[381] Sawako - Yours Gray

Label: and/OAR
Catalog#: and/15
Format: CD, Album
Country: US
Released: 2004

1　As:unacir (2:20)
2　A Message From Bed Of The Sea (2:22)
3　Petit Garçon (7:15)
4　Hole (4:02)
5　Cache Cache (10:58)
6　Night Midlight (6:00)
7　Go To Ocean (3:25)


This work predates Sawako's more well know albums for Community Library and 12k by a couple of years, yet there's a definite similarity between the work on all 3 albums. Sawako seemingly uses field recordings as a large part of the inspiration for this CD and, as opposed to the more melodic processing that's used on later work this has a stripped-back and reduced feel that's very appealing indeed. It's almost as if the source material is enough and doesn't need any extra tinkering with... the means more than justifies the end. Subtle shifts in sound work to engage the listener and it's, at times, lke listening to a little corner of Japanese life unfolding before you. For that you can read that I thoroughly enjoyed this and would recommend it as an excellent companion to the other albums. Lovely stuff.
http://www.smallfish.co.uk/

12Kのコンピ"two point two"への参加や、taylor deupreeの"january"への参加などで注目を集めていたsawakoの1stがアメリカのフィールドレコーディング・レーベルand/OARよりリリース。asuna、藤本雄一郎、中村としまる、michell akiyamaらが参加して作られた本作は、みずみずしさと表情豊かな音響が印象的な大変魅力的な作品です。音の重なりの先に何かが見えてくるとき、そこにあるのはありもしない物語なのでしょうか。フィールドレコーディングで集められた音は、切り取った瞬間瞬間が詰まっていて、それは誰もが見たことや聴いたことのあるはずなのに決して気づかなかった「美しさ」なのです。ゆらめくサウンドスケープはまさに「ゆうぐれ」。大変心地いい作品です。
http://www.inpartmaint.com/

listen_sample

[380] Hjorten - Rain

Label: deersound
Catalog#: deer011
Format: File, MP3, VBR
Country: Sweden
Released: 19 Jan 2008

1　Grey (9:18)
2　Clouds (8:36)
3　Wind (13:19)
4　Rain (21:28)

These four tracks capture the clear feeling of rain, with all that belongs.
deersound is a small and independent label based in Uppsala, Sweden. It was founded by Hjorten with the aim of releasing his own creations.

The sounds of Hjorten

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[379] Letna - Colors

Label: Standard Klik Music
Catalog#: SkM024
Format: File, MP3, 256 kbps
Country: France
Released: 29 Apr 2007

1　Duna (2:20)
2　Mala (2:15)
3　Tesa (2:29)
4　Vida (3:14)
5　Aca (2:58)
6　Lulla (1:30)
7　Luka (3:12)
8　Luda (1:06)
9　Opa (2:36)
10　Lena (5:06)
All Tracks by Sasa Vojvodic.

Standard Klik Music Profile:
Standard Klik Music was a French netlabel specializing in ambient and electronic music. They merged with Eko Netlabel to form SEM Label. Stadard Klik releases are still available on the SEM Label website.

Letna is Sasa Vojvodic (B. 1979) living in Paris, France.Besides his collaboration on several Eps and Albums as composer and even producer (Zvezdara, Bridges Buildings...), Letna is the main project.Drawing the everyday life inspired by people, cities, nature... his music is a carrier of serenity. Playing sounds that slowly shift between microbeats, melodies and sampled guitars, he wants his music to be more emotional and poetic.Sasa Vojvodic is also the founder of SEM label in association with Alexandre Navarro.

listen T-10 'Lena'


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[378] Craig Kupka Clouds - New Music for Relaxation

Label: Smithsonian Folkways
Catalog#: FW06195
Released: 1981

01　Clouds 1　22:53
01　Clouds 2　23:50


First of all, I'd just like to say that I celebrate this dude's entire catalog. But, this may very well be my favorite. I believe I onced described this to a friend as Brian Eno meets spiritual jazz.

Released on Folkways in 1981 or so, this along with it's sister album "Crystals" was intended as a soundtrack to relaxation. Seriously though, what a tripped out time it must have been when an excellent space jazz record like this was played in a nursing home near you. And I'm sure whatever radio station it was whose call letters are emblazon across the front of my copy are responsibe for a good number of head on collisions caused by hypnotized commuters.
http://waxidermy.com/



http://www.folkways.si.edu/

[377] Eluder - Drift

Label: Archaic Horizon
Catalog#: AH030
Released: 24 Jan 2009

1　Sun Prayer (6:37)
2　Float With Me (6:59)
3　Moon Plea (5:42)
4　Drift With Me (9:12)


Eluder's "Drift" is our latest offering of wavering ambient releases. The EP is comprised of four tracks full of hazy drones, dense textures and milky warmth. "Drift" carries a solemn, and sometimes desolate timbre evoked through its processed and swollen tones. Additionally, a spirituality is evoked through the music's lonely but peaceful sonics and through its inhabitance of a seemingly surreal expansive space. Eluder (aka Electricwest) has crafted this rich depth and antiqued sonic atmosphere in each of the four tracks using a complex but still minimal sound.

listen_sample T-3 'Moon Plea'


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[376] Emaciator - Appease

Label: Monorail Trespassing
Catalog#: mt64cs
Released: Apr 2009

Recorded August-December 2008 under blue and amber light.
"To reach a state of peace"

A1　Not Knowing, But Knowing (10:56)
B1　May We Transcend (10:56)

The longer Jon Borges works under his Emaciator guise, the softer his recordings seem to get. Having sucked me in with Resentment, the CD he recorded for Alex Cobb’s Students of Decay label, he blew me away with last years Reflection, put out by William Hutson’s Accidie imprint. Both of those previous full-lengths fit neatly in harsh(ish)/drone territory, but in recent months the harsh edge of Borges’ output seems to have subsided. Coveting an LP from late last year on Not Not Fun was already demonstrating a preference for a smoother wave-shape and if there was any doubt as to the general direction then along came the release of a new album, titled Austere, by Borges’ flagship harsh noise project Pedestrian Deposit (also on monorail) which, while being richer in detail than most of the Emaciator material, also exhibits this shift towards “bliss / meditation / therapy “ (as Borges himself puts it). I imagine die-hard fans of the early Pedestrian Deposit material must be finding this progression a bitter pill. Even myself, having placed the Reflection 2LP squarely inside last year’s top ten was slightly disappointed to find the square-tooth edge of the Emaciator sound gradually filing itself back to tonality. With his general trajectory in mind, this 22 minute tape continues just as you would expect it to. Certainly the most tonal material I’ve heard yet from Emaciator. Two sides of sky-gazing drift, “to reach a state of peace”.

Considering the wealth of quality and not-so-quality drone musicians shimmering and glistening about in the underground at present it’s pretty hard to make your presence felt, but whether the thought of Borges’ permanently joining these ranks brings a smile or a frown, he’s clearly damn good at it. A strong tape, though if I had to recommend just one of this latest batch of monorails it would be his new Pedestrian Deposit album.
http://chewedtapes.blogspot.com/

not knowing, but knowing


may we transcend


monorail
emaciator

[375] Ocdc - Piano Suites For Ella

Made for the birthday of Ella, on May 20th 2009, this album is solo Piano, field recordings and a touch of guitar on one track. The following is a list of the locations and times of the field recordings used:

I. The Day You Were Born
From a rainstorm that occurred immediately after writing the piece. 16th May.
II. Poppy
The aftermath of said storm, complete with startled pigeon. 16th May.
III. Lime Cottage
Alone in the library, covertly recording the librarian. 16th May.
IV. Penny & Adrian
My neighbour's children playing with their dog, and their Grandfather. 16th May.
V. The Tillingbourne
After recording, I wandered out in the middle of the night to smoke a cigarette or two, and captured the sound of an aeroplane passing low overhead en route to Heathrow. 18th May.
VI. Cader Idris
The tumble dryer at Dad's. 18th May.
VII. Gymnastics
Fireworks in Newcastle. November 5th 2008 - an old one but unused and somehow fitting.
credits
released 20 May 2009

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[374] Dolphins Into The Future - ...On Sea-Faring Isolation

Label: Not Not Fun Records
Catalog#: NNF155—LP
Released: 2009

A1　On The High Seas
A2　Lone Voyager
A3　Onset - Beyond Clouds
B1　Memory Of Self
B2　Lapse - Dream
B3　Aftermath - Isle Of Self


A casual interweb cruiser could be forgiven for confusing Dolphins Into The Future the “band” (aka the one-man tape-loop blue-age ambient project executed by Belgian Cetacean Nation ambassador Lieven Martens) with Dolphins Into The Future the book (written by dimensional traveler Joan Ocean concerning her 20-year-long real life spirit quest to commune with a school of 200 wild Hawaiian Spinner dolphins). And, to be fair, they’re a LOT alike. Both deal heavily in trippy, drifting logics, vibrational holograms, and an overdose of psychedelic pastel artwork. But Ms. Ocean’s books are out of print so instead we have ...On Sea-Faring Isolation, Mr. Dolphin Martens’ vinyl debut under the DITF banner, after a 2-year string of increasingly blissed tapes and CDRs. Composed of three interwoven pieces per side, Isolation is one of those baffling magic eye LPs that seems to dissolve yr memory of it during the very act of listening. Turquoise webs of billowing synth smoke curl and dissipate into grey horizons of open sea field recordings. The wooden mast of a ship creaks quietly while astral bells toll away in morning fog. You are alone. This record could make a sailor homesick, and Joan Ocean weep. Beautifully composed and sequenced, with just the right amount of wobbly porpoise sonar prisms bubbling up from the deep, this LP exceeded all our expectations (and they were high). A fantastic voyage into the pan-dolphinic dawn. Black vinyl LPs in matte jackets with aquatic-loner artwork by Martens himself, plus a photocopied album review/interpretation by DJ Bongo Man. Edition of 375.
http://deathbombarc.bigcartel.com/

listen_sample

[373] Lichens - Omns

Label: Kranky
Catalog#: KRANK 106
Released: 07 May 2007

CD-1　Vever Of Agassou (4:57)
CD-2　Faeries (8:19)
CD-3　Bune (8:46)
CD-4　M st r ng W tchcr ft L v ng n Sp r t (18:41)
CD-5　Sighns (2:27)
DVD-1　Live At Chicago's Empty Bottle

The second long player from Lichens, like his first, the largely improvised The Psychic Nature of Being, is an ascent to a higher plane. Rob Lowe's sound recordings are of a distinctly personal nature, works turned inward as much as they are projected outward.

This new album was conceived with the idea of it being a continuation of the first, while using slightly different techniques in recording and editing; from multitracking individual passes, and pulling single tracks in and out of the mix ("vevor of agassou" "faeries"), to opening up into a completely different process by overdubbing multiple tracks ("m st r ng w tchcr ft l v ng n sp r t"). All this while remaining firmly within the realm of improvisation, augmented with the use of skeletal frameworks.
The accompanying dvd video contains a single live 28 minute performance from Chicago's Empty Bottle that was recorded in 2006. All Lichens live shows are individual events and are not mere duplications of previous performances. Thus, the performance here is a unique snapshot of the Lichens live experience. The film was directed and produced by Mary Scherer and edited by Todd Mattei.
http://www.brainwashed.com/

90 day menのメンバーrobert loweによるlichensのソロプロジェクト。今作はセカンドアルバム。前作もフリー・フォーク的なアプローチが強かったのですが、今作もオーバーダビングのテクニックを駆使したディープ・サイケ。深く心地よい陶酔感に浸れる作品です。グレン・ブランカと並ぶアヴァン・ギタリスト、rhys chathamトリオに最近は参加しているとのことですが、涅槃に誘われるかのようなギターアプローチは必聴です！ライブ映像が収録されたDVD付き。
http://www.janis-cd.com/

[372.1] mürren vol.5

【今号のテーマ】
「山の音　sound of the mountain」

山に行くとさまざまな音が耳に入ってきます。
ふだんの生活では気づかない、生きてるものの息づかい、 自然の調べ、内なる声。
そんな静かな「山の音」を、読み物主体で紹介します。


【contents】
すぎゆくアダモ　・・・　山と孤独を愛した作家、辻まことの著作より
早朝、街と山にて１時間　・・・　同日同時間、街と山で聞く音を採取
わたしの好きな山の音　・・・　山好きの語る「山の音」を読み物で
山のコール　・・・　大学山岳部、社会人山岳会に受け継がれる合い言葉集
山の音楽家　・・・　動物編、植物編に分けて。山の生き物のひそやかな音
山の楽器　・・・　北アルプスに響くアルプホルンの調べ
とりはともだち　・・・　鳥好き素人集まって高尾山で探鳥会。一部始終を誌上再現
街でも山でも鳥を見にガイド　・・・　東京近郊、鳥のメッカのミニミニガイド
murren books ＆ CDs　・・・　山の音に関する本とCD のご紹介
極限の音　・・・　南極点に徒歩到達した登山家松原尚之氏の聞いた極限の音とは
海と町で山の音　・・・　砂山と裏山、町で聞く山の音２題　古賀充＆鈴木るみこ など


発行所：murren編集部
mürren web