Currently listening to: inertia by Melted Form
Hello, friend.
Before jumping into today’s reflection, a quick announcement about my album release. As you can see from the Bandcamp preview above…
Bandcamp pre-order for dyschronometria is live!
Out in full on September 5, you can pre-order the album here on digital and limited edition CD! Pre-ordering includes an early download of the opening track inertia, which some readers may remember first hearing as a demo in this newsletter.
Additionally, if you use Apple Music, Tidal, or a few other streaming services, you can hear an exclusive first listen of a second single, carnival above the cavern, by pre-saving the album via my Tribly page. Links to Apple Music and Bandcamp also available on HearNow.
Can’t wait for you all to hear the full album on September 5! Reminder that you can also join our Discord community to get updates first on the new album and all things HB&H!
P.S. If you’re a fellow music writer, I’d love to share the full album with you early—let’s chat! Also, a reminder that this album will NOT be on Spotify, due to many issues that I have with the platform, but all other streamers will have it.
Hello again, friend.
How are we feeling these days? There is… a lot going on, to say the least.
I recently read a post by Queen Kwong of Historical Hysteria called How to Sell Yourself While the World Burns. In the post, Queen Kwong writes about how artists can feel rather icky about trying to promote and sell their work while knowing how much suffering there is in so many places around the world. Why should people buy our albums if their limited funds would be better used as donations for those in need?
Not only that, but us artists have also found ourselves in this odd, forced position of being marketers and publishers and wearing a million other hats that many of us don’t really want to wear.
In a recent episode of the all:ambient podcast, the hosts interviewed ambient artist and mastering engineer James Bernard. For those who don’t know him, Bernard is an LA-based artist who’s involved behind the scenes at the Past Inside the Present label, as well as working at Spectrasonics, among many other projects. He’s also husband to Cynthia Bernard, AKA marine eyes, whom many of you likely follow here on Substack. During the podcast, James contributed his thoughts to this discussion around artists being asked to do everything and the pressure that can lead to.
All of this has really been buzzing around my brain lately as I’ve begun to promote my own album. Part of why it took me 5 years to get around to releasing this record was because of pressure—an anxious doubt that I constantly grappled with as I listened to and tinkered with the tracks. How would I package this? It’s not the most conventional music. It’s going to have a niche audience. What’s even the point? People are starving and dying and what good will my music do for them?
Eventually, though, I decided to let that doubt go. I had to. Because holding onto it—holding onto my music—was eating away at me from the inside. Art demands to be released because it is, at its core, expresssion. It must be expressed. While we express it from ourselves as we make it, it won’t allow us to stop there. It emerged and took on a form not just because we needed to let it out for ourselves, but because someone else will inevitably need it too. No matter how niche or weird, I am confident there is always something for everyone—we are usually not alone in what we find compelling and inspiring.
I want to close today’s reflection with the comment I wrote in response to Queen Kwong’s post. If I were to give this tidbit of thought a title, I’d call it “Little Fires.”
The Living Music List
Hello again (again), friend. I hope you enjoyed the brief reflection and are excited for dyschronometria. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the whole “artists must be everything” topic—feel free to share them in the comments.
Let’s get on with the new music recommendations. Some great little fires in store for you, including a couple from your fellow HB&H readers.
Happy listening.
Ambient
FIRST 3:
Most People Are Other People by Dapper Blob (album / melodic, minimalist) [City of Animals]^
There’s a certain kind of touch that some artists have—that soft, just-right force behind their work that works like a golfer successfully sinking a distant putt. Dapper Blob demonstrates that kind of touch on his 15th release, Most People Are Other People. The record, themed around the innately interconnected world in which we live, carries 14 tracks that are as varied as the many other people who likely inspired it. There are bright, twinkling loops, electronic beeps and boops, deep drones, and soft piano melodies. Overall, the record keeps to itself in a way, never overstepping or overstating itself, while being captivating all the while. It would fit in a dramatic space documentary as well as it would in a quiet meditation or a busy writing session.
an antimatter of fact by Ritual Madness (album / dark ambient, drone) [Independent]^
This is “void music about feeling stagnant in the flow of time,” according to pads (AKA Ritual Madness). Huge, swelling drone shaped with vocoder and guitar completely devour you, yet feels oddly peaceful at the same time. Almost reminiscent of the stories some people have told about dying and then coming back to life—mostly formless, nearly empty, floating within a quiet, dark peace. Occasionally, though, a shining light appears to call you back.
GIANT OPENING MOUTH ON THE GROUND by Phil Elverum & Arrington de Dionyso (album / noise, experimental) [P.W. Elverum & Sun]
A fine transition from the previous recommendation, this is another gaping maw eager to consume you. On some tracks like EAR HOME, a sustained contrabass clarinet note is distorted to sound like a rough fog horn bellowing out across a calm sea in the night. On other tracks, things get noisier and sharper, rumbling and bristling like some prehistoric alien creature whose hair stands up on the ridge of its spine as its body vibrates to unleash some sensory call unlike anything you’ve ever heard. The duo behind this? First, there is Phil Elverum—yes, that Phil Elverum, of the classic indie bands The Microphones and Mount Eerie. The other half of the pair is Arrington de Dionyso, who is known as a founding member of the experimental rock band Old Time Relijun, primarily active in the late ‘90s and early 2000s. Both artists are based in Washington state.
IN THE QUEUE:
Syndesis by Madeleine Cocolas (album / drone, field recordings) [Room40]
No One to Hold, No One to Hold You by bvdub (EP / electronic, melodic) [Independent]
Other Sides of Nowhere by Underwater Sleep Orchestra (album / dark ambient, lofi drone) [Cryo Chamber]
A New Life by Florian TM Zeisig (album / ambient jazz, meditative) [STROOM]
All Genres
FIRST 3:
Bliss by alice does computer music (album / experimental electronic) [JOLT MUSIC]
Absolutely stoked for this record. Though it’s release day is today, as of writing this, it’s still in pre-order mode on Bandcamp. But just hearing the first of the 4 10-minute tracks has me shivering in anticipation. Operatic vocals weave through weird, tangible synth sequences before the space opens up for cello and soft room noise. The vocals are calmer now, though the cello slowly begins to twist and tangle, snipping its way through the atmosphere as the synth returns and brings with it a beautifully mechanical beat and more concrete lyrics. All in all, The candle of eternity burns for all is my favorite track in this week’s whole list and I can’t wait to hear the rest.
Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You by Ethel Cain (album / indie folk pop) [Daughters of Cain Records]
When the single Fuck Me Eyes first released, I was instantly hooked. That isn’t to say I wasn’t already on board with anything Ethel Cain was going to release, considering I absolutely loved her unexpected dark ambient album Perverts from January of this year. Cain is dedicated to the lore behind her records, and Willoughby Tucker… is supposedly the second, or a prequel, in the trilogy that began back in 2022 with Preacher’s Daughter. Cain is equally dedicated to creating music that blurs and bends genres, prioritizing atmosphere and mood above pop hooks or conventions. Still, on Fuck Me Eyes, the nostalgic, 80s-esque synthpop sound feels as much an earworm as Cain is capable of. Throughout, the star is Cain’s yearning voice that carries more feeling—especially sadness and longing—than some singers can even imagine. Just listen to opener Janie and tell me you aren’t ready to reach through your headphones to give her a hug.
Grasping for the Moon by Untethered (album / jazz) [Independent]
Jazz and improvisation are really inalienable concepts, but the improv is truly at the forefront here on this new record from Philly-based trumpeter Paul Giess and the gang known as Untethered. The group’s drummer, Grant Calvin Weston, referred to their musical approach as “spontaneous creative composition” and its evident on this progressive, experimental jazz record. There’s some fun lore behind the record and track titles as well. From the Bandcamp description:
“The title ‘Grasping for the Moon’ references an ancient Buddhist parable
where a group of monkeys create a chain so they can touch the moon. Only after falling into water do they understand they had been reaching for a mere reflection of the moon in a body of water. The story is a lesson on mistaking illusions for reality. The titles of the tracks offer a poem depicting the parable.”
IN THE QUEUE:
Vevey by Clay Kin (album / experimental percussion) [Squama]
I Love My Computer by Ninajirachi (album / dance) [NLV Records]
Cloudborne 888 by Closet Yi (EP / techno) [Clasico Records]
Like Plasticine by Gordi (album / indie rock) [Mushroom Music]
ABOMINATION REVEALED AT LAST by Thee Oh Sees (album / punk) [DEATHGOD]
Greetings From Your Hometown by Jonas Brothers (album / pop) [Republic]
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].
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.
