Not a roe deer but a fox ! Lovely recording

I also like the ‘sound bed’ made by the forest crickets.

Three different moments within a quiet windless night. This is not an exceptional recording but I like the atmosphere anyway.
A howl, a fox and a blackbird can be heard as well as a frog and probably some rodents close to the tripod.
The microphones and the recorder have been left the whole night.
The photo has been shot in the morning when I came back to pick the stuff up.

Recorded with a Nagra Ares BB+, Neumann KM184, ORTF near my house, in la Creuse, France.

220725 A Quiet Night in the Woods

Tracklist

01.  Hiroshi Ebina - A White House
02.  First Snow of The Year - Nokori
03.  Olli Aarni - Kuvioita - Sadan puun sisällä
04.  Alexis Delozanne - Shubangi
05.  Anthéne -  Ghost March
06.  Valotihkuu - Threads of Warmth
07.   Glacis - I Thought Of You In Those Moments
08.  Moss Covered Technology - Shoreline Constellations
09.  Observatories -  Snow And Stars Danced Through The Night
10.  Darren McClure - Ice branches

412. Sleepy Sunday Podcast (Elm Records)

On hour without interruption at dawn at the Etang des Landes (Creuse, France). Already many bird species for the season. Water birds, then when the light comes on, a few forest birds. Small mammals rummage through tufts of dry grass near the microphones. In the distance, sometimes, flocks of birds take flight like a low hum.

Recorded on March 9, 2025 with a Nagra LB and a pair of Sennheiser MKH8020 in AB.

One hour at dawn at the Etang des Landes (Creuse, France)

~ LAAPS 043 ~ [SEQ.06 - LP43]

artist : Ben McElroy
album : Elkwort
duration : 41.21 mn
date : April 28th, 2025

edition :
-  vinyl : limited to 200 copies / green LP / selective UV varnish (front+back) / hand numbered 
- cd : limited to 150 copies / pantone / hand numbered + handcrafted, sealed

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pre-order : April 10th, 2025 / official release : April 28th, 2025
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Ben McElroy - composition, arrangement, mixing, instrumentation

Elinor Rowlands - spoken word on "The Howling and I Must Have Walked past There a Thousand Times"
Debbie Armour - vocals on "Kindling and "Deosil"
Nick Jonah Davis - guitar and bowed weissenborn on "A Dream Of Deosil"

Recorded at home, Jt Soar (with Phil Booth and Rich Snug) and Nick’s studio-shed.

Mastered by Nick Jonah Davis
Artwork by Nieves Mingueza
Design by Sprflxgrfzm
 
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Links :
https://laaps-records.com/
https://www.instagram.com/iikki_laaps/
https://benmcelroy.bandcamp.com/
https://www.benmcelroy.co.uk/
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℗ & © 2 0 2 5 - L A A P S - L A A P S 0 4 3

Ben McElroy - I Must Have Walked Past There a Thousand Times (with Elinor Rowlands)

From the album Layers of Afternoon, Available June 13, 2025 on Western Vinyl
Pre-order / Listen https://lnk.to/layersofafternoon

Bandcamp

WV283 - Goldmund - Before I Sleep

Sometimes I wake up in a different bed, in a different city, at a different time. Everything around me is new and there is excitement about all the possibilities. But there’s also a bit of anxiety and maybe even dread. My anchor is gone, and I am drifting with the current, afloat among the unfamiliar waters. This is when I turn back towards music. Music that makes me feel like I am safe, serene and cosy. Music that I often call my home. This is precisely what I hear in the soft piano keys of the Norwegian pianist and composer Øystein Skar, who has announced his upcoming debut album, titled Hem. I may not know him as a person, and yet his playing makes me calm. I may not truly know his story, and yet his story’s somehow mine. And while I navigate the stormy weather, this ray of sunshine points the way. In these turbulent and truly anxious times, I turn back towards home. I turn back towards music.

Composed during winter’s embrace in his woodland home outside Oslo (I imagine a hushed sanctuary of a snow-draped retreat), the piece embodies the album’s central theme of homecoming – not merely to a physical place, but to essential truths long carried within. In its patient build and emotional resolution, “Levva” invites listeners into the intimate geography of Skar’s personal mindspace. The piece stands as testimony to what becomes possible when an artist, after years of outward exploration, turns the compass needle toward the territories of the heart.

"Levva, meaning “to live well,” is a longer, more experimental track blending classical, improvisational, and electronic music. Anchored by a synth arpeggiation and a piano melody, the piece has two parts with the second evolving into an expansive, percussive, and dreamy landscape created with an array of synths. For me, it’s about embracing strength through authenticity." — Øystein Skar

TRACK PREMIERE : Øystein Skar - Levva

Æther #007 by Alessandro Barbanera
Dronarivm Guest Mixes Series

Mix number 7 in the Æther series comes from Italian sound artist, musician, composer and guitar maker Alessandro Barbanera. 

Over the course of an hour, Alessandro carefully explores the nuances of modern ambient music – often touching on its darker, more mysterious edges, yet never fully descending into shadows or melancholia.

Check out Alessandro's latest album 'In Darkness Let Me Dwell', released by Dronarivm's dark vibes division, Owl Totem Recordings ~ https://owltotem.bandcamp.com/album/in-darkness-let-me-dwell

Tracklist:

00.00. Tape Loop Orchestra – I Was Born When She Kissed Me (excerpt) [from “In A Lonely Place”, Fluid Audio]
03.46. Carlo Giustini – A Letizia [from “Custodi”, ROHS! Lontano Series]
07.47. Dionisaf – March [from “Twelve Months”, Chitra Records]
12.18. Demetrio Cecchitelli – Notturno [from “Jump”, Le Mont Analogue]
16.08. Corrado Maria De Santis – Entangled Uncertainties [from “City of Tethers”, Owl Totem Recordings]
21.22. Francis Gri – Bruma II [from “Bruma”, self-released]
25.05. Federico Mosconi – At Midnight [from “Nocturnal”, Dronarivm]
29.56. Luca Giuoco – Shantih 3 Times [from “Collettivoinconscio vol.1”, Dissipatio / Toten Schwan Records]
33.03. Grotta Veterano & Music For Sleep – If Only Anything Could Change You [from “Endless Vacation”, Fluid Audio]
39.15. meanwhile.in.texas – Almost Blind [from “Heimat”, Secret Press]
42.18. Yugen (Gianluca Ceccarini, Alessandro Ciccarelli, Tetsuroh Konishi) – My Sounds [from “Yugen”, Disasters By Choice]
48.27. Gallery Six – Zansyuu [from “Kisetsu”, Le Mont Analogue]
52.34. Chelidon Frame – In I Reached (feat. A Distant Shore, Asymmetric Cut, Andrea Marinelli) (excerpt) [from “Flatline Voyages”, Difficult Art And Music]
58.24. Macrogramma – Catedral [from “Magnetic Series”, ROHS! Lontano Series]

Explore more...

Æther #007 by Alessandro Barbanera

I have been writing about music for nearly two decades now, and it’s time to turn inwards again. Away from being a promotion vehicle and towards a curation platform, supporting music and musicians that resonate within. And when it comes to highlighting one of my favourite electronic musicians, that is certainly the case. Somewhere, in the darkened, quiet and euphonic spaces between synthetic, buzzing pulses and organic, breathing textures, Ben Chatwin has been crafting his sonic language. This voice speaks through modulated frequencies, soaring string arrangements, and the ghostly hum of man-made machinery brought to life. This month, he’s been the featured artist on Headphone Community, where I showcase his music through exclusive track premieres, unreleased alternative mixes, in-depth interviews, and yes, even an 80% OFF discount to his last album, Verdigris. You can join for only $1 a month to get access to all of the above, and invest your precious attention among the many like-minded folks who still believe in the transformative power of deliberate, thoughtful, and visceral music. Today’s track is taken from the forthcoming EP, Klasis, scheduled to be released on May 9th, 2025. This is the second release from a new project Ben calls Tether – a series of EPs and singles rolling out over the year, eventually leading to an album. The first release, The Beginning, is available on his Bandcamp, and you can name your price for that release.

See more on https://www.patreon.com/HeadphoneCommunity

TRACK PREMIERE : Ben Chatwin - Caldera

'Petrichor' is the third studio album from long-time collaborators James Osland and Andrew Heath, and serves as a natural continuation of their creative partnership following the release of Elysian Fields (2024), also on the esteemed Fluid Audio label.

The two artists were initially brought together by a shared admiration for each other’s work within the ambient music community. Andrew Heath is an established figure in the genre, with numerous albums and EPs released on respected imprints such as Disco Gecko, Whitelabrecs, Rusted Tone Recordings, Elm Records, and White Paddy Mountain. James Osland, meanwhile, is both an accomplished artist and the founder of Elm Records, a boutique label known for its thoughtful curation. His personal discography includes releases on Unknown Tone Records, Whitelabrecs, Flaming Pines, and Dewtone Recordings, among others. Osland’s practice explores the intersection of sound, memory, and place, working across both sonic and visual mediums.

Petrichor began to take shape during an exchange of ideas between the two artists in the late winter and early spring of 2024. As Andrew shared loops and sonic sketches, James found himself listening from his studio, watching the unrelenting English rain from the window. These moments of stillness-quiet reflections on the shifting of seasons-informed the mood and direction of the album.

What emerged is a collection of slowly evolving compositions, revealing gentle melodies, nuanced textures, and soft drones-much like the tender unfolding of early spring leaves. The album carefully weaves together field recordings, organic textures, and synthesis to create immersive soundscapes that capture the subtle beauty and contemplative atmosphere of seasonal change.

James Osland & Andrew Heath - Outside The Light Was Starting To Wane

I’ve been mesmerised with the sound of Deaf Center since the very beginning. I think it’s been more than 20 years now since their Neon City EP was released on Type. This is way before I even knew that behind the project was a Norwegian duo who started making music together as friends. This is before I knew their names to be Erik K Skodvin and Otto A. Totland. Before I listened to, admired, and celebrated their solo works on here. And, before I met each one in person, and of course, before we naturally became friends. This is precisely why, when it came to launching Headphone Community and deciding on who I should profile there from the start, I reached out to Erik and his partner Monique Recknagel (who runs Sonic Pieces imprint) to pitch them this idea (it was actually when I visited their mi-so shop in Berlin). This is why Erik is the currently featured artist for the month of May on Headphone Community (join for just $1 for an intimate journey!), and this is why I am premiering this track for you today. It’s been another long period of silence for Deaf Center, but the two long-form pieces on Reverie clearly show that they have not put their collaboration on hold. If anything, it has only evolved into a hypnotic meditation on Otto’s keys and Erik’s strings, guitar, effects, and atmospherics, designed for a very deep listening session. The recordings actually come from a live performance in October 2024 in Rabih Beaini’s studio, Morphine Raum in Berlin, during the 15th anniversary celebration of Sonic Pieces. This is less of an improvisation and more of a dialogue between the two friends who haven’t spoken in a while. It is truly magical, and I only wish I could be there to experience it live.

In “Rev”, deeply effected piano motifs reverberate and echo in the depths of the room, evolving through looping and electronics into a blissful, mesmerising cloud of (dis)harmony. The sound is reminiscent of the 7inch “Vintage Well” mixed with the basic elements of 2011’s “Owl Splinters”. […] The immediate duality of the two performers has rarely been so strongly felt, Totland’s deep melodic feeling is underscored by Skodvin’s abstract ambience and processing. Dark versus light, loud versus quiet – this has always been at the core of what makes Deaf Center a special project.

TRACK PREMIERE : Deaf Center - Rev (excerpt)

I don't think I will ever forget the first time I heard m.=addiction. I can also confirm that every time I played out that record, folks waltzed over to me to find out the name. Something mystical and enigmatic brought them over to music, making me feel like I was a snake charmer enchanting a cobra with the sounds of a pungi. The music of Dictaphone often evoked hazy spaces, full of jazzy smoke, lo-fi textures, and noir voices, occupying those distant corners of your memory where you felt glamorous comfort, charming enchantment, and warming delight. Since the 2002 debut, the Berlin-based duo of Oliver Doerell and Roger Döring released five more albums, all of which I think I have covered on Headphone Commute. And, in my humble opinion, their latest upcoming release is the closest to that special aura I felt nearly two decades ago. Unstable is Dictaphone's 6th full-length, where Doerel and Döring are also joined by Alexander Stoze (on violin) to mesmerise us with that special scent of future-retro nostalgia that seems to drift in the air like thick incense in a temple of soporific ghosts.

TRACK PREMIERE : Dictaphone - Desplendor

Percussionist. Improviser. Performer. Occasionally composer and field recordist. Co-founder of the ensemble]h[iatus. Co-founder and curator of Le Bruit de la Musique festival. Artistic adviser of Association Ryoanji Épicentre.

220725 A Quiet Night in the Woods

Lê Quan Ninh

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