In the world of representational knowledge, words can deliver a weight of cultural associations. Even a word as simple as ‘shadow’ can instill in the receiver a world of dark and unknown mysticism. On the other hand, non-representational knowledge, such as music, relies only on the intuitive responses of theContinue Reading
The trauma of the Covid-19 pandemic is still fresh in the collective consciousness. Two years ago, no matter how much one might like to forget, the world changed. Billions of people were cast into lockdown. Musically, it produced what is now known as the “lockdown album”; albums that suggestively encapsulateContinue Reading
Ruins are a Liverpudlian alternative pop-duo who create emotive soundscapes with rock-steady drum machines, gentle guitars, and falsetto vocals. Vocalist Lloyd Rock has a dulcet and high-pitched voice, and when coupled with the sometimes bizarre music of Nik Kavanagh, Ruins create a highly distinctive sound. There is a calming gushContinue Reading
LA-based Thai musician Saun Santipreecha knows about dichotomies. His recent album “Dandelye” juxtaposes surreal ambient soundscapes with mysterious musical structures across six tracks of sprawling scope. Dandelye is an anglicized form of the Thai word for ‘dandelion’, a flower seen as a weed in LA but rare in Santipreecha’s native Thailand. ThisContinue Reading
Radagast the Brown is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien’s legendarium, but also the moniker of ambient composer and producer Ezekiel James Hampton from Napa, California. The godfather of ambient music, Brian Eno, once described that genre as being “as ignorable as it is interesting.”, yet theContinue Reading
Le Days is the moniker of Swedish experimental musician Daniel Hedin, and his visceral new album “Stuck In My Head (Alternate Recordings)” takes the listener to the depths of his dark and troubled soul by way of abstractly constructed music-cum-performance art. Most tracks here are reinterpretations of songs which originally surfaced onContinue Reading
War in Ukraine, inflation, rising temperatures, and a widening political divide between left and right. One has many reasons to feel an apocalyptic dread when considering our outlook. On “The World Is Ending And I Love U”, Margate-based musician Jack Goldstein hosts a cast of collaborators to create a remarkablyContinue Reading
Vitalism is a belief that living things and non-living things are fundamentally different. Living things have souls, or what vitalists call “élan vital”. It sounds harmless, but according to Dr William F. Williams, it forms the basis for pseudoscientific medical practices that claim many health problems are caused by imbalancesContinue Reading
Errunhrd is a dream-pop project by Canadian multi-instrumentalist producer Shirin Ghoujalou. Her most recent album, “You Can Be You, I Can Be Me”, is an atmosphere-heavy collection of eleven fully formed ambient pop tracks built on a foundation of beats and washed-out synths that allow Ghoujalou’s euphonious vocals to intrigue withContinue Reading
In an interview with LensCulture, The Guardian photography columnist Sean O’Hagan opined, “I wonder if a photograph can express, say, regret, sorrow, or loss in as powerful a way as a poem or a piece of music? Personally, I think not.” His thought echoes that of past philosophers, including Arthur Schopenhauer, who deemed musicContinue Reading