La Vagabonde

From the album "Ivory" released via Kitchen Label (2018)

IVORY

Duende

Listen / Purchase: https://lnk.to/alapastel

This album is also part of Lost Tribe Sound's Salt & Gravity Series:
https://losttribesound.bandcamp.com/album/salt-and-gravity-series

‘Ceremony’ is the second album from Slovakian composer Lukáš Bulko, who records under the name Alapastel. Bulko’s 2018 debut album ‘Hidden for the Eyes’ for James Murray’s Slowcraft was met with praise from critics and fans alike. Much like ‘Hidden for the Eyes’, the new album ‘Ceremony’ provides no easy comparisons.

Lost Tribe Sound was introduced to Alapastel by composer William Ryan Fritch in early 2021. Immediately upon listening to the demo it became clear that ‘Ceremony’ was unlike any album we’d heard before.  It’s an album built from mammoth sound objects, carved from organic sources, that feel so palpable that one could reach out and touch them. Often spanning ten + minutes, these expansive compositions are crafted with such intent and intricate detail that they never overstay their welcome.

There’s a purity and a gentleness to Bulko’s musical voice that speaks of connection, mending, of building a better existence. Subjects that are often swallowed up by the noise, the cruelty, and lack of compassion found in modern society… written off as idealistic or naive. Bulko describes the intention of ‘Ceremony’ is to facilitate a transformative experience. Much of ‘Ceremony’ was written to highlight his interest in Indigenous Peoples ability to survive using sustainable methods passed down over thousands of years, making use of techniques that helped to conserve biodiversity for future generations. Bulko’s work with Fairtrade International has nurtured this connection and belief that adopting these ancient practices is the key to continued life on this planet.

cover art by Silvia Bobeková Art

Ceremony

Releaseness

Alapastel - Releaseness (from Ceremony)

Listen / Purchase: https://lnk.to/meltingworld

Ryan Chamberlain (aka Arrowounds) originally envisioned 'The Rise and Fall of the Melting World' as an extension of the previous two albums, 'Oncotype Sketchbook' and 'The Loneliness of the Deep Sea Diver,' although with the intended purpose of exploring the "aftermath and resurfacing" from the events that inspired those creations.

Chamberlain aimed for a more open sounding terrain to represent a clearing of the mind or the ability to breathe again, though there were multiple occasions throughout the making of 'Rise and Fall' where the waves came crashing back down into the depths. Nothing is ever that easy. Continuing health scares of those closest to Chamberlain and the overall climate of anxiety the world maintains always threatened to darken and pollute the soundscapes during their creation.

Field recordings from Chamberlain’s new living environment; far from the city, also played a huge role in shaping this album, maneuvering the senses of uncertainty and isolation throughout. Traveling in the mind, projecting ones being through nature, spilling out amongst the moss and soil into your own film of wreckage… senses perceive as much as deceive.

As it stands, 'The Rise and Fall of the Melting World' is the perfect closing to the trilogy of albums, with its lingering threads and cancerous tentacles breaching the surfaces and branching into unknown landscapes.

The Rise and Fall of the Melting World

Caverns of the Behemoth (Edit)

Arrowounds - Caverns of the Behemoth (Edit)(from The Rise and Fall of the Melting World)

CD/DL: https://tgeruis.bandcamp.com/album/slow-dance-on-moss-beds

't Geruis 'Slow Dance on Moss Beds' is the fifth release in Lost Tribe Sound’s album series, Salt and Gravity. The series includes albums from Arrowounds, Adrian Copeland (aka Alder & Ash), Tony Dupé (aka Saddleback), ’t Geruis, Federico Mosconi, Sanr, mastroKristo, and Alapastel. To receive 'Slow Dance on Moss Beds' on CD or Digital at a discount, subscribe to the series here: losttribesound.bandcamp.com/album/salt-and-gravity-series

Music hides when we are not looking for it. There are very many found melodies in these pieces, a gift from trees, wind, machines and people. A fluttering piece of music we could easily miss. We just need to catch it. 

Making these pieces was a challenging dynamic between making and listening. The challenge of being able to say "stop" within the creative process, or in some cases to be able to take a step back. Reduction, sometimes destruction, before creation. When we stumble upon something valuable, we don't dig any further. We dust it off, frame it and we don't touch it again.

Slow Dance on Moss Beds

iets kostbaars

't Geruis - Iets Kostbaars (from Slow Dance on Moss Beds)

Awake In The Web

An ode to the late Nick Talbot (Gravenhurst)

12.4.15

I first discovered Gravenhurst back in 2004 while exhausting the last of my pizza-serving paycheck at my local record store, Stinkweeds in Tempe, AZ. As I was thumbing through new releases, eerie, atmospheric-folk began to play over the store’s sound system. When Nick’s voice emerged from the fog, I was hooked. I purchased Flashlight Seasons that day and immediately felt as if I was let in on a secret. I listened to that album incessantly. To make extra money during this time I began to DJ weddings, mitzvahs and private parties.  The nights were long and the playlists were pre-chosen by the clients. When I climbed into my ’86 Honda Civic (nicknamed “the roller skate”) at the end of the night all I wanted to do was to cleanse my ears with Nick’s beautiful, intimate songs. His music was my companion; something I could count on when I was lonely. Although I never got a chance to see Nick perform or meet him in person, I felt like through his songs I knew him intimately.

Nick passed away a year ago today. At the time I coped with the tragic news by recording one of my favorite songs of his, “The Diver”. And while my version could never hold a light to the original, I recorded it with great sincerity and sorrow. I learned later that Nick had suffered from the seizure-causing disorder epilepsy, a disorder my mother also suffers from. That’s why I’m releasing the cover as a pay-what-you-want digital download via Bandcamp with 100% of the proceeds going to the http://www.epilepsysociety.org.uk/, the leading provider of epilepsy services in the UK though research, awareness campaigns, info. resources and expert care. Please consider donating a minimum of $1 for the song and help give people with this often debilitating disorder your support. 

With gratitude and fond remembrance, 

- Kael Smith

You can download the cover and donate here: https://muteforest.bandcamp.com/track/the-diver-gravenhurst-cover

Recorded and arranged by Kael Smith
Lyrics by Nick Talbot
Mastered by Taylor Deupree (12k)
Cover art by Lynn Vanlandingham
Original of "The Diver" appears on Gravenhurst's 2004 album Flashlight Seasons (Warp Records)


The Diver (Gravenhurst cover)

LI'LITH - Jeanette (Remission Film Music)

Listen / Purchase: https://lnk.to/oldcapital

The Old Capital (out on Lost Tribe Sound) is the debut album from Melbourne composers Claire Deak and Tony Dupé. The album is their first recorded collaboration, though Dupé has released two solo albums under the name Saddleback. 

The duo describes themselves as a home orchestra well-suited for late night rambling. Much like traveling in the dark of night, the sound explorations found throughout The Old Capital come into view seemingly out of nowhere. Headstrong rhythms of shuffling organic debris and lumbering stomps help light the path with some brief success, only to be swallowed up by a slow moving fog of droning organs and dampened strings. However with the proper guides, finding ones footing in this shadowy landscape doesn't have to be difficult. Claire and Tony echo this sentiment throughout with a fine balance of both playful and haunting passages. Their confidence reassures us that once our eyes adjust to the dark, it need not be a frightening place. 

A wide variety of acoustic instrumentation weave their way into the music, including: pianos, accordion, harp, harpsichord, pump organs, pipe organ, recorder, flute, trumpet, euphonium, clarinets, stroh violin, viola, wulf fidel, cello, double bass, guitar, charango, mandolin, baritone ukulele, banjo, xylophone, glockenspiel, gamelan, drums and voices. 

Lost Tribe Sound feels incredibly lucky to have stumbled upon the duo's music because of a kind tip from the good folks at the Preserved Sound label. It makes perfect sense that Claire and Tony hail from Australia. This location has turned out many our favorite electroacoustic acts, known for cobbling genres together in ways that leave just enough of the roughhewn framework showing. Comparatively speaking, Brambles, Part Timer, and Thomas William Hill (aka Origamibiro) come to mind.

The Old Capital

From a Rooftop

Claire Deak & Tony Dupé - From a Rooftop (from The Old Capital)

Listen / Purchase: https://lnk.to/elders

Elders is the fifth album from London-based guitarist Gowaart Van Den Bossche, working under the moniker yadayn. The record also serves as yadayn’s first release for Lost Tribe Sound.

Elders translates to "elsewhere" in Dutch. As that title suggests, this album is a meditation on groundedness and the possibilities of other lives in other places. Recorded after having moved from Belgium to London, Elders is a meditation on the experiences yadayn had and the personal relationships he built during, in between, and after three trips to Iran, especially its provinces of East and West Azerbaijan between 2016 and 2018. While these trips ended up resulting in a personal failure, this album is one effort to make sense of the events in the form of a highly personal engagement with Iranian musical and literary traditions.

While many of yadayn’s previous albums have mainly consisted of solo guitar recordings, Elders marks a small but important shift in approach. A pronounced use of overdubs can be heard throughout the album, along with meaningful selections of field recordings from his time in Iran, Persian poetry written by one of many random acquaintances made while traveling in Iran, and loose interpretations of traditional songs. All have embedded their charms and taken on new meaning for Van Den Bossche.

It feels right to leave many of the personal experiences behind Elders untold, at least in a written language. In its place, yadayn’s musical transcription has provided something much more powerful. Sorrow, anger, joy, and calm all make time for each other during the course of the album. Its emotions are worn on the sleeve, weary yet wiser, and ultimately grateful for the experience.

Elders

Verder

Yadayn - Verder (from Elders)

Score I wrote using 20 layers of legato strings, performed on the Viola Da Gamba. This was a piece that never made the final cut of a film I was working on in 2020.

Layers - Viola Da Gamba Sketch

Lost Tribe Sound is a record label that specializes in organic and exploratory sound. Lost Tribe Sound admires music that leaves its tattered edges proudly in place, acoustic instrumentation blended seamlessly with dirty mechanics, timeworn sound worlds rooted in the muck and the mire of the present. The sound generally falls along the lines of bizarrely rhythmic, beautifully decayed electro-acoustic music, often with a reverence for low-end. LTS focuses on full-length albums, with a strong commitment to well-made packaging. The aim is to unearth timeless music that pushes the envelope of modern composition while paying homage to the ancient.

Yadayn - Verder (from Elders)

Lost Tribe Sound

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