Somersaults – Numerology of Birdsong

Recorded by Alex Bonney, 19th June 2018, at Iklectik Art Lab, London.
Mixed and mastered by Alex Bonney with Olie Brice
Artwork and layout by Sage Brice
Photo by Tosh Brice

The phrase ‘numerology of birdsong’ is borrowed from a poem by Sean Bonney

Released September 10, 2019

Olie Brice – double bass
Tobias Delius – tenor sax, clarinet
Mark Sanders – drums

Yellow, by Blaer

This is already the third album of the working band BLAER, founded in 2012 by the composer and pianist Maja Nydegger. YELLOW is the result of a longstanding and diligent collaboration. The band concept sets on a balanced group sound and a calm, focussed flow of music.

By this genuine attitude of a differenciated common ground, this album develops an urgency and power which in all coolness radiates warmth.

Similarly to Schuberts music, where a minor tonality often contains a confident vibe, the seemingly simple, quiet and melancholical pieces of BLAER create a positive atmosphere. Surprising spins and grooves are subtly invigorating this atmosphere, yet always serving the overall dramaturgy. The leader Maja Nydegger thus offers her band a community-oriented, but crystal clear concept in which her musical partners can all serve the whole while at the same time shining through individually with their high competence on their instruments.

As a result, the lines of the reeds players (Nils Fischer and Claudio von Arx), together with the differenciated drum play of Philippe Ducommun, the often also ambient-like base of Simon Iten and the repetitive piano patterns and chord progressions of the composer herself create vast soundscapes and spherical hymns.

Releases February 6, 2020

Maja Nydegger: piano, composition
Nils Fischer: saxophone, bass clarinet
Claudio von Arx: saxophone
Simon Iten: double bass
Philippe Ducommun: drums

All music composed by Maja Nydegger.
Album produced by Maja Nydegger and Nik Bärtsch.
Recorded May 2019 at Mazzive Sound Studio Bellmund by Chris Diggelmann.
Mixed by Chris Diggelmann, mastered by Serge Christen.
Album photo by Nassia Kapa, artwork by David Nydegger.

Songs published by Ronin Rhythm Productions & Neonstars Publishing.
Supported by Stadt Bern, Kultur Kanton Bern, Burgergemeinde Bern, Stadt Luzern FUKA-Fonds, Migros Kulturprozent.

elements_hull

elements_hull | Jazz, Funk & Post-Rock | 84:31

So there I was, surfing the net. Looking for images for our blog; when I came across photos of sunken ships & the remains of once majestic sailing vessels. I grabbed a few, imported them into Adobe Photo-Image, began tinkering & came up with a new ‘elements‘ mix cover.

This mix, built from the “hull” of a previously sketched/drafted ‘elements‘ play-list, incorporates several sequence revisions & is comprised of several new acquisitions as well as some old faves. I’ve been playing it a lot, lately . . . and it seems like a “keeper” to me.

Thanks & a big “shout-out” to Ronin Rhythym Records; not only for it’s primary brand (Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin) but for all the developmental bands & brands they’re shepherding!

01 Stefano Battaglia & Michele Rabbia – Spirits of Myths
02 Gary Peacock – Azure
03 Hely – Chopin Space Station
04 Michele Rabbia, Gianluca Petrella & Eivind Aarset – Night Sea Journey
05 Sonar – Möbius Loop
06 Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin – Modul 41_17
07 Ginger Baker Trio – The Day the Sun Come Out
08 Dave Holland Quartet – Color of Mind
09 Sonar – Structure 3
10 Nels Cline, Tim Berne & Jim Black – Dawn of the Lawn
11 Andy Summers – Metal Dog

Lie Symmetry, by Aperus

“An extremely unique & captivating album within the “ambient/experimental” genera (edgy, glitchy & slighty caustic). I read about this on ello, clicked & immediately purchased ‘Lie Symmetry’.
It will, no doubt, make its way onto a future A.L. studio mix!
Favorite track: Marsh Lake, October.“

~Ambient Landscape, 1.16.20
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On ‘Lie Symmetry’, Brian McWilliams (aka Aperus) creates an ambient work of highly saturated color and sound, blending resonant analog synths with warm textures and a compelling selection of field recordings. Here, McWilliams works as sonic sculptor – exploring the edges, pushing the sound as far as possible and shaping the music and artwork together into a nearly synesthetic vision. Defying easy categorization, the album moves between ambient, electronic, environmental and drone music to create a wide array of emotional tones. With all of its layers and contours, Lie Symmetry is sure to reward repeated listens and appeal to fans of various ambient styles.

From the liner notes:

I first heard the term “Lie Symmetry” on the radio segment “Finding Beautiful Symmetry Near Absolute Zero”. There, physicist Alan Tennant described his study of transitions in the quantum states of deeply cooled ions – “when water goes from ice to liquid, there are transitions between these states. At the exact point where you change from one state to another, that’s where you get the really important stuff … In fact, [these transitions] are quite beautiful. The quantum aspect of the system provides a kind of a simplification, an extra layer of order that you wouldn’t expect.” This order or symmetry is known as E8 or Lie Symmetry.

I held onto Lie Symmetry as a title for years hoping to return to it for the right project – supplying diagrams, text and photos from scientific studies as part of the artwork. But ultimately, I found the research difficult to connect with and even harder to explain.

Then, unexpectedly, I found a series of photos taken by accident after a recent hike. The simplest explanation is that I left my phone in camera mode while it was in my pocket, triggering the shutter as I walked. These accidental landscapes suggest the light and contour of the high desert but are nothing more than abstractions captured from a covered lens. Many of the photos show distinct center lines with heavy bands of color and a symmetry all their own. When I saw them, I knew that the artwork I was looking for had suddenly appeared while I wasn’t looking. Maybe the physical world wasn’t behaving predictably as I walked through it that day or perhaps I projected the landscape I saw onto “film” as a kind of thought-ography.

In the end, I suppose “entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily”. It’s my hope that the music and photos link back to the concept of Lie Symmetry in a way that invites curiosity and further exploration.

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Released April 18, 2018

Methoden und Maschinen, by Bersarin Quartett

Nikolai Erastowitsch Bersarin, the ambivalent colonel general, communist and first Soviet city commander of Berlin, had an accident with his motorcycle in 1945 at the age of only 41. In the enraptured, now somewhat more compressed and at the same time more colorful (not more cheerful) electronic sound(track)s of the strange Bersarin Quartett, in its East Block sea landscapes with latently kitsched wallpaper and double bottoms, shadows of this strange figure Bersarin can be guessed – still or again – at a good 70 years later. But perhaps that is also irrelevant. This ‘band’ could just as well play imprisoned in the remixed court of the eternal, crazy North Korean presidents, whether embodied in an orchestra, quartet or as masked solo entertainer. It brings us supposedly post-rock and post-socialist grandeur, which has degenerated very slightly, in a great new splendour amidst all our irritations and emotions. And everything takes place in our heads.

The Bersarin Quartett – after thirteen years and three epic, (bad-) dreamlike beautiful albums – have settled down with their fourth album “Methoden und Maschinen” (“methods and machines”). For the time being. Because at the same time many new layers and paths are emerging. Playing live in many arrangements and at great concerts in Slovenia, Poland, Czech Republic and Russia, this has grown into a quartet, but it is still the project of DJ, musician, graphic and audio designer Thomas Bücker. The numerous concert evenings with Andy Stott, Tim Hecker, Fennesz, Murcof, Dictaphone or Hidden Orchestra, among others, are undoubtedly noticeable on “Methoden und Maschinen”. The Bersarin Quartett continues to stand for the outing of a complex musical subconscious. ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’, only that the moon is shimmering here, at least now and then. It’s probably also due to the sun shining on it. Minimalism and bombast go together. Constantly developing and entangling contrasts, paradoxes and contradictions are the motor. Constantly caught between two sides. Don’t believe the hype! 

Released November 29, 2019

Break, by Corey Fuller

Here’s the album that inspired our first mix of 2020 (Illvidri_Illvidri).
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Corey Fuller is one half of the duo Illuha on 12k and Break is his first solo recording for 12k. A crashing wave, the breaking dawn, an impact, the crushing of emotional spirit… the breaking of a storm. These are all relevant ideas behind his choice of a title for this highly emotional abum. Fuller has addressed the universality of human struggle without going into specifics of his own personal waves. The ideas that we as humans all share many of the same difficulties is both a launching point and a message he wishes to share with Break — the catharsis.

While Illuha’s music is known for its attention to small sounds and light textures, Break, while equally as fragile, sees Fuller working with much heavier elements. Still highly melodic, the work pulls and churns between harmony and tension, weight and air, the crash of a wave, the pull of the undertoe. The album is focused intensely on melody and harmony, progressions more carefully composed than the serendipitous found sound of his work with Illuha.

The piano is often at the center of these songs, an instrument (his own) that has become much an extension of his own body. His own voice plays an important role as well, sometimes lyrically ethereal and sometimes just a breath signifying the ever-fragile thread of life. Beautifully recorded in his Tokyo studio, the sounds are captured with all of their inherent physical flaws. As Fuller himself states about the piano being “Recorded in a way that you can hear the bones, like an open ribcage, moving contorting…” Everything on Break is there for a reason, not just the sound and soul of the piano but the electronic elements as well, rattling bass tones and dramatic, emotional waves of synthesizer rising and dissolving.

If a single word can be used to describe Break it is physical. From the instruments and techniques used to produce the album to the concepts of vulnerability of the human body. Break is an emotional riptide where violence and rest struggle to be the last voice. 

Released February 1, 2019
All music composed, performed and engineered by Corey Fuller in Tokyo, Japan.

TRUCE, by Markus Reuter (featuring Fabio Trentini & Asaf Sirkis)

Releases January 17, 2020

Awesome & raucous reverberations with some kick ass bass lines & drum work. (and THIS from the same dude who penned the fabulous ‘Heartland’??)
https://twitter.com/AmbientLndscape/status/1215452303139975170

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MoonJune Records’ historic 100th release features a full frontal aural assault: witnessing the über-innovative guitar maestro Markus Reuter, seizing the reigns on the groundbreaking trio effort – Truce. It is only fitting that the label which has produced more than its fair share of revisionist power trio-format albums would celebrate a landmark event of this magnitude in such freewheeling, grandiose fashion. Prominently displaying textural wizardry, melodic flair, but most strikingly, bone-crushing (touch) guitar playing, Markus Reuter unleashes a musical maelstrom which — like the label producing it — thumbs its nose at both convention and pretense.

Ably supported by the fiery, inspired rhythms of ace veteran timekeeper Asaf Sirkis, and renowned Italian bass phenomenon and producer Fabio Trentini, the trio ventures through a melange of exotic sonic fare which pushes the boundaries of the traditional power trio well beyond established norms. Transcending his ‘Fripp disciple’ credentials, Reuter rips through this soaring, imaginative set in true authoritarian fashion: establishing, in a most convincing, demonstrative manner, that – beyond being one of the world’s foremost avant-garde performers and composers – Markus is one of the electric guitar’s most capable, imaginative modern representatives.

This Markus Reuter trio is a nuanced, highly-potent-yet-sensitive, forward thinking retake on the classic format — and “Truce” is the spellbinding evidence. Frequently channeling the ‘axe-wielding madman’ side of his musical persona, Markus Reuter doesn’t hold back on this album, takes no prisoners and leaves the dead to bury their own in his wake! For those with a robust palette for all things musically creative, there’s plenty to sink your teeth into here. MoonJune Records, once again, serves up an offering to its listeners that is immediately essential.

Releases January 17, 2020

Written and performed by Reuter/Trentini/Sirkis
Recorded live in the studio at La Casa Murada, Banyeres del Penedes, Spain, on May 16 2019.

Markus Reuter: Touch Guitars® AU8, Live Looping
Fabio Trentini: Wal Fretless Bass, Bass Synthesizer
Asaf Sirkis: Acoustic Drums

Recording engineer: Jesus Rovira
Post-production and mix by Fabio Trentini
Mastered by Lee Fletcher

Produced by Markus Reuter and Fabio Trentini
Executive producer, project initiator and facilitator: Leonardo Pavkovic

Artwork and design by Ritxi Ostariz
Promo shots of Markus by Hajo Müller

www.markusreuter.com
www.moonjune.com

Cafe Mor, by Scorn

I grabbed a few tracks from Scorn’s new album & am putting them to good use on some upcoming mixes . . .
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The first LP from Scorn since 2010’s Refuse; Start Fires, Cafe Mor is Mick Harris in his happy place. Which just happens to be in studio, demolishing all standards and rules for electronic bass music, and embodying the darkest, deepest sound in dub. Cafe Mor takes risks outside of the conventional Scorn apparatus, and with these risks come substantial rewards.

The album is comprised of powerful dub excursions, from the deep dark dank of the front two tracks Elephant and The Lower The Middle Our Bit, and gaining steam towards the ultraviolence of Mugwump Tea Room to Never Let It Be Said to the CRUSHING DEATH KICK of Who Are They Which One. A quick drive under the lights with a lasered out snare on Dulce, then we come across the appearance from Sleaford Mods frontman, Jason Williamson, on the standout track on the LP, “Talk Whiff”. A cruise around the Midlands sighting the Broke Fridge and Tinder Surprise, with an instant classic refrain:

“Talk Whiff // I’m a busy person // I’ve had enough of it”

Cafe Mor culminates in the all-in-one dub affair SA70, letting rip all the new mixer and FX techniques of Harris’ most recent incarnation of Scorn. The album is the official soundtrack for all smoked out backroom deals, situations and arrangements, cancelling all small tours, and mongoose rhinocharging the bass to level 24.

Tracks

1. Elephant
2.The Lower The Middle Our Bit
3. Mugwump Tea Room
4. Never Let It Be Said
5. Who Are They Which One
6. Dulce
7. TalkWhiff
8. SA70

Releases November 15, 2019

All tracks Created and Mixed by MJ Harris in the Lad’s Old Room B14
Mastered by Daniele Antezza for Dadub Mastering Studio
Artwork, Layout by Machine™
Cover photo by Helen Harris
Executive Producer: Alexandra Portaluppi

Illvidri_Illvidri – A Dream-Vista

Happy New Year, everyone!

And, to open up 2020 (the precipice of a brand new decade) . . .

. . . an experimental/ambient/electronic mix which runs the gamut from stark/sparse to neo-classical. It was pieced together, track-by-track/brick by brick, over the course of a week in the waning span of 2019; in which we play around with the title track a bit: straight up, reversed & then excerpted/segued into the quiet, emotive AES Dana piece.

This began as a potential “Part 1” to a 2 part mix slated for mid-year – but grew (as these projects often do) to a proper mix in & of itself (after 7-8 iterations) – which I’ve been chillin’ to over the Christmas & New Year’s break.

We certainly hope it helps ease you into this new future . . .

77:41

: )

01 Devin Underwood + Marcus Fischer – Wind [pre-faded intro]
02 Tomotsugu Nakamura – Echoes
03 Oöphoi & Paul Vnuk Jr. – West Field: Awua
04 Corey Fuller + Break Ensemble – Illvidri_Illvidri
(straight-up, reverse edited & redux-coda)
05 AES Dana – The Gradual District
06 Asura – Lumière Noire
07 Damon Zucconi – Interlude (A) [post-faded outro]
08 A Winged Victory for the Sullen – Aqualung, Muh-Fuh
09 Bethan Kellough – Vision
10 Anne Müller – Heliopause
11 Robert Fripp – Evensong, Haapsalu
12 Rhian Sheehan – Beneath the City Trees (excerpt)

Dreaming Spaces, by Max Corbacho

Happy New Year, everyone! Here’s a great kick-starter for 2020.

Static soundscapes have always been part of Max’s work since his beginnings as an ambient artist more than two decades ago. Dreaming Spaces is a 73 min long reflection about the space where we live, balancing presence and stillness, exploring the weightless flow of sound in a serene multispace of imperceptible changes over time. The sound elements come and go just like a supernatural breeze. Max’s synthesizers create a deep game of an exotic and surreal sound perfume.

Max says:
“I have completed this piece in the last weeks of November to share with all my followers on dates of a special sensitivity. I have not used any type of sample for this sound work. I always use some brushstroke coming from my samplers but in Dreaming Spaces everything comes in real time from my synthesizers, seasoned with the effect processors. That way I have maintained an intimacy in the sound landscape that gives it a special homogeneity and absolute immersion in the space of tranquility. “

Dreaming Spaces is a celebration of the static and the deep for the change of the year, a serene illumination in the middle of the shadows and a call to life and hope. 

Released January 01, 2020