Ben Lukas Boysen – Gravity

dear bride. -Jesus



Buy Infinity Pools EP: smarturl.it/buyipools

Debuted on Stereogum here: bit.ly/1DAC8ZQ

What does the future of peace and quiet look like? Is it possible for someone to find serenity in a world where population mushrooms and buildings continuously jockey for the best possible view? With Kael Smith’s (Mombi, Khale) Mute Forest this dichotomy is at the epicenter of his 'Infinity Pools EP' due April 7th via Lost Tribe Sound.

To coincide with visuals courtesy of Gregory Euclide (Bon Iver, Erased Tapes), Smith’s debut EP fuses acoustic sounds, mangled electronics and provocative lyrics across four meditative yet mesmerizing tracks.

Serving as a companion piece to his expansive and sonorous LP, 'Deforestation', due later this year, Smith’s 'Infinity Pools EP' was actually written as a reaction to that material but will be released first.“ 'Deforestation' will in a sense be a prequel to the EP,” explains Smith. “And for listeners who follow along, should provide an interesting reverse narrative,” he concludes.

“Crypt,” the EP’s opener, contains oscillating vinyl-sampled rhythms, chiming electric guitar and gently struck nylon guitar. Following that is the sparce and haunting “Volcanoes Flowing,” which traces a melancholy beat and slow, lovely piano crescendos to its heartbreaking conclusion.

Darker in tone, title track "Infinity Pools" has a commanding presence using ominous electronics and damaged samples of Le Creuset pots being struck. Heavily processed and featuring vocals from Smith’s longtime girlfriend Kelly O’Brien, the track unfurls into a hypnotic groove over the chilling words “You’ll feel like an ember trilling/out in space.”

Washing over the listener to conclude the EP, “Eat the Skin” originally started as an A Winged Victory for the Sullen remix of a song off of their recent LP, 'Atomos'. As the track progressed though, all of the layers performed by AWVFTS were eventually stripped leaving only acoustic guitar and Smith’s voice. “I like to pretend we wrote that song together, hopefully someday they will hear it” desires Smith. He uses the big, cavernous sound of acoustic guitar as base for unhurried, dulcet vocals and airy electronics. “I’ve always loved the big, acoustic sound of Seafood’s “Desert Stretched Before the Sun”“ explains Smith. “I really tried to emulate that deep resonate tone where the acoustic sounds like a tidal wave.”

All songs written, performed, recorded and mixed by Kael Smith (kaelsmithmusic.com)
Kelly O'Brien backing vocals on "Infinity Pools."
Mastering by Taylor Deupree at 12k Mastering
Production assistance on "Crypt" & "Volcanoes Flowing" by Matthew Herron

Original artwork by Gregory Euclide (gregoryeuclide.com)
Copyright 2015 Lost Tribe Sound (losttribesound.com)
Published by Settled Scores 2015 (ASCAP)


Mute Forest - Eat The Skin (from Infinity Pools EP)

Tribute to amazing Nils Frahm's "Tristana"..

Nils Frahm - Tristana (Daigo Hanada Rework)

Buy / Stream Album: https://lnk.to/wsmsettlers

Follow WSM on Bandcamp: http://westernskiesmotel.bandcamp.com
 
'Settlers' is the new album from Western Skies Motel in a limited edition of 170 gatefold 180gram vinyl, CD and digital formats.  'Settlers' was mastered for vinyl and digital by Taylor Deupree, with master lacquers cut by Roger Siebel at SAE.  The first 50 Vinyl & CD's ordered come with a bonus EP, 'Generations' mastered by Kirk Marrison of Kiln.

In the dry desert of Arizona that Lost Tribe Sound calls home, a letter is received from guitarist René Gonzàlez Schelbeck who’s eager to share a collection of intimately composed songs, titled 'Settlers'. Upon listening, we are immediately enthralled. There’s a timeworn, arid, and almost badlands quality to Schelbeck’s hypnotic, cyclical guitar style. It seems to perfectly capture the lonely, barren landscape of the American West. 

Yet, there are curious dynamics at play here as Schelbeck, who makes music under the alias Western Skies Motel, is from Denmark and far removed from any upbringing in the rough-hewn Americana style of folk guitar. Conceivably, his music has more in common with the lonesome, calculated tone of Berlin's modern classical scene or the rainy day folk of the UK. Those are intriguing parallels, since the collective mood of Western Skies Motel's music would adapt so well to either environment. 

Words hardly do justice to the rich, immersive experience of 'Settlers'; yet a few may help to set the stage. Schelbeck is a remarkably well rounded instrumentalist, who spent his early days losing his hearing in local punk rock bands. This youthful love for walls of sound and discordant guitar squalls survives in his modern sound palette. However, a more mature approach to these techniques brings moments of palpable tension, adding in uneasy waves of guitar feedback and droning harmonium. 

But ultimately, the truth of what Schelbeck hopes to convey through his music may rest rmly in his subconscious. In hindsight, 'Settlers' is about moving between worlds: not in the dimensional sense, but more as a constant change in form. Each influence and sound Schelbeck incorporates into his music feels native to the delicate ecosystem of these songs and each turn feels as organic and nuanced as that of the natural world. Just as a tree’s leaves wither and fall; a fire sparks and expands only to expend its last bit of fuel, extinguished and left for ash. So true are the parallels we find in our own existence, the complex ritual of growing old and returning to dirt. Decay is inevitable for all life, yet through this it becomes the rich soil for all things proceeding. Western Skies Motel's weighty instrumental mantras may root in this and other meanings yet to be culled. One thing is clear, this music contains signicant power, and, regardless of our conceived themes or geographic locations, it tells a story that is lasting and instantly familiar. 

'Settlers' sees a 180-gram heavy weight gatefold release very similar to the recent Mute Forest debut, 'Deforestation'. The acetate and test pressings were scrutinized for anomalies on world-class vinyl setups at Arizona’s esteemed audio dealer, Arizona Hi-Fi.

Western Skies Motel is building upon a busy year in 2015, having released two very different full-length albums 'Prism' (Preserved Sound) and 'Buried and Resurrected' (Twice Removed).

Settlers

Whirl

Buy Album

Western Skies Motel - Whirl (from Settlers)

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

Written by Ed Carlsen for Piano Day 2016

Hundrede Træer (Piano Day 2016)

Download

Beneath A Blanket (with Niklas Paschburg)

Fund/preorder here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/alex-kozobolis-weightless#/

Weightless is an EP of intricate original piano compositions by UK artist Alex Kozobolis. With a series of solo releases over the past few years and collaborations with artists such as Lee Chapman, Harry Edwards, and Anna Rose Carter, Weightless represents Alex's unique approach to composition and melody. 

His touch on the piano is light and fluid; moving between dense sustained runs, which evaporate as soon as they are heard, to spaciously plotted notes. Weightless is the sound of weight itself lifting, of the earthly effect of gravity removed and allowing the listener to be suspended within mid-air, uninterrupted by pressures and restrains of the physical world. Coursing with energy, and running to take flight.

Each of the four tracks have been remixed by Siavash Amini, Tom Adams, Trnspt and Hedia, with very different, but cohesive results, expanding the tone of the EP into new areas.  

Weightless will be available on limited clear vinyl, digipack CD and digital editions.

Tracklist 

Side A
1. Unravel
2. Closure
3. And Find Yourself
4. Weightless

Side B
1. Weightless (Tom Adams Remix)
2. And Find Yourself (Siavash Amini Remix)
3. Closure (Hedia Remix)
4. Unravel (Transept Remix)

Closure by Alex Kozobolis

Taken from my latest album "(For Now We See) Through A Glass Dimly", ‘Elegy (ii)’ features the elegantly dexterous vocals of Joanna Swan (Ilya) and the incisive strings of Christoph Berg (Field Rotation).
The album, as described by Hidden Shoal:
The 10 tracks that comprise "(For Now We See) Through A Glass Dimly" have an emotional potency and compositional dexterity that surpasses the acclaimed body of work that precedes them, drawing you into their evocative world and demanding engagement. The album includes contributions from Christoph Berg (Field Rotation), composer Stefano Guzzetti, James Banbury (The Auteurs), Joanna Swan (Ilya) and writer Paul Morley. Mixed by Stefano Guzzetti and Paul Humphreys (OMD), and mastered by Rafael Anton Irisarri (The Sight Below), the album’s depth of sound is awe-inspiring.
For more releases by Antonymes: https://antonymes.bandcamp.com/
This music is available for licensing. Email Cam at Hidden Shoal for more details: cam[@]hiddenshoal.com | www.hiddenshoal.com/licensing

Antonymes on Spotify: http://spoti.fi/2cAJxyL

Elegy (ii)

Third track of Manos Milonakis's remix release "Sólfar Reworked" by:

Luke Howard (www.lukehoward.com , @lukehoward) : 

Australian Music Prize-nominated composer Luke Howard has been described as “absolutely heavenly” (Mary Anne Hobbs, BBC Radio 6) and his music as “an ambient masterclass” (Musos’ Guide), but no words can fully capture the potency of Howard’s enthralling compositions. A pianist since childhood, Howard has scored films and performed with artists as diverse as Lior and Jeff Mills, capturing audiences with contemporary classical arrangements that curl and twist around the boundaries of a particular emotion. Though wordless, Howard’s songs perform a function unique to music as a medium – that of evoking without describing, bringing listeners to a feeling which defies articulating. 

Now signed to UK label Mercury KX (Lambert, Olafur Arnalds, Solomon Grey) and joined live by drummer and collaborator Daniel Farrugia, 2017 has Howard working across several projects: arranging the keyboard works of photographer William Eggleston, a pioneer of colour photography; a European tour beginning in the UK and ending with a performance at Germany’s legendary Elbphilharmonie; and a new record. 

Howard is one of Australia’s foremost practitioners of contemporary classical music. Having already accomplished so much and with more on the horizon, he is set to captivate audiences worldwide.

---
Celebrating Record Store Day and given the occasion of Sólfar EP’s 1st anniversary, Manos Milonakis invites friends, composers and producers to rethink-reimagine its’ 5 tracks. Sólfar EP was Manos’s second solo release, after Your Hand in Mine, which he recorded in Iceland with contribution of local musicians.

The 5 pieces of Sólfar EP have been reworked by:
Steve Gibbs, Fragile Balloon, Luke Howard, Hior Chronik, Ed Carlsen.

Sólfar Reworked is out worldwide on 22/04/2017, Record Store Day 2017, in limited handmade CD edition and digital.

You can find it at:
Thessaloniki: Lotus, Noise, Stereodisc
Athens: Underflow
Worldwide: www.manosmilonakismusic.com
Digital release: https://manosmilonakismusic.bandcamp.com

Sólfar Reworked

Ten (Luke Howard Rework)

Rauelsson - Fluvial

New album Riderstorm out April 3rd, 2020 https://muteforest.bandcamp.com/album/riderstorm?fbclid=IwAR0fdpYCopJTGdVbx4KwD3XgIdAIe1EoMaXJOiqwSzV4NBwi5LCmnGW3b8E

Hailing from the Rocky Mountains, Kael Smith meticulously crafts songs centered around lush and verdant guitars, tasteful drums and saxophone with occasional filtered electronics. With releases under Khale, Mombi and now Mute Forest, Smith's quest for ear-percolating textures hit a new high with 2020's Riderstorm, released by Lost Tribe Sound.

Mute Forest - Eat The Skin (from Infinity Pools EP)

Mute Forest

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