the full-length was mastered by Ian Hawgood, Orbit Reworked is backed by a touch from Taylor Deupree at his 12k Mastering studio. The artwork is courtesy of Elín Elísabet Einarsdóttir   who also produced the cover for the Orbit. The release is out this Friday, and I highly recommend that you pick up the album as well. You can pre-order it now on Bandcamp.

Orbit Reworked

…og minning þín rís hægt (Peter Gregson Rework)

TRACK PREMIERE : Snorri Hallgrímsson - …og Minning Þín Rís Hægt (Peter Gregson Rework)

Frank Dukes - Couches

Taken from the upcoming album 'For Victoria' released through Fluid Audio: 31.08.19.

Audio: Pepo Galán
Vocals: Sita Ostheimer
Mastering: Rafael Anton Irisarri at Black Knoll Studio (NY)
Design: Daniel Crossley

Mailing list:
www.fluidaudio.bigcartel.com/mailing-list

For Victoria

Pepo Galán - Abstract Dream With Haines

Track taken from Dustin O’Halloran's upcoming album 'Lumiere' released via FatCat’s 130701 imprint (a home for the orchestrally/classically aligned composers attached to the label)

Sudden Softness

Daryk Richards