There's a lot of work behind the scenes in Headphone Commute headquarters. All the email reading, promo sorting, and, of course, the listening and writing take up lots of time to make sure that I can bring you honest music on a regular basis. Sometimes, my "job" is mitigated through the trusted filter of a record label. After all, they invest more than just time into their supported artists. There are many such examples where I can turn to a favourite imprint and pretty much enjoy every single release. For many years now, since 2006 to be exact, I have been following the output of an Italian label founded by Alessandro Tedeschi, which he called Glacial Movements. As the name implies, the music put out by the imprint specializes in glacial and isolationist ambient soundscapes, "places that man has forgotten... icy landscapes... fields of flowers covered eternally with ice..." It's a beautiful place, and I have been a fan of the albums, including that of Tedeschi's own Netherworld project. Today, we're stepping away from these frozen territories of the inevitable future and instead take a look back at the ancestry of the past. In particular, the new album by Massimo Pupillo turns our attention towards the Indigenous people of the Arctic, who have been inhabiting some of these hospitable lands since the dawn of human civilization. The track I am premiering for you today, "Horagalles", is titled after the thunder god, often depicted with a sledgehammer in one hand and a cross-hammer in the other on the Sami shaman drums. It's a beautiful and slightly eerie piece, full of enigmatic worship, belief in the unknown, and of course, the distant rolls of thunder.

Our Forgotten Ancestors

Horagalles

TRACK PREMIERE : Massimo Pupillo - Horagalles

On August 27th 2023, I received the very sad news of the untimely passing of Brian McBride at the age of 53. There is so much more that I can say about the emotional turmoil that this has caused in me and the entire music community. But today, I won't talk about the darkness in which the world is left with one more going-out light. Instead, I'll celebrate his music, which is still among us, flickering with energy to light and show the way. "Far From Home" is the "Diminished Stories Mix" which Brian made for Kenneth James Gibson's Further Translations album, collecting remixes by the likes of Jack Dangers, Christopher Willits, Scanner, Awakened Souls, and a few others, reworking pieces from Gibson's previous albums (in this case, "Far From Home" appeared on his 2018 release In The Fields Of Nothing). Gibson met McBride in the late 2000s, and the duo started a band, Bell Gardens, in 2009, exploring "the realms of Americana, chamber pop, folk, and psychedelic pop." For this remix, McBride begins with shimmering waves of wistful strings, which, after their introduction, subside into a bit of darkness, maybe sadness, and introspective grief, the way my mood turns every time I think about this world without the many great musicians that we lost along the way. Or, is it possible that we mourn for ourselves, and music is the way to leave a piece of us behind and be immortal, even for a bit? In any case, I'll close my eyes and play this gorgeous music, and for a moment, I'll pretend that Brian's still around. To me, that is as real as the rest...

Further Translations

Far From Home (Brian McBride's Diminished Stories Mix)

TRACK PREMIERE : Kenneth James Gibson - Far From Home (Brian McBride's Diminished Stories Mix)

Patina is the first single from Wil's forthcoming Null Point LP.  
Stream: https://ditto.fm/patina-wil-bolton
Purchase at Bandcamp: https://theslowmusicmovement.bandcamp.com/track/patina

"Patina" is anchored by downtempo dub techno constructs, swept along by heart wrenching strings & dotted with celestial electronic tones, triggering multiple sonic pleasure centers simultaneously.

CREDITS:
Wil did it all, well apart from the mastering which was done by Ian Hawgood.

LINKS:
If you're smitten with the ambient condition then follow Wil on all major streaming platforms and wherever you feel comfortable:
wilbolton.co.uk
wilbolton.bandcamp.com
www.instagram.com/wil_bolton/
www.facebook.com/wilboltonmusic/
soundcloud.com/wilbolton
vimeo.com/wilbolton

BIOGRAPHY:
Wil Bolton is a composer, musician and artist based in East London. His work is usually site-specific and inspired by place, memory, resonance, psychogeography and finding beauty in ruins, decay and the details and textures of everyday scenes.

Wil’s audio work uses modular and analogue synthesizers, field recordings, guitars, acoustic instruments and effects to create warm and emotive melodies, fragmented and submerged among beds of droning ambient textures and environmental sounds.

Wil has released albums on labels including Home Normal, Laaps, Hidden Vibes, Krysalisound, Audiobulb, Hibernate, Dronarivm and Sound In Silence and has performed at venues including Cafe Oto, Tate Liverpool, Iklectik and The Biscuit Factory.

He has undertaken artist residencies at EMS (Elektronmusikstudion, Stockholm), Incheon Art Platform (South Korea) and the Estonian Artists’ Association and has created several site-specific audiovisual installations, including commissions for Oxburgh Hall (National Trust, UK), Liverpool Biennial (UK) and Kings Lynn Art Centre (UK).

His sound and video works have been exhibited at ICA (UK), Sheffield Institute of Art and Design Gallery (UK), University of the Pacific Conservatory of Music (USA), Bath Spa University (UK) and others. He also collaborates regularly with other composers, musicians, visual artists and filmmakers.

Wil Bolton - Patina (The Slow Music Movement)

Bersarin Quartett is not exactly comprised of a group of four people but is actually a project of a single mind that is of a  German electronic musician Thomas Bücker. I have been a huge fan of Bücker’s gorgeous compositions since his 2008 self-titled debut, which he released on Lidar. Four years later, he was picked up by the beloved Denovali Records, which has consistently appeared on these pages with their unique aesthetic that spans a variety of genres. And so I covered and praised this follow-up simply titled II, and then, in 2015, III, and then, in 2019, [finally] with a more memorable name, Methoden Und Maschinen. Suffice it to say that every single one of these releases ended up on my respective Best of the Year selections. So it should be of no surprise that I’m excited about Bersarin Quartett’s newly announced 5th album, coming out on December 15th [hey, journalists and bloggers, hit that pause on the publication of your favourites of the year!] titled Systeme. I’ve listened to the album many times now, and I can tell you that as an entire package, it brings together all my favourite elements of this particular contemporary genre and, of course, that of Bersarin Quartett’s. “While it still sounds popularly symphonic here and there, there are also many soundscapes that have an observing, almost unmasking effect.” This is particularly fascinating in Bücker’s more than successful attempt at electronic bass music, where he joins the ranks of another favourite musician of mine, Ben Lukas Boysen, seemingly blending neo-classical with neo-electronic styles, as will be evident in today’s exclusive track premiere.

Systeme

Neuronen

TRACK PREMIERE : Bersarin Quartett - Neuronen

If, 20 years ago, you told me that I'd still be writing about ambient music, I think I would have simply laughed. How much could be said, not just with words but also with these sounds? But as the years appear to speed up, I find myself immersed in it much more (even as I see so many other publications slowly disappear), discovering new layers, space and people who have another story to convey, one that I am happy to be a part of. Regular followers of this site will, without a doubt, recognise my personal connection with the present moment, often hoping to convince myself and others that we should focus on what is instead of how it was before and certainly instead of how it could be. How could it possibly be any other way? How could we not be here and now, experiencing all that's happening around us as it could only be? Are there better times ahead of us, or is it only doomsdays? And does it really matter when we get there in the end? Okay, I'll pause here for a time and focus on the music, premiering for you a piece by Austin-based ambient artist TJ Dumser, who releases music under his Six Missing moniker. This piece is titled "Guidance", and it is taken from his upcoming full-length, Here For Now. Across the twelve pieces on the album, soft pads, swirls, and swooshes are echoed in a faint, reverb-drenched ambient calm, sometimes accompanied by the quiet acoustic guitar strums, sometimes allowed to simply expand into infinite indistinct space. It's in this space where I find myself writing these words. Here for now... and hopefully for a little bit more...

Here For Now

Guidance

TRACK PREMIERE : Six Missing - Guidance

Grenzwellen Zw​ö​lf

Cat.No: GW 13
Release Date: December 1, 2023
Mastering: Thorsten W.D. Berger
Cover: Katrin Rathsfeld

Get the full compilation here : https://grenzwellen.bandcamp.com/album/grenzwellen-zw-lf

Grenzwellen Zwölf

Observing Stillness

More often than not, a respected label introduces me to a new artist or a project. Sometimes, a rare instance occurs in reverse, where a favourite artist appears on a previously unknown [to me] label. This is the case with the Philadelphia-based Andrew Tasselmyer, whom I’ve been a fan of for his solo ambient releases on imprints such as Shimmering Moods, Constellation Tatsu, Polar Seas, Eilean, Home Normal, and laaps, among the many, but also as a member of Hotel Neon, which I’ve been following via Past Inside the Present, Thesis, Archives, Sound in Silence, and Fluid Audio. All of those are very familiar to me – in fact, you can find most of them in my Labels Directory, but the Las Vegas-based Mystery Circles is definitely new, and I only recognise a few names on its roster. So, more for me to hear! Now, back to the release! Titled Where Substance Meets Emptiness, this 8-piece album features more than just Tasselmyer’s beautiful ambience, with some piano keys and field recordings. There are lots of sparkling and shuffling beats and percussive elements reminiscent of the early IDM era, where harmony met rhythm. The track I am premiering for you today, “Flowers in a Storm”, reminds me of those days when I would listen to Arovane, Dabrye, Metamatics, Deaf Center, and Secede. This makes me want to revisit my very own liftmuziek sessions!

"Beyond the edge of the world there’s a space where emptiness and substance neatly overlap, where past and future form a continuous, endless loop. And, hovering about, there are signs no one has ever read, chords no one has ever heard.
— Haruki Murakami (Kafka on the Shore)

Taking in the magical surrealism of the celebrated Japanese author, Tasselmyer composes music that fades in and out of reality, bridging the atmospheric world of dreams and the present moment, where we find ourselves floating and merging with all the beautiful vibrations. Featuring some sonic postcards from his friends (Steven Kemner, Dave Mantel, and Sean Galloway), Tesselymyer paints a new world to traverse – one that is as imaginary as it is real, where “ordinary methods and immediate results are ditched along with their traditional maps in order to reach uncharted places of the imagination.” It’s an absolute pleasure to wander within this open space, and I find myself pleasantly lost among its many turns and expansive pastures.

The full album is out tomorrow, January 30th, 2024, on Mystery Circles. Mastered by Taylor Deupree, it is available as a digital, CD, or cassette edition. Beautiful album cover by his brother, Michael.

Where Substance Meets Emptiness

Flowers in a Storm

TRACK PREMIERE : Andrew Tasselmyer - Flowers in a Storm

As I mature and fine-tune my musical journey, I seem to gravitate more and more towards the contemporary classical genre. Why is that, and do you feel the same? I think, for me, it’s all about the connection. I want to feel emotion expressed from the composer’s soul through instruments attached to human hands. They feel like an extension of articulations flowing into sound. I also think that electronic music has that capability as well [I’ve recently acquired the Osmose from Expressive E, and let me tell you – it’s entirely something else]. And then, there is, of course, the blend of both where certain frequencies [especially the low end] can’t be generated entirely by organic means. Or when dense atmospheres and textures cloud the landscape with a gorgeous dew. This is how I feel about the latest album from the Melbourne-based composer Callum Mintzis, who first appeared on these pages a few years ago when I premiered his collaboration with Pat Jaffe in the video for V. Murmur. Mintzis is also collaborating with Tilman Robinson, who co-produced this latest album [and yes, I hear a bit of his conjuring touch]. The album is titled "And the Wind was my Dear Friend, Once Again", and across its seven pieces, Mintzis explores the mysteries of life through many philosophical questions posed alongside the release, but it is the music itself that will make you reach deep inside your own existence for the answers you will find.

And the Wind was my Dear Friend, Once Again

TRACK PREMIERE : Callum Mintzis - Once Again

The other day, I was discussing with my good old friend the constant fluctuation of the music release pendulum that I follow, oscillating between my absolutely favourite artists and labels [where sometimes it can feel like I am inside an echo chamber] and chasing the latest and new [where sometimes I am guided by marketing trends of PR]. As usual, the sweet spot is somewhere in the middle, and I will still chart my own course. Today is an immensely gorgeous example of the former, where I am eagerly celebrating a brand new release from my favourite artist – Ben Chatwin. And this is a perfect model of balance, where Chatwin does not simply sharpen his skills but projects them another leap forward, creating another new style that one day, I’m sure, will stand out as prime. If you peruse these pages you’ll be sure to find nearly every release from Ben Chatwin going back to 2015, and then, once again, even further in time, to 2008, when he was recording under another named project. But with his latest releases on Village Green, the last of which was The Hum (2020), Chatwin managed to evoke the voice of the inorganic, blending melodic beauty with intense sonics and tense, edgy rhythms. “Obsessed with the physicality of sound, Chatwin utilises modular synthesis to imbue life and instability into the recordings. Pushing his exploration of analogue textures, audio is passed through an arsenal of compressors and saturators to build layers of grit and grime around this new set of tactile compositions.” So yes, I’m a massive fan of his compositions, and yes, I have even secured a coveted remix of his for an upcoming single I intend to release any day now [more on that later!]. For his new album, titled Verdigris, Chatwin set up his own imprint, Disinter, to take us down his forward-thinking evolution of sound.

Verdigris

Dolmen

TRACK PREMIERE : Ben Chatwin - Dolmen

This may be the first time that Dawn Chorus and the Infallible Sea are officially appearing on Headphone Commute, but I assure you, I have been listening all along, starting from their self-titled debut release on Past Inside The Present to the more established Liberamente out on Jonas Munk's (aka Manual) Azure Vista imprint in 2019. Of course, besides the solo works by these monumental ambient composers, Zach Frizzell (aka zakè) and Damien Duque (aka City of Dawn) have previously collaborated together, and their 2023 album on PITP, Ash, was picked as one of my favourites of the year. Here, they are joined by Marc Ertel to round up the project, which appears to spearhead the "dronegaze" genre, this time forward driven by orchestral textures, guitar swells, and bass ("Cadere" is my particular favourite piece). Today, I am sharing the last track from their upcoming new album, Reveries, rounding off three-quarters of an hour spent in tranquil waves, sunny rays, and drifting bliss. It's an overall positive and soothing experience, approaching cathartic and restorative treatment as if pointing something towards your entire being, which releases vital healing energy and something you can drown in, becoming one with everything at once. Maybe "curegaze" or "ambientonic" is a better term for that...

Reveries

Aufero

TRACK PREMIERE : Dawn Chorus and the Infallible Sea - Aufero

a decidedly gothic start to this piece and although the theme is consistent, there are developments which may be construed as unorthodox.....
think Ryuchi Sakomoto's "Sheltering Sky". 
the harmonies provide a hint of something unearthly or maybe from the crypt? 
the efx include local rooks and a very ancient bell located in Veauche, France.

Romanesque

some original solo piano pieces...  some mixes from my podcast... some exclusive track premieres...  and some tracks from the albums I review for Headphone Commute... Enjoy!

TRACK PREMIERE : Ben Chatwin - Dolmen

Headphone Commute

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