This year, piano and coffee turns five, and to celebrate, we are releasing our first compilation: Realismo Mágico — a conceptual project featuring unconventional works by new and old friends we have made along the way.

Inspired by magical realism, an artistic genre in which realistic narrative and naturalistic technique are combined with surreal elements of dream or fantasy, this special release presents unheard material by twelve exceptional musicians — from experimental sound artist Martyna Basta to award-winning film composer Alexandra Hamilton-Ayres, and from poly-instrumental duo Brueder Selke to prolific pianist and producer John Hayes.

Each artist has contributed with a new track that invites the listeners to submerge into their very own musical universes, which, at the same time, have been re-shaped by their interpretation of magical realism. We start off on our journey with the delicate nostalgia of Tim Linghaus, passing through Jakob Lindhagen and Vargkvint’s modern take on the story of a Norse mythological creature, followed by the harmonic ambiguity in Simeon Walker’s pleasingly strong dialogue between felted piano and drums. Later on, John Hayes shares with us a chaotic composition born out of samples from an old clock in his parents’ garage and saturated voices, which precedes Lucy Claire’s processed hydrophone recordings of seaweeds and starfishes in Australian waters. Ondes Martenot, pump organ, zither, analogue synthesizers, vocal processing, musical saw, and bowed gongs are some of the unusual elements to be found on this eclectic yet coherently unified record.

Realismo Mágico has been conceptually crafted and musically curated by Peruvian composer Sergio Díaz De Rojas, and beautifully depicted by illustrator Jordan Amy Lee and graphic designer Celia Fernández González.

Lucy Claire - Kelp

Nebel lang - Wake To Unfold [RTE023]
Pre-order NOW!
Limited Edition CDs & Digital
Out : 09 / 24 / 21
rottenmaneditions.bandcamp.com/album/wake-to-unfold

Nebel lang / Wake To Unfold - Time Stands Still

Ahead of the release of their much anticipated 10th Anniversary Remastered Edition of A Matter of Life… 2021, Penguin Cafe share the remastered studio version of the album's closing piece Coriolis, along with a video of Arthur Jeffes performing a 2021 live rendition of the song on the dulcitone in his second home in Tuscany.

Watch: https://youtu.be/Kt0A8vWyM5k

The remastered track, a duet between Arthur Jeffes on piano and Oli Langford on violin, incorporates the aesthetics of the original PCO, seasoned into a confident and redefined style, maintaining that quintessentially English sound, but adding a fresh direction and a sense that they are evolving into something new and very much their own.

"The version of Coriolis that ended up on the record is actually a mix of several takes we recorded on a very slow, cosy day in the studio. It had been raining for days and Oli, our violinist, and I had the basic idea and played around with it. In the end the initial recordings sounded so beautiful I just cut together the best parts to make it into the song we have here. It always makes me think of rain."

Penguin Cafe will be performing songs from the album live at the Barbican Hall tonight, on March 22, the day this single gets released, followed by a UK festival tour this summer including The Great Escape. The album will be released via Erased Tapes on April 29.    

"Some of the most unusual and delightful music of the last 40 years” — The Guardian
“Stylistically, A Matter of Life… is a near-perfect match with the Penguin Cafe Orchestra of old” — Music OMH

Tour Dates:

22.03. London (UK) — The Barbican Centre
29.04. Belfast (IE) — The Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival (with Peter Broderick)
01.05. Cheltenham (UK) — Cheltenham Jazz Festival
12.05. Brighton (UK) — The Great Escape — Erased Tapes 十五 showcase
14.05. Saffron Walden (UK) — Saffron Hall
29.05. Hay-on-Wye (UK) — Hay Festival
01.07. Swadlincote (UK) — Timber Festival
29.07. Barnsley (UK) — Underneath The Stars Festival
24.09. Stroud (UK) — Hidden Notes (sold out)

A Matter of Life... 2021

Coriolis

Penguin Cafe - Coriolis

From "Going Home", Tristan's new album of solo piano improvisations.  Listen to/download the album:  https://tristaneckerson.com/

For "Going Home", Tristan Eckerson's first full length album in two years, the composer/pianist decided to shy away from his normal compositional approach, opting instead for an album of completely improvised pieces for solo piano. Recorded by Tristan with the unique sound of the Una Corda piano, the stream of consciousness tracks evoke the sounds of Tristan's influences, including Ryuichi Sakamoto, Tigran Hamasyan, and Ballaké Sissoko, and hover between the worlds of classical and jazz.

Endless Field (From The New Album - Going Home)

There are only a few artists out there whose aesthetic resonates with my entire being. Jason van Wyk is one of them. And at this point, it almost seems that it doesn't matter which route he goes with his music - I will always be there, absorbing it all. Except, of course, that he manages to go down the same road that I've been on myself. These are richly textured cinematic atmospherics, with gently modulated open-air pads, moving bass, and elemental particles of rhythm and sound. Shuffling grains of lo-fi sonics ebb and flow like night-time waves. Everything appears to be perfectly held together, with just the right amount of reverb and space. And then the piano comes in. Maybe it's just a few notes, but it's enough to tell a story. And I am listening with awe. I've said this before and I'll say it again - perhaps the best compliment I can give to any musician is to say that I wish I'd make such music as them. And if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then let me imitate van Wyk's sound all day long. But all these words aside, here's a piece which I am honoured to premiere. It's called "Undoing" and it's just a glimpse into the Descendants, which I cannot wait to own on white 12". I hope that you agree.

Descendants

Undoing

TRACK PREMIERE : Jason van Wyk - Undoing

Flare (2021), Yale Philharmonia under conductor Ryan Tarni Dec 9th 2021 Woolsey Hall, Yale University.

The first non-essential item I bought after arriving in New Haven for my composition studies was an anthology of poems by Mary Oliver. I had never heard of this outstanding poet before I came across her work in a bookstore in New Haven, and so I discovered her poetry in an unprejudiced and casual way. Her positive, curious, and thoughtful look at the world and life itself was like a cool mountain stream that refreshed me after this exhausting pandemic-year and the first stressful weeks in my temporary country of residence. I felt very touched by her work, and so it naturally found its way into my music, which is why I named this orchestra piece on which I was working at the time after her poem “Flare".

Flare (excerpt)
Did you know that the ant has a tongue with which to gather in all that it can
of sweetness
Did you know that?

Flare

Good morning. I hope that you are well. Today I have another beautiful track to share with you via this exclusive premiere. Or maybe it's a video premiere. I actually couldn't decide, so I've asked Cedric Vermue if I can publish both. I think it was a good decision and I hope you will agree. I first got introduced to this Dutch pianist, composer and producer of fragile, nostalgic, and serene neoclassical-meets-ambient music [the cross-over genre] when I premiered a piece titled "We Came and Left" from his Left Upon Us album on Piano and Coffee back in 2019.  Besides playing the piano, Vermue also plays the church organ as well as analogue synths which he incorporates with Rhodes during his live performances. He returns early in March, this time on a fairly new to the scene, Utrecht (The Netherlands) based independent imprint, mylja. I have previously introduced this boutique record label started by Yaron Cohen and Daniël Leseman in 2020 with this writeup of Alchi's Full Of It. I am happy to see that the label continues to persevere in its output of absolutely gorgeous music [this crazy world demands more beauty!]. And Vermue's upcoming album is a perfect addition to the catalogue! "Perpetua is the Latin word for infinity, referring to the Christian tradition that played an important part in the inspiration for this album, taking inspiration from Gregorian melodies and old organ music." The piece I'm featuring today is a recomposed Gregorian Sanctus melody (Sanctus XI) played on a piano and clarinet. The captivating video, directed by Victoria Ushkanova, and "shot on a cold wintery day in a forest near Almere", features Nicolo Zanotti, interpreting cascading arpeggios complemented by Lex Houtermans (clarinet and contra-clarinet) and Rudi van Hest (clarinet). There is a lot more I can say about the production, credits and approach, but instead of lifting the veil of mystery, I'd rather let the music do the talking... and let emotion sweep away...

Perpetua

Aether

TRACK PREMIERE : Cedric Vermue - Aether

Today, I'm listening to an upcoming release on Bigo & Twigetti, titled From the Deep, collecting five pieces by different composers, all performed by a newly formed Curve Ensemble. "Taking their name from the arc shape they perform in, Curve Ensemble is made up of a group of friends who met playing with many of the major orchestras and chamber ensembles on platforms throughout the UK and abroad." This is a collective of musicians, each bringing their own unique experience to the entire whole, turning original compositions into emotional, heartfelt, and honest music. These immersive performances include works from Angus MacRae, Jim Perkins, Tony Woollard, Anna De Bruin and Daniel Hewson. For my introduction to this upcoming album, I've selected a piece by none other than the founder of this London-based imprint, Jim Perkins. It's a deceptively simple composition, demonstrating how even the most unadorned melody can transform the delivery in the hands of the performers who truly connect with its message. If you enjoyed this, you should also check out this Bigo & Twigetti Mix put together by Leah Kardos for Headphone Commute back in 2020.

From The Deep

A Distant Sun

TRACK PREMIERE : Jim Perkins & Curve Ensemble - A Distant Sun

#relaxingmusic #RELAXINGMUSIC #CALMINGMUSIC #calmingmusic #sleepmusic #SLEEPMUSIC #softmusic #relaxmusic #calmmusic #soothingmusic #stressreliefmusic #peacefulmusic #focusmusic #ambientmusic #meditationmusic #newagemusic

Calm Music 🎵 Relax Music 🎵 Soothing Music 🎵 Evening Light Relaxing Version

out on September 9th at Dronarivm

order here: dronarivm.bandcamp.com/album/the-voy…ch-manuscript

After last year's sophomore release, The Faex Has Decimated, on Tympanik Audio, the Legiac project is back, but this time on the Russian based Dronarivm label, where the new album feels more at home. This time, the electronic duo of Roel Funcken and Cor Bolten take on a more meditative approach to their mildly glitch-infused, modular explored sounds, weaving in ambient textures, field recordings, and vast soundscapes. Titled after an early 15th century hand-written and illustrated codex, named after Wilfrid Voynich, the mysteries within this cryptic album can only be unlocked upon subsequent rotations, offering it up as a soundtrack to an enigmatic place, existing somewhere within imagination of these two prolific artists. The Voynich Manuscript slowly transforms its listener from a seemingly ordinary habitat, to a day-dream haze, to kaleidoscopic illusion - a sonic environment you thirst to visit once again...

all tracks written and produced by Roel Funcken & Cor Bolten
mastered by Jason Corder

Legiac - Ambikythera Mechanism (from The Voynich Manuscript CD)

Matthew Shaw’s travels continue. His wanderings have led him to Seatown, Sandbanks, the woods of Zeist, and the inner city of Vancouver. Now he documents a week-long trip to Lamorna, Cornwall, in the summer of 2012.

Shaw writes: “The recordings were made in the Lamorna valley, the cove, the woods and also within the Iron Age Boleigh Fogou which is an underground structure over 2,000 years old. The Fogou derives from the Cornish for Fou or Vou, meaning cave.”

“In terms of the sound of the finished music, it was recorded largely on location using acoustic guitar, bowed guitars, Moog Prodigy, my voice and a sprinkling of effects where required. It relied on the sounds of the places themselves, the trees, river and Fogou in particular. The mixing process was based on taking these raw ingredients and sculpting them into a finished whole, with the place as the focus.”

The result is a slow tide of strings, ambient vistas, and delirious harmonies that echo, then dissipate into the eponymous landscape. From the inner triumph of “Rosemerrynwood” to the tense and pulse-quickening modern composition “Bo-Lech” and the buoyant, living title track, Lamorna is a remembered call from an ancient place.

Fluid Audio presents Lamorna in a limited edition run of 100 hand made letter pressed CD’s, along with 6 large format (150mm x 150mm) double sided photographic prints taken by the artist on his journey. The package also includes a natural Larch wood slice, pressed Viola flower, rare poem by Ithell Colquhoun, download code and scent. All of the above rests inside hand typed/numbered/sealed Manilla envelopes.

Release Date: 29.03.13

Matthew Shaw: Bo-Lech

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 : Cedric Vermue - Aether

Headphone Commute

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