Disquiet

Despite a lingering reputation for stasis, ambient music does not all necessarily proceed at the same pace. Even putting aside ambient recordings that engage with a pulse or a beat, there is ambient that sounds like time is standing still, and there is also ambient that sounds like time is rushing by — and everything in between. This live performance by Nick Lisher, who records as Lesjamusic, edges toward the latter. The video has an internal momentum that, in combination with a gently grating form of sonic processing, suggests the whir of countless small machines making extended and continued work of some intractable problem. A hovering drone amid the delicate noise is almost a soundtrack to the soundtrack: a shadow of the frantic sounds.

I wrote previously about Lesjamusic back in early May.

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.

▰ A fantastic Norwegian trio — Arve Henriksen: trumpet, piano and electronics; Eivind Aarset: guitars and electronics; Terje Isungset: drums and percussion — explore on Uncharted Waters varied territory, from mellifluous jazz (“The Drowned Beat”) to Fourth World atmospherics (“Echoes from the Shore”) to propulsive improvisation (“Jazz for Drowned Cities”).

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▰ The two tracks of En Mi contain heightened soundscape drones from Spanish composer Susana López, part of the Fifteen Minutes of Anonymity postcard series.

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▰ Ukraine-based Fedir Tkachov processing a cello, including extruding percussive elements, for a beautiful solo performance.