∅JERUM – LANGT FRA JORDEN
The IIkki series – combining the work of a photographer with that of a musician – continues with edition #26: the result of a dialogue between Spanish photographer Irene Zottola and Danish musician øjeRum (Paw Grabowski).
The book – titled Lejos De La Tierra (Away From The Earth) – is available as a limited (100) hardcover edition, which will not be reprinted in the future. Zottola’s photography ‘explores the limits of analog photography to generate a world of dreamlike and poetic character’. The IIkki webpage shows examples taken from this book, as does Zottola’s website.
The book includes a digital download of the accompanying music, which is also available separately as a download or on CD or vinyl. The musical album also has its title in the language of its artist: in this case Langt Fra Jorden (which has the same meaning). Here, øjeRum presents music with a mysterious atmosphere: earthly for its use of acoustic instruments, and at the same time soaring in the way these sounds are embedded in an almost palpable environment.
As usual, the best way to experience the IIkki releases is to enjoy the book and the music, together, but both are beautiful on their own as well
THIERRY DAVID – SIX WAVES
Even if he has released almost 30 albums since 1987, and is named ‘one of the most noted composers of New Age / Ambient / Electronic Music today’, I must confess that this is the first time I heard music by French composer Thierry David.
No idea why… maybe because it was marketed under New Age – which I usually avoid because most of that is shallow formulaic music to be played in wellness centers. But that’s a risky prejudice, as is proven here. But I personally would not call this music ‘New Age’, I guess ‘Ambient’, of the ‘Pop Ambient’ kind, is a better fitting description.
Thierry David has a long history of creating music. Jazz, classical, South American music, and Peruvian music (he has lived there for quite some time). He also studied at the Berklee College of Music. In 1986 he founded his own label K-Vox.
This is how he describes his music: “I strive to create an imaginary universe where ambient sounds merge with rhythmic patterns and where harmonic sequences weave with pulsating melodies allowing the listener to plunge into a personal intimate atmosphere conducive to meditation, peace and serenity.”
This is also a fitting description of the music on Six Waves: quiet, calm, and atmospheric, yet also demanding some attention by adding relaxed grooves – ‘based on sonic reverberated sculptures’