december 2021

I wasn't exactly jumping at an opportunity to hear an album by Bob Holroyd, which he titled Football Chants and Nursery Rhymes. After all, it would fall somewhere between "crying babies" and "whistling drunks" for me. But I won't just judge the book by its cover, nor the album by its title or the cover art. This is something I've learned long ago, so it's time to hear the music. And given the fact that Holroyd has been deeply rooted in the world of ambient, neoclassical, and cinematic music, something tells me that this title here is tongue-in-cheek. "The album title derives from a conversation Holroyd had with a musician friend who commented on what type of music people say they like in relation to what they actually buy. This sentiment also extends to record labels which imply they are looking for something new and different yet seemingly release the same kind of music." This is something I could surely get behind. It reminds me of another circulating meme, where one is asked, "what kind of music do you listen to?" then answered with an "everything" and smile. And then they're blasted with some drill'n'bass or breakcore or the like. So Bob is right here - people want to live in echo chambers. But do soundscapes and atmospheric textures sound the same? What is it exactly that I listen for in electronic music? It's the sound of the emotion on the other side and the track's ability to move me in return, thus the artist's talent to convey a feeling. So what's exactly painted with "Big Fields"? Fragility, regret, forgotten pledges.

Football Chants and Nursery Rhymes

Big Fields

TRACK PREMIERE : Bob Holroyd - Big Fields

BRYAN SENTI COULD BE WELL KNOWN TO LISTENERS OF A WINGED VICTORY FOR THE SULLEN (DOES ANYONE REMEMBER THE WEIRD & WONDERFUL HIPPITY HOPPITY VIOLIN SOLO ON THE UNDIVIDED FIVE'S ADIOS, FLORIDA???? BRYAN APPROACHED ADAM SUMMER OF 2022 FOR A REWORK. I AGREED AS LONG AS I COULD RECORD A SIXTEEN PIECE CHOIR, SO I DID....

released July 7, 2023 
RECORDING & MANIPULATION OF BRYAN SENTI SOUNDS - OXDONK, BELGIUM @ AANTALVIER - 16 PIECE CHOIR RECORDING BUDAPEST, HUNGARY @ MAGYAR RADIO STUDIO 22 ORCHESTRATIONS ADAM WILTZIE - CONDUCTOR PETER PEJSIK ORCHESTRA CONTRACTOR MIKLOS LUKÁS @ EAST CONNECTION MUSIC - MIXED BY FRANCESCO DONADELLO @ SYNECDOCHE MUSIC RESEARCH

ADAM WILTZIE APU REMIX (Apu Minus Seven Plus Sixteen Voices)

On August 27th 2023, I received the very sad news of the untimely passing of Brian McBride at the age of 53. There is so much more that I can say about the emotional turmoil that this has caused in me and the entire music community. But today, I won't talk about the darkness in which the world is left with one more going-out light. Instead, I'll celebrate his music, which is still among us, flickering with energy to light and show the way. "Far From Home" is the "Diminished Stories Mix" which Brian made for Kenneth James Gibson's Further Translations album, collecting remixes by the likes of Jack Dangers, Christopher Willits, Scanner, Awakened Souls, and a few others, reworking pieces from Gibson's previous albums (in this case, "Far From Home" appeared on his 2018 release In The Fields Of Nothing). Gibson met McBride in the late 2000s, and the duo started a band, Bell Gardens, in 2009, exploring "the realms of Americana, chamber pop, folk, and psychedelic pop." For this remix, McBride begins with shimmering waves of wistful strings, which, after their introduction, subside into a bit of darkness, maybe sadness, and introspective grief, the way my mood turns every time I think about this world without the many great musicians that we lost along the way. Or, is it possible that we mourn for ourselves, and music is the way to leave a piece of us behind and be immortal, even for a bit? In any case, I'll close my eyes and play this gorgeous music, and for a moment, I'll pretend that Brian's still around. To me, that is as real as the rest...

Further Translations

Far From Home (Brian McBride's Diminished Stories Mix)

TRACK PREMIERE : Kenneth James Gibson - Far From Home (Brian McBride's Diminished Stories Mix)

Purchase via: https://heliosmusic.bandcamp.com/track/soft-slowed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3k5FVP7XV0
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Hollie Kenniff - Soft Slowed

Purchase: https://heliosmusic.bandcamp.com/track/endless-explorations

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Hollie Kenniff and Kazuma Okabayashi  - Endless Explorations

Purchase: https://heliosmusic.bandcamp.com/track/mint-julep-all-summer-long
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Lyrics:
Asleep in the backseat
My head on your shoulder
The moments growing, getting colder
Beneath the palest moon
Falling into you, hold my hand

Feeling it all somehow, for real now
Feeling it all somehow, for real now

All summer long
I felt you under me, comforting me
Glimmering
Close your eyes, moving in time
A falling curtain, frail and trembling

Feeling it all somehow, for real now
Feeling it all somehow, for real now

Buy 'All Summer Long'

Mint Julep - All Summer Long

Purchase: https://heliosmusic.bandcamp.com/track/helios-and-hollie-kenniff-by-firelight-on-autumn-nights 🍂

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Buy 'By Firelight...'

Helios And Hollie Kenniff - By Firelight, On Autumn Nights

If, 20 years ago, you told me that I'd still be writing about ambient music, I think I would have simply laughed. How much could be said, not just with words but also with these sounds? But as the years appear to speed up, I find myself immersed in it much more (even as I see so many other publications slowly disappear), discovering new layers, space and people who have another story to convey, one that I am happy to be a part of. Regular followers of this site will, without a doubt, recognise my personal connection with the present moment, often hoping to convince myself and others that we should focus on what is instead of how it was before and certainly instead of how it could be. How could it possibly be any other way? How could we not be here and now, experiencing all that's happening around us as it could only be? Are there better times ahead of us, or is it only doomsdays? And does it really matter when we get there in the end? Okay, I'll pause here for a time and focus on the music, premiering for you a piece by Austin-based ambient artist TJ Dumser, who releases music under his Six Missing moniker. This piece is titled "Guidance", and it is taken from his upcoming full-length, Here For Now. Across the twelve pieces on the album, soft pads, swirls, and swooshes are echoed in a faint, reverb-drenched ambient calm, sometimes accompanied by the quiet acoustic guitar strums, sometimes allowed to simply expand into infinite indistinct space. It's in this space where I find myself writing these words. Here for now... and hopefully for a little bit more...

Here For Now

Guidance

TRACK PREMIERE : Six Missing - Guidance

A little musical gift. 🕊️  Wishing you love, peace and happiness. 
Available for free download on Bandcamp: https://heliosmusic.bandcamp.com/track/o-christmas-tree-free-download


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Free DL on Bandcamp

Hollie Kenniff - O Christmas Tree

Music possesses transforming powers. By moving its sound waves in time, it's able to guide us through the past and the future. For example, it's been nearly eight years since I listened to the Daughter's 2016 release, Not To Disappear - an album that was tightly intertwined with a particular set of circumstances and some potent feelings in my life. An album which I purposely buried deep in my memory [and some cardboard boxes] so that, at last, I can breathe. The other day, I uncovered this snapshot of time and relistened to it in one sitting. And all of the walls I've built fell apart, and all has returned, once again, with those feelings. It's good, and it's bad, as music can heal, but it also can pick at the scabs with its incessant weeping. And so, instead, I pick out a brand new release, one which I use like a thick coat of paint to brush over the wounds and repair. In this particular case, the remedy comes courtesy of Glowworm, a duo of guitarist Kevin Scott Davis and pianist and vocalist Asia Dojnikowska. That healing begins from the very first track, as the soft, warming tones wash over the edges. From the deep-heated bass to the light-whispered voice, every guitar strum, and each piano key, the music of Harvest is an instant relief for the wandering mind. And even though I admit, I take some sort of unexplainable pleasure in melancholy, darkness and gloom, I also enjoy to be basked in the light of a particular type of wistful, positive, and powerful music. If you are a fan of Hammock, Slow Meadow and Sigur Rós, then you'll know what I mean and will instantly appreciate the sound of Glowworm.

Harvest

Sierpień

TRACK PREMIERE : Glowworm - Sierpień

Latest:
Helios - Espera: https://ghostly.ffm.to/helios-espera
Hollie Kenniff - The Quiet Drift: https://ampl.ink/5Y9Rw
Mint Julep - In a Deep and Dreamless Sleep: https://ampl.ink/omKoq
Goldmund - The Time it Takes: smarturl.it/ibfvzw

I write music for film and record as Helios, Mint Julep, Goldmund.

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Hollie Kenniff - O Christmas Tree

Keith Kenniff

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