Marty Hicks - Olreilion

Marty Hicks - Olreilion

This album is came out little bit over a year ago. Though I couldn't resist to write about. I came across it with discovery of White Paddy Mountain - Japanese label that focused on meditative ambient and neo-classical music.

Orleilion grabbed mi with it's unbelievable liveliness of performance. It clear for me that Marty Hicks, Australian composer who is based in Tokyo, invested strong emotional charge into his splatted piano compositions that feels even more alive with subtle tuning shift, pedals and hammers sounds that adding organically to the deep dreamy pads with slight tape or vinyl texture as I perceive it. Piano composition very minimalistic but you can defensibly can tell that it came out of high professionalism in composition and performance. I believe that this album along with his other works perfectly suits with creative process. it could give a great charge to painting or writing thanks to its poetic mood.

Marty Hicks graduated jazz improvisation course at The University of Melbourne and currently  lectures in the Music Design faculty at Senzoku Gakuen School of Music.

https://chiheihatakeyama.bandcamp.com/album/olreilion
http://www.martyhicks.com

Black Brunswicker - Wilder Paths

Black Brunswicker - Wilder Paths

This morning started for me with a feeling of stillness. Trees outside the window was immobilized under dull overcast light. Very unusual silence for Monday morning.

I went searching for appropriate soundtrack for that moment and after passed over mail about new stereoscenic release I rejoiced to see a new album from Black Brunswicker. I recalled him imitatively because of his past album In the Age of Aristocracy which, first of all, rooted in my memory because of its outstanding cover art. I remember listening it last year and liking it, so it was a safe choice for my morning routine.

Wilder Paths have indeed very contemplative character that removes excessive worries of upcoming day and drawing attention towards observation of current environment like a painting in gallery, especially the view from the window. In the note for this album Ethan express his state of miss in isolation over his home in Evanston, Illinois and this is defiantly transmitted trough his compositions of slow guitar riffs accompanied by gentle bow movements sounding somewhat from faraway. His music in this way unobtrusively adding to existing sound ambiance and sounds of crows and rarely passing cars on wet asphalt just pertinently complement to listening experience.

Available as NYP dowload over:
https://blackbrunswicker.bandcamp.com/album/wilder-paths



released on https://stereoscenic.com mastered by Andrew Klimek

https://www.facebook.com/Blackbrxnswicker
https://www.instagram.com/black_brxnswicker
https://www.instagram.com/stereoscenic

Alaskan Tapes - Sleeping Since Last Year

Alaskan Tapes - Sleeping Since Last Year

This album bringing me right back to the place where I left this blog 8 years ago. At that times i was heavily searching for elecroacustical ambient and instrumental electronica. Now it's quite a rare genre, most of it left and forgotten over small net-labels and cdr imprints around internet, but his releases is rare example of that style that continue to living with personalities like Brady Kendall - man behind Alaskan Tapes.

According to his Bandcamp page, Brady are based of Toronto and started to release under this moniker around 2015. His early released exploring piano and instruments and it seams for me, that with the time he proceed his instruments and composing skills to the further level with additional focus towards texturing and experimental approaches to his material. "Sleeping Since Last Year" have very thick depth and many layers of slight and gradual ambiance. It feels warm and open. All of five tracks on this album is not alike, you can able hear different instruments - guitar, piano, strings along with synth pads and elements of field recording and singing gives it an extra calm atmosphere. This kind of music I prefer to listen to on slow and sunny Saturday mornings.

Available on CD and Cassette editions separately and in bundle.
bandcamp: https://alaskantapes.bandcamp.com/album/sleeping-since-last-year

https://alaskantapes.com/

Blear Moon - Expanding lands

Blear Moon - Expanding lands

My new album released via secret press on March 15th 2020.
It was in the work for over a year. First improvisations for that was recorded during my stay in Taiwan in 2018. At that time I was trying our morning routine of Nils Frahm where he doing piano improvisations every morning before having breakfast and record them on tape machine. For  digital improvisation it's a different story because as soon as I manage to create any kind of set up or find a satisfying sound for trying out - all the sleep is long time gone and I am fully awake. Never the less, this consistency give me much material to store for later use. 

Later in February of 2020 I went to Russia to my parent house to renew my European permits and prepare some document that I would need later I got in to situation of lock-down. Borders closed, my friends, fiancee and studio now was thousands kilometers away and I stuck with some of my equipment at my room, where I lived first 18 years of my life before moving to Czech Republic almost ten years ago. 
So... a perfect time to get back to music. I've started to look trough my sketches and samples in my library that grew big for all this time. Most of the melodies I haven't listened since originally recorded and haven't even remembering its existence. I've noticed, how those melodies are similar to entries from dream-journal: at first, it's reminds of nothing, but couple notes later memories and feeling flush back like a big wave, bringing back a full picture of who I was at that moment in past, what I was going through in life, how I felt and what i was wishing for. A collection of abstract sound texture and synth melodies that tell personal stories only I could read.

I chose number of them that sound more pleasant for me and than I jam on top of them, texturing, pitching, cutting, editing and manipulated with them in many ways. I've recorded them on different tapes, played guitar on top of them, combined it with samples and noises from my library and added layers of synth lines with bunch of filters and effects. In this way it was like a jamming with past-self. 

The title Expanding lands represent for me this combinations of different life periods as landscapes, that is evolving and combining with matter of life. Experiences and stories adding one to another and pierced together with a continuous thread of time.

Available for free download with limited hand-made CDr and Cassette tape editions.
https://secretpress.bandcamp.com/album/expanding-lands



Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/6FBG5d9WOYRFVpBge4sT0b?si=PqeyjYnaRZinfFZH2ZzfxA

The Netherlands

Earlier in December I was visiting Netherlands for the first time and was on the sea for the first time in my life. I didn't bring any digital cameras with me for this trip, although, just as always, I had my Praktica L2 with me so I bring some photos to share.

VoxxoV Records - Faith In A Wet Season | Fall Is A House Of Gold And Rain

Faith In A Wet Season

VoxxoV  new-born French label released this year a two capacious and beautiful compilation from various artists.

After i almost finish my review i found out I was did it in wrong order but it not blur impression because of different styles of them.
 
Faith In A Wet Season range between calm drone tunes and lovely strings compositions. Mood of the compilation is also range from sometimes dark and a bit depressive shades to dreamy and sleepy glowing.

December MIX

December MIX

Two People In A Room - Endless Bummer

Two People In A Room - Endless Bummer


"Two People In A Room is the project of Berlin based duo Michelle and Rene, the latter also known as the ambient solo artist Pillowdiver. Formed in 2009, Two People In A Room create their music using guitar which is then manipulated extensively through the use of effects pedals and signal processing. But one of the things that separate them from others is that it's not solely feedback and drone as melodic elements get thread into the music's dense fabric."

flica - DANCE. DANCE. DANCE.

flica - DANCE. DANCE. DANCE.

First word that comes on my mind - perfect. This is really clear example of genre i used to called unplugged electronica or some called it acoustic electronica.

Gareth Hardwick / P Jørgensen - Split album

Gareth Hardwick / P Jørgensen - Split album  

This week is reach for great releases i tell you that. This one is released on one of my long time favorite label called Low Point. Also, this is my very first review/commentary about split album.

Ithaca Trio - New Music From The Delta Quadrant

Ithaca Trio - New Music From The Delta Quadrant

From hibernate: "Originally released back in 2010 New Music was a series of unheard, unreleased or otherwise unknown compositions by the mighty Leeds based trio. It was also released in a severely limited quantity of just ten hand-made editions. New Music From The Delta Quadrant sees the album re-released as a larger edition with the tracks having all been reworked by the Ithaca Trio and remastered by Lawrence English.

Established in 2009, The Colossal Ithaca Trio is the project of Oliver Thurley, a composer based in Leeds, UK. The trio project encompasses a collage of compositions, soundscapes, improvisations, field recordings, manipulations and experimentations recorded by various members of the Deus Ex Machina Arkestra and associated sound-propagators."

Good Weather For An Airstrike - Lights

Good Weather For An Airstrike - Lights

I was happy to know about brand new release from Tom Honey also known as Good Weather For An Airstrike. It's happened to be released not so long after i bring my self by to life. Also it kinda became a tradition for my blog because it's already forth GWFAA review/feature!

Ekca Liena - Sleep Paralysis

Ekca Liena - Sleep Paralysis

I am still not sure why i choose exactly this album of hes. Ekca Liena, found by Daniel W J Mackenzie was and still one of my long time favorite and i love every album but something special about this one and it's not even the first i heard. 

UnknownJP - Romantica

UnknownJP - Romantica

"...Tomonari Nozaki is a Japanese composer of minimal music, inspired by the rays of sun, falling down from the cloudy sky. His hometown is Tokyo, where he originally started as minimal techno DJ. However, ten years before, he began to use tape recorder..."


From the first second i was stunt.

While usual browsing soundcloud i came across what i looking for months and months. Music got me by it's unique sounding like no others I've heard before.

Koen Daigaku ‎– Phosphorescence/Wind Has Risen

Koen Daigaku.

Couldn't find lot of information about this artist, only clue i have he from Japan somewhere and i don't even sure about it.

After many listens thru Phosphorescence i couldn't wait for more and was really excited after found out about new postcard of him on Twisted Tree Line, so i immediately pres order button and wait for arrive.

Now (few mouths later), i thinks is better to tell you about both release in one review. The reason of that is because i expect and wait from a postcard pretty much the same i heard from hes music before and i am fine with that. 

v/a - Soundtrack for your wedding

Soundtrack for your wedding (Aerotone 2006)

If you are let-audio enthusiast or newcomer you should get acquainted with this release or the whole old aerotone base witch now available on  archive.org. I already mention aerotune's releases more than any labels now... well it's because thats was my start point in my music journey. 

Steven Hess & Christopher McFall - The Inescapable Fox

Steven Hess & Christopher McFall - The Inescapable Fox

I always been easily fascinated by any analog technology recordings in nowadays, especially in music scene i do researches from.

Second awakening...

After almost 7 mouth of silence i decide to give my blog, witсh use to be called "Blear Moon's Reviews", a new life...

It's been a very hard times for me: moving to another continent; finance problems; depression and just everyday stuff i went through... But now i have big plans for this blog and my music project as well. 

Leastupperbound - domestic tapes Vol. II

Leastupperbound - domestic tapes Vol. II

This album is one of the things that bring me back from my "Winter depression" for now i listened this over fifteen times at least.
Domestic tapes Vol. II is a seven tracks of calmness and reasoning. Music is not pressure and keep free space for a reasoning and thinking, this what i so much loved in this one. And the cover perfectly displays the mood of the music for me.

coax - The Buried Moon

coax - The Buried Moon


If you ask someone about his favorite genre, most of people probably couldn't pick one. I not exception but first one i pronounce is avant-garde.