Headphone Commute: Recent Episodes
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America has spoken. Congratulations. Well-deserved. I guess it’s time for dark music as we slowly recede into the night. Winter is coming. This one will last four years. But I am well-prepared. I’ve got enough great music to sustain the cold. To be honest, I could almost use another lockdown. This time, I’ve got AI to talk to. Perhaps I can get it to turn my words on music into a spectra of light.
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Label: Disciples Released: October 18, 2024 Bogdan Raczynski is a Polish-American electronic musician revolving around that eclectic UK-centric Rephlex scene, credited for the evolution of IDM, drill’n’bass, and “braindance” that brought us the likes of µ-Ziq, Squarepusher, Bochum Welt, Cylob, and of course, that barely known troubadour AFX. In fact, Richard D. James cited Raczynski as an...
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Label: Dragon’s Eye Recordings Release: Sen no Tsudoi Date: November 15th Mastered By: NAKAMURA Hiroyuki Bandcamp Los Angeles-based label Dragon’s Eye Recordings continues to delight with an exquisite curation of sounds ranging from minimal to experimental and ambient music. Its impressive output spans not only music genres but also geographical locations and media, as is evident with this...
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Label: Moderna Release: Signs from Outer Space Date: November 15th, 2024 Mastered By: Martyn Heyne at Lichte Studio Artwork By: Leonard Gabler Bandcamp Recently, I’ve been going through my older posts, circa 2009 or so, re-reading my thoughts on the music of yesteryear. It is slightly self-indulgent, I’ll admit, but this _is_ indeed a blog of mine, and this was its purpose all along—to capture a...
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Sometimes, I stumble upon surprisingly impressive and new [to me] artists. I don’t know how I find them. Perhaps it’s semi-random, perhaps it’s meant to be. In this case, I think I was roaming through dark alleys of atmospheric ambience and fell upon an electronic musician recording under the Alphaxone moniker. At first, I thought this was someone else already known creating a side project under a...
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I’ve been thinking and working with a lot of AI lately. I’ve even been coding with it. That doesn’t include content generation for Headphone Commute, of course. It never will. The more I work with it, the more I am comfortable with it becoming yet another tool to optimise some of my repetitive tasks. But also, it seems to make me want to be more human. That means that now, more than ever...
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Label: Hammock Music Label Released: October 25, 2024 Mastered By: Emre Ramazanoglu Artwork By: Zach McNair See Also: Interview with Hammock If You Like: Explosions in the Sky, Sigur Rós, This Will Destroy You, and Stars of the Lid I’ve been listening to and writing about Hammock since I started Headphone Commute in 2008. There have been many albums and EPs ever since, and their latest...
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How many records would you say are in your collection? Discogs says 4,837, which doesn’t include a few blocks of my label’s backstock, a bunch of spoken word/ sound effects, records I didn’t add to my collection, and stuff I need to get rid of. Do you consider yourself a ‘collector’? That’s a nice word for it. Let’s go with that. What is your playback setup like? I have had a basic studio setup...
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Label: Past Inside the Present Release: Ghost Date: October 31st, 2024 Bandcamp There is something special about that dark and nostalgic music that seems to be echoing from the past, as if breaking through another dimension of time, trembling through the gritty playback on a warped and dusty tape, fading in and out on a crumbling old photograph, shades of colours long gone… long gone.
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Celebrating Headphone Commute’s many years of content, I am highlighting albums that I covered 15, 10, and 5 years ago. I do this by going back through my archives and selecting a favourite for the current month. But I’m not just copying and pasting the words here; I’m also refreshing these write-ups a bit to bring them up to date, and, of course, I’m listening to all this music! And so should you!
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Label: Azure Vista Release: Mirror Phase Date: October 25th, 2024 Mastered By: Jonas Munk Bandcamp Jonas Munk is a Danish composer known for his atmospheric, ambient soundscapes, released under his real name, as well as the celebrated Manual project, which I’ve been following from the early 2000s via Make Mine Music, Darla, and Morr. Most of his solo works (and collaborations with Ulrich Schnauss)...
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Label: InFiné Release: Eno Piano 2 Date: October 25th, 2024 See also: In the studio with Bruce Brubaker Bandcamp In 2015, American pianist Bruce Brubaker released an album titled Glass Piano—a collection of solo piano interpretations of works by the renowned contemporary classical composer Philip Glass. In the Autumn of last year (2023), he followed up with a companion album covering a selection...
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I admit I may be stuck in the past, playing old records and reminiscing on the good old times when life felt somehow simpler and the world less insane (but was it, really?). It’s also possible that ambient music from fifteen and twenty years ago just aged really well. There is no particular element in any of the albums I’m covering in this ⟪ REW | FF ⟫ column that will make you think, “Ah...
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Label: Affin Release: Retrace Date: October 4th, 2024 Mastered By: Artefacts Mastering Artwork By: Markus Guentner Bandcamp This morning, I am spending time with Joachim Spieth, who is releasing his new album, Retrace, tomorrow, October 4th, via his own Affin imprint. Spieth’s particular flavour of ambient dub should be familiar to those following the annual Pop Ambient series curated by Wolfgang...
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Label: InFiné Release: Twin Color (vol. I) Date: November 15th, 2024 Mastered By: Lorenzo Targhetta Bandcamp There are some projects, albums, and tracks that I just can’t wait to share with you. It is especially true for those long in the making, from my favourite artists, teased years before. Such is the case with the latest release by Fernando Corona, whose music as Murcof I have followed since...
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Label: Reflections Release: Joy Paradox Date: October 21st, 2024 cephasazariah.co.uk Cephas Azariah is an Indian-born UK-based composer who will release his debut album, Joy Paradox, on the Reflections imprint. Both the artist and the label are new to my ears, so I’m happy to open up these doors and explore a bit outside of my self-curated echo chamber. Although this appears to be Azariah’s first...
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Welcome back to your Sunday edition of OUT TODAY, where I quickly scan through new music that graced my rotations. I want to kick off this entry with a fantastic 100-track sampler from List Tribe Sound, which features many of my favourite artists (and albums) from this US label, which you can grab for only $1 on Bandcamp. Can’t go wrong with this one, folks – you’ll be busy here for many hours.
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A few years ago, English electronic musician Jon Hopkins seemed to step away from his staple glitchy-house dance-floor-oriented bangers [which I absolutely adore, by the way – read my words on Immunity and Singularity] and recede deeper, not just into his quiet listening quarters, but into a place where meditation and higher consciousness conflate. I’ve been a [virtual] student of Ram Dass for...
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Label: Decca Released: September 6th, 2024 Mastered By: Cicely Balston It’s been some time since I properly covered one of my all-time favourite composers. Not that I haven’t been listening. Max Richter‘s monumental SLEEP (2015) often shows up on my rotations, including some of its glorious many offshoots, like Sleep (Remixes) and Sleep (Piano Version), not to forget last year’s SLEEP (Tranquility...
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Welcome back to your Sunday edition of OUT TODAY, where I quickly scan through new music that graced my rotations. I am sure that this crazy world hasn’t noticed, but I wanted to acknowledge my slightly stepping away from the noise of social media and retreating into my studio and writing chambers, where only good music matters. If you get this announcement via the newsletter, you are one of the...
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Good morning to all of my avid followers and readers. I rarely break the fourth wall and pop out from my regularly scheduled programming to address you directly, but I wanted to thank you for bearing with me while the site’s platform has been undergoing some upgrades this summer. On the surface, there’s nothing to notice, but behind the scenes, we’ve remedied more than a few infrastructure-related...
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Label: The Leaf Label Release: The Abyss Date: September 20th, 2024 Mastered By: Aasthma at Isle Audio Artwork By: Chris Shonting malcolmpardon.com It makes sense to kick off this TRACK PREMIERE with a quick [re-]introduction to Malcolm Pardon, who, although appeared on these pages as a solo artist with his debut album Hello Death (The New Black, 2021), may be more familiar to you as one half of...
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Label: Beacon Sound Release: Fraction of Centuries Date: September 6th, 2024 Artwork By: Studio Bernhardt Bandcamp Today, we’re back with a track by Tristan Eckerson, who records under his Purple Decades moniker for the Portland-based Beacon Sound imprint. This piece is taken from his second album, Fraction of Centuries, where Eckerson continues experimenting with new textures...
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Let’s start at the very beginning. Can you tell us how you got involved in composing, and what was your very first piece of gear? Things are purely circumstantial in our life. Countless conditions and events have been necessary for me to express the music the way I do today. For instance, there was always music playing in the house when I was a baby. My parents used to play music from Vangelis...
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Welcome to your Sunday edition of OUT TODAY, where I quickly scan through new music that has graced my rotations. It’s been a little over a month since my last update. Let’s see what we have missed along the way. I can’t possibly cover it all, so I’ve purposely limited this instalment to about a dozen releases. I may have to return here with a dozen more again. But this should keep you busy for a...
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Good morning, and happy Saturday! I wanted to reach out to all my loyal subscribers and followers and give you a quick update on the site. I’ve been a bit quiet this summer and took time off to invest in the infrastructure of this platform, upgrading it to the latest and greatest, which, although it should not be noticeable from the usability perspective, can keep it running smoothly for the years...
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Label: Miasmah Release: The Last Sunset Of The Year Date: September 20, 2024 Mastered By: Lupo Artwork By: Dan Durso miasmah.bandcamp.com | anost.net For all the reasons that you should already know, and if not, then for the ones that will become apparent shortly, these words are extremely difficult for me to write. So, let’s get the challenging part out of the way now. Marcus Fjellström was a...
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Editor’s Note: mi-so (mi-so-store.com) is a Berlin-based (Schöneberg) record shop housing two of my favourite labels: Miasmah and Sonic Pieces. I have visited the store on a few occasions and was impressed with the overall aesthetics, as well as the meticulous curation of the music, displayed art, and in-store concerts. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised since it’s run by Monique Recknagel (MR)...
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Label: InFiné Release: Collection Date: September 13th, 2024 Mastered By: Rashad Becker Pre-Save I’m back from my summer vacation, folks! Did you miss me? I spent about a week on a beach [in Italy] doing absolutely nothing. I don’t think I even listened to music much [okay, I think there was some early 2000 trance – In Search Of Sunrise]. And now it’s time to buckle up and catch up to new music as...
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Label: Matreya Release: A Bed Of Waves Date: August 2nd, 2024 Artwork By: Fulmar Illustration mattemerymusic.com It’s an early Tuesday morning, and I’m wrapping up the final deeds before I set off on my long-awaited [beach] vacation. I think it’s only appropriate that I close off this season with a track premiere from a London-based composer, a host of Contemplative Podcast, which I feature on...
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Welcome to your Sunday edition of OUT TODAY, where I quickly scan through new music that has graced my rotations. As usual, there are plenty of fantastic releases here, and I only lack time to pay proper attention to them. So don’t let that dismay you – you know the drill. Hats off to Past Inside The Present, Glacial Movements, Sound In Silence, and Quiet Details to keep the music scene going…
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eleven tracks of pure and lighthearted bliss, ideal to lift your spirits and quench the thirst mind…” Label: Erased Tapes Date: July 5th, 2024 Mastered By: Zino Mikorey Lacquer Cut By: Andreas Kauffelt Artwork By: Studio Torsten Posselt Bandcamp Tidal Spotify kiasmos.is “ When Kiasmos started out in the late 2000s, little did they know that their part-time supergroup would go stratospheric.
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Label: LEITER Release: vision of contentment Date: July 19th, 2024 Mastered By: Zino Mikorey Mixed By: Nils Frahm Artwork By: Alex Coma Pre-order and Save I want to open up this track premiere with a quick acknowledgement of the platform behind it. LEITER is a Berlin-based production company and a label founded by the composer and pianist Nils Frahm and his manager Felix Grimm.
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I wanted to kick off today’s SOUND BYTES column by revisiting Moderna Records, a Canadian label which continues to meticulously curate its platform in releasing some of the best of contemporary classical music with a crossover to ambient and cinematic sound. If I haven’t covered every single release, then at least I have listened to it all, and I can highly recommend its quality catalogue.
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Download Mixcloud Podcast iTunes dustinohalloran.com With all of my regular hectic programming, I completely forgot to invite other artists and create a mix for the HC Podcast! This is immediately rectified with this wonderful Blue Summer Mixtape by the one and only Dustin O’Halloran. Oh, and if you’re just jumping on board this long-running series and want to catch up, there are a total of 330...
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Let’s start at the very beginning. Can you tell us how you got involved in composing, and what was your very first piece of gear? I started to play the piano and violin when I was six. When I was in high school, I sang in the church choir, and played in the orchestra. But I found joy when I started playing in a band, especially trying to write silly tunes with mates. I was studying psychology back...
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I’ve been sitting on some gorgeous music for a while, and it’s finally time to share it with you. There are plenty of goodies in here, and if you look back, a year ago, I recommended Arovane‘s Seismograf; two years ago, there was Taylore Deupree‘s Small Winters; and three years ago, Viktor Orri Árnason‘s Eilífur. There’s no connection between these albums except for the ever-passing time.
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Label: NOTON Release: HYbr:ID III Date: July 7th, 2024 Mastered By: Bo @ Calyx Artwork By: Carsten Nicolai / Nibo NOTON shop What can I say about Carsten Nicolai that I have not said before? It feels that only just the other day, I revisited his catalogue and sang high praises for his album HYbr:ID II, which I then highlighted in my Best of 2023 list, Music For Synergizing The Synapse Of Ideas.
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an even keel of a floating buoy in the stormy weather of my mind…” Label: A Strangely Isolated Place Date: June 20th, 2024 Mastered By: Hollis Nolan Artwork By: Noah M Bandcamp Tidal Spotify Amazon Swedish Ludvig Cimbrelius returns to Ryan Griffin’s A Strangely Isolated Place for his third full-length album for the label. His 2021 release, Iridescence Of Clouds, immediately grabbed my limited...
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Let’s start at the very beginning. Can you tell us how you got involved in composing, and what was your very first piece of gear? In the beginning, I did not expect to become a composer or pianist. Although I had learned playing the classical piano when I was three years old, it was not interesting for me then. My first interest in music was film music when I was around ten years old.
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It’s been a while since I’ve spent some time with Aidan Baker. Okay, I did mention this release in my OUT TODAY column when it came out this spring. But I think it’s time for a revisit. Baker, of course, is extremely prolific, so you will forgive me if I just can’t keep up. In 2023, I think he put out about a dozen records – there was an entire Trio Not Trio project on Gizeh Records where this...
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Label: light-years Release: In uno spazio immenso Date: June 21st, 2024 Pre-order Italian producer and master synthesist Guido Zen has mesmerised my mind with his incredibly rich tapestry of sound since he appeared on the scene as Abul Mogard. I’m pretty sure I’ve covered all of his releases here. He’s got a particular sonic aesthetic that I tried at replicating in my own compositions – something...
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Can you tell us how you got involved in composing, and what was your very first piece of gear? I got into music and composition as I wanted to recreate the emotions I was feeling and experiencing while I was reading books or watching certain movies. I was into punk and metal, pretty much like every teenager of my generation, and I was playing in a couple of bands, but I got quickly bored as I...
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Zach Frizzell is quickly becoming one of those prolific musicians who is very difficult to write about. Why? First of all, I seem to fall in love with everything he’s part of. And that’s already a lot. How can I keep up, let alone write about his ever-growing catalogue of music? I think there were ten albums in 2023, which included collaborations with City of Dawn, Tyresta...
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Label: Fernweh Records Date: June 14th, 2024 Mastered By: Martyn Heyne Artwork By: Sabatina Leccia onurtarcin.com | Bandcamp I often wonder if things are getting worse or if it’s just about perspective. The knowledge of the past is colouring the feelings of the present. Hasn’t this world been always just a little bit insane? Aren’t some people dancing right now as others go to sleep in tears? Don’...
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Label: I N N I Released: May 24th, 2024 Mastered By: Sin Fang Animation By: Sofia Nystrand Bandcamp Tidal Spotify jakoblindhagen.com On May 24th, Jakob Lindhagen, whom I previously praised on these pages as a solo piano composer as well as a collaborator with Dag Rosenqvist, released his latest 6-track genre-spanning EP, titled Stages of Change, for the remarkable Icelandic I N N I imprint.
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Today, I am happy to share with you a new piece of music that will serve as the opening to the upcoming mini-album that I will self-release later this summer. To be honest, with all these written words for many years, talking about all this gorgeous music by many of my favourite composers, I’m actually pretty shit at self-promoting myself. This is why I usually leave this “job” to the many...
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Celebrating Headphone Commute’s many years of content, I am highlighting albums that I covered 20, 15, 10, and 5 years ago. I do this by going back through my archives and selecting a favourite for the current month. But I’m not just copying and pasting the words here; I’m also refreshing these write-ups a bit to bring them up to date, and, of course, I’m listening to all this music!
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Label: LEITER Release: Exin Date: June 14th, 2024 Mastered By: Zino Mikorey Co-produced By: Nils Frahm Bandcamp Look, I know that many of my opening words often begin with “Today, I am thrilled to share with you a new piece by [so and so]”, but how can I not use the exact same opening line when one of my all-time favourite piano composers reaches out to me to premiere a piece from his newly...
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Can you tell us how you got involved in composing, and what was your very first piece of gear? I began playing the electric organ when I was seven years old, then took up the violin at age nine and the piano at age eleven. I played in orchestras and ensembles almost every day of the week. During my mid-teens, I joined a pop band, and when I was 19, I began my first serious attempts at creating...
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Label: greyfade Date: May 17th, 2024 greyfade.com/catalog/008 Today, I’ve got something extraordinary for you, folks! On May 17th, the New York-based greyfade label, founded in 2019 by Joseph Branciforte, is releasing a monumental project by the one and only Taylor Deupree. This is an all-acoustic re-imagining of his 2002 album Stil., which took numerous years to complete through transcription and...
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Just the other day, in my OUT TODAY column, I briefly mentioned the new album by Zságer Balázs, a Hungarian electronic musician, a FREE SEQUENCE label owner, and the leader of the band Žagar, with writing credits in more than a few albums and soundtracks, yet somehow new to my ears. I kept coming back to this solo debut, and after numerous listens, I decided to share it with you in this ⟪ REW | FF...
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Love it or hate it, but I think Spotify is here to stay. In the last decade, plenty of artists have taken up some kind of battle against their despicable compensation model, the appropriation of funds towards questionable products, or, my all-time favourite, the “fake artists” that, yes, really exist. I don’t know, folks, but I don’t want to fight it. I don’t have the energy. If it’s not Spotify...
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Label: Moderna Release: Innocence (OST) Date: May 31st, 2024 Mastered By: Martyn Heyne Buy on Bandcamp Today, I’m excited to share with you a new piece by the Icelandic composer Snorri Hallgrímsson, whom I’ve been closely following since his debut, Orbit, released by Moderna in 2018. Even back then, I could somewhat predict the trajectory of this young artist, who, as I said...
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This weekend, I spent time catching up on all the music I missed last month while on my travels. The sun came out, and it was hard to stay inside, but once the London weather turned back to “normal”, it was actually nice to cosy up in the studio with some darker sounds. Check out, for example, that Imperial Valley album, which is none other than Richard Skelton coming out of the shadows with yet...
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I’ve been a little quiet lately. I’m not giving you any excuses. But between my long-awaited vacation and some business trips, I’ve missed a few updates where I wanted to tell you about the latest music that I’ve been listening to on my commutes. That includes some gorgeous sounds made for Piano Day, for which I originally intended to run a special but decided to pull the plug nearly at the last...
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an aggressive inversion of euphoric sound […] fractured and beaten into submission…” Label: 3six Recordings Released: April 12th, 2024 Bandcamp Tidal Spotify Amazon It seems that I often begin my full-feature album reviews with an introduction that covers my personal musical journey with the artist. So here we go, folks. Dennis Huddleston‘s official debut, Hypersona, appeared on the scene in...
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a profound sense of alchemy, effortlessly weaving intricate soundscapes at once faraway and intimate…” Label: Black Knoll Editions Release: Impossibly distant, impossibly close Date: April 26, 2024 Mastered By: Stephan Mathieu Artwork By: Marja de Sanctis Bandcamp Born out of mere chance performance, the new collaborative record between Abul Mogard and Rafael Anton Irisarri is almost an...
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in an era of infinite distraction the most valuable thing is a respite for the soul…” Label: Sonic Cathedral Release: Reveries Date: April 26, 2024 Mastered By: James Bernard Bandcamp This may be the first time that Dawn Chorus and the Infallible Sea are officially appearing on Headphone Commute, but I assure you, I have been listening all along, starting from their self-titled debut release on...
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Label: Polar Seas Released: April 5th, 2024 Mastered By: Alex @ quiet details Artwork By: Avi Engel Bandcamp With so much great music released almost every single day, I can’t seem to find the time to write about compilations. Yes, I still listen to them, and yes, I’ve put out a few myself, but in terms of coverage on Headphone Commute, I tend to set aside the precious time I have for full-length...
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Label: In Between Release: Le Roman De Carpentier Date: April 19th, 2024 Pre-order on Bandcamp Time is always speeding up. I feel like we just came out of the New Year’s celebration, but the truth is, we are a whole quarter done with 2024. It’s time to take a break and possibly slow down. I’ll be off for a couple of weeks, recharging my batteries somewhere on the coast of France...
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Okay, I will admit that ASC is quickly becoming one of those prolific artists who are somehow [annoyingly] really good at everything they touch. And that means that as I hungrily consume every single one of his releases across a wide range of genres [and yes, I love his d’n’b], I am increasingly gratified with every unique sound but also somewhat jealous, and, yes, even a little irked, because now...
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Label: Deutsche Grammophon Released: March 22, 2024 Mixed By: Francesco Donadello Artwork By: Slater Bradley Tidal Spotify Amazon dustinohalloran.com Rising from his humble beginning as a solo pianist (I still clearly remember hearing Vorleben on Sonic Pieces back in 2010), the American Dustin O’Halloran quickly advanced to the ranks of some of the world’s most renowned composers, with a keen eye...
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Label: Denovali Release: Capri Clouds Date: May 10th, 2024 denovali.com/mattibye This morning, I am blissfully spending my time in the company of Swedish composer and pianist Matti Bye, who first appeared on these pages back in 2017 with a video that I premiered titled Melt. Having scored more than a few films and being awarded Sweden’s prestigious Guldbaggen for Best Original Music for Faro...
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Good morning, everyone, and welcome to your Monday! Spring is almost here! I can feel it in the air. Any day now, the dark clouds of London, which have been moping around and crying for nearly six months now, will disperse and retreat to their dark, sad abodes. I can feel a sense of yearning coming for another round as the trees begin to bloom, with a tepid sense of courage...
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Label: Mute Released: January 11, 2024 Bandcamp Tidal Spotify Amazon ethermachines.com When I sat down to write about the latest release by Ben Frost, I promised myself to only focus on the present, avoiding my own perceptions of the past. But as the first track comes on once again, I can’t help but marvel at the unique strand of sound that can only be that of Ben Frost...
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"... I usually try to bring new elements to the process or deliberately limit myself to one instrument..."
"... a dark, organic, and textural journey into the sonic abyss… for here it begins and circles back into itself…"
I noticed that I usually publish one or two of these OUT TODAY columns per month unless I’m out on vacation. That being said, August seemed a little bit quiet. I suppose musicians and record label owners need a vacation, too. Then, suddenly, September was here, and I had a mailbox exploding with music. Today, I’m happy to share with you some albums that have come across my radar.
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Label: Astral Industries Released: September 1st, 2023 See Also: In the studio with Rod Modell astralindustries.co.uk Good morning, and welcome to your Friday. I know many of you look forward to this day for one reason or another, not the least of which could be because of Bandcamp Friday or the update of your cherished Release Radar Spotify Playlist. Yes, plenty of labels and artists...
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Label: Bigo & Twigetti Release: From the Deep Date: September 29th, 2023 Mastered By: John Croft Pre-order on Bandcamp Today, I’m listening to an upcoming release on Bigo & Twigetti, titled From the Deep, collecting five pieces by different composers, all performed by a newly formed Curve Ensemble. “Taking their name from the arc shape they perform in, Curve Ensemble is made up of a group of...
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hiddennotes.co.uk Welcome back to the fourth episode (in our third season) of The Contemplative Podcast with your host, Matt Emery. On today’s episode, Matt chats with Daniel Inzani and Alex Hobbis of the Hidden Notes music festival, which will take place this year in Stroud, Gloucestershire (UK) on the 23rd and 24th of September, featuring an amazing roster of live performances (see full line-up...
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September’s upon us, and just as predicted, this third part of the 9+ hour Gorreliann Plasebant mix by Roel Funcken serves as a type of bond, creating continuation in a somewhat fragmented turn of events. As if on cue, the temperature dropped, and the weather has changed, and the sunshine and warmth are somewhere in the memory, recalled through some words and, of course, through this music.
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I’ve got a bit of an unscheduled post for you today. That’s right, those of you with whom I work on spreading these honest words about this honest music know that I am usually well-prepared, often multiple weeks in advance, to share something with the world on a specific date. There’s a lot of work that goes behind the scenes for this low-profile “blog”. Occasionally, I must make an exception and...
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"... marking the starting point of a new collaboration project by Markus Guentner and Joachim Spieth..."
The second part of 9+ hour mix which I am publishing in six parts over the upcoming weeks...
"... wandering through a harmonic landscape and landing on an extremely warm and musically satisfying pianissimo..."
Download and Stream Download Mixcloud Podcast iTunes Summer is almost over. I just took some time …
Celebrating Headphone Commute’s many years of content, I am highlighting albums that I covered 15, 10, …
"... the very edges of the sonic landscape, where beauty and destruction lie on opposite sides of the dynamic spectrum..."
"... the human condition is explored on every single track, with a slightly melancholy, quiet tone..."
"... many of my favorite compositions have been created using pretty simple and relatively cheap tools..."
"... I could hear everything, together with the hum of my hotel neon... I never felt sadder in my life..."
"... a haunting atmosphere of two protagonists trapped somewhere in-between this world and the next..."
Celebrating Headphone Commute’s many years of content, I am highlighting albums that I covered 15, 10, …
"... heartwrenching melancholia that walks the scale in search of resolution, peace, and rest..."
"... a sound that encompasses the listener and demands attention... music to get lost in..."
Anadol Hatıralar Listening to the many releases that seem to pop up daily on my radar …
Sound in Silence is a boutique record label from Athens, Greece, founded by George Mastrokostas, aka Absent …
"... the return of the "intelligent" form in all that made the IDM genre so appealing..."
"... moments of melody amongst the wide landscape of abstract sounds are the only glimpse of reality..."
"... the process is ultimately very instinctive, not cerebral [...] where I find pleasure is in the raw part, the creation..."
“… a beacon of unease against the deluge of false positive corporate ambient currently in vogue…”
"... atmospheric textures, delicate piano notes, and soaring heart-wrenching strings..."
Celebrating Headphone Commute’s many years of content, I am highlighting albums that I covered 15, 10, …
"... I don’t like habits too much; it’s the variation and the not always knowing that makes the practice exciting..."
It’s been a bit quiet on this side of Headphone Commute, but there is nothing to worry about – I’m simply away on vacation for nearly a month. I realized that I’ve put out an “Out of Office” message for all the labels and artists, but I didn’t let you, my loyal readers, know that I’ll be away for some time. So this is just a quick note to let you know that I”ll be back sometime in mid-June with...
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Let’s start at the very beginning. Can you tell us how you got involved in composing, and what was your very first piece of gear? I had an early phase in my life as a guitarist from 13 to 20 years old. Playing in different bands and writing songs. Then I got into acting, theatre and film, and it was only in the last 7 years that I came fully back to writing and recording my own musical pieces as...
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Download Spotify Apple Podcast Welcome back to our third episode of The Contemplative Podcast with your host, Matt Emery. On today’s episode, Matt chats with Adam Wiltzie of the one and only A Winged Victory For The Sullen about the beginnings of this magnificent duo (with Dustin O’Halloran), their albums, The Undivided Five (Ninja Tune, 2019) and Atomos (Erased Tapes, 2014)...
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football chants and nursery rhymes… Label: Six Degrees Date: May 12, 2023 Engineered By: Simon Painter Artwork By: Gemma Hattersley Pitt Buy on Bandcamp ambient, electroacoustic, neoclassical I wasn’t exactly jumping at an opportunity to hear an album by Bob Holroyd, which he titled Football Chants and Nursery Rhymes. After all, it would fall somewhere between “crying babies” and “whistling...
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Celebrating Headphone Commute’s many years of content, I am highlighting albums that I covered 15, 10, and 5 years ago. I do this by going back through my archives and selecting a favourite for the current month. But I’m not just copying and pasting the words here; I’m also refreshing these write-ups a bit to bring them up to date, and, of course, I’m listening to all this music! And so should you!
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expansive and elegant, neatly balanced between light and dark, grace and brutality… Label: Planet Mu Released: April 21st, 2023 Artwork By: Nicholas Law See Also: In the studio with Ital Tek Bandcamp Tidal Spotify Amazon If you’re new to Ital Tek (or just warming up to him, as one of my friends recently mentioned), perhaps it’s worth a bit of a quick revisit. Brighton-based Alan Myson appeared...
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Editor’s Note: The following interview is about a music festival curated by East Berlin-born multi-instrumental composers Sebastian and Daniel Selke, who you may also know as Brueder Selke and CEEYS. This year, the festival will take place between June 2nd and 4th in Potsdam. You can get more details and tickets here. The duo has also curated a mix for Headphone Commute Podcast...
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Download Mixcloud Podcast iTunes Sofia Nystrand is a Stockholm-based composer with a new album Månens Hav, due out on June 2nd, 2023, via the German LEITER imprint. This follow-up to her 2019 record Hav, is deeply influenced by her childhood experiences growing up in the Swedish archipelago of Roslagen. With her music, she explores the duality of beauty and brutality in nature, “awe and fear...
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Let’s start at the very beginning. Can you tell us how you got involved in composing, and what was your very first piece of gear? I’ve been making music for as long as I can remember. I started with piano at an early age and moved my way through different instruments throughout my childhood – violin, clarinet, and percussion. I went through the Band and Orchestra program from elementary through my...
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Label: DNTWIG Release: Weird Time Signature Date: June 2nd, 2023 Mastered By: Zino Mikorey Artwork By: Torsten Posselt Bandcamp Tidal Spotify Amazon Pre-order I don’t know about you, but I can always tell whether a piano piece was performed by a human or whether it was programmed into a sequencer, note by note, even when all the latest advances in technology allow for fluid variations in the time...
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Another Record Store Day has come and gone. I didn’t bother lining up this year. And although I still want to support and “celebrate the culture of the independently owned record stores,” it still somehow feels already ruined. Vinyl, in particular, is starting to weigh me down (literally as well). I still very much enjoy the ownership of it in the context of physical media; otherwise...
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Label: Affin Release: Onda Date: May 5th, 2023 Mastered By: artefactsmastering.com m-guentner.de Music is a strange form of expression. As a composer [a term I’m finally willing actually to admit to myself], I often ask myself – what do I do it for? And if I do it for myself, then what is this internal drive to share it with the rest of you? And if I have something to say, then why must it be...
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Let’s start at the very beginning. Can you tell us how you got involved in composing, and what was your very first piece of gear? I grew up playing the piano. Both my parents played the piano, and while I won’t say it was something that was ‘forced’ on me, I don’t really remember having a say in the matter. I was not a fan of lessons by any stretch and regularly would find myself getting in...
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Label: Moderna Release: Golden Waves Date: April 28th, 2023 Artwork By: Kristin Breiseith Buy on Bandcamp The other day I watched a video of a pianist signed to a major record label performing his latest magnum opus. It was so bad. I hate to talk smack on the platform which I have purposely devoted to the absolute positive expansion of the music. But there was just something about that particular...
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an expansive sonic architecture, balancing exquisite composition with space for improvisation… Label: Touch Released: April 14, 2023 Engineers By: Edoardo Fracassi Artwork By: Jon Wozencroft Bandcamp Tidal Spotify Amazon touch33.net Out of all of the negative and adverse comes something positive and desired – a record of expansive pseudo-orchestral movements wrapped in electronic microsound and...
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Let’s start at the very beginning. Can you tell us how you got involved in composing, and what was your very first piece of gear? When I was just six years old, I stumbled upon a hidden gem that would ultimately shape my entire musical journey. It was an old, battered piano that had been abandoned in a dusty barn, its once beautiful keys now chipped and yellowed with age. Despite its worn-out...
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Label: Denovali Release: Raeon Date: April 28th, 2023 Bandcamp So I finally decided to get rid of my CDs. I’ve even got a bit-perfect ripper to ensure my digital archive is immaculate. But as I started going through boxes and boxes of music, each physical item began to glow in its light. Marie Kondo would ask if a tiny digipack encasing a lonely compact disc would spark joy. Yes, it would. Yes...
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Label: Sonder House Release: Always Present Date: May 5th, 2023 Choreography By: Liz Stillerman Cinematography By: Eric Waldron Featured Dancer: Emma Morris Artwork By: Ashley Camper Bandcamp Tidal Spotify philipganderson.com I think that if I were to talk about the fear of a creative process, every artist and musician would agree, at least on some level, with one attribute of this ongoing...
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musical vortexes rewiring time and space… Label: light-years Released: July, 2022 Mastered By: Antoine ‘Chab’ Chabert Bandcamp Tidal Spotify Amazon caterinabarbieri.com In an infinite quest to discover and spread the word about gorgeous music, I look back through the albums I missed in the past year in order to give them the proper attention that they deserve. It’s not always about the latest...
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Editor’s Note: This feature requires a bit of background first. In 2019, German-Turkish pianist Erol Sarp and Swiss engineer/software designer Lukas Vogel were approached by Peter Füssenich, master builder and architect of the Cologne Cathedral, about performing a concert at the iconic location. It finally happened in 2022 as part of a celebration honouring the 700-year anniversary of the...
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I vividly remember when I used to chase new music. Boomkat, in particular, was [and still is] a great resource for my findings over a decade ago. I was especially enchanted with the then-new genre named there as “Modern Classical”, with records by Jóhann Jóhannsson, Max Richter, and Nils Frahm. I remember the bleep newsletter [it still arrives in my mailbox] with the latest boundary-pushing music...
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Celebrating Headphone Commute’s many years of content, I am highlighting albums that I covered 15, 10, and 5 years ago. I do this by going back through my archives and selecting a favourite for the current month. But I’m not just copying and pasting the words here; I’m also refreshing these write-ups a bit to bring them up to date, and, of course, I’m listening to all this music! And so should you!
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as delicate as it is restless, the breadth of instrumentation and influences comes to life across the sonic space and printed page… Label: 12k Released: April 7th, 2023 Mastered By: Taylor Deupree Artwork By: Marcus Fischer Bandcamp Tidal Spotify Amazon 12k.com Low Flying Owls is one of those albums that just needs to be heard. You can strip away all of your preconceived notions, sit back...
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Label: Nettwerk Release: Future Falling Date: May 5th, 2023 Mastered By: Jared Hirshland Mixed By: Joshua Eustis Artwork By: Alex Deamon Bandcamp Spotify Amazon thealbumleaf.com What can I say about the lockdown that wasn’t said before? I think a lot of musicians truly took this opportunity to reflect on their state of being and existence, to hunker down with the instruments, to learn a brand new...
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Download Spotify Apple Podcast Welcome back to a second episode of a brand new season of The Contemplative Podcast. On today’s instalment, Matt Emery chats with Clarice Jensen, an American (NYC-based) cellist, a graduate of the Julliard School, and an artistic director of ACME (the American Contemporary Music Ensemble). As an instrumentalist, collaborator, and in her role in ACME...
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Let’s start at the very beginning. Can you tell us how you got involved in composing, and what was your very first piece of gear? I began playing the drums in my early teens on a Simmons SDS9, complete with bright red 5-piece hexagonal drum pads. In fact, they’re still in my parent’s garage to this day. I went to drum lessons for a while as well as being in a couple of rock bands playing covers...
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Label: Poltrock Music Release: Aulus I Date: May 26, 2023 Mastered By: Taylor Deupree Artwork By: Guy Kokken poltrock.be This morning I am delighted to spend more time with David Poltrock and his music. He is not completely new to my ears, as I have previously enjoyed and covered his piece with Adriaan de Roover, titled “44,2 km“. Today I am premiering a track titled “Titanus Giganteus”...
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Release: FELD Date: March 31st, 2023 Mastered By: Mark Bihler Artwork By: Happy Little Accidents martinkohlstedt.com Martin Kohlstedt is a German electronic musician, pianist, and film composer with a particular approach to production, where his pieces “are always in movement and never resort to a definitive form – even during concerts.” For his latest album, titled FELD, Kohlstedt has produced a...
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I finally decided to eliminate the many boxes I had been moving across various places full of CDs. But not before I actually archive them for my personal collection. Yes, I recognize that many of the albums can be accessed these days and are available via the so-called “hi-res” music services that offer to stream lossless formats. But I’ve already purchased the license to own this music...
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Download SoundCloud Podcast iTunes I am always happy to bring new sounds to your ears [and mine!], and today I’ve got a mix showcasing some special selections from the upcoming boutique music festival named Q3Ambientfest, which will take place this year in June. Creating a perfect balance between some established and emerging artists of various genres and diverse origins, this event showcases a...
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Let’s start at the very beginning. Can you tell us how you got involved in composing, and what was your very first piece of gear? When I was 15 years old, I was in a pretty terrible snowboarding accident. I broke my left shoulder and needed surgery, so I was laid up for several months without much activity. One day I picked up my little brother’s 3/4 scale nylon string guitar and started playing...
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Interview by Joachim Spieth. Republished on Headphone Commute with permission from the author. I became aware of Arovane at the end of the 90s. At the time it was his remix for Pub’s ‘Summer’ which still impresses me today. Also in connection with the Berlin Hardwax localized label, DIN, Arovane appeared with some releases. And everything that came out of the Hardwax in-house labels at that time...
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Happy Sunday, and welcome to another instalment of my OUT TODAY column, where I share brief insights on albums that have graced my rotations but didn’t have the opportunity for an in-depth review. Don’t overlook them, as there’s an abundance of enchanting tunes awaiting your ears! Special shout-out to a benefit compilation commemorating over 50k lives lost following the earthquakes in Turkiye and...
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Label: ad21 Released: March 10, 2023 Mastered By: Ian Hawgood Artwork By: Javier Guglielmi If You Like: Jóhann Jóhannsson, Max Richter, Hauschka, and Dustin O’Halloran Bandcamp Tidal Spotify Amazon bruno-sanfilippo.com From the very first note of Bruno Sanfilippo‘s latest magnum opus, Ver Sacrum, I was immediately reminded of the dearly missed and early-departed music by Jóhann Jóhannsson.
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Hi. Can you start off by introducing yourself? First, I’d like to say thanks for having me. I’m a long-time reader and a huge fan of the site! 🙂 My name’s Alex, and for the past few years, people might know me for releasing music as fields we found. Where are you located, and what did you do this past weekend? I live fairly close to London, UK – out in the countryside. This last weekend it was my...
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It’s not often that we welcome a brand-new imprint into our community. As any avid curator will tell you, starting your very own label is probably a crazy thing to want to do. The infinite time and energy, and let’s not forget to mention money, can turn out to be a gruelling, thankless, endless task, with not much hope along the way. And yet, we do it once again. Perhaps it’s just like any other...
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Download SoundCloud Podcast iTunes quietdetails.bandcamp.com I’ve got an exceptional podcast for you today, folks. It’s not a mix but rather a continuous, single, long-playing track composed by Fields We Found. I’m sharing this fantastic music as an opening to an introduction to a brand new label, quiet details, which I will be profiling this week. Founded this year by the artist behind this piece...
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Release: Night Poem Date: May 12, 2023 Tidal Spotify Amazon christianbalvig.com Christian Balvig is a Danish composer known for his score for the Scandinavian drama series Cry Wolf [with the Copenhagen-based electropop group, When Saints Go Machine], as well as his work with orchestras like The Royal Danish Orchestra, Copenhagen Philharmonic and The Danish Chamber Orchestra.
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Celebrating Headphone Commute’s 15th anniversary, I am highlighting albums that I covered 15, 10, and 5 years ago. [And in this instalment, I’m even starting with the one from 20 years ago!] I do this by going back through my archives and selecting a favourite for the current month. But I’m not just copying and pasting the words here; I’m also refreshing these write-ups a bit to bring them up to...
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Label: One Little Independent Records Release: Klangland Date: March 10th, 2023 Recorded By: Francesco Donadello Conducted By: Robert Ames Bandcamp Tidal Spotify Amazon henriklindstrand.com This past weekend I was digging through the many archived recordings I have on my external hard drives. I’ve come across a series of captured sounds which I released on Headphone Commute exactly a decade ago...
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Let’s start at the very beginning. Can you tell us how you got involved in composing, and what was your very first piece of gear? When I was about 3 or 4 years old, my uncle left his piano for safe keeping at our house. I used to only just be able to reach the keys and pick out little melodies, intervals and harmonies with two fingers. I would say the spark was ignited in those moments.
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Welcome back to another entry in my OUT TODAY column, where I share with you some of my latest discoveries for which I couldn’t find the time to cover in-depth [and, if you notice, I’ve been publishing nearly one post per day!]. That doesn’t mean that they do not deserve your full attention. There is a lot of fantastic new music here in a variety of genres, and I just can’t wait to spin through...
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Label: fsoldigital.com Released: October 12, 2022 See Also: Environment Six & 6.5 futuresoundoflondon.com I don’t think I am able to begin this write-up by introducing you to The Future Sound of London. There’ll just be way too much to cover. If you are not familiar with the output of FSOL, which goes all the way back to 1992, then you have a lot of catching up to do! I’ll just assume you know...
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Label: Denovali Release: An Excellent Spiritual Serviceman Date: March 3rd, 2023 Bandcamp It’s time that I check in with Denovali once again. This independent German label really knows how to curate its releases that span a variety of genres, ranging from ambient to experimental, drone to jazz, and contemporary classical. Regardless of the style, the quality of the output is always top-notch...
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Download Mixcloud Podcast iTunes laaps-records.com 50 pieces from 50 releases of the year – this is the ongoing theme of the eisOtones series that we have been featuring on the Headphone Commute podcast, and this is our 15th entry (previous mixes can be found here). Once again, Mathias Van Eecloo, of [previously] Eilean Rec. and [currently] LAAPS, returns for his annual tradition of masterful...
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Let’s start at the very beginning. Can you tell us how you got involved in composing, and what was your very first piece of gear? I was very into thrash metal growing up, and Metallica are one of my heroes. When I was 12, I started a band that covered thrash metal songs. It was here, whilst covering songs, I asked myself, why don’t I compose my own songs? So, I decided to study composing.
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Download Spotify Apple Podcast Hello, and welcome back to another episode of The Contemplative Podcast! In fact, welcome back to a whole brand new season! In 2022, Matt Emery interviewed eight amazing composers, artists and labels (see the full list here), and today we’re kicking off the third season’s entry for this year with Brian Fennel, aka SYML, with a chat about his new record on Nettwerk...
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Label: Moderna Release: Ferd Date: February 24th, 2023 Mastered By: Thomas Haahr Artwork By: Jimmy Kirkus-Lamont Bandcamp Sometimes the universe has its way of reminding you of what’s important in life. You get caught up in all your bullshit, and then, one morning, you wake up and suddenly hit that point which truly makes you take a step back, look around, and reassess everything you have been...
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Let’s start at the very beginning. Can you tell us how you got involved in composing, and what was your very first piece of gear? My dad bought an Otto Marquardt upright piano when I was 11 years old. He wanted to learn how to play the piano, but for some reason, I ended up being the one receiving lessons. My great-aunt Elsa taught me how to read music and play pieces by Chopin, Bach, Debussy...
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Welcome back to my ⟪ REW | FF ⟫ column, in which I round up some music that you may have recently missed on your radar. First up is an album by Markus Sieber, who records and self-releases under his Aukai moniker. Sieber’s self-titled debut came out in 2016, and it took me another few years to pick up and cover his sophomore release, Branches of Sun (2018). Since then, Aukai’s music has...
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Label: n5MD Release: Reflections from the Road Date: February 17th, 2023 Mastered By: 37n,122w Artwork By: Alex Linch Bandcamp It seems that isolation continues to occupy our thoughts and feelings. Sometimes I walk around London thinking, “is the pandemic over?” and “did it really happen?” I think we know the answers to those thoughts. We’re back to “normal”, but we’re not.
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Download Mixcloud Podcast iTunes Zach Frizzell‘s Indianapolis (US) based label, Past Inside the Present, has been an incredible force in the last couple of years in the ambient community. So much so that when I was putting the finishing touches on my own album and thought about the best home for it, PITP sprang to mind first. You may think that I’m singing praises here as a result of that...
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Release: Imprints 2 Date: March 17th, 2023 Mastered By: Martyn Heyne Artwork By: Gregory Euclide Directed By: Will Killen simeonwalker.co.uk | willkillen.co.uk In October of 2021, Leeds-based pianist and composer Simeon Walker released a 4-track EP titled Imprints. I absolutely loved the sounds of the quiet, delicate, and sentimental piano recorded in Walker’s living room...
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Label: Temporary Residence Limited Release: (Whirring Marvels In) Consensus Reality Date: May 12th, 2023 Bandcamp Tidal Spotify Amazon eluvium.net Matthew Robert Cooper has been releasing albums as Eluvium on Temporary Residence Ltd since his debut in 2003. So, yes, I have been listening to his music for 20 years now. In fact, I interviewed this Portland-based composer about a decade ago [I think...
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I suppose it would be nearly impossible for me to stay quiet and not mention the release of my own new album on Past Inside The Present. Call it shameless self-promotion. Call it what you will. Still, on many levels, this music is my ode to the many friends and artists who have inspired me to return to composing and experiment with solo piano and sound design, many of whom have appeared numerous...
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Celebrating Headphone Commute’s 15th anniversary, I am highlighting albums that I covered 15, 10, and 5 years ago. I do this by going back through my archives and selecting a favourite for the current month. But I’m not just copying and pasting the words here; I’m also refreshing these write-ups a bit to bring them up to date, and, of course, I’m listening to all this music! And so should you! It’...
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sifting the swells and drones for every shade of radiance… Label: Kranky Released: February 3rd, 2023 Bandcamp Tidal Spotify Amazon loscil.ca | lawrenceenglish.com What could be more exciting than being surprised by one of your favourite artists with a brand new and unexpected release? Well… it’s when the stunner comes from two of your favourite artists, of course! And not just as a conjunction...
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Label: mylja Release: Perpetua Date: March 10th, 2023 Produced by By: Antal van Nie Mastered By: Wessel Oltheten Artwork By: Tjitske Oosterholt Directed By: Victoria Ushkanova Dance Performance By: Nicolo Zanotti Bandcamp Good morning. I hope that you are well. Today I have another beautiful track to share with you via this exclusive premiere. Or maybe it’s a video premiere. I actually couldn’t...
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Label: Lost Tribe Sound Released: January 13, 2023 Bandcamp Tidal Spotify Amazon williamryanfritch.com This morning I am listening to a new album by William Ryan Fritch. I’ve been a big fan of everything put out by this California-based award-winning composer, multi-instrumentalist, and producer since 2008. And that’s a lot of music! Fritch managed to release over 30 albums [don’t hold me to that...
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Label: Beacon Sound Release: Journey Test Date: January 27th, 2023 Mastered By: Jason Powers Video Directed By: Laura Castelo Bandcamp Spotify Amazon beaconsound.com Today I am excited to premiere a video for you by Cincinnati-based pianist and composer Tristan Eckerson, who released his full-length album under the new ambient project Journey Test in late January titled Purple Decades via Beacon...
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Download Mixcloud Podcast iTunes Yes, it’s already February, and yes, I’m still looking back at all the music from last year. But music can’t be “dated” – wouldn’t you agree? I’ve said that many times before, so let us practice what we preach. Today I am very happy to share with you a selection of favourite pieces from 2022 as curated by Brian Housman of Stationary Travels. We’ve been partnering...
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Let’s start at the very beginning. Can you tell us how you got involved in composing, and what was your very first piece of gear? I was a kid when I started playing the guitar, then with bands and later professionally, and I also taught this instrument for years. I rarely play the guitar now, and there are no guitar sounds in my recordings for a while, despite what I have read in some reviews...
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And there you have it, folks… we’re already at the end of January. Eleven months to go, eh? So while you’re getting caught up in this inevitable passage of time, perhaps this Monday is a good day to pause, take a look around at where you are and how you got here and hopefully put on some music to keep you a little sane… I recommend you start off with this wide-screen panoramic video by Hammock...
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Label: laaps Released: January 23rd, 2023 Mastered By: Taylor Deupree Artwork By: Marco Cadioli See Also: Sound thinking with Arovane Bandcamp Tidal Spotify Amazon Every January, right after I finish the exhausting marathon of publishing my Best of the Year feature, I try to take a breath and reassess the current state of affairs with Headphone Commute. What am I doing with this thing?
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Let’s start at the beginning. How did you come about making a decision to start your own YouTube channel? When I was making Piety Of Ashes, I had just moved to Georgia and was incredibly reclusive. At one point, the only interaction I had with other people was picking up take-out or something like that. One day when getting my hair cut, I realized that I was developing a stutter and not really...
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Here’s the last, but certainly not the least, list of music which we can all agree is special for another special year. Perhaps that is why it took me so long to finally get it out. This is a bonus list for 2022, and I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to publish it this year as I did in the past. But somewhere in the back of my mind, I am certain I’ll have one again. Something changed.
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Three years ago, I unveiled a new list, and I think this year we’ll keep the tradition going. If the title of this entry sounds familiar to you, that’s not entirely by accident. As a long supporter of Brian Housman’s words on music, I’ve been relying on Stationary Travels to pull me out of my own vortex of sonic tunnel myopia and remind me of the sounds I’ve unsung. In this list...
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This month Headphone Commute turns 15 years old! To celebrate, I am repurposing one of my older columns to highlight albums I covered 15, 10, and 5 years ago. I do this by going back through my archives and selecting a favourite for the current month. But I’m not just copying and pasting the words here, I’m also refreshing these write-ups a bit to bring them up to date, and, of course...
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Label: Slowcraft Release: Del Suono e Della Luce Date: February 3rd, 2023 Mastered By: Ian Hawgood Artwork By: Valeria Salvo Order on Bandcamp We interrupt our ongoing “Best of 2022” feature to take a breath and spend some time with [new] music. Music, after all, does not believe in time, it just becomes into existence when it’s ready [sort of like us, but without the self-importance].
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For the last fifteen years, this music haunted my days, then cautiously moved through the ether and entered my bloodstream. This is the music of the ghosts lost in-between the worlds. This is the music of the sacrificial rites where the dark is not exactly evil. This is the music of that silent breath on your neck following behind in your footsteps. Turn off all the lights. Sit back with your...
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For the last 15 years in a row (!!!) I managed to torture myself with a great restraint of releasing these “Best Of” lists at a rate of only one per day. Honestly, I am exhausted. I hope your wallet feels exhausted too! Believe me, there’s nothing more I want than to share all of this music with you! Especially this particular selection of albums that falls into one of my favourite categories!
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Your mind is just a canvas; your life – projected film. Your skull is a museum of memories; your ego – a neurotic guard. Your consciousness is sleeping in this theatre, alone and undisturbed. Why not invite some music? There’s plenty of empty space… Head over to the site to see the featured albums...
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Download Mixcloud Podcast iTunes opticecho.com I look back at 2022 and realize that I didn’t put out the “usual” amount of mixes for the HC podcast. This is indeed because right after the celebration of the music from the year before, I was utterly preoccupied with the thoughts turned towards Ukraine. As a result, there were two “For Ukraine” mixes by Brian Housman of Stationary Travels and Peter...
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In the silent and sad mountains, music speaks without the lyrics. Words escape and rise in clouds, forming vapour, pain, and passion. Music, on the other hand, is harmless, floating low above the ground, spreading long and foggy fingers, through the grass and morning flowers. In this dark and lonely winter, snow begins to lightly tumble. There I sit without breathing, watching time pass in the...
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Another sunset without you. How precious were those little moments… how futile are these tardy words. I didn’t get a chance to tell you, although I sensed that you have known. I mourned your soul before departure, while you just smiled and spread the light. And so you’re here, among, within me. This music makes us whole again. Head over to the site to see the featured albums...
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Have you ever walked in the autumn rain? Just like the sunshine warms the breezy beaches, and the snow blankets the silent cemeteries, the rain drenches my clothes, and no, you can not tell that I’m crying. Covered from head to toe in the wetness and music, my feet plop through puddles, as my mind flips through the memories. An image of a long-forgotten night, slightly opened windows...
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Something warm, soft, and fuzzy is resonating on the inside of my ear canal. It travels through my cochlear labyrinth, where the sensory hair cells sway with the vibrations and generate electric signals, which in turn fire the synapse towards my primary auditory cortex. Somewhere within the Wernicke’s area of my cerebral cortex, it all makes sense, and my hand moves, and my heart palpitates...
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Abandoned places and desolate spaces, covered with rain, snow, and ash, wrapped in a blanket of white noise and pulsating bass, somewhat metallic, chilly, and wet. These are the images for these sounds for these places of my mind. Something is trembling with the beat of my heart. Tick-tock. Time rewinds to the mid-nineties, and I’m back in Berlin, and Moritz Von Oswald is cutting the wax on his...
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Sit down. Stop thinking for a while. That thought? Let it go. Let it all go. Call it meditation, call it concentration, call it what you will, but let it go. That thought? Be above it and let it pass. Watch the thought pass through your mind. It passes, as the air through your lungs passes. It passes, as the blood through your heart passes. It goes, as the river through the earth goes. It goes...
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In the first instalment of Headphone Commute’s Best of 2022, I gather my favourite selections of the year consisting of music that simply makes you feel. The albums in this list should just be classified as the soundtrack to your life. No other genre is required. It doesn’t hurt that many of these choices are actual film and television scores. Also, I would never pick my own album to be featured...
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Well, here we are, friends. The final entry of yet another strange year. It’s time to wind down and reflect on everything we’ve been through. It’s been a bit of a ride, and it’s not over yet. I’ll be taking a few weeks off to contemplate this reality for a bit and to chart a course for navigating the next rotation. Here is the last roundup of albums that have captured my attention, and I hope you...
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I feel like it’s been more than a year since I covered something from the Lyon (France) based panoramic label, Ultimae. But then again, I think it’s been more than a year since they released some sounds. The wait is worth it, and today I am bathing in the warm and lush sounds of a collaboration between the imprint’s co-owner, Vincent Villuis (he runs it together with Sandrine Gryson)...
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Forgive me for a quick reminder that the war in Ukraine is escalating as we speak. You know that I haven’t been political on this platform, but in this case, it’s more obvious for me to ask for help. After all, I was born in Kyiv. There is nothing new to say about the atrocities that still continue to go on. So I will simply speak with music. To raise more funds before the end of the year...
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Label: Injazero Release: Kyiv Eternal Date: February 24th, 2023 Mastered By: Taylor Deupree Artwork By: Oleksii Samsonov Pre-order on Bandcamp It’s December, and the world seems to hit that neutral gear, where everything seems to be slowly rolling down that hill until, eventually, it will come to a slow crawl somewhere near the end of the year before pressing the foot on the pedal again.
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And we’re in December now, folks! A lot to reflect on. Especially “time”. I started this …
"... melodic lines eddy and whorl together while moon rays of Blade Runner synthesis shine brightly across the shadows..."
"... picking up the sounds of the wind and the creaking building which is moving, together with music, in a slow, intimate, and wafty dance..."
"... subtle weaving together of acoustic elements, soft synthetic manoeuvres and evocative field recordings to spellbinding effect..."
"... I really enjoy working with organic sources of audio, finding or recording sounds, which I then start heavily processing in unusual ways..."
"... a kind of melodic euphoria is paired with machine-funk elements to create a kaleidoscope of sounds from the future of the past..."
"... following an invisible force, a sort of tropism that sometimes unites us and sometimes distances us from each other..."
"... a humble collection of sonic experiments created with no intended end-game or subsequent expectations..."
We really should just stop with this unnecessary Daylight Savings Time back and forth. Really. I’ve …
"... a meticulous production rendering justice to the subtle and intense grace of his new compositions..."
"... capturing the power of forgiveness in a moving and mesmerising meditation of cello conjured sound..."
"... the melody shifts, giving the piece a gradual turning effect, hypnotic and soothing, emotionally charged..."
"Requiem represents an end but also a new beginning [...] for mankind and for our planet..."
"... a sonic chrysalis of emotion, in which one wants to wait out all current angst..."
"... my role as a performer fulfils me completely [...] I don't feel any frustration in playing other people's music, I find it a total field of expression..."
"... our memories play such a huge part of our identities, yet they are extremely unreliable..."
"... a tentative descent into introspection, tunnelling into a subterranean wilderness..."
As promised in my yesterday’s post, here are another dozen records that have come across my …
"... I’ve always been interested in what gives a piece of music emotional content, which for me derives from harmony as well as melody..."
"... a fragmentation of reality through jittery and elastic elements, which seem to come in like waves, to unsettle and to heal..."
Release Notes Released on: September 2nd Curated by: Rafael Anton Irisarri Mastered at: Black Knoll Studio …
Diana Yukawa is an award-winning solo violinist who combines elements of electronica with modern and contemporary …
"... creation is a cathartic process for me, and I’m drawn to it like a moth to light..."
"... I've become immensely enthusiastic about emotional embodiment... I'd like to evoke specific feelings in the audience during the listening sessions..."
"... smoke in the air, tarred telephone poles, mowed grass, a beached whale and tobacco leaves..."
"... an exercise in reflective restraint, dreamy atmospherics, ebbing dynamics, and divine textures..."
"... I don’t distinguish so much between Techno and Ambient. For me, it’s the same: a soundtrack to special moments..."
"... the idea of the fragility of the human being set against the vast horizon of climate, planet, and the cosmos that produces a sadness without cause..."
"... there's no point in wasting a lot of time on a track which obviously isn't going to work, the listeners can hear it's not been fun to work on..."
"... the music is a reflection of this artist's personal journey through isolation, loss, and, ultimately, destiny..."
"... I do not have a concrete strategy. I would say it is more philosophy. I try to avoid too much knowledge; that way, I can keep up a playful approach..."
"... I really embrace the warbly unsteadiness of tapes, the intentional sound degradation, and focus on deeply textural stuff..."
"... sometimes all these memories are captured with a photograph, and sometimes we can capture them with music..."
"... generative shapes morph effortlessly into particle-based metaverse versions of the band members themselves..."
"... in this timeless passage, I explore the possibilities of being outside being, and in the absence of elsewhere finding ourselves, whenever we are..."
In this episode, Matt Emery chats with the Australian talented composer and pianist, Sophie Hutchings
"... how thoroughly unprepared we are for something almost all of us will experience..."
"... unrelenting pulsing, jagged entries, in a particle cloud seeded with vocals... like boats thrashed in a storm..."
"... textural ambience with a cinematic arc that guides a modern classical piece on an atmospheric journey..."
Hello friends and followers. I return with another entry of OUT TODAY covering the last couple …
"... what if one day in the distant future human beings encounter unknown types of feelings..."
"... we all could use the perfect English Holiday from time to time, for relaxation and recreation..."
A hand-curated sampler mix of pieces from both volumes of our benefit compilation by ambientblog
"... metallic, sometimes harsh and electrifying, surroundings of the urban life are landscaped into eclectic pulses..."
"... what I seek is to be like an empty vase that I fill by observing and exploring..."
Having raised over $7,000 USD with the first volume, we are happy to present you with …
Brian Housman shares his selection of favourite pieces from the benefit compilation in this hour-long gorgeous mix!
Sometimes there are words to describe all the outrage. Sometimes there are protests with signs that …
Label: Not Applicable Release: Shanzhai Acid Date: March 4th, 2022 Artwork By: Atelier Elephant Pre-order on Bandcamp I have to admit, I’m a bit distracted right now with all the current events – and a bit gripped with the anxiety of the future. But we must carry on. In the name of the music. So I wake up and _push_ and it’s helping me function. For today’s exclusive video premiere I am featuring...
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Label: Hallow Ground Release: EPIPHANIES Date: March 25th, 2022 Mastered and Cut By: Andreas Lupo Lubich Artwork By: Ruth Stofer Pre-order on Bandcamp Lawrence English is one of those sound recordists, manipulators and archivists that seems to extract living vibrations in the form of discreet little moments, plucking them seamlessly out of thin air. Whether it’s from the city sounds of a unique...
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Label: Hush Hush Release: Waterpiano Date: February 22, 2022 Mastered By: Zino Mikorey Artwork By: Paolo Barretta Video By: Magnificent Matter Bandcamp Tidal Spotify Amazon This morning I am spending my time with a Berlin-based, Italian musician, Julian Zyklus, who appears on my radar courtesy of Hush Hush Records. After an active career in an alternative rock band, Zyklus decided to concentrate...
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Label: Erased Tapes Release: A Matter of Life… 2021 Date: April 29th, 2022 Artwork By: Alex Kozobolis penguincafe.com If you look on the cover and blink, you may trick yourself into thinking that it is indeed still 2021. Or, if you blink again, you may travel back a decade prior, when an ensemble led by Simon Jeffes‘ son, Arthur Jeffes, released their debut album, A Matter Of Life…
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Label: n5MD Released: February 4th, 2022 Bandcamp Tidal Spotify Amazon Lately, I feel like it is more difficult for me to write about the music of bvdub than it is for him to write his music. This prolific composer, who has recently returned to the United States from his very own self-exile in China, has appeared numerous times on these pages. Almost to the point where I artificially begin to...
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Label: Dragon’s Eye Release: Mixed Signals II Date: March 18th, 2022 Mastered By: Rafael Anton Irisarri Artwork By: Braulio Lam Pre-order via Bandcamp I’ve got to say, I’m pretty excited about today’s exclusive video premiere! This one comes off the new release by Ruben Tamayo, aka Fax and Braulio Lam, a follow-up to their Mixed Signals EP released in 2020, which is officially out today via LA...
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Release: Spotlight Series: Harp Date: March 11, 2022 Performed By: Olivia Jageurs Mastered By: James Kenosha Artwork By: Deiniol Owen mattemerymusic.com Don’t let the cover art or the title of this track deceive you! Yes, there is a depiction of a samurai, and yes, Koi are the Japanese amur carp that swim in decorative outdoor ponds and water gardens, and yes, now that I’m thinking about it...
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Label: InFiné Release: The Bald Soprano OST Date: February 18, 2022 Artwork By: Matei Bacanu Bandcamp Tidal Spotify mischablanos.com Mischa Blanos is a Bucharest-based composer with a new record on InFiné. Actually, the record is a debut score for this Romanian-Russian pianist, which is created for Alex Bogdan‘s adaption of the play, The Bald Soprano. Although the track I’m premiering for you...
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Download Mixcloud Podcast iTunes laaps-records.com How would you like to hear 50 tracks from 50 releases from last year? Well, in this 14th instalment, Mathias Van Eecloo, of [previously] Eilean Rec. and [currently] LAAPS [for which he also made a very special mix], returns for his annual tradition of masterful selection of musical journeys from many of my favourite labels. Plenty for you here to...
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Label: Modern Recordings Released: February 4th, 2022 Tidal Spotify Amazon YouTube svenhelbig.com | modernrecordings.de I’ve got something a little more ‘classical’ for you today [if that’s even a thing], although, if you listen closely, there’s also plenty of atmospheric ambience and electronic treatments on this new album by the German composer, Sven Helbig. With past releases on Deutsche...
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I think I may skip my usual introduction to the laaps imprint – you can check out a very special mix that the label boss Mathias Van Eecloo has put together for Headphone Commute here to get the idea of the music curated on this journey. I think it’s also exciting to know that the project has been officially extended to about 12 years, with Bandcamp’s page proudly displaying years 2020-2032 as...
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Download Mixcloud Podcast iTunes By now it’s no secret that I’m a fan of Brian Housman‘s labour and his Stationary Travels site. Two years ago I even unveiled a brand new Best of the Year list, dedicated to his very own selections, appropriately titled “Music For Your Stationary Travels“. I suspect that the respect here is mutual since he recently revealed his highlights from music spotted on HC’s...
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Release: VOLAVERUNT Date: February 25th, 2022 Mastered By: Harris Newman Artwork By: Louis-Alexandre Beauregard bankmyna.bandcamp.com There was once a time when I was so overwhelmed with ambient and modern classical music that I started to doubt that there were other genres out there. I then spent a considerable amount of time “clawing” back out of the vortex to keep up and stay current with the...
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Label: Moderna Release: Formations Date: January 28, 2022 Mastered By: Guy Davie Artwork By: Cassie Suche Bandcamp Spotify Amazon juliagjertsen.com Tomorrow, January 28th, Norwegian composer and pianist Julia Gjertsen is set to release her sophomore LP on the one and only Moderna imprint. I’ve covered Julia before, in particular, her collaboration with Nico Rosenberg (including the latest release...
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Here’s the last, but certainly not the least list of music, which we can all agree is special for a special year. Perhaps that is why it took me so long to finally get it out. This is a bonus list for 2021, and I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to publish it this year, as I did in the past. But somewhere in the back of my mind, I am certain I’ll have one next year. A lot has been said on this...
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On this special edition of OUT TODAY column, I take the time to revisit the albums that have been released in the last couple of weeks, while I’ve been busy rolling out Headphone Commute’s Best of the Year feature. I’m almost ready to get back into the groove (I’ve got just one and final list!) – there’s plenty of music awaiting your precious attention, including a rework I did for Ô Lake‘s piece...
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Label: XXIM Release: Rift Date: January 21st, 2022 Tidal Spotify Amazon YouTube hugar.is Kicking off another wonderful year of music, I am excited to share the news with you about an upcoming new album from Hugar, whom I first discovered back in 2019 [see this review of Varða, which subsequently appeared on my Best of the Year lists]. I have also profiled Hugar’s impressive studio in this special...
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Label: InFiné Release: Study Of The Invisible Date: March 25th, 2022 Artwork By: Laurent Pernot Bandcamp Apple Spotify YouTube vanessawagner.net I’m taking another quick break in the midst of my Best of the Year feature to premiere this beautiful piece, and then, I promise, I’ll finish up publishing all of these year-end lists [only one more to go!] before the end of this week. Meanwhile...
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Two years ago I’ve unveiled a new list, and I think this year we’ll keep the tradition going. If the title of this entry sounds familiar to you, that’s not entirely by accident. As a long supporter of Brian Housman’s words on music, I’ve been relying on Stationary Travels to pull me out of my own vortex of sonic tunnel myopia and remind me of the sounds I’ve unsung. In this list...
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