Hibernaculum is a Latin word that suggests a ‘tent for winter quarters’ and is sometimes used by zoologists to refer to shelters used by many kinds of animals & insects to take safe refuge and bide the time until the arrival of spring. It is an apt metaphor for the music represented by the albums featured here which have provided a kind of mental refuge into which I’ve retreated many times over recent days. Each is an introspective gem which all combined represents the work of 21 different artists either working alone or in collaboration. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I have.
Benoît Pioulard & Offthesky – Sunder
I was somewhat suprised to learn that Sunder is the first full-length collaboration between Thomas Meluch, aka Benoît Pioulard, and Jason Corder best known under the moniker of Offthesky. You may be as well once you immerse yourself in the tape saturated verdure that grows out of the seamless blending of their distinctive stylistic approaches. Recorded at studios in their respective locations of Brooklyn (Meluch) and Denver (Corder) the album is a lush, diaphanous weave of electric and acoustic guitar, voice, microcassette tape, field recordings, modular synth, strings and flute that aches with melancholy and organic beauty.
Sunder is available from Laaps in both limited CD and vinyl LP editions featuring artwork by Benoît Pioulard.
Links: Bandcamp (CD/LP/digital)
The Bird’s Companion – The Edge of the Sea
It is good to see Whitelabrecs pressing forward with their eRecords series which elevates the EP experience with themed releases each of which is accompanied by a PDF scrapbook including polaroids and liner notes. I tend to think of them as musical novellas and this one from Canadian musician Casey van Wensem, aka The Bird’s Companion, is a particularly fine example. Designed to be experienced as an album right down to having A and B sides, this lovely record uses layers of shimmering arpeggiated guitar tones to create its dreamlike out-of-time atmosphere.
The Edge of the Sea is available from Whitelabrecs featuring artwork & design by Harry Towell.
Chihei Hatakeyama, Hakobune, zakè, From Overseas – Live Improvisations
This pair of live collaborations between two very compatible artist duets begins with what must be considered nothing less than found treasure for ambient music enthusiasts. We start with a recently unearthed 2014 performance by Chihei Hatakeyama and Hakobune, a tender and patient exploration of sonic space described with supreme eloquence by Thomas Meluch who makes his appearance here as author of the liner notes.
At times the only reminder of human hands in this billowing expanse is the distant flit of a fingertip, lightly scratching the A string while shifting chords. Altogether it gives the feeling of being dropped into one extended moment of an eternal drift, eons easing outward on either side of the fade.
The B side of the album is a performance by zakè and frequent collaborator Kévin Séry, aka From Overseas, which responds in kind, an efflorescent homage to the spirit of the newly discovered work of two legends of the scene from two artists very much on its vanguard.
Live Improvisations is available …
Various Artists – Sleeplaboratory4.0
The final entry here is another Whitelabrecs offering, this time an expansive collaboration that servers as the fourth volume of the label’s Sleeplaboratory series that features no less than 14 tracks intended to serve “as a relaxing companion for either conscious or sub-conscious listening.” While many of the contributing artists have released music on the label previously, some make their first appearance on this particular series while others are new to the roster altogether. For many listeners that means this album can double as jumping off point for discovery across a spectrum of ambient, electroacoustic, and modern classical music, but rest assured the curatorial compass her is always pointed to true north and both selection and sequencing work together very well to deliver the desired anodyne effect.
Sleeplaboratory4.0 is available digitally and in a limited vinyl-effect CD edition featuring artwork & design by Andrew Heath. The album was mastered by James Edward Armstrong.
Links: Bandcamp (CD/digital)
Stationary Travels 