Springkell 2021

Grief, it is something some of us know first hand and most of us will eventually know at some point in our lives. It is an inescapable reality of living, of loving, and caring for something so much, the reality of losing it initiates a transformational process of our being and psychology. It is a painful reminder that life is, in fact, temporary and the choices we make while we still can, matter. 

From a scientific perspective there is a lot we now know about the grieving process. Research shows that the dimensions of space, time, and perceived closeness all impact how we feel pain.  We feel it when we lose people but it also extends to other things we have a closeness to. Activists have caught on to this idea and used it to protest climate inaction - laying dead in public spaces, gathering for red processions, and even holding funerals for dying glaciers. 

This serves as inspiration for this year’s mix, using sound to explore the process of grief in relation to some of the remotest places in the world. It is intended to show the frigid beauty of our polar regions and the processes surrounding this vast mass of frozen life; changing faces with the rising heat, slowly moving and shifting from solid giants to melting objects.

As they break away from us and their fate is streamed across the world to reach our devices, do we feel a shiver down our spine at the news of their slow icy death? Can we draw a connection between their lives and our own?

Our ability to feel grief beyond our immediate connection to people is in some ways more about our ability to know the true closeness and value of something outside our own small world. This knowledge hinges on the way we come to understand our closeness, and the way that it is being communicated to us. 

The reason I do this Strange Rituals series is because sound is a powerful mode of communication, and it can help bridge connections to other states of being. Although this was one of the most challenging topics to grapple with in this series, it is also one of the most important. 

Grief can be painful to confront but I chose it for this mix because it can also invoke a motivating state. My hope is this small action can raise awareness and challenge the ability of our perception to exist & feel beyond the immediate, confronting climate anxiety head on, going through the process and taking action in the best way we can. 

Researchers to follow on insta: @heidisevestre @iceypete
Please support something: https://juststopoil.org/ or https://extinctionrebellion.uk/donate/

Tracklist 
Stéphane Marin & Ludovic Medery - Phonokainôsis 
Jana Winderen - Interview With Carlos Duarte
Lionel Marchetti - Portrait D'Un Glacier (Alpes, 2173m)
Peter Cusack - Ice Bells
Aphex Twins - Parallel Stripes
Julianna Barwick - inspirit 
Bethan Kellough - 16 Lines of Flight
Biosphere - Skalbrekka
Sciama - Selui
Daniel blinkhorn - recording opposite a glacier in a small fjord
Loscil - Black Tusk Descent
Ryuichi Sakamoto - Glacier
Daniel blinkhorn - recording iceberg fragments from shoreline
Donato Dozzy - 12H.4
Maggi Payne - Arctic Winds
Institute of Landscape and Urban Studies (ILUS) - Freezing
ILUS - Ablation
Tomas Jirku - Entropy8
ILUS - Drone
ILUS - Bubbles
Soundwalk Collective - Khandroma
ILUS - Crevasse
ILUS - Milk
Drew McDowall -  Agalma III (Beacon ft. Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe)
Jez Riley French - glacier heated
Charles Curtis - Unfinished Song
Oliver Coates feat. Malibu - Them (Prologue)
Oskar Jakob Tomala – Sub Space Aeternitatis
Jonathan Fitoussi - Anagram
Shackleton - Nowhere Ending Sky
Sciama - Aquet
ILUS - River
ILUS - Pond II
Ali Wade - Elongation
Tomas Nordmark - Exit
Aboutface - We Think We Sway We Rumble Im Numb My Base Shrieks Its Time Now We Will Tumble
Ludovico Einaudi - Elegy For The Arctic

Strange Rituals Vol.7 - Grief

This is a radio documentary broadcasted on Resonance FM in 2014. This piece was composed from a dinner that offered a sonic journey into traceability, sustainability, and commercial ethics of food culture in Kent, England. Each course consists of a composition representative of the areas of cultivation of oysters, venison, and apples. Also this documentary contains detailed interview material from farmers talking about their trade. 

Tasting Sound: Radio Documentary

“Trancing can be empowering for all concerned, attesting to the divine presence in one’s midst, legitimising religious beliefs and practices of community, and often bestowing deep satisfaction on the individual trancer. Trancers are always active and often dance - a response in part because of their deep emotionality. They welcome emotion, they offer themselves to emotion as they enact emotion. Musical immersion stimulates emotion and facilitates their special attentiveness, their consciousness.” 

Judith Becker

Tibetan Bells 2: Henry Wolff and Nancy Hennings
The Solar System: Ryoji Ikea 
Electronics Without Tears: F.C. Judd
Kinematic Optics: Polar Inertia
???
Vanishing Points: Rrose
Papiro Teopatia: Marco Papiro
Possible Musics: John Hassell and Brian Eno
Ohns Odegard: Varg
Mood Hut: Slow Riffs
The Fast Line: Drum Communication
???
Etudes: Yair Elazar Glotman
The First Contact: Notfromearth
All in All: Cio D’or
Doctrine: Skymn
My Benevolent Shackle: Aboutface
Ambiq: Tobias 
Eating the other: Rrose
Leaving Benn Street: Steam Locomotion
Lixiviation: Suzanne Ciani
Depth Over Distance: Conforce
???

Strange Rituals Vol.2 - Trancing

In this mix you can hear snippets from select sound artists performing live during a sleeping research concert conducted March 2016. The aim of the event was to explore the affects music might have on deep relaxation, sleep, and altered. Please the website to look at pictures from the event, to read our research report, and get more information about future research programs.  

http://www.eightfoldway.org/soporose.html

Full recordings of each performance can be found here: https://www.mixcloud.com/eightfoldwayevents/

Soporose: sleeping research concert mini-mix

The music I have chosen for this mix culminates a year of inspiring sounds that celebrate some aspect of human life, time, breath, tone, rhythm, or voice existing in an extended dream sequence. 

Like my other ritual mixes I hope to expose the power of sound to depict or induce an altered state of consciousness through ritualistic expression. The human within this framework acts as a vessel that can display, although sometimes under strange circumstances, the many perceptions of life and dreams. Through the artist's exploration and our own interpretation we are able to see beyond the narrow spectrum that much of the world wishes us to live within. 

Respect to all of the artists featured on this mix. I suggest listeners to take the time to research about their musical creations but if there is a particular piece of music you want to know about, please do ask by leaving a comment and I will try to answer. The artwork is from a print by the mighty Mira Varg. (http://miravarg.com/MIRA-VARG)

Lani Rocillo
Sun Ra
Mark Geary
Ryo Murakami
Eliane Radique
Pascal Savy
Heather Pearls
Aboutface
Live Low
Mika Vainio
Fluxion (Capybara select)
Loscil
Mogador
Asusu
SAM
o.utlier/ Taro
Meredeth Monk
K. Leimer
Ariel Kalma
Chris Watson
Donato Dozzy
Howlround
Andrea Belfi
Yves Tumor
Èlg
Anna Caragnano/ Donato Dozzy (Bazza secret 33 mix)
Brian Eno/ David Byrne
Orphx
Pauline Oliveros
Tim Hecker
Mark Geary

Strange Rituals Vol.3 - Sleep

This mix is a collection of strange interpretations of nature, celebrating some of the most wonderful characteristics found in Earth’s cyclical ecosystems.

Mimicry, rhythm, and musicality are strong components that shape the mix. From the chatter of insects, to the depths of the oceans, and the expansion and graceful flight of birds, I hope that the listener can consider the strain their ecological footprint might have on our delicate symbiosis. 

The core of the Strange Rituals mix series attempts to expose the power of sound to depict or induce an altered state of consciousness through ritualistic expression. When applied to this year’s concept, one could question the limitations of the selected compositions to embody or connect the listener to nature; even the mix itself deserves this analysis.   

Why do artists feel compelled to embody the natural world when we all have access to it? What is their message and are we listening? Even further, can the somewhat unnatural depiction of nature, composed by modulating electronics or through the reshaping of recordings, have the capacity to truly express the beautifully psychedelic living world that surrounds us?

Although science is now supporting the belief that manipulations of nature do, in fact, simulate similar responses to being in ‘real nature’, I am still inclined to answer… no. We must spend more time listening and appreciating these living soundscapes while we still have it! 

As always respect to the artists featured in this mix. If you want to know about a particular composition or section, please make a comment or PM me with the times and I will try to respond back quickly. The poem read at the beginning of the mix was 'Sleeping in the Forest' by Mary Oliver. Thanks to Aszyk for the floral cover image instagram @studioaszyk.

Most of all, thanks to Mother Nature for the inspiration!

Strange Rituals Vol.4 - Nature

This year’s Strange Ritual mix was an exploration into virtual realms of creativity and consciousness, trying to map an understanding out of the complexity of our current era. 

It is undeniable that a sense of chaos and unpredictability is pervasive throughout modern culture as we try to filter out meaning from our over-stimulated lives. There is such an excess of knowledge, yet we are led into the future by those that seem to know least, and whose ideologies seem so poorly informed.

Technology plays an interesting role in the trajectory of our future selves. Whether we like to admit it or not, it is increasingly difficult to avoid contributing to the growth of technology. There is a pervasive forward movement that should not be misunderstood as a constant accelerating force. All signs are pointing towards even faster rates of change in the future, with no clear way to control exactly where we are going. 

Consider the fact that electronic circuits function about one million times faster than biochemical. If you set a human level artificial intelligence to work on a problem for one week, it will perform 20,000 years of human intellectual work. If the algorithm is even slightly misaligned with human values, it may in fact create a world without us or perhaps just for a select few of us. 

Led by these concerns, I have investigated the following key topics: automated algorithms; electronic research; virtual collective consciousness; mimicry; entheogenic technologies; pop-culture clickbait; political manipulations of the self through virtual social networks; deepfakes; radical uncertainty; the rise of anxiety and the marketing strategies that profit from it; utopianism; machine ethics; the birth of artificial general intelligence; and a fascination for dystopic tropes. 

Like my other Strange Ritual mixes, I hope to convey a perspective that allows us to see things in a different light. In times like these some may feel a need to disconnect and perhaps seek soothing tones and healing music to mend the soul. This mix is not that kind of ritual. Instead it is aimed at confronting the stark realities and harsh truths of our potential future states of being.

Unlike previous mixes, I have avoided the use of my record collection in favour of solely digital source content. There are several unreleased compositions by artists that have lent me their music directly. Equally there is a wealth of released music by lesser know artists. Please take some time to explore their other music. Thanks to those who have contributed to this mix and thank you for lending me your ears. 
￼
A special thanks to Hanzo for the image too. Check him out here: https://instagram.com/h2olab

Emily Howell by David Cope - Land of Stone
Ruth White - Spleen 
Karlheinz Stockhausen - Kontakte
Multicast Dynamics - Interior 1967
Lucretia Salt - Concentric Nothings
Daphne Oram - Power tools
Actress/ Young Paint - ai paint
Yona - Memorise
Michel Redolfi - The Underwater Park At Sunset
Catherine Christer Hennix - The Well-Tuned Marimba 
David Tudor - Rainforest 
Hems - In the Forest with Georgina (unreleased)
They-Group - Astral Bug  (unreleased)
Haruomi Hosono - Hotel Malabar Ground Floor 
Roland Kayn - Invarianten
Nozomu Matsumoto - Climatotherapy
Robert Ashley - Automatic Writing 
Eight Fold Way - Manipulation of our virtual self (ft Renee DiResta)
Roland Kayn - Logatome 
Gérard Lavender - The Public Image
ai.disco - Darknet Marathon Queen (unreleased)
Renick Bell - Differentiation
Line Katcho - Sweet rumbles
Alwin van der Linde - Hallelujah Fields (self-released)
Yuki O Conjugate - Noiseflaw 
Kailin - Gimp
Zuli - CommProto 
Line Katcho - Dérive 
Decentralised wealth - Sophia
Use intelligence - Sophia
Ancestral Voices - Divination 
Pascal Savy - Echoes of a Black Hole Eating a Star 
Geir Jenson - Stromboli 
Alex Sangster - Happy Camper
Natasha Barrett - Deep Layer
Cam Deas- Exercise 1 
Rafael Anton Irisarri - Sky Burial
Dadabots - evolution 5

Strange Rituals Vol.5 - Algorithms

Masaru Emoto amassed an occult following from his research investigating the fractal formation of ice crystals as a way of proving that human consciousness can affect the molecular structure of water. His theories are largely debunked as pseudoscience but perhaps there is something to discover if we take the opposite perspective, considering the impact water has on human consciousness and how it manifests itself in our creative sonic articulations?  
 
Our connection to water is inextricably linked to life on Earth. It permeates through the air and courses through the rivers of blood in our veins. My dad elected for his ashes to be spread in the sea before he passed earlier this year, a common request to reconnect to a living undercurrent. 

The oceanic currents, fed by glaciers and melting ice caps from mountains, feed a vast ecosystem of living organisms which provide oxygen and food to humans and other animals. The winds carry waves of vapor in the air across vast distances causing  destructive weather systems and even facilitating the expansive globalisation of humans through trade. These undercurrents have made us who we are, and they are us. 

Strangely, despite this connection we have with water, we have places in the world where those from developing nations, disproportionately women, have to spend 2-3 hours each day looking for water that in some cases is not suitable for consumption. Adversely, we can also find other places where perfectly healthy drinking water is accessible in multiple outlets in one household, but yet the residents insist on drinking it out of plastic bottles. 

These matters are but a drop in the ocean (so to speak) when we consider all of the ways we are connected to water and the worrying perspective that it is anything but a basic life necessity that all should have access to. It will come as no surprise that musicians and sound artists are inclined to channel water into the pipeworks of their compositions, whether intentional or not, as is the case with this year’s Strange Ritual mix. 

From a sonic perspective water provides an interesting point of investigation. The range of timbral differences can be quite diverse, both delicate and tranquil, tonal and melodic, or it can shake the ground with its power and pierce our ears with resonance. This mix aims to recapture and focus some of these elements, to circulate, ebb and flow, shift in tidal currents, and meander and sink to the darkest depths.
 
For me water can be likened to the fluidity between places and thoughts, a motivator of movement, and a force that flows through us and is us. I hope this ritual mix allows you to tap into deeper reservoirs of water and rethink the value it has for all life. 

Dan Nicholls - 12th April 
ASC - Ocean Shadow
Asusu - Arrhythmia
Monolake - Watching Clouds 
Pete Namlook - Diving 
Gonzo - Vinha D'alho
Ryuichi Sakamoto - Glacier  
Abul Mogard - House_on_the_river
Aboutface - Aboutface Live Pres. Holometaboly - Larva
Andrew Pekler - A Savage Topography
Vanuatu Women's Water Water Music - Sogor
Black Zone Magick Chant - Where Will We Meet When Our Ashes Are Spread In The Wind?
Félicia Atkinson - CURIOUS IN EPIDAVROS
Christina Vantzou - Garden of Forking Paths
Benjamin Lew - Etendue
Men With Secrets - 4th Dimension Signal n°2
Perila - Wet 
Pierre Bastien - Snide Dins
Jonathan Fitoussi and Clemens Hourriere - solstice winter
Eric Vann - Diving
Logos - Occitan Twilight Pyre
Toshiyuki Hiraoka -  Mum
Shōen 荘園  - unreleased 
o.utlier - Adrift 
Relinquistix - Underwater
Neel - Life on Laputa Regio
Eric Vann - Sonar
Scuba Death - 50-70 meters
jonathan fitoussi and clemens hourriere - instants ephemeres
Tr nch - Challenger Deep feat. Jacques Picard
Morton Subotnick - Touch 
Walt Rockman - Deep Sea Soundings 1
Multicast Dynamics - Tie
Scuba Death - Nociception
Michel Redolfi - Immersion partielle
Natasha Barrett - Opening
Ricardo Donoso - Dance of Attunement
Dan Nicholls- 12th April

Image credits: Jatin Makwana

Strange Rituals Vol.6 - Water

Eight Fold Under is a new thread of thinking aimed at exploring the rhythmical side of music and the power of low-end pressure.

Sliver of Light

From a set I made for an internal Google music live stream event.

Music For Programming

Exploring the multidimensionality of sound

Eight Fold Way

Popular tracks