German sound pioneer Hans-Joachim Roedelius and American composer Tim Story join Erased Tapes as Roedelius & Story with their new album 4 Hands out February 25, 2022.

Pre-save and pre-order it on LP · CD · DL here: https://idol.lnk.to/4hands

4 Hands, an intimate and surreal musical conversation on the piano, is an example of all the warm yet otherworldly beauty that can come from approaching a shared love for a singular instrument from overlapping directions.

Recorded sequentially but on one and the same grand piano, Roedelius laid down a few impromptu piano études in May 2019 whilst visiting his transatlantic friend Story. Tim then learned all their intricate phrasings to add his own parts in the following months. 4 Hands encapsulates rippling minimalistic patterns and delicate, ghostly interactions with surprising harmonic twists. Roedelius’ intuitive and instinctive approach based in improvisation, paired hand in hand with Story’s deliberate distilling of ideas over time, creates two sides of an engaging and thought-provoking conversation that seems to evolve and deepen with each successive listen.

The first single Spirit Clock received its name from Erased Tapes founder Robert Raths, born out of a conversation around timing: “to me this term perfectly describes what’s going on here. There is this invisible bond, this very strong energy between Ach and Tim whenever they make music together that’s still perfectly intact even when they are dimensions apart. This metaphysical intersection of four hands on one and the same mechanical instrument at different times, something so technical yet deeply spiritual, is what fascinates me.”

4 Hands

Spirit Clock

Roedelius & Story - Spirit Clock

Taken from the upcoming album 'Gaze Into The Sun', forthcoming on Fluid Audio...

Gaze Into The Sun

Szymon Kaliski - To Linger

I sometimes publish album reviews that somehow turn into special premieres. I also exclusively feature some tracks that somehow turn into album reviews. In either case, it’s irrelevant to bucket this into some special column and make it more about the music, which is the point behind this whole endeavour which I’ve been on for over fifteen years now (damn). So today I am happy to share with you a beautiful rework of a beautiful piece from two beautiful artists. What else do we need more to say? “For Now We See Darkly” is an original track by Frances Shelley, from her album, Songs Of Possibility which I have featured in my Best of 2021 list, Music For Being Together Alone. Exploring loss and its transformation into acceptance and even hope, the original is a muted modern classical piece, featuring Shelley on the piano with reverberated echoed treatments of industrial nature, combining the gentle with the rough for a spanning soundscape. For his rework, London-based composer Adrian Leung focused on the textural ambience of the piece, adding bass, arpeggiated synths, and glitchy elements for a cinematic arc that carries the piano melody into another territory, reimagined through the lens of Drexler and his sonic world. It’s a flattering account of the tale which started with the sounds of Frances Shelley and ended in the space of Drexler’s touch, and my only wish [as usual] is to hear this rework for a prolonged time.

For Now We See Darkly

TRACK PREMIERE : Frances Shelley - For Now We See Darkly (Drexler Rework)

Good morning! Today I have a track premiere for you from the wonderful INNI label out of Reykjavik, Iceland. As a quick reminder, I’ve previously featured their releases by Christopher Royal King & Nico Rosenberg, Atli Örvarsson, and Rose Riebl, the latter two of which have then showed up on my Best of the Year selections – so you can tell that I’m a fan. Today I’m honoured to introduce you to another very interesting project (and, more importantly, fantastic music) born out of a collaboration between Jónsi (of Sigur Rós), Sin Fang (of Seabear), Alex Somers and Kjartan Holm, who’ve come together to create a soundscape that parallels a perfumery in Reykjavik, owned by Jónsi’s family, called Fischer. You can check out a Financial Times article covering this shop as the essence of Iceland, titled “Cult Shop: the scents of Sigur Rós“. But fandom aside (who hasn’t fallen in love with everything from Iceland yet?) the nine tracks of the first entry on INNI, titled Sounds of Fischer Vol. 1, are delicate, tender, and exquisite in their fragility, creating soft atmospheres for mornings and for nights. I can’t say anything about the perfumery, although the above article describes one fragrance using terms such as “smoke in the air, tarred telephone poles, mowed grass, a beached whale and tobacco leaves with notes of black pepper and Icelandic Sitka spruce.” I particularly like the following sentence: “Jónsi’s experimental approach to scent composition is comparable to his avant-garde musical process, both resulting in peculiar notes and enveloping overtures.” I wonder if that line can be inverted. I’ll let you be the judge. And now, let’s hear the music!

"Fischersund from Iceland is a family-run business that harnesses a collective of artisans at the intersection of scent, shop, gallery and art. Fischersund sells fragrance products inspired by the clean, unique nature of Iceland using herbs and oils harvested in the Icelandic wild via the most environmentally friendly solutions and materials for the modern lifestyle. Jonsi is the nose and has a passion for perfumery following a self-taught journey of learning (one of his fragrance organs is in the Reykjavik shop)."

Sounds of Fischer Vol. 1

Beitilyng

TRACK PREMIERE : Jónsi, Sin Fang, Alex Somers, Kjartan Holm - Beitilyng

Last year I've hosted a track premiere from Gaspar Claus' release, titled Tancade, appearing later on Headphone Commute's Best of 2021 list, which I also complimented with this studio feature. So you can say that I'm a fan! Now, this Paris-based cellist and composer is back with a new EP, once again, for InFiné. In addition to a piece which previously appeared on the album, titled "2359" and its "Night Blossom Version," which gravitates into an almost dancefloor territory, the release also features two new tracks, one of which I am premiering for you here today. It's one of my favourites and I couldn't just let it pass by. Starting off with a rhythmic staccato that marches toward an optimistic opening it suddenly drops into a melancholic progression of exquisite harmonies which are further picked up by the texture of strings. There is sadness and determinism, slight sorrow and full-on resolve, to keep going, keep feeling, despite all repression that seems to hold back. I can't say for a fact that it's the theme of the melody, but I can say that it's what I feel when it plays. Especially when I play it on repeat. I hope you enjoy!

2359

Amour Constrictor

TRACK PREMIERE : Gaspar Claus - Amour Constrictor

Support and follow @Wickerbird on Bandcamp here: https://wickerbird.bandcamp.com/album/the-sea-weaver

Wickerbird is the atmospheric dream-folk project of Blake Cowan, started in the wild foothills of Mt. Rainier. It began as a means of relating the understanding he found wandering the woods, told in distilled daydreams and wrought within the distant strands of tranquil, wistful guitars and cavernous, haunting harmonies.

His prior work includes The Crow Mother (2012), The Westering (2013) and The Leaf Maker (2015) — collections of music that are steeped in allegories of disillusionment and transition, casting personal insights under layers of natural metaphor and mythical imagery. 

Where this past work concerned itself with forest-bound introspection, examining the forces of change in their capacity for growth, Wickerbird’s upcoming full-length record The Sea Weaver shifts its perspective outwards to the horizon, reckoning instead with the destructive aspects of change. 

While his vantage remains lodged in those same diminishing natural spaces, The Sea Weaver instead explores his relation to the rapidly unraveling human context that envelops him and in doing so, contends with a haunted acceptance of being bound to its fate. It is a collection of threadbare elegies for the end, as overheard through the walls of a crumbling house. 

With gauzy, liminal atmospheres, stark finger-picked melodies, reverberant choirs, and mythologized natural imagery, Wickerbird makes an accounting of what emotions remain – when the anger and fear of a stolen future have long burnt off.”

The Sea Weaver

in altar wine

Wickerbird - in altar wine (from The Sea Weaver)

Euphoria

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

Taken from the upcoming album 'opening opening'...

All music written and recorded by offthesky
Mastering by Jason Corder
Print layout by Craig Tattersall
Design by Daniel Crossley

www.fluidaudio.co.uk

opening opening

Offthesky - Ripples Into Empathy

Enthralled.wav

SurelySomeRevelationIsAtHand

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