All The Things We Could Know

Ben Crosland - All The Things We Could Know

Raw Improvisation in remembrance of JJ. On the theme of Flight from the City.

Improvisation In Rememberance Of Jóhann Jóhannsson

In a sonic world which currently appears to be saturated with meditative and reflective music, it seems too hard to meditate and then reflect upon the meaning of this saturation. Is it the fact that we’re all receding into quietude and need a bit more space for all our mental health, or is it simply the machinery behind the scenes that works like a suggestive algorithm to feed us more of what we want? I suspect the truth lies somewhere in between because it’s a little bit of both. Thankfully, I think I can see right through the latter, and bring you closer to the former because there are a few artists, and more importantly, record labels, that really focus on aesthetics, delivering music that connects every listener, and not just dilutes them with more of the same. In this particular case, I am speaking, of course, of Moderna, which since 2015, has been offering us beautiful gems. With their latest release, this Montreal-based imprint is introducing us to a Polish composer and pianist, Piotr Wiese. Building upon a successful string of film soundtracks, singles and albums, Wiese is currently working on a new LP for the label, but today we can get a sneak preview into his world with a charming title track, taken from his upcoming EP in September. “Coming Home” is a lovingly executed solo piano piece, with roots in European romanticism and newly-born branches in contemporary classical and reductionist minimalism genres – exactly how I like it. It’s a poetic melody that comforts and quilts, reminding me so much of those meditative and reflective pieces that I love so much to console in, even if they come from a turbulent mind of my own.

"Coming Home is all about a journey – the one you undertake to get to know your true self. Sometimes a lot of time has to pass to get to the place where you live your own life, rather than the lives of others. And then when you get to that place it feels like ‘coming home’ from a long journey. There can nonetheless be sadness because there are people, often loved ones, you have to leave behind to live in peace with yourself amidst the joy of the return to self."

Coming Home

TRACK PREMIERE : Piotr Wiese - Coming Home

The single from my new album "Poussières", released September 23, 2022. Download the full album here: https://bit.ly/3A3aWny

Poussières

Clairière

Iris

Before the Stars Have Left the Skies is our new winter-inspired ambient journey with Dear Gravity. Featuring ethereal vocals (that hint at traditional Christmas melodies), atmospheric soundscapes with neoclassical touches, and a contemporary ambient production style, the four-track EP aims to evoke the warm, nostalgic feeling of sitting by a fire while watching the vast expanse of the night sky overhead.

Stream & download at https://on.echoes.blue/before-the-stars

Join us on Instagram at https://instagram.com/saltofthesound
Join Dear Gravity at https://instagram.com/deargravitymusic

Before the Stars Have Left the Skies

Midwinter

Download & stream

Midwinter (with Dear Gravity)

COLLAB is a collaborative project by Bruno Sanfilippo with kindred artists. 
This piece is all about what emanates from Bruno's piano, and the subtly added treatments by the multi-instrumentalist Pepo Galán, acting almost as a shadow of the piano sound itself. Everything flows smoothly, creating a calm, bright and elegant atmosphere.

Pepo Galan: Electric guitar, electronics and vocal treatments
Bruno Sanfilippo: Grand piano
Cover art by Javi Guglielmi
Released through ad21/Believe
https://bfan.link/collab2

COLLAB

COLLAB 2

Apple Music/Spotify

Pepo Galán & Bruno Sanfilippo - COLLAB 2

Jozef De Schutter has announced his new record 'Stillness' which we have the pleasure of releasing this spring. You can dive into the record's aptly named first single 'Horizon' now!

🎧 moderna.lnk.to/horizon

Stillness

Horizon

⊜ spotify

Jozef De Schutter - Horizon

Piano cover of "From The First Moments" composed by Niall Byrne. Performed & recorded by Dominique Charpentier aka The Piano Lover.

Niall Byrne - From The First Moment

Born in Athens, Greek composer Zinovia Arvanitidi is most widely remembered as one half of the duo Pill-Oh in Vanishing Mirror as well as her debut solo The Gift of Affliction. Zinovia returns with her first solo modern classical undertaking titled Ivory, and like its precursors, further highlights her mastery in crafting piano ambiances of austere beauty and melancholia, led by mesmerizing melodies and evolving cinematic textures.

Fully self-produced, the now France-based composer navigates through her own time-memory universe with Debussy-like impressionistic daubs, but sublimely she draws the listener into a strangely familiar landscape where the past confronts the present - it is perhaps a dimension that exists within all of us. As the chapters unfold, memories are untangled as darkness shifts into light. The minimalistic nature of the early piano pieces are then transformed, lush and ornate with orchestral strings, subtle electronic atmospheres, field recordings and airy whispers. What makes Zinovia’s musical expression exquisite would perhaps be her use of the melodica, an instrument uncommon amongst the modern classical genre, that adds a contrasting depth to her harmonic palette.

An omnipresent sense of duality lingers throughout the album, as with the ivory and ebony colours of piano keys, or the birth and decay of seasons. This is a work where the artist has grasped the essence of the quote by Albert Camus: “There is a life and there is a death, and there are beauty and melancholy between”. The aural journey heightens, then subsides with a newfound serenity in closing, engaging the listener to invoke their own introspections on acceptance and healing.

Rooted in film and television (and represented by film composer agency Oticons among the names of Shigeru Umebayashi and Jan A.P Kaczmarek), Zinovia’s well-versed background in cinematic scoring manifests in her dexterity at veiling intricacies within each track that only unveil themselves with each subsequent listen. As a fully expanded realisation of Zinovia’s artistic voice, Ivory will resonate with fans who love Pill-Oh, and appeal to those familiar with Ryuichi Sakamoto and Dustin O’Halloran.

French photographer Aëla Labbé’s enigmatic cover art photography once again unifies with Zinovia’s soundscapes since her work for Vanishing Mirror.

Zinovia Arvanitidi releases Ivory on 29 March 2018 on Piano Day via KITCHEN. LABEL worldwide. Available on 180g white vinyl LP, CD and DL.

Pre-order:
www.kitchen-label.com/store/no-21-ivory-zinovia-arvanitidi/

KITCHEN. LABEL : www.kitchen-label.com
Zinovia Arvanitidi : www.zinoviaarvanitidi-composer.com

Ivory

Pre-order

Zinovia Arvanitidi - Fluttering

Minihi - Lost Takeno

say hello / licensing / demos 
modernarecords@gmail.com

We're here to trace a line from electronic sound designers to classical composers, connecting them through the realms of ambient & cinematic music.

Jozef De Schutter - Horizon

Moderna Records

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