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SP 034LTD-CD
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Nothing left but silence is Erik K. Skodvin's third solo album for Sonic Pieces and his most quiet to date. Subtitled as "Musical improvisations and quiet collages from the subconscious," Skodvin reduces his instruments to guitar, reverb and amp -- and creates a skeleton of eight hypnotic ragas that meanders in an eternal loop between ephemeral and singular. Only on the horizon it's possible to sense that Skodvin has also touched the neoclassical terrain in earlier productions -- on Nothing left but silence, however, he acts as a twilight player who is not afraid of the coldness of endless space and who knows how to subjugate the shadowiness of the visible world. Carried by the noise of the amp and the occasional click of the effects pedals, a monolithic, reduced blues emerges, whose mediumistic quality nevertheless reveals that Skodvin's music always comes from the body -- and as such is always searching for space. A space that -- in this case -- blends the vastness of the Norwegian steppe with the brittleness of American wasteland (as if Deathprod and Loren Connors were one and the same person), creating a persistent state between deceleration and absence of presence -- that leads Skodvin ever closer to the inner essence of sound. Initially recorded at Saal 3, Funkhaus, Berlin by Nils Frahm in 2015, the album has itself been subjected to silence as a forgotten relic, re-found and now released in a time where it might connect more with the contemporary state of mind. Welcome to the entrance to the periphery. CD version comes in edition of 150 copies, handmade textile artwork.
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SP 034LTD-LP
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LP version. LP version comes in edition of 300 copies, handmade textile artwork, printed inner sleeve; includes download code. Nothing left but silence is Erik K. Skodvin's third solo album for Sonic Pieces and his most quiet to date. Subtitled as "Musical improvisations and quiet collages from the subconscious," Skodvin reduces his instruments to guitar, reverb and amp -- and creates a skeleton of eight hypnotic ragas that meanders in an eternal loop between ephemeral and singular. Only on the horizon it's possible to sense that Skodvin has also touched the neoclassical terrain in earlier productions -- on Nothing left but silence, however, he acts as a twilight player who is not afraid of the coldness of endless space and who knows how to subjugate the shadowiness of the visible world. Carried by the noise of the amp and the occasional click of the effects pedals, a monolithic, reduced blues emerges, whose mediumistic quality nevertheless reveals that Skodvin's music always comes from the body -- and as such is always searching for space. A space that -- in this case -- blends the vastness of the Norwegian steppe with the brittleness of American wasteland (as if Deathprod and Loren Connors were one and the same person), creating a persistent state between deceleration and absence of presence -- that leads Skodvin ever closer to the inner essence of sound. Initially recorded at Saal 3, Funkhaus, Berlin by Nils Frahm in 2015, the album has itself been subjected to silence as a forgotten relic, re-found and now released in a time where it might connect more with the contemporary state of mind. Welcome to the entrance to the periphery. CD version comes in edition of 150 copies, handmade textile artwork.
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PATT 012LP
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Innemuseum is the debut album by Danish composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist Cisser Mæhl. The ten fragile compositions for vocals, sparse electronics, and a myriad of instrumentation illuminate a hushed charm unlike few other Sonic Pieces releases to date. The album sparked off while Cisser was working in a mountain lodge in mid Norway during summer 2019. In her spare time, she would find herself recording mountains, rivers, stones, plants, and animals in the beautiful scenery. After moving to Oslo shortly after, she rented a studio to further work on her own music, songs and sound processing. Through some friends she met Norwegian artist Jenny Hval who became an inspiration as she started taking solo classes with her. Jenny then pushed to contact producer Lasse Marhaug to work together. This became the last piece of the puzzle for Innemuseum to come to fruition as Lasse ended up putting the final touches on the album. When Cisser returned to Copenhagen after seven months in Oslo, the album was finished. The title Innemuseum refers to both the dark months in Oslo and the retraction towards the inner self. An inner museum -- music from within, both as a person and as in physical places. This is undeniably a very personal record that sounds like the musical embodiment of Cisser herself. She sings in Danish in a close-miked way like she's sitting right next to you, all while gentle rhythms and soft strings together create a sort of bright, minimal chamber music with hints of pop sensibility. It almost feels like a Scandinavian reflection of Colleen's work in her more quiet, vocal periods. A music box of weightless compositions for the conscious mind. Fulltone artwork with spot varnish and printed inner sleeve; includes download code; edition of 300.
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SP 012STD-LP
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Volker Bertelmann and Hildur Guðnadóttir hardly need an introduction -- their distinct styles have graced the speakers of pretty much anyone enamored with experimental music in the last decade, and between them the two have chalked up an enviable canon of successes. Bertelmann, under the Hauschka moniker has explored the extremities of prepared piano improvisation, and Guðnadóttir has taken cinematic, explorative cello music into a new era of depth and passion, so to hear them both together is a rare and unexpected treat. Rare is putting it lightly even -- Pan Tone is a recording of a single concert which the duo performed on the 26th of February 2010 as part of Arctic Circle -- Bubbly Blue and Green festival at Kings Place in London, and documents an event that would truly never be repeated. Sure, they could attempt to re-create the event, but the spontaneity and glorious serendipity in this particular recording is a pleasure to behold. Bertelmann and Guðnadóttir decided to create a set of compositions which based on the idea of the ocean, and took a book of Pantones to extract exact references to the specific colors of the sea. These watery tones form the backbone of the performance and inform the direction of the collaboration, guiding us through rich blues, glassy greens and frothy whites. In listening to the music, it seems incredibly appropriate that the artists should choose blue as the middle ground in their work; the ineffable lightness that Bertelmann brings to the table is a stark contrast to Guðnadóttir's sinking darkness, and as the two styles collide you witness a plethora of tones, shades and hues. It sounds as if the two artists have been playing together for decades, and their sound is so perfectly matched you might wonder why it's taken them this long to collaborate. All that's left for you to do is to soak in the tidal beauty of this very exclusive body of music, to listen to it sing, bubble and crash through its duration before settling in total silence. When the record reaches its conclusion there is an unsettling calm, a sense that you have witnessed something very special indeed, and that is a feeling to prize amongst all else. 2022 repress; white vinyl; full tone cover artwork; printed inner sleeve; includes download code; edition of 500.
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SP 033LTD-LP
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To Move is a new project by the trio of Anna Rose Carter (Moon Ate the Dark), Ed Hamilton (Dead Light), and Alex Kozobolis. Four-handed piano meets analog manipulations to absolute wondrous effect from the London based friends. You're carried into a time and place not afraid to embrace a sense of optimism -- even if it comes wrapped in a certain distorted shape. Transporting, blissful tones emanate free of concerns from the unifying keys; at least until the melodies are pulled and dragged from purity to become something wholly else -- their own lived life; fitted with obstructions and unpredictability. The intertwining pianos linger like lovers in unison, full of drift, rhythm and life; all while analog electronics and tape manipulations degrade and move them from their original form and closer towards earth itself. The album came to light while Anna and Ed were temporarily residing in the English countryside between 2016 and 2019. Musical weekend visits from Alex turned into the fruitful collaboration presented here. To Move is a compelling musical storyboard with a name that captures the essence of their music better than any written essay could do. This is music to resonate to, music to dance to, music to engulf your being. As for fans of the Sonic Pieces sound -- if there is one -- this record hits as close to home as it could do. Handmade textiled artwork; printed inner sleeve; includes download code; edition of 300.
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SP 031LTD-LP
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Fold Unfold is the debut album by violinist Katrine Grarup Elbo from the Danish collective We Like We. As a solo artist she steps out from the safety of group performance and presents a vulnerable portrait using only her classical training and analogue electronic setup. Peaceful scenarios of natural beauty that hover like calm mist over cold streams are interrupted by spine chilling forces. Naked passages and electroacoustic electronics together create ripples in time as the pieces mold into flowers reaching for the outer edge. Elbo summons the most time stopping affairs using only the most basic of ingredients, as a true master. Clouds of uncertainty and reason echoes infinitely into the ether as she moves in and out of acoustic and manipulated sonic landscapes. Imagine Jocelyn Pook's captivating "Masked Ball" piece from Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut with its clouds of mystery, suddenly turning unmasked and fragile, as if abruptly standing vulnerable in the shadows listening only to the reverb of the room and one's own breath. The album was recorded and mixed at Saal 3, Funkhaus, Berlin with Antonio Pulli. In the 29 minutes runtime, you are presented with transportations through silent, almost Baroque sounding pieces towards overpowering, processed alterations of her violin that vibrates like echoes springing off the stars. A stunning debut with all its natural purity and intimacy. Handmade textile artwork; includes printed inner sleeve; includes download code; edition of 300.
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SP 032STD-LP
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With Companion, Otto A. Totland completes his album trilogy of personal, sparse piano compositions, following in the footsteps of 2014's Pinô (SONIC 019CD/LP) and 2017's The Lost (SONIC 026CD/LP). As a self-taught pianist, Otto further determines himself as a timeless composer who follows nothing but his own gut and heart. The outcome is something so pure it's hard to not be affected. The development of his pieces over the years has grown into something so himself that it's almost immediately recognizable. With Companion he has matured in his own craft, and the various pieces here feel confident and absolutely beautiful in a way that sees the end of the trilogy as a warm, empathic document for the times. As with the previous two albums, Companion was again recorded at Nils Frahm's Berlin studio for optimal warmth and space, Pinô and The Lost at his previous Durton Studio while Companion at the historic Studio 3 at Funkhaus. All three records are released by Sonic Pieces in hand-crafted limited edition covers as a statement showing that craftmanship and humanity still exists in this world constantly moving towards the exact opposite. This quote by Norwegian philosopher Guttorm Fløistad seems an appropriate connection to both Otto's music and the way we are all heading: "The only thing for certain is that everything changes. The rate of change increases. If you want to hang on you better speed up. That is the message of today [...] In order to master changes, we have to recover slowness, reflection and togetherness. There we will find real renewal." With this in mind, Companion is exactly what it's title sets out to be. A friend that can follow and comfort in both good or bad time. Full tone artwork; includes printed inner sleeve; includes download code.
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PATT 010LP
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German pianist and composer Hauschka returns to Sonic Pieces with music for the experimental film Upstream. Together with filmmaker Rob Petit and acclaimed writer Robert Macfarlane he has created a slow-moving dream-flight into wildness and winter through an eerie, hypnotic soundtrack of the Scottish highlands. The film, which is shot entirely from the air, follows the course of the River Dee in Scotland all the way to its source in the Cairngorm mountains, the highest of any river in Britain. The soundtrack to the film, here, is without doubt Hauschka's most brooding, deep work and he is in a much darker mood in contrast to his Oscar-nominated works for Hollywood films. The variation of cello, prepared piano, poems, sound effects, and occasional synth create a ghostly sound as if a shadow was slowly moving through the Scottish winter. One can hear a faint echo of David Darling's Dark Wood (1995) era in the empty, dark beauty of the bow -- performed by Insa Schirmer. Hauschka sheds his more rhythmic, entertaining side to reveal something new. Together with Petit and Macfarlane, he embraces the comfort and force of nature to truly mesmerizing effect. The last and shortest piece of the album "Uisge dhè" as well as the bonus track included on the download code "Here the Heart Fills" include prose poems written by Robert Macfarlane voiced in Gaelic and English by Niall Gordàn and Julie Fowlis. The naked words spoken over haunting sound recordings of the River Dee and its source, create a mystical atmosphere heightened only by sparse cello passages. A strange, beautiful and captivating album that stands alone as a truly transportive piece of work: close your eyes and travel... Upstream. Cover with laser-cut and printed inner sleeve; includes download code; edition of 700.
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PATT 009LP
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"... [T]he most beautiful thing about my burrow is the stillness. Of course, that is deceptive. At any moment it may be shattered and then all will be over. For the time being, however, the silence is with me." --Franz Kafka
In early 2019, at the Sonic Pieces ten-year anniversary in Berlin, label head Monique Recknagel hand-picked three duos from the imprint to perform live together for the first time. One of the collaborations was between Deaf Center's Erik K Skodvin and electronic composer Jasmine Guffond. The performance went so well that Monique commissioned the duo to record a full-length together. Six months later, Guffond and Skodvin headed to Berlin's VOX-TON studio and recorded for two days, joined by Finnish musician Merja Kokkonen (Islaja), who improvised wordless vocals. With Guffond on laptop and a cymbal and Skodvin using piano, feedback, Farfisa organ, and percussion, the two composed an album of deep, enveloping sound that slithers through genre, absorbing Kokkonen's unique voice into five intricate and evolving pieces. "The Burrow" takes its name from Franz Kafka's unfinished short story that was written only six months before his death. The tale, published posthumously in 1931, centres around a small creature who builds a burrow that's anxiously fortified in an attempt to protect against perceived attacks. This sense of fear of the outside world feels even more focused in 2020. Each track is named after animals that are either extinct or almost extinct, adding a sense of loss that hangs in the air, punctuated by screams and deep reverberating piano hits. As the world we thought we knew quickly retreats from view and the idea of safety shifts rapidly, Skodvin and Guffond explore the impulse to protect what we know with an emotionally charged sound that provides a foil with cautious, haunting spaces in between. Printed inner sleeve; includes download code; edition of 500.
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SP 021STD-LP
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Jasmine Guffond is an original creator of conceptual sound. This first output under her own name is its own study, and if you've heard her former projects Jasmina Maschina or Minit, you should not be surprised at the different driving force and fresh structure of sound behind this new venture. However, if you're anticipating veins of clean, melodious folk or purely experimental electronic, you should shift your expectations. Yellow Bell presents a broad spectrum of musicality, floating within hazy electronics, lost vocals, and ambient dimensions. The balance of digital synthesizer, loops, processed voice, and guitar creates a meticulous soundscape that both intrigues and calms. With its delicacy and immediacy, Yellow Bell distorts the perception of time and creates an environment for engagement and understanding. While creating its own memorable dynamic, Yellow Bell resonates with the delayed endlessness of Grouper or lovesliescrushing and touches on the early electronic sounds of musique concrete. 2020 repress. Full tone cover artwork, including printed inner sleeve; grey vinyl; includes download code; edition of 300.
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PATT 002RE-LP
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Sold out, possibly repressed 2021. Originally released in 2015. End of Summer captures Jóhann Jóhannsson's journey to the Antarctic Peninsula to discover the calm scenery of a landscape changing seasons, barely influenced or even noticed by humanity. The Super 8 film is a comforting study of a peaceful setting in one of the most crucial and endangered areas of our planet. Accompanied by rich and detailed field recordings of the surrounding this footage makes a perfect foundation for Jóhann's musical compositions, performed together with fellow musicians and friends Hildur Guðnadóttir and Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe. The varying use of cello, voice, synthesizer, and electronics creates a listening experience that reflects both the vast beauty of the quiet scenery and the necessary cautiousness of its inhabitants. As if gliding through the steep ice, its rough edges, and the harmonious water movements, organic arrangements are patiently devolving into voice and electronic based ambience that adds warmth to the icy, artefact laden environment. The soundtrack to End of Summer is an emotional, enduring listen and a compelling experience. Forming a soundscape as broad as the view it was inspired by yet equally heartwarming, devotion to the music will slow down time and provide a moment of harmony within times of change. LP edition features the soundtrack, as well as Field Recordings and Sound Design from End of Summer on the B-Side, exclusively on vinyl. The reissue coincides with the first-ever digital release of Jóhann's short film over on Mubi. "Field Recordings and Sound Design from End of Summer" on the B-side, exclusively on vinyl. Full tone cover artwork; includes printed inner sleeve; includes download code; edition of 500.
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PATT 008LP
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Time is Local is a project by Danish collective We Like We and sound artist Jacob Kirkegaard built around a 12-hour live sound installation and performance at Thorvaldsen Museum in Copenhagen. The piece was initiated and performed by the artists during the G((o))ng Tomorrow Festival in 2017. As they slowly wandered the halls and rooms of the museum for a whole day, they performed extended sound compositions for a visiting audience at each of the 12 chambers for a longer session -- a haunting experience as the outside world disappeared and the focus was on quiet sonic moments unfolding in midst of the grand, reverberous space. For this album, they have collected 12 fragments revolving around the chambers in the museum. Each chamber is being represented by its own handful of tones, instruments, and voice. The statues within, depicted by neo-classicist sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen get their own soundtrack of quiet emanating gusts. Barely heard frequencies reflect through the walls. The marble carved busts of Greek gods that line the museum hallways gaze eternally with a blank stare as decades pass and new audience arrives. Although We Like We should need no introduction to followers of the Sonic Pieces label, the Danish all female sound quartet consists of Katrine Grarup Elbo (violin), Josefine Opsahl (cello), Sara Nigard Rosendal (percussion), and Katinka Fogh Vindelev (voice). Together they have forged a dynamic and intuitional sound beyond genres through the last decade. In 2017, they released the Nordic neo-classical opus Next To The Entire All (PATT 005LP). This time they emerge in collaboration with sound artist Jacob Kirkegaard. Jacob's works are sonic reflections on complex aspects of the human civilization, treating themes such as radioactivity, melting ice, border walls and tones emitted by the ears. Through the last decades he has released records and sound documents through labels such as Touch, Important Records, and more. As a document of their 12h performance, Time is Local is a beautiful sonic evocation that shines as a bright line of sun through the cracks of a tomb. Cover with laser-cutting and printed inner sleeve; Includes download code; Edition of 500.
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SONIC 028LP
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Low Distance is Deaf Center's third full-length studio album and perhaps the most focused effort by the Norwegian duo to date. After their last record Owl Splinters (2011), which was quite an eclectic endeavor, Erik K Skodvin and Otto A Totland draw their sound back into something quieter and more minimal. The record starts with a piece of sweeping analog electronics. It's a spacious, yet dynamic opener that leads directly into the static tones and piano motifs of "Entity Voice", which balances a new sense of abstraction with the classic Deaf Center sound. It´s warm and close while sounding like it's set in the outer horizon. Overall, Low Distance feels both alien and familiar with its atonal synths, close pianos, and drowned-out noises. After meeting in studio for the first time since 2011, the recordings came out of a three-day session in 2017. It was then mixed at both EMS Stockholm and at Erik's home studio over a longer period to create a blend of deeply layered as well as stripped-down pieces. Both Erik and Otto have been active individually since their last meeting as Deaf Center: Otto has released two solo piano albums, while Erik has furthered his descent into musical abstraction both under his own name and as Svarte Greiner. It's long overdue to hear them connect their personalities into something new. Low Distance is a welcome return replete with beauty, mystery, and uncertainty. Full tone cover artwork; Includes printed inner sleeve. Includes download code.
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SONIC 017LP
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Originally released in 2013; 2018 repress. Rauelsson (Raúl Pastor Medall) is probably best known for intimate guitar and vocal based songs with releases on Hush and even an appearance on the early sonic pieces album Portland Stories compiled by Heather Woods Broderick (2009). With this in mind, Vora comes as a surprise in a grandeur way with its mixture of everything from piano solos, orchestrated classical music, synth buildups, and even a shoegaze-inspired organ piece sounding like Windy & Carl performing in an empty hallway. Like a coastal dream impossible to differentiate summer for winter, Vora feels like cold winds slowly warming up. Made in the time Raúl moved from Portland, Oregon back to his native Spain, settling on the east coast, you can hear the influence of the endlessly forcing waves and empty off-season tourist cities left for the remaining few to discover in peace. Vora is a sure win for fans of Deaf Center's 2005 album Pale Ravine (MIA 035LP), Nils Frahm's more melancholic moments, or film musicians such as Philip Glass and Clint Mansell. Silver vinyl. Comes in full tone cover artwork; Includes printed inner sleeve. Includes download code.
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PATT 007LP
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Spheres is not only Tatu Rönkkö's debut album, but it's also one of the most unusual entries in the Sonic Pieces catalog so far. As the de-facto reason for Efterklang starting off their new band Liima, Tatu is one of the most diverse and intriguing percussionists working today. Rönkkö appeared out of nowhere sometime around 2010, performing intense improvised concerts in home-kitchens around Berlin and abroad, using the room and everything in it as his instrument. On Spheres, which includes almost only self-made instruments from everyday objects, he's taken this idea to the next level. The kitchen and the improvisations around it have been concentrated down to six standalone pieces of music, produced in incredible detail. The sound hovers in the dark lands between tribal experimentations, '90s jungle ambient textures, and electro-acoustic endeavors. Pieces like "Then" are reminiscent of a more focused Aphex Twin performing with Konono Nº1 in the Finnish woods. While the title track "Spheres" even links the sound all the way back to early Photek with its reduced cinematic textures and explosive repetitive beats. All of this says rather little about the actual album as it feels completely its own. Especially the incredible centerpiece "Tekoäly", featuring Islaja on vocals, which sounds like nothing else. Rönkkö is a true visionary who manages to balance his mass of sound sources in an expert fashion. Spheres is an otherworldly listen. Cover with laser-cutting and printed inner sleeve; Includes download code; Edition of 500.
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PATT 006LP
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A Score for Darling is both the soundtrack for the Danish film Darling (2017) as well as a collection of outtakes from it. Raúl Pastor Medall (Rauelsson) and Erik K Skodvin (Svarte Greiner and half of Deaf Center) were paired together to work on the accompanying music after the director, Birgitte Stærmose wanted to try a new direction. Both together and individually they have created a highly affecting collection of pieces to a film that is not afraid of pushing the emotional content to the max, centered around the story of a dancer. This is also the first time either of them have made a full-length soundtrack, making it their debut on the big screen. The music and instrumentation heard on the album is brimming with dynamics and diversity, featuring violin by Christoph Berg, cello by Anne Müller as well as a mass of other sounds like church organs, synths, guitar amp violation, electro-acoustic sounds, piano, and more, all layered together into 15 beautiful and devastating fragments of mood. The final piece of the album "Breathe" -- featuring Otto A Totland on piano and Katinka Fogh Vindelev (We Like We) on voice -- can be seen as their own lamenting end title to a longer period of work with this album, finally finished. Includes printed inner sleeve; Edition of 500.
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PATT 005LP
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Next To The Entire All is an astonishing work by Danish experimental sound quartet We Like We, consisting of Katrine Grarup Elbo (violin), Josefine Opsahl (cello), Sara Nigard Rosendal (percussion), and Katinka Fogh Vindelev (voice). Although classically trained, all four share a desire for exploring, experimenting, and shaping a sound of their own, something which is present on this album. Both instrumentation and composition feel glued together with an abundant sense of playfulness and vision. The record starts with the beautiful "I'm Not For More" which sets the tone for the album's ten pieces, hurling you back-and-forth in a whirlwind of intuitive sound and music. Genre-bending as the record can be, it can be seen as somewhat of a contrasting work -- as much northern folk traditions as an avant-classical work in the spirit of György Ligeti and Meredith Monk. "Forest Sketches", as an example, starts with minimal woodblocks and percussive rattling while slow-building violins, cello, and vocals pull themselves in through the unknown before bursting into a Pagan sounding wormhole of screams and looped cellos. The piece ends with minimal vocal soundscapes fading away into almost pure silence. It could be mirrored with a merger of both the opening and closing scene of Kubrick's classic movie 2001 (1968) -- creating the sense of beginning of humanity versus the far future, with abstraction and the unknown. Next To The Entire All is both a mind-bending and grounded piece of work fitting naturally next to other Sonic Pieces releases such as Hauschka and Hildur Gudnadottir's Pan Tone (2011) or Christoph Berg's Conversations (2017), while adding a northern minimalism. A record that is as hard to shake off as it is to describe. Cover with laser-cutting and printed inner sleeve; Includes download code; Edition of 500.
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SONIC 026CD
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The Lost follows and expands on Otto A. Totland's intimate debut solo piano album Pinô from 2014 (SONIC 019CD/LP). Once again several days were spent in Nils Frahm's legendary Durton studio to lay down both composed and improvised pieces of quiet beauty. While mostly residing in a small Norwegian coastal town, Otto has been trying to escape the constant movement towards fast-paced, polluted lives, where it seems like sounds and impressions never stop. The Lost can be seen as a countermovement towards this development -- something genuine and personal. There's a lightness felt while listening, and yet an overwhelming feeling of melancholy and nostalgia captures you through the length of the album. It could be described as pure timelessness captured with the best vintage recording technique available, opening up to a new wider scope and detail while keeping the intimacy as if it would be played right beside you. The humming of the world and the warmth of the piano shines through like a natural accompaniment as they enthrall from beginning to end. Leaves are falling and times are changing. The horizon seems dark. Otto seems to capture both the questions and feelings we have about our surroundings. Not judging them, but easing his listeners into a mindset that feels hopeful. A sort of quiet relief that things might actually work out, no matter how dark it can look. CD version comes in handmade cardboard artwork.
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SONIC 026LP
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LP version. Full tone cover artwork; Includes printed inner sleeve; Includes download code. The Lost follows and expands on Otto A. Totland's intimate debut solo piano album Pinô from 2014 (SONIC 019CD/LP). Once again several days were spent in Nils Frahm's legendary Durton studio to lay down both composed and improvised pieces of quiet beauty. While mostly residing in a small Norwegian coastal town, Otto has been trying to escape the constant movement towards fast-paced, polluted lives, where it seems like sounds and impressions never stop. The Lost can be seen as a countermovement towards this development -- something genuine and personal. There's a lightness felt while listening, and yet an overwhelming feeling of melancholy and nostalgia captures you through the length of the album. It could be described as pure timelessness captured with the best vintage recording technique available, opening up to a new wider scope and detail while keeping the intimacy as if it would be played right beside you. The humming of the world and the warmth of the piano shines through like a natural accompaniment as they enthrall from beginning to end. Leaves are falling and times are changing. The horizon seems dark. Otto seems to capture both the questions and feelings we have about our surroundings. Not judging them, but easing his listeners into a mindset that feels hopeful. A sort of quiet relief that things might actually work out, no matter how dark it can look.
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PATT 004LP
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Following 2015's remarkable Yellow Bell, Jasmine Guffond finally unveils her sophomore album for Sonic Pieces: Traced develops a broad sound spectrum that goes far beyond her previous efforts. Influenced by digital surveillance technologies, Guffond examines data generated from facial recognition systems and global monitoring networks and translates their algorithms into auditory shapes. She draws sonic portraits that manage to capture what normally eludes human perception, turning peripheral data into deeply engaging compositions. These pieces unfold through shifting drone patterns interspersed with refined cut-up vocal snippets. Commanding bass pulses are counterposed against assemblies of beats and subtly measured guitar. Emotionally suspenseful, the album alternately rises to intense highs that descend into soundscapes almost trance-like in affect. Collectively, the tracks on Traced attest to Guffond's profoundly sensitive approach to communicating contemporary ideas re-imagined as intricately inventive tonal possibilities. Traced is a living recording that sounds like something yet encountered. It suggests humanity at the spot it has maneuvered itself into: surrounded by machines, humans have simultaneously become the traceable components of a much wider network. The album's success lies in its ability to transform socio-technological observations into driving and compellingly expansive sonic structures. Cover with laser-cutting and printed inner sleeve; Includes download code; Edition of 500.
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SONIC 023CD
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Followers of the Sonic Pieces catalog will already be familiar with both F.S.Blumm and Nils Frahm, as well as their acclaimed work as a duo. But although it finds them making use of familiar instruments, their third full-length collaboration, Tag Eins Tag Zwei, manages to add a new tone to their already unique language. By trading in the post-processed sound sculptures that made up the two preceding albums for intimate pieces of improvisation, this collaboration merges into the most soothing and life-affirming recording the two have produced so far. Guitars and toys flow next to piano and harmonium in an organic combination, shaping nine pieces that abnegate any common categorization. Incorporating classical, jazz, and folk influences, it's the genuine use of tricks and delays that lift these improvisations above the ordinary and make them both incredibly relaxing and exciting at the same time. The result is a perfect example of how immediacy can be the most powerful approach to creating music. Based on a remarkable understanding of each other's phrasing, the pair of sessions that form this album shows two vivid artists at the peak of their game -- unconditional spontaneity. CD in handmade cardboard sleeve.
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PATT 002CD
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End of Summer captures Jóhann Jóhannsson's journey to the Antarctic Peninsula to discover the calm scenery of a landscape changing seasons, barely influenced or even noticed by humanity. The Super 8 film is a comforting study of a peaceful setting in one of the most crucial and endangered areas of our planet. Accompanied by rich and detailed field recordings of the surroundings, this footage forms a perfect foundation for Jóhannsson's musical compositions, performed together with fellow musicians and friends Hildur Guðnadóttir and Robert A. A. Lowe. The varying use of cello, voice, synthesizer, and electronics creates a listening experience that reflects both the vast beauty of the quiet scenery and the necessary caution of its inhabitants. As if gliding through the steep ice, its rough edges, and the harmonious water movements, organic arrangements patiently devolve into voice-and-electronics-based ambience that adds warmth to the icy environment. The soundtrack to End of Summer is an emotional, enduring listen and a compelling experience. Forming a soundscape as broad as the view that inspired it yet equally heartwarming, the music will slow down time and provide a moment of harmony within times of change. CD contains the soundtrack, and includes a DVD of the film. Laser-cut mini-LP cover with two printed inner sleeves.
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2CD
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SONIC 014-022CD
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With their second album, presented here alongside their 2012 self-titled debut, Moon Ate the Dark takes the next step of contemporary piano composition. Moon Ate the Dark II is based on an extraordinarily playful and varied approach to melodies and drones, with a dedication to subtle yet complex details. The combination of Anna Rose Carter's piano, violin, and keyboard and Christopher Bailey's electronics, amplifiers, organs, and synthesizers creates something less shadowy than their first album in favor of a more melodic -- though still thoughtful -- endeavor that manages to move upon the thin line between nostalgia and optimism. While the album's shorter pieces are mostly based on lively piano tunes completed by forceful electronic components, the attentive "Sleepy Vipers" drags the listener into drones and violin that slow the pace to create an engaging peak in the duo's recordings. The album's excellent production grips the listener until the very last notes of the wonderful closing track "Lo." Moon Ate the Dark II is an impressive achievement and a testament to the perfect match between the project's two parts.
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SONIC 019LP
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2021 repress. LP version. Otto A. Totland's modern compositional elements are most widely-recognized as half of the Norwegian duo Deaf Center, where his melancholic, intricate piano work provides haunting relief to the beds of noise and deep strings from Erik K. Skodvin. Pinô is the first full-length release by Totland, though his solo work has been released once, as the five-minute A-side of Sonic Pieces' 7", Harmony from the Past. Otto's previously brief vignettes are now expanded into a fully personal realization of his own style. Initial track "Open" fills itself with heavy, knowing pauses that quickly become overwhelmed with the desire to understand what's to come. Each silence leads into quick flutters of keys, preparing the listener for a vast terrain of giddy beauty, bleak depths, and true contentedness. Pinô quickly recalls deep winter; in front of a fireplace for days on end, you lose how far along you've ventured into the 18 tracks without any idea how far is left to go. The experience feels inevitable, with no other option but to curl up somewhere cozy and appreciate the sense of timelessness that Totland has created. His album is a haunting modern compositional treasure, expressed through instrumentals completely unique to Totland and captured masterfully by Nils Frahm at Durton Studios. With Pinô, Otto A. Totland appears out of the Norwegian landscape, sharing an achievement that will provide relief during the brooding winter darkness. Though a highly personal endeavor, the recognizable continuation of Totland's compositions will attract fans of Deaf Center, and the cinematic and classical components of his solo work will hold sway for those familiar with Harold Budd or Dustin O'Halloran.
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PATT 001CD
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Deaf Center is seemingly never of the times. Whether it's the nostalgic component often associated with Pale Ravine and Owl Splinters, or the time between releases, waiting and remembering are part of the experience. Recount is a bridge between full albums, where time and familiarity are mesmerizingly suspended. Recorded during rehearsal sessions in 2012 and 2008, "Follow Still" and "Oblivion" make full use of the Deaf Center spectrum. In the direction of a live performance, Recount plays off of experience and reaction; a balancing act of improvisation, sonic detail, and emotion. "Follow Still," recorded in Berlin 2012, brings you to a recent past. The 13-minute track leads you down a melancholic pathway and into tunnels of memory. Minimal piano passages and warm repeating organ sounds are at the core, slowly blurring your sense of time while faint guitar amp noise and the sound of effect-pedals switching off and on makes you feel present at the recording. Engraved with intricate details and quiet moments, "Follow Still" pursues the night until dawn. "Oblivion," recorded 2008 in Oslo, recalls the live sets that followed the release of Pale Ravine. With this era condensed into one long track, the piece is an overwhelming mass of orchestral haze, crying strings and droning bass. The dense fog doesn't burden but calms, and as it starts to clear, reveals a true grandiosity. Recount is both a division and fusion of sound and time. Two tracks, two years, two people, two cities; ultimately, Deaf Center straddles worlds to lead to something unquantifiable and timeless.
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