A continuously updated seasonal selection of ambient, modern classical, and electroacoustic works (closed on March 15, 2024).

Image by Emma Francis (@efranciswork) via Unsplash
Source: https://unsplash.com/photos/glacier-near-body-of-water-vpHCfunwDrQ

Field Journal Companion - Winter 2023/24

fave listenings of this month
*
in the pic: Loney, Dear

"musica assoluta" (febbraio 2024)

Diamond Roundabout

SAMPLERS

"Första Snön" is a single released for Piano Day 2021 by the Swedish composer/pianist Jakob Lindhagen. The track is taken from "Piano Cloud Series - Volume Six" that's also featuring Dmitry Evgrafov, Matti Bye, Library Tapes, Elliott Jacqués, Gabriela Parra et al.

Stream/DL: www.1631recordings.bandcamp.com/album/piano-cloud-series-volume-six

Jakob Lindhagen - Första Snön

Stareside

Inner Citadel

The Green Kingdom - Audioloom 1
Maps and Diagrams - Streams

Pre-order now available: https://handstitched.bandcamp.com/album/audioloom-1-streams

Handstitched* (HS40/40T)
Release date: December 2021

The new Handstitched* series of evolving limited-edition issues are released on both mini CD and C45 cassette and will focus on two artists with a total of 22 minutes per artist, one CD and one-half of a C45 cassette per artist - limited to 50 copies per release. Each of the formats have hand-crafted packaging, unique, hand-printed covers for the CD and hand-made cassette sleeves for the pro-dubbed tapes.

After many years of amazing releases, and many moments spent admiring and listening to The Green Kingdom's musical adventures, Handstitched* is happy to announce a new release as part of the new limited-edition split artist format by The Green Kingdom and Maps and Diagrams.

Michael Cottone is a graphic designer and sound artist based in Michigan and presents to us "Audioloom 1", which will hopefully become a series of works over time. Michael creates an audio collage from disparate sources, samples, synths as well as acoustic and electric guitar. The "Audioloom" story is intended to create a musical narrative. We are over-the-moon to be releasing these new pieces by The Green Kingdom, who has previously released music via these well-respected imprints; Dronarivm, Past Inside the Present, Sound in Silence, Hidden Vibes, Lost Tribe Sound, Tench and Nomadic Kids Republic, to name but a few. 

Maps and Diagrams, appears on the "B" side of the split artist release with The Green Kingdom; with four tracks making-up "Streams" - focusing on a tonal and minimal edge that brings moments of the past year together, like a musical sketchbook where we can reflect as we slowly move forward. 

Thanks for listening x

Audioloom1 - Streams - S4mpl3r

~ LAAPS 020 ~ [SEQ.03 - LP20]

artist : Taylor Deupree
 album : Harbor
duration : 41.38 mn
 date : May 30th, 2022

edition :
-  vinyl : limited to 300 copies / black LP / hand numbered 
- cd : limited to 200 copies / hand numbered + handcrafted, sealed

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pre-order : May 06th, 2022 / official release : May 30th, 2022
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sounds and arrangements by Taylor Deupree
mixed and mastered at 12k
published by 12k Music (ASCAP)

Artwork by Herbert Pfostl
Design by Sprflxgrfzm

"thank you to Corey Fuller, Stephen Vitiello, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Mathias Van Eecloo."

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Links :
https://laaps-records.com/
https://taylordeupree.bandcamp.com/

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℗ & © 2 0 2 2 - L A A P S - L A A P S 0 20

Harbor

Taylor Deupree - Harbor

~ LAAPS 023 ~ [SEQ.03 - LP23]

artist : Seabuckthorn
 album : Of No Such Place
duration : 39.34 mn
 date : November 04th, 2022

edition :
-  vinyl : limited to 200 copies / solid silver LP / hand numbered 
- cd : limited to 200 copies / hand numbered + handcrafted, sealed

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pre-order : October 07th, 2022 / official release : November 04th, 2022
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Guitars, field recordings, clarinet, tongue drum, cymbals, effects and mixing by Andy Cartwright.
Double bass on 1,2,3,5,6 by Phil Cassel.
Recorded at home between March and April 2022 in Veynes, France.

Mastered by Ian Hawgood
Cover photo taken by Andy Cartwright in Le Dévoluy in Oct 2021.
 Design by Sprflxgrfzm

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Links :
https://laaps-records.com/
https://seabuckthorn.bandcamp.com/
https://seabuckthorn-music.com/

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℗ & © 2 0 2 2 - L A A P S - L A A P S  0 2 3

Seabuckthorn - Hand In The Upward Sky

Autumn Choirs for Omnisphere 2.8 - Tempus Est Donum Vitae (undressed)- by TORLEY

Autumn Choirs for Omnisphere 2.8 - Tempus Est Donum Vitae (SHORTENED, Undressed)- by TORLEY

Andrea Belfi - "Natura Morta" out november 7th on Miasmah.

Natura Morta, "dead nature" or "still life". This album can be understood as a powerful study of the minute details of the art of electro-acoustic composition, as much as the Renaissance "nature morte" were a masterful display of the artist’s skill in portraying the glow of a ripe fruit, or capturing the light beaming on a vacant chair.

Six tracks, to be listened to as two long explorations in the art of variation and repetition. Layers of drums and percussions intertwine with synth waves making the portrait come to life, detail after detail, until a complex figure emerges from the white canvas. The constant, unsteady sounds, wavering noise, swirling cymbals, and distant feedback gently pull the listener into the picture, letting them enjoy every detail of this beautifully staged compositions.

Recorded at EMS studio, Stockholm, ZKM in Karlsruhe and at the legendary Funkhaus in Berlin, this album mixes influences from both Italian minimalism and the electro-acoustic contemporary scene. Somewhere in between the electronics of Keith Fullerton Whitman, the percussive repetitions of Jon Mueller, and the atmospheric sensibility of Pan-American.

Andrea Belfi - Roteano

Nostalgic Cinematic Gaming - Lost Memoirs for Omnisphere 2.8 - Erick McNerney

~ IIKKI 023 ~

music : The Humble Bee & Offthesky
artwork : Mikael Siirilä
album : Here In, Absence
duration : 38.29 mn
date : February 29th 2024

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craig tattersall : spaces, notes, & tapes
jason corder : arrangement, mixing, synths, percussive textures, glockenspiel, and vibraphone
shilpi gupta : flute
rin howell : voice

Mastered by Ian Hawgood
Artwork by Mikael Siirilä
Design by Sprflxgrfzm

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edition :
• vinyl: limited to 300 copies / hand numbered  / selective UV varnish / white inner
• cd: limited to 200 CD / hand numbered, hand-made / selective UV varnish
• book: limited to 500 copies / hand numbered / embossed / selective UV varnish / hand stamped / visible seam / cutting cover pages

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pre-order : February 02nd, 2024 / official release : February 29th, 2024

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Links :
https://iikki.bandcamp.com/music
https://www.iikki-books.com/
www.instagram.com/iikki_laaps/
https://www.leavings.co.uk/
https://offthesky.bandcamp.com/

The Humble Bee & Offthesky - Senses

Here's a track from the forth coming album ....
The Rat Palace was our studio from when we first started seriously working together in 2016 until the landlords decided it was time for the artists to go and the tourists to come. It had been Mat's base since 2009 and hosted dozens of artists and musicians since it first started in 2006.
As the name suggests the place was run down, lacked various things like hot water, proper access and heating but it had a vibe, and the people we shared the space with all felt and helped to create it....Art was everything, day after night after day for years.
These 7 improvisations are a tiny fraction of the jams we had there, just a few highlights from 100s of jams. They are raw, unpolished and unconcerned with anything outside the moment. We rarely 'rehearsed' as such at the Rat Palace - just played.
Things come and things go - Vale Rat Palace, you were amazing.

Kirby/Ward -  Rat Palace Sessions Track 1 : Frantic. New Album out March 16

Turning around,
I see my shadow
in the moonlight

Sumitaku Kenshin was a haiku poet who practiced free-form haiku. He started writing poety after being diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, and dedicated the last 2 years of his life to haiku, leaving 281 poems, mostly published by the free-form haiku magazine Kaishi.

 

Haiku by Sumitaku Kenshin
Picture by Marco Sebastiano Alessi

Turning in the moon light (naviarhaiku526)

2024-02-02

Reflection Of The Moon On A Calm Surface

Exhibition title: Fukuoka Postcards
https://www.naviarrecords.com/fukuoka-postcards/

Drawing inspiration from his first two years as a father and the recent tenth anniversary of his record label Naviar Records, sound artist Marco Sebastiano Alessi created Fukuoka Postcards, a sound installation focused on the concept of time, and how humans and landscapes perceive it differently.

Marco spent four weeks at Studio Kura in Itoshima, collecting sounds from the local nature, temples, and shrines, looking for places where time seems to have stopped. Creating a collage of soundscapes and applying minimal melodies to convey human presence, Marco aims to create organic music in an endless, ever-changing loop, to represent the impermanence of art and timelessness of nature.

more info

Fukuoka Postcards - 30 min sound installation

Hazed and Amused - Track 3

~ LAAPS 034 ~ [SEQ.05 - LP33]

artist : Danny Clay
album : No More Darkness, No More Night
duration : 42.52 mn
date : March 28th, 2024

edition :
-  vinyl : limited to 200 copies / transparent blue LP / selective UV varnish / hand numbered 
- cd : limited to 200 copies / pantone / hand numbered + handcrafted, sealed

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pre-order : March 01st, 2024 / official release : March 28th, 2024
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Kevin Rogers, violin
Otis Harriel, violin
Taija Warbelow, viola
Doug Machiz, cello
Danny Clay, pedal steel guitar

Special Thanks to Friction Quartet and R. Eric McMaster
Fall 2023, San Francisco, California, US
In Memoriam Hank Williams

Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi
Artwork by Anni Leppälä
Design by Sprflxgrfzm
 
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Links :
https://laaps.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/iikki_laaps/
https://www.dclaymusic.com/
https://dannyclay.bandcamp.com/

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℗ & © 2 0 2 4 - L A A P S - L A A P S 0 3 4

Danny Clay - Part 4

D’un vieux Jardin (Snorri Hallgrímsson Rework)

In the fall of last year, I was asked to participate in Bigo & Twigetti's fifth volume of the Perceptions compilation series, which explores various approaches to piano music. Complimenting the sound of the solo piano, these compositions also utilise nominal processing, sound effects, synthesis, and binaural recording techniques, all aiming to create an immersive listening experience while still showcasing my beloved instrument. As the clock ticked away and the deadline approached, I realised I hadn't found time to compose my contribution. For a few weeks, I've experienced a gnawing feeling of self-imposed pressure, mixed with anxiety and procrastination, that looped on itself and left me fatigued. I'm sure plenty of composers who are reading these words, especially those working on a deadline (like film soundtracks), know what I'm talking about. This, in itself, gave me a taste of this process at work. I learned that I simply cannot try and force things or make them appear. For me, music, as Victor Hugo once said, "expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent…" I needed to have something special to say...

As the end of the year approached, I found myself in that "usual space" of December, where the dark and the cold seemed to mix with my mood, and I recount the days and the moments of passing. There's always reflection on what I've achieved, and of course, I look back at my favourite albums of the year. Somewhere around this time, I arrive at the acceptance of failure, preparing to message the label and withdraw from the project. I think I'm too busy with "all other stuff". Perhaps I'll start over as the new year turns. Perhaps I'll become a bit more organised or not commit myself to the deadlines. In the very last days of the year, I find myself investing time in consoling my friend whose mother has passed away. As always, besides the grief for another, we find ourselves reflecting on our own mortality... and the meaning of it all... As the clock strikes midnight, I am deep asleep. But the morning comes, as it does every morning. And we're at it again, starting fresh and anew. The windows open, and we breathe in and out. Maybe this time, it will be slightly different. Maybe this time we have learned... On the morning of January 1st, I find myself sitting at the piano and playing this simple melody. I hope that you'll hear what I'm saying in music...

Perceptions Vol​​​.​​​5

Morning, January 1st

Mike Lazarev - Morning, January 1st

An all new Radio Orlog for an all new year, not nearly as wintery as seems to be imperative for the season but quietly and secretly focusing on the one and only relevant question: „Are snowflakes the ghosts of fallen leaves?“

Earl Orlog – Or/Log #39

The Artist

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each release start with the end of the previous one.
in sounds and visually. 
an exquisite corpse with 100 releases which will make the loop.
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