Black Elk – Sketches I -V

With core members Ian Hawgood (electronics), Danny Norbury(cello), Clem Leek (piano), and Tim Martin (Maps and Diagrams, electronics), Black Elk could be regarded as a post-classical/ambient “Supergroup”.

In 2012, their first album“Sparks“ was released, a beautiful collection of atmospheric tracks in various styles.

For their recent Japan tour (december 2013) a collection of “Sketches” was assembled on five different (CDR) albums, containing outtakes, unfinished tracks, live performances and … sketches!

Simon Fisher Turner – The Epic of Everest

“The Epic of Everest” is a classic documentary (from 1924!) about George Mallory and Sandy Irvine’s attempt that year to climb the Mount Everest. The fateful expedition was filmed by Captain John Noel in the harshest conditions:
“The pair were last seen when they were about 800 vertical feet (245m) from the summit. Mallory’s ultimate fate was unknown for 75 years, until his body was discovered on 1 May 1999 by an expedition that had set out to search for the climbers’ remains. Whether Mallory and Irvine reached the summit before they died remains a subject of speculation and continuing research.”
The film is also among the earliest filmed records of life in Tibet.

For the BFI restoration of this move, a completely new score was composed by Simon Fisher Turner.
And this score turns out to be an impressive sonic document by itself!

Guy Birkin – Tintinnabuli Mathematica Vol. I

Whenever I listen to music by Arvo Pärt, I can experience a lot of different things. But one of the last things that comes to my mind is a mathematical analysis of the Tintinnabuli (Bell- ) compositional style Pärt often uses – a quiet, minimalist, and often meditative style that (quote from the Wikipedia Page): “is characterized by two types of voices, the first of which (dubbed the “tintinnabular voice”) arpeggiates the tonic triad, and the second of which moves diatonically in stepwise motion.”

For “Tintinnabuli Mathematica, Vol. I“, Guy Birkin has programmed algorithms to create generative music (random and thus relatively unpredictable music created following a pre-defined set of choices and rules) based on the Tintinnabuli style.

Janek Schaefer – Lay-by Lullaby

There is something special with the sound of passing cars, especially when recorded at night. They always bring a feeling of loneliness, of things passing by and leaving you behind. They make you think of where to go…

For “Lay-By Lullaby“, his latest album recently released on 12k, Janek Schaefer recorded the sound of cars passing by on the M3 Motorway (“Right at the end of the road where J.G. Ballard lived”)

Steve Roach + Kelly David; Orphax; Russell Harmon + Gavin Miller, Porya Hatami, Mathieu Lamontagne + Emmanuel Toledo

STEVE ROACH + KELLY DAVID – THE LONG NIGHT
With his impressive back-catalogue spanning over 30 years, Steve Roach may very well be counted as one of the Grandfathers of classic ambient music.
He has always remained true to his personal style: his deep soundscapes has become an example for many other artists.

Machinefabriek – Halfslaap II – Stiltetonen

I wonder if, looking back a few years from now, “Halfslaap II / Stiltetonen” may prove to be a turning point in Machinefabriek‘s discography – a cautious transition from ‘improvised knob-twiddling’ (his own words, not mine) to composed music played by musicians….
Listening to this version of “Halfslaap II”, it’s interesting to know that Rutger Zuydervelt is currently working on a transcription for a String Quartet version of this piece.
But that is a thing to happen in the (near) future – thís particular recording is a score for solo violin loops (played by Anne Bakker) and electronics.

More Piano!!

A seemingly random collection of albums with the piano as the main instrument…

OTTO A. TOTLAND – PINÔ
Half of Deaf Center. Also half of Nest. More introduction to the intricate piano sounds of Otto A. Totland should hardly be needed.
“Pinô” is his first full featured solo-album, packed in a beautiful gold-embossed hardcover sleeve that perfectly matches the music it contains: atmospheric, calm, intimate.

The music was recorded in Nils Frahm’s (Durton) studio on a squeaky piano with a soft, velvety sound. The intimacy is enhanced by bringing the environmental sounds up front in the recording.

Origamibiro – Odham’s Standard + Collection

Since it was founded in 2005, the Denovali label has grown into one of the most important European independent labels, exploring different (mostly experimental) genres.
Apart from releasing new music, they also have a fine taste in finding albums worth re-releasing. Often, the re-releases are paired to the release of a new album by the same artist.

In the case of Origamibiro (an audio-visual collective consisting of Tom Hill, Andy Tytherleigh and visual artist Jim Boxall aka The Joy of Box), the new album “Odham’s Standard” is accompanied by the release of a 3CD/4LP package called“Collection“, presenting their previous albums “Cracked Mirrors and Stopped Clocks“ (2007), “Shakkei“ (2011), and “Shakkei Remixed“ (2012).