1 Corinthians 13:12: "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known."

I'm testing new compositions. The bass, voice, and drums (on some tracks, played by Chris Wallace) are real. The rest of the instruments are software played by myself through a midi keyboard. This is a demo album. I'll be adding a few more songs, close it, and start thinking about production.

Through A Glass Darkly

Feet Don't Fail Me Now

1960 was a marker. The establishment of Pax Americana over a half century of world war and the promise of a new future. The optimism and progress interrupted by Dylan, the Beats, and Jack Kennedy's murder.

1960 is an attempt at capturing the spirit of that year.

Manhattan

1960

AKA the death of wisdom (Sophia) done with the optimism of a New Orleans-style funeral march.

Sophia's Dirge

A Mother's Love (Helen June)

Ava's Question

eRecords is a digital record series created by Whitelabrecs, to run alongside our physical releases. These editions aim to transform the digital format into something that can be experienced in a similar way to a listener’s interaction with a real, white label vinyl record. Each edition includes a special PDF scrapbook including polaroids and liner notes.

We do not publish details about the concepts or production methods of a release, so that the liner notes and content in each scrapbook will give you the background of each edition in the series.

catalog: eR021
artist: the bird's companion
release title: the edge of the sea
runtime: 24:19
location: victoria, british columbia, canada

releases November 18, 2023

Written and produced by Casey van Wensem
Mastered by James Edward Armstrong
Cover art by Casey van Wensem
Booklet art and design by Harry Towell

The Edge of The Sea

eR021 The Bird's Companion - The Unmoving Shore

Wasn't Meant To Be

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

In A Gadda Da Vida

Antietam

RABE'S RAGE

Psycho Chick

http://shop.rachelflowersmusic.com/releases

Here's my new Jaco cover!

I doubled the bass in two tracks. The only parts that are not live are the parts with thirds and sixths harmonies after the first fast part, but the rest was played all together.

The drums were from Session Drummer, the pianos are the Nord Piano 2 HA88. The rest is fretless bass.

This is from Jaco's self-titled album.

Continuum - Jaco Pastorius (cover)

Recorded Live at the Hopper House "Jazz In The Garden" Series, October 1st 2020. This is a preview of the full concert which will be released on my Bandcamp page later this month.
The performers are Chris Pasin (trumpet), Neil Alexander (keyboards & synthesizers) and Bob Meyer (drums & cymbals) with special guest Joel Newton (guitar).

Pasin/Meyer/Alexander: In A Silent Way (Zawinul)

Songwriter, musician, producer, engineer in jazz, R&B, funk, rock, and alt country/folk. All original songs.

Hollywood Music in Media Award for best song in a commercial. Chicago's Jazz Week Magazine ranked my album, The Jericho Notes, the 6th best album of the year (2004) just ahead of Al Jarreau and Alice Coltrane.

Antietam

Flatacre

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