Rework of Kosmische II same but with piano elements

Kosmisk Strålning II

Lyrics by C.

The day is wearing a thousand shades of fall
Red, green, brown, and lucid as rain
Home is where the stories are insane

The drops of rain
I’m falling again
Towards the path of thee
It’s another lemon tree

Average 
The one I don’t belong
The one that keeps me mighty and sharp
As the thunder keeps the light

I fall for the shades 
And it falls into place to alter the origins of mine
Into a home for every soul

Containing There is no such thing 
For that infinity is the only word
I can take shelter under the loopy roof

Here are my lines
And if you look closer
You’ll see yours
Just between the lies

Not the one of repetition
But some just can’t keep it in the momentum

Here are the shadows
I’ve been ready to share

Here are the meals
I’ve been in to prepare

Here are some of the shades
Not meant to fade further away
For that, I have many homes to ride in the say

Shades

Sci-fi author William Gibson suggested that in the blackest depths of cyberspace, the line between rogue AIs and supernatural beings - for instance, the Loa of Haitian and Louisianan Voodoo - grows thin. 

This image appeared as the final iteration of the ‘negative space’ created by an AI art program prompted to produce ‘the opposite of Marlon Brando’. Wording in the scene apparently read ‘Loab.’ Repeated iterations took the image into ever darker scenes of gore and horror. Disturbingly, any sufficiently determined exploration of ‘negative space’, from *any* source, seemed always to arrive ultimately at ‘Loab’, in a scene of horror.  Researchers are at a loss to understand why the image recurs, or why it named itself ‘Loab’.

And thus, the first true demon of the AI age reveals itself to us, invoked through the incantatory magic of prompt engineering.

Loab

Marco Lucchi, based in Modena, Italy, and Henrik Meierkord, based in Stockholm, Sweden, have a lengthy collaboration to their reciprocal credit, and they accomplish it far and near alike. A testament to the interplay of their work together is that a listener might be hard-pressed to discern which of their recordings are the result of long-distance file-trading, and which occurred when the two managed to be in the same place at the same time.

Several aspects of their respective music-making serve them well as creative partners. First of all, both tend toward the ambient, given as they are generally to a slow pace and to a sensibility that manages to be at once radiant and intimate. Secondly, while both are multi-instrumentalists, there is a complementary nature to their specialties, Lucchi being more of a keyboardist, Meierkord more of a string player. Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, they are both immersed in techniques drawn from electronic music.

In particular, both men are experienced with live multitrack recording, in which they process and layer their own performances in real time. Meierkord is fond of layering sinuous tones to create scenarios of unique dimensions. It becomes uncertain — even unimportant — to the listener what preceded what, so intricate is his deployment of interplay. Lucchi likewise finds parallels between classical orchestration and the opportunity for drones lent by modern synthesizers; in a small room he can create a vast space. There is often an oceanic depth to such efforts, part composed and part improvisatory, in which playing is a tool toward composition, rather than the other way around.

Throughout their new record, there is an underlying melancholy, a nostalgic beauty, and a reflective consideration — a virtue that is foundational to their ongoing collaboration. The result is particularly rich in plaintive scene setting, as on the glacially paced “La bestia umana,” which emerges from a neighborly field recording of a dog barking, and “Kosmisk Strålning II,” which maintains a dream-like quietude, more shadow than light. One “Like tears in rain”, what sounds like a synthesizer is, in fact, a piano, a recording of which has been stretched beyond the point of it being readily identifiable.

On first listen, their leaning toward unimpeachable steadiness can seem uniform, but listen more closely and you’ll recognize how explicitly they emote on a track like “The Third Stage,” due not just to the reaching melodic surges (which, in turn, match the sampled recordings of bird calls) but to the slight discordances that suggest trouble and tension. In a different manner, there is “A warm and golden October,” which balances breaking-dawn hush with piercing overtones. That track features a motif at the end, played on a celesta; those bell-like tones edge the piece out of dreaminess without entirely breaking the spell.

The greatest outlier — dog barking notwithstanding — may be on “Oändlig,” not just for its fierce pulse, but because of its more immediately electronic vibe. “Oändlig” is an exceptional piece, bringing to mind the minimalism of Terry Riley and the rave classics of Underworld.

Marc Weidenbaum 


Produced and mixed by Marco Lucchi and Henrik Meierkord
Marco Lucchi: mellotron, piano, celesta and synthesizers
Henrik Meierkord: cello, viola, zither, piano, organ and FX
Mastered by Dionis Afonichev (Dionisaf)
Cover picture by Dionis Afonichev (Dionisaf) with AI
Artwork and cover design by Dionis Afonichev (Dionisaf)

https://www.chitrarecords.com

Lieder Ohne Worte

The Third Stage

YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1ugV2ta4n8

floating in the memory upon-naviarhaiku538

NAVIARHAIKU538:
Only the moon remains
floating in the memory upon
Kinokawa River

haiku: Shinkei www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/3348384
image: Cristian Lozan https://unsplash.com/photos/body-of-water-besides-green-trees-during-daytime-o-hfDAc6fRo
for the Naviar Records Haiku Music Challenge www.naviarrecords.com/haiku-music-challenge/

Memory Upon Kinokawa [NaviarHaiku538]

Created on iPad with AUM, Riffer, Fugue Machine, mLFO, BLEASS Arpeggiator, RingsFX, Weeping Wall, Gauss, Yukawa, Twin 3, BLEASS Voices, Nerd Synth, Axon 3, AltiSpace2, Lagrange, Stellarvox, Quanta, SpaceFields
Mixed and mastered with Cubase 13 and Ozone 10, added some (Dawesome) Love...

Inspired by Naviar Haiku 538:
https://www.naviarrecords.com/naviarhaiku538-only-the-moon-remains/

Photo by zenbytes (2023, North Platte River, Wyoming, USA)

floating in the memory - Naviarhaiku 538

River, recording close to water flow, lapping, at night in Amazon rainforest by felix.blume -- https://freesound.org/s/673967/ -- License: Creative Commons 0

Moon Drift NaviarHaiku538

Another track from the album I'm working on. It started as a series of timestretched field recordings to which I added layers of guitar. I ended up ditching all of the timestretched sounds, wasn't pleased with it, but I'm happy how that decision turned out. Still some polishing to do, maybe adding some things here and there, and of course it isn't mixed yet - nor mastered. Let me know what you think!

Pink Lines (w.i.p.)

Yuki

This is the first single from the first Johan Agebjörn solo album of new material in 10 years, Southern Forest, to be released on US ambient label Constellation Tatsu. This single is a cover version of The Orb's classic UK top 10 ambient house single from the early ’90s. Featuring synthwave queen NINA on spoken word, the track is transformed into a dreamy, organic, beatless journey.

BUY on BANDCAMP

PREMIERE :  Johan Agebjorn - Little Fluffy Clouds (feat. NINA)

Traveller in sound and space.  Enjoying and creating ambient, drone and experimental music.