The Living Music List #23: On the Coming Winter
How the cold makes us more vulnerable, and how music contributes to the temperature in the room.
But First… Introducing: The HB&H Community Discord!
Calling all ambient/experimental label owners and contributors: I’m seeking founding members to join my new Hum, Buzz, & Hiss Discord community server.
This will be an exclusive space where you can:
meet and chat with fellow label owners
discuss ongoing work and new releases
share feedback and files
make connections with independent artists
and soon—connect with dedicated fans and music writers within the HB&H community directly to promote your music!
If you own or work for a label (or know someone who does) and are interested in becoming a free founding member of the Discord server, please reach out to me at meltedform@gmail.com.
If you are an artist, music writer, engineer, or just a fan: stay tuned for when membership in the Discord becomes available as an exclusive perk for paying subscribers to Hum, Buzz, & Hiss (don’t worry, I will ensure the subscription is affordable and well worth the price of admission—and will have some extra goodies in store!)
Currently listening to: Wurzel by H.Takahashi
Something warm and gentle to take comfort in as we approach the cold winter months. Ambient is one of my favorite genres for this time of year for its ability to practically change the feeling of the air around us through simple sounds and textures. This is a track from the record Sonne und Wasser by H.Takahashi, which is German for “sun and water.” The title of this track, “Wurzel,” translates to “root.” The record was themed around the life and inner workings of plants. Like our floral cousins, we as fauna derive energy from sun and water too. These are basic necessites of life, and we don’t get enough of the former during these darker months. Like plants, we must bend towards the light when it is present now more than ever, especially as we are so deeply rooted in place, mostly stuck in our homes for shelter from the cold.
Reflection
Hello, friend.
It’s growing colder these days. Are you keeping warm? Are you embracing the coming of the winter?
Here in the northeast United States, the dark, frozen months of December through February cause some to flock south with the birds. Most remain, of course, riding out the temperature drop by staying inside mostly or bundling up when there is a need to venture out into the icy, whipping winds that slice at your cheeks like freshly sharpened knives.
We are approaching this time when many who already struggle with their mental health must perservere through a distinct lack of sunlight, while the days are shortest of all and one can arrive at their workplace an hour before the lagging dawn and leave an hour after the fleeting dusk. It is a time that makes me grateful for windows and cognizant of our circadian rhythms.
It is also a time when music seems to grow in its affective ability, like a cryptid drawing additional power from a full moon. Desolate ambient drones reinforce the desolate winter landscape outside. Warm cassette loops crackle like a fire. We can hang on every emotional lyric like a comforting embrace or a fading memory of the more temperate fall.
The winter strips away our outer layers. It plunges us into a darkness that dares us to give up. It forces us into the cave.
Don’t let the falling temperatures get you down. Use music as your blanket. Make your own and let the cold in your bones out. Rely on the bodyheat of your loved ones, if you’ve got them, and turn a speaker into a new hearth around which you can sit and draw warmth.
For now, dream of warmer days and don those over-the-ear headphones like earmuffs. Look for respite in the small fires burning here and there, like fireflies in the summer’s night air. If you can’t see them now, listen for the music emanating from their flames. Remember: we will make it through this coming winter together.
Music Recommendations
Hello again, friend.
Thank you for reading today’s post. I hope you enjoyed the reflection—and I hope you are staying warm wherever you are. If you live in a warmer climate, I am envious of you. Although I must say, there is something about the winter I’m quite fond of too. I need all four seasons to feel whole, I think.
I’d like to share a little bonus playlist with you I came across on Spotify looking for warm ambient. This is a stellar collection.
Now on to the new music recommendations. There are sounds across the temperature spectrum here.
Happy listening.
The Living Music List—Ambient
Note: All of the below ambient projects are available on Bandcamp. Bold and * denote reader-submitted work.
Haunts You by Fox Ridge Park (EP / drone, field recordings) [Independent / Bandcamp]*
Flash Dream in Artificial Mode by SubUnit (EP / field recordings, experimental) [Independent / Bandcamp]*
Music for Painting by Jack Quinn (album / drone, ambient piano {note: some nice pedal steel guitar as well; a bit of an homage to Harold Budd’s early collaborations with Brian Eno, according to Quinn}) [Independent / Bandcamp]*
Duet by Tomoyoshi Date & Bill Seaman (album / electroacoustic, ambient piano) [quiet details / Bandcamp]
Future Research Journal Entries (Part I) by Inhmost (album / drone, space) [Past Inside the Present / Bandcamp]
Ash by Taylor Deupree (EP / field recordings, minimalist) [Nettwerk / Bandcamp]
White Sleep by Motionfield (album / drone, dark ambient) [Independent / Bandcamp]
Age of Abandonment by The Lonely Bell (album / field recordings, drone) [Dead Forest Records / Bandcamp]
Home Normal x Broken Chip by Home Normal x Broken Chip (compilation / drone, field recordings {note: various tracks combined into one extended mix}) [Home Normal / Bandcamp]
Fenscapes by Glåsbird (album / electroacoustic, minimalist) [whitelabrecs / Bandcamp]
The Living Music List—All Genres
Note: All of the below projects are available on major streaming services.
Exit All The Lights by 36 (album / ambient pop)
Soft Power by Fazerdaze (album / dream pop)
The Jester by Wallice (album / indie pop)
Only music makes me cry now by Becky and the Brids (album / art pop)
Negative Spaces by Poppy (album / metal {note: Poppy’s music has range, from dance-pop to heavy metal})
Petrichor by 070 Shake (album / alternative {note: very difficult to pick a genre for this one, a mix of singer/songwriter and pop dressed up with some really interesting and at times experimental production with elements of electronic, hip-hop, and shoegaze)
Serenity by Sieren (EP / electronic)
The Crossroads by Cordae (album / hip-hop/rap)
Daughter of a Temple by Ganavya (album / jazz)
Marietta by Medium Build (EP / alternative)
MM..FOOD (20th Anniversary Edition) by MF DOOM (album / hip-hop/rap)
I’ve Never Been Here Before: The Director’s Cut by Erick the Architect (album / hip/hop-rap {note: deluxe version of earlier 2024 album})
Bouquet by Gwen Stefani (album / country pop)
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:
[link to last issue]
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. As always, I would love to hear and recommend your music, especially if it’s new and ambient/electronic/experimental.
Also, you can keep up with me and hear more of the music I’m listening to by following me on Substack Notes. Join our community of music-loving writers and readers discussing the latest releases, old gems, and everything in between.
