#55: At My Father's Side
A guest reflection by my grandmother + 15 incredible new records worth listening to
Currently listening to: Early Memories by Patricia Wolf
Hello, friend.
As a follow-up to last week’s letter about my great grandpa, I’m excited to share a short story that my granny (daughter to my great grandpa) wrote for him on his 80th birthday. It’s absolutely beautiful and made me cry. I hope you enjoy it.
“At My Father’s Side” by Bonnie Cowley
The little girl cradled the seedling in her small hands, the black soil, loose on her pink fingers, crumbled down to the ground where a crude hole was dug. Gently, she placed the little package into the hole raking the dirt around the plant with her hands, all the while glancing up at me with her dark brown eyes as if to ask, “is this all right, Granny?” It’s perfect I say to myself... awed at the pleasure this small task seems to give her. My mind drifts back nearly 50 years. This time I’m the little girl sitting next to a long furrow, a handful of precious seeds in my hand. A gentle voice strokes my ears with the soft sound of encouragement and instruction. I’m content to sit and plant a few seeds, but mostly, I watch as my father cultivates the soil. I’m intrigued by the machine in his strong grasp. It makes no noise except the scritch scritch as its five curved tongs dig into the stony ground and the occasional squeak of its large steel wheel. At Dad’s side, I learned to love the earth and the world of nature.
My daughter and I are driving to work in the car. The CD player is blasting out one of her favorite tunes... it’s one of mine too. The two of us unashamedly sing out loud with the song, both jockeying to sing a different harmony. My mind drifts back to my early teens, to the Beatles, Peter Paul and Mary, and the Beach Boys. My dad was cool then. He liked my music. He would play my music on the record player. He would sing to my music too. But that really wasn’t so surprising. He loved all music. He would fill the house on Sundays with Dvorak’s New World Symphony. On Saturday afternoons he’d often play Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass as he worked around the house. If he could talk three or four of his daughters into doing the dishes, he would teach us On a Chinese Honeymoon until Mom would plug her ears or leave the room fearing the dishes would never get done. Or he’d pull out his guitar and sing the pop songs of his day. But I think my favorite times were late some evenings, when he would put on Mantovani and dance with me. At Dad’s side, I learned to love all music.
My fifteen-year-old son puts the finished coat of wax on the church tile floors. He stands for a minute and admires the beauty of a job well done. We talked about the week’s work... what it took to come to this pleasurable moment—the scraping, scrubbing and mopping, the heat and the sweat. My mind drifts back to the Pittsburgh church, the lovely green flagstone that was once blackened from soot and time. The hours upon hours of scraping, scrubbing, and mopping that I did with my dad to make them green again. I remember the wooden flooring under the pews and think about the many nights spent on hands and knees with sanders and varnish turning that old rough dark wood new again. I can still feel the softness of the wood under my hand, see the now visible flowing patterns of the wood grain outlining animals and faces like those you see in clouds. I can still smell the sawdust and feel its grit in my eyes. And I can still feel the heaviness in my shoulders, arms and legs as we drove home late at night... yet that heaviness somehow felt good. At Dad’s side, I learned to love to work.
I lie in bed. Tears run down my cheeks and into my ears. My throat is tight as I choke back the sobs. I’m angry with my husband. We’ve argued. Somehow, he just can’t see things my way. “If he loved me...” I say to myself... My mind drifts back. I am once again lying in bed, but this time I lie motionless, listening to the distant angry voices of my parents. Money is tight or one of my siblings is in some kind of trouble... I can’t really make out the conversation. I just know that they are unhappy and angry. Then I remember the love on their faces when they sing the anniversary song. I think of the lectures Dad would give us on respecting our mother and knowing how much he respected her. I can smell the wonderful bread Mom would make for him; the time she would take to look her best each day when he came home from work. I remember the procession of anniversaries. At my parents’ side, I learned about commitment.
I sit on the side of my grandchildren’s beds. I have read them several stories and have instructed them to fold their little hands. As I begin to recite “Now I lay me...” I must stifle back a yawn. The same yawn I would have to stifle night after night when I would say prayers when my own children were little. My mind drifts back to when I was tucked into bed. Dad had played us guitar songs (riled us all up, as Mom would say) then he’d tuck us into bed and say the prayer. “Now I lay me (yawn) down to sleep (yawn)...” It worked nearly every time. I don’t believe I yawned as much because I was tired, though, but because I was at peace, safe, and content. At Dad’s side, I learned about trust and about the Lord’s love.
Thank you, Dad!
Love,
Bonnie
The Living Music List
Hello again, friend. Now that we’ve spent some time together reminiscing on the past, let’s ground ourselves in the present with some wonderful new albums.
Happy listening.
Ambient
Aunque llegue la mañana by Raúl Cantizano & David Cordero (album / flamenco guitar, minimalist ambient) [Noray Records]^
A new album of ambient flamenco guitar? That’s what’s in store from the next release on David Cordero’s Noray Records: Aunque llegue la mañana (which translates to “even if the morning comes”). Cordero partnered with artists like experimental flamenco guitarist Raúl Cantizano and vocalist Lela Soto, weaving together 11 tracks of meditative, minimalist, and evocative soundscapes. Cordero says, “For me, this album represents a bold and very personal project. I felt the need to bring my roots closer to the sound I’ve been exploring for years, and this work is the result of that encounter.” — excerpt from my preview of the album in issue #53
The Time Before Us by Lena Natalia (album / ambient piano, neoclassical) [Independent]^
Lena Natalia’s eighth album of instrumental piano melodies may not entirely fit into the traditional “ambient” box. There are even hints of electronic percussion in a couple of the more energetic tracks (Not Forgotten, The Time Before Us). However, the majority of the record carries a sense of wistfulness and contemplation (Ecclesiastes, Rocking Chair, Decisions). There is something almost hypnotic in the melodies and simplicity of the key sounds with room around them to roam. It blends into the background, not in a forgettable way, but with a mostly unobtrusive, gentle manner. If you like piano music in the vein of Ólafur Arnalds or Nils Frahm, then this record will be a pleasant listen for you.
Hrafnamynd by Patricia Wolf (album / film score, meditative) [Balmat]
If there is one album you must listen to from this issue’s list, make it this one.
’s magnificient score for HRAFNAMYND, a new feature-length documentary by Wolf’s longtime friend and experimental filmmaker Edward Pack Davee, immerses listeners within Iceland’s uniquely striking landscapes. Created primarily using an UDO Super 6 synthesizer, the album comes to life with warm pads, textured mallets, and atmospheric drones. The record is also a clear example of Wolf’s attuned ear for field recording—she captured several during her first trip to Iceland in 2023 that made it into this score.Writing about the process of making Hrafnamynd, Wolf said, “I wanted to make sure that everything that I made was a direct reflection of what was happening on screen, a mirror of its emotion and energy so people could really lock into the film psychologically. This process took my composing to unexpected places—like being led by a strange cat or a raven that seemed to have something to show me… I hope that this music and film can guide others to contemplate on the history of their beingness and the people and places that shaped them.”
Broken Time Can Go In Many Directions by Ezekiel Honig (live set / ambient techno, percussive ambient) [12k]
This 40-minute live set, recorded in New York on November 16, 2024, is in that satisfying realm of muted ambient techno that scratches a certain itch in my brain. There’s almost an element of lowercase here, as little unknown ticks and bumps phase in and out of existence in tiny flashes against a quietly airy backdrop. Per the Bandcamp description, Honig arranged, edited, and processed pieces of his existing recordings on the fly, using “sounds [that] focus on texture, processed field recordings, heartbeat-driven rhythms, and fuzzy, interweaving melodics.”
Hiraeth by Sofie Birch & Antonina Nowacka (album / acoustic, vocal ambient) [Unsound]
“There’s no direct English translation for the word “hiraeth”. In the Welsh language, it describes a form of longing for an intangible something, somewhere or someone that no longer exists.” — Bandcamp description
This collaborative album, recorded on tape, is a smorgasbord of mystical acoustic instruments, delicate vocals, and a slow, improvisational tempo. It feels like a journey into a forgotten wonderland (in fact, the opening track is titled Rabbit’s Hole) and is at once meditative and physically enthralling, like a mild dose of psychedelics.
Caligo by Siavash Amini (album / experimental, noise) [Room40]
“What remains after mutilating and reassembling an essential historical recording?” asks Siavash Amini while describing this album on Bandcamp. Comparing the creation of this record to surgery, Amini explains that Caligo was inspired by “two of the earliest solo piano recordings in Iran's history, played by an incredibly ordinary but, at the same time, fascinatingly suspicious character.” Resurrecting snippets of these recordings and building upon them with various synthetic elements and textures, the resulting tracks are haunting, dark, and reminiscent of the body horror described by Amini’s surgical metaphors.
All Genres
FIRST 4:
I’ll be here by Vines (album / vocal ambient, post-rock) [Independent]
Almost added this to today’s ambient list but with it’s singer/songwriter tendencies and lyrics across multiple tracks, it is something more than. Still, there are beautiful ambient interludes throughout and Vines’ dreamy, reverberating vocals are reminiscent of Julianna Barwick.
From the Bandcamp description: “Vines, the solo project of New York-based multi-instrumentalist and composer Cassie Wieland, offers a window into her inner world through expansive swaths of sound. She pieces together a celestial mix of synths, percussion, strings, and vocoded voice, making music that is at once deeply personal and cinematic in scope.”
moisturizer by Wet Leg (album / alternative) [Domino]
Everyone’s favorite (least-favorite?) “industry plant” (I recommend learning more on that name-calling from
’s latest amazing article) returned last week with a fresh album of indie pop rock. The record pulls off a blend of pop-sensitive songwriting and gritty guitar-driven instrumentation for a sound reminiscent of 90s-00’s grunge-pop bands (it vaguely reminds me of Pavement, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Garbage). Singer Rhian Teasdale’s now patented dry vocal delivery makes a major contribution to that sound, and with lyrics that can be both tongue-in-cheek and sincere, it’s thoroughly enjoyable. Echoing Gabbie here, I say fuck the haters—let women make sexy rock songs!The Cosmic Selector Vol. 1 by Lord Huron (album / alt Americana) [Whispering Pine Studios]
Lord Huron’s vocals sound especially otherworldly on this new record that sounds oh so smooth. My one criticism of this album may be that there isn’t a single track that has yet really stood out to me, with the overall sound remaining surprisingly consistent throughout (there are tracks that are more or less upbeat, yes, but even with tempo changes, it’s all giving the same energy—maybe that’s impressive in its own right for those who love a cohesive record).
I like Apple Music’s description here: “Part of the project’s charm is that it never tries to sound too earnest or authentic in the moods it captures, instead embracing them for the cinematic archetypes they are, whether it’s the lonesome highway of Who Laughs Last (narrated by the incomparable Kristen Stewart) or the washed-up performer longing to see their name in lights one last time (The Comedian).”
Places of Unknowing by Jamie Lidell (album / experimental, alternative, ???) [Todo]
As a music curator who tries to bestow genre titles upon the records I recommend, it’s always fun to come up against one that defies categorization. Jamie Lidell’s Places of Unknowing is absolutely that kind of record. There are Lidell’s soulful vocals meandering around these tracks, but the instrumentation is utterly varied. There are moments where the music feels ambient and a little jazzy (Inner World, Return of the Repressed), dreamy and cinematic (Choraleme, The Center), or psychedelic (Unmasking, The Night I Went Crazy). I’m genuinely unsure what to make of this album beyond knowing that it astounded me with the turn of every new track.
IN THE QUEUE:
Headlights by Alex G (album / indie rock) [RCA Records]
onion by hard life (album / indie alt pop) [Island Records]
The Emperor’s New Clothes by Raekwon (album / rap) [Green Flag]
IIcons by Two Shell (album / electronic) [Young]
Memory Lane by Hans Ulrik, Henrik Gunde, Jesper Bodilsen & Anders Mogensen (album / smooth jazz) [AMM]
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. List format: Title by Artist (release type / genre or subgenres) [Label].
The Press Box
Today, I’m featuring a couple of new DIY music videos submitted by readers over the last month.
Easyyx2 by Nightout
“Eurodance production and saccharine mid-2010s indie and South Asian/Bollywood inspired vocals. Dreamscape, melody-driven, texture-heavy. Trans/Queer duo formed in the spring of 2025, making electronic pop in Georgia.” — Angel A.B. and Jackie W., the duo behind Nightout
Follow Nightout on Bandcamp to be notified of their upcoming August release, Temper (EP).
Medicine by See Thru Hands
“Fully DIY and the first See Thru Hands release in around 2.5 years, on the road to recovery after 2 near-death experiences.” — DNCN, vocalist and producer of See Thru Hands
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.
