DR-76 : The Green Kingdom - Empyrean CD / DL
Due out on July 18th
dronarivm.bandcamp.com

'Empyrean' is the third in a trilogy of albums on Dronarivm. Whereas Expanses might be evocative of vast landscapes and Harbor the feeling of floating on gentle waves, Empyrean seeks to transcend the Earthly realm altogether. The album differs slightly from the previous two in that piano plays a larger role in many of the tracks, bringing an ethereal modern classical feel to the Green Kingdom sound at times. Although the mood ranges from pensive to lighter pieces, the intent was to provide soundscapes that elevate one's midstate to the clouds above.

mastered by Ian Hawgood

Buy CD / DL

THE GREEN KINGDOM - With You

Corey Fuller: Piano, Electronics
Richard Skelton: Accordion, Strings, Electronics

THESIS 20 - Richard Skelton & Corey Fuller - Iland

Steve Pacheco is a Los Angeles based sound / visual artist and graphic designer. His earliest sonic influence was classical music played through a transistor radio. This lo-fi sound found its way into his current work through the usage of simple melodic loops processed to create warm, hazy, atmospheric soundscapes. His aim is to recall memory / experience / emotion through the language of this weathered aesthetic.

He released his debut album, Constellate, on Belgian label Dauw in May of 2017. Shortly after, his second album, The 4th, was released on UK based Whitelabrecs. He has also released compilation tracks and remixes for various labels such as Dragons Eye Recordings, Archives, Home Normal, Dauw & Eilean Recs, El Muelle Records, and Nova Fund Recordings. 

…………………………………….


The catalyst behind “Fades” is the pondering of the many chapters in our lives. The ways beginnings and endings bookend those chapters, and are a part of every single aspect of being. Where this album differs from previous efforts is that there is no singular narrative or theme being explored. Instead, it is more of a random collection of experiences representing various times in my life. The focus is not on the details of those individual memories or times, but the transitions or “fades” in between. 

Track listing:

01 Elapse
02 Dandelion
03 Himalaya
04 Distant
05 Eventide
06 Drift
07 Fades

Conceived and Written by Steve Pacheco
Mixed by Ian Hawgood
Design by Daniel Crossley

www.fluidaudio.co.uk

Fades

Steve Pacheco - Elapse

Taken from upcoming DR-85 : anthéne - Shelter CD / DL
due out on February 28th
dronarivm.bandcamp.com

Shelter

This past weekend I was digging through the many archived recordings I have on my hard drives. I've come across a series of captured sounds which I released on Headphone Commute exactly a decade ago under the series I titled Sound Postcards. I found that I've completely forgotten about these little gems shared by many of my favourite artists, including Nils Frahm, Dustin O'Halloran, Taylor Deupree, Hauschka, Richard Chartier, et al... and those who are no longer with us today, like Marcus Fjellström. If you're curious about this project, check out all of the archived clips on this Soundcloud Playlist. Among the many shared moments, I found a recording of a Meditation Bell being struck to call us back for another sitting, which I captured during my very first silent retreat 10 years ago. I remember the teacher telling us to focus on the sound, slowly receding into silence and staying with it until it could no longer be heard. This was a fascinating experience, and I wondered whether or not the sound continues to resonate forever, even if the pressure displacement of air, on a molecular and quantum level, is no longer observable. This turns out to be true. The laws of our universe dictate that energy and information can not be created or destroyed. This not only means that music is a direct causality of all previous moments but that it truly lives on forever, even when it can no longer be heard... What does this all have to do with a beautiful new record by Swedish composer and pianist Henrik Lindstrand? I think it's all there in his music: the important connections with nature and space, the influences of past and present musicians and painters, the performance of a 16-piece string orchestra conducted by LSO's Robert Ames, and the mastering touch of Francesco Donadello, all have contributed with their own past experience to the totality that makes up his new album. And I hear it all...

"Dedicated to a very close friend of mine that went through a dark period in his life. I think the melody contains hope and light and the rhythm in the chords is inspired by a traditional Swedish folk dance but slower than often used. There is a tension between melancholy and joy and the piece modulates a couple of times and ends up in a new place."

Klangland

Leva

TRACK PREMIERE : Henrik Lindstrand - Leva

Christian Balvig is a Danish composer known for his score for the Scandinavian drama series Cry Wolf [with the Copenhagen-based electropop group, When Saints Go Machine], as well as his work with orchestras like The Royal Danish Orchestra, Copenhagen Philharmonic and The Danish Chamber Orchestra. To be completely honest, this is the first time I am listening to Balvig [although I noticed him being credited on a few Efterklang albums], and it's exciting for me to discover his music from the upcoming solo debut, Night Poem. "The album is an ode to and from the night, a rebellion against constant stimuli, and a meticulous hunt for ghost notes and the almost imperceptible sound of piano keys." The piece I am premiering for you today, titled "Where All Is", features a closely mic'ed piano with all of its beautiful mechanic sounds, just enough bass to give it the platform it needs to sustain the sparkling synth arpeggios and backing acoustic percussion. This is a lovely track to wake up to in the early morning as the darkness quietly recedes to light, and we find ourselves faced with another brand new day full of possibilities and welcome prospects. All we have to do is float throughout it all and let it be, as the universe will set its course for us to follow.

Night Poem

Where All Is

TRACK PREMIERE : Christian Balvig - Where All Is

I don't know about you, but I can always tell whether a piano piece was performed by a human or whether it was programmed into a sequencer, note by note, even when all the latest advances in technology allow for fluid variations in the time signature, dynamics, and timbre of every single triggered key. There is something about those subtle hesitations, where time stops for a brief moment, like a heart skipping a beat, which is somehow connected with the player, and, indeed, with the listener. These tiny deviations tend to disrupt the expected flow of music, and it is in the unexpected that we seem to delight. We tend to get lost, mesmerized, and, for a brief moment, be at peace as the perception of [our remaining time] is expanded and then contracted again in that dreamlike essence of the musical moment. Australian composer and pianist Josh Cohen understands and embraces these nuances in his works. On the album opener, "Tachypsychia", which I am premiering for you today, Cohen emphasizes these delicate pauses, which break free from the constraints of the predicted and the foreseen. They're maybe very tiny, but they're truly there, and these minuscule divergences in time transform this moment into an emotionally resonant piece of music.

"Every time I play this track, the piano keys just melt under my fingers. I love the story that it tells and how it feels like time slows down. The tempo of Tachypsychia is probably my most default tempo when jamming on chords, so it’s no surprise that this track was inspired from a breakdown of a much faster track that I’ve written. I also often find that technology and music notation makes us put everything into neat little boxes because that’s the template we’re given as composers. There are very subtle hesitations of time stopping for the slightest of moments in Tachypsychia, which is where the track title is derived from. It’s subtle, but it really transforms the track for me." -- Josh Cohen

Weird Time Signature

Tachypsychia

TRACK PREMIERE : Josh Cohen - Tachypsychia

I wasn't exactly jumping at an opportunity to hear an album by Bob Holroyd, which he titled Football Chants and Nursery Rhymes. After all, it would fall somewhere between "crying babies" and "whistling drunks" for me. But I won't just judge the book by its cover, nor the album by its title or the cover art. This is something I've learned long ago, so it's time to hear the music. And given the fact that Holroyd has been deeply rooted in the world of ambient, neoclassical, and cinematic music, something tells me that this title here is tongue-in-cheek. "The album title derives from a conversation Holroyd had with a musician friend who commented on what type of music people say they like in relation to what they actually buy. This sentiment also extends to record labels which imply they are looking for something new and different yet seemingly release the same kind of music." This is something I could surely get behind. It reminds me of another circulating meme, where one is asked, "what kind of music do you listen to?" then answered with an "everything" and smile. And then they're blasted with some drill'n'bass or breakcore or the like. So Bob is right here - people want to live in echo chambers. But do soundscapes and atmospheric textures sound the same? What is it exactly that I listen for in electronic music? It's the sound of the emotion on the other side and the track's ability to move me in return, thus the artist's talent to convey a feeling. So what's exactly painted with "Big Fields"? Fragility, regret, forgotten pledges.

Football Chants and Nursery Rhymes

Big Fields

TRACK PREMIERE : Bob Holroyd - Big Fields

/Ableton live 12
/Animoog
/Behringer System 100
/EuroPi Eurorack Module
/Valhalla Supermassive reverb
/Erica Synth S&H

Collapsing with my instability

A Score for Darling

Erik K Skodvin & Rauelsson - The Return

Remix album for 'Strange Parentheses', released on October 2018. 
Written and Produced by Pepo Galán 
Mastering by Ian Hawgood 
Photography by Alexander Kopatz 
Archives61 // ArchivesCD42 
Archives / 2019

Strange Parentheses Remixes

Almost Alone In This Life (David Cordero Remix)

Pepo Galán - Almost Alone In This Life (David Cordero Remix)

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 : Christian Balvig - Where All Is

Headphone Commute

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