jean pierrot

jean pierrot  ~ naturally (self~released, 2020)

1h 32min of soft island music
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each song recorded and composed on its own island around the pacific and indian ocean over the last 3 years. composed in one take, as first impressions to each environment of the recording.
 

a musical collection of postcards and a therapy for your personal space to grow quite.

listen here & here

attack of the field mixtapes

ink flo ~ attack of the field mixtapes (2017)

field recordings mash-up mix (maybe first of its kind), that contains more than 90 recordings in one hour (exactly 01:02:03), that I taped in United Kingdom, India, Dubai, Czech etc. Its hallucination collage creating (un)probable encounters in (non)existing spaces, where ethno/electronic/psychedelic/religion music meets spoken word, musique concrete and comedy

Mixed in Excel (No added effects except few loops, slow-downs and reverses)

You may guess what to expect here from the description, but we warn you - it's definitely something hallucinative. Sounds come and go, but the overall effect accumulates through the listening, resulting in heady state. As if you returned after a long trip back home and you really wanted to return, but home looks different, like things changed... Weird feeling when everything is on its places, but something is missing. Of course it's you. But the feeling stays. So be prepared that something will change while you're missing from the real world listening to this mixtape. We warned you. 

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former selves ~ morriña

former selves ~ morriña (auasca, 2016)

«Morriña, the Galician word from the region in Spain, used to describe an intense longing for something that is no longer there. Like being homesick. Arriving in Spain with no instruments, field recordings from daily walks in the Spanish countryside form the base of this album. Field recordings were arranged into compositions before hitting a single note of an instrument. This is his most unconventional Former Selves release to date». auasca

Indeed, this album sounds unusual. As long-time follower of Former Selves output I can surely tell that. Yet, this is still ambient/drone music, but its aesthetics goes far away from regular "lo-fi cassette drone jams". The way it was created and the resulting sound reminds Dragon's Eye Recordings catalogue and solo works of Yann Novak - the man behind it. Quietly unfolding layers of pure, undistorted drone, subtle presence of field recordings and amazing space between the resonances, which gives huge space for one's imagination. What is hidden behind those hums? Was it river speaking its own language with the sky or dry leaves, whispering stories about summer? Or just bare wind, hiding in the branches? Images are easily replaceable, but sound here keep its own vibe, slowly blending the edges of what we used to call 'reality'. Map is always smaller than territory, but symbolic interpretation of landscape and what it represents (subjectively, of course) may cause a wave of universes, going through one's mind. Or, maybe, mind goes though universes, causing music to be manifested at certain points of space-time? Reflecting on this even for the short time of this cassette playback, one can easily feel that actually his own self is missing, lost somewhere at the journey with these tunes... Which brings us to idea, so beautifully reflected in Paul's project name - Former Selves. Yes, this is exactly who we are. One moment ago, two moments ago... While you thinking of yourself, your 'real' self is already not there. So, probably this Morriña longing that we may feel, is not about something, but, in first place, about our selves.

listen ~ buy

chris watson

chris watson ~ el tren fantasma (touch, 2011)

"take the ghost train from Los Mochis to Veracruz and travel cross country, coast to coast, Pacific to Atlantic. ride the rhythm of the rails on board the Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México and the music of a journey that has now passed into history." touch

"el tren fantasma es un viaje en tren por México, siguiendo una larga ruta que va desde la zona noroeste hasta el sureste, de Los Mochis a Veracruz, a travesando montañas, cañones, túneles y acantilados. el viaje se inicia con 'la anunciante' y Watson capta el constante ruido de los vagones avanzando, los frenos rechinando, el ir y venir de los pasajeros, el cambio de vías, material divino para quien busque sonidos poderosos. 'los mochis' es un paseo por el lado salvaje, por una tierra hermosa cerca del mar, una tierra que aún no se ha convertido en ciudad y donde la naturaleza se resiste a ceder su lugar a lo urbano. aves, gallos, perros, la campana, el tren se acerca, los frenos se activan,...y llegamos a una estación. la impresionante sierra tarahumara, un lugar mágico y ancestral  en el que Watson capta las aves, el rugir del tren, su paso por túneles y la majestosa calma del lugar. en 'el divisadero' agrega ritmos, manipula las grabaciones, las transforma por primera vez, nos pone al filo de algo, aunque aún no sabemos qué.

Chris Watson nos entrega las grabaciones tal cual, su magia está en la insistencia, en la perseverancia y en saber cuándo acercar el micrófono. una vez alguien dijo: “Watson es dios, dice: voy a grabar lluvia, y llueve…”. tal vez no sea dios, pero el detalle con el que nos muestra las cosas nos puede hacer pensar que estamos ante los ojos de quien pudiera ser el creador de estas maravillas." youareaghost

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chris watson ~ cima verde (fondazione edmund mach, 2008)

"Dosso D'Abramo, Cornetto and Cima Verde. above the three peaks of Monte Bondone there is air in motion; ice crystals, water vapour and changing pressure mix and merge into an annual dance across a deep blue sky. this is sound into light. down alpine slopes, across high pastures and into the forests a frozen mountain of sound thaws out from a mono bloc and into an ordered seven stage descent through 3000m of unique acoustic habitats. shapes and music, rhythm and sound, a series of ritual performances for animal ears." gogoyoko

fotos: laura leal & carly scott

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