On Repeat: Amen, Technolessness, Horn+Synth

Home/office playlist

/ By Marc Weidenbaum

On Sundays I try to at least quickly note some of my favorite listening from the week prior — things I would later regret having not written about in more depth, so better to share here briefly than not at all.

▰ The Amen Break is tough to work with without sounding self-referential, without sounding like you’re commenting on the endless other previous uses of the Amen Break. The musician who goes by Breakwork — based in Brighton, UK — manages to bypass that matter by breaking the ubiquitous sample into ever tinier, virtually unrecognizable bits on Nybltrax. And then, in turn, reworking that. (An earlier release by Breakwork is, tellingly, titled Dangerously Close to Stupid Amount of Breaks.)

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▰ Some dreamy gorgeous sonic hazescapes from Belgium-based Marco Morati, on this dozen-track set titled Redemption. It’s like dub techno reduced beyond recognition, dub techno minus the techno, especially the piece titled “Conditioned.” More form Morati at youtube.com/@marco.morati.

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▰ Horn and synth have, in the past year or so, become a major favorite combo for me, and the first available track, “Reno Silver,” by synthesizer player Elori Saxl and clarinetist/saxophonist Henry Solomon from their forthcoming Seeing Is Forgetting, due out February 6, hints at the treasures we may be up for. More from Saxl at elorisaxl.com and Solomon at henrysolomon.com.

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Aphex Twin x Russell Holzman

Give the drummer some IDM

/ By Marc Weidenbaum

A friend shared with me this great video of drummer Russell Holzman, aka starpowerdrummer, playing a tight bit of accompaniment to Aphex Twin’s now classic “Avril 14th.” The original turns 25 this year, having come out on the 2001 album Drukqs. For at least a decade, if not longer, musicians have been posting cover versions of the song on the titular date. This video, not quite a cover, arrives early, and raises the bar for those looking to join in in a few months’ time. This video appeared as a YouTube short, a somewhat annoying format, in that unnecessary effort is required to locate track description and release date. The recording is also on Holzman’s popular Instagram account, where he subsequently gave an older Aphex Twin track, “Flim,” off 1997’s Come to Daddy album, a similar treatment.

Disquiet Junto Project 0733: Window Drop

The Assignment: Add to the sound outside your window

/ By Marc Weidenbaum

Each Thursday in the Disquiet Junto music community, a new compositional challenge is set before the group’s members, who then have five days to record and upload a track in response to the project instructions.

Membership in the Junto is open: just join and participate. (A SoundCloud account is helpful but not required.) There’s no pressure to do every project. The Junto is weekly so that you know it’s there, every Thursday through Monday, when your time and interest align.

Tracks are added to the SoundCloud playlist for the duration of the project. Additional (non-SoundCloud) tracks also generally appear in the llllllll.co discussion thread.

Disquiet Junto Project 0733: Window Drop
The Assignment: Add to the sound outside your window.

Step 1: Open a window.

Step 2: Put a microphone near your window and press record.

Step 3: Optional: Close your window.

Step 4: Listen back to the resulting field recording.

Step 5: Find a continuous segment that you want to work with.

Step 6: Layer music atop the unaltered field recording that you feel suits it and complements it.

Bonus: Post a photo of your window and the view.

Tasks Upon Completion:

Label: Include “disquiet0733” (no spaces/quotes) in the name of your track.

Upload: A person participating in the Disquiet Junto should post only one track per weekly project (SoundCloud account preferred but not required). If on occasion you feel inspired to post more than one track (whether to a single account or across multiple accounts), you should clarify which is the “main” rendition for consideration by fellow members and (if on SoundCloud) for inclusion in the SoundCloud playlist.

Share: Post your track and a description/explanation at https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0733-window-drop/

Discuss: Listen to and comment on the other tracks.

Additional Details:

Length: The length is up to you. How much fresh air do you need?

Deadline: Monday, January 19, 2026, 11:59pm (that is: just before midnight) wherever you are.

About: https://disquiet.com/junto/

Newsletter: https://juntoletter.disquiet.com/

License: It’s preferred (but not required) to set your track as downloadable and allowing for attributed remixing (i.e., an attribution Creative Commons license).

Please Include When Posting Your Track:

More on the 733rd weekly Disquiet Junto project, Window Drop — The Assignment: Add to the sound outside your window — at https://disquiet.com/0733/

On Repeat: Keinseier, DAFAKE, Corruption

Home/office playlist

/ By Marc Weidenbaum

On Sundays I try to at least quickly note some of my favorite listening from the week prior — things I would later regret having not written about in more depth, so better to share here briefly than not at all.

▰ The feeds are stuffed with the riches of Jamuary. This is Keinseier, based in Hamburg, Germany, doing up some glitchy ambient.

▰ Paris-based Antoine M, aka DAFAKE, goes deep and dark, bringing to mind some of the work of Sussan Deyhim and Richard Horowitz.

▰ Been a while since I checked in on Corruption, whose Soundcloud account has topped 2,000 tracks, and the latest appears to be of the field recording variety in a particularly reverberant space. (The embed isn’t working, so go right to the track.)

Disquiet Junto Project 0732: Color Drenching

The Assignment: What does it sound like?

/ By Marc Weidenbaum

Each Thursday in the Disquiet Junto music community, a new compositional challenge is set before the group’s members, who then have five days to record and upload a track in response to the project instructions.

Membership in the Junto is open: just join and participate. (A SoundCloud account is helpful but not required.) There’s no pressure to do every project. The Junto is weekly so that you know it’s there, every Thursday through Monday, when your time and interest align.

Tracks are added to the SoundCloud playlist for the duration of the project. Additional (non-SoundCloud) tracks also generally appear in the llllllll.co discussion thread.

Disquiet Junto Project 0732: Color Drenching
The Assignment: What does it sound like?

Step 1: Consider the design concept of “color drenching.”

Step 2: Record a piece of music that you think sounds like color drenching.

Note: The New York Times has described “color drenching” in interior design as “meaning the walls, ceiling and even trim are painted using the same [color].”

Tasks Upon Completion:

Label: Include “disquiet0732” (no spaces/quotes) in the name of your track.

Upload: A person participating in the Disquiet Junto should post only one track per weekly project (SoundCloud account preferred but not required). If on occasion you feel inspired to post more than one track (whether to a single account or across multiple accounts), you should clarify which is the “main” rendition for consideration by fellow members and (if on SoundCloud) for inclusion in the SoundCloud playlist.

Share: Post your track and a description/explanation at https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0732-color-drenching/

Discuss: Listen to and comment on the other tracks.

Additional Details:

Length: The length is up to you.

Deadline: Monday, January 12, 2026, 11:59pm (that is: just before midnight) wherever you are.

About: https://disquiet.com/junto/

Newsletter: https://juntoletter.disquiet.com/

License: It’s preferred (but not required) to set your track as downloadable and allowing for attributed remixing (i.e., an attribution Creative Commons license).

Please Include When Posting Your Track:

More on the 732nd weekly Disquiet Junto project, Color Drenching — The Assignment: What does it sound like? — at https://disquiet.com/0732/