Tag: piano

ambient music, RECOMMENDATIONS

Bruno Sanfilippo; Endless Melancholy; Joe Evans

Throughout musical history, the pure and delicate sound of the piano has never really been out of style.
But still, recent years have seen a revival of (more or less) improvised piano music, most of them (more or less) introvert and (somewhat) melancholic in style.  Here’s a selection of some of them that I thoroughly enjoyed recently:


Bruno Sanfilippo - Piano Textures 3

BRUNO SANFILIPPO – PIANO TEXTURES 3
The title leaves no room for surprises. This album is all about piano, and it’s #3 in a series. (Those that want all of them may want to check out the box set including all three).
Bruno Sanfilippo, originally from Buenos Aires, but now living in Barcelona, is not exactly a newcomer in this musical area: he graduated the conservatory of Buenos Aires with a degree in musical composition (piano). This third part of Piano Textures follows the first two releases with the same title (2007/2009), but together these three releases are just a small part of his discography.

ambient music, RECOMMENDATIONS

afarOne – Lucen

Stefan Ruggeri is a classically trained pianist “with a core of teenage rebellion, and a love for rock’n’roll.”
“I was used to going to the conservatory with Pearl Jam on the headphones and, a few seconds later, trying to climb to an impervious prelude of Rachmaninov”.

As afarOne, he has been working for three years on his debut release “Lucen“, recently released by German label Karl Records. 

“Lucen“ is one of those albums that immediately stand out on the very first listen – the kind that get stuck on ‘repeat’ almost automatically.

other-music, RECOMMENDATIONS

Jeremy de Tolly – Piano Nocturnes Volume One


Jeremy Tolly

“Nothing but a Grand Piano. No Synths, drones, pan pipes or tubular bells. I think it’s quite different. The music is very gentle, slow and quiet, more about the space between the notes than the notes themselves.”

Jeremy de Tolly ‘s introduction is a perfect introduction and an accurate description of his solo piano album “Piano Nocturnes, Volume One” .

“These pieces express emotions that have no specific name; the songs are meant to exist in the background of your life. It’s not archetypal music of any kind. It’s not really ambient, or classical, it’s definitely not jazz. It’s not depressing, nor is it happy.”

ambient music, RECOMMENDATIONS

Bernocchi, Budd, Guthrie – Winter Garden

If you are familiar with the works of Harold Budd together with Robin Guthrie  (Cocteau Twins) on earlier classics like Lovely Thunder, The Moon and the Melodies, The White Arcades and Before the Night Falls/After the Day Breaks, you will probably have a good idea what this new album sounds like.

Compared to these earlier albums, “Winter Garden” may hold no radical surprises. 
But in case of this particular album that is definitely meant as a positive remark: never change a winning formula, as they say!

other-music, RECOMMENDATIONS

Leah Kardos – Feather Hammer

Sometimes an album comes along that is difficult to define, because it doesn’t seem to conform to what may be considered as a single ‘style’ or a ‘genre’.
Albums like that usually take a few extra listens to definitely make up your mind, but they prove to be the more interesting in the end – they don’t easily fit the current consensus because they create their own style definitions. 

“Feather Hammer” is one of such albums.

ambient music, RECOMMENDATIONS

Scissors and Sellotape – For the Tired and Ill At Ease


Scissors and Sellotape

Before talking about the actual music on this album, let’s first take a look at its remarkable package. After all, “the medium is the message” isn’t it?

“For the Tired and Ill At Ease” – the fourth release on Daniel ‘(Fluid Audio/Fluid Radio’) Crossley’s Facture label – is a hand numbered/staped/sealed package (limited edition of 200) containing:

  • 180 gram “pure virgin” vinyl
  • Letter pressed CD
  • 16 page photo booklet
  • 12×12 bespoke print
  • A2 Posters
Intriguing, isn’t it? While the record industry still is in utter turmoil, and still cannot find the right way to catch up, there’s an increasing number of dedicated labels that show their love for the music in the way they pack their physical releases. 
And quickly find their audiences, too. A collector’s horror, sometimes, because often these releases sell out on the first day and are hard to find  from then.
Well, so much for the package.
Of course, there’s also the music to talk about!
 
other-music, RECOMMENDATIONS

Clem Leek – Lifenotes

The album cover image may suggest this is another piano-based album. Not true, although the piano plays an important role.

The first two tracks on his new album Lifenotes clearly demonstrate that Clem Leek is a multi-instrumentalist, playing piano, as well as violin, guitar and various other instruments. 
Along the album, the main instruments vary but the atmosphere remains effectively restrained.  

“This CD was all about getting back to basics and recording pieces that were simple, which happens to be my best way of writing.”

other-music, RECOMMENDATIONS

Nils Frahm – Felt

Although just under 30, self-taught pianist Nils Frahm has gained world-wide recognition for his delicate, yet fascinatingly dynamic, improvisational style of playing. He’s not afraid of starting with a brusque hammering of the piano keyboard and keeping that up for quite some time, until suddenly the underlying composition starts to show and may suddenly turn into an utterly moving, melancholic composition.

By recording his playing from the inside, the squeaking and groaning of the piano mechanism accompanying the bright piano notes has become one of his trademarks. 

“Felt“,  his latest release, is perfectly in line with its predecessors Wintermusik andThe Bells, but it’s balance is even more mature.

ambient music, RECOMMENDATIONS

Nest – Body Pilot


http://www.archive.org/details/ser013

Starting out as a netlabel, distributing free releases such as the original Nest EP, Serein took an unexpected sudden turn and resurfaced as a ‘standard’ label. 
“Re-Told”  – a remastered version (with additional tracks) of the original Nest EP – was their incredible “initial”release and immediately set themselves a difficult high standard.

Re-Told was immediately and widely recognised as a classic release and got sort of legendary status for all those that found it. (To modestly illustrate this: the short review from 2009 has been on top of the ‘most read’ ambientblog list ever since).

(Only) Three other releases have followed since this initial masterpiece – and then, finally, a new Nest release called“Body Pilot”  was announced.