Polaroid Notes is a German artist named Andreas, who lives in the countryside between Munich and the Alps. In addition to his work as an ambient dub electronic musician under the name Kraut Sounds, he started Polaroid Notes almost ten years ago as a side project for contemporary classical music, but in recent times it has become the main focus of his artistic work.
 
Polaroid Notes has released music on Germany based labels Büro für Erdrotation, Drone Works International, Weber & Alcantu and soon on Licht-ung. He has also released albums on Whitelabrecs, including Unsung Memories (2017), Home Diaries 014: Moonlight Sessions and Ghost Sounds (both 2020) and Cloud Anthems (2022). He also released on Whitelabrecs predecessors Tesselate Recordings and Audio Gourmet.
 
Quiet Rooms came about during a strange phase of deliberate and involuntary personal changes and attempts to refocus. Moving back home after nearly eight years of working far away and dealing with one of the most annoying things a musician can experience ; tinnitus.
 
Quiet Rooms was therefore initially a kind of self-healing process to get back onto a decent track with music, focusing on slow-burning, minimalist piano lines, gentle melodies and lots of space in between the individual notes. The tracks ‘Quiet Rooms’ and ‘Two Wrongs Won’t Make It Right’ were the first pieces to be recorded and these set the direction for what was to come in the rest of the album.
 
Everything was improvised and recorded at a time when it felt right. One particular idea was to keep the tracks as transparent as possible, so that light and atmosphere could shine through as if through a piece of gauze. Later, electric piano, reversed loops and some additional electronic and field recording sounds were added. And that’s it. The music is focused, dense and uplifting in its quest for deep contemplation. It instills a sense of serenity with a gently absorbing, balanced stillness.
 
All recordings were made in the evening and at night, with the lights dimmed while the artist's cat slept gently next to the recording equipment. The individual titles of the twelve tracks reflect the mood and hope in which the album was created. What you hear on the album is a carefully curated extract from several hours of recordings. The photos that can be seen across the four gatefold sleeves of the packaging were staged presentations of quiet rooms inside the artist’s home. For us the listener, they serve as fictitious environments to place ourselves, in which to escape into a quiet space.

Quiet Rooms

wlr169 Polaroid Notes - Quiet Rooms

Lyrics 

Mom always said to open your eyes
Well now they’re open - open so wide
I’ve always been a closed eyed dreamer
Never been a secret keeper
Always had my head up in the sky

The blamer can’t see who’s the same
It's all been a funny game - funny game

I'd sail the seven seas to get away
Find me an island where I could stay
When you see yourself in the mirror
I hope you miss this dreamer
Wishing I was there to teach you to play

When you see yourself in the mirror
I hope you miss this dreamer
Wishing I was there to teach you to play

The blamer can't see who's the same
It's all been a funny game - funny game

Hope you miss this closed eyed dreamer
Who's got to get his head out of the sky

trampolines in barns

Funny Game

Taphos

Welcoming the new piano (R), saying thank you to the old piano (L) at Avalon Café, Bermondsey, 26 September 2024.

Fernando Yada Rodrigues, piano (R);
Jay Austin Keys, piano (L);
Anne Yin Han, violin;
Matthew Gilley, violin;
Freya Hicks, viola;
Rebecca Burden, cello.

Piano(s) And String Quartet (2024)

DCR - PROBLEM CHILD - DCOMPOSED

Higway

Higway (Heavy rock)

More on the 680th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Reverse Resolution — The Assignment: Finish something (musical) you started last year — at https://disquiet.com/0680/

SONG 62 (disquiet0680)

also i did the painting. looks likes things but it is really globs of paint pressed between two papers.

the guitar

Door Hinge Drone - made out of squeaky door hinge only

Atrem-Shadow Land-Sanctum Ceremony

Dear one, enjoy this beautiful medley from the upcoming long-play piano album, 'Wind Keys Piano Series 1,' 2h30, set to release at the end of September 2025. If you like it, let us know, and we’ll send you a direct message once the full album becomes available. Cover photography from www.skstudios.fr. Blessings!

Piano(s) And String Quartet (2024)

James M. Creed

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