#61: Housekeeping
Sorry for so many emails! An abbreviated issue with quick notes on my upcoming album, a recent interview, a mysterious teaser, and 6 new albums for the long weekend
Currently listening to: Give-upping by Disiniblud
Hello, friend.
I’m about to head off to the mountains for my long bachelor party weekend, so I’m going to keep today’s letter very brief. I’ve got one last pre-release reminder about my new album (1 week away?!), a couple of other housekeeping notes, and a short but compelling list of new music recommendations for you. Let’s jump in!
dyschronometria arrives next Friday + a break for your inbox
To go along with my new album that’s releasing September 5, I’ve been publishing a chapterized short story called the timeless tale of dyschronometria—each chapter is inspired by one of the 10 tracks on the album.
We’re halfway through it now! However, I’m very conscious that, since my last weekly issue, I’ve slid into your inbox almost every day. To give your inbox a break (I never want to spam anyone!), I’ll only be publishing the final 5 chapters online. You’ll be able to read them on the web or on the Substack app, but they won’t be emailed to you.
To finish the rest of your story, make sure to check in periodically on the Melted Form tab of the newsletter.
Additionally, next week will be a special issue of The Living Music List due to the release of dyschronometria. I’ll be focusing entirely on the album release (it’ll be Bandcamp Friday, too, by the way!) so no extra music recommendations. But I look forward to reflecting on what this album means to me and I hope you’re excited to hear it, too.
ICYMI: Honoring What’s Unspoken with Six Missing
My latest interview in the Instrumental Conversations series was a blast—Texas-based composer and sound designer TJ Dumser (AKA Six Missing) told me about his new ambient electronic album Without Mind (released August 8 via Nettwerk), as well as his career, his creative process, and more.
One More Thing: ???
Hmm, what could this cute little guy mean? Stay tuned to find out next week…
The Living Music List
Hello again, friend. Keeping it simple with just 3 ambient and 3 non-ambient recs today. In keeping with the housekeeping theme today, some of these releases are ones I missed some weeks ago.
Hope you find something that hits you just right. Enjoy the long weekend without too much labor, US-based friends (and everyone else too, of course)!
Happy listening.
Ambient
FIRST 3:
i by Marc Elsner & Kim Recor (album / drone, vocal ambient) [Wandering Astray]
Berlin-based artists Marc Elsner and Kim Recor worked with visual artist David Becker on this album as part of an installation called Resonant Spaces. Per the Bandcamp description:
“Resonant Spaces is a multi-sensory sound and performance installation. It treats sound not only as something we hear, but as something we feel and see. Using the monochord, analog synthesis, voice, and convolution-based processing, Marc and Kimi generate live frequencies that activate both room and body. These sounds are unrepeatable, unfolding in real-time. The environment becomes the resonant chamber. Each track on the album is accompanied by a film. Together, they form a sensory sequence: a score, a ritual, a field.”
While I haven’t seen the films, I have seen the sound of this album through my listening. It is subliminal, somewhere between meditative and eerie, never fully at rest. It certainly feels like sitting inside of a resonant chamber, though the colors, shapes, and other images you see are entirely up to your own mind’s eye.
You and I Can’t Ever Change (Expanded) by Celer (album / drone, tape loops) [Independent]
A gift from Will Long, the American ambient artist based in Japan widely known as Celer. Long’s catalog is regularly mentioned during the conversations of essential ambient works and these 9 hours(!) exemplify why. 3 of these 7 longform tracks (essentially 7 albums in 1 compilation) were originally released in 2018 as part of a subscription series, and are now made available to the wider public along with 4 previously unreleased “b-sides”—I wish I had 2-hour-long b-sides sitting around. Then again, time in Celer’s work is a bit of an afterthought, since much of it is made up of absolutely hypnotic minimalist tape loops. There’s nothing wrong with simplicity in the realm of ambient (it’s kind of the goal, actually), and Celer embodies it in a way many cannot. Like other drone-tape stalwart William Basinski, there’s just something extra there—an extra layer of emotion, an extra sense of nuance, an extra bit of magic in the pursuit of the perfect loop.
SOLO GUITAR. 1997 by Justin K. Broadrick (album / ambient guitar, noise) [Avalanche Recordings]
40 vignettes of old guitar recordings that, according to the artist, are “solitary, minimal and otherworldly… recorded during nighttime/AM sessions throughout 1997, subsequently shelved and eventually forgotten over time due to other commitments.” Indeed, there is an otherworldly quality to these mostly minute-long glimpses into the guitar experiments of the prolific English songwriter and founding member of industrial metal band Godflesh (among many other projects). Some feel exactly like what you’d expect—off-kilter noodling around on the neck. Others feel more progressive and inspired. Taken all together, though, it’s a worthwhile listen that keeps you on your toes while also remaining mostly unobtrusive. I can imagine sitting in the room with Broadrick, writing something while he just calmly plays around with his classic Strat, seeing where it takes us both.
All Genres
FIRST 3:
Disiniblud by Disiniblud (album / electronic) [Smugglers Way]
“Ear candy” was the term I heard tossed around a few times by NPR’s All Songs Considered podcast hosts who recently discussed the track Give-upping on their Contenders series—that means it’s a track they expect to be in their best songs of the year list, and I was in instant agreement upon hearing it. It helps that the inimitable Julianna Barwick was featured, along with several other artists (to name a few: Cassandra Croft, Tujiko Noriko, and Amigone) across the 11 tracks. The folks at NPR went on to talk about how the whole album channels a sense of childlike wonder and awe, really leaning into fantasy and colorful imagination as inspiration. Simultaneously, there’s an edge to it all—this is “Disney blood” after all, not just Disney.
Ride into the Sun by Brad Mehldau (album / jazz) [Nonesuch Records]
Elliot Smith. Jazz. Need I say more? The answer is yes because there is even more to Ride into the Sun than that.
According to label Nonesuch Records: “Ride into the Sun’s ten Elliott Smith songs are complemented by four Mehldau compositions that he says are ‘inspired by, and reflect, Smith’s oeuvre.’ Also included are interpretations of Big Star’s “Thirteen,” which Smith also covered, and “Sunday” by Nick Drake, who Mehldau says, “I look at in some ways as sort of Smith’s visionary grandfather.”
Okay, so Brad Mehldau’s jazzy interpretations of Elliot Smith, Big Star, Nick Drake. I’ll leave it at that.
Straight Line Was a Lie by The Beths (album / alt rock) [Anti Records]
Bands that make you think of a friend are the best bands, right? The Beths are one of those bands for me—I was introduced to them by my friend Eli and when I saw this new album dropped, my first thought was to text him (then remembered he’s at a burn this week). Vocalist Elizabeth Stokes has always sounded like she was born to front a band, and that continues to be evident here. She sounds beautifully delicate on tracks like Mother, Pray For Me, but can also drag out her words on the rockier tracks like the titular opener. Everything about The Beths is tight but raw, particularly the instrumentation (the drums shine on this record) and Stokes’ songwriting. If you’re into classic acts like Indigo Girls or The New Pornographers, you’ll dig this one.
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.
