Moon Tides, by Mzungu

Excerpt taken from Bandcamp relaese page.

Sitting, trying to study I looped a sample I had been working on in my DAW. This sample stayed playing for approximately 30 minutes – on repeat. I stumbled upon ‘Moontides’, named after the complicated interplay between moon and tides. Rhythmically massive, the relationship is nevertheless tangible and can be seen at work on any coastline.

In this work I have taken sounds and stretched and manipulated them, warping tempo and rhythmic structure. All of the samples start at the same time, but due to their differing lengths they never ‘complete’ together. Combined with volume automation this allows for a release of constraint. Take, for instance, traffic noises in the early morning mingling with the sound of birds outside your window. The two sounds merge, relate to one another. They are not pre-planned, but are rather rhythmically spontaneous – the rhythm emerging as it becomes. This symbiosis, this rhythmic chance, is allowed to develop in the repeated playing of samples.

There exists, nevertheless, a structure. The song ‘wraps around’ as a bar (or a complete rhythmic unit) as the piece finishes. Therefore, each element never sits parallel, but rather its position to other elements shifts continually. Frankenstein’s monster, a complete butchery of beauty. Notes, preludes, sonatas and other flotsam and jetsam. It came out of an idea (an attempt) to do away with scales and notation and see what happened. All of the keys and scales are by ear, elements are pitched according to feeling, not rule. Tones clash, do battle and drift apart falling into harmony then dissaray.

Doing away with working within a Western theoretical understanding of music is not novel, and I do not pretend it is. This is purely a piece of pretentious imagination. However, the musical bastard – as I have so named this project – exists and is out here for your pleasure or pardon

– Jonah Hebron aka Mzungu

released September 4, 2018

Void XII, by Chihei Hatakeyama

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Brilliant new ambience from Japanese Producer Chihei Hatakeyama, owner of White Paddy Mountain Label. Void XII is quite a meditating experience, representing the essence of relaxing yet captivating drone. Grab the digital download via Bandcamp.

Void XII is new songs of chihei hatakeyama.

Chihei Hatakeyama is a sound artist , an organizer and mastering engineer who was born in 1978, and lives in the Tokyo. He has performed for years under his given name and also as one half of the electroacoustic duo Opitope, along with Tomoyoshi Date. Hatakeyama got involved in playing music through strumming a electric guitar in a few rock-oriented bands in his teenage years. Subsequently a laptop computer superseded his bands as his main platform. Hatakeyama polychromes memory- evoking soundscapes with various recorded materials of acoustic instruments such as guitars, vibraphone, and piano; mostly played by hand and processed time and time again via laptop. His first album Minima Moralia was commissioned for release by the Chicago-based label kranky in early 2006.
Since then his many album was released by Room 40, Under The Spire, Hibernate Records, Magic Book Records, Home Nomal, OwnRecords, Spekk, Dronarivm, Constellation Tatsu, Glacial Move- ments Records and his own label White Paddy Mountain. In 2013 Hatakeyama founded the record label White Paddy Montain, which since then has released over 40 recordings by some of the most accomplished musicians and modern ambient musicians, Shoegazer and folk musicians in Japan.
Recent years Hatakeyama continues to evolve his sound by analog synthesizer, modular synthesizer and compact guitar effector. Hatakeyama approaches some modular synthesizer and electric guitar drone project with an expectation of new directions.
www.chihei.org chihei-mastering.com

released May 9, 2017

Mix and Mastering by Chihei Hatakeyama

Transcendental Mechanics, by Brother Saturn

Blissful, swelling ambience, perfect for lazy lounging days…

​JADI, by Adverb

Awesome beautiful ambient sounds from Adverb. Released by Etoka Records.

Third Voyage, by Thought Guild

Interesting and beautiful new-age ambience, originally released February 2012. For fans of Vangelis or any heavily electronic ambience.

The Weather Clock – July Skies

Wonderful dream pop

First Light, by Inner Travels

Sitting back this evening and I am relaxing with this  latest release from Inner Travels titled First Light, released late March 2014.

Continue reading “First Light, by Inner Travels”