Hills and Life

Hinter dem Nebel

Peace

Bonus Track from the album 'The Journey Tapes' (Moderna Records, 2016).

Written by Ed Carlsen for Piano Day 2016

Hundrede Træer (Piano Day 2016)

Taken from his debut album 'Gravity' re-issued by Erased Tapes on June 10.

Order the LP/CD/DL here: www.erasedtapes.com/store/index/ERATP084
iTunes: http://snip.ftpromo.net/gravity
Spotify: http://snip.ftpromo.net/onlyinthedark
Bandcamp: http://snip.ftpromo.net/gravitybc
or any other good record store worldwide

In celebration of their latest signing, Erased Tapes are set to re-issue Ben Lukas Boysen’s compelling debut album ‘Gravity’, alongside new album ‘Spells’ on 10th June 2016.

‘Gravity’ was the first album Ben recorded under his own name, merging programmed piano pieces with live instruments, combining the controllable technical world and the often unpredictable aspects of live improvisation.

From ‘Only In The Dark’ to the two movements of ‘Nocturne’, it’s a serious, solemn listen. And yet, with pieces like ‘To The Hills’ and ‘Eos’, ‘Gravity’ is an exploration of heights, cliffs and vertigoes. With piano lines and choir-like drones, this record suits its title in all its meanings, as the magnetic force takes us deeper towards the core. Marking a new beginning, this debut reveals a touching, and more melodic side to Ben’s body of work, which he previously only hinted at as HECQ.

Friend and fellow Erased Tapes artist Nils Frahm mixed and mastered the album. Ben is not a master pianist like his dear friend, but his sound collages are so meticulously designed that after hearing the result an impressed Nils declared: “from now on, if anyone asks – this is a real piano”.

His intricate, humanised programming – enhanced by drummer Achim
Färber, additional synthesisers played by Nils, and a considerate selection of echoes, delays and compressors – has been used to create a hybrid sound that intends to deceive, question and challenge existing listening habits. Utilising the contrast between reduction and decoration, ‘Gravity’ as well as its successor ‘Spells’ can be seen as a quest to find out how much or how little composition is required to constitute a song. Why the ear can and should be deceived about the authenticity of instruments. What significance these instruments have within this process, and why the personal perception of balance and sound exclude ultimate truths. Linking the two albums are the four movements of ‘Nocturne’, an ever-developing conversation that on occasion flirts with the grandeur of compressed rock drums.

As HECQ Ben has released nine albums since 2003, exploring everything from ambient to breakcore. He has simultaneously established himself as a trusted composer and sound designer, working for a wide array of clients including Amnesty International and Marvel Comics; composing for feature films, games, art installations and convention opening titles.

After embracing this demanding line of work, in 2010 Ben felt the need to explore his roots and early education, which inspired these albums under his own name. Born in 1981 as the third child of opera singer Deirdre Boysen and actor Claus Boysen, his classical music training on piano and guitar began when he was seven years old; the works of Bruckner, Wagner and Bach laid an important foundation. Rediscovering this music shared with his parents – united with the sounds of Autechre, Cristian Vogel and
Jiri.Ceiver to Pink Floyd and Godspeed You! Black Emperor – brought back an understanding of why he wanted to write music in the first place.

“Gravity strips away the cloaked mysteries of electronic music production to expose the tender side of this musician’s mind." — Headphone Commute

TRACKLIST:

01. Only In The Dark
02. Nocturne 1
03. To The Hills
04. You'll Miss Us One Day
05. Gravity
06. Eos
07. Nocturne 2
08. The Behenian Gospel

Gravity

Only In The Dark

Buy LP/CD/DL

Ben Lukas Boysen - Only In The Dark

Moments of improvisation captured and reorganized.

Happy Occident

Fake Magic Is Real

Fake Magic is Real

Silencia is the latest collection of evocative and lustrous compositions by the Nashville duo Hammock. The band’s 10th LP, Silencia closes a trilogy that began with 2017’s Mysterium. It is a balm, gesturing at the healing that can ascend in silence. Slow-churning and contemplative, Silencia most prominently features strings orchestrated by Viktor Orri Árnason (Nils Frahm, Ólafur Arnalds), mists of guitar by Hammock’s Marc Byrd and Andrew Thompson, the hushed drone of horns, and 20 elegiac voices from the Budapest Art Choir. The record was mixed and mastered by Francesco Donadello (Winged Victory for the Sullen, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Ben Frost) in Berlin. Founded in 2003, Hammock’s music has appeared widely in film and television, and it has been praised by The Wire, NPR, Pitchfork, The Atlantic, and other major culture media. -Ryan Burleson

Silencia

Circular As Our Way

Preorder

Circular As Our Way (Silencia)

We're excited to announce the release of our first ever soundtrack : the score for the feature length documentary 'Chasing the Present' by Icelandic composer and producer @snorrihallgrimsson. 

Co-produced by Ólafur Arnalds, Hallgrímsson’s stunning score makes use of filtered strings and pianos to emphasize the title character's depression. In the soundtrack's beautiful title track, which is available now on spoti.fi/32wNgH1, the filter opens completely to showcase the mind's enormous potential when it breaks free from perpetual anxiety. The soundtrack is out on all platforms : https://orcd.co/chasing-the-present

Chasing the Present

Stream / Download

Snorri Hallgrímsson - Chasing the Present

My Remix for the wonderful Keith / Helios.
Available here: http://unseen.bigcartel.com/product/helios-remixed

Helios - Every Hair On Your Head (Ben Lukas Boysen Remix)

I think that it's actually possible to overdose on music. Listen to too much post-rock and everything becomes a saturated peak and valley. Listen to too much techno and you can get into a repetitive clockwork of machinery performing meaningless tasks. Too much ambient and suddenly everything is a blurry mush spreading across a bland piece of soft toast. Which is why I often rotate through the genres, to keep my mind fresh, delighted, and free from fatigue. And on occasion, even while my ears are bombarded by a torrent of what appears to be templated music, a real gem stands out and awakes. I have zoomed in on what makes such occasions special, and have discovered an ingredient that truly makes it shine. Emotion. Unchecked, unbounded, and unrestrained emotion, that simply seeps through the composer's brief, ephemeral, material being. It's something that can not be generated, compelled, held back. It just converted from one form into another, and in the 'music' is produced. Such is the case upon my very first play of Jacob David's latest album for Moderna. And today I share a track from his upcoming album.

“Styrhus” is an opening piece from David’s sophomore release, titled Mursejler. His very first album, Omkuld came out on the same label back in 2015 [it was actually only the third catalogue entry and the first full length for Moderna!]. There were a few more singles along the way, but it’s clear that Mursejler [which means “swift” in composer’s native Danish] is a more mature, sophisticated and cohesive work. The recording itself is restrained, intimate and well balanced, with a refined mastering touch by Martyn Heyne from his Lichte studio. The solo piano drifts and waltzes through the slightly dim corridors of purposely forgotten memories, occasionally opening up the dusty shades to let the strings flow in. I purposely did not select a favourite track from the album for this premiere, because I want you to experience the journey on your own. It may be only a bit over half an hour in length, but I promise you will return to it for yet one more rotation.

The album is out this Friday, February 5th, available on a limited edition 180g vinyl, lossless digital download via Bandcamp, and of course on all of your favourite streaming platforms. The label is also offering a special package of both albums on vinyl LPs. I wouldn’t sleep on this one, folks. Highly recommended for fans of Nils Frahm, Otto Totland, Julien Marchal, and everything Moderna. I think the felted piano genre is here to stay!

Mursejler

Styrhus

TRACK PREMIERE : Jacob David - Styrhus

Italian composer and pianist Luca Longobardi represents the generation of classically trained musicians who incorporate the language of contemporary electronic music into their pieces, which are furthermore strongly connected to the multimedia arts. Born in 1976, Longobardi studied classical music in Italy and New York and went on to earn his doctorate in digital audio restoration in Rome in 2011. His works reveal a strong interaction between classical and contemporary music. The experience he has gained as a theatre musician has increased his interest in the relationship between sounds and spectacle; he has composed music for ballets and films and accompanied installations and experimental art productions (Atelier de Lumières - Paris, Carrières de Lumières - Baux-de-Provence, Kunstkraftwerk - Leipzig). At his multimedia performances and in his recordings, strongly experimental electronic music meets pure, ethereal and simple-seeming piano playing that nevertheless relays deep emotions.

Ivy

Luca Longobardi