so beautiful sound you have!!! So simple and yet so complex! ❤

Ahead of the release of their much anticipated 10th Anniversary Remastered Edition of A Matter of Life… 2021, Penguin Cafe share the remastered studio version of the album's closing piece Coriolis, along with a video of Arthur Jeffes performing a 2021 live rendition of the song on the dulcitone in his second home in Tuscany.

Watch: https://youtu.be/Kt0A8vWyM5k

The remastered track, a duet between Arthur Jeffes on piano and Oli Langford on violin, incorporates the aesthetics of the original PCO, seasoned into a confident and redefined style, maintaining that quintessentially English sound, but adding a fresh direction and a sense that they are evolving into something new and very much their own.

"The version of Coriolis that ended up on the record is actually a mix of several takes we recorded on a very slow, cosy day in the studio. It had been raining for days and Oli, our violinist, and I had the basic idea and played around with it. In the end the initial recordings sounded so beautiful I just cut together the best parts to make it into the song we have here. It always makes me think of rain."

Penguin Cafe will be performing songs from the album live at the Barbican Hall tonight, on March 22, the day this single gets released, followed by a UK festival tour this summer including The Great Escape. The album will be released via Erased Tapes on April 29.    

"Some of the most unusual and delightful music of the last 40 years” — The Guardian
“Stylistically, A Matter of Life… is a near-perfect match with the Penguin Cafe Orchestra of old” — Music OMH

Tour Dates:

22.03. London (UK) — The Barbican Centre
29.04. Belfast (IE) — The Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival (with Peter Broderick)
01.05. Cheltenham (UK) — Cheltenham Jazz Festival
12.05. Brighton (UK) — The Great Escape — Erased Tapes 十五 showcase
14.05. Saffron Walden (UK) — Saffron Hall
29.05. Hay-on-Wye (UK) — Hay Festival
01.07. Swadlincote (UK) — Timber Festival
29.07. Barnsley (UK) — Underneath The Stars Festival
24.09. Stroud (UK) — Hidden Notes (sold out)

A Matter of Life... 2021

Coriolis

Penguin Cafe - Coriolis

A Berlin-based contemporary classical sub-label of !K7 Music is set to release another beautifully created compilation of music. By my count this is their fifth "layers" edition: there was the Piano Layers out in 2019, followed by String Layers in 2020 (see my premiere by Hior Chronik) and Ambient Layers a bit later in the same year (I premiered a track by Roger Goula), and Wind Layers in 2021. On November 11th, 7K! imprint (yes, the inverse of their parent label) is back with Duet Layers which showcases, you guessed it, six collaborations of hand-picked artists, working together on fusing their styles. The results are often very surprising (in a good way) and in this case immediately appeal to all of my senses. Here you will find Hania Rani with Colin Stetson; Stefano Guzzetti and Neil Leiter; Niklas Paschburg and Bryan Senti; Peter Zummo with Tilman Robinson; Laura Masotto and Ryan Teague; and finally, the British-Berlin violinist Simon Goff and the Polish cellist Dobrawa Czocher, whose track I am premiering for you here today. In the piece, titled "Appearing" you are enticed by the strings to slowly enter through a secret passage, which is slightly unnerving but is also very much bewitching. The volume rises as you approach the source of the tension-filled music, and so does your heart rate, pumping with adrenaline in an excited, heightened state. What lies at the end of this tunnel, and what appears within? It's only for you to find out!

Duet Layers

Appearing

TRACK PREMIERE : Simon Goff & Dobrawa Czocher - Appearing

Good morning. I hope that you are well. Today I have another beautiful track to share with you via this exclusive premiere. Or maybe it's a video premiere. I actually couldn't decide, so I've asked Cedric Vermue if I can publish both. I think it was a good decision and I hope you will agree. I first got introduced to this Dutch pianist, composer and producer of fragile, nostalgic, and serene neoclassical-meets-ambient music [the cross-over genre] when I premiered a piece titled "We Came and Left" from his Left Upon Us album on Piano and Coffee back in 2019.  Besides playing the piano, Vermue also plays the church organ as well as analogue synths which he incorporates with Rhodes during his live performances. He returns early in March, this time on a fairly new to the scene, Utrecht (The Netherlands) based independent imprint, mylja. I have previously introduced this boutique record label started by Yaron Cohen and Daniël Leseman in 2020 with this writeup of Alchi's Full Of It. I am happy to see that the label continues to persevere in its output of absolutely gorgeous music [this crazy world demands more beauty!]. And Vermue's upcoming album is a perfect addition to the catalogue! "Perpetua is the Latin word for infinity, referring to the Christian tradition that played an important part in the inspiration for this album, taking inspiration from Gregorian melodies and old organ music." The piece I'm featuring today is a recomposed Gregorian Sanctus melody (Sanctus XI) played on a piano and clarinet. The captivating video, directed by Victoria Ushkanova, and "shot on a cold wintery day in a forest near Almere", features Nicolo Zanotti, interpreting cascading arpeggios complemented by Lex Houtermans (clarinet and contra-clarinet) and Rudi van Hest (clarinet). There is a lot more I can say about the production, credits and approach, but instead of lifting the veil of mystery, I'd rather let the music do the talking... and let emotion sweep away...

Perpetua

Aether

TRACK PREMIERE : Cedric Vermue - Aether

Rainy Days

the nautilus project - arctic islands [kabana dub]

Solo Remains are previously unreleased tracks from Nils Frahm’s album Solo, which was recorded on the M370, the world’s largest piano, built by the visionary piano maker David Klavins in 1987.

Nils fell in love with the sound of this giant and joined David for the new project – building an even higher piano – the Model 450. The aim of it is to explore the not yet reached physical limits of the piano instrument and also to push forward into new musical dimensions. The M450 will be characterized by an even clearer sound with more depth and richness of overtones as well as an unrivaled frequency spectrum and intensity of sound and tone. In time for the 2nd anniversary of Piano Day, Nils decided to give four previously unreleased songs from that very session to his fans and supporters of the Klavins 450 project.

“In the end, every album production leaves you with the same tough task – making the choices for the final track selection. You leave out some tracks for various reasons: some of the tracks are wonderful by themselves, but they simple don’t fit anywhere in the album and others have to be left out because otherwise the vinyl would become too long for a cut in good quality. However, these outtakes are often as important as the final selection and I thought, they might be a great surprise for Piano Day too. I hope in this case, it’s both …”

Solo Remains is available for free download in 24-bit and mp3 format.
http://www.nilsfrahm.com/works/solo-remains/

Listen on Spotify!
https://open.spotify.com/album/1TeZVCipUw2FNEZ0lfGyyq?si=Yw3h8MT6RM-H-JuWOxW19g

This EP is the journey I had to take when I transitioned into making music instead of performing music composed by others. Because of an injury I had to find my voice through sounds rather than my instrument. 
This was more than two years ago and this music has been on my computer since. This was prior to making Amsterdam Sessions with Sjors Mans. 
I've been going back and forth on whether this would stay on my computer forever or not. 
But in the end I had to share it one way or the other. I'm extremely thankful that piano and coffee records believed in the material and pushed me to release it at times where I had doubts.

My hope with this EP, Amsterdam Session and the material I'm working on right now will paint a picture of how I've evolved as an artist. If you'd listen to the three compilations of music you would hear me learn how to play the piano, take my first baby steps as producer/audio engineer and finally slowly find my way back to the trumpet.
I'm super nervous to share this (as always). I really hope you will find it pleasurable. Or at least not horrible 😉 I'm quite proud that it finally off my hard drive and is flying free!

Ljusterö

As a little "Thank You!" for the patience during the process of the RESTIVE soundtrack, i thought i celebrate the release with you and this little mixtape, packed with music and artists that inspired me (not only) during the production of the score! enjoy!

After this, maybe you want to give the score a listen too?

Mailorder:
https://mailorder.ant-zen.com/product/id/1998

Release Info Page:
http://hymen-records.com/

Mixtape Tracklist:

1		Illusion Of Safety - lilt
2		Machinefabriek - Licht 
3		Peteris Vasks - Distan Lights (Excerpt)
4		Stuart Dempster - Conch Calling
5		Max Richter - Infra7
6		This Immortal Coil - Red Queen
7 		Thomas Köner - 12 41° 24' N  2° 10' E
8	Arve Henriksen - Chiaro
9	Ben Frost & Daníel Bjarnason - We Don't Need Worlds, We Need Mirrors
10	Nils Frahm - c,e,g
11	Christopher Bissonnette - In Accordance
12	Belong - Remove The Inside
13	Hecq - Introit
14	Marlene Dietrich - Cherche la Rose


RESTIVE Giveaway Mixtape

Manchineel

"At Holde Fast I Luften" (ENG. To Hold On To the Air)
Is the 4th track from the album "Vakuum: The Piano Pieces (Original Soundtrack)"

Hear the full album on all streaming services.
https://open.spotify.com/album/0tfrB2VAPPrIflOQOGLdAj?si=xueQB-amT2e9KXCj3Uz0VA

Vakuum: The Piano Pieces (Original Soundtrack)

At Holde Fast I Luften [Vakuum OST]

To mark this year’s 88th day and as an acknowledgement to these unprecedented circumstances we find ourselves in, Piano Day founder, pianist and producer Nils Frahm releases a collection of eight solo piano pieces titled 'Empty'. 

Stream and download 'Empty': https://idol.lnk.to/nils-frahm-empty

Conceived of just before Nils broke his thumb and composed the similarly intimate solo piano album 'Screws', 'Empty' is a soothing vessel of eight simple and serene pieces originally recorded as the music to a short art film he shot with his friend and film director Benoit Toulemonde. Drifting through emotions from the stark and sobering opener 'First Defeat', to the gently euphoric 'No Step On Wing' and the contemplative but hopeful closer 'Black Notes', with its poignant minute of silence, 'Empty' is a comforting score for these turbulent times.

“When I came back from the hospital with a broken thumb and listened to the recordings, I felt they were unfinished. I decided to put them aside and started to work on my small album, 'Screws'. 

Many many other notes of the piano have been struck since these days, and before we all forget about this, I thought it would be a good moment to share these lullabies with you. I hope they help you stay all strong and calm in these days of solitude – despite the hardship, we can discover introspection and reflection unexpectedly. Who knows what it is good for.  
 
Much love, Nils”

Empty

No Step On Wing

Stream & order LP · CD

Nils Frahm - No Step On Wing

Fabian Rosenberg is a artist that works in a variety of media. His work is characterised by the use of eveyday objects in delicate soundscapes and atmospheres capturing everyday life.

He first started as a jazz trumpet player in Stockholm sweden. But have since become more of an multi-instrumentalist. With his broad education in Jazz trumpet and Music and Mediaproduction is performing in several groups ranging from pop and jazz to conceptual music. Where he's playing a wide range of instruments including trumpet, piano, percussion, keyboard and sounds. 

He's currently enrolled at the Royal college of Music in stockholm studying music and media production. Doing Graphical works and music production.

Ljusterö

Klangriket

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