Last Friday, David Helpling released the second single from his highly-anticipated new album, IN, dropping 4.15.22 on Spotted Peccary Music."This Burning Sky" features vocalist Nidhi Bhatmuley singing expressive wordless vocals conveying the story of a being who sacrifices herself to save her world. In listening to the music and Ms. Bhatmuley's singing, one wonders if she may have the power to elevate consciousness to the level of the divine.
Helpling creates this new world on guitar and synthesizer, hand drums and percussion; he is joined by Matthew Stewart on drums. Ms. Bhatmuley's vocals interlace with the instrumentals. The music soars and dives, shooting upwards again; we imagine the sun is high and bright as the vocals become evermore passionate. One imagines a phoenix. New textures emerge and vanish again, and we experience breathlessness. Is this Rebirth?
Listener reaction to "This Burning Sky" (7:20) has been highly positive, judging from commentary on social media. It seems we are, collectively, ready for intense journeys and adventures again even if it is through the safety of our headphones for now. We desperately want, even need, the being for whom Ms. Bhatmuley speaks to be triumphant. We ride musical waves of emotion as we empathize with her struggle, and her sacrifice.
Cosmic energy is at play. Helpling seems to be communicating with worlds far beyond ours. In this track alone, his music echoes across the ether, uplifted by Ms. Bhatmuley's soulful callings. This unforgettable anthem of loss, hope and rebirth told in Helpling's signature cinematic style is a strong choice to follow the lush electronic first single, "Waves Dream of Breaking."
Helpling says IN was created during the span of a decade, and we cannot wait to see what the rest of the album will deliver!Preview the music and the limited edition bundle with vinyl exclusively at Bandcamp.
Electronic and acoustic instrumental music of inspirational calm and great beauty. The Silence of Grace combines the electronic music of Deborah Martin with Jill Haley’s oboe and English horn. There’s something very magical about the serenity of nature, and Jill has connected her music with the spirit of the wilderness. Deborah Martin’s passion is to visualize and create music that takes each listener on a journey through time and space. Each track contains the synergy of the woodwinds and electronics, interpreting the peace that can be experienced in natural settings, such as forests, parks and by waterways.
This flowing and beautiful soundscape is filled with opportunities for adventure. The music I hear on this album represents to me the adoration of the Earth, seeking an understanding of natural phenomena, and finding commonalities between all living things, things that are best studied as a whole. Seeking to understand how the world and universe around us works. This laboratory is alive. Jill brings the light while Deborah brings the love of mystery, and the combination of these two amazing musicians (stargazers, ambassadors from another time) is magical to behold.
Grace has confidence. Nature sometimes has a way of slowing life down, presenting a complicated system of causes, allowing the inquisitive to discover common patterns. Mother Earth has her own agenda, perhaps seen in the beautiful nighttime and early morning light. "The Silence of Grace" (6:54) is filled with passion, dreams, and magic, recalling spacious skies and mountain majesties, expressing theories of divine natural forms, there is almost nothing to compare to it.
Hues change by time of day and season, wrinkles in the earth’s crust are actually mountains that wear the dawn like "Indian Heaven" (6:52), revealing an immensely intense feeling of a state of love, peace and joy, celestial electronics and deep confident cadences, hand percussion and a quiet reverence for the mysteries of life and death.
Rugged and remote, "Verdant Sanctuary" (5:01) invites the listener to meander further into the wilderness, to discover ancient trees and dramatic cave formations which appear with mirage-like effects. I hear chimes and swirling electronics joined with an oboe to create a tone poem, describing a forest filled with life, a vast roadless wilderness. Hidden seeds contain future forms, which are responsible for the reproduction and growth of succeeding life forms, listen to the tiny DNA ribbons of color. Our sacred earth sometimes begets butterflies!
The wild character of these sound regions is due, in part, to their sheer size. The water continues to flow, solitude is one of the many assets held in the woodlands. Allow yourself to be mesmerized by the greenest mountains, and the flora and fauna found in the ground and the water, a gaunt beauty and place of profound quiet. "The Stillness of Forest Bathing" (6:20) is expressed with the sound of cosmic radiation that gives way to the calm glory of solitary interaction with nature, providing the spirits of the land a chance to shine their light directly on you.
Fog lies like a soft white blanket on the indescribable ghostliness, hundreds of miles of pure snow-covered rocks and virgin lakes and high timber. Find yourself in a stunning place, a place buffered from change, and give yourself a reminder that you are a part of this magical world. "Fountains" (6:06) bring tingling droplets of water in motion lifted by complex layers of weaving instruments and air, filled with cascading melodic breezes.
The beauty that surrounds the Earth is both grand and subtle, come to the edge and look outward, explore with your ears a different walking path today, seek out that rugged vista, the river and its tributaries, and the wind calling, feeling as if you have found the very edge of the world, embarking on adventures that no one has before. "Earth Stone Water Sky" (4:06) evokes the beauty of the calm water, the light on the mountains, and mysterious elements containing light, whispers, and time.
The whole valley, as far as the eye can reach, is full of trails of smoke, curling up from its fissured floor. What I hear is a hot pulsing didgeridoo, a primitive dancing engine, joined by hand percussion as the woodwind breezes swirl overhead, electronics flow throughout until they transform into ascending spirits that trickle down as gentle droplets, almost like rain. It seems as if time has dropped away a million years and we are back in a primordial world, in the pouring rain, "From Fire Into Water" (6:36).
Time is a river flowing beyond the reach of the quietus, preserving the wild beauty and deep history that extends over the reach of humans, with perpetual cycles of precipitation, evaporation, run off, and infiltration. Water is like many mobile beings, bodies in motion, rising into the air to peacefully soar on the wind in a frolic. "Water Flows of Clouds and Thunder" (7:32) depicts dark winds gathering power, and then becomes a sparkling celebration of motion, as a delicate harp emerges to join the airborne dance. What I hear gives me an indescribable sense of a mysterious elsewhere, a vivid glow that illuminates the clouds and its plume, revealing a cloud-cloaked landscape, hanging pinnacled in midheaven, sometimes you can’t really see it clearly while you are there. The beauty is, in its starkness, something that seems worlds away. Humans and nature have lived together for thousands and thousands of years. Each natural object was carefully placed as if Mother Nature had a specific outcome in mind. A safe place is where someone can feel relaxed and find peace.
Deborah Martin is known for her mastery of subtlety and the essence of understatement, creating richly textured and highly emotive musical sojourns that always takes the listener on a journey. Some of her recent works include Hemispherica Portalis (a collaboration with Dean De Benedictis); Eye Of The Wizard; Under The Moon; Deep Roots, Hidden Water; Between Worlds (a collaboration with Erik Wøllo); Anno Domini (a collaboration with J. Arif Verner); Tibet (a collaboration with Madhavi Devi); and Ancient Power (a collaboration with Steve Gordon).
Jill Haley is an oboist, English horn player, pianist and composer who visits National Parks in the United States, often as an Artist in Residence, and composes music about the Park while living there. Some of these parks include Montana’s Glacier National Park; Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado; Badlands National Park, South Dakota; Wrangell/St. Elias National Park, Alaska; Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico; and Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida. Her catalog includes The Canyons and Mesas of Bandelier, The Winds of Badlands, Zion and Bryce Canyon Soundscapes, Glacier Soundscapes, The Waters of Glacier, Mesa Verde Soundscapes, and National Park Soundscapes.
Being outdoors and connecting with Mother Nature is probably as close to heaven as you can possibly get on this Earth. Find the place that you are surrounded by, the place which makes you feel most alive. Treat yourself to a musical nature walk. The views for your ears are spectacular! Experience the surreal musical tranquility of The Silence of Grace. Just sit and take it in with your headphones and observe the beauty.
TRACKLIST 1The Silence of Grace 2Indian Heaven 3Verdant Sanctuary 4The Stillness of Forest Bathing 5Fountains 6Earth Stone Water Sky 7From Fire Into Water 8Water Flows of Clouds and Thunder
I care about animals, global justice and the environment. I am a vegan and I try to purchase ecological and fair trade products as much as I can. - Johan Agebjörn
Some albums are worth revisiting; MOSSEBO is one of those albums in the Ambient Electronic realm, recently remastered and reissued by the team at Spotted Peccary Music in Portland, OR.
The Los Angeles Times’ August Brown called the original MOSSEBO “a more melancholy and ambient tone poem of an album,” and e/i Magazine wrote that it’s “like some brilliant bolt out of the blue, unexpected, surprising, ever-rejuvenating.” The collection of ambient pieces was composed between 2004 and 2007, and one additional track that was created in 1996; it is an album that is both electronic and organic at its core, with wordless vocals by Lisa Barra winding their way through many of Johan Agebjörn’s dazzling synth compositions.
The acclaimed Swedish electronica (Sally Shapiro) producer’s highly-anticipated MOSSEBO Special Edition: Remastered + Bonus Tracks “Kyrie Elesion” and “Unhappy Love,” evokes human warmth in a wintry landscape. An ambient sci-fi forward motion sound with shimmering electro beats, expertly juxtaposing intimacy and isolation, to which you can both dance and dream. This remastered, digital-only edition is available now only through SpottedPeccary.com andhttps://ambientelectronic.bandcamp.com/.
Barra’s childhood journeys through India led her to an appreciation of the folk music of different cultures, and that passion comes through on these tracks to express an array of emotions that range from soothing to foreboding, to uplifting; challenging emotions to convey in the world of electronic music. The socially-aware artists have agreed that the entire artist’s share of the royalties for Mossebo are going to be donated to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Agebjörn recalls the origin of the album: "In 2004-2005, I experienced a period of illness and unemployment, locating myself in a 19th century cottage in Sweden, called Mossebo. There, isolated in the countryside, I started composing, mainly acoustic piano music and electronic ambient music, influenced by the landscape around me.”
The angelic voice of Gothenburg-based vocalist Barra graces more than half of the tracks. Agebjörn heard her in 2003 at a performance for an animal rights event, and started to sample her sound for his ambient creations in 2004. “I sent her the results, and she liked what I did, so we started to record some new songs in a studio. We also performed the songs live at a concert in Linköping in 2005.” The performance was aired on regional TV and a small part of “Unitas Vitae” is on YouTube:
There are two Bonus Tracks on the new Special Edition. “Kyrie Eleison” (“Lord Have Mercy”) with Barra’s ethereal vocals, and the bittersweet “Unhappy Love.” The new tracks add a spiritual dimension and a thoughtful romantic epilogue. Overall MOSSEBO has an expansive, techno-ambient, melancholic feeling, with a lush textural color range, expertly mixed, produced and mastered. A remarkable journey through electronic terrain.
This special edition of Johan Agebjörn‘s full length debut, MOSSEBO, includes the original album plus the two previously unreleased tracks from the era, all meticulously remastered by Howard Givens in 24-bit clarity from the original mixes.
Speaking from Lund in May 2019, Agebjörn adds, "This remastered version of Mossebo includes a previously unreleased track from that 1996-1997 era called ‘Unhappy Love’. The main melodic sound on this track was actually sampled from a Commodore 64 computer storage tape, played on a tape-recorder and slowed down a few octaves. This same sound was later used on ‘Dulciter Somni’ – and on ‘Kyrie Eleison’, another bonus track exclusive to this edition of ‘Mossebo’. ‘Kyrie Eleison’ was also the first track I made using Lisa’s vocals. Have a listen.”
Tracklist:
1 Dulciter Somni (Remastered) 07:07
2 The Sound of Snowflakes Touching the Ground (Remastered) 08:45
3 Mossebo (Remastered) 01:08
4 The Sea (Remastered) 03:51
5 Ambient Computer Dance (Remastered) 05:39
6 Shoreline (Remastered) 03:20
7 Unitas Vitae (Remastered) 06:27
8 Putting More Wood in the Fire (Remastered) 02:07
9 Siberian Train Part I (Remastered) 08:43
10 Siberian Train Part II (Remastered) 08:10
11 A New Day Arrives (Remastered) 04:55
12 Kyrie Eleison (Bonus Track) 04:50
13 Unhappy Love (Bonus Track) 08:39 Mossebo: Special Edition is accessible in most formats via Spotted Peccary Music.
This peaceful video was called "resplendent" and "anointed" when it debuted on a Facebook Watch Party. If you love Autumn, forests and crisp walks as much as I do, this video may become your favorite for instant relaxation, meditation, or mindfulness sessions.
Shot as if one is walking - and sometimes flying - through the forest of changing light and color, one marvels at the massiveness of redwoods and the delicacy of dewy ferns. One senses the stillness and wonder of walking in the wood, enhanced by Adrian's unobtrusive soundscapes.
Composer-musician Rudy Adrian's career in Botany and Forestry is evident in the music of Woodlands, a reverent new ambient electronic album presenting 13 tracks including "Autumn in a Forest Glade." Video created by Daniel Pipitone of Spotted Peccary Music, the Portland-based label whose apt slogan is: Music is Art.
Enjoy it in full screen on YouTube anytime life gets too busy.
Hypnotic, captivating, dreamy, and vivid, the music drifts from electronic soundscapes to atmospheric textures, at times swirling and spinning through dazzling sequences and epic soaring refrains. Toward The Horizon is spacemusic in every sense. It's just what the doctor ordered to drown out the maddening buzz of current events, or to encourage new visions. The track “Tidal Disruption” suggests a better place than ours...a place similar to the album's intriguing cover, with beautiful horizons touching silver seas; “Liquid Heaven” could be the essential exploration of those same mysterious empyrean waters. One’s imagination is inspired to wander.
Electronic, ambient and rock music fans will thoroughly appreciate the resulting explosive melodies and ambient soundscapes. Allen uses Strymon Effects on his guitar, and all of the synthesizer parts on “Distant Waves” were created using only a modular synthesizer that was designed by legendary synth builder George Mattson. How does that sound in the end? In their words, "It’s a combination of our unique sensibilities. There are elements of progressive rock, spacemusic, Berlin-school, trance, as well as influences like Pink Floyd, Camel, and Tangerine Dream, etc..."
Composed, performed and produced by prolific electronic music artist Craig Padilla and multi-talented performer and music educator Marvin Allen, one would never guess it is the duo's first time working together. These skilled musicians have crafted a masterful free-flowing dreamscape that moves through a myriad of moods, revealing the many colors of an ever-changing sonic skyline. Melodic and rhythmic, surreal and drifting, the resulting music is a timeless adventure through illuminating guitar tonalities and majestic synthesizer vistas.
Very few labels offer an album "unboxing" playlist of videos, which was fun to discover on YouTube, and is just one of many quality touches that makes Spotted Peccary such a fine record label to follow; watch the unboxing of Toward the Horizon or visit Spotted Peccary to listen, purchase and browse.
In brief:Pulsing with life and vibrant energy, Toward the Horizon (Spotted Peccary Music, 2019) is a striking collaboration combining electronic music veteran Craig Padilla’s analog and digital synth mastery with the electric guitar wizardry of Marvin Allen.
Toward The Horizon releases today, February 22, 2019. on Spotted Peccary Music in both physical and digital formats, as well as 24-bit Audiophile format.
ZMR Continues A Tradition of Drawing Top New Age, World, Ambient and Electronica Artists to New Orleans...catch the ZMR Awards Tomorrow Night at The Joy Theater!
Deuter: Lifetime Achievement Award, 2016
Zone Music Reporter (aka ZMR) kicked off tonight at The Vacherie! An impressive lineup of presenters and performers are scheduled for the weekend concert at The Joy Theatre in New Orleans, Saturday May 7, 2016 at 7:30 p.m.
Fans of new age, world, ambient, solo piano and electronic music are in The Crescent City this weekend to celebrate the greatest artists in alternative instrumental music at the 12th Annual ZMR Music Awards. A showcase for legendary and newer artists alike, this year’s ZMR Music Awards will feature performances by Darlene Koldenhoven, Erik Scott, Jennifer Zulli, Jonn Serrie, Louis Colaiannia, Paul Avgerinos, Robin Spielberg, Ron Korb and Terra Guitarra. Biographies of the performers can be seen athttp://www.zonemusicreporter.com/admin/performers.asp
The evening’s highlight will be honoring German born, Santa Fe based composer and multi-instrumentalist Deuter for his groundbreaking career, which began with the release of his debut album D in 1971 and has included over 60 recordings. He is known for his meditative style which blends elements of Eastern and Western music, as well as his mastery of a multitude of ethnic instruments and continued exploration of new frequencies and resonances.
“One thing that is important for me is that I love dancing on the edge of the unknown- to play around and open doors I haven’t walked through before,” Deuter says. It is this very outlook that has kept him at the forefront of musical evolution for over four decades. Over the years, he has released albums with Kuckuck Schallplatten, Higher Octave Music, Celestial Harmonies and New Earth Records. His most recent albums including the compilation Eternity, an album of nature sounds he recorded himself and his newest releases Mystic Voyage, Reiki Hands of Love and Illumination of the Heart, all released in 2015.
David Arkenstone and your's truly, 2014.
The show will be hosted by renowned music writers RJ Lannan and Bill Binkelman, with Award Presentations by Steven Halpern, Jennifer DeFrayne, Tom Carleno, Ricky Kej, Ann Sweeten, Erik Scott, and Candice Michelle. In addition to the performers and presenters, popular artists – many of whom are also nominees -- confirmed to attend include Fiona Joy, Get Tribal, Hans Christian, Andy Mitran, Al Jewer, Lisa Downing, Wouter Kellerman, Jeff Oster, Neil Tatar, Kori Carothers, Josie Quick, Bruce Hecksel, Bob Ardern, Sensitive Chaos, Jeff Pearce, David Nevue, Paul Speer, Barbara Hills, Catherine Marie Charlton, Cathy McIntyre Oakes, Jim Combs, and more, providing a great opportunity for fans, artists, and broadcasters alike to meet and mingle. Open to the public, the event welcomes music lovers from across the globe, as well as local residents preferring quieter vibes following the city’s famous Mardi Gras and Jazz Fest events. One of the best-priced concerts of its kind, the show includes hours of live performances by myriad ZMR and GRAMMY® award-winning artists, with the awards presentations in between acts.
Will Ackerman (Windham Hill/Imaginary Road) & friends performing in recent years.
With the continuous growth of the small, privately owned ZMR Music Chart & Awards, several exciting satellite shows are scheduled around town on the nights leading up to the event. Renowned electronic guitarist Jeff Pearce performs an intimate FREE show at Pete’s Pub at the Intercontinental Hotel on Friday, May 6 at 11 p.m. Electronic artists Sensitive Chaos, allthecolorsofthedark with Mark Louque and Proud Father will play on Thursday, May 5 at the Mudlark Public Theatre at 9 p.m. The ZMR Music Awards are a hugely popular event amongst music industry professionals. A great many recording artists, performers, radio promoters, producers and a slew of industry executives travel from all corners of the globe to attend the weekend-long celebration, which has joined with InterContinental New Orleans as its official hotel partner this year. The 2015 event was an overwhelming success, turning into a four-day triumph, and this year promises to be bigger and brighter than ever, with multiple networking and social events rounding out the weekend. For over a decade, Zone Music Reporter has been establishing itself as the premier resource for the best in New Age, World, Electronic/Ambient and Instrumental music. New Orleans’ Joy Theater has become the spiritual home of the yearly ZMR Music Awards.
Peter Kater (Lifetime Achievement Award Honoree, 2015) & Tina Malia
Winners will be announced live in New Orleans on May 7, 2016; the awards are interspersed with live concert performances, beginning at 7:00pm. There are thirteen categories voted on by Radio Programmers and DJs this year, including Album of the Year, Best New Artist, Best Piano Solo, Best Acoustic, Best Ambient, Best Contemporary Instrumental Album, Best Chill/Groove Album, Best Electronic Album, Best World Album, and many more. For a complete list of categories and nominees, please visit Zone Music Reporter. A sampling of performances from recent ZMR Award Shows can be viewed here on YouTube.
In my life, I've found that music helps me in the space when the shock of a tragedy subsides but healing still feels a long way off. When there are just no "right" words to say, it is MUSIC that often makes the silence more bearable. In the wake of Sandy Hook, I'm not ready for the anger-filled debates underway, I'm still in a place of mourning and introspection, remaining open to guidance and wisdom far beyond my own. To me, it is still a time for prayers, for mourning kaddishes, for meditation, and sympathy. However, it is inspiring to see some finding a way out of the sorrow with positive action. I found a wonderful compilation on Bandcamp today, and chose to contribute while also filling my world with healing sounds and thoughts. While surely there will be mainstream music tribute concerts for Sandy Hook in the near future, the quiet pensiveness of this album strikes me as striking the right note for now.
For Our Children is a digital-only compilation from an organization called Sound for Good: Good Music for a Good Cause. Apparently, they create compilations for fundraising, attracting people with a very low minimum of $1, and then donating all the proceeds to the cause. In this case, they've teamed up with 30 artists from various genres and HEALING NEWTOWN (healingnewtown.org) a division of the Newtown Cultural Arts Commission.
The collective message from the artists reads "Our message in the album is to shine your light. We have come together as artists to support the healing process of those impacted by the Sandy Hook Elementary tragedy of December 14th, 2012. This album serves as sound healing comfort for children and adults throughout the world." This is a soothing compilation, punctuated by spoken word and chant. Ironically, I feel that those who would most benefit from this sound healing are those who've pushed aside the healing process and jumped into the angry fray over their own issues. I do hope this music will find its way to them, and they'll save some precious time for the mourning and community building that is so necessary.
Please read more and explore the generous artists at: Bandcamp's designated site for the album.
