This is my weekly(ish) answer to the question “What have you been listening to lately?” It’s lightly annotated because I don’t like re-posting material without providing some context. In the interest of conversation, let me know what you’re listening to in the comments below. Just please don’t promote your own work (or that of your label/client). This isn’t the right venue. (Just use email.)
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▰ Jeannine Schulz is my new favorite ambient musician about whom I know virtually nothing, except that she’s based in Hamburg, Germany, appears to do work in contemporary dance, and has released numerous albums this year of hypnotic, droning beauty. The second track on Closeness, “Shimmer,” is a particular favorite. It’s the sonic equivalent of standing very close to a massive painting and getting entranced by the texture.
▰ Melatonia, from the duo Pausal (Alex Smalley & Simon Bainton), is like a tour of cathedrals made of air. Shoegaze organs for days and daze. The releasing label, Past Inside the Present, is based in Indianapolis, Indiana. The album came out a month ago tomorrow.
▰ Four tracks, all recorded using no-input mixing, meaning the source audio is merely the noise of the system feeding back on itself and then transformed into something else entirely. Here, on Cycles by ANMA (aka Andreas Mangweth), that means rhythmic, echoing, industrial intensity. The recording was done back in March in Innsbruck, Austria. Mangweth posted some description of the process at llllllll.co.
Wow, Pausal is a brand new (to me) treasure. Been playing the back catalog for the last couple days.