A nice present from the Hibernate Recordings label to help you through the dark winter days: The Hibernate Sampler, volume 1 sampler collection.
Hibernate Recordings is a new independent label, focussing on ambient and electro-acoustic music. And, judging by the artists released in their first half year of exisence and by the works on this sampler, I guess their name will be mentioned on this weblog on a regular basis.
Since its original release in 2007, ‘Favourite Places‘ has been one of my ...favourite soundscape albums.
It presented music inspired by favourite locations of well known artists (like Biosphere, Taylor Deupree) as well as equally beautiful compositions by lesser known (to me) names.
The concept is as simple as it is challenging: ask composers to describe their favourite place – in sound.
This place must be exactly pinpointed with location details, so it should not be an imaginary place.
“Mathon” is a project (named after the same titled location in the Swiss Alps) where for one week a mobile studio is installed high up in the swiss mountains, ands guests are invited to join the Mathon core musicians (Thomas Augustiny, Roger Stucki and Pete Leuenberger) and to create music inspired by the beautiful landscape surrounding them.
The recent project called ‘Via Mala’, refers to “a trail along the Hinterrhein in Graubuenden. A canyon with cliffs carved by its torrents, falling threehundred meters into the depth. It seems as if the mountain is broken in two. Enormous floads of meltingwater, the consistent gnawing of the river created during centuries a natural spectacle of unique beauty.“
Helios is in fact Keith Kenniff, who is also releasing as Goldmund. Most of his releases were issued through Type records, but there are also a couple of titles available directly from the artist himself.
And these prove to be as interesting as the official releases.
Earlier this weekend, the Belgian label Slaapwel (Sleep Well) presented their first labelnight in Leuven, Belgium.
To my regret, I was not able to be there – although I’m a big fan of Slaapwel’s sleep inducing catalogue.
And, looking at the venue for this special night (including breakfast) it must have been very special indeed:
read post"Peter Broderick – Music for a Sleeping Sculpture…"
The Serein netlabel was founded in 2005 and released quite an impressing batch of quality ambient and electronic music. In 2007, Serein released it’s ‘flagship title’: the Nest EP.
Nest is the collaborative project of Otto Totland (Deaf Center; Type Records) and Huw Roberts (Serein Label owner).
The beauty of their music was quickly recognised, the blogosphere caught on and the EP was features in a lot of favourites-lists that year.
Then, early 2009, the Serein site closed down.
These artist names are probably familiar to everyone even remotely interested in ambient/electronic music.
Multi-instrumentalist Peter Broderick (from Oregon, now living in Berlin) released quite a few impressive albums under his own name, and is currently touring as a member of Efterklang.
The number of albums Rutger “Machinefabriek” Zuydervelt (from Arnhem, now living in Rotterdam) has released can hardly be counted any more (quite some of them are featured on this weblog).
So when two such great artists start working together expectations are quite high!
The brand new Fluid Audio label kicks off with a promising start: a compilation album donating 50% of its profits to charity. (Toybox Charity foundation, supporting latin america’s street children).
One may wonder how much funds this may raise in times where ambient musicians hardly make enough money to break even on any physical CD release.
Just realising the fact that the ‘average Guatemalan street kid’ has an average life expectancy of four years should make you buy this album.
But the music included proves to be rewarding too – raising expectations fairly high for future releases on this label.
This could have been one of the shortest reviews of this weblog: I simply could state that this music induced some of the deepest sleeps I experienced when listening to ambient music. And please don’t doubt that that is meant as a true compliment!
Even the found environmental sounds included in the tracks could not disturb the peaceful quiet and the balanced harmonies of this music. And most of the real-time environmental sounds merging in from outside can’t either.
This fact alone makes this album one of the most impressive I heard this year.
