More often than not, a respected label introduces me to a new artist or a project. Sometimes, a rare instance occurs in reverse, where a favourite artist appears on a previously unknown [to me] label. This is the case with the Philadelphia-based Andrew Tasselmyer, whom I’ve been a fan of for his solo ambient releases on imprints such as Shimmering Moods, Constellation Tatsu, Polar Seas, Eilean, Home Normal, and laaps, among the many, but also as a member of Hotel Neon, which I’ve been following via Past Inside the Present, Thesis, Archives, Sound in Silence, and Fluid Audio. All of those are very familiar to me – in fact, you can find most of them in my Labels Directory, but the Las Vegas-based Mystery Circles is definitely new, and I only recognise a few names on its roster. So, more for me to hear! Now, back to the release! Titled Where Substance Meets Emptiness, this 8-piece album features more than just Tasselmyer’s beautiful ambience, with some piano keys and field recordings. There are lots of sparkling and shuffling beats and percussive elements reminiscent of the early IDM era, where harmony met rhythm. The track I am premiering for you today, “Flowers in a Storm”, reminds me of those days when I would listen to Arovane, Dabrye, Metamatics, Deaf Center, and Secede. This makes me want to revisit my very own liftmuziek sessions!

"Beyond the edge of the world there’s a space where emptiness and substance neatly overlap, where past and future form a continuous, endless loop. And, hovering about, there are signs no one has ever read, chords no one has ever heard.
— Haruki Murakami (Kafka on the Shore)

Taking in the magical surrealism of the celebrated Japanese author, Tasselmyer composes music that fades in and out of reality, bridging the atmospheric world of dreams and the present moment, where we find ourselves floating and merging with all the beautiful vibrations. Featuring some sonic postcards from his friends (Steven Kemner, Dave Mantel, and Sean Galloway), Tesselymyer paints a new world to traverse – one that is as imaginary as it is real, where “ordinary methods and immediate results are ditched along with their traditional maps in order to reach uncharted places of the imagination.” It’s an absolute pleasure to wander within this open space, and I find myself pleasantly lost among its many turns and expansive pastures.

The full album is out tomorrow, January 30th, 2024, on Mystery Circles. Mastered by Taylor Deupree, it is available as a digital, CD, or cassette edition. Beautiful album cover by his brother, Michael.

Where Substance Meets Emptiness

Flowers in a Storm

TRACK PREMIERE : Andrew Tasselmyer - Flowers in a Storm

Tracklist

01. James Murray - Bittersweet
02. Jason Kolàr - Taishido
03. Norihito Suda - Traversing a Dream from One Side to the Other
04. FourColor - Blur
05. Andrew Lang - Momentary Senses-Oulu
06. Ciro Berenguer - Retorno al mar
07. Bill Seaman - Anadyomene Inframince
08. Federico Durand - Cinco luciérnagas

391. Sleepy Sunday Podcast (Elm Records)

In December of last year, I premiered a track from a new [to me] composer from Austin, recording under the peculiarly named Six Missing project. I later learned that the name is a tribute to the six people who were unaccounted for near the site of the Revolutionary War’s Battle of Brandywine and the almost supernatural experience that one day TJ Dumser had in a cabin around the same area (you can read about it more here). Dumser's music has always been full of emotion, this time capturing feelings triggered by an unexpected mental health crisis when one is nearly paralyzed with anxiety, burn-out and stress. One can only imagine what a panic attack could feel like, but for those who have been there, you know it is powerful and very real. The piece I am sharing with you today, titled "Storm", happens to capture this oncoming phenomenon of our internal weather, full of its inevitable and uncontrollable takeover of body and mind. But it is also encouraging in its sound and message, as the ominous multi-timbral and textural pads slowly break into a positive light - a transformation of fighting through the human condition, withstanding its ups and downs, and coming out being okay.

Read more on Headphone Commute:
https://headphonecommute.com/2024/10/10/six-missing-storm/

Gentle Breath

TRACK PREMIERE : Six Missing - Storm

A little experiment. Yes, I did purge my profile of all AI-generated images.

Hope

Edit is from July 2024.
Original tracks: Blood of Aza - Trench (Soul Feeder, 2022) + Opus III - It's a Fine Day (Cherry Red, 1992)

Space Glouby

I See Planets

Under The Blue

Aphex Twin - Aisatsana (((( Heavenchord Reshape ))))free DL

From "Pillars". Out on limited LP 1/10/2020

North Atlantic Drift - Astray

Track for Slow sketch vol. 1: Reflections of the ambient community, on El Muelle Records.

Warmth - Dögun

Writen and Produced by Henrik Laugesen
Mastered by Emanuele Pertoldi.
Photography by Alexander Kopatz.
www.go70north.com
Faint017 // FaintCD017
Faint / 2020

Lauge - Oceanography

Making music as Warmth and SVLBRD.
Label owner of Archives and Faint.

12" Vinyl, CD and Digital on Archives.
https://archivesdubmusic.bandcamp.com

Warmth - Dögun

Warmth | SVLBRD