Ἀρέθουσα
isolation, introspection, relaxation
ambient, folk, drone, acoustic, vocal, field recordings, early music, spiritual
Wonderfully sophisticated field recordings and electro-acoustic compositions on Cabinets de curiosité by Alistair MacDonald (2018, empreintes DIGITALes). It’s a musico-psycho-distillation of sounds from different places in Europe, alchemically blended to perfection.
Totally in love with Clara Engel’s honeyed voice and bedroom songs. Engel’s guitar tone is subtly perfect and their voice lulls you along a dark lyrical journey. A Shore far from any Prison is a stripped down solo work of incredible warmth.
Daniel & Mikael Tjernberg remastered their very worthwhile soundtrack to the film Svartmunkarnas Krönika last year. The Chronicle of the Black Monks (2018, Venus Aeon) merges post-mediaeval composition with an honest synth sound, and I digs it a lot.
Kagyrgyn Restoration put out some divine live ambient on Hairs aBlazin’ last year. Дариен is nostalgic, melancholic, and moves through deep drones and snatches of hazy samples, both classical and poppy. Would chill again.
If you need a calm start to your morning, join me and spin up M. Ostermeier’s Tiny Birds (2016, Home Normal). Minimal piano melodies, and subtle, delicate environment sounds. Glide gently through the dawn.
Nhor’s Wildflowers collects all 4 Wildflowers EPs with bonus material. A whole slew of supremely calming, minimal piano compositions. Perfect for when you need that moment of almost-silence in your life. (2018, Prophecy)
A Rhucle album is always a good choice for a Sunday morning relaxation. Spring Telepathy is a tape from earlier this year, bright with its organy drones, dew shimmering in the light of the early day.
Peter Edwards takes us wayyyyy deep into space on Temporal Divergence (2018). Drones like the hum of distant stars, the grinding of our hulls, the faint pulses of equipment. Minimal in overt melody, but intricate and gripping in design.
Gorgeous post-rock-inflected ambient on All That Was Lost by Stray Theories (2018, n5MD). It’s calm as all heck, there’s a very subtle pulse running through these tracks, and a wistful gazing-into-the-distance feel.
Doing a proper chill with Sunnli5hh/t’s Yesterday at 8:11am (2018, Business Casual). This is lovely hazy electronic stuff on the edges of a bunch of genres. It’s that moment when the urban becomes the natural as the sun hits JUST right.