Olafur Arnalds – Found Songs

Found Songs initially was conceived as a download-for-free internet-only project: 7-songs in 7-days.
But obviously the response was such that these songs, covering just over 20 minutes, are now releases in physical form too.
“From Twitter via Flickr to Traditional Record Stores”.

In fact, that feels a bit like if these songs did not really exist until they were released in the form of a 10″ vinyl limited edition, or as a Digisleeve limited CD edition.
Hey, we’re the online digital generation, aren’t we? Why bother with physical releases?

Wrong!

Machinefabriek – Dauw (videoclip)

What do you see when listening to ambient music?
I guess most answers would be something like: landscapes.
Desolate, comforting or alien, depending on the kind of ambient music.

I guess some of the images will be triggered by the track title.
So – what would a videoclip for Machinefabriek’s “Dauw” (“Dew”) look like?

when clicking the YouTube link to the video by Joost Meijer for this track, I was prepared for some abstract impressionist landscape shots. But I was not prepared for a heartbreaking story of an elderly couple growing apart.

Robert Henke – Indigo Transform

Indigo Transform

Once again Monolake genius Robert Henke delivers a masterpiece of tranquility: a 60 minute reworking of “Indigo”, the closing track of Monolake’s Cinemascope album (2001).

The original track is 8 1/2 minutes of layered sound and relaxing dripping water.
Swedish “installation artist” Fredrik Wretman contacted Robert Henke to use this track for a new installation called “Tap Tim“: ‘one single calm and focused work of art in a huge gallery space’.

But as expected this simple approach was not the route Henke would prefer to take. The original track simply was too short to just put on repeat.

On – Your Naked Ghost Comes Back At Night

On - Your Naked Ghost 

Although ON is mostly presented as a duo, in fact it’s better to say that it’s a trio. A trio with a very special approach to creating the music: I guess not much musicians immediately ‘kill their darlings’ after recording them. ON did: by handing over the completed recordings to be remixed and deconstructed completely.

ON is a collaboration project between Sylvain Chauveau (household name of Type Records, among others), and percussionist Steven Hess (Pan American).
For their (2004) album “Your Naked Ghost Comes Back At Night'”, they recorded their music and asked Helge Sten (a.k.a. Deathprod) to completely rework it.
And he did, in such a way that this is as much a Deathprod album as it is Chauveau/Hess’.

Beautiful Companions: Balmorhea

Balmorhea remixes

Excuse me for being ignorant, but until recently Balmorhea was unknown to me.
Which is sort of remarkable, since they mention Claude Debussy, Beethoven, Rachel’s, Max Richter, Arvo Pärt and John Cage as their influences, and, according to their Discogs Profile, they shared stages with Stars of the Lid, Eluvium, Helios, and many others.
Their latest album is titled ‘All is Wild, All is Silent”  

All is Wild, All is Silent‘ is far from ‘ambient electronic’. It may best be described as ‘jazzy instrumental folk-prog-rock’, if that is of any use. Touching themes in cleverly dynamic compositions that I’d enjoy but would not normally present on this weblog, simply because it doesn’t really fit the style..(there’s quite a lot of music that I thoroughly enjoy but not present here).

Lowlightmixes

Today, Lowlightmixes posted a kind recommendation to Ambientblog. 
Thanks, Dave, for these kind words.

I’m especially honoured, since I’m a regular visitor of Lowlightmixes myself.
I believe we share a vision in our approach to creating our mixes of ambient music.
Lowlightmixes has a vast collection of mixes to listen and download: at this time, you’ll find over 40 different titles, with a wealth of interesting music to discover!!

So, if you’re not a regular visitor yet: be sure to check out the mixes on Lowlightmixes too. It’s definitely worth your time!!

Mantra of Walls and Wiring (mix)


Wire

Mantra of Walls and Wiring” is the first of a set of three one hour mixes created in 2005.
The other two are “The Hum in the Room” and “Acoustical Illusion” (will follow later).

As you can read from the titles, these mixes thematically deal with the sound you can hear in your living environment; the ‘everyday hum‘ surrounding you.

I got inspired for this theme when I listened to a slowly fading ambient-cd…and finally realised the cd had already stopped for quite a while and I was obviously listening to (and enjoying) the hum of my own refrigerator!
Since then the household environmental sounds do not disturb me anymore…they became part of the music I’m playing.

Starting point of these programs is the text Paul Simon wrote for Philip Glass‘s ‘Changing Opinion’ (‘Songs from Liquid Days’), featured here in an extremely ‘deconstructed’ version (full text below).

Compared to the previous mixes these mixes are less accessible for listeners not used to ‘ambient drone music’.
These are the most ‘minimal’ mixes, containing some very strange combinations: the David Darling recording with the Wulu Bunun for example (which may give the feeling you are lifted into the sky) flowing into the sound of eternal rest of Eliane Radigue, followed by Herbert‘s sound of home-cooking bringing you back to your own private home.

As in all mixes, there are some dark and tense parts. This is not meant to be ‘new age happiness’ at all.
But in fact its serene timelessness never fails to amaze me.

S.A.D. Sounds – 2 (mix)


S.A.D. Sounds

Part 2 of the 2-part mix called ‘S.A.D. Sounds (Voorjaarsmoe)‘  (from april 2004).

The first part can be found here. (Please listen in sequence…)

S.A.D.” is an acronym of ‘Seasonal Affective Disorder‘, otherwise known as ‘Spring Fatigue’ (and also for the other season’s equivalents, like ‘Winter Depression’).

In Part 2, this theme is reflected in the closing part, a recording of a Kathleen Ferrier’s performance of Handel’s “Spring is Coming” (From ‘Ottone’):
Why should I alone be silent, when all nature awakes to life?”

S.A.D. Sounds – 1 (mix)


Arthus Bertrand - Auyan Tepui

The joys of springtime usually get the most attention, but the season has a dark side, too: “Spring Fatique”.
The need to eat and to sleep more than usual, inexplicable mood changes, the difficulty to be able to concentrate, etc.

These feelings are not strictly limited to the spring season, however. Comparable feelings are also known in Winter and Fall. About 60% of all people will probably recognise these symptoms. About 2% suffer from the more serious “Seasonal Affective Disorder’ (S.A.D.), also known as ‘Winter Depression’.

The symptoms described can almost be heard in the strange soundscapes of this mix: not only in the titles of the tracks, but also in the atmosphere. Dark sounds, mostly, especially in the beginning. Luckily, the keynote of the pieces used gets lighter when time progresses: it is as if you hear the sun struggling to break through the sky.. Besides being an auditive impression of the tiredness of spring, this program may hopefully also be a remedy against it.

This mix was created in 2004.

The classic Peter Hammill track ‘The Birds’ in the beginning of Part 1 defines the theme:

‘Spring came far too early this year: Mayflowers blooming in February.
Should I be sad for the months, or glad for the sky?
The birds don’t know which way to sing, and, my friends, neither do I.’

(Part 2 of this mix can be found here)