My favorite sound scapes.

A continuously updated seasonal selection of ambient, modern classical, and electroacoustic works (closed June 7, 2024).

Image by Irina Iriser (@iriser) via Unsplash
Source: https://unsplash.com/photos/photograph-of-cluster-of-flowers-HDhplk3v9WE

Field Journal Companion - Spring 2024

fave listenings of May

*

Zygmunt Krauze

"musica assoluta" (maggio 2024)

~ LAAPS 021 ~ [SEQ.03 - LP21]

artist : Tomotsugu Nakamura
 album : Nothing Left Behind
duration : 41.06 mn
 date : July 21st, 2022

edition :
-  vinyl : limited to 300 copies / marble ultra-clear + violet LP / hand numbered 
- cd : limited to 200 copies / hand numbered + handcrafted, sealed

----------------------------------------------------------------
pre-order : June 27th, 2022 / official release : July 21st, 2022
----------------------------------------------------------------

All songs written and produced by Tomotsugu Nakamura.
Recorded between Nov 2020 and Sep 2021.

Mastered by Taylor Deupree
Artwork by Russel Burden
Design by Sprflxgrfzm

----------------------------------------------------------------

Links :
https://laaps-records.com/
https://tomotsugu.bandcamp.com/

----------------------------------------------------------------
℗ & © 2 0 2 2 - L A A P S - L A A P S 021

Tomotsugu Nakamura - Poolside

Sensorama - Echtzeit

Waltz In A Dream

Haku

Dedicated to Jello Biafra :)

Hexfarm is

Phil Bywater - Saxophones/Flutes
Dane Renshaw - Drums
Mat Ward - Bass Guitar/Vox

Track 3 from Hexfarm - who meet once a year to jam for a couple of days then head back to their various corners of the world : )

Drink Wank Cry - Hexfarm

CHAINS (2024)

..someone say that May is a crucial month in the year.
 it has always brought strange suggestions to me, difficult to describe.
 clear skies, oppression, promises.
 a sense of latency, something imminent that never comes to an end.
It's the second version, i find new parts for a more rich harmonic, melodic and rythmic structure. now need to work on the dinamic of notes and the legatos with the pedal.

The title refers to the magnificent poem of the same name 
by Arthur Rimabud, written in May 1872.

Still in progress

Bannières de mai:

Aux branches claires des tilleuls
Meurt un maladif hallali.
Mais des chansons spirituelles
Voltigent parmi les groseilles.
Que notre sang rie en nos veines,
Voici s’enchevêtrer les vignes.
Le ciel est joli comme un ange.
L’azur et l’onde communient.
Je sors. Si un rayon me blesse
Je succomberai sur la mousse.
Qu’on patiente et qu’on s’ennuie
C’est trop simple. Fi de mes peines.
Je veux que l’été dramatique
Me lie à son char de fortune.
Que par toi beaucoup, ô Nature,
– Ah moins seul et moins nul! – je meure.
Au lieu que les Bergers, c’est drôle,
Meurent à peu près par le monde.
Je veux bien que les saisons m’usent.
À toi, Nature, je me rends;
Et ma faim et toute ma soif.
Et, s’il te plaît, nourris, abreuve.
Rien de rien ne m’illusionne;
C’est rire aux parents, qu’au soleil,
Mais moi je ne veux rire à rien;
Et libre soit cette infortune.

Mai 1872

Bandiere di maggio:

Tra i rami dei tigli
muore un esangue grido di caccia.
Ma canzoni argute
volteggiano fra l’uva spina.
Il sangue rida nelle nostre vene:
ecco che già s’intrecciano le viti.
Il cielo è leggero come un angelo.
L’azzurro e l’onda si confondono.
Esco. Se un raggio mi ferisce
io morirò sul muschio.
Pazientare ed annoiarsi
è troppo semplice. Al diavolo le mie pene.
Io voglio che la drammatica estate
mi leghi al suo carro della fortuna.
Possa io morire per opera tua, Natura,
ma meno vuoto e meno solo!
Mentre i Pastori, è strano,
muoiono quasi per opera del mondo.
Desidero che le stagioni mi consumino.
A te, Natura, io mi arrendo,
con la mia fame e tutta la mia sete.
E tu, per favore, nutri e disseta.
Niente, più niente mi illude;
ridere al sole, è ridere ai genitori,
ma io non voglio ridere più a nulla;
e libera sia questa sventura.
Maggio 1872

bandiere di maggio *2nd.study

"緑陰 (shade of trees)"

art work: Cheerfully_lost via pixabay

緑陰 (shade of trees)

As a boy, my dad raised seahorses as a hobby.   He always told me that after the babies were born, the mom had to be removed from the tank so she wouldn't eat them.   I later realized this was a metaphor.

seahorses

Dronarivm is thrilled to announce the release of Enrico Coniglio's highly anticipated album, "The Sirens of Titan". Its title pays homage to the renowned novel by Kurt Vonnegut, inviting listeners on a journey filled with guitar tapestries and space oddities. Enrico Coniglio's personal approach to ambient music promises to transport audiences to uncharted realms of delicate emotions. In "The Sirens of Titan," Coniglio masterfully crafts yet another captivating installment on his musical path, delving deeper into the evocative world of melancholic soundscapes and expanding the horizons of his sonic exploration. 

The limited physical edition is presented as a 6-panel digisleeve with 8 prints on tracing paper, featuring original drawings by Alina Lutaeva (alinalutaeva.art), based on scenes from the novel and created specifically for this release. The digisleeve is packed in a black cardboard slipcase, hand-stamped, and hand-numbered. 

“A purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved.” 
― Kurt Vonnegut, 'The Sirens of Titan'

All tracks written, arranged and produced by Enrico Coniglio. 
Recorded and mixed in Venice in 2016-2023. 
Cover photo by Dario Camponogara 
Original drawings by Alina Lutaeva 
Mastered by Ian Hawgood

Buy CD / DL

04 As They Fall

Look, I know that many of my opening words often begin with “Today, I am thrilled to share with you a new piece by [so and so]”, but how can I not use the exact same opening line when one of my all-time favourite piano composers reaches out to me to premiere a piece from his newly-announced long-awaited album? This Norwegian musician’s first proper solo studio release appeared on the beloved Sonic Pieces in 2014, which we only later learned to be part of a trilogy of albums. But that doesn’t mean that I spent only the last decade listening to Otto A. Totland – together with his school friend Erik K. Skodvin, the duo has been making beautiful music as Deaf Center, releasing Neon City EP in 2004 on Type. We now see him being backed by Nils Frahm, who not only shares the production credits on his upcoming new album but also releases Exin on his very own Berlin-based LEITER imprint, which he founded with his manager Felix Grimm only a few years ago. This also means that the album was recorded at Frahm’s studio at Funkhaus complex, offering the most beautiful-sounding piano in the hands of the most beautiful-sounding mind. The emotionally charged and sometimes melancholy sound is still present in Totland’s collection of sixteen solo piano pieces, but there is also an upbeat and vibrant tint on a few, including the first single, “Marka”, which follows a classical staccato harmony that I can envision being played on a harpsichord. Yet pieces like “Lys” take me back to that particular flavour of Totland’s sonic tenderness to pull on my heartstrings, allowing me to get lost in those barely audible reverberations of the keys. The piece I’m sharing with you today is called “Rift”, an introspective and sombre reflection in just a few pensive chords.

Exit

Rift

TRACK PREMIERE : Otto A. Totland - Rift

Light, as perceived & portrayed by Hollie Kenniff (aka Hollie Evelyn) in a fine-drawn dialogue between a sparse piano and pastel synth tones. The mood is one of profound calm and serenity, with each new harmony patiently and perfectly pulling us gently along. In the soft glow, we hang on to every word, just to await that next whisper of consciousness we all yearn for… Portrait of Light is the Canadian-American vocalist and composer's ephemeral contribution to our 2024 single series 'Pigments'. 🎧 https://moderna.ampl.ink/light

Portrait of Light

stream/download

Hollie Evelyn - Portrait of Light

First single off of the upcoming album NINA. 

Violin by Milo Weil. Vocals by Ellyse Wagener. Produced by Brady Moen for Midwestern Records.

Spandrel

We are thrilled to announce the signing of Pariah for a debut full length, Here From Where We Are, due for release on July 13th 2018. The artist’s first release in six years marks a natural progression in his sound across nine interconnected pieces.

Arthur Cayzer was a relative late comer to dance music. He grew up in various hardcore and punk bands before moving to London and being swept away by dubstep. After just six months messing around making his own stuff on Logic, Pitchfork coverage piqued the interest of the legendary R&S, and over the next two years he released three EPs with the Belgian label. Each one showed subtle evolution and further established Pariah on the international scene. 

Since then, Arthur has continued to DJ round the world and play live with Blawan as Karenn. Musically, though, he’s been adrift. With countless unfinished projects cluttering his hard drive, he felt he’d pressured himself into making the music people expected, rather than music that was an honest reflection of himself. It was only by taking a step back to analyse the music that has always resonated with him—and where, how, when and in what context it did—that gave him a renewed confidence in his work. After one track was finished, an album of coherent pieces naturally followed.

Although Here From Where We Are is inspired by a series of very personal reflections, responses and reactions, Arthur is keen for people to process it in their own way, free from interference. Opening with the transcendental ‘Log Jam’ which spills into the huge, empty and plaintive ‘Pith’, the artist distills his experiences into an album of nine moving, multi-layered tracks, where peculiar textures combine with rich harmonies and absorbing melodies into a heady mix of abstracted environments, formally structured songs and sound collages. Absorbing from start to finish, Here From Where We Are is a long overdue return and accomplished new direction for this rejuvenated producer.

Here From Where We Are
VINYL / CD / DIGITAL

01. Log Jam
02. Pith
03. Seed Bank
04. Linnaea
05. At The Edge
06. Conifer
07. Rain Soup
08. Drug The Lake
09. Here From Where We Are

BUY | STREAM

Pariah - Linnaea

Happy to share some new music from ISAN member Robin Saville today: "The Deepdale Halophyte Economy" is the first glance on the upcoming album "Build A Diorama". 9 minutes of ambient bliss, merging the aesthetics of his main project with field recordings & gentle drones. Available now everywhere, f.e. on Bandcamp, Spotify & Apple Music / iTunes.

The Deepdale Halophyte Economy

Stream/DL

Robin Saville: The Deepdale Halophyte Economy

Flim - Aphex Twin

Dutch independent label focused on contemporary ambient / modern classical music.