17 classica

An Winter 2016-17 selection of ambient, drone, electroacoustic, & modern classical tracks from recent and upcoming releases.  Final update: 3/4/2017

Image by Sylwia Bartyzel
Source: https://unsplash.com/photos/OdAqbedkfiA

Winter 2016-17

anandabalasana

Stuff

jeju atmo

a dark fusion piece in the key of D minor.
written, recorded and produced by Diya Azzony.

special thanks for Samir Stores. https://www.facebook.com/pages/SAMIR-STORES/183688489950

Karanlık

The Twins (Prague)

Waiting For Sunrise (2013). First April Rain album

Waiting For Sunrise

I took some time away to write a short collection of piano and string pieces named 'Of Sleep and Time'. This is the closing piece.

Of Sleep and Time is available for free download at levipatel.bandcamp.com

Free Download

The clear, empty light

We Move Lightly

Ibrahim Maalouf - Diachronism / Disoriental

Ya Ha La

"Falling into Crevasse".
Five Albums Deluxe Edition. Unique handmade albums, with Engraving Techniques.
* Linocut I & II
* Linocut / Chine Collé
* Chalcography I & II), wrapped in tissue paper with typewriter typography
Five Albums Simple Edition, handmade with special paper and typewriter.

Seagulls

A number of people asked to be able to download this version of the famous Christmas carol that I recorded last year. I'm now making it available for download, for free, or for a donation of your choosing. 

All money raised from this will be donated to the Leeds-based homeless charity Simon On The Streets. Read more about their work here: 

http://simononthestreets.co.uk  

Download the song:

https://simeonwalkermusic.bandcamp.com

Happy Christmas x

Download

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

www.patreon.com/alicebaldwin

Für Rik. 
Experimenting with an old song idea. Trying not to mess it all up with the strings..

Freiheit wär viel lustiger

Buy Album:
Bandcamp: http://smarturl.it/wsmbandcamp
Spotify: http://smarturl.it/settlerspotify
Itunes: http://smarturl.it/settlersitunes

Follow WSM on Bandcamp: http://westernskiesmotel.bandcamp.com
Follow WSM on Facebook: http://smarturl.it/wsmfb
Follow WSM on Spotify: http://smarturl.it/wsmspotify
 
'Settlers' is the new album from Western Skies Motel, out April 22nd, 2016 in a limited edition of 170 gatefold 180gram vinyl, CD and digital formats.  'Settlers' was mastered for vinyl and digital by Taylor Deupree, with master lacquers cut by Roger Siebel at SAE.  The first 50 Vinyl & CD's ordered come with a bonus EP, 'Generations' mastered by Kirk Marrison of Kiln.

In the dry desert of Arizona that Lost Tribe Sound calls home, a letter is received from guitarist René Gonzàlez Schelbeck who’s eager to share a collection of intimately composed songs, titled 'Settlers'. Upon listening, we are immediately enthralled. There’s a timeworn, arid, and almost badlands quality to Schelbeck’s hypnotic, cyclical guitar style. It seems to perfectly capture the lonely, barren landscape of the American West. 

Yet, there are curious dynamics at play here as Schelbeck, who makes music under the alias Western Skies Motel, is from Denmark and far removed from any upbringing in the rough-hewn Americana style of folk guitar. Conceivably, his music has more in common with the lonesome, calculated tone of Berlin's modern classical scene or the rainy day folk of the UK. Those are intriguing parallels, since the collective mood of Western Skies Motel's music would adapt so well to either environment. 

Words hardly do justice to the rich, immersive experience of 'Settlers'; yet a few may help to set the stage. Schelbeck is a remarkably well rounded instrumentalist, who spent his early days losing his hearing in local punk rock bands. This youthful love for walls of sound and discordant guitar squalls survives in his modern sound palette. However, a more mature approach to these techniques brings moments of palpable tension, adding in uneasy waves of guitar feedback and droning harmonium. 

But ultimately, the truth of what Schelbeck hopes to convey through his music may rest rmly in his subconscious. In hindsight, 'Settlers' is about moving between worlds: not in the dimensional sense, but more as a constant change in form. Each influence and sound Schelbeck incorporates into his music feels native to the delicate ecosystem of these songs and each turn feels as organic and nuanced as that of the natural world. Just as a tree’s leaves wither and fall; a fire sparks and expands only to expend its last bit of fuel, extinguished and left for ash. So true are the parallels we find in our own existence, the complex ritual of growing old and returning to dirt. Decay is inevitable for all life, yet through this it becomes the rich soil for all things proceeding. Western Skies Motel's weighty instrumental mantras may root in this and other meanings yet to be culled. One thing is clear, this music contains signicant power, and, regardless of our conceived themes or geographic locations, it tells a story that is lasting and instantly familiar. 

'Settlers' sees a 180-gram heavy weight gatefold release very similar to the recent Mute Forest debut, 'Deforestation'. The acetate and test pressings were scrutinized for anomalies on world-class vinyl setups at Arizona’s esteemed audio dealer, Arizona Hi-Fi.

Western Skies Motel is building upon a busy year in 2015, having released two very different full-length albums 'Prism' (Preserved Sound) and 'Buried and Resurrected' (Twice Removed).

Settlers

Falling Leaves

Buy Album

Western Skies Motel - Falling Leaves (from Settlers)

Taken from their forthcoming mini-album 'Ellis' out July 8 on Erased Tapes.

Pre-order the LP/CD/DL here: www.erasedtapes.com/store/index/ERATP086
or from iTunes here: http://snip.ftpromo.net/ellis

For the first half of the twentieth century, Ellis Island stood as the gateway to America. For some twelve million people, it was their first encounter with the land they hoped to call home. 

Directed by acclaimed artist JR, ELLIS tells the story of one such migrant. Starring Robert De Niro, the film winds its way through the crumbling hallways of the abandoned Ellis Island hospital complex, now home to JR’s Unframed art installation. It’s a place that reverberates with the hopes and fears of those who passed through it, the echoes especially resonant today.

Entwined with the narrative is a score composed by Woodkid, performed and co-written by Nils Frahm. The delicate piano motifs of Winter Morning I culminate in a crescendo of strings, while the harmonium swells on the B-side are the foundation for De Niro’s narration: an encomium for those who shaped modern America. 

There’s perhaps never been a more fitting time for this story, with all the proceeds going to the Sea Watch initiative, a non-profit charity dedicated to the protection and rescue of civilian refugees. 

Following a screening as part of Nils’s Barbican Weekender, the ELLIS score will be out July 8th, the same week as America’s great federal holiday. It will be available via Erased Tapes as a mini album on CD, vinyl and in digital format containing a 12-page picture booklet.


IN THE ARTISTS’ OWN WORDS:

Nils Frahm: ‘The opportunity to work on JR´s fantastic short film ELLIS came through my good friend Yoann aka Woodkid. We agreed on recording the piano parts in my studio in Berlin and so it happened that JR and Woodkid were guests at Durton studio on a wonderful late summer day in 2015. We managed to record all the crucial elements that day. The music fell in our laps and melted with the images: a wonderful experience. The film has stuck in my head ever since; it moved my heart and changed my soul.

A couple of weeks later I had to cancel a trip to Brussels because of a terror warning; all events got cancelled and I stayed home, having an unexpected day off. I felt rather depressed that day, thinking that the Europe I knew was already gone. I sat down at the harmonium, listened to Robert De Niro’s voice and played for the rest of the day. The result is ‘Winter Morning II,’ the B-side of the ELLIS soundtrack release.

Robert says it all in 17 minutes. We are not facing a refugee crisis. We are facing a crisis because we do not embrace, we do not sympathise and we cannot give up fear. Art can encourage so I hope this project will help fight the fear in all of us.’

Yoann Lemoine, aka Woodkid:  ‘Ellis is my second collaboration with JR after the New York City Ballet piece for Les Bosquets. I initially wanted this piece to sound like it was recorded on an old piano that we found in the ruins of Ellis Island, in the restricted area that is not open to the public, where JR pasted the pictures on the walls for the film Ellis.

I had worked with Nils before and I wanted him to create a sound for this piano part that I composed that was extremely gentle and organic. I wanted the listener to hear the mechanisms, the breathing of the instrument. I wanted it to be imperfect, to sound like a ruin, a trace, an echo, the way the pastings on the walls seem to be ghosts, almost imperceptible.

After a few rehearsals, Nils stripped down my piano parts and we removed almost all orchestration around the piano. He then worked on the extended version that is his interpretation of my piece, with Robert de Niro’s vocals.

Because this film and this recording is historically meaningful, it was important for us to create this piece as an echo to the immigration situation in Europe, and decided to release it in support of Sea Watch.’

Ellis

Winter Morning I

Buy LP/CD/DL

Woodkid & Nils Frahm - Winter Morning I

Taken from my latest album "(For Now We See) Through A Glass Dimly", ‘Elegy (ii)’ features the elegantly dexterous vocals of Joanna Swan (Ilya) and the incisive strings of Christoph Berg (Field Rotation).
The album, as described by Hidden Shoal:
The 10 tracks that comprise "(For Now We See) Through A Glass Dimly" have an emotional potency and compositional dexterity that surpasses the acclaimed body of work that precedes them, drawing you into their evocative world and demanding engagement. The album includes contributions from Christoph Berg (Field Rotation), composer Stefano Guzzetti, James Banbury (The Auteurs), Joanna Swan (Ilya) and writer Paul Morley. Mixed by Stefano Guzzetti and Paul Humphreys (OMD), and mastered by Rafael Anton Irisarri (The Sight Below), the album’s depth of sound is awe-inspiring.
For more releases by Antonymes: https://antonymes.bandcamp.com/
This music is available for licensing. Email Cam at Hidden Shoal for more details: cam[@]hiddenshoal.com | www.hiddenshoal.com/licensing

Antonymes on Spotify: http://spoti.fi/2cAJxyL

Elegy (ii)

9th March 2011 was the start of a bad time for Japan. An earthquake, followed by another 2 days later, set the stone rolling for a series of actions that affected the country in a more intense manner than anything else since World War II. The people behind “Hope for Japan” don’t want to initiate a debate on nuclear power, global warming, or other individual aspects of what caused Japans’ pain, the classic media and news channels have covered that from every possible perspective, we want to help. 
We are not calling out people to start sending their hard earned money to Japan, although of course you’re more than welcome to do so, we want to make an offer. Across the world, people participate in hobbies and activities because they want to. You’ll often hear people talk about their passion. Everyone behind “Hope for Japan” and the pending “More Hope for Japan” has a passion for music – from musicians, to labels, to artists and even a pressing company. It’s disasters like Japan’s that make us think, that force us in to introspection. As such, a group of people decided to help with what they do best: 
Music. And that’s what we offer.

Labirinto - Cairo

In 2016 Saudaá Group established residencies around the world for the Street Organ Ritornellos project. He worked with over 30 musicians in a dozen different countries, from the High Atlas to the countries of the Caucasus. The empirical objective was to confront the three-century-old instrument and communicate its legacy to a wider audience. Each step in the journey provided various testimonies between world music and sound creation that were reported by France Musique and Blogothèque. 

As part of the international residencies and at the request of Vincent Théval, producer for Radio France, over 10 radio works were broadcast. The creation of each sound postcard followed a process of research, encounters, outdoor recordings, editing for radio-broadcasting.

www.streetorganritornellos.com/

Details (in french)

Dans cet épisode, la compositrice islandaise Ingibjörg Ýr Skarphéðinsdóttir joue du Langspil, cithare à bourdon traditionnelle de l'île, et récite le poème "Skin Eftir Skurir", déniché dans une petite boutique associative. Un séjour perché tout au nord de l'île dans les petits villages d'Ólafsfjörður et de Siglufjörður, marqué par les rapports entre ombres et lumières. Des portes du désert de lave d'Ódáðahraun aux littoraux bordant le sud, bercés par le son d'énormes geysers, d'un tambour inuit venu du Groenland voisin, de l'orgue et d'éboulements provoqués çà et là sur les montagnes.

Carte sonore # 6 - Iceland (Skin Eftir Skurir)

Whale

Composed for "Life is flux", a film project by Müge Yıldız.

İstanbul

I used the Native Instruments Maverick and Una Corda piano, and sounds from Spitfire Audio Tundra and Symphonic Evolutions, and Wide Blue Sound Eclipse. #native instruments # una corda #spitfireaudio #widebluesound

Christmas Night

The First Noel

'Soundscapes Vol.1' is our first CD compilation. Eight ambient tracks by Robert Farrugia, Logic Moon, Dead Melodies, Powlos, CloudBurn, The Aurora Principle, Caught In The Wake Forever and Warmth.

Mastering by Rob Small.
Archives30 // ArchivesCD011
Archives / 2016

Buy CD/Digital

Caught In The Wake Forever - Durham

Federico Albanese - THE BLUE HOUR

'The Blue Hour', released on LP, CD, Download via Berlin Classics Neue Meister on 15 January, 2016

Buy on Itunes - itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-blu…our/id1053970394

Berlin based, ‘piano poet’ Federico Albanese took inspiration from the brief transitional state between day and night, writing a collection of chamber-music miniatures that withdraw, explore, yet assert their laconic melodies all the more decisively. The emotions to which Albanese has given expression in his thirteen compositions have been articulated with well-considered gestures.

Equally well-considered is the choice of instruments that Federico Albanese deploys on ‘The Blue Hour’. Piano and synthesizers are joined by a cello, magnified by over-dubbing and sound effects that culminate into a little chamber orchestra, which swells the acoustics while checking the dominance of a clear solo voice. Albanese esteems the Gesamtklang, the overall sound image, with its mixture of compositional precision and dreamlike fluidity. For this reason, the pieces are recorded from start to finish on analogue equipment, further enhancing the warmth of their sound. In ‘Céline’ we hear a discreet beat, scarcely perceptible, a gentle pulse that lends structure without jeopardizing the charm of ‘The Blue Hour’.

“There is a particular moment when opposites are very close, almost touching one another. When there is still light but not quite darkness. A world in between, where all things are uncertain, vague, floating into shade. We can follow or observe, unsure where this would lead - into darkness or light; into the shadow of memories and dreams. A reflection of our desires and hopes, ready to be seen or unseen. It can be a sudden glimpse, with ideas turning into shapes, not yet complete. You can see things, but are unsure what they are. It is an unrevealed choice. A place to recover and heal, lulled by the security of the warm shadow of an ancient tree upon a hill" – Federico Albanese

Shadow Land Part 1

The Gentle Hum Of Oblivion | From the new full-length album 'DUSK UNION' (Drones for lonely souls)by a collaborative project from FOG & HTDC: https://htdc.bandcamp.com/album/dusk-union

Recorded on analog 8 track 1/2" worn-out tape (circa 1978). Composed with old vinyl crackles, guitars, JEN SM2007, ELKA Rhapsody 490, voice & whispering.

Different instruments/processed guitar noise were recorded directly to vintage 8-track cartridge tape.

All perceived silence and audio deformations were intended.

Thank you in advance for your support.

The Gentle Hum Of Oblivion

Olsen Olsen

recorded April 2012 in El Paso, TX

Greg Gonzalez - vocals, bass
Phillip Tubbs - electric guitar
Steve Herrada - keyboards
Emily Davis - acoustic guitar
Greg Leah - drums

recorded by Wally Byers
mixed by Greg Gonzalez
mastered by Jason Martin

Cover: Necklace (or anatomy) by Man Ray
Cover design: Greg Gonzalez & Lisa Marie Chavira

Nothing's Gonna Hurt You Baby

Download the entire debut album at www.signalstovega.bandcamp.com.

Whale

Jonas Colstrup