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E67: Walking in a Spiral Towards the Open Window

· Mixes, Sound ·

 

Episode 67 transmits two parts aligned on a single purpose: emphasizing soft sounds of a late winter, 2019. The first collects a few weeks off-the-air into an hour of miscellaneous modes and moods. The second arrives from the bunker of Chicago-based private press record label and book publisher Patient Sounds (intl), who’ve been as deep in their work as ever, putting forth a consistent series of timely projects and releases, many of which are previewed in their set.

In the opening freeform portion, of particulate note is the tender folk of Montreal’s Jean-Sebastian Audet, formerly Un Blonde, now Yves Jarvis, once tuned to morning yellow, presently true to midnight blue for his ANTI- Records debut The Same But By Different Means. That LP was released last Friday, as was the hypnotic first album from Irish musician Maria Somerville.


Detroit sleeper Swartz et, last heard on one of our favorite albums of 2014, returned with A Living Thing, a visceral modular synth work limited to 30 ruby red cassettes. Out this week in a screen-printed jacket via RVNG Intl. is the 6th record from our friend and newly titled United States Artists Fellow in Music Roberto Carlos Lange aka Helado Negro. He presents the piece in focus:

“‘Running’ is a poem. In it, I’ve buried sentiments and personal histories. Most of it is just for me and some for you. The song started as a voice memo recording I made while on a trip to Mexico City in 2016. I was waiting outside of a restaurant to eat dinner, and I was feeling awkward and anxious, so I decided to be still and listen to everything around me and come up with a melody to sing into my phone.”


Under the moniker Nivhek, Liz Harris (aka Grouper) recently surprise-released a slow spiraling stunner, recorded during and after residencies in Portugal and Russia. At the end of that walk is a just a glimmer from Light in The Attic’s essential new archival compilation Kankyō Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980​-​1990.


Onto Patient Sounds’ hour, which Vamps in near-silence, courtesy of Will Long aka Celer, a minimal meditation on repeated acoustic piano phrases recorded to tape. After those scrambles an improvised jaunt from Francesco Covarino (percussion) and Matthew Sage (guitar and keyboards), from their recent collaborative CD. A curve in the set saunters past the entire A-side of a plunderphonic honky tonk beat tape from Regarding the Music of Others’ latest, Shank Trilliams. Waves of dense electronic atmosphere follow from A Crushed Rose (aka Apollo Vermouth’s Alisa Rodriguez) as well as two other tracks from Sage via his 2015 pseudonym Free Dust and a motif he composed for Patient Sounds’ annual Open Window listening period.



Hour One
Montedoro – Riflessi acquatici, Pt. 1
ssurfacing – i thought it was enough
Yves Jarvis – To Say That is Easy
Dave Harrington Group – Dreams Field
Maria Somerville – Brighter Days
Ogeon – Botos
Swartz et – A Living Thing
Helado Negro – Running
Teen Daze – Endless Light
Arrangement – Coconut Mango
Julian Lynch – Floater
Arp – Love Theme (Epilogue)
Natsukashii – Dunes
Nivhek – Walking in a spiral towards the house
Masahiro Sugaya – Umi No Sunatsubu
Mary Lattimore – Never Saw Him Again (Julianna Barwick Remix)

Hour Two: Patient Sounds (intl)
Celer – Vamps Side A excerpt
Francesco Covarino & Matthew Sage – A Knocked Urn
Regarding the Music of Others – Shank Trilliams – Side A
A Crushed Rose – Ocean Itself
Free Dust – Cruiser Lights
M. Sage – Open Window 2019 motif

S&S Radio broadcasts every now and then on Newtown Radio.

S&S’ Albums of 2012

· Notables, Sound · Tagged With:
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Into deep breaths of yours and mine and ours, the warmth no longer so far off. Dark, blank nothing. Shifting; in and out. A satisfying stretch, rapid eyes, but night passes quickly: cut short by the sun which had angled itself down through the thatch roof, slowly consuming every inch of our beach shelter with its smile. Awake and outside, looping between palm shade and sand castle confusion. Air hangs thick, draped in honey, and the path to town now boasted a few extra bends, seeming steeper, dripping further back; an exotic quicksand. Once again, the island is not what it was the day before; characteristics crossed, perceptions lost, overrun in summer smoke—a peculiar place, this mirage.

The center of town aims to please at every golden hour. First comes the village goofball, stinking of gin, singing an ode to his favorite cigarette; playfully underplaying a certain out-of-tune brilliance. The lovable, accidental pied piper ushers his crowd to a nearby saloon, before disappearing through some back exit, alone. Meanwhile, in front, the spell of a band in perfect symmetry takes orbit. Her voice resting on an irresistible chord, surrounded by the rings of Saturn, she sings of love’s magic.

Detoured by a different rhythm; a dream beat pulses from an alleyway, a dub tunnel, it manifests, framing a new darkness which snuck stealthily amidst the afternoon scene. Across the threshold, a goddess emerges, radiant, robotic; she pours three cups of tea. Each word she utters has a way of illustrating the air. Alas, such beauty will strain all eyes in time, and within a few rounds of phrasing, the letters vaporize, as does the goddess. My memories fade, she reminds, as a midnight waltz spins us to sleep and into the Land of Phantoms, where we all speak Japanese and the many accents of smooth jazz funk.

Good night, say ghosts. Good morning, says snow. It’s all over, they echo. It is, however, beyond definition, and the icy branches, in what had revealed itself—a boreal forest enchanted—shimmer strangely as if yet again, this island had shifted its position in the universe. Faces crystallize in white flakes, in and out of sentience, true and false, blinking and grinning, guiding over the transformant terrain—mountains descending into foothills, into wide open prairie. There sinks the stable, the aging edifice. Its wooden floor already formed to the earth, while serene in nature, yearning eerily for the motion that ultimately comes. Backwards, from the heavens, sweeps a mighty wrecking ball. It passes directly through the heart of the property, and onward, into the ground, splitting the world, a magnificent gap. With it we fall, spiraling down towards splendor unknown.

That evening the sun rose rather than set: it curved straight onto itself as we floated out on the reverse currents of this parallel side, our backs in the warmth, the island eclipsing off in the distance, the dreams having said, viewed, created, and their shadows, lead.

_______

15. Swartz et – Respire [Cognito Percepti]
14. Heathered Pearls – Loyal [Ghostly International]
13. Monster Rally – Beyond The Sea [Gold Robot]
12. Cemeteries – The Wilderness [Lefse]
11. Mac DeMarco – 2 [Captured Tracks]
10. TOPS – Tender Opposites [Arbutus]
09. Peaking Lights – Lucifer [Weird World]
08. Julia Holter – Ekstasis [RVNG Intl.]
07. Shintaro Sakamoto – How to Live with a Phantom [Other Music]
06. You’ll Never Get to Heaven – You’ll Never Get to Heaven [Divorce]
05. Hundred Waters – Hundred Waters [OWSLA]
04. OMBRE – Believe You Me [Asthmatic Kitty]
03. M. Sage – Lux Collapsing [Patient Sounds]
02. Tame Impala – Lonerism [Modular]
01. Dustin Wong – Dreams Say, View, Create, Shadow Leads [Thrill Jockey]

The albums can be streamed at this Spotify playlist.

With real love, we thank you for spending some time with us, and for making this a wonderful year.

Respire

· Audio · Tagged With: ,

At some point, the ocean’s breath and his own had to arrive at an understanding. Syncing up was a necessity of survival for one, and perhaps just a simple yet merciful shift of pace for the other. The air knew this all along, and patiently waited, as if paused, while a crest rose and a rhythm answered. In, and out.

Respire is the latest work from Steve Swartz aka Swartz et, a Detroit-based musician and composer who in 2010 faithfully rendered the currents of Nighttide through radiant drone, and last year paid sensory tribute to his hometown in our own Slow Motion. Here, over five spacious arrangements, Steve conducts a sonic research of sorts, as he put it, “exploring the power and intimacy found in deep connections between people.” The project’s focal point is breathing; each track was built from the recordings of Steve and a few friends sitting silently in a room, “just being”. His guitar and piano seemed to follow suit, reaching a tranquil synthesis on “Yours Mine Ours”, before gradually, and willfully, becoming engulfed by the sea. It’s a distinctly meditative flow, and S&S is feeling quite centered in hosting it today:

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The record is out May 14th via Cognito Percepti.

[the image above is derived from a Delaney Allen photograph]

Slow Motion: A Visual Mixtape

· Mixes · Tagged With:

The idea initially was to recruit a few meditative sounds and sequence them into auditory motion. Then it swelled into eleven videos, taking that notion of motion more literally. We (Tyler of Flashlight tag and S&S) saw an opportunity here not only to showcase some of our favorite musicians, but to highlight a growing number of talented visual artists; specifically those in the Vimeo community crafting outside traditional music video means. To our humble delight, each of the selected visionaries accepted the invitation as well as their assigned song (playing matchmaker was quite fun). The downloadable portion lives at Flashlight Tag, a limited run of 20 cassettes is being made possible by Orchid Tapes, and the video playlist follows all credits (link exploration encouraged), below.

01. Ricky Eat Acid – “Strawberries” (envisioned by BriAnna Olson)
02. Phantom Power – “I Don’t Get You” (envisioned by LAND O’ GOSHEN)
03. KYNAN – “Get Lost” (envisioned by The Tearist)
04. Cemeteries – “Home” (envisioned by Stephanie Cafarella)
05. Monster Rally – “Color Sky” (envisioned by Nathaniel Whitcomb)
06. It is rain in my face – “Fell Around” (envisioned by Wooden Lens)
07. Lizard Kisses – “Waywards” (envisioned by Dino Rossi)
08. Ra Cailum – “Asbel” (envisioned by Panaframe)
09. RxRy – “Strm Conjurr” (envisioned by RxRy)
10. Swartz – “Prayer for My City” (envisioned by Swartz)
11. Foxes in Fiction – “School Night” (envisioned by Jamie Harley)

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