Here’s my most recent episode of Getting Warmer for NTS Radio. It’s two hours of late-summer ambient and ambient-adjacent sounds, meant to capture the hazy, humid, golden quality of August and September, featuring field recordings, sunbeams, and bugs. It’s ideal for mid-day napping. (It’s also kind of a sequel to this mix from two Augusts ago, if you’re curious!) A modified one hour version of this was broadcast live on the air last week, so this extended two hour version is a director’s cut of sorts. Thanks as always for listening and being here; I hope this can serve as a moment of quiet in what, to me, feels like a very loud time. You can download an mp3 version here.
Tracklist:
1. Richard Burmer – Riverbend
2. Jean C. Roché – Nightingales: In A Waste Ground Beside A Stream In Provence, June
3. CFCF – Lighthouse On Chatham Sound
4. Finis Africæ – Ceremonia Màgica En El Estanque (Magical Ceremony In The Pond)
5. Elicoide – Mitochondria
6. Takashi Kokubo – 満月の木陰
7. Notte & Bush – Wake Up In Baby’s Room
8. Steven Halpern & Daniel Kobialka – Pastorale
9. Toshifumi Hinata – ミッドサマー・ナイト (Midsummer Night)
10. Hiroshi Yoshimura – Green Shower
11. The Durutti Column – Vino Della Casa Bianco
12. Susan Mazer & Dallas Smith – Kalimbo
13. Haruomi Hosono – Wakamurasaki
14. Joanna Brouk – The Space Between (Excerpt)
15. Goddess In The Morning – 14
16. Virginia Astley – It’s Too Hot To Sleep
17. Constance Demby – Om Mani Padme Hum
18. Michael Stearns – As The Earth Kissed The Moon (Excerpt)
19. Ghostwriters – Slow Blue In Horizontal
Here’s my newest episode of Getting Warmer for NTS Radio. Nothing too conceptual here, just an hour of gooey and pretty sounds and transportive ambient synth pop. I hope you like it–mp3 download is here. Cheers, sending love.
Tracklist:
1. Ingus Baušķenieks – Kur Tu Esi
2. Akira Inoue – アントルシャ・ディス (Entrechat Dix)
3. Mahae – Sailing On Board
4. Takashi Kokubo – Before You Dream
5. Kathi Pinto – Almost Daylight
6. Aragon – かかし
7. Barbara Young – No Game At All
8. Takashi Kokubo – Quiet Inlet
9. The Beach Boys – All I Wanna Do
10. Steve Kindler – Something From The Heart
11. Frank Chickens – Mothra
12. Mami Koyama – Love Song
13. Tetsu Inoue – Magnetic Field
Like many others, I was deeply saddened to wake up this morning and learn of the passing of Kraftwerk’s Florian Schneider. I was delighted, however, to read an anecdote today that he built a giant speaker in his yard so he could listen to Bach while he mowed the lawn. While it feels trite to express a sentiment that’s currently flooding my Twitter timeline, it’s amazing to reflect on a collective experience shared by so many: the recollection of first hearing Kraftwerk as a teenager, and in spite of not being able to properly contextualize it because of how normalized and mainstream electronic music was at the time (2005 for me), still feeling a very specific and novel joy. Like many others, Kraftwerk was a musical gateway drug, and slowly understanding the depth and breadth of their influence on so many subsequent musicians who I’ve loved has been a consistently sweet experience that has continued through adulthood. We will probably never stop noticing glimpses of Kraftwerk in the most unexpected places, and it will always feel like a gift, like finding an arrowhead half-buried in the sand at the beach.
I wanted to share Ralf Und Florian today because while it is considered a classic, I think many of those familiar with Kraftwerk in a cursory way might never have heard it. It’s from 1973, a decade I didn’t associate with Kraftwerk at all as a kid, but it turns out they were busy being ahead of their time way ahead of their time. Amongst their early releases this one is considered a kind of turning point, during which they moved away from the more scraggly krautrock of their first two records and started exploring sounds that were unafraid to be obviously beautiful. They hadn’t yet become quite so dogmatic about electronics, and so Ralf Und Florian sits in a really beautiful midpoint between analog and electronic instruments, mixing flute, chimes, and strings with drum machines and synthesizers.
I love that much of this record is technically ambient (a piano–yes, a real one, and flute [!] are the bulk of the gorgeous “Heimatklänge,” without any percussion in sight [!]), and I love how much of it is cosmic in the literal sense–not laden down with guitar, kosmische, but light and luminous like the cosmos. Lap steel guitar and pastel sunsets. Glittering tiny chimes. What is so striking about Kraftwerk throughout their entire discography is that in spite of wholeheartedly embracing a futurist cyborg ethos, their music always sounds so warm–an adjective very at odds with the metallic, impersonal, hard, icy associations with electronic music. They always sound so human, in spite of everything.
I hear that the most on my favorite, “Tanzmusik” (which translates, so sweetly, to “Dance Music,” though to me it also sounds like the overwhelming joy of driving through the carwash, or like hot summer rain). It’s extremely sparkly, layered with diving wordless vocals and handclaps (both of which remind me a lot of early Animal Collective, speaking of finding influences in funny places). But that human warmth is all over this record. In fourteen minute long closer “Ananas Symphonie” (pineapple symphony!), you hear psychedelic Hawai’i exotica through an obviously German lens, with shimmering lap steel guitar, ocean waves, and the beginnings of their fixation on vocoders. It is extremely relaxing, an adjective many might not associate with Kraftwerk–percussion, when present at all, is only soft pulsing.
I don’t want to say too much more about it since so many others have already said it much better than I could, but I’ll reiterate that the musical world would look very different today–perhaps unrecognizably so–had Florian (und Ralf!) not been in it. Thank you for everything, Florian.
My most recent episode of Getting Warmer for NTS Radio is a mix of future escapist pop and lo-fi loneliness, with a few off-kilter moments of muddled optimism–just a few of the conflicting facets of the experience of being alive in April 2020! Thanks for being here, sending love to you and yours. Mp3 download is here if you’d like it.
Tracklist:
1. John Martyn – Over The Rainbow
2. Michael Small – Alone in the Night
3. Bill Evans – What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life? (Quartet)
4. Irma Thomas – It’s Starting To Get To Me Now
5. Toshifumi Hinata – Broken Belief
6. The Sundays – Here’s Where the Story Ends
7. Владимир Леви, Ким Брейтбург – Млечный Садf
8. Roy Orbison – Only the Lonely
9. David Garland – I Am With You
10. Penguin Cafe Orchestra – Flux
11. Roxy Music – Always Unknowing
12. Sven Grünberg – Kuulake Koik
13. Googoosh – Mikham Aroom Begiram
14. Masami Tsuchiya – Fear for the Future
15. Iegor Reznikoff – Alleluia Ego Sum Pastor
16. Sally Oldfield – Morning of My Life
In the spirit of the season, I wanted to share some of my favorite releases of the year. Such a brooding year for music, with some really strong aesthetic and political statements and boundary-pushing uses of both guitars and electronics, suggesting many exciting changes on their way in the next decade. Obviously this isn’t meant to be exhaustive or authoritative; just some personal highlights. Quite a few of these are giant major label releases, so I’ll be taking down those download links quickly or leaving them off accordingly. Let me know if links are broken. Happy new year!
This is a a selection of Czechoslovak music from 1974 to 1994. Please enjoy!
Tracklist:
1. Iva Bittová – Proudem Mléka (1990)
2. Irena Havlová a Vojtěch Havel – Ta jemná gamelánie III (1992)
3. Richter Band – Křišťálové Ráno (1992)
4. Mirka Křivánková ▪ Jiří Stivín & Co. – Mlhavé Doteky (1985)
5. Jaroslav Kořán, Michal Kořán, Marek Hanzlík – Ta Naše Jediná A Nejlepší (1991)
6. The Ecstasy Of Saint Theresa – Her Eyes Have It (1994)
7. Energit – Jarní Rovnodennost (1978)
8. Zuzana Homolová – Sneh (1989)
9. Poloviční Chytání Richter Band – Čínský Potůček (1989)
10. Michal Kořán ft. Marie Steinerová – Meditace a moll pro samplované rádiové alikvóty (live) (1994)
11. Irena & Vojtěch Havlovi – Ledová Krůpěj Medová (1992)
Here’s my newest episode of Getting Warmer for NTS Radio, also marking my show being three years old! I tried to get slightly out of my wheelhouse with this one and be a little braver about mixing genres and moods, but it still feels very airy and spacey and summery to me. I hope you like it. Mp3 download is here if you’d like it. Flyer image by Eric Epstein.
Tracklist:
1. Sandy Salisbury – Come Softly
2. MJ Lallo – Before Brazil
3. Goddess in the Morning – Ucraine
4. UCC Harlo – Ceres
5. Yumi Murata – TOKIの音
6. CFCF – Closed Space
7. Enno Velthuys – In the Royal Woods
8. Annie Haslam – If I Loved You
9. Kissing the Pink – How Can I Live
10. Mouth Music – Hoireann O
11. Matt Bianco – Half A Minute
12. Masashi Kitamura + Phonogenix – ヴァリエイション・III
13. All In One – Rich Man, Poor Man
14. Sth Notional – Yawn Yawn Yawn
15. Björk – Come To Me
Guest post by John Also Bennett (JAB / Seabat / Forma). JAB’s debut solo album Erg Herbe was released on Shelter Press earlier this year.
This mix was compiled as the second volume in my “Appel d’ Air” mix series, the first volume of which is available here. It takes its name from the Michel Redolfi album of the same name. I’m always looking for music that uses flute or wind instruments, open spaces, and environmental sound in tandem, even if these conditions are only met loosely. In this collection I included two pieces of music originally composed as environmental music for video games (“Inside The Deku Tree” from Legend of Zelda and a Resident Evil Save Room theme), both of which were designed to color the atmosphere of a virtual space, and both of which use flute (albeit electronic). Eva-Maria Houben’s “ein schlummer (a slumber)” uses flute and organ and their reverberations inside a large cathedral: the near silences between notes as the reverb tails off are as important as the notes themselves. I also included one of my own compositions, “Chanterai por mon coraige,” recorded in a decrepit mill in the French countryside, pictured above. Like many of the pieces included on this mix, the sound of the space in which the piece was recorded plays a role in the composition; in this case evening crickets and the churning of a nearby creek. You can download an mp3 version here.
Tracklist:
1. Daniel Kobialka – Organic Eternity (Excerpt)
2. Koji Kondo – Inside The Deku Tree (Legend of Zelda – Ocarina Of Time)
3. Mary Jane Leach – Downland’s Tears (Excerpt)
4. Vijay Raghav Rao – Raga Malkauns – Alap and Gat n Jhaptal
5. Jim Fassett – Symphony Of The Birds (Third Movement)
Hello! I’m still here, still up to my ears in food projects, still missing sharing music, and still very much looking forward to getting back to it. In the mean time, here’s my most recent episode of Getting Warmer for NTS Radio. This one is very spacey, with lots of reverb and a few psychy things. You can download an mp3 version here. Thanks as always for listening, and happy spring <3
Tracklist:
1. Gigi – Abay
2. Jun Miyake – Third Eye
3. Aragon – かかし
4. Francesco Messina – Comunicazioni Interne
5. Nuno Canavarro – Segredos M
6. Mychal Danna – Inanna
7. Bryan Ferry – Boys And Girls
8. Goddess In The Morning – 14
9. The Millenium – The Island
10. Yoshiaki Ochi – Dawning
11. Masayuki Sakamoto – Psy’chy
12. Quigley – If I Could Fly
13. Gigi – Guramayle (Slight Return)
14. Curt Boettcher – Lament Of The Astral Cowboy
This month’s mix for NTS Radio is predictably a spring wish fulfillment dream–lots of lush, green sounds, animals, a Dip In The Pool song that sounds uncannily like Scritti Politti, Gal Costa doing a live version of “Volta” that makes me cry forever, and the original and excellent version of “Kokorowa,” which you may have heard covered by Love, Peace & Trance. I hope you like it! You can download an mp3 version here if you like it. Cover image is by Hirō Isono.
I also wanted to apologize for how quiet it’s been around here recently–I’m very much still here and appreciate that some of you have reached out to check in! I generally try to avoid too much cross-promotion, but I have a food project that has been keeping me unbelievably busy for the past few months and I’ve been struggling to keep up. I’ve been missing having music be an active part of my life and am very much looking forward to stepping back into it. Thanks always for reading and being here 💙
Tracklist:
1. Sally Oldfield – Night of the Hunters Moon
2. Waak Waak Djungi – White Cockatoo
3. Hajime Mizoguchi – A Giraffe And The Moon
4. Steve Hillage – Garden of Paradise (excerpt)
5. Pili Pili – Be In Two Minds
6. Killing Time – Kokorowa
7. Gal Costa – Volta (Live)
8. Katsutoshi Morizono & Bird’s Eye View – Imagery
9. Dip In The Pool – A Quasi Quadrate
10. Ryuichi Sakamoto – Dolphins
11. All In One – Come Live With Me
12. Today’s Latin Project – Danza Lucumi
13. Tomoki Kanda – Everybody Wants To Rule The World
14. Sunstroke – Nothing’s Wrong In Paradise
15. Taeko Ohnuki – 祈り (Inori)
