This year, piano and coffee turns five, and to celebrate, we are releasing our first compilation: Realismo Mágico — a conceptual project featuring unconventional works by new and old friends we have made along the way.

Inspired by magical realism, an artistic genre in which realistic narrative and naturalistic technique are combined with surreal elements of dream or fantasy, this special release presents unheard material by twelve exceptional musicians — from experimental sound artist Martyna Basta to award-winning film composer Alexandra Hamilton-Ayres, and from poly-instrumental duo Brueder Selke to prolific pianist and producer John Hayes.

Each artist has contributed with a new track that invites the listeners to submerge into their very own musical universes, which, at the same time, have been re-shaped by their interpretation of magical realism. We start off on our journey with the delicate nostalgia of Tim Linghaus, passing through Jakob Lindhagen and Vargkvint’s modern take on the story of a Norse mythological creature, followed by the harmonic ambiguity in Simeon Walker’s pleasingly strong dialogue between felted piano and drums. Later on, John Hayes shares with us a chaotic composition born out of samples from an old clock in his parents’ garage and saturated voices, which precedes Lucy Claire’s processed hydrophone recordings of seaweeds and starfishes in Australian waters. Ondes Martenot, pump organ, zither, analogue synthesizers, vocal processing, musical saw, and bowed gongs are some of the unusual elements to be found on this eclectic yet coherently unified record.

Realismo Mágico has been conceptually crafted and musically curated by Peruvian composer Sergio Díaz De Rojas, and beautifully depicted by illustrator Jordan Amy Lee and graphic designer Celia Fernández González.

Lucy Claire - Kelp

Drift into a daydream with the piano stylings of @jeroendirrix, floating along that boundary between the waking world and sleep. This joyful melody, so tastefully delayed through an analogue tape machine, washes away the stresses of the present while evoking better days ahead. This perfect blend of nostalgia is the dutch composer's entry in our 2021 Piano Day collection Splices.

You can find the recording anywhere you listen to music: https://orcd.co/jd-mywakingdreams

https://modernarecords.bandcamp.com/album/splices

my waking dreams

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Jeroen Dirrix - my waking dreams

10 years ago, I recorded some piano improvisations with weather on my mind. This one is for all us cloud-gazers. And you know what they say about weather ... it always changes ... 

Stream: https://tinyurl.com/TAOClouds

Written and performed by Michael Price
http://www.michaelpricemusic.com

Recorded by at Snap Studios, London
http://www.snapstudios.co.uk/

Mastered by Katie Tavani
https://www.katietavini.co.uk/

Illustration & Animation by Deepesh Patel
https://www.artstation.com/deepeshpatel

The Anatomy of Clouds

The Anatomy Of Clouds

Here and now, once again, I am talking about my very own music, on my very own platform. It’s a bit difficult to do that, I’ll admit. I don’t want to come off as overly zealous, stuffing my output through a “campaign machine”. But then I think of all the artists who run their own labels [many of you on here, yes?], and who are going through the same slight dilemma of writing a press release, outlining their bio in the third person. So no bio on here – I think that you know who I am [at least through my words]. Instead, I will tell you a little about this title track, which is taken from my upcoming album, When You Are, due out on July 1st via the amazing Slowcraft Records. Having explored the concepts of time through my music on my last release, Out of Time (Injazero, 2021), I wanted to move on past that dimension. And whereby I previously questioned the possibility of departing time and existing without it, in “When You Are” I am abandoning time altogether, on a journey outside of this predicament, measured in an irreversible sequence of events. This may be a frightening proposition, sometimes glimpsed by an experienced meditator. In this timeless passage, I explore the possibilities of being outside being, and in the absence of elsewhere finding ourselves, whenever we are. I’m obviously very excited about this one, folks, and I hope that you enjoy it. Feel free to reach out and tell me what you think!

"Thunderous bass, billows of diffused distortion and precisely calibrated discord drive waves of raw emotion through pieces that smoothly pivot, often within moments, into calm glimpses of such sublime, timeless clarity as are only rarely afforded to the experienced meditator."

This single is out today, on all of your favourite digital platforms. It is taken from my upcoming full-length album, When You Are out on July 1st via Slowcraft. Pre-order on Bandcamp.

When You Are

TRACK PREMIERE : Mike Lazarev - When You Are

I usually try my best not to overwhelm you (and me) with too many write-ups and especially track premieres in a row in a single week, but as you can imagine, there is always an exception! In this case, it’s a wonderful piece by a French composer, Sylvain Texier, who releases music under the name Ô Lake. We first discovered this project back in 2018, with a video for a track from his debut album, Refuge, which subsequently appeared on my Best of the Year list. And although I have never met Texier in person, I could consider him a sonic companion on this musical journey we all find ourselves. I have even reworked a tender piece taken from his follow-up release, titled Gerry (Music inspired by the motion picture) (2021, Patchwork), which you can check out on his single, The Walk [Reworks]. Next year (sometime in March of 2023), Texier will return with a new album titled Still, once again released via Patchwork, with nine contemporary classical and cinematic pieces reflecting on calmness during which we can see just a little bit clearer, allowing the muddiness to settle down in the turbulent waters of our minds. The felt piano is back – you can bathe in its sound on the track I am premiering for you today, titled “Innocence”, but there is now a 40-piece orchestra and electronic rhythms. “From dramatic brilliance in sensitive and soothed delicacies to a meticulous production rendering justice to the subtle and intense grace of his new compositions, Ô Lake transports the listener, travelling in stillness, and beauty.” There are plenty of musical treats on the new album, but for now, let’s just experience “Innocence” in all of its fragility, honesty, and sincerity.

Still

Innocence

TRAK PREMIERE : Ô Lake - Innocence

Actias Luna - Continuous Piano Recorded Live

From the album "Woven Tide" by From the Mouth of the Sun (Dag Rosenqvist & Aaron Martin):

http://www.experimedia.net/?artists_id=2741&typefilter=artist

Sitting in a Roofless Room (From the Mouth of the Sun)

I am exceedingly happy to share with you the first part of my "LIVE Music for the Stars" series. These ambient improvisations are based on the OST for the indie space game Avorion​. Thanks for listening!

Watch the HQ video on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZK1GqMM7yaI

Play Avorion:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/445220/Avorion/

Presented by:
Avorion
Boxelware
Unperceived Records​

Editing: Maya Nadir​
Camera: Niklas Paschburg​

LIVE Music for the Stars I [Pt. I]

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

From the Mouth of the Sun (aka Aaron Martin & Dag Rosenqvist) return with ‘Sleep Stations,’ an EP of six new songs, out May 18th, 2018 on Lost Tribe Sound. ’Sleep Stations’ rests comfortably alongside 2017’s ‘Hymn Binding’ their third full-length album and their original score for Joshua Z. Weinstein’s feature film, ‘Menashe.’ With ‘Sleep Stations’ the duo assures us that their exquisite palette of classical leaning, electro-acoustics reaped from their previous albums still leaves much to be explored.

Footage taken from NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

Sleep Stations

Reaching When Nothing Is There

Buy EP

From the Mouth of the Sun - Reaching When Nothing Is There (from Sleep Stations EP)

Original score for William Armstrong's short film "Adam":

https://aaronmartin.bandcamp.com/album/adam

vimeo.com/262931520

All music by Aaron Martin.

Mastered by Ian Hawgood.

Design layout by Ryan Keane.

Film credits:

Shot in the Western Cape, South Africa.

WINNER Ciclope Africa Craft Awards 2018.

A special thank you to Adam Voigt for telling this story.

Directed & Produced by: William Armstrong
Cinematography: Caleb Heymann
Editor: Stephen Dunne
Original Music: Aaron Martin
Underwater Photography: Paul Daniel
Additional Underwater: Sasha Specker
Drone Operator: Andrew Pollock
1st AC: Siya Dumo
Sound Design: Tom Heddy @ Wave
Colourist: Oisin O'Driscoll @ The Mill

An Ocean Moves You

Watermusic

Watermusic (Continuous Piano)

music accompanied by hypothetical imagery.

Actias Luna - Continuous Piano Recorded Live

Maiya Hershey

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