Composer Christopher Bono’s major new ambient-orchestral album BARDO will be released on the Our Silent Canvas label on July 15, 2014. The 60-minute, full-album work is a surreal musical drama narrating the journey of “The Fool” (a character derived from the ancient Tarot system), which illustrates the character’s cycle from despair and darkness, through the afterlife, transcendence, and finally rebirth. The album will have digital distribution through Naxos, and will be available on CD and special edition vinyl through Our Silent Canvas (www.oursilentcanvas.org). 
BARDO (which is the Tibetan word for “transitional state” or “portal”) was produced by Christopher Bono; the orchestral sessions were co-produced with Grammy Award-winner Adam Abeshouse. The album was mixed by Bono in collaboration with Grammy Award-winning engineer Silas Brown and mastered by Scott Hull at Masterdisk. The phenomenal young conductor Teddy Abrams (currently assistant conductor to Leonard Slatkin with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra) led an orchestra comprising members of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and the Prague Philharmonic at legendary Dvorák Hall. Additional ambient instruments and guitars were recorded at The Great Togetherness Hall at Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh’s Blue Cliff Monestary, with percussion and vocals recorded at Bono’s Apollo 37 studio, both in upstate New York. 
BARDO was originally a site-specific work commissioned by Sympho Concerts and was premiered to a capacity crowd at the iconic Ann Hamilton Tower in Geyserville, CA in June 2012. Performers and audience members were immersed in the sonic experience by being positioned along the length of the entire structure on double-helix interior staircases. This vertical plane was taken into consideration for the compositional process and was later translated onto a horizontal level for the larger orchestral recording. The work has a vivid and exciting future as a modern dance multimedia production currently being scheduled in Florida and New York. 
Complementing the album will be a 20-30 minute documentary directed by Ilú Media and a series of inspired illustrations by Christopher Bono’s close collaborator, DZO Olivier. DZO Olivier has created six remarkably vibrant and detailed images narrating the core story of BARDO, which have been woven into a beautiful package for the CD and limited edition vinyl. 

The narrative of BARDO was inspired by four fields of reference: The Tarot System, The Tibetan Book Of The Dead, sound healing/esoteric sound theories, and sacred geometry. The first movement, “Bardo I: Enter the Mystic,” marks the genesis of the psycho-spiritual journey of the Tarot System’s Fool. It begins from a place of isolated desperation, and this initial darkness culminates in “Bardo II: The End of the Oligarchs” with the destruction of the archetypal Tower, representing the social and psychological constructs of man. 
The second half of the album chronicles the “in-between” experience as described in the ancient Tibetan Book of the Dead. In “Bardo III: Enter The Void” the music guides the Fool through a series of difficult psychological experiences leading to a liberated state, where a wondrous, spinning tunnel of visual and sonic phenomenon inspires ascension. From a place of infinite possibility, “Bardo IV: Clouds Blooming at the Thought of Union” moves the Fool through what the Tibetans call the Sidpa Bardo, or the Bardo of transmigration. In this final Bardo, the Fool arrives at the door to his next embodied life, where he fulfills the karmic destiny created by the loving embrace of his future parents. Each movement is preluded by ambient portals that act as passageways to the varying environments of each movement.



Christopher Bono-BARDO [ALBUM PREVIEW]

Gareth Jones and Christopher Bono return with their second album as Nous Alpha, ‘A Walk In The Woods’. Hear the rustling electronic opener, ‘Important Moments’, now

More info: https://djmag.com/music/premiere-nous-alpha-important-moments

A Walk in the Woods

Premiere: Nous Alpha ‘Important Moments’

Squid - G.S.K.
Nous Alpha - Golden Lemon
LUMP - Animal
Rodrigo Amarante - Mare
Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band - Dirt Off Your Shoulder
Jimmy 'Preacher' Ellis - Hard Times
Winter McQuinn - Huxley 
Trees Speak - Scheinwelt
Ducks Ltd. - Oblivion
DUMB - Pizza Slice
That Hideous Sound - Always To Blame 
Kolonel Djafaar - Recording 68 
Anthony Joseph - Swing Praxis
Lucas Santtana & Selecao Natural - Lycra-Limao
The Gripsweats - G'on Use It 
TEKE TEKE - Sarabande
AIM LOW - Broken Sundial
Rainy Day People - If Not Now, When
Tough Age - Giuseppe Pizzeria
Tommy McCook's Orchestra - Sampson
Grace Jones - Pull Up Tp The Bumper

Pressure Drop Show, 10th May 2021

Laraaji (born as Edward Larry Gordon) may be most well-known for his 1980 album Ambient 3: Day of Radiance, a collaboration with Brian Eno for his legendary ambient series of recordings, but Laraaji's career has actually spanned more than 40 years and includes over 50 releases. However, music is only one element of this laughter artist, meditation practitioner, and mystic traveler. As Eno says, "Laraaji is one of the calmest and most serious people I have ever met, and also one of the most lighthearted. It's an unusual combination, but somehow both qualities show in his work – it's deep and bright at the same time." Geoff Stanfield had a conversation with Laraaji from which excerpts were pulled for an article in Tape Op issue #141, but actually hearing the words and wisdom is an experience all its own. Enjoy!

Sponsored by Focusrite
https://focusrite.com

Episode 61: Laraaji

Christopher Bono-BARDO-04 "The Dawning Space Of Azure Light" [PREVIEW] (1:00)

Christopher Bono-BARDO-02 Rise Tower, Arise! [PREVIEW] (0:57)

Christopher Bono-BARDO-01 Bardo I: "Enter The Mystic" [PREVIEW](1:57)

Christopher Bono-BARDO-05 Bardo III:"Enter The Void" [PREVIEW] (2:34)

Christopher Bono-BARDO-03 Bardo II: "The End Of The Oligarchs" [PREVIEW] (2:20)

Track list: 
Angermund - Wayfaring - Running Records
Haugli - A day with you
Samer Soltan - Close to you (Meera remix) - Anime
Haugli - Marimbas 
Gabbarein - Gabbarein (Nils Olav remix) - Our Silent Canvas
Fjordfunk - Forever More - ALO
Third Attempt - People Are Beautiful - Beatservice
Maya Vik - Friction Addiction - Oslo Records 
Maya Vik - Reverie - Oslo Records 
Boblebad - Mermaid feat. Guro - Beatservice 
Neon Streams - Ataraxia - Music Nordics
Casablanca 303 & Voodoo Meluk - Insollino 
KSMISK - Make Me Wait - Lab Cleaning Jams 
Naboklage &.Pyramiden - Grabbin Grain - Tempo Tapes

LYD. New Norwegian Sounds. July 2024

Composed & Arranged by Michael Hewett (Being in Dreaming Music/BMI)
Guitars - Michael Hewett
Tracking Engineer - Michael Hewett
Mix Engineer - Michael Hewett
Cover Art Design - Carol Issa

Available for download at https://michaelhewett.bandcamp.com/track/gold-acoustic-instrumental-version-2

Muses

Gold

GOLD (Acoustic Instrumental Version)

Hollow Ship - Magic Mountain
Kelly Finnigan - I Called You Back Baby
Paddy Hanna - Cannibals
Flaming Lips - Flowers Of Neptune 6 (feat. Kacey Musgraves)
Mong Tong - A Nambra
The Beatles - Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band
The Band - Up On Cripple Creek
Navet Confit - OK
PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING - London Can Take It
The Kinks - Brainwashed
NOUS - We Hope The Weather Can Continue
TJ Roberts - Sinceridipity
Protomartyr - Michigan Hammers
Hater - Sift
Viscardi & Alano Santo - Biologia Urbana
The Bamboos - Hard Up
REPO - Canyon
Jade Hairpins - Father Coin
Tim Presley - Must Go
Thee Sinseers - What's His Name
Tommy McCook - Two For One
Billy Stewart - Summertime

Pressure Drop Show, June 1st 2020

Nous Alpha - Virtues

Non-Profit record label for experimental electronic, avant-pop, contemporary classical, post-rock, hypnotic, psychedelic, weird and other extreme and beautiful sounds.

Christopher Bono-BARDO-05 Bardo III:"Enter The Void" [PREVIEW] (2:34)

Our Silent Canvas

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