music saves my life. time after time. this piece is lovely.

Seven *

a minimal piece written on ronroco then played on piano, special release for #pianoday2022

Pianoco

Evening Piano Song

Brazen (weep)- Skunk Ananzie cover

Lights Out In Wonderland

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

"Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen" (I am lost to the world) is Number four of The Rückert-Lieder (Songs after Rückert) a collection of five Lieder for voice and orchestra or piano written in 1901 by Gustav Mahler, based on poems written by the German romantic poet Friedrich Rückert.

piano - Helen Roberts
vocal - Robert Llewellyn

We hope you'll enjoy our rendition!

Lyrics:

Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen,
Mit der ich sonst viele Zeit verdorben,
Sie hat so lange nichts von mir vernommen,
Sie mag wohl glauben, ich sei gestorben!
Es ist mir auch gar nichts daran gelegen,
Ob sie mich für gestorben hält,
Ich kann auch gar nichts sagen dagegen,
Denn wirklich bin ich gestorben der Welt.
Ich bin gestorben dem Weltgetümmel,
Und ruh’ in einem stillen Gebiet!
Ich leb’ allein in meinem Himmel,
In meinem Lieben, in meinem Lied!

English:

I am lost to the world
With which I used to waste much time;
It has for so long known nothing of me,
It may well believe that I am dead.
Nor am I at all concerned
If it should think that I am dead.
Nor can I deny it,
For truly I am dead to the world.
I am dead to the world’s tumult
And rest in a quiet realm!
I live alone in my heaven,
In my love, in my song!

Ich Bin Der Welt Abhanden Gekommen (Rückert Lieder No 4 - Gustav Mahler)

These days, more often than not, I find that music is accompanied by a comprehensive marketing campaign (you kind of have to do it; otherwise, how will it stand out?). However, the impressive background, complex concepts, and projected intention are overstated, possibly for that dramatic effect. So when you play the track, your expectations have been set, and then you feel let down. Because no matter what the background, concept, or intention are, you have to like the music. You have to be able to connect with the message conveyed within, without words, without fanfare. This is why I always start with playing the music first and only then read the release notes. So when a solo piano piece comes on by Onur Tarçın, I instantly relate to all that’s gently spoken. Only then did I read the details on the track, and yes, agreed with Tarçın’s ability to capture the introspective undertones evoked by the vastness of water. “Crafted to resonate deeply when listeners close their eyes, it places them right in the midst of the ocean. Each wave carries a piece of life itself; sometimes like a gentle kiss caressing the shore, and sometimes with a faster, more determined movement. […] Every wave signifies a beginning, an end, a lesson learned, a memory forgotten.” Beautifully mixed and mastered by Martyn Heyne at his Lychte Studio in Berlin, this track comes out on 1631 Recordings on October 6th, 2023. But you can play it here today with me.

somewhere beyond the sea

TRACK PREMIERE : Onur Tarçın - somewhere beyond the sea

Synths, electric guitars and electric bass guitar played to a relaxed, positive vibe.

A slower pace of life

44,2 km (with Poltrock)

Demo for my next album, The Gramophone Suite, which will be released late 2018. The track will also feature on the Soundcolours compilation "Chilltronica No6"

Film Two

Bruno Sanfilippo​ - 'Unity' 
Label; Dronarivm 
Cat #.: DR-51
Format: CD / DL
Release date: 16 Feb 2018

Bruno Sanfilippo’s newest album, Unity, is an emotionally evocative collection that moves the listener through moments that exalt the senses. Through cyclical and minimalist sound, the composer creates visceral experiences that are both ethereal and hauntingly beautiful. 

Bruno Sanfilippo is a classically trained musician and composer. His focus alternates between the exploration of minimalist piano concepts and electroacoustic music. He is obsessed with the search for new and unique qualities in music - the amazing, the magical and the deep. In dreams, there's no imagined thing that's too absurd, too strange, and Bruno Sanfilippo's music comes from that inexhaustible and shameless source.

Buy CD / DL

BRUNO SANFILIPPO - Cyclical

Select your favorite platform: https://ampl.ink/d3Qm4 
'Pianette' consists of a collection of solo piano compositions inspired by dreams and the bucolic fantasy of mechanical toys, the dolls, the essence of the circus and the puppets.
Available on CD, Sheet Music Book & digital.
Analog Mastered by Ian Hawgood · Cover image by Larissa Kulik
Design by Nikki Snow BNBA
www.bruno-sanfilippo.com

Pianette

Marionette

Select your platform

This June 7th, we're releasing Tom Adams' LP 'Particles' - a series of explorations for piano & electronics. 

▶ CD/DL pre-order + stream the lead single : https://orcd.co/tomadamsparticles

The Berlin based producer and songwriter originally did a small 'soundcloud only' self-release of the record in 2014, and we were stunned by the singular vision and voice present in each of the album's explorations. We're very pleased to be giving this record a worldwide release in CD format and on all digital platforms, with a new master by fellow Berliner / sound artist Martyn Heyne.

Particles

Particle VI

buy/stream 'Particles'

Tom Adams - Particle VI (Shadow & Light)

Untitled 28 was a sculpture, video and sound installation created in 28 days by artist Marie-Louise Jones and composer Lucy Claire. It was exhibited in July 2017 at Here East in London as part of Gavin Turk and Anna Maloney’s show, Inside Out. 

The music reflects each sculpture in the installation and explores themes of duality and pairs through atmospheric binaural recordings, beautiful violin melodies and vocal textures. The materials used in the physical installation; wood, stone and metal play a prominent role in the soundtrack and the sounds created when collided together were used to create unusual textures which were weaved into the piece.

Written and recorded over a period of more than two years, “Paraphrases” is a collection of chamber music compositions performed, recorded and layered through numerous recording sessions in a small room in northern Germany near the Baltic Sea.

Christoph Berg scores the history of eight narrow worlds, carved only from wood – violin, piano and double bass. The initial composition “Quiet times at the library” defines the tone, but the album also sees many shades; the solo piece “Poems written by an old (prepared) piano”, the crow haunted field recordings of “Interlude” and reverent remixes provided by Yasuhiko Fukuzono (aus) and P Jørgensen specially for the CD edition.

The direct intimacy of the material is a stark counterpoint to the sweeping cinematic grandeur and electronic sound manipulation of previous releases as Field Rotation, and is also the logical progression from 2011 releases ‘Acoustic Tales’ and ‘And Tomorrow I Will Sleep”; the former a tribute to literature, and the latter a paean to hibernation after exhaustion. Completed in the brief escapes allowed by gaps in graduate study, “Paraphrases” is a recontextualisation of the experience of exhaustion, written in other words.

Mastered with precise weight by Ian Hawgood, the 250 run limited edition 180gm vinyl is packaged inside heavy gatefold four panel sleeves, wrapped within an A1 double-sided poster. The package also includes a double sided 12 x 12 hand numbered print along with a hand numbered embossed letter-pressed CD with fold-out booklet featuring striking photography by Aela Labbe. Extras as always will include scent, card and download code containing audio and PDFs. The album is a treasure of both talent and soul, and the extraordinary packaging from the label and considered art design by Ian Hazeldine reflects the classic nature of the material.

Release date: 30.11.12

Pre-orders this weekend through the Facture mailing list.

www.fac-ture.co.uk

Christoph Berg - Buildings At Night

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!

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

Headphone Commute

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