#51: Sunburn
An ambient beach atmosphere is reflected on my red skin + plenty of reader-submitted music along with a new Biosphere album
Currently listening to: Time Of Man by Biosphere
Hello, friend.
Most of my body is warm and red this morning. Among the inflamed skin scorched by yesterday’s sun, there are white goosebumps that remain indefinitely, in defiance of the damage.
It was my first beach day of the summer, which is always a burner despite the sunscreen applied. That’s the price of admission, it seems.
A worthy price, for few environments envelop one in such a state of bliss as an afternoon at the beach. It’s one of those places that reminds me where a good chunk of my adoration for the ambient genre was born.
Within the sphere of the ocean’s influence, the world moves and sounds different, and slower than daily life in the city or the suburbs. The salty waves lap at the malleable shore in a meditative loop. The breeze is cooling and consistent, being unbounded by buildings. Birds caw and flap their papery wings on the oceanic wind, which, meanwhile, gently blows particles of golden sand across the surface of the dunes.
With one’s head down on a towel, one ear slightly muffled by the ground below, the surrounding swaths of beachgoers share in the atmosphere. They sound separated from me by some sort of barrier, like everyone is in their own bubble of vacation that’s only partially penetrable by outside noise. There’s the rabble of children screaming at the icy touch of the water on their foot or playing castles in the sand. Some adults chitter chatter, while others read their books in silence save for the occasional shuffling in their metallic beach chairs that creak and groan with the shifting of weight. Rarely, excerpts of songs on someone’s radio cut through, like Santeria by Sublime or some Bob Marley tune.
All of this noise—the natural and the human-made—comes together in a delicate collage of life on the beach. A soundscape of serenity, dappled with the vibrant artifacts of an easygoing summer’s day.
I laid there for hours, content just to lay and do little more than read a short story or gaze up at the wispy clouds as they marched across the bright blue sky. All the while, I felt the inevitable impact of the beating sun, knowing it was reddening my skin despite my best efforts.
Still, as I write to you this morning with charred shoulders, I feel the warm embrace of that space in which I was lucky enough to spend a few hours yesterday. It’s all there—the waves, the sand, the sky, and the people lounging in peace—captured in my blood.
500 Sub Giveaway + Discord Invite
Hello again, friend—2 quick notes for you before we jump into the music lists:
Poetry Book Giveaway: Hum, Buzz, & Hiss is quickly approaching 500 subscribers, so I’m running a giveaway! 3 winners will receive a signed paperback copy of my poetry book Shifting Senses, Lifting Lenses: A Book of Poems and Songs. You can enter by completing 3 simple steps:
Invite a friend to subscribe to Hum, Buzz, & Hiss on Substack using the referral link on my leaderboard page: https://meltedform.substack.com/leaderboard
DM me your referred friend’s name/email so I can confirm they subscribed (DM on Substack or Discord… alternatively, you can email me at meltedform@gmail.com)
Join the HB&H Discord (see how below): https://discord.gg/UD6udayQzm
Bonus: If you can successfully refer 5 or more friends to subscribe to the newsletter, I will buy you an album on Bandcamp (max $10, only for the first person to do so).
Giveaway ends July 1!
My self-published book of poetry, Shifting Senses, Lifting Lenses: A Book of Poems and Songs. (ICYMI) Join our community on Discord: Last week, I announced that the HB&H Discord Community is open to everyone. Please consider joining our growing server of music lovers, artists, and label heads. We regularly chat, share music, and support each other’s work. Plus, you’ll get more music and info from me exclusive to that space.
The Living Music List
I’m thrilled to share this week’s list of new music with you, friend. Much of it was created and shared with me by readers of the newsletter, which is honestly the biggest treat of running this thing—getting to hear and amplify your music. There’s a lot of cool stuff in both lists, so sit back, get your headphones, and enjoy exploring these unique records.
Happy listening.
Ambient
Solarium Songs by Hiram (album / electroacoustic, environmental) [Permaculture Media]^
“It's an exploration of botanical time, composed in creative dialogue with living plants. The album transforms biological signals into a multidimensional listening experience, designed for self-induced trance states and deep somatic connection.” — Matthew Hiram
Limbic Atlas by Eir Drift (album / drone, meditative) [Independent]^
“Built from layered synthetic textures—at times smooth like sine waves, at times more raw and mineral—the album is a journey through gentle tension, soft resolution, and subtle transformation.” — Bandcamp description
Time by Color Drift (album / meditative, drone) [Independent]^
“What began as a nightly practice to unwind gradually evolved into a full collection of ambient compositions which are meditative, spacious, unhurried, and an attempt to slow time. Time moves listeners into a slowed-down space. Designed less to provoke than to gently dissolve, offering a soft focus for reflection, calm, presence—inviting you to drift.” — Bandcamp description
Epoch by George Fetner (album / drone, meditative) [Independent]^
“I first wrote the piece for a sound installation in 2011, and had no plans to release it after the exhibit concluded. Last year, an opportunity arose in which Epoch would accompany a screening of silent home movies. I took this opportunity to revive it, giving it much-needed attention through detailed editing, remixing, and remastering. The harmonic content comes from "Carolina," which was named the state song of South Carolina in 1911 (music by Anne Curtis Burgess). The melodies and rhythms of the bass and voice sounds come from the first line "Call on thy children of the hill" (words by Henry Timrod).” — George Fetner
The Way of Time by Biosphere (album / melodic, electronic) [AD 93]
“The Way Of Time takes loose inspiration from Elizabeth Madox Roberts’ novel The Time Of Man, sampling Joan Lorring’s voice from the 1951 radio play adaptation of the novel. Biosphere’s signature ambient loops, soothing arctic synths and melodies combine with Lorring’s sweet, wistful and deep-south wonderings to create a record that is both deeply human and searching.” —Bandcamp description
Note: Drum machine beats on tracks 3 and 4.
All Genres
FIRST 5:
Piece of My Scape by Takeo Watanabe (album / experimental electronic) [Artificial Owl Recordings]^
Disjointed, off-kilter electronics that swirl and stutter across 11 vignettes.
CURSE by Unknown Mortal Orchestra (EP / alternative) [Jagjaguwar]
“UMO’s CURSE EP reflects these cursed times we find ourselves in. Taking inspiration from Italian horror films of the 1970s and 1980s, the six songs on the release are as cathartic a listen as the band has ever recorded. Featuring both abrasive, Black Sabbath-inspired riffs on ‘BOYS WITH THE CHARACTERISTICS OF WOLVES’ as well as the laid back, intricate guitar playing UMO is maybe most famous for on ‘DEATH COMES FROM THE SKY’, the CURSE EP is the perfect soundtrack to your next confrontation with the void.” — Bandcamp description
I quit by HAIM (album / alt rock) [Columbia Records]
“Every single song has a theme of quitting something that isn’t working for us anymore.” — Alana Haim
PRODUCT by SOPHIE (album, reissue / electronic) [Numbers]
10th anniversary reissue of SOPHIE’s debut, now with 2 bonus tracks. Still such a massive too-soon loss in the electronic scene and worth a revisit.
Scratch It by U.S. Girls (album / alternative) [4AD]
“In just ten days, Remy and her band […] recorded Scratch It live off the floor with minimal overdubs, mixed to tape. Scratch It weaves together country, gospel, garage rock, soul, disco, folk balladry, and more, with Remy’s masterful songwriting threaded throughout. Her choice to discard the computer-based production of previous albums in favor of two-inch tape serves the songs well, introducing an element of sonic shapeshifting expected from an artist nearly twenty years into making records.” — Bandcamp description
Music List Reminders: Bold and ^ denote reader-submitted work. Bandcamp links provided for every record that is available on the platform. If an album is not on Bandcamp, YouTube or other streaming links are provided.
One More Thing: Somnia Noise
We live in a pretty chaotic world—full of distraction, division, noise, fear, and frankly, a lot of nonsense. I wanted to create something that could help me pause, breathe, and tune out for a little while. And if it can help others do the same, even better.
That was a quote from Aleks, a musician from Norway and the creator of Somnia Noise, a YouTube channel that publishes longform ambient and experimental electronic works.
The music within the Somnia Noise project is currently divided into two categories:
Sleep Fields: 10-hour ambient soundscapes to support sleep, meditation, and deep rest
Drift: shorter, experimental episodes built around a listening journey and harnessing feedback, drones, and varied electronic textures
As of writing this, Aleks has released 12 episodes in the Sleep Fields series, which means there are already 12+ hours of relaxing soundscapes ready for listening. He briefly explained what inspired the series, saying:
So many people struggle with anxiety, restlessness, even sleep—and I just hope this can make things slightly better, or at least a bit easier. Something calm. Something human. Something that helps you just be for a moment.
Something human. That’s a key component here—how many YouTube channels featuring ambient soundscapes are now nothing more than unoriginal, AI-generated slop? Too many, unfortunately. Aleks is quite aware of it, too—Somnia Noise is his contribution of real human art that is inspiringly imperfect and thoughtfully crafted.
Somnia Noise grew out of a desire to blend that love for sound design with something more freeform. I honestly got a bit bored of the traditional process of creating 5–10 minute tracks and releasing them. Often, I’d start a session with one idea, and suddenly it would drift into ambient territory.
I’m also a producer of hypnotic techno under a different alias, and this project gives me a chance to explore sound from a completely different angle—a slower, deeper one. I love working hands-on with machines in the studio—shaping tones, experimenting with feedback, layering textures.
For something more improvisational, moody, and cinematic, try the first episode of Somnia Noise’s Drift series. According to Aleks’s description of the piece: it’s a cinematic drone experience built entirely from the Lyra-8, the organismic synthesizer by SOMA Laboratory, paired with a single modulated echo-feedback effect—all recorded live in one take.
You can explore Somnia Noise’s growing catalogue on YouTube and subscribe to be notified of all future longform ambient pieces from Aleks.
That’s all for this week’s issue. Thank you for reading. Until next time.
Your friend,
Melted Form
Remember to listen to the hum, buzz, & hiss of the world around you—there is music to be heard there.
Read the previous issue of The Living Music List:
Afterword—Let’s Get In Touch
Are you an artist, a label owner, or a member of the press? Want to share an in-depth feature of your upcoming release, an advertisement, or a guest post for a future Hum, Buzz, & Hiss issue? Get in touch with me at meltedform@gmail.com or join our Discord Community. As always, I would love to hear and recommend your music, especially if it’s new and ambient/electronic/experimental.
