Categories

SOCIAL MEDIA

- Tributes - Gondwana Records (07)

28 September 2024

No comments

 


#07 in my 'Year of Music' series was something that I'd long considered doing, and I already dipped into it with #36. I have a lot of favourite artists and labels, I can never narrow down my favourites to tracks or albums, it's too narrow a selection. Labels and artists gives me something more to work with and talk about if the question ever comes up, and I often thought about doing mixes / selections based entirely around an artist or label but I was just never sure how best to approach it. So, during this series that I put together in 2022, I opted to dip my toes in the water.


Whether you want to call this a mix or a selection is up to you. I go with selection, there's not much in the way of traditional mixing, there's plenty of that on my pages though if that's your thing. I've opted to go with  ' - Tributes  -  ' as a title because I may choose to use that for other labels or artists in the future, we'll see, but Gondwana is one of, if not the favourite label of mine at the moment, and it has been for a few years now.


The name Gondwana stems from a mountainous and hilly region in India and it was also the name given to a massive landmass (or super-continent) around 500,000,000 years ago. The label was set up in Manchester in 2008 by one of my favourite artists, Matthew Halsall. I could extol the qualities of this label and many of the artists that feature on it but that's kind of what the mix / selection is about. I've pulled together a small sample of some of their  wonderful music but really it could have been hours longer with more artists, but trying to keep these selections around an hour or so, it's just a sampling of what is on offer. I would encourage you to dig deeper yourself, visit Bandcamp and Spotify (Matthew Halsall has an excellent spiritual jazz playlist he curates himself), start with Matthew Halsall's work and also look out for Hania Rani (and check this video and this one). Anyway, I hope this gives a nice taste and perhaps pulls one or two listeners to the label. As always, I will link to where you can buy the music featured below the player and will add some additional links for the label too.


This weeks cover picture is an edited photo I took in Grindelwald, Switzerland which is nestled in the heart of the alps and surrounded by the mountains of Faulhorn, Schwarzhorn, Wellhorn, Wetterhorn, Mettenberg, Schreckhorn, Lauteraarhorn, Agassizhorn, Fiescherhorn, Mönch, Eiger, Lauberhorn and Männlichen. Nearby Lauterbrunnen is said to have been inspiration for Tolkein's Rivendell in The Hobbit / Lord Of The Rings.  


If you want to know what that 'Year of Music' series I mentioned earlier is about, then there's a short description about that [HERE]. If you prefer to use a Soundcloud player, then you can find this mix over [HERE].

 

Links to Gondwana - Website // Bandcamp  //  Spotify  //  Instagram  //  Facebook  //  Youtube  //  Twitter  (F.U Musk) 


 

Tracklist

01. Forgiveness - Ocean Floor
02. Dwight Trible ft. Matthew Halsall - Black Is The Colour Of My True Love's Hair
03. Matthew Halsall - Reflections
04. Phi-Psonics - Like Glass
05. Vega Trails - Train To Kyoto
06. Caoilfhionn Rose - Truly
07. Hania Rani - Come Back Home
08. GoGo Penguin - One Percent
09. Portico Quartet - With, Beside, Against
10. Matthew Halsall - The Temple Within
11. Paradise Cinema - Possible Futures
12. Jasmine Myra - Words Left Unspoken
13. Chip Wickham - Sais (Egypt)

Read More

Blurred Lines (08)

16 September 2024

No comments

 


Number 8 in the 'Year of Music' series, I've given this a fresh cover to go with the new title of 'Blurred Lines'.


The thinking behind the new title (and cover) is linked into the music. I've mentioned quite often that I find it hard to pigeon hole music. There's a seemingly endless growth in genres and sub-genres, and even music that I considered to be from a certain genre at one point, is now recategorised into a different genre some time down the line. To me, the lines between genres are so blurred and I'm pretty lost by much of it. This mix leans into a few different genres, there's obviously jazz elements, but there's strong electronic aspects too, from ambient to breakbeat. Or, there is to my ears. 


If you want to know what the 'Year of Music' thing I mentioned is about, then there's a short post about that [HERE]. If you prefer to use Soundcloud, the mix is posted [HERE].


 

Tracklist 

01. Kryshe - Queen's Court (Serein)
02. GokU - Moop (Sola Terra)
03. The Stratus Ensemble - My Broken Key (Pt 2) (Touched Music)
04. Colorlist - Two Times (Serein)
05. 23 Skidoo - AYU (Virgin)
06. Seahawks - Didn't Know I Was Lost (Land Of Shadows Dancing Mix) (Ocean Moon)
07. Chip Wickham - La Sombra (Lovemonk)
08. WW Audio - Cathedral Cafe Ambience (Self Released)
09. Azimuth - The Tunnel (Late Night Tales)
10. Leifur James - Red Sea (Night Time Stories)
11. Emma-Jean Thackray - Rain Dance / Wisdom (Movementt)
12. Soundstory - Rainstorm (Self Released)
13. Jasmine Myra - Horizons (Gondwana)
14. Sparkle Division - Oh Henry! (Temporary Residence Limited)

Read More

Otherworldly (09)

12 September 2024

No comments

 


Number 09 in the 'Year of Music' series is now 'Otherworldly'. The cover photo I have used is the same photo that I used originally, just with a different edit applied. The photo is one I took in Tenerife while going up the volcano Mount Teide. To me, the image is very 'Otherworldly', and when you are there in person it feels that way too, at least for me, coming from a country with lots of rolling green hills and heather covered mountains.


This is a mix that skirts around the edges of ambient and electronica, or that's the pigeon hole I would use, you might say different, I still get lost with all the different labels that are constantly changing and being added to when it comes to genres.


If you want to know what that 'Year of Music' thing I mentioned is about, then there's a short description [HERE]. If Soundcloud is your thing, then you can find this mix over [HERE].


 

Tracklist 

01. Brian Eno - A Clearing (Editions EG) (We Are On The Fucking Moon Version) (via The Onion)
02. Ben Woods - Space & Time (Not On Label)
03. Okada + duenn - Hana To Midori To Hikari (UP-04) (Newhere Music)
04. Michael Stearns - In The Beginning... (Emotional Rescue)
05. Alexandra Hamilton-Ayres - Relent (Headphone Commute)
06. Lord Of The Isles - Zub (Emotional Response)
07. Cicely Irvine - Organ & Buchla Duet (eilean recs)
08. Seabuckthorn - The Observatory (eilean recs)
09. Karamika - Ton 2 (ESP Institute)
10. Billow Observatory - In A Stream (Felte)
11. Jo Johnson - Ancestral Footsteps (Further Records)
12. High Skies - Au Debut Du Voyage (Microscopics)
13. Anzano - Movements II (Throne Of Blood)
14. duenn - Hal (Past Inside The Present)
15. Joel Mull - Alden Plateau (Parabel)
16. Jonathan Fitoussi - Andromede (Further Records)
17. Carbon Based Lifeforms - Metrosat 4 (Leffield Records)
18. Findthings - Curio (Self Released)
19. A Positive Life - The Calling (Loved 'Ub Mix) (Music From Memory)

Read More

The Beauty In The Broken (10)

10 September 2024

No comments

 


Number 10 in my 'Year of Music' series is now ' The Beauty In The Broken', and it has a fresh cover to tie into that title.


The cover is a combination of Ai and my own tinkering about with graphic design apps and it is a representation of Kintsugi. It's a process that uses gold, silver or platinum to repair objects, like pottery, in a way that shows and even celebrates the repairs as a part of the objects history. I always knew of it as a Japanese tradition, but when I've read up on it I learn that it is a feature throughout Asia in one form or another.


I liked the metaphor of applying the philosophy of this approach to us, whether it be a broken heart, mind or body. Is metaphor the right term, I don't know, but I'm sure you'll know what I mean. Perhaps it'd be better if we didn't always try and hide the things that scar us, but accept they are a part of us. That's the thinking behind this title and cover, I think it fits in well with the music.


There's a short description on the 'Year of Music' thing over [HERE] and you should find a Soundcloud player for this mix over [HERE].


 

Tracklist 

01. Andy Rowe - Vienna, Aug 2015 (Self Released)
02. Karen Vogt - I Know It Is Hard (Past Inside The Present)
03. Creation VI & Endless Melancholy - Winter Without Snow (Hidden Vibes)
04. Field Recording - Thunderstorm (Unknown)
05. Ben McElroy - Wolves Dance (Slow Music Movement)
06. Harry Towell & Guy Gelem - Sefad (Polar Seas Recodings)
07. Stefano Guzzetti - Aurora (Home Normal)
08. Olivia Belli - From Your Garden (Headphone Commute)
09. Rachel Grimes - Patsy (Instrumental) (Headphone Commute)
10. Ôlafur Arnalds ft Arnôr Dan - Say My Name (Late Night Tales)
11. Penguin Cafe - Coriolis (Erased Tapes)
12. Gläsbird - Greenhousing (Whitelabrecs)
13. Caught In The Wake Of Forever - Carousels (Archives)
14. Luke Howard Trio - Shame/Shame (Reprise) (Hobbledehoy)
15. Ryuichi Sakamoto - Aqua (from Playing Piano For The Isolated) (Ahead Of Our Time)
16. WW Audio - Hammersmith Morning Ambience (Self Released)

Read More

Lost (11)

8 September 2024

No comments

 


This mix was originally #11 in my 'Year of Music' series. I've used the same photograph for the cover as was originally used, with a slightly different edit, and although it might look like it's had a heavy edit applied, it's a very faint filter that darkens the edges. It's a photo I took from a ferry leaving the Netherlands in 2022.


The new title 'Lost' reflects how I feel about a lot of things, not just at the moment, but in recent years; since I lost my Mum really. Life heavily revolved around her and finding my own path, or new purpose, well it's just not happened. Events since she departed have really added to it and some of these more melancholic mixes I think reflect where I find my mood. Having said that, I do think they always carry moments of light and hopefulness, and although the light feels diminished, there's always hope to be found somewhere, it's just harder to find at times.


Even with what I am doing here, in my own small space on the internet, I just don't know the right thing to do. I'm carrying on with this process, but I'm forever questioning the point, even which platform to be committed to.... none of them are perfect, they all have different plusses and minuses. Mixcloud. Soundcloud. Hearthis. Is it worth doing any of it??


We'll see how it pans out, but if anyone has thoughts or opinions, drop me a line, it might help me find a little clarity of though. For now, I'm posting the Hearthis player and linking in to Soundcloud, you'll find that [HERE]. If you haven't been here before, then you will find a little info on that 'Year of Music' thing I spoke about by clicking [HERE].


 

Tracklist 

01. Roger Eno & Brian Eno - Cerulean Blue (Deutsche Grammophon)
02. Abstract Aprils - Playing Records On Sunday (Unknown Label)
03. Good Weather For An Airstrike - Two Miles Of Uncertainty (Rural Colours)
04. Julianna Barwick - Safe (Ninja Tune)
05. Alex Bober - Friendly Raindrops (Hidden Vibes)
06. Brambles - In The Androgynous Dark (Nest Version) (Serein)
07. Lauge - Pine Trees Covered In Fog (Echoes In The Valley)
08. MLO - Shadows Of Life & Thought (Music From Memory)
09. WW Audio - Deep Woodland Ambience (Self Released)
10. Mondkopf - The Call (Tigersushi Records)
11. Aisha Burns & Jake Woodruff - The Reservoir (Headphone Commute)
12. Daniel Pemberton & FSOL - Behind The Eyes (Ahead Of Our Time)
13. Sun Electric - Love To Love (Music From Memory)
14. Pawel Pruski - The Sound Of Oars (Krysalisound)

Read More