A very moving piece. Gave me chills. Thank you for this beautiful music. 

Beautiful, sitting at a lake listening to this 🥰

Tomorrow, January 28th, Norwegian composer and pianist Julia Gjertsen is set to release her sophomore LP on the one and only Moderna imprint. I’ve covered Julia before, in particular, her collaboration with Nico Rosenberg (including the latest release on Constellation Tatsu), but for Formations, it’s nice to hear her play alone again. Besides the solo piano pieces on the album, which are entangled with reverb, some echoes and looped repetitions, the passages are processed with a rhythmic, borderline percussive brush. My favourite piece on the album, which was already released by the label as a single, is called “Falling In Keys”, and it perfectly embodies the lush atmospheres produced by the piano, drenched in sweeping delays, lightly sprinkled flutters and deep rumbling bass. The piece that I’m premiering for you today echoes the textured theme with just a touch of synth pads, delicate treatments and forefront pulsating rhythm. Here, we find Gjertsen “expertly oscillating between catchy, beat-driven hooks and slow-motion soundscapes that cause us to lose track of time.” I hope you will enjoy this and then come back for her 2019 debut, titled Fragile.

Read more about it here: http://hcdi.gs/Gjertsen

Formations

TRACK PREMIERE : Julia Gjertsen - Cause And Effect

A WINGED VICTORY FOR THE SULLEN - 'ATOMOS VII'
12"/digital out on Erased Tapes/Kranky (US) on April 28, 2013

PRE-ORDER: 
http://www.erasedtapes.com/store/index/ERATP056 (worldwide excl. North America)
http://www.kranky.net (North America)
http://www.awvfts.com (band shop)

Erased Tapes and Kranky are pleased to announce the release of A Winged Victory for the Sullen's 'ATOMOS VII'. April 28 sees the first installment leading up to the release of the second full length studio album 'ATOMOS', and score for choreographer Wayne McGregor's long form dance piece. 

McGregor was heavily influenced by the duo's 2011 self-titled debut, playing it repeatedly during practices with his core group of dancers. After noticing the group's reaction with the music, he contacted Adam & Dustin to see if they could write the score for his new oeuvre. 

The duo recorded more than sixty minutes of music over a four month period during the summer of 2013 in Brussels, Berlin and Reykjavik with the help of their longtime collaborative sound engineer Francesco Donadello. This EP also sees the involvement of Ben Frost, who composed the music for McGregor's previous work 'Far'.

McGregor, mastermind behind the Random Dance Company and resident choreographer at the Royal Ballet since 2006, is known in popular culture circles for serving as movement director for the film 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'. He has also choreographed the Radiohead video 'Lotus Flower' and 'Ingenue' by Atoms for Peace.

"While we were re-amping guitars at Greenhouse studios, Ben expressed interest and admiration in the sounds we had created. We were planning for the B-side to be a metamorphosis of part VII, and Ben seemed the obvious choice. With the multi-tracks transformed, it follows a trajectory that we had not felt comfortable with before. But with Ben's involvement and influence, it was a painless entrance to this crooked, distorted world." - Adam Bryanbaum Wiltzie

"We never imagined 2013 would be such an explosively creative year. The first record took us 2 years from start to finish, but in the micro span of time over last summer we were able to change the formula for the way we write, record, and let go. It was incredibly liberating." - Dustin O'Halloran

'A surprisingly emotional score' ★★★★ The Telegraph
'Intense, reflective, occasionally threatening and wholly enveloping' ★★★★ Times

TRACK LISTING:

A1 Atomos VII - taken from the upcoming full length album ATOMOS
A2 Minuet For A Cheap Piano Number One - outtake from debut album sessions
B1 Atomos VII (Greenhouse Re-Interpretation) - with Ben Frost

LIVE DATES:

24.05. KORTRIJK (BE) – Festival van Vlaanderen Kortrijk
29.05. BARCELONA (ES) - Primavera Sound
20.10. LONDON (UK)  - Milton Court (Barbican)
25.10. ANTWERP (BE) – De Roma

awvfts.com · erasedtapes.com · kranky.net

A Winged Victory For The Sullen - Atomos VII

New horizon

Preorder CD | Digital: https://futuresequence.bandcamp.com/album/earthworks 

'Earthworks' is Thom Brookes' debut album as Drombeg, following his acclaimed EP ‘Notes From The Ocean Floor’ in 2015. A soundtrack for the middle-of-nowhere, the wild landscapes of Brookes' native Southern Ireland are littered with historic (Tumulus), and geological (Béarra) structures hardened under the relentless elements. Sinuous string melodies, and tender piano phrases reach like sunlight breaking through heavy clouds, blended with electronics and field recordings in careful balance to produce a rich cinematic sound.



Tumulus by Drombeg

Buy Album: https://seabuckthorn.bandcamp.com/album/i-could-see-the-smoke

Lost Tribe Sound releases ‘I Could See The Smoke', an EP from UK guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Seabuckthorn, the EP is available on a limited cassette tape edition and digital. Since the recent success of guitarist Western Skies Motel’s album ’Settlers’ in April, the tribe has hit the jackpot this year signing another of the most interesting guitarists around. Andy Cartwright who records under the name Seabuckthorn came to our attention last year, after a wise suggestion from composer William Ryan Fritch with his full-length album, ’They Haunted Most Thickly’ on the admirable French label, Bookmaker Records. After taking a deep listen, the awe set in. Could this be the missing link between the bombastic, world building intensity of William Ryan Fritch and the sublime, droning meditations of Western Skies Motel? 

Seabuckthorn’s unique breed of guitar-based compositions have the ability to shift gear with such natural ease. Cartwright wields his weapons wisely, choosing a minimal, yet powerful arsenal made up of various twelve string guitars, a well worn resonator guitar, and deep accents of percussion. We hesitate to single out a particular style in the case of Seabuckthorn, as it rests comfortably alongside many genres. Americana and British folk are easy tags. The music also borrows from modern classical and drone. At times, even subtle cues of the Middle East enter the picture. Yet something more ancient is at work here, that recalls the minstrels of old, or the seafaring hymns of a long forgotten civilization. At times, the music comes full force, like an intense hunt through darkened woods, unleashing the resonator like half-tamed hounds, wild and relentless, a sickly horn-like sound rises from haze, a claustrophobic dread setting in the mind of the prey. In other moments, Cartwright's music plays with subdued, visceral tones that immediately fill the mind with imagined, yet familiar scenes: the hushed ember-lit nocturne for a desert at dusk; or the weary basecamp reveries at the summit of impassible cloud-capped mountains. 

Cartwright notes in his own words that, "'I Could See The Smoke' is an arrangement of ideas gathered whilst on a European tour throughout June 2016, along with a couple of older songs I've been playing live for a year or so. After the tour, I returned home to Bristol eager to strike while the iron was hot and try to capture these compositions. Recorded & mixed over a period of two weeks whilst feeling the heat (both literally & politically) I opted for a threatening, even apocalyptic EP title. Saying that, I think most of these songs can offer up a tranquillity to counteract the gravity of these uncertain times, a calm inside the eye of a storm."

Mastered by William Ryan Fritch

I Could See The Smoke

Overgrown Courtyard

Buy Album

Seabuckthorn - Overgrown Courtyard (from I Could See The Smoke)

44,2 km (with Poltrock)

A piano interpretation of Christopher Willits' "Now" from the album “Opening" (Ghostly International), performed by Alejandro Bento. 
The two artist’s exchanged remixes, Willits' remix is out now via Subtempo. You can listen to his interpretation here: https://soundcloud.com/subtempo/7-alejandro-bento-heartbeat-1

Christopher Willits
http://christopherwillits.com/
https://www.facebook.com/christopher.willits.page/
https://soundcloud.com/willits
Twitter / IG: @willits

Follow Alejandro Bento
https://www.facebook.com/axeltoben/
https://soundcloud.com/axel-toben

Now (Alejandro Bento Cover)

To coincide with Piano Day 2017 we share a cover of an old Penguin Cafe Orchestra song by Penguin Cafe from their upcoming new album 'The Imperfect Sea' - out on Erased Tapes 5th May 2017.

"This piece by my father has always been a favourite of mine and when we were playing in the studio last year with making rocks resonate through the soundboard of the piano, the drone on F# made me think of it immediately. The transition between free-form and structure allows for space and some more expressionist moments and then the simple yet rather beautiful melody creates a sort of profound optimism I think." — Arthur Jeffes

Pre-order 'The Imperfect Sea' on Vinyl, CD and DL here: phonofile.link/the-imperfect-sea

The iconic Penguin Cafe join the Erased Tapes family and open a brand new chapter to their unique world with new album The Imperfect Sea.

A penguin stands in the middle of a scorching desert, far away from its natural habitat. This mirrors composer Arthur Jeffes’ journey and exploration into a new musical territory. Penguin Cafe have evolved into something of their own at the hands of Arthur who started the band in 2009 with the continuation and homage to his father’s legacy, to the late Simon Jeffes’ Penguin Cafe Orchestra. Now, their upcoming album echoes reminiscent sounds that embrace the new.

The album title refers to a saying by his father that “we wade in a sea of imperfections…”, reflecting upon the idea that beauty can be found amongst the chaos. “If there is a narrative to the album it’s coming to the acceptance of the imperfections in all aspects of life; moreover, the recognition that these imperfections and tiny randomnesses are in fact what make up the best parts”, Arthur explains. This has also been highlighted by the striking cover artwork designed by FELD under the art direction of label founder Robert Raths, resembling a lone figure adapting to and accepting its surrounding environment.

Predominantly self-composed, the new album also features covers of electronic works by Simian Mobile Disco and Kraftwerk, along with a re-working of Simon's 'Now Nothing'. Arthur has developed from the traditional folk and jazz heritage Penguin Cafe Orchestra is known for into another realm of blissful ambience and dance music, recreated using strictly acoustic elements.

“For this album I wanted to effect a departure from where we’d been up to now. The idea was to create a musical world that would feel familiar to an audience more used to dance records but stay true to our own values. So we replaced electronic layers with real instruments: pads with real string sections, synths with heavily-effected pianos, and atmospheric analogue drones with real feedback loops ringing through a stone and a piano soundboard.”

On the day of release, the band will play a headline show at New York’s Le Poisson Rouge, commencing the beginning of this new adventure for Penguin Cafe.

The Imperfect Sea

Buy LP/CD/DL

Penguin Cafe - Now Nothing (Rock Music)

This EP was recorded around a documentary film "Papa Hédi", that looks at the life and legacy of celebrated Tunisian musician Hédi Jouini. 
We started writing the score in the summer of 2011 as specific cues for the film and using short samples from Hédi's music. 
In the autumn we decided to develop the cues to make full tracks and the results are on this record. 

Foug

"I think I am the same as an artist and as a person. Music is my way of communication and I see the art, the music as a whole thing, with no borders, divisions, or even genres." - https://soundcloud.com/haniarani

Hania Rani is a pianist, composer and musician who splits her life between Warsaw, where she makes her home, and Berlin where she studied and often works. She has written for strings, piano, voice and electronics and has collaborated with the likes of Christian Löffler, Dobrawa Czocher and Hior Chronik, and released an album with her Polish group tęskno last year. She has performed at some of the most prestigious venues in Europe - from the National Philharmony in Warsaw, to Funkhaus in Berlin, to The Roundhouse in London (where she made her debut at the Gondwana 10thanniversary festival last October) and at festivals such as Open'er, Scope Festival and Eurosonic. Her compositions for solo piano were born out of a fascination with the piano as an instrument, and her desire to interpret its sound and harmonic possibilities in their entirety and in her own way.

'Esja' is her debut solo album and for Rani it is her first, real, personal statement as an artist. "No hiding behind the "collaborations" or "projects" anymore. For the very first time, finally - just me, as I am".

Recorded at Rani's apartment in Warsaw (the piano room has a beautiful reverb and the space has become part art studio and part sound laboratory for Rani) and at her friend Bergur Þórisson'sstudio in Reykjavik, Esja is a series of beautiful melodic vignettes. Sensual, sensitive, rhythmic, atmospheric, free but harmonious, beguiling and hypnotic, collectively they project a sense of unlimited space and time.

Esja

Hawaii Oslo

Hania Rani - Hawaii Oslo (Piano Day 2019)

Nils Frahm - More & Less (Skyphos Remix)

Immersive ambient composer, guitarist, and producer. Co-founder & Director of Envelop. https://christopherwillits.com

Christopher Willits is an artist, musician, and guitarist who creates immersive ambient music. As one of the core artists on the Ghostly International label roster since the early 2000s, Willits has continually evolved his craft, producing one of the most diverse and prolific catalogs within contemporary ambient music. Releases span introspective solo albums, widescreen audiovisuals, and unbridled collaborations. His process is an expression of love, inspired by an international audience of listeners, and the conviction that music can catalyze personal transformation and spiritual awakening.

Willits began his career with a string of critically acclaimed albums on the 12k label. The minimal sound introduced on those recordings remains at the core of his work: warm guitar tones woven into smooth, harmonic surfaces. Willits made his Ghostly International full-length debut with 2006 landmark Surf Boundaries. He’d expand his vision next through collaboration, working with Ryuichi Sakamoto (2008’s Ocean Fire and 2012’s Ancient Future), Zach Hill of Death Grips, Taylor Deupree, and, for 2014 LP Opening, with the whole band of Tycho. He also lent a hand in mastering the latter’s album Awake, composed the original score for documentary The Art of Listening, and continues to lead music production and meditation classes in San Francisco.

In 2017, Willits put forth Horizon, the first ever spatial audio release on Ghostly International. The album’s innovative 3D mix is mapped to surround listeners and align with sleep patterns, meditation, and other mindful practices. Willits is also the director and co-founder of the nonprofit, Envelop; leading a mission to amplify the connective power of music through immersive audio venues and spatial audio production tools. Like Horizon, his 2019 album Sunset utilizes Envelop’s cutting-edge technology to encourage listening from within. The five compositions move from warm to cool designed as a soundtrack to embrace the day's end; a collective letting go. Another skyward, pioneering project from an artist who occupies a unique corner of the electronic music universe.

Now (Alejandro Bento Cover)

Christopher Willits

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