Top 50: Ambient

Recent releases

Release date: 27.05.2022

Martin Taxt – microtonal tuba, hand bells, composition
Rolf Erik Nystrøm – alto saxophone, hand bells
Laura Marie Rueslåtten – organ, hand bells
Inga Margrete Aas – double bass, hand bells
Peder Simonsen – microtonal tuba, hand bells, modular synthesizer

Second Room is Taxt’s second album in a series of works investigating possible relations between music and architecture. In this work written for alto saxophone, two microtonal tubas, double bass, church organ, hand bells and modular synthesizers he is inspired by the Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto, and his ideas on different concepts of living. 

In a lecture at the Harvard University in 2011, Fujimoto sets up a comparison between the nest and the cave, as two fundamentally different ways of living concepts. Whereas the nest represents safety, conformity and predictability, a space designed for people, the cave on the other side represents the unknown, a naturally shaped space, not designed for the purpose of living. It can be uncomfortable to enter the dark cave but spending time inside one can gradually start to adapt to the space. By rethinking our concept of space and the relation between space and human body we will eventually discover different functionalities within the cave and innovate new functions in the already designed space. 

(…)A grid system with 36 pitches was the starting point of the composing process. Imagining the grid as a cave, I made 3 different paths through the grid as if I was exploring the cave. These three melodies became the outline for this composition. On ‘Disruption, disjunction, deconstruction’ the musicians are exploring the 36 pitches independently, as if, quoting Fujimoto; finding their own small favourite comfortable places inside the natural cave(…)

Martin Taxt: disruption, disjunction, deconstruction from Second Room

Release date: 27.05.2022 (CD/DD) 05.08.2022 (LP)

In their new composition, Swagger, Oslo-based vocal duo Propan augment their customary sound palate with the aid of an eight-strong ensemble of strings, winds, percussion, voices, and electronics - an ensemble by the name Propanions. Combining pre-scored and improvised content, Swagger moves between the soft sound of tuning forks, odd beats, curious text, playful melodies and textural noise, resulting in an eccentric piece of definite character - an eclectic manifestation of the duo’s electroacoustic universe.

SWAGGER was commissioned in 2016 by Femme Brutal, a feminist booking and DJ collective. It received its world premiere at Oslo’s Parkteater, as part of the 2016 Femme Brutal Festival. The original score included choreographic movements performed live by musicians and a detailed lighting design.

Propan was founded in 2011 by vocalists Ina Sagstuen and Natali Abrahamsen Garner. They have toured widely throughout the world, including Japan, Australia, USA, Europe. Swagger is their fourth release, following Baby (Va Fongool 2016), Trending (SOFA 2019) and Loom (GLARC 2022).

Propan: B2 from Swagger

Title: mind is moving (IV)
Artist: Michael Francis Duch
SOFA 591 (2LP/DD)
Release date: 27.05.2022

mind is moving (IV)

Two monks were arguing about a flag. One said: "The flag is moving."
The other said: "The wind is moving."
The sixth patriarch happened to be passing by. He told them: "Not the wind, not the flag; mind is moving."

mind is moving (IV) is part of a series of pieces composed by Michael Pisaro-Liu. It is a collection of 60 sounds for the contrabass, and any performance may include anywhere from 30 to all 60 sounds in the score, that may be played in any order. There is one sound per minute and all are played pizzicato and generally soft. After playing the sound the performer should hold her/his position for as long as possible before playing the next sound, allowing the sound to ring as long as possible. 

The Koan that inspired the title of this series gives us an idea how to approach this piece, both as a listener as well as well as a performer. What are we listening to: The bass, the decay of the sounds played or the background noise?  Sound is moving and we are observing the process of the birth and death (decay) of each sound and, of course, the empty space between each sound event. In Zen this is referred to as Ma.

Although being an early piece by Pisaro-Liu (1996), it is seldom performed and has yet been recorded. This recording took place in the Nidaros cathedral in Trondheim in August 2019. As mentioned, the piece itself has no narrative as such, as the sounds can be played in any order and half of them may be omitted. Yet, the performer creates a narrative when interpreting and playing it. 
There is also another possible narrative here to be listened to. The piece was recorded in one take around midnight, and by default an hour of sound was documented from inside the cathedral, telling a parallel story of its own.

Michael F. Duch / Michael Pisaro: mind is moving (iv) excerpt

My 1 hour mix for Diplo&Friends on BBC :)

Tracklist:

1. Pharrell Williams - Happy (Neus Remix) 
2. Ed Sheeran - I See Fire (Kygo Remix) 
3. Marvin Gaye - Sexual Healing (Kygo Remix) 
4. TLC - Waterfalls (Bixel Boys Remix) 
5. Israel Kamakawiwoʻole - Somewhere Over The Rainbow (Thomas Jack Remix) 
6. Gnarls Barkley - Crazy (TEEMID & Joie Tan Cover) 
7. ZZ Ward - 365 Days (Jerry Folk Remix) 
8. Londonbeat - I’ve Been Thinking About You (Dilemmachine Remix) 
9. Benjamin Francis Leftwich - Shine (Kygo Remix) 
10. Syn Cole - Miami 82 (Kygo Remix) 
11. The Knocks - Comfortable (Oliver Nelson Remix) (feat. X Ambassadors) 
12. Else - Her Movie 
13. Seinabo Sey - Younger (Kygo Remix)

Kygo - BBC Guest Mix For Diplo&Friends

SOFA is proud to mark its 100th release with the stunningly beautiful double album Hereafter, a new major work from guitarist/composer Kim Myhr, written for the 15-piece Stavanger-based ensemble Kitchen Orchestra. 

“Hereafter can be seen as a meditation on mortality and transience”, Myhr explains. “It was written at a time where the prime minister of Norway told the country’s population that ‘you have to be prepared to lose someone dear to you’.  It was like taken out of Tarkovsky’s “Sacrifice”. This atmosphere set the tone for Hereafter, which was written in 2020. For me, this piece is about the acknowledging and acceptance of disaster”. 

During the months of composing the music, Myhr kept humming the song sung by Salamat Ali Khan in Satyajit Ray’s classic film “Jalsaghar”, in the scene where the son and wife of the main character dies in a storm. For Myhr, the song resonated with the mood of the moment and acted like an undercurrent for the making of Hereafter. “There is a haunting sadness to that song, but there’s also something very grounded about it. The way the singer looks straight at the protagonist. There is no escaping this. That was the feeling.”

Kim Myhr’s previous release “Sympathetic Magic” which was written the following year, was utopian and deliriously optimistic in character. In Hereafter, there is a strong gravitas, and the state of mind is centered.  “I think it’s one of my more eloquent and varied pieces. Even if the framework is grave, it goes through many different shades. And if the piece takes flight into more ecstatic territory, the music quickly retires back to more pensive ground”. The piece consists of two main parts, a bit like a morning and evening raga, where the first part is darker and second part is of a more uplifting character (the two sections are divided into smaller sections for listener’s convenience). 

Thus, sunrise and sunset, the sea and the shore, life and death, permeate the often-elegiac music on Hereafter, a stunning piece of music that ranks among Myhr’s best works yet. It is released as a gatefold double-LP, CD and DL, with a beautiful cover photo by Eleonore Huisse and art direction by Stephen O’Malley.

Kitchen Orchestra is a heterogenous ensemble based in Stavanger with musicians coming from different musical scenes, a perfect match for Kim Myhr’s music. The line-up includes drummers Ståle Birkeland and Dag Magnus Narvesen, Marius Munthe-Kaas on vibraphone, Øyvind Dale on organ and synthesizer, Johan Egdetveit on accordion, Signe Irene Time on vocals and cassette player, Dag Egil Njaa on laptop processing, two bass players John Lilja and Thomas Bang doubling on guitar as well as electric and double basses, string players Nils Erga and Jenni Witick, and horn players Arild Hoem, Petter Frost Fadnes, Gunhild Seim and Gaute Vikdal focusing primarily on the darker timbres with two baritone saxes, bass trombone and trumpet. Kim Myhr himself plays both 12- and 6-string electric guitars.

Bio 
Norwegian guitarist and composer Kim Myhr has been touring internationally since the early 2000s and has released several records under his own name. His album You | me (2017) was nominated to Nordic Music Prize, and received wide acclaim internationally. As a composer he has made music for Australian Art Orchestra, Canadian string quartet Quatuor Bozzini, Kitchen Orchestra and Trondheim Jazz Orchestra of Norway, and has collaborated with Jenny Hval (on the 2012 collaborative album “In The End His Voice Will Be The Sound Of Paper”, Tony Buck of The Necks (on the album “You | me”), Lasse Marhaug, Christian Wallumrød, poet Caroline Bergvall and many others. His last record Vesper with Australian Art Orchestra was nominated for a Norwegian Grammy in 2020 in the contemporary category. Hereafter is the ninth album under his own name.
“Kim Myhr is a master of slow-morphing rhythms and sun-dappled textures that seem to glow from the inside”. -       The Guardian

Kim Myhr & Kitchen Orchestra Hereafter VI

Kim Myhr & Kitchen Orchestra: Hereafter VII

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▼ Release Tracklist:
01 Delectatio - Numinous
02 Delectatio - Be Free
03 Delectatio - Remember
04 Delectatio - Latibule

Portuguese artist Delectatio is a new signing to Silk Sofa. His EP, "Sunrise", features four unique and unforgettable downtempo cuts.

"Numinous" starts with intriguing guitar riffs and enjoyable melodies on top. Soon, intricate percussion elements as well as hypnotizing vocal stems emerge, while the delightful theme melody continues to liven up the soundscape. A blissful guitar line and soothing percussion elements introduce "Be Free". Fascinating vocal stems are added later, thereby adding an extra layer of delicate and refreshing textures. "Remember" begins with a stunning atmosphere, including a number of lush synths and an intricate bassline. A mesmerizing arpeggio melody emerges later, and numerous sound effects continuously spice up the soundscape. The final song in this package is "Latibule". Beautiful melodies are quickly established, and multiple new layers are added on top, as the song progresses. The soothing breakbeat comforts the listener even further.
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Sunrise

Numinous

Delectatio - Numinous [Silk Music]

Beautiful nature videos and use the relaxing music in youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf4iMeUCDs0NFkJI03aJSbQ

Astral projection (or astral travel) is an interpretation of an out-of-body experience (OBE) that assumes the existence of an "astral body" separate from the physical body and capable of travelling outside it. Astral projection or travel denotes the astral body leaving the physical body to travel in an astral plane. The idea of astral travel is rooted in common worldwide religious accounts of the afterlife in which the consciousness' or soul's journey or "ascent" is described in such terms as "an... out-of body experience, wherein the spiritual traveller leaves the physical body and travels in his/her subtle body (or dreambody or astral body) into ‘higher’ realms. It is frequently reported in association with dreams, and forms of meditation.

Patients have reported feelings similar to the descriptions of astral projection induced through various hallucinogenic and hypnotic (including self-hypnotic) means. There is no scientific evidence that there is any measurable manifestation of a consciousness or soul which is separate from neural activity, and there is no scientific evidence for the contention that one can consciously leave the body and make observations. Attempts to verify that such has occurred have consistently failed in spite of the variety of pseudoscientific claims to the contrary.

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BEST RELAXING MUSIC COLLECTION

☯ Shamanic Healing Sounds: http://bit.ly/1N9Df1e

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What can you find on our channel?

Spiritual music, relax music, relaxing music, relajación, meditation music, meditation music zen, meditation music for spiritual, reiki creo en ti, zen music, zen garden, sleep music, music for studying, music for Reading, music for gaming, music for studying and concentration, alfa waves, beta waves, delta waves, theta waves, binaural beats, isochronic tones, music for deeep meditation, music for deep sleeping, chakra music, chakra meditation, tibetan music, tibetan bowls, tibetan bowls meditation, healing music, healing sounds, healing music therapy, healing songs, and more…. 

relax your body and mind, namaste

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ASTRAL PROJECTION MUSIC: lucid dreaming binaural beats | Deep Sleep Meditation Music

Check out new relax music ---> https://soundcloud.com/sam_relaxation/sounds-of-serenity-unwind-and-drift-away-with-calming-sleep-music-and-deep-sleep-melodies

Listen original long version now on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0j8YJbzW0YxAUjV0WgEnqw

Check out new playlist: Calm & Sleep --> https://soundcloud.com/sam_relaxation/sets/calm-sleep?si=8c0dfb69a302460ba3cc06c1be4394b1&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Soul & Mind Relaxation’s deep sleep music has  been specifically composed to relax mind and body. Our music is  not designed only for adults,they are suitable for babies, children, teens who need slow, beautiful, soft, soothing music to assist them to fall asleep. For adults the effect of the music is the same. Our soothing music incorporates the relaxing sounds of nature to sent you into a deep, peaceful sleep. Use our music videos for sleep meditation and allow the dreamy landscape images to move body and mind into a deep state of relaxation (https://www.youtube.com/c/SoulMindRelaxation). Fill your mind with our sleep music’s beautiful, soothing instrumental sounds while your brain moves through Theta Waves and Delta Waves, giving you the healing sleep you so richly deserve. Our instrumental music is specially designed to encourage and enhance relaxation, meditation, brain function and concentration, spa and massage therapy, and healing music therapy. In addition, we use binaural beats (Delta Waves, Alpha Waves and Theta Waves) to naturally encourage a state of relaxation which is perfect for concentration, meditation or deep sleep.

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Calming music

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Deep Sleep, Calming, Relaxing and Soothing Music (Subscribe us on YouTube)

Release: 21. August 2020

SOFA is the home for one of the most interesting string duos in Norway, whichever genre. We are talking about Sheriffs of Nothingness, featuring Kari Rønnekleiv and Ole-Henrik Moe. They continue to impress and surprise us with their compelling music. Their fourth release on SOFA is a mature confirmation of profound interplay and musicmaking. 

An Autumn Night at the Crooked Forest is a sort of tribute to the oldest and most traditional place for afterthoughts, meditation and reflection: the fireplace. Be it a bonfire (as it was for the first, say, five million years), or an indoor fireplace, or, even a woodstove could do the works as the place for people to gather, to tell stories, to share thoughts, or, to just be. This art of just being around the fireplace is perhaps what this album is trying to be about: four improvised pieces, dedicated to different types of firewood, or how it burns and glooms. Consequently the music on this album is not really moving anywhere in particular, it just is, trying to emphasize the point in everyday life where you are not trying to move on, where one can allow oneself to just halt and let your thoughts move freely. This record is recorded in the middle of Krokskogen (west of Oslo), in an old cabin, and by a fireplace that was, in different ways, burning all the time. So, all the way, you can hear it crackle, gently. Don’t miss out on Sheriffs of Nothingsness latest achievement available on CD and DL.

Sheriffs of Nothingness: Muted birch-logs

Melody and all arrangement are work/composed by Floating Whales (NO).
All Cover art is made by Floating Whales (NO).

Tones of the Mountain Cave

SOFA is a Norwegian record label for experimental music run by musicians Martin Taxt, Ingar Zach and Kim Myhr.