1816, by The Frozen Vaults

1816 is the debut album from modern classical collective The Frozen Vaults. It is thematically based around the year 1816, which recorded one of the coldest years the world has ever seen. At the time, little was known as to why this phenomenally cold year was upon them, which soon become known in history as ‘the year with no summer’ and ‘eighteen hundred froze to death’. 

Eventually through extensive scientific research, it was discovered 
that the exceptional cold was more than likely attributed to a violent 
volcanic eruption by Mount Tambora in the year prior. In recent years 
we have seen that particularly bad eruptions have had a similar 
effect, yet rarely to the extent recorded in 1816. 

There has been much written in history to testify the extreme hardship
that the cold brought to the world that year. Here in their tributary 
album ‘1816’, The Frozen Vaults bring to our ears a glimpse of the 
perishing chills that so many were subjected to over the course of the 
year.

Released April 27, 2015 

The Frozen Vaults are: 

Bartosz Dziadosz (Pleq) 
Harry Towell (Spheruleus) 
Yuki Murata (piano) 
David Dhonau (cello) 
Tomasz Mrenca (violin) 

Mastered by Vincent Villuis at Ultimae Studio 
Artwork and design by Paskine

Rapture, by Tim Motzer & Markus Reuter

“Unbiddable, ungovernable – like a riot in the heart, and nothing to be done, come ruin or rapture.” 

TM: acoustic-electric guitar, electronics 
MR: AU8 touch guitar, electronics, laptop 

Recorded by Tim Motzer at 1k, Philadelphia, February 2018 
Mixed and mastered by Markus Reuter, Berlin, May 2018 

Photography: George Korunov 
Design: tilomo 
Visit  Touchguitars.com

Released August 21, 2018 

© 2018 & ℗ 2018 1k Recordings Inc. 
Published by one k music co. 2018 (BMI) 
music by motzer/reuter 
all rights reserved. catalogue: 1k041 
for licensing & booking: contact  deehessler@gmail.com

A Través Del Espejo by Federico Durand

12k is happy to present the debut release on the label from Argentinian composer Federico Durand who has had a series of amazing releases on labels such as Spekk, Own, and Desire Path. Federico and 12k crossed paths on a tour of Japan together in 2014 where the personal friendships among the artists and the label are such a part of what 12k is about. Sharing music and ideas throughout the tour led to an invite to make an album. 

It’s no accident that Federico’s music has a dusty air of nostalgia surrounding it. It has always been a very personal affair. Songs inspired family, local life and the world around him are woven by hand with a selection of very physical instruments. He works like a craftsman, piecing together fragments of sound from cassette recorders, small instruments and loopers and creates music that’s as softspoken as he is. No pretenses, no disguises, just the most honest and down-to-earth music that can be made. Broken melodies spinning from tape reels, the sounds of bells and small found objects being played with care… The music is as beautiful as it is introspective, like a small window of antique glass looking right into Federico’s soul. 

In his own words: 

“A través del espejo in Spanish means “Through the mirror”. I am fascinated with the experience of putting a mirror in front of another: as a miracle, the image turns in a loop that flows into infinity. Loops in the mirror get less clear with each repetition, the color becomes diffuse and greener. When these loops turn into a lullaby we can enter the other side of the mirror: a place of delight and insight. 

I always make simple melodies as they are born free. In many pieces, I use cassette recorders as an instrument that play friendly with others such as piano, lyre, toys, bells or effects. I enjoy the possibilities of cutting tape and making loops, reversing, and even using many tape recorders at the same time making air recordings of the sound. The Roland Space Echo or 2880, which are loop-machines themselves, match perfectly with this way of working. 

When I see an emboridery I enjoy both the front and back where a mysterious, invisible world suddenly appears. For this reason, I am grateful to the natural sounds made by the machines, the crackle of loops and other sounds that appear while working, as an unexpected gift. 

A través del espejo is a dream of beauty, A love of handcrafted music.” 

– Federico Durand  

Released January 8, 2016

r 3 d @ c T i 0 n

Longer-form ambient landscapes + drones — a mix where a portion of every song has been deleted, edited, ghosted over or withheld from the listener’s ear. Given the country in which I live, it would be easy for the reader to ascertain from whence the inspiration for this project, an inadvertent follow up to 2015’s ‘r u s t‘ mix, originated.

The cuts, splicing, insertions & omissions all served to make this a navigable mix. Most of the compositions were entirely too long to be included in their original format. That being said, I’m sure you’ll find that this flows smoothly with almost imperceptible transitions between compositions, as well as where the “drop-outs” & ghost-editing occur. It’s an effort to Make Mixing Great Again (#MMGA)!!

The cover art was crafted from a 300 foot view of the redactions contained within the Mueller Report; a creative piece of American political fiction itself based upon an unearthed copy of an old Mother Goose nail-biter, entitled The Tale of the Steele Dossier (which was bought & paid for by the [ultimate] loser of our 2016 presidential campaign).

Fabrication, it would seem, has its drawbacks . . .

Some of the oral r3d@cTi0ns can be heard ever so slightly on the project’s final track.

Peace out, ;- ) !
76:22

Project Notes

01 Michael Trommer – Phonopuls.01
02 Alessandro Adriani – Casting the Runes
03 Excerpt: Framework Radio’s #677 mix
04 Michele Rabbia, Gianluca Petrella & Eivind Aarset – Flotsam
05 France Jobin – Singulum__m (excerpt)
06 Steve Roach – Deadwood
07 Steve Roach & Loren Nerell – Para.Terra
08 Lorren Stafford – Inching Glaciers (edit)
09 Oophoi – Walpurgisnacht
10 Seofon & Steve Roach – Rev. 20-13 Teknos (fragment)
11 Freq. Magnet – Nitrous
12 SINthetik Messiah – AN-02
13 Rag Dun – The Place of Potentials
14 Benjamin Dauer & Specta Ciera – Shadows Emerging

Number 59

Every so often I’m impressed with the work of other mixers. Such is the case with Laima Persik, & her ‘Dimensions’ series. I have several editions of this series on my phone – and was impressed with the compositions on number fifty-nine.

It did, however, run a bit long for my listening preferences & the sequence of the compositions needed a little tweaking, in my opinion.

And so here it is . . . remixed. I sliced & edited the tracks – so much so that I don’t know the actual order of the titles. I added the following tracks – in this order, at different intervals within the overall construct of the mix.:

01. Resonance EXTRA – Lea Navigations #6 – The Olympic Park (excerpt)
02. Alio Die/Nick Parkin – Nitre (with excerpted portions of noise)
03. Alessandro Cortini + Lawrence English – Immediate Horizon 3

In addition to the new tracks, I added some ghost editing (layers of sound atop sound), some longer fades/segues & a modified piece of cover art.

As I’m writing this, I have it on ear-buds (for about the dozenth time).
Think of it as an Ambient Landscape cover of a Laima Persik mix!
: )

Serpentines & Valleys (24bit) by ESKOSTATIC

Ambient Landscape:
This is a great IDM/Minimal Techno/Downtempo excursion into beat-based, rhythmic sound. I’ve used it on 2 road trips already, along with several cups of Starbucks Dark Roast, to keep my attention focused on the road ahead.

As a primarily Ambient fan, the intricate aural weaving of minimal techno soundscapes intrigues me to the point of regular play-back whilst behind the wheel: whether it’s the sub-base lines vibrating through the leather seats – or my fingertips tapping the dash @ the 12 o’clock position of my steering wheel, this is a keeper for anyone’s auto-collection.
Thanks, Martin & Esko!

And many thanks, too, to Sandrine @ Ultimae for alerting me to this, pre-release
___________________________________________________________________________

Bandcamp:
Inspired by the unique landscapes and lights from the Ligurian region, Serpentines & Valleys presents several months of collaborative work between composers and producers, Martin Nonstatic (Martin Van Rossum, Netherlands) and Esko Barba (Marcel Montel, Sweden) – under their portmanteau moniker – Eskostatic.

This Road Trip album surfaces from pure Ambient Electronica to deliver undulating Downtempo, inviting curvy basslines and morphing cadences to meddle with crafty rhythms, airy pads and rich modular tweaks.

Serpentines & Valleys is brimming with emotions, stirring melodies and lush soundscapes which reveal an inventive and mesmerizing tale.

The artwork was created with argentic pictures by Kolkata based photographer Jayanta Roy.

Released July 24, 2019

All tracks written & produced by Marcel Montel & Martin Van Rossum
Mastered by Vincent Villuis at Ultimae Studios
Artwork by Arnaud Galoppe & Vincent Villuis
Photo credits : Jayanta Roy

Immediate Horizon by Alessandro Cortini + Lawrence English

Having become mutual admirers of each others work; English of Cortini’s Sonno and Cortini of English’s Wilderness Of Mirrors, the pair were very pleased to receive an invitation to collaborate together.

Following a number of months exchanging compositional ideas and materials, Cortini and English met in Berlin several days ahead of the festival and commenced an intense period of rehearsal and arrangement. The resulting piece, Immediate Horizon, traces their shared interests in harmony and texture. It is a work that meditates on saturation and the ruptures that occur when harmonic elements are stacked. Immediate Horizon’s five pieces swell and burst in a perpetual sense of pulse.

This LP is a live recording, made at the premiere of the piece during Berlin Atonal, held at Kraftwerk in Berlin.

Released November 30, 2018

This edition is published by the fine folk at Important Records

s i l e n c e

s i l e n c e | Classical/Neo Classical | 92:55

Classical, Neo-Classical & Ambient rolled into a quiet offering of ear-candy for you! It was the perfect spot to place one of the pieces of ‘Heartland‘, a work for string quartet composed by Markus Reuter.

01 Yoshino Naoko & Gidon Kremer – Spiegel Im Spiegel
02 Izumi Tateno – For Away
03 Igor Ardasev – No. 6 Sonetto 123 Del Patrarca in A Flat Major
04 Izumi Tateno & Gidon Kremer – Tabula Rasa, II.- Senza moto
05 Ma Ja Le & James Johnson – Hibiscus Ceremony
06 Tim Story – The Color of Vowels
07 Nest – Marefjellet
08 Gidon Kremer w/ Kremerata Baltica – Paert, Darf ich
09 Matangi String Quartet/Markus Reuter – The Magic Universe
10 Max Roach + Jang Jion – Moon Over the Great Wall
11 Vassilis Tsabropoulos – Achiran
12 Kronos Quartet – Sofia Gubaidulina Quartet No 2

Still Pieces, by Ian Vine

Recently I have written a series of pieces that are concerned in one way or another with the presentation of unique, and yet similar, events or objects. 
In this work there are twenty-four pieces for flute(s), accordion, acoustic guitar(s), piano, electronics, which combine to form an hour-long work.

The pieces can be played in any order; there are 620,448,401,733,239,439,360,000 permutations. 

total time: [60:00]

Releases December 24, 2018 

flutes: Jennifer George 
accordion, guitars, piano: Ian Vine 

flutes and guitars recorded at first moon, UK, September 2018 
accordion and piano recorded by lunar module in Oregon, USA, August 2018 

mixed and mastered at first moon by Ian Vine, November-December 2018 

many thanks to KAG for the use of her accordion and piano