Chris Watson – El Tren Fantasma

There is, has been and will always be, a lot of debate about what “ambient” music is. Whatever you think of that, the word definitely has ambience in it, so the music will probably have something to do with the atmosphere of your surroundings. 

Closely related, yet still an entirely different matter, are what we call Field Recordings, and/or Environmental Soundscapes. 
The first strive to record environmental sounds as closely as possible to its origin, the second add an emotional  dimension to that recordings by deliberately manipulating these recordings into a soundscape. Which, inevitably leads to the discussion about the moment when sound becomes music.

Chris Watson is one of the very few real masters of this area (which might be a lot more challenging than you’d suspect). He was one of the founding members of Sheffield’s Cabaret Voltaire and the Hafler Trio, and started another career as a television sound recording engineer in 1981. 
Recording and documenting natural sounds, he has also specialised in assembling these recordings to fascinating soundscapes.
Most of his memorable works have been released on the Touch label, that recently presented his latest masterpiece: “El Tren Fantasma” (The Ghost Train).
And after listening to this album for quite a few times, I can easily state that this is certainly one of the most impressive soundscapes available.

November Thoughts (Mix)

In the Northern Hemisphere, the November month is the month of Autumn: the month that summer is definitely over, when cold and darkness slowly creeps in. 
(In the Southern Hemisphere, November is a month of Spring – which means this mix will probably not fit your “November Thoughts” at all). 

(Northern) November can be rough and harsh, but it’s also very beautiful to watch nature prepare for winter and finding ourselves doing the same.
It is also a good month to think November Thoughts.


Leonardo Rosado – Mute Words

However deep and fascinating ‘classic’ (drone) ambient music may be, listening too much of the same kind can get a little eh… same-ish. The borders and boundaries need to be stretched in some ways, and that’s where the adventurous music tends to start.  Even though, by strict definition, this may or may not be called ‘ambient’ music at all (such as with a lot of the post-classical or improvised acoustic music lately). 

I don’t really know, but this may very well have been one of the reasons for Leonardo Rosado, also known as the curator of the Feedbackloop label (with its impressive catalogue of ambient/experimental music), to start a new label with a somewhat different concept: Heart and Soul.

Heart and Soul  will focus on combining poetry and music, and will release albums in physical formats only (so NO downloads!): a paperback book combined with the CD in this particular case.
Editions are “totally homemade” – but unlike many others not ‘strictly limited’, because they are made on demand. 

The very first release on this Feedbackloop sister label is Rosado’s own “Mute Words“

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!
 

Pleq, Spheruleus & Various – "A Silent Swaying Breath"

When they decided to work together on a charity fund-raising album “for those that has beenaffected by the recent unrest that ravaged cities across the country” (referring of course to the recent UK riots), Pleq (Bartosz Dziadosz) and Spheruleus (Harry Towell) chose a different approach.

Instead of asking fellow artists to contribute a complete track, they teamed up with SoundFjord (UK Sound Art Gallery), and started asking their (immense) network of ‘artists, musicians and the general public’ to contribute just a short (under one minute) sample for this project. 
Then they started working on these samples, creating this one hour album with twelve full length tracks.

Pavonine; Seconds Before Awakening; Le Berger; Language of Landscape; Sunlight Lineage

In the Shortlist sections, I will mention some of the albums that I enjoyed listening to, but couldn’t find the time (or the right words) for a “full” review for. Still, I think they deserve your attention: use the links to find more info and hear previews.

Pavonine

Pavonine – Night Falls with Silver in its Mouth
Opening with some Satie-esque classical piano chords, but soon the atmosphere changes to haunting, almost subconscious sounds.
“Most of the sounds in this album were made using recordings of things we hear in the night… heartbeat sounds in our ears, breaths in and out, the occasional bus driving by or distant siren.”, as Adrienne ‘Pavonine‘ Russell explains. “‘Night Falls with Silver in its Mouth’ is an album that is based on the auditory environment of night where the general ambient sounds of busy days drop away to silence; when the minute becomes amplified, and, though the cause may be hidden in the dark, the fact that something is there cannot be denied.”  Free download from Treetrunk netlabel.

Seconds Before Awakening

Seconds Before Awakening – Eight
“Do not listen while driving or operating heavy machinery”, Mike Waller (Seconds Before Awakening) advises. And that’s a good advice, because this free download offers 60 minutes of deep listening soundscapes that may induce a state of half-sleep. Immersively beautiful and, at some moments, almost uncomfortably dark.

Gareth Davis, Jan and Romke Kleefstra – Tongerswel


Tongerswel

When I reviewed the very first Piiptsjilling release way back in 2008, I wrote it deserved “to be heard in and outside of Friesland (or Holland, for that matter)”. In no way I could have imagined that the combination of Frisian poetry and dreamy improvisational soundscapes would gain international recognision to this extent. 

It’s quite a remarkable feat for “local” music like this to be featured in the October Wire issue on a single advertising page, combining three respectable labels (Home Normal, Experimedia, and Hibernate) promoting different albums by the Kleefstra brothers: Deislieper, Wurdskrieme and Tongerswel, respectively!



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.”