visiting the practice cells with a grand piano, a microphone and a sampler to celebrate piano day

Cells

Ballet

Valse

Suspended Between Radience And Darkness

Ode to the world

Morton Feldman werd op 12 januari 1926 in New York City geboren. Op twaalfjarige leeftijd studeerde hij piano bij Madame Maurina-Press, zelf een leerlinge van Busoni. In 1950 vond Feldmans tot dan toe belangrijkste ontmoeting plaats, die met John Cage. Daarmee begon een artistieke vriendschap die van enorme betekenis zou zijn voor de Amerikaanse muziek in de jaren ’50. Vooral onder invloed van schilders als Mark Rothko, Philip Guston, Franz Kline, Jackson Pollock en Robert Rauschenberg kwam Feldman ertoe zijn eigen klankwereld te zoeken, een directer, lichamelijker klankwereld dan er tot dusverre bestond; maar ook een taal die betrekking heeft op het non-figuratieve, ‘naamloze’ aspect van de abstract-expressionistische beeldende kunst. Vanaf het eind van de jaren ’70 begonnen zijn composities sterk in lengte toe te nemen, zozeer dat een uitvoering van het Tweede Strijkkwartet wel vijf uur in beslag neemt. Op 3 september 1987 overleed hij, 61 jaar oud, in zijn huis in Buffalo.

Tussen 1974 en 1978 schreef Feldman een viertal werken met de even eenvoudige als  doeltreffende titel Instruments. Instruments 1 voor 5 spelers is een van de eerste werken waar de componist begint te experimenteren met fragmenten muziek die wel gecoördineerd zijn maar niet recht onder elkaar staan: op een paar plekken in de partituur hebben alle spelers verschillende maatsoorten maar komen de partijen na verloop van tijd weer recht onder elkaar te staan. Dit procedé werd later in werken als Why Patterns? (met als ondertitel Instruments 4) en Crippled Symmetry tot in het extreme uitgewerkt.Een ander kenmerk van dit werk is het gebruik van extreem hoge en lage liggingen, met name in de hobo en de trombonepartijen.

Morton Feldman / Instruments 1

In case you've missed this masterpiece 5 years ago we prepared the new re-issue expanded with 10 gorgeous remixes. 

"As mentioned in the original write-up, Expanses was my homage to classic ambient and ambient techno albums of the past, albeit passed through the filter of dusty samples from old vinyl and classical records, the odd guitar melody, electronics and some soft rhythmic pulses. Since its release, the album has taken on a life of it's own and also unexpectedly reached many more ears than I could have ever expected through some particularly fortuitous circumstances. It's a slightly otherworldly, mysterious album within the TGK oeuvre that somehow continues to work it's magic. I am very excited to now have the album back in print with a bonus album of incredibly creative and diverse mixes from some very talented artists, each of whom weave their own unique soundworlds. I hope these sounds can bring some peaceful moments spent within your personal expanses, whether real and imagined". 

- Michael Cottone

Buy CD / DL

02 Untitled Remix By Segue

Happy Piano Day 2019!

This is special analogue tape recording written to celebrate this wonderful holiday. Enjoy! 

#PianoDay #PianoDay2019

Tape 1921 (Piano Day 2019)

Löv

Ausencia

There’s a well-known German saying ‘Ich bin Weltbürger: überall zu Hause, überall fremd’ which roughly translates to ‘I’m a world citizen: I am everywhere at home and everywhere a stranger’. S.hel believes this is a phrase which describes him well; London his birthplace, being partly raised in Germany and residing in Iceland.

Disconnect is a debut album by an emerging artist, arriving at a time of uncertainty and disarray, where terms such as self-isolation and social distancing are on everyone’s lips. However, this record’s theme is not born out of the adversity that coined these phrases. Instead, when creating these works the artist was informed by his thoughts around identity and how we perceive it as a whole. Do places of origin matter? He moved around a lot as a child and at times, felt he had no roots which left him feeling very disconnected at times. Some years on and settling in Iceland, he now realises the valuable lessons and skills the experience has brought.

Disconnect follows the self-released EP ‘Lucid’ in 2018 and the primary instrument is the piano. Aptly, we will be releasing this album for piano day as this unique record draws in wide influences including mentor Mikael Lind who mixed the album, S.hel’s piano teachers Sunna Gunnlaugs and Kjartan Valdemarsson as well as compatriots Jóhann Jóhannsson and Hildur Guðnadóttir. Contemporary composers play their part too in the stimulus, such as Nils Frahm, Arvo Pärt and Max Richter. Disconnect flits between intimate and organic piano compositions and granulated or randomised electronic effects, interspersed with swathes of strings and synthesizer. Creaks and pensive moments navigate perceived silence and suspense, whilst the mood switches effortlessly to the grandeur of modern classical orchestration in equal measure.

This striking album package is complete with the wonderful concept artwork of Sarah Maria Yasdani and Rakel Ýr Stefánsdóttir who have also produced and directed accompanying music videos. The concept works hand in hand with the music and the themes of disconnection S.hel portrays and reflects on the loneliness resulting from being part of a society that has lost itself in daily routine. Currently the routine may be all we crave, but maybe amongst all this we can all find some way to connect again.

Written and produced by S.hel
Mixed by Mikael Lind
Mastered by James Edward Armstrong
Art concept and photography by Sarah Maria Yasdani and Rakel Ýr Stefánsdóttir

Disconnect

wlr072 S.hel - Disconnect

The first single from 'Orbit' the forthcoming album by @axel-toben aka Alejandro Bento to be released on Subtempo in April 2020. Exclusive early release for Piano Day 2020.

Alejandro Bento - Orbit

Listen / Purchase: https://lnk.to/ssky

Mt Went is the collaborative project between Andy Cartwright (Seabuckthorn) and Dave Anderson (Von Braun). Mt Went is two friends from different musical pursuits, who have managed to create two well-crafted and beautifully weathered indie albums over the last ten years.

Even though nearly a decade lapsed between the making of 'Sheltering Sky' and 'Lit Way Down' the two albums feel inextricably linked to one another. 'Sheltering Sky' was recorded back in 2010 when Cartwright and Anderson still lived in same small UK town, Witney, Oxfordshire. Yet it has never seen a proper release and sat unattended for nearly a decade until Cartwright revisited the sessions in 2018 to give them a proper polish. While doing so, both Anderson and Cartwright rekindled a fondness for the material and decided a follow-up was in order. That follow-up became 'Lit Way Down,' an album built from many long distance file swaps in the increasingly rare moments of downtime, with Cartwright now living in the French Alps and Anderson still in the UK.

Morton Feldman / Instruments 1

Ives Ensemble

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