Tag: ambient

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Interviews Music

One Track Mind: Julia Gjertsen

The Oslo-based pianist and composer on the cinematic journey and structural chaos of Fieldhead

The premise of One Track Mind is pretty simple: I ask artists to pick one track that means a lot to them – either something they’ve discovered recently, something that’s been with them for years, or one that reminds them of a specific time in their life or career – and tell me what makes it so special to them. I get to talk to the artists I love, and they get to talk about the artists they love. Love all round!

Julia Gjertsen is a pianist and composer based in Oslo. Combining contemporary electronic elements with the piano, she creates contemplative soundscapes and introspective compositions that draw inspiration from nature and reflect on moments from the past and present. Her music is characterized by a tender playing style and beautifully crafted melodies that aim to convey nuanced perceptions and emotions that can often be challenging to express through words.

Her second album Formations was released last year, while more recently she released the collaborative EP Dive alongside Finnish composer Juha Mäki-Patola. Her latest single, Embers, came out earlier this month as part of Fractals, Moderna Records’ annual piano day compilation featuring twelve pieces from composers and pianists around the world.

For her One Track Mind selection, Julia has selected the opening track from UK electronic duo Fieldhead’s 2009 album they shook hands for hours.

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Music

Benoît Pioulard – Where To

American singer-songwriter, poet, and photographer Thomas Meluch aka Benoît Pioulard put out his latest album last month, Eidetic: a word denoting the ability to recall mental images with extraordinarily rich precision. To record much of the album, Meluch holed up in a a cabin in rural Maine with a bit of percussion, a couple of Fender electrics, and a parlor guitar made by his friend. You can sense both the isolation and natural splendour throughout Eidetic, which ranges from Stars of The Lid-esque ambience of tracks like Where To to more structured, vocal-led pieces.

https://pioulard.bandcamp.com/album/eidetic

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Music

Steve Gunn, David Moore – Libration

I posted about the lead single from this album, Let The Moon Be A Planet – a collaboration between guitarist and songwriter Steve Gunn and pianist and composer David Moore of Bing & Ruth – back in January, and was very much looking forward to its arrival. It landed last week, and hasn’t disappointed. The album initially took form over a series of remote sessions and was completed once Gunn and Moore got together in Hudson, New York. If you’re feeling in any way stressed at all, this will help.

https://stevegunn.bandcamp.com/album/reflections-vol-1-let-the-moon-be-a-planet

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Music

Andrea – Lush In End (Drum Version)

Andrea’s last album Ritorno was one of my favourite releases of 2020, so it’s great to see him back on Ilian Tape for the follow up, Due In Color. Atmospheric breaks one again dominate, with perhaps just a little more ambient whimsey present than last time around. Lush In End (Drum Version) is one of the more energetic tracks, and it’s absolutely brilliant.

https://iliantape.bandcamp.com/album/itlp14-due-in-color

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Music

Holodec – paint job (jade mix)

I’m sick for what feels like the third time this year already. Even typing is taking it out of me, so here’s a quick one for you that’s soothing my weary brain.

https://holodec.bandcamp.com/track/paint-job-jade-mix

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Music

Grant Chapman – This Comfort

For an album created entirely from random samples sourced on YouTube, there’s an incredibly consistent atmosphere on Grant Chapman’s Indentations, so much so that posting one track here doesn’t really do it justice. Like most of the album, This Comfort is delicate, emotional and evocative, and lands in a very sweet spot between ‘traditional’ ambient music and spine-tingling ASMR.

https://metronrecords.bandcamp.com/album/indentations

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Music

µ-Ziq – 4am

Mike Paradinas just really loves making music. Not content with putting out two brilliant albums last year on his own Planet Mu label, he recently announced a new LP, 1977, that will land on the excellent Blamat in April. 4am is the lead single, and it’s a softly billowing delight.

https://mikeparadinas.bandcamp.com/album/1977

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Music

Loscil, Lawrence English – Yellow

This probably isn’t the kind of thing you want to listen to as you roll into the first weekend of February, but this collaboration between ambient experimental electronic titans Loscil and Lawrence English is just too good to ignore, sorry about that. This is taken from their new album Colours Of Air which is out today, with track titles tracks “named for the hue each piece suggests – from the gauzy levitational miasma of Yellow to the pulsing melancholic mirage of Violet to the seething twilit sandstorm of Magenta.” I don’t know about all that, but it’s inescapably excellent.

https://loscil.bandcamp.com/album/colours-of-air

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Music

The Album Leaf – Breathe

I realise this is in danger of turning into an exclusively ambient blog, but it’s January, and I’m convinced no-one really wants to listen to music with a discernible bpm, much less a beat, hook or chorus, so I’m sticking with it for now. Today’s dose of glassy ambience comes courtesy of The Album Leaf’s new single Breathe. Recorded in memory of close friends and family the artist has lost in recent years, the track reflects on the thoughts that may arise in those final, fleeting moments.

https://thealbumleaf.com

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Music

Twinsleep – Kin

John Hayes and Maxy Dutcher unveil their new collaborative project Twinsleep with their meditative, atmospheric debut single Kin, with many of the tones on the song were crafted by sampling Dutcher’s vocal fed through a Yamaha VSS30 synthesizer. Deeply calming in the extreme; looking forward to the LP.

https://twinsleep.ffm.to/kin-single