Excerpt from Rebecca Lane & Clara de Asís "Distances Bending", live at Oscillation festival, Brussels (BE), 29 April 2023.

A collaborative composition by Clara de Asís and Rebecca Lane deriving from a series of encounters and explorations throughout different times, spaces and forms.

Distances Bending is an ever-expand­ing pro­cess — a build­ing up, dis­tilling, and mir­ror­ing of mater­i­als par­tic­u­lar to each artist, respond­ing to and inhab­it­ing a space over mul­tiple hours or days. A repeated time struc­ture, a tem­por­al loop that is altered through upwardly evolving ration­ally-tuned fre­quen­cies, vari­ous flutes (whose size, timbre and shape cor­res­pond to these fre­quen­cies), elec­tron­ics, and chan­ging light, the piece cre­ates a subtle space where per­cep­tion is transformed.

Rebecca Lane: flutes, organ pipes, whistles
Clara de Asís: synthesizer

Rebecca Lane & Clara de Asís / Distances Bending (Excerpt) – Live at Oscillation 2023

New Orval

John Chantler And Daniel M Karlsson - 6.12.23 [excerpt]

Tracklist

01. Andrew Heath - The Cloud Machine
02. Simon McCorry & Wodwo - By Water Mite
03. Scattered Light - Stretch
04. Harry Towell -  Laurus nobilis
05. Moss Covered Technology - Watching Waves From Windows
06. Seabuckthorn - Ley Line
07. Bauer + Katharina Schmidt - Night Passage
08. James Osland - The Seemingly Endless Days Of Youth

370. Sleepy Sunday Podcast (Elm Records)

Marco Lucchi, based in Modena, Italy, and Henrik Meierkord, based in Stockholm, Sweden, have a lengthy collaboration to their reciprocal credit, and they accomplish it far and near alike. A testament to the interplay of their work together is that a listener might be hard-pressed to discern which of their recordings are the result of long-distance file-trading, and which occurred when the two managed to be in the same place at the same time.

Several aspects of their respective music-making serve them well as creative partners. First of all, both tend toward the ambient, given as they are generally to a slow pace and to a sensibility that manages to be at once radiant and intimate. Secondly, while both are multi-instrumentalists, there is a complementary nature to their specialties, Lucchi being more of a keyboardist, Meierkord more of a string player. Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, they are both immersed in techniques drawn from electronic music.

In particular, both men are experienced with live multitrack recording, in which they process and layer their own performances in real time. Meierkord is fond of layering sinuous tones to create scenarios of unique dimensions. It becomes uncertain — even unimportant — to the listener what preceded what, so intricate is his deployment of interplay. Lucchi likewise finds parallels between classical orchestration and the opportunity for drones lent by modern synthesizers; in a small room he can create a vast space. There is often an oceanic depth to such efforts, part composed and part improvisatory, in which playing is a tool toward composition, rather than the other way around.

Throughout their new record, there is an underlying melancholy, a nostalgic beauty, and a reflective consideration — a virtue that is foundational to their ongoing collaboration. The result is particularly rich in plaintive scene setting, as on the glacially paced “La bestia umana,” which emerges from a neighborly field recording of a dog barking, and “Kosmisk Strålning II,” which maintains a dream-like quietude, more shadow than light. One “Like tears in rain”, what sounds like a synthesizer is, in fact, a piano, a recording of which has been stretched beyond the point of it being readily identifiable.

On first listen, their leaning toward unimpeachable steadiness can seem uniform, but listen more closely and you’ll recognize how explicitly they emote on a track like “The Third Stage,” due not just to the reaching melodic surges (which, in turn, match the sampled recordings of bird calls) but to the slight discordances that suggest trouble and tension. In a different manner, there is “A warm and golden October,” which balances breaking-dawn hush with piercing overtones. That track features a motif at the end, played on a celesta; those bell-like tones edge the piece out of dreaminess without entirely breaking the spell.

The greatest outlier — dog barking notwithstanding — may be on “Oändlig,” not just for its fierce pulse, but because of its more immediately electronic vibe. “Oändlig” is an exceptional piece, bringing to mind the minimalism of Terry Riley and the rave classics of Underworld.

Marc Weidenbaum 


Produced and mixed by Marco Lucchi and Henrik Meierkord
Marco Lucchi: mellotron, piano, celesta and synthesizers
Henrik Meierkord: cello, viola, zither, piano, organ and FX
Mastered by Dionis Afonichev (Dionisaf)
Cover picture by Dionis Afonichev (Dionisaf) with AI
Artwork and cover design by Dionis Afonichev (Dionisaf)

https://www.chitrarecords.com

Lieder Ohne Worte

The Third Stage

Format: CD
Pre-order: 16th May 2024
Release date: 23rd May 2024

While their image remains trapped in glamourous clichés, European cities (Lisbon, Paris, London etc.) undergo post-pandemic capitalist dystopia. Their inhabitants are hindered by the wear and tear of life - unemployment, debt, poverty - while millions are pumped into tourism and foreign investment. This collaborative release by Ryefield Society and James A. McDermid takes its roots in these bittersweet places where beauty is hindered by misery, pollution and/or human contempt."

S’accommoder is a quest for peace and solace in those industrial landscapes. Ryefield Society evokes urban melancholy with acoustic instruments, repetitive melodies and field recordings. Wistful and anxious from its opening track ("A dead world of sunshine and rain" - a title borrowed from the great American writer Richard Wright), this intimate journey finds relief in love and art as narrated in the meditative and organic "A focus on colours".

Perdido - Portuguese for "lost" - considers a tourist's experience of European life: eating pastries alongside the Seine in Paris, or perhaps hearing the echoing voice of the Fado singer along the cobbled side streets of Lisbon - all of it dreamy, beautiful and delightful; yet it's something slowly becoming more and more manufactured as a way to encourage more tourism and more money into the areas slowly being gentrified beyond recognition. 

Copyright © 2024 ROHS! RECORDS, All Rights Reserved

previews. Ryefield Society / James A. McDermid - S'accommoder / Perdido | ROHS!

Ambient soundscapes for your pleasure, relax, chillout and enjoy.

AMBIENT - FUTAGO SAN

1-13. Vangelis - Tears In Rain

(About song) - "Fantasia's Illusion" - is an Orchestral track focusing on a surreal, shifting soundscape where Classical grandeur merges with ethereal, global elements. You'll experience amalgamation and soloing  of the Chinese Erhu, pianos, violins and strings, angelic choir, chimes and bells, synth bass, synth pads, melodic FX. I hope this soundscape brings a sense of calm joy when listening!

Best Always!,
Joella

Fantasia's Illusion

Our next release sees the return of Ben Rath, who released ‘This Body Is Not Me’ under his other alias Slow Heart Music back in 2017. The record was well received by many circles and featured in A Closer Listen’s top ten Ambient releases that year. Between this and a project under his own name, Manchester, UK based Rath has released on labels such as Eilean, Unknown Tone and Cathedral Transmissions.

Slow Heart Music focuses on Ben’s acoustic guitar playing whilst work under his own name is typically more Experimental and drone based. In ‘Any Given Moment’ we have an album that shows glimpses of plaintive guitar combined with Ambient drones to represent fleeting moments, memories and nostalgia. The combination is both restful and tinged with warmth, perfect for the Spring and the Summer months ahead.

The music on this album focuses on experimenting with the guitar as a sound source, both for processed and treated instrumental compositions and free improvisations. Ben wanted to take some of the more Folk inspired guitar instrumentals he has created as Slow Heart Music and incorporate them into more ambient soundscapes. He also had in mind a lighter, more uplifting sound after the darker, more meloncholy themes of Black Heart Music which was released on Eilean Recs. We’re informed that Ben is brining this phase of musical creation which began in 2014 to an end, so this record acts as his penultimate full album release, with the final part due to be released this year if all goes to plan.

Any Given Moment is presented in a limited edition run of 100 copies, including artwork provided by David Gonzalez Fuster, which is a set of vintage and Polaroid photos. The faded images that represent untold memories are placed against a bright orange credits panel, which brings a warmth and splash of colour as these stories are brought to life.

Any Given Moment

wlr054 Ben Rath - Any Given Moment

Simple experiments geared towards performance, these pieces were recorded using Monome mlr & Grid, Organelle/Orac, Montreal Assembly CT5, Chase Bliss Audio Mood, and Mutable Instruments' Rings & Clouds.

I hope you'll enjoy!!

Performed/Recorded by D.Harper 6/2020

Mastered by Porya Hatami
http://poryahatami.com/

Poppy botanical by Walter Müller, 1910

Root

Elm Records is an independent record label specialising in ambient and experimental music.

370. Sleepy Sunday Podcast (Elm Records)

Elm Records

Related tracks