former selves / quiet evenings

 

former selves ~ build (hooker vision, 2012)

"For those only familiar with Paul Skomsvold's hazy tapes of blissful drone, this disc may come as something of a surprise. Recorded prior to Many Moons, Build is the missing link between Paul's early experiments in lo-fi rock and his more recent excursions into pure sound. A perfect soundtrack for the final days of summer."

foto: melissa catanese

sold out ~ listen ~ free download

 quiet evenings / former selves ~ riverbend/future nostalgia (constellation tatsu, 2012)

"Descend into the deeply personal sound of Quiet Evenings and experience music in both time and space. Gradually resurface on the sustained, perfumed bubble of Former Selves’ soporific harmonies" costellation tatsu

foto: lil bavvers

bandcamp ~ buy

former selves ~ limits (rotifer, 2012)

"slow motion nostalgia from Former Selves...soundtracks to lost love scenes, blurry 8mm film montages of carousel rides, memories of a beach sunset. highly accessible, emotive synth movements, that seem impossible to resist. the soundscape is thick, and full, but never crowded or overbearing. a beautiful confluence of warm layers and clean, crisp delicate sounds. there is an elegant simplicity in the four track c20. peaceful, honest compositions, absolutely meant to be enjoyed, and effortlessly successful. stunning physical product. retro futurist art, pro printed, pro dubbed limited to sixty copies. grab directly from Rotifer." guide me little tape

buy ~ listen ~ download

siempre es motivo de alegría cualquier cosa que salga de los dedos mágicos de rachel y grant, hooker vision, rotifer y el recién llegado costellation tatsu (hakobune, cankun), pero former selves, el mago de la nostalgia por excelencia, es una debilidad personal... qué bonita 'future nostalgia', el perfecto equilibrio entre sensibilidad y ciencia, una de esas melodías que dejan huella de verdad. las imágenes que lleva dentro y que desencadenan un estado de ánimo de melancolía y emoción son pura ciencia ficción musical, la demostración empírica de que existen otros planetas ambient. y están aquí. porque el cambio a partir del minuto cinco me deja sin respiración, capas y capas de teclados entrelazándose con una tímida percusión que avanza dulce y delicada, conscientemente anacrónica y triste. sólo un deseo, que siga el estado de gracia de paul skomsvold (al que pronto tendremos de gira por españa y también en portugal, porto) y que siga haciéndonos levitar por mucho tiempo

dolphins into the future

dolphins into the future ~ ...on sea~faring isolation (fonal reissue, 2012)

"Dolphins into the Future is one Lieven Martens, a Belgian currently living in the Azores, who has since 2007 steadily released a number of albums, EP’s, 7”s and tapes on a variety of hip and homespun labels. 28th March sees the long-awaited CD release of Dolphins into the Future’s acclaimed cult 2009 LP ‘…On Sea-Faring Isolation’, an album previously released on cassette by Martens’ own label, Cetacean Nation, and on vinyl by Not Not Fun. In addition to the original tracklisting, the Fonal re-issue includes a 15 minute bonus track ‘Various Possible Notes and Timbres of the Mental Unit Molecule’, recorded in 2011 on Okapoka Island. ...Dolphin’s vision is as smudged and somnambulant, but very much of itself. Amorphous and carefully framed, Martens’ sound landscapes place field recordings and lo-fi instrumentation on a democratic plane, to create one seamless mass of bubbling percussive flow. But if Martens taps into a pool of tropical references, such influences are relayed from an unashamedly outside perspective, a deliberate refraction of nature, a re-imagined idyll, that shows him to be as close in spirit to the Romantics, or perhaps even film maker Jean Painlevé’s surreal take on aquatic life." fonal

no puedo evitar emocionarme con esta tercera reedición de on~sea faring isolation, el disco mágico de lieven martens, al que más cariño le tengo, cuya portada, sólo verla, me produce cosquilleos y cuyas influencias van más allá de lo musical... el disco clima, orgánico, burbujeante, por excelencia, de los que tienes que contenerte para no ponerlo todos los días, al acostarte, al levantarte o al ir en bicicleta un día soleado... y si ese día también suena 'like glass' de charlatan será el día perfecto. tiene algo de secuencia onírica de viejos documentales submarinos, flota y avanza y evoca a una roadmovie bajo el mar que no parece real, una preciosa colección de sonidos marinos y mantras electrónicos donde caben delfines, el sonido de las cuerdas que amarran las barcas retorciéndose y balanceándose suavemente con el vaivén de las olas del mar, sintetizadores abstractos new age, grillos, gaviotas, pingüinos, una luz muy blanca, la calma y la relajación... pero lo que verdaderamente importa es el aura, la emoción, el eterno compromiso de lieven con la vida acuática, esa sensación de aislamiento, de sumergirte en el paraíso, de estar ante algo muy especial, ese algo indescriptible que tienen muy pocos discos. como regalo, la reedición de fonal incluye una canción de quince minutos grabada en la Isla de Okapoka que, si no me equivoco, es una variación de la cara b de 'a star maker, strange dreams, and clairvoyance'. más cosas de los delfines, aquí.

listen ~ buy ~ download

black eagle child

black eagle child ~ family jam (self~released, 2012)

"a collection of six ephemeral, looped melodies captured during periods of play. these songs exhibit a very special kind of whimsy that surfaces in adults in the company of children." michael jantz

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black eagle child ~ go around, again (under the spire, 2012)

"born during the recording of Lobelia, Go Around, Again bears little resemblance to its epochal twin. Jantz explains the differences between the two by referencing the clever wordplay of the album title: "It's a conceptual title playing on the minimalist compositions, repeating patterns, etc"

michael jantz siempre ha estado ahí, en una esquinita y en la sombra. desde 'seeds that sprout in the summer' su presencia en el blog ha sido casi una obligación...muy difícil resistirse a compartir su música cada vez que asoma la nariz, ahora con dos discos como dos soles que se unen a su mágica, inabarcable y maravillosa discografía. todo lo bueno que pueda decir es poco...sus canciones son como viajes, no importa que sea en el jardín de su casa, con niños pululando por la cocina y pucheros de bebé colándose en las grabaciones, la conexión es inmediata, los paisajes, inolvidables. en 'go around, again', 'un himno a los bucles, ciclos y repeticiones', ese viaje se convierte en un crucero de belleza infinita por paisajes modulares y cuevas misteriosas, es hipnótico, espiraloide, es hallogallo de neu! correteando por las galaxias luminosas de jim o'rourke y mark mcguire, el frenesí. en 'phrases of the moon', un banjo y la voz de un niño dan la bienvenida al viaje soñado, con sabor a polvo, el más tranquilo y el más bonito del mundo mundial: ennio morricone y bruce langhorne nos acompañan en un paseo en carromato por los áridos desiertos de meek's cutoff de kelly reichardt. ¿qué hay en la tierra, el aire o el corazón de milwaukee, wisconsin, para que allí se hagan canciones así de bonitas? lo único que puedo decir después de algo así, es un gracias de corazón y recordar aquella carta de vincent, "no sé si puedes comprender que se pueda hacer un poema sólo mezclando colores, en la misma forma que pueden decirse cosas reconfortantes con la música..."

listen ~ buy

fotos via old chum & inès amd

josh st. denis

josh st. denis ~ real axe (cloud valley, 2010)

"from icy cold sweater weather ambience to cozy warm peace blankets of folk induced acoustica rainbow laced with some lush verb. this is a re-issue of an edition of six that josh handed out at a show we played together two years ago. my absolute favourite workings of his, an absolute honour here to give it a second life." maggot valley

"Cloud Valley is/was/will always be one of the great tape labels. run by Scott Johnson of Thoughts on Air, the label put out efforts of artists across the experimental spectrum. seemingly though, this release by Josh St. Denis seemed to have slipped through the cracks and I haven’t seen it uploaded on a blog out there yet. Josh showcases both sides of the guitar coin with ominous drone tracks and fabulous solo acoustic reveries drifting upwards out of a vast canadian canyon. great album here. cheers to what Cloud Valley was and it’s now continuing venture as Maggot Valley." broadcasts from poor farm

foto via old chum

  sold out | download

big blood

big blood ~ dead songs (time~lag 2010)

"...dead songs is as sorrowful & joyful in its mirrored symmetry as the infinite life cycle itself, flowing on cleansing waves of inner release & spirit absorption… wailing fuzzed-up garage folk anthems mesh into twisted poetic acidfolk and drift to expansive melancholic meditations of boundless depth. two voices howl, swoon, alternate & join, lyrical layers peel away endlessly, tiny amps weep in pain, crude percussion booms thunderous, and ragged, beautiful hooks unfurl straight out of the void" time~lag

foto: old chum

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big blood

big blood ~ night terrors on the isle of louis hardin (cabin floor esoterica 2010)

"Caleb Mulkerin & Colleen Kinsella (Cerberus Shoal, Fire on Fire) have slowly been filling the Big Blood book for a while now and this is definitely the year to kick it off big. This tape finds them in a different space than most of their previous releases, going toward strange short form clattering instrumental pieces and increasingly off-kilter acoustic grooves. The string bass chugs through while the trainwhistle melodies photograph the whole scene just to pump it back out of the scratchy guitar. Don't you fret though, the beautiful Big Blood vocal harmonies are all still there underneath the dust and as strong as ever. Wood block boogies in tribute to the Viking of Sixth Ave: Moondog. In a special edition of 25 in sewn pouches with three inserts (two by the artists), and a 16 page full-color book of artwork from Colleen with glow-in-the-dark silk-screened inside-and-out cloth covers and sewn spines. Only available direct from Cabin Floor." cabin floor esoterica

foto via old chum

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