Paul Sharma – Embers

Paul Sharma‘s Embers is a beautiful electronic composition based on the Indian midnight raga Malkauns, and thus is very suitable for midnight listening (The Raga Guide indicates Late Night: 12 – 3).

“Malkauns is a serious, meditative raga, and is developed mostly in the lower octave (mandra saptak) and in a slow tempo (vilambit laya).”
(Wikipedia)

On this version the vocals are more in the middle octave as that suits Rajesh’s voice, but there are instruments at the lower (and sub-lower) to compensate. The vocal piece starts with an alap (free or rhythmless tempo) and then a slow tempo vocal.

“It is a majestic and somewhat introverted pentatonic raga, which seems to have undergone quite a transformation over the centuries. Superstitious musicians describe it as a raga with supernatural powers, and some believe that it can attract evil spirits.”
(The Raga Guide)


Miserere (Mix)

First, let me give my best wishes for 2010 to all of you!!

What better way to start the new year than with a brand new mix ánd a brand new design (thanks Ingmar from Planet KL!)?

The design change is symbolic, in a way: after publishing a lot of mixes in 2009, all of wich were created for radio broadcast, it is now time to take a further step and start publishing new mixes.
“Miserere” is the first of these brand new mixes to be published. 

“Miserere” has taken its name from the concluding piece: Gregoria Allegri’s Miserere, as performed by the Tallis Scholars.

Charles Spearin – The Happiness Project


http://www.happiness-project.ca/about.php

It’s not ambient, and it’s only remotely electronic.
Still, when I discovered this album last week (it was released in march this year), it left me completely speechless and utterly fascinated.  
 
The Happiness Project is a concept created by Charles Spearin from Toronto, known by some for his contributions to Do Make Say Think and Broken Social Scene.

For this project he has been interviewing some of his neighbours in downtown Toronto, and used their recorded voice to create the musical track.
In these sample-laden times that in itself  does not sound very spectacular, but Spearin focussed on the melody of the voice and doubled it with a musical instrument fitting the voice. The pitch of the voice is never changed, but rhythmic and melodic patterns are created by repeating some of the phrases. Thus resulting in a sparkling and engaging kind of experimental jazz music.

Hibernate Sampler, Vol. 1

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.

Mark Tamea Mix

A special mix to conclude 2009.
This also is the last upload of the mixes that were created for radio. 
2010 will start off with new mixes exclusively created for this weblog.


tessellation cover

Like “Sounds of Spellborn” (published last week) this mix is different from most previous mixes, in that it does not include many different artists, but concentrates on the music of one single artist: Mark Tamea.

Tamea is a composer from England, currently living in Nijmegen (Holland).
His music is a fascinating combination of electronics, environmental sounds, musique concrête, acoustical and modern classical music.

When I hear the music he creates, I can imagine the wondrous feelings Alice must have had when exploring Wonderland: landscapes vaguely familiar yet alienating, a new surprise at every corner…

Favourite Places Vol. 2


Favourite Places

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 – Via Mala (The Remixes)


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“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.“

Machinefabriek – Ax / Still


http://www.machinefabriek.nu
 

‘The Hardest Working Man in Showbusiness’.
Usually this refers to Funk Godfather James Brown, but if anyone else deserves this credit it would be Rutger ‘Machinefabriek‘ Zuydervelt.

From 2004, he has been releasing a steady stream of music, most of them self-released (often on 3-inch CDR’s with handcrafted artwork). 

Though in itself his work is quite uncompromising, it did not stay unnoticed for long. Machinefabriek soon became one of Europe’s most important and acclaimed electronic artists.