The Living Music List #33: On the Right Time for Art
Considering beginnings, endings, and the luck of finding ourselves in between them both
Currently listening to: The Milky Sea by Jefre Cantu-Ledesma
Multi-instrumentalist and experimental ambient artist Jefre Cantu-Ledesma returns with a new album Gift Songs out March 21. The first single, The Milky Sea, is a 20-minute cut that seems to be leading us into very intriguing territory—there’s an aftertaste of ambient jazz stemming from the subtle, mindless percussion backing the gently cacophonous, textured drones and repeating piano dance. The entire piece feels adrift, yet very grounded, like being on a massive sailing ship adorned by garden beds, with an ancient wooden hull floating slowly through the air by means of only the breeze. There’s a sense we could be lost, but instead, there’s a veil of peace cast across the crew, who know we are simply wandering and enjoying the voyage. Around the 15:30 mark, the foghorn belches out, signaling a halt to all souls aboard. The utter mass of the ship means it takes almost five minutes for the whole thing to finally achieve stasis.
Reflection
Hello, friend.
When is art finished?
It’s not a simple question, and is one that plagues artists of all ages and skill levels. I think most of us who practice art in any form would agree that there is typically a feeling, an intuition one must receive and then know to put their pencil down. You may stand back from your drawing or song or whatever and examine it through a new lens—one that is subconsciously drawing a line in the sand to say, despite any little bits you might briefly think to refine or adjust, I’m done here.
It’s not uncommon for artists to one day, sometimes suddenly, make this decision about a larger capsule of their work. An identity, a label, an era. The end may come due to logistical reasons (the lack of cashflow has made this unfeasible) or a tiring committment (I can’t keep up this character any longer).
Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, the artist mentioned in today’s Currently listening to track, previously founded the label Root Strata in 2005. After 13 years, the label closed shop in 2018. Though I’m not sure of the exact reasons why, I know that it wasn’t because Cantu-Ledesma stopped making music or fell out of love with it. It must have simply been the time for the Root Strata era to come to a close.
Later in today’s letter, you’ll find The Press Box where I feature the final set of releases from Andrew Khedoori’s Longform Editions label. After 42 editions, they’re calling it quits. Why? As Khedoori says in a message to the label’s Bandcamp followers, “quite simply, it's the right time for us to not do it.”
The right time. There isn’t always a conscious, tangible reason for the right time to exist, yet it exists nonetheless. And we can usually feel it coming when it comes to our own life and journey as artists. As the artist, we are aware of its arrival, and we must be—it is inherent to the existence of art. As observers, we may be very unaware of these timely endings.
For example, could anyone have predicted how Jeff Mangum, the musician behind the inimitable Neutral Milk Hotel, would make such an impact on music and culture through his album In the Aeroplane Over the Sea and then be rarely seen or heard from again afterward? While he went on to contribute in small ways to other bands in his circle, the Elephant 6 collective, his Neutral Milk Hotel project was mainly confined to works he made during a single decade—the 1990s (there have been other releases in the decades following, but they are compilations of previous works recorded during the ‘90s as far as I know). The legacy of Neutral Milk Hotel lives on, but Mangum must have known there was a right time and place for it to happen.
Art is ephemeral by nature. It is brought into being by the artist, reflective of its own time. Art must have beginnings and endings to exist. Art must be finished so that it may serve its purpose (and the possible purposes of art are essentially infinite, and are both personal and public) and so that more art can follow it.
In another sense, art is also never finished. Way back in the very first issue of this newsletter, I wrote about the idea of “stolen art” which gets at the idea of art never being finished when it has been shared. While the original artist may have accepted that their time with a piece was finished, they likely hoped that it would been observed by other artists out there who would expand upon it, transform it, and be inspired by it:
This is the moment you create something new. Something that immediately feels like it isn’t wholly yours. And yet, it is all yours at the same time. It’s coming from somewhere, and from many someones. It might mean one thing to you right now, but it will mean infinitely other things to many others after you.
So, regardless of whether an ending is really an ending, it’s clear to me that there is a right time for art, and I suppose a right place too. It makes me feel immensely grateful for having found myself within the bounds of the right time and place to have witnessed some incredibly transformative art during my lifetime. Even beyond those whose earthly lives have overlapped with my own, I’ve been able to witness the ongoing influence of the work of artists long dead before my birth. We’re still talking about Mozart, van Gogh, Basquiat, and da Vinci.
Surely, though, there were some artists from a thousand years ago or two whose work has unfortunately been lost to the unstoppable movement of time and space. And for those lost artists, I raise a glass and wonder about what the right time and place meant for their work. Who were they lucky enough to have encountered? What were they compelled to create? When did their work eventually, unceremoniously disappear like a flame snuffed by a small breeze in the dark?
I wonder how much longer I will keep writing these letters to you, friend. Don’t worry, I certainly don’t sense an ending coming anytime soon. But if it does… when it does, let us both remember: it will be at the right time.
Music Recommendations
Hello again, friend.
Thank you for reading today’s post. I hope you enjoyed the reflection—what are some works of art you enjoyed by artists who are no longer actively sharing work (whether they are alive or dead)? Share them in the comments.
Now, on to the new music that is releasing at just the right time.
Happy listening.
The Living Music List—Ambient
Note: All of the below ambient projects are available on Bandcamp. Bold and ^ denotes reader-submitted work—thank you!
The Waning Moon Fan Club by Fox Ridge Park (album / melodic, drone) [Independent / Bandcamp]^
It reminded me of the last half-hour or so before you fall asleep, when your eyes are lulling and the world is growing dimmer and the edges are all softening. I think the title is very fitting, for it bears the gentle light of a waning moon that feels just right at this time of night.
The Milky Sea by Jefre Cantu-Ledesma (single / ambient jazz, drone) [Mexican Summer / Bandcamp]
Black Dahlia by Markus Guentner (album / experimental, electronic) [Affin / Bandcamp]
Glacial Drift by Glåsbird (album / neoclassical, melodic) [Driftworks / Bandcamp]
Late Rain by Jeff Greinke (album / ambient jazz, electroacoustic) [Projekt Records / Bandcamp]
Koselig by Benoît Pioulard, Viul, From Overseas, zakè, Marc Ertel, & Wayne Robert Thomas (album / drone, minimalist) [Zakè Drone Recordings / Bandcamp]
Resilience by Go Outside (album / melodic, field recordings) [Independent / Bandcamp]
Sacred Offering by Ken Ikeda (album / experimental, electronic) [Room40 / Bandcamp]
The Living Music List—All Genres
Note: All of the below projects are available on major streaming services. Bold and ^ denotes reader-submitted work—thank you! Reminder: Bandcamp links only provided for submissions in the All Genres list.
Bottna by Dött ljus (album / electronic) [Slowcraft Records / Bandcamp]^
TIMELESS Instrumentals by KAYTRANADA (album / electronic)
Cowards by Squid (album / alternative)
Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory by Sharon Van Etten (album / alternative)
Pressure Double Down by Deabeat (EP / electronic)
Life Is Beautiful by Larry June, 2 Chainz & The Alchemist (album / hip-hop/rap)
Blackbirds and the Sun of October by Federico Albanese (album / classical crossover)
Measure Of Joy by Adrian Crowley (album / contemporary folk)
Sculptures From Under the City Ice by Christian Winther (album / alternative)
Open Wide by Inhaler (album / alt rock)
The Press Box
This week, we’re previewing and celebrating the final set of releases from Andrew Khedoori’s iconic Longform Editions label. Edition No. 42 contains 4 exciting new releases, all out Wednesday, February 12. Keep an eye on their Bandcamp page here to listen and purchase when they release. All descriptions of the releases are taken directly from the press email shared by the label.
A note from the label about this final edition:
“If a stone in the river moves, the river is not changed, but after a long time, it becomes something completely different.” — Eliane Radigue
We began as a platform to invite works crafted not just to hear, but to inhabit – an invitation to listen, and to be transformed by the power of sound. Since 2018, Longform Editions has offered 168 pieces of music, each one a revelation we could never have predicted, yet over time they continue to surprise and deepen in their resonance. Each artist’s diverse approach heightened perceptions to tell a story through the hidden layers of time and space. These epic, curious, and beautiful pieces are distinct yet interwoven, each unfolding a unique recalibration of how we experience the world around us. We extend our deepest gratitude to everyone involved—the artists whose visions gave this collection life, and the listeners who helped it endure.
My sincere best wishes to Andrew on starting his next chapter—I hope to see more work from him in the near future. In the meantime, you can subscribe to his newsletter, First Impressions, where he shares some thoughts on music he’s been listening to.
The Last Days of May by Fennesz [LE165]
Vienna’s Christian Fennesz and his epic constructs of guitar, strings, and synthesis have been a cornerstone of modern experimental music, creating deep communal feeling through compositional marks of cinematic sweep and oceanic surge. The Last Days of May – initially inspired by Australian guitarist Roland S. Howard – is the artist’s longest piece to date, a wistful work of sweet melancholy with the course and tempo of a dimming summer’s day, undercut by his trademark sleight of hand in intricate, decaying detail.
Produced in collaboration with the Art Gallery of New South Wales for Volume 2024.
Echoes on the Hem by Tujiko Noriko [LE166]
Paris-based Tujiko Noriko has made an artform of expanding electronic pop music towards a heightened spirit where abstraction and emotion are intimately entwined. Echoes on the Hem is a work of quiet radiance, reflecting both the stillness, movement, and fading of light. Luxuriating in a gentle sense of levitation, its delicately gliding textures unfurl like a fireworks display in slow motion at dusk.
“It felt more like capturing a moment in life compared to writing a four-minute piece of music. It felt like this piece had already been going on before and would keep going after.” — Tujiko Noriko
Coy-Koi by Natalia Beylis [LE167]
Based in rural Ireland, Natalia Beylis’ distinctive work is an ongoing inquiry into the natural sounds and atmosphere of her surroundings. Coy-Koi was inspired by a neighbour’s Koi fish movements in both a tank and the wandering currents of a nearby river where it was set free. Beylis captures the airy, near-sonambulant state of both waterbeds, creating a magnetic space of curling ambience teeming with light and pillowy waves of blanketing warmth, turning in unexpected ways.
“I have a deep curiosity about how humans engage with our everyday soundscapes, about the sonic realms where the unseen and unheard come alive.” — Natalia Beylis
Close Quarters by whait [LE168]
Finally, whait is the pairing of Wendy Eisenberg and more eaze (mari maurice rubio), two artists whose work plays equally to maverick spirit and soulful resonance. On Close Quarters, the pair lift Americana out of its rustic notions towards hypnotic minimalism, creating a freewheeling field of dreams, exquisitely drawing lineage from the acoustic experimentation of Jim O’Rourke and the magic realism of Van Dyke Parks’ pop opuses, with softly duelling banjo and guitar, keening violin, dream harmonising, and glistening flows of pedal steel. Tracing a beautiful pattern from tradition, modern rush, and deep, intimate connection, whait makes for a special feeling.
“In longer pieces the form is not so explicit about itself, most of the time; you have to trust that the form will keep forming.” — Wendy Eisenberg
How to Support Hum, Buzz, & Hiss
If you enjoy my letters, please consider supporting my work with a paid subscription. $5 a month or $50 a year would be absolutely massive in helping me focus more time on providing you with weekly music recommendations and writing that you enjoy reading (hopefully).
Not only does this support me, but it will get you access to the Hum, Buzz, & Hiss Discord Community where you can chat with other music lovers, artists, and label owners, and get even more music recs and words from me. Plus, you’ll get a free e-book of my poetry and maybe see some occasional paid sub-only posts.
From now through May 31, 2025, you can get 20% off the yearly subscription forever (pay $40/year instead of $50). Click the button below to claim this offer or subscribe for free just to see if you feel like sticking around. I appreciate you reading no matter what!
You can also buy me a coffee (or really, a black tea, rather—I’m not a coffee fan :P).
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. As always, I would love to hear and recommend your music, especially if it’s new and ambient/electronic/experimental.
