Dirk Serries & Trösta, Island on the Moon

Album preview

Dirk Serries & Trösta immediately begin carving an exquisite tapestry of harmonious serendipity with ‘Island on the Moon. The tones from their respective instruments (ambient guitar & also saxophone) gel, blend, synergize and build an aural pathway that guides the listener into a sonic type of inner garden. Subtle shifts of direction are barely perceptible . .. until they’re completed (and then they’re onto the next shift).

Overall, one is left with a sense of floating high above the din that modern life has become as of late; at once both an unplugging & reconnection to a sense of grounding.

Call it an ambient anchor.
~Ambient Landscape, January 3^rd, 2022
_______________________________________________________

Ambient veteran DIRK SERRIES (worldwide renowned for his ambient alter-ego Vidna Obmana from 1984 till 2007) returns to this expansive sound universe with a new collaborative album that redefines the genre. Together with alto saxophonist TRÖSTA the duo delivers a breathtaking album just in time to comfort, soothe and challenge in these darker times.

ISLAND ON THE MOON is a symphony of harmony, depth and nuance. A solace drenched in melancholy and light, made without the aid of computers but by the hands of two crafted musicians on respectfully guitar and saxophone, and some outboard effects.

Immerse yourself.

Side A
1. COMPANION
2. OCEANUS

Side B
3. KREEP
4. TRANQUILLITATIS

Releases early 2022 on Consouling Sounds
Performed in isolation October/November 2020 by Dirk Serries & Trösta : electric guitar, alto saxophone, effects.
Mixed and mastered at the Sunny Side Inc. studio, Belgium.
Design by Rutger Zuydervelt
Photography by Martina Verhoeven.

u n f o c u s e d

u n f o c u s e d | Ambient/Experimental/Phonography/Minimal | 79:54

untethered ambience, floating amid aurally slipstreamed sonance & shapes . . .

This project began & was driven by the cover artwork (along with tracks predominantly from 12k & 901 editions) – a totally random picture accidentally taken inside my shorts pocket while on a bike ride with my wife. We were touring the flash-flood ravaged areas in the neighboring towns, last Labor Day (2021) – taking some “after” photos of land that had, just days earlier, been under to 8 to 30 feet of water!

When I was reviewing the photos, I noticed this one & thought: “Hmm . . . podcast/mix album cover!”
: )

Part 1 in an ongoing series.

Download via Bandscape




01 Renato Grieco + Bruno Duplant – La Disparition Pt 1 (excerpt)
02 Ben Vida + Marina Rosenfeld – Leaving (excerpt)
03 Stephen Vitiello & Taylor Deupree – Second Variation
04 Moss – Moss (excerpt 1)
05 Taylor Deupree – January (bell with red ribbon, tine sculpture) excerpt
06 Andrew Heath – This Island of Blue
07 Christopher Bissonnette – One Line Plus One Line
08 The Rain Dogs – Deep Red
09 Marcus Fischer – Shape To Shore
10 Iluiteq – Memories Relived
11 Moss – Moss (excerpt 2)
12 Monogoto – Iuxta Mare -deletion 5 (excerpt)
13 Giovanni Di Domenico – Dust Bunnies (excerpt)

Happy New Year

Wishing you all the best in 2022!

Focus on 2022

Twenty-twenty-two will be dominated, from a studio perspective, by a new #ambient series.

Debuting on January 3rd, posting every other month & running into 2023 . . . it has all the makings of an ethereal barn-burner!

#3, by Illuminine

I am so happy that today I can finally share my third spiritual child ‘#3’ with you. It was a long and sometimes turbulent journey, creating this album during a time full of struggles with anxiety and panic attacks. But especially reading all your sweet comments and hearing your stories about what my music gives to you, encouraged me to go on and to create this album. I hope that these songs will also become part of your personal journey through life, and that this music will give you the support and comfort we all need sometimes.

Released November 3, 2018 
All songs written & arranged by Kevin Imbrechts. Except for song 5 & 11 by Kevin Imbrechts & Hannah Boswell. Except for song 6 by Kevin Imbrechts & Adam Bryanbaum Wiltzie. 

Produced by Kevin Imbrechts. 
Recorded (September 2016 – March 2018) by Kevin Imbrechts at his home studio (BE). 

Except for song 6, recorded by Adam Wiltzie. 
Additional string recordings (track 1, 3, 8 & 9) by Jimmy Van Rietvelde at Sugarbeat Studio (BE). 
Mixed by Birgir Jón Birgisson at Sundlaugin Studio, Mosfellsbær (IS). 

Photographs Chrisopher De Béthune 

Lay-out Ruben Van Bouwel 

Tine Anthonis (cello track 1, 3, 8 & 9) 
Hannah Boswell (vocals track 5 & 11) 
Budapest String Orchestra (track 6) 
Beatrijs De Klerck (cello track 1, 3, 8 & 9) 
Kevin Imbrechts (acoustic & electric guitar, samples, piano, keys, synths and others: all tracks) 
Adam Wiltzie (guitar & synths track 6)

Shine on Beaver Moon!

Friday, November 19: The full Beaver Moon will take place in a 97%-total lunar eclipse — the longest in 580 years!

BYOA (bring your own #ambient!)

#BeaverMoon#LunarEclipse2021#Ambient

Critical; Mass, by Requiem & Simon McCorry

Hush Hush is honored to help present ‘Critical; Mass’ (HH140), a new collaborative release between Washington, DC-based duo Requiem and UK-based experimental cellist Simon McCorry. A masterful fusion of their cinematic and minimal strengths, the album’s three long-form pieces swell and sway between ambient, drone, neo-classical, and psychedelic zones for a sound that’s always beautiful and ultimately hopeful, yet never afraid to touch the ugly side.

Requiem is the musical project of Washington, DC-based musicians Tristan Welch and Douglas Kallmeyer, both accomplished solo musicians known for their cerebral and exploratory sonic tendencies. Tristan is a guitarist with a deep background in Washington, DC’s DIY music scene – originally playing in punk rock bands and noise-based projects before turning his attention to minimalist guitar compositions. Working full-time as a funeral home director, Tristan uses his painterly sonic creations to employ his intimate awareness and unique perspective of mortality through music.

Douglas Kallmeyer is a bit of an audio savant who’s worn multiple hats throughout his bustling music career. Picking up the bass at age 11, Douglas’ love of music led to life as a touring musician straight out of high school, before an obsession with sound systems, audio equipment, live mixing, and production engineering led to touring gigs with the bands Blonde Redhead, Shellac, Rancid, Phantogram, and more. In addition to quietly releasing his own solo music on a plethora of underground labels, Douglas was the driving force behind the independent label Verses Records and has worked for advocacy groups like the Human Rights Campaign, with Bell visuals, to promote awareness of social issues globally and spotlight the healing effects of music for those suffering from depression and PTSD.

Stroud, UK-based artist Simon McCorry rounds out this trans-Atlantic collaboration. Born in London to mixed Indian and British heritage, the classically trained cellist has worked as a composer and sound designer in theatre, film, and contemporary dance. Influenced by the boundary-pushing works of Aphex Twin, Jon Hassell, King Tubby, and György Ligeti, Simon has emerged as a prolific solo artist with a productive 2021 so far that has included the ‘Nature in Nature’ EP for Spanish label See Blue Audio, the stunning album ‘And Where Are You Really From?’ for anthéne’s Polar Seas Recordings imprint, as well as the collaborative album ‘the equation of time’ with anthéne for premiere UK label Whitelabrecs.

Strikingly powerful instrumental music filtered through a prism both haunting and gorgeous, ‘Critical; Mass’ features 3 epic songs by 3 artists following their own instinctual sonic paths. Also the latest in a flurry of long-distance collaborations to find a home on Hush Hush Records, this long-form album provides a potent soundtrack of our transformative early 2020s and further serves as a reflection of the musician’s desire for connection amidst an apocalyptic, harrowing, and dramatically hopeful backdrop. 

credits

released July 16, 2021

Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Requiem & Simon McCorry.

Requiem is Tristan Welch and Douglas Kallmeyer.

Tristan Welch: Guitars, Electronics.
Douglas Kallmeyer: Bass, Electronics.
Simon McCorry: Cello, Electronics.

Lawrence English – Observation of Breath

Do you remember the last time you were breathing consciously? Either way, you are likely doing it now. On his new album »Observation of Breath« for the Swiss-based Hallow Ground label, Lawrence English worked exclusively with an organ for four compositions that are exercises in »maximal minimalism,« as their creator himself notes in a nod to Charlemagne Palestine, who coined this term. While it seems somewhat fitting that those four pieces based on a steady flow of air were conceived and recorded in a situation of accelerated standstill caused by a respiratory disease, the Room40 founder is not so much concerned with capturing the zeitgeist than rather incorporating the spirit of time itself. »It is a record about presence and patience,« he explains. Exploring the unique sonic affordances of a singular instrument, »Observation of Breath« is not only devoted to the durability of sound but also to its density. That it marks his debut on Hallow Ground after having shaped its sound by mastering most of the label’s releases in recent years is just as fitting then as its release following albums by Kali Malone and FUJI|||||||||||TA, whose innovative work with organ instruments have facilitated a rediscovery of their possibilities.

English’s compositions however are neither directly indebted nor responding to these musicians. His exploration of the organ’s many facets started a decade ago when the composer was given access to an instrument built in 1889 that is presently housed at The Old Museum in Brisbane. After it had already played a crucial role on his seminal albums »Wilderness Of Mirrors« and »Cruel Optimism,« last year’s self-released »Lassitude« was the first record that English entirely composed and recorded with that instrument. »During the soft lockdowns, I spent many days playing to an empty concert hall, recording the pieces that became ›Lassitude‹ and then, this album,« says English in regards to an unfortunate situation that fortunately provided him with time and space—two major themes but also key qualities of the four new compositions. In this sense, he goes on, »Observation of Breath« resolves a number of the questions originally raised by »Lassitude.«

»The organ is an exercise in the observation of breath,« English explains the album’s title. »It is a physical breath, one that manifests both audible and inaudible waves of vibrations. The sheer scale of the instrument, its weight and the physical length of the pipes involved in producing the sounds we experience is nothing short of mind-boggling.« More importantly, the sound artist is fascinated by the organ’s ability to produce frequencies that exist at the sensory limits of human awareness—it’s at the edges of these limits that fascination can be found, he argues. »The particular organ that I work with comprises four manuals and 45 speaking stops and it has a tubular-pneumatic action,« he explains. »It’s the stops that are the focus of my interest. They are very specific and when manipulated in certain ways and in certain combinations, create a unique set of unsteady timbres that make it a remarkably intoxicating instrument to collaborate with.«

Collaboration is indeed the key word here. The pieces of »Observation of Breath« were recorded in one take in recognition of the co-existence and co-dependence of the human body and mind when brought in unison while working with such a complex instrument. The end results are thus not only marked by longevity but also gripping dynamics. While the six minute-long »A Binding« and the album’s title track explore the sonic qualities of different frequency spectra with long sustained drones, opener »A Torso« and the aptly titled »And a Twist,« only two minutes and 42 seconds long, work with rhythmic elements that create intense moments of structural instability. »The music’s power lies in its density, in the stacking of exhales all breathing in unison and then, at some point, failing to breathe further,« says English. »In these moments a wavering unsteadiness of tone arrives with an elegant uncertainty.« It is precisely this quality that makes »Observation of Breath« such a masterful exploration of the multifold relationships between space and time as well as the body and the mind—it’s a conscious meditation on unconscious processes. 

Credits

Released September 10, 2021

All organ recorded at The Old Museum, Brisbane July-November 2020,
except A Torso’s centre section which was recorded in 2016 on the same organ.
Performed and Produced by Lawrence English
Picture by Juan Valverde de Amusco, 1560
Design by Ruth Stofer and Greenpointless

non_ənamˈbiɡyo͞oəs

non_ənamˈbiɡyo͞oəs (non-unambiguous) | 81:44
experimental ambient / ambient/ glitch / noise

A look back over project playlists gone by & a culling of my favorite soundscapes; re-blended, re-treated, re-layered & reshaped into something all-at-once old, new and . . . different.

I started out with a finite list of mixes over a 6-7 year period, but the project soon grew into a stream-of-consciousness type of hunt & identify exercise that had me inserting excerpts & content about which I had forgotten.

The studio crew crafted a custom Intro & we decided to close out with a brand-new track (not included on any project heretofore).

We hope you find the listening as enjoyable as was the construction.

Download via Bandcamp


Listen via Mixcloud

TRACKLISTING::

1. Intro Edit: mashup; Ábris Gryllus, Post_02 & Pan Sonic, Ilma Air
2. Michael Seta – Doesdust (interpolating ‘Ambient Guitar 1 & 2’ by Caveat Auditor & ‘Tesla Coil’ by Motorpig)
3. France Jobin – Solitude 2_
4. Thomas Ragsdale – Time To Go
5. Medley/Opening Gambit:
   Plastikman – In-Side/ Zero Ohms – 2-6 (interpolating Ligeti_ String Quartet No. 2, O3air_D6 & No. 7 Galerie Des Anciennes) w/Angelic Chorus
6. Todd Peck – Into the Mist (treated, layered edit)
7. M Dempsey – Blue Moon
8. Pascal Savy – Ghost Echoes
9. Simon Scott – Baaval
10. åpne sinn – Still Transmitting
11. Jeff Greinke – Metal from the Sky
12. Rag Dunn – the place that hears
13. Bob Ohrum – Elevated 9 (edit)
14. Siavash Amini – Agarthini
15. Svarte Greiner – The Marble
16. Loscil – Weeds

non-unambiguous

Live At Lokerse Jazzclub: Peter Jacquemyn / Dirk Serries

Released on Raw Tonk Records; more squelchy goodness & cacophonous din as you embark upon an extended, avant-garde musical “conversation” between Dirk Serries’ guitar ramblings & Peter Jacquemyn’s double bass plucks & slides (and a few string-bending squeaks & groans!).

This live outing embraces both moments of quietude as well as gale-force instrumentation and is quite satisfying for the avant-noise aficionado.

It’s fascinating what Dirk Serries & Raw Tonk (along with Mr. Serries’ Jazz label, A New Wave of Jazz) have done to transform the improvised jazz space in just a few short years!

Get thee hence & procure a copy!