Drones from the deepest of the deep (Atom TM), drones with harp (Pinkcourtesyphone with Gwyneth Wentink), drones with pipe organ (Chihei Hatakeyama & Corey Fuller) and drones with guitar (Hakobune)
Around december 2007, I made a mix from Soccer Commitee’s music and music from Machinefabriek.
This mix is never published here before, because it was made for the dutch NPS-Folio radio show broadcast.
I don’t usually post the Folio broadcasts here, but it’s time to make an exception to that rule: a recent social media post about the beauty of Soccer Committee’s album sC made me decide it was time to dust off the 2007 mix and publish it again.
Because it’s still as powerful now as it was back then, almost 10 years ago.
“Ambient Supergroup” Arovane/McClure/Hatami opens this shortlist, also featuring drone ambient releases by Philippe Petit, Robert Crouch and Jose Soberanes.
Drones for the start of summer season:
With music by Xiu Xiu, Christina Vantzou, Hilde Marie Holsen, Michel Banabila, Barton Rage & Bill Laswell, J. Peter Schwalm, Ricardo Donoso (in a Thomas Köner Remix), Joe Frawley, How to Disappear Completely and a remarkable rework of 60 different recordings of Gymnopédie 1
What is a good way to release a Generative Music composition?
Marsen Jules chose to release his Shadows in Time in 300+ different variations on different media: a CD release (with a ‘static’ version), and a unique individual recording for every different USB-stick ….
Apart from that there are also some uniquely pressed transparent vinyl 12″ with a different version on each pressing (!).
…. And by the way: the music is great, too!
This shortlist starts off with Tetherdown‘s First Flight and takes you along to the soothing chords of Cyril Secq/Orla Wren, Gamardah Fungus and Luke Howard.
This is not exactly your average enjoyable ‘contemporary neo-classical’ music, and it definitely isn’t ‘romantic’ either.
Though there are quiet parts, most of the piece is quite unnerving.
It is not an ‘easy’ Requiem to listen to. And it shouldn’t be, of course, because it seems there’s not gonna be a happy ending to this story soon.
“The greatest fear that I have….. is that nothing will change.”
Edward Snowden
Because of the drones, atmospheric field recordings and insect sounds, this mix will be labeled as an ‘ambient’ mix by most listeners.
And of course it is…. but at the same time it isn’t.
It simply isn’t ‘unobtrusive’ enough to be ‘ambient’.
An hour-long journey of scene changes, meandering between *Kitsch* and *Kult* – a bit more ‘psychedelic’ than ‘ambient’, in fact.
Four hours of sleep music from Moby, sonic structures from Micromelancolíe & Strom Noir, and drone pieces for acoustic guitar & electronics by Emilio Romanelli
