microphones in the trees: preservation
Showing posts with label preservation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label preservation. Show all posts

Monday, October 27, 2014

günter schlienz


"for a decade, Schlienz has created meditative works of epic reach with intimate, reflective resonance. his individual style comes from an ever-searching sense of experimentalism that stems not only from his sense of composition but his creation of his own modular synthesisers and other instruments. 'contemplation' is Schlienz’s most personal yet, acting as a compendium that ties the various strands of his musical pursuits together in a new and fresh vision. in a way, 'contemplation' is a record of how he has developed as an artist and as himself. 
  
while the cosmic touch is ever present, earthy and pastoral scenes are never far from Schlienz’s gaze. Norm Chambers ~ aka Panabrite and a kindred spirit ~ contributes to the swelling, soaring 'humble', 'numb' is bubbling and bucolic in feel and 'shimmer' is a soft, sweet paen to the evening. reaching further, 'lament' is a majestic drone, raga-like in its deep focus, and 'janitor' is a final hazy delight of floating tones and starry dub-like echoes. ultimately, 'contemplation' is in equal thrall to joy, melancholy, nature and space. it’s a radiant poise Schlienz holds throughout, finding a peaceful plane." preservation

sé que ya poco queda por decir de Günter Schlienz, y que demasiado a menudo me sale por la boca la palabra bonito. pero es que todas las canciones tocadas por la varita de Günter Schlienz lo son. bonitas, modulares, minimales, delicadas (y cuando crees que no puede componer nada más bonito resulta que aparece 'dust'....bajad hasta la número ocho). también sé que no fue la emoción del primer momento, ni las ganas de encontrar algo que nos enamorase y nos abriese nuevos y fascinantes horizontes como en su momento lo hicieron Jewelled Antler, Bruce Langhorne, Valerie Webb & Paul Labrecque, Cap'n Jack, la onda expansiva del snow folk, las tonadillas de golden apples of the sun, y después Dolphins into the Future y la 2010 tape-scene nostalgia, y Bill Doob, Former Selves o Floating Gardens o Panabrite y la telaraña infinita de conexiones e influencias y la etiqueta mágica library music que nos llevaba de vuelta al pasado...el disco número once de nuestro duende 'consentido' favorito en poco menos de cinco años me sigue causando el mismo impacto. Günter es siempre presente, encariñarse con un sonido, saber que todo nos dirigía hasta aquí, hasta él. de cuando tienes la certeza de que haga lo que haga, será lo más bonito que vayas a escuchar nunca. la guinda esta vez viene de la mano de Norm Chambers (Panabrite), que presta su Rhodes y su sintetizador en la indescriptiblemente indescriptible 'humble'.

Friday, June 28, 2013

deep magic


"the solo project for current Sun Araw live band member Alex Gray, Deep Magic’s work has tended towards a meditative ambient realm, crafting a cosmic sound as a sort of calm and organic grandeur that recalls Popol Vuh’. indeed like Popol Vuh, pursuit of a kind of spiritual grace has proven to be the measure at the heart of Deep Magic. Reflections of Most Forgotten Love finds a new urgency, an ever-shifting puzzle of sound breathing vital new life into Gray’s lyrical vision. dynamic and unrelenting yet somehow beautifully spacious and patient in its unfolding, this epic work thrives on equal parts pulse and poise, an essence held within a thrilling multiplicity of ideas. skittish techno, rolling pianos, warm pedal steel, foggy, dub drifts and microscopic sonics play out a hypnotic movement of moods with magnetic compulsion. throughout its stirring, blissful way, intimacy is its keynote. as the title suggests, this is an album of emotively raw presence with a singular take on solitude as a many splendoured thing." preservation

"...an ethereal ride into experimentation and meditative tones. Brighter Days sets a tone for a very cosmic album where abstraction of majestic key tones drip into liquid form over field recordings, transfixing synth and other odd sources of sound. It’s a slow evolving voyage that is minimally designed but has a wealth of sonic color pulsing in every direction and in every measure. Music this delicate yet deep in resonance and texture grabs us on first listen and puts us in a really relaxed mood." deep tapes

only you, only me

foto: lee chang ming

Friday, August 24, 2012

panabrite


 Panabrite: la paciencia, la calma, el bucle... sería tan bonito vivir en el mundo de Norm Chambers. poco a poco me ha ido ganando el corazón hasta el punto de que un día sin Panabrite, al menos una canción, no es un día completo. presente, pasado, futuro. Norm juega en la liga del minimalismo, la delicadeza y la inspiración infinita. no es fácil transmitir en palabras la cantidad de imágenes y sensaciones que sugiere su música, siempre entrañable, de superficie melancólica y esencia melódica, contemplativa, próxima a la perfección, relacionada con un pasado que es futuro, el mar, el universo, programas de ciencia ficción de los setenta, teclados vintage comestibles, guitarras acústicas que asoman cristalinas y muy de vez en cuando (sobre todo en 'Soft Terminal'), documentales del mundo submarino,... la música que ilustraría la melancolía retrofuturista de las viñetas de 'Lupus' de Frederik Peeters y 'El Caminante' de Taniguchi. eso es precisamente lo que más me gusta y a la vez me desconcierta, como Leyland Kirby (The Caretaker), esa sensación evocadora y difusa, constante, la capacidad de sugerir mil imágenes y no ser capaz de ubicarlas en el tiempo y lugar exactos.

decían en mnml ssgs (para quienes hizo este mixtape), que Panabrite trasciende el peligro de sonar simplemente 'bonito' porque su música está llena de matices y texturas y por encima de todo refleja un cariño especial a los géneros con los que trabaja, gracias en parte a un profundo conocimiento de la biblioteca musical de sintetizadores, kraut, new age, ambient, etc de los 60, 70, 80, tan prolífica. para muestra un botón: 'Lunar Atrium', un blog repleto de pequeñas joyas que 'dirige' el propio Norm.


suena 'reflections' y me parece la canción más bonita del mundo, como si Norm Chambers volara hasta el cielo y se desintegrara en el viaje de vuelta. o 'rainbows in the catacombs', 'turqoise veil', 'cirrus' y 'crystal colosseum'... no existen canciones que determinen mejor qué es el ambient acuático y espacial, que expliquen por qué un loop puede ser cambiante y seguir siendo un loop, que suenen frías y calientes, que tengan alma, groove, a pesar de ser eminentemente electrónicas. o ese breve momento de infinita belleza llamado 'garden interlude' que da paso a 'octopus in your dreams', que además de ser preciosa tiene un título de cine fantástico de serie B de los cincuenta que me vuelve loca. pero entonces asoman las primeras notas de 'glass corridor', despegando por encima de lo terrenal, alzándose hacia el cielo. así que, mientras esperamos con ansia y curiosidad su próximo disco, qué mejor que compartirlas en un recopilatorio dedicado sólo a la ensoñadora discografía de Panabrite. bon apétit!


01. garden interlude | "blue grotto" ~ love all day, 2012
02. beau vallon | "seychelles" ~ field studies, 2012
03. cirrus | "illumination" ~ under the spire, 2012
04. octopus in your dreams | "sub~aquatic meditation" ~ aguirre, 2012
05. anemone | "neptune visions" ~ cylindrical habitat modules, 2010
06. citadel in the sky | "omni center" ~ sturmundrugs, 2011
07. clean lines | "infinite pulsation" ~ digitalis ltd., 2011
08. atoll | "sub~aquatic meditation" ~ aguirre, 2012
09. sound softy | "soft terminal" ~ digitalis, 2012
10. databank meditation | "infinite pulsation" ~ digitalis ltd., 2011
11. humid zones | "seychelles" ~ field studies, 2012
12. glass corridor | "blue grotto" ~ love all day, 2012
13. infinite passage | "the baroque atrium" ~ preservation, 2012
14. the gate | "omni center" ~ sturmundrugs, 2011
15. whirlpool | "sub~aquatic meditation" ~ aguirre, 2012
16. vortex | "wind rider" ~ tranquility tapes, 2011
17. siphonophore | "neptune visions" ~ cylindrical habitat modules, 2010
18. crystal colosseum | "cloud prism"/split with the away team ~ hooker vision, 2011
19. atlantic pulsation 2 | "infinite pulsation" ~ digitalis ltd., 2011
20. glass palace | "soft terminal" ~ digitalis, 2012
21. nocturnal | "wizard chimes" ~ gift tapes, 2010
22. capraia | "the baroque atrium" ~ preservation, 2012

Saturday, February 04, 2012

nuojuva


 "As Ous Mal, Olli Aarni’s debut album Nuojuva Halava took the early promise of his cd-r releases into a beautiful realisation of a unique sound that evoked both a curious nostalgia and a sense of future pathways, combining classical overtures, narcotic beats and warm atmospherics into blissful song.

Aarni’s beguiling vision holds sparer focus on Valot kaukaa for a more overtly ambient space filled with delicate instrumentation, including cello, piano, flute and violin, as well as a new interest in the possibilities of voice. Spacey and intimate with wintry and autumnal shades, its whispered melodies and open drift making for an heightened state still somehow grounded in downhome feeling.


The gliding vocal textures of Rachel Evans aka Motion Sickness of Time Travel, as well as one half of duo Quiet Evenings, is a recurring highlight, while Sophie Hutchings’ dazzling, rolling piano propels Laakso into a wonderful orbit.
Honing a special path explored on Nuojuva Halava, Valot kaukaa feels like one long, suspended, beautiful moment." preservation

aéreo, etéreo, elegante,...the caretaker

Saturday, December 19, 2009

caethua

"The Long Afternoon of Earth is made up of two short sets of songs, both different in style but connected by themes, family, place, escape and remembrance. The first set, No Man’s Land, is acoustic-based, with songs haunting in their hypnotic way, finding common ground between the rustic and spectral in the spell they cast. Hubbard’s surroundings play deeply within the realm of her thoughts, with lyrics both unvarnished and emotionally shading in the way they portray experience both real and imagined.

The second set, Into The Dog-Dayed Night is also stark, but yet another spin on Clare Hubbard’s otherworldly songs. Piano, guitar, raw beats and almost industrial-type textures alchemically fuse for an altogether different mood – more theatrical, lamenting and spooked. Both sets come together here in the kind of purity and fortitude that underline Caethua’s true artistry. The Long Afternoon of Earth is as enigmatic and heartfelt a statement you’re likely to hear." preservation

Saturday, October 04, 2008

tan or boil

tan or boil - seamstress in a suitcase (preservation 2008)


"...Tan or Boil are as lo-fi as the recording aesthetic may be, the layers of instrumentation flesh out the recordings in a far from shambolic fashion, revealing a complex, nicely crafted set of arrangements. On 'Surgeon', the singing is oddly unintelligible - plenty loud enough, but the slurred delivery is multitracked into a mesmerising Bon Iver-like polyphonic wail. Also worthy of note: fans of earthy, warm electronics will be pleased to find that Aaron Martin and Part Timer's John McCaffrey both help out on the album, supplying additional instrumentation and electronic shenanigans. Lovely." boomkat


foto: miss bob

*download*

Monday, May 29, 2006

eddie marcon

eddie marcon son un dúo japonés formado por la suave y exótica voz de eddie y la guitarra acústica de marcon (ex Lsd-March). psych folk difícil de situar en el tiempo, tan lisérgicos como Acid Mothers Temple pero con los ojos puestos en John Zorn, L o Ghost. Shining on Graveposts son ocho fragmentos suspendidos en la nada, acústicos y envolventes, repletos de mandolinas, címbalos, drones...muy cerca de lo que Nagisa ni Te harían si se cruzasen en su camino con Parallelograms de Linda Perhacs, incluso de vez en cuando recuerdan a la preciosa Haru No Hi Ni de Painting Petals on Planet Ghost. Amime y Tama no Huta enamoran, y Umi no Huta no parece de este mundo de lo bonita que es.

Monday, November 28, 2005

bones

"...Bones is a collection featuring new material from Tara Jane O'Neil, often at her most stripped back and full of her raw, alluring essence. Her delicate, vivid acoustic guitar playing is a feature of tracks such as The Poisoned Mine and Without Push, her subdued, enigmatic vocals floating over the top in airy layers of guitar, strings and piano. Other tracks showcase new directions – her burgeoning interest in electronica to allow for new shapes and rhythms in her songs (the beat-laden, trippy melodics of Enter This House and her reworking of an earlier track, Bullhorn Moon) and found sounds that she turns into hypnotic instrumentals. Bones is rounded off with a few rarities, including two tracks from a 2003 minor-release 7-inch single and her sublime acoustic reading of High Wire, one of In The Sun Lines’ best tracks.
Bones is another beautiful step for Tara Jane O'Neil in her growing stature as a truly unique performer, out in a class of her own." preservation