SLOW REELS – EVERYDAY EXOTIC
Slow Reels is the project of duo Ian Hawgood and James Murray. Both artists are well-known for their personal output (as well as for curating their labels: Home Normal and Slowcraft, respectively). But as a duo, they are a match made in ambient heaven. They complement each other so that it is impossible to hear who did what, delivering an immersive sonic soundscape that is sensible and melodic.
Sometimes, ambient music can feel artificial – as if it was created by machines (and I do not mean that in a negative way: it can have it’s own special kind of beauty). But not that of Slow Reels: their music feels deeply organic and personal – ‘always evolving yet giving you enough time to fully immerse yourself in the harmonic wonder and the vast open spaces only artists of their skill and experience can achieve’.
On their third album as a duo, ‘piano, electro-acoustics and field recordings meet incredibly creative synth-work and granular processing, creating a peerless marriage of layers and textures – you can feel the respect and affection these artists have for each other coming through every element.’
Everyday Exotic is not released on one of their labels but on the Quiet Details label. It is the 15th release on this label ‘where each release is an artist’s own unique interpretation of that phrase’.
FEDERICO MOSCONI – SLOW MOTION
Federico Mosconi holds degrees in classical guitar and multimedia composition. He performs classical and contemporary music, as well as solo recitals or orchestral works. As an artist, he is ‘constantly looking for the perfect balance between purity and slight imperfection, where sound comes to life’.
Reading this introduction, you probably won’t immediately think of the sounds he presents on Slow Motion. The three tracks are deeply immersive ‘cyclic trips’, created with guitar, objects, field recordings, and heavy sound processing.
They are, indeed, progressing in slow motion – and thus exactly what you need when you want to check out some deeply relaxing, subtly layered ambient music.
Three beautiful, slowly moving drones (different in length: ranging from six to thirty-one minutes) ‘where the original sonic material evolves at each cycle creating a familiar but different scenario at each passage, a stream which time and experience slowly transform’.