The Living Music List #41: On Ways of Hearing the World

Art partially mediates perception, making it a powerful transformer of the collective consciousness

Currently listening to: Music To Refine To by ODESZA

I recently finished season 2 of the Apple TV show SEVERANCE, a continuously inspiring piece of art. It’s one of the best looking shows I’ve ever seen, and it’s strikingly unique cinematography and production design are matched with an impeccable original score by Theodore Shapiro. The score is packed with memorable themes and motifs that contribute massively to the way SEVERANCE makes the viewer see this often eerie and uncanny world that Ben Stiller and his team have built. Coinciding with the long-awaited release of season 2, electronic duo ODESZA released this 8-hour set inspired by the music and aesthetics of the show, perfect for working, relaxing, or “refining” data.

Today, ODESZA also released Music To Refine To: A Remix Companion To Severance, a shorter, 23-minute collection of more upbeat remixes of various Severance themes. It is featured in today’s All Genres list later in the letter. For now though, as I begin my work day at my day job, I’ll be bopping my head to the 8-hour set above. Happy refining, friend.

Reflection

Hello, friend.

Do you trust your ears more than your eyes?

I was watching

Thomas Flight 🐦

’s latest video essay on “Why SEVERANCE is So Visually Brilliant” when I heard him mention art history writer John Berger’s Landscapes—a term that is both a book title and a metaphor.

Disclaimer: I haven’t read Landscapes or any other work by Berger as of yet, but what I can gather from Flight’s essay and some brief research online indicates that Berger’s metaphor of “landscapes” refers to a broad way of understanding the impact that visual art has on our perception of the world.

Putting it very simply, the way we see the natural world is shaped by the broader human view of the world. As in, humanity perceives things, interprets them, communicates about them, and applies a shit ton of unique context to them that ends up affecting our view.

This is as true about an image of a brook babbling through a quiet wood as it is a skyscraper with construction workers taking a lunch break on a suspended beam. Even then, as you read those words, you formed an image in your mind and applied whatever aesthetics and meanings to those images that you may associate with them, consciously and subconsciously.

You may recall one of my letters back in February when I discussed the social construction of reality—a theory of human communication that suggest our conscious perception of reality is formed entirely upon the foundation of our social interactions. Id est, we can’t see anything neutral or objective because everything is inherently perceived and interpreted in one’s own personal context of existence. (Ironically, this theory was popularized by the pair of authors, Berger & Luckmann, the former of whom is Peter L. Berger, not John Berger.)

So, our ways of seeing the world are not entirely trustworthy. We can’t help but apply all these external ideas and all this unintentional symbolism to forms that should be considered purely natural, neutral, and objective. Our visual art has, all along, been programming our pupils on the down low.

So, I’ll ask again, friend: do you trust your ears more than your eyes?

If our way of seeing the world is so malleable, what about our way of hearing the world?

When I listen to an ambient album with field recordings of a babbling brook in a mostly quiet wood, I can picture myself in that environment. Then, when I’m on a hike beside a similar-sounding brook in a similarly peaceful wood, I wonder how different the sound I’m perceiving is from the one mediated by a recorder.

When it comes to any sound recording, it will technically be impacted by some amount of self-noise from the recording device, no matter how minimal (there are some devices that can achieve only a few dB). If you aren’t familiar: self-noise is the noise created by a piece of equipment running, typically sounding like a low hum, buzz, or hiss (hey, how about that?)

So, sure, maybe the way we imagine most sounds is actually us imagining the way they sound when recorded. Is that changing how we hear the world though?

Well, there’s more to consider. Music of all kinds has deep emotional and cognitive impacts on us. New research is regularly being released showing new insight into how music affects certain regions of the brain, creates new neural pathways, and triggers various responses (read more on this here, for example).

Have you ever been sitting in a car, bus, train, or plane, looking out the window, headphones on, and feeling like you’re in a music video for one of your favorite songs? It’s a universal experience, right? Seriously, though—these kinds of moments are perfect representations of music’s transformative power.

When we’re experiencing audible art like music, we may actually be hearing and seeing the world differently.

The seeing:

• The clouds outside the plane window become the texture of the drones in that dark ambient song

• A mountain that’s a mile from your train takes on the shape of your ex-girlfriend triggered by some old love song

• Outside the bus window, the motion of the people you pass by on the sidewalk blurs into a band of color that flows right along with the pace of the beat.

The hearing:

• A person in the seat behind us on the bus suffers a coughing fit, the sound of which bleeds through our headphones and melds with the music—for a moment, it syncs up with the beat of the song

• The white noise of a loud plane can only be so muted by active noise cancellation, but after years of enjoying drone music, it’s simply another textural layer in which you feel immersed

• You’re not listening to anything in the car, but a song is stuck in your head as you zoom down the highway—you still hear the noise of the passing traffic, the honks and maybe the rain on the pavement, but it’s soundtracked by music that isn’t really there

Film soundtracks are maybe the most obvious examples of music’s ability to alter our perception. The music emphasizes the emotion of a visual scene, or suggests some additional meaning that isn’t necessarily inherent in the context of the composition on its own. Film music is a tool to enhance and shape the way an audience sees a film.

Life isn’t any different, really. We should remember just how much change can be created through our art, for art is one large wave in the pool of influences that mediate our perception of the world around us. When translated into any artwork, our individual backgrounds, ideas, and interpretations have the power to stimulate and simulate the senses.

As an artist, please wield this power with intention and caution. As a viewer and a listener, take note of it what might be happening behind the scenes in your brain—you may start seeing and hearing things differently.

---

Music Recommendations

Hello again, friend.

Thank you for reading today’s post. I hope you enjoyed the reflection—and I hope you get to feel like the star in a music video today.

If you need some new tunes to pump into those headphones or through those speakers, I’ve got 24 new records for you to try out this week.

Happy listening.

The Living Music List—Ambient

Note: All of the below ambient projects are available on Bandcamp. Bold and ^ denote reader-submitted work.

1. Nocturna by Joachim Spieth & Andrew Thomas (album / ambient piano, drone) [AFFIN / Bandcamp]^

2. Música Aperta by Nicolás Melmann (album / electroacoustic, meditative) [Umor Rex / Bandcamp]^

3. Entrance by Sissy Spacek (album / noise, experimental) [Shelter Press / Bandcamp]

4. Unrund by Jogging House (album / field recordings, drone) [Seil Records / Bandcamp]

5. cloud in a room by Mirai No Hagaki and Runaway Horses (album / minimalist, drone) [Imaginary North / Bandcamp]

6. New World, Lonely Ride by Michael Grigoni & Pan•American (album / ambient guitar, melodic) [kranky / Bandcamp]

7. in your hands by fields we found (album / drone, field recordings) [quiet details / Bandcamp]

   {Note: proceeds from sales of this album will benefit Cancer Centre - Milton Keynes University Hospital… p.s. Alex at

   quiet details
   , I’m praying you are doing better these days! Thank you for all the music}

8. j.o.y.s. by j.o.y.s. (album / ambient guitar, melodic) [Whited Sepulchre Records / Bandcamp]

9. STARK PHENOMENA by HxH (album / electroacoustic, experimental) [OFNOT / Bandcamp]

   {Note: some spoken word samples}

10. So Far, So Close by David Cordero & Rhucle (album / drone, minimalist) [whitelabrecs / Bandcamp]

11. The Life of Dust by Heavy Refuge (album / electronic, experimental) [Memory Terminal Records / Bandcamp]

The Living Music List—All Genres

Note: All of the below projects are available on major streaming services.

1. A Requiem by Penelope Trappes (album / ambient folk)

   {Note: contains lyrics and spoken word which is why I moved it down to this list}

2. The Crux by Djo (album / alt pop)

3. F*CK U SKRILLEX YOU THINK UR ANDY WARHOL BUT UR NOT!! <3 by Skrillex (album / electronic)

4. Welcome to My Blue Sky by Momma (album / indie rock)

5. Slipper imp and shakaerator by Babe Rainbow (album / psych pop)

6. Lonely People with Power by Deafheaven (album / metal)

7. Spirit Box by Flying Lotus (album / electronic)

8. Jellywish by Florist (album / indie folk) {note: this is Emily A. Sprague’s band for you ambient heads who enjoy her other work}

9. Forever Howlong by Black Country, New Road (album / alt folk)

10. Two Lives by Wet (album / indie pop)

11. Song of the Earth by David Longstreth, Dirty Projectors & stargaze (album / experimental folk)

    {Note: genuinely unsure how to categorize this one, really interesting mix of sounds}

12. All of your anger is actually shame (and I bet that makes you angry) by Gloin (album / punk)

13. Trash Mountain by Lily Seabird (album / folk)

---

New Interview Series: Instrumental Conversations

Yesterday, I launched a new interview series within Hum, Buzz, & Hiss called Instrumental Conversations. The series will feature in-depth conversations with artists, label owners, and other creators in the ambient and instrumental music space.

The first edition featured Joachim Spieth (head of

AffinLTD

) and Andrew Thomas, who have just released their first collaborative album, Nocturna (featured above in today’s ambient list). In our written exchange, we discussed their collaborative process, the album’s theme of duality, and the timelessness of ambient and instrumental music.

Read the full interview linked below:

Andrew Thomas (left) and Joachim Spieth (right), the artists behind Nocturna [released April 4, 2025 via AFFIN]

---

Join the Hum, Buzz, & Hiss Community

Music is best when we listen together. That’s why I’ve created the Hum, Buzz, & Hiss Discord Community, where music lovers, indepedent artists, and small label owners converge to hang out, share great music, and inspire each other.

If you enjoy my letters and want to connect directly with others in the ambient/DIY music space, then come join us on Discord. There, you’ll also find more music recommendations from me, custom playlists, giveaways, and more.

Support the newsletter with a monthly or yearly subscription to get access. I hope to see you there!

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 a tea, rather, since I hate coffee—hopefully that’s not a dealbreaker for you).

---

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:

The Living Music List #40: On Those Who Share Songs

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.