is that a accordion on the track or smth?

I like the overdriven synth and the echo on the drums

Great ambience, I like it how it feels tastefuly restrained.

### The Rose and The Rope by Laxá

COVER ART BY FRASER CORMACK - Angry sky over Mosstodloch

In Ísafjörður, Iceland, Laxá's evocative piece "The Rose and The Rope" unfolds without words, instead conveying emotions through its music. With a blend of 80s reggae-influenced bass and post-rock guitars and strings, the composition creates a rich, immersive experience.

Bjarne Guðjohnsen's bass pulses with the deep, resonant groove reminiscent of 80s reggae, setting the stage for the journey. Matthias Helguson's drums join with a steady pace, their beats echoing through the fjord's stillness. Jussi Siglarson's guitar melodies soar and dive, embodying the post-rock essence with layers of emotion. Mike Taylor's keyboards add ethereal textures, blending with the ensemble's soundscape.

The Heima Kvartett—Lisbeth Heima (violin), Sif Árnadóttir (violin), Natasha Guðmundsdóttir (viola), and Ída Sigurðardóttir (cello)—enrich the piece with their strings. Lisbeth and Sif's violins intertwine like fragile rose vines, while Natasha's viola adds haunting undertones and Ída's cello provides depth and strength.

Together, the music represents the delicate balance between beauty and resilience, akin to the rose and rope symbolizing life's contrasts. The composition evolves, capturing Iceland's rugged beauty and emotional depth.

### The Origin of the Title

The title "The Rose and The Rope" has a poignant backstory. During a tour, Jussi Siglarson and Bjarne Guðjohnsen stayed in a remote village. Their host, an elderly woman, had a unique artifact hanging on her wall—a dried rose tied with a rugged rope. Intrigued, Jussi asked about its significance.

The woman recounted a tale from her youth. During a harsh winter, the village was cut off by snowstorms, and supplies were scarce. The young woman tended a rose bush through the winter, finding solace in its survival. Her future husband, determined to support the village, crafted a rope to brave the snow and gather provisions.

In spring, as the village emerged from the cold, the rose bloomed, symbolizing resilience. On their wedding day, the man gave the rose tied with the rope to the woman, representing their balance of beauty and strength.

Moved by this story, Laxá adopted "The Rose and The Rope" as the title, reflecting the harmonious blend of emotions and themes in their music. It symbolizes unity, strength, and beauty amidst adversity, encapsulating the essence of their composition.

Eldinsgill

The Rose And The Rope by Icelandic Postrock band  Laxá

Somewhere In The Distance

Song Of The Frozen Lake

**Laxá & Heima Kvartett - "1 Ket"**  Dreamy Post Rock

A contemplative journey through light and shadow, "1 Ket" unfurls with delicate, melodic guitar patterns that glimmer like the first rays of sunlight breaking through a misty horizon. The strings of the Heima Kvartett weave a luminous tapestry, their rich harmonies gently ebbing and flowing like waves meeting a quiet shore. Slow, driving drum beats pulse steadily beneath the surface, grounding the ethereal atmosphere while subtly propelling it forward.  

Each note feels like a breath, suspended in time, as the piece builds with a tender patience, evoking a profound sense of introspection and longing. Laxá & Heima Kvartett deliver a masterclass in restraint, crafting a soundscape that is as much about the spaces between the notes as the melodies themselves. "1 Ket" is a dream wrapped in sound—a delicate balance of melancholy and hope, perfect for moments of quiet reflection.  

1 Ket by Laxá [Dreamy Post Rock]

Love the Change

"Death Only Sparkles" by The Dark Messiahs takes dark jazz to the edges of an atmospheric abyss. Sticks Thompson’s drums create an ominous pulse, while Wilt Flowers' bass rumbles like distant thunder. Guy Stansfield’s clarinet and Blue Six’s trumpet weave ghostly, plaintive melodies through the shadows. Sonny Rhodes' piano and keyboards balance the jazz core with eerie dark synth textures and unsettling sound effects, conjuring a soundscape where beauty flickers like light on broken glass. This is jazz reimagined for the noir future.

Death Only Sparkles [Dark Jazz | Doom Jazz]

Corpsemine

We Stay Here

Heat Seeker

elektrode

"That Far Forgotten Shore"* by classical composer Jeremias Langsämmer is a breathtaking orchestral journey, blending the grandeur of Western classical tradition with the evocative melodies of the Middle East. This sweeping soundtrack piece unfolds like a memory carried by the wind, its layered strings rising and falling like waves on an ancient shore.  

Deep strings introduce the theme, their rich, resonant tones imbued with longing, before swelling into a rich tapestry of sound—warm cellos, shimmering violas, and soaring violins weaving together in undulating phrases. Beneath them, deep, resonant percussion and plucked Middle Eastern instruments, such as the oud and qanun, add texture and depth, evoking sunlit dunes and distant, forgotten lands.  

The composition moves through shifting tides of emotion, from hushed, introspective passages to bold, cinematic crescendos. A hypnotic, rhythmic motif pulses beneath the orchestration, subtly mirroring the ebb and flow of the sea. The harmonies drift between Western tonality and modal inflections, creating a haunting, timeless atmosphere—both familiar and exotic, distant yet deeply human.  

"That Far Forgotten Shore" is a soundtrack for lost places, for whispered histories and unseen horizons—a piece that lingers in the soul long after the final note fades.

That Far Forgotten Shore [Orchestral | Soundtrack]

LOKI’s MAYHEM - never stop dreaming (Prod. LOKI)

Guitars, Bass, Keys - Franco Tartaglia (FT)
Recording and composition - FT

In Memoria

Setting Son Recordings is home to a diverse range of artists, from UK singer-songwriter These Guitars Say Sorry to classical composer Jeremias Langsämmer, Icelandic post-rock band Laxá with the Heima Kvartett, ambient artist Siegfried Jünger, and doom jazz ensemble The Dark Messiahs. Founded by Jez Slowe, who incepted all the projects, the label has released over 30 albums, crafting a unique sonic identity across genres.

Since 2021, Setting Son Recordings has released a track every week, later compiling them into albums available on all major platforms. Explore the catalog on Bandcamp: https://theseguitarssaysorry.bandcamp.com/ and support the work for as little as $1 a month on Patreon: www.patreon.com/tgss.

The Rose And The Rope by Icelandic Postrock band Laxá

Setting Son Recordings

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