MUSIC FOR ISOLATION - SVALBARD


Since Brian Eno began his ambient album series with Music For Airports, 'Music for ...' is a much used way to indicate albums with ambient music (some of them quite sarcastically, like 'Music For Toilets', or 'Music For MRI Scanners'). In this case, however, Music For Isolation is the name of the performing duo. And - though there is a lot of ambience on this album - it is not even primarily ambient music at all: it is music 'at the crossroads of folk, classical, improvisation, innovation and tradition'.


Music For Isolation is the (Tokyo-based) duo Rie Takeuchi (baritone sax, kalimba) and Gideon Juckes (tuba). They formed in 2020, in response to the global pandemic - 'an invitation to embrace stillness, solitude, and reflection through sound'. For their fourth album, they took that to an extreme by travelling to the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard in June 2024 where, 'amidst 24-hour daylight, biting winds, and the ever-present possibility of polar bears, they composed and recorded an album shaped by the stark beauty and cultural complexity of the High North'.


 





 


The combination of tuba and baritone sax merged with the field recordings of Arctic winds, seabirds, 'and the steady hum of diesel engines' is already unique in itself. But Takeuchi and Juckes manage to create many different moods and atmospheres that, contrary to what you may expect, do not sound 'cold' and 'isolated', but warm and intimate.
All music on this album is performed by the duo, except for Isfjorden, which is performed together with the Norwegian-Scottish group Dopey Monkey (Martin Lee Thomson, euphonium, and Danielle Price, tuba).
I don't doubt that Music For Isolation could have created beautiful music at home, too, but the desolate conditions of straying for four weeks in the Svalbard archipelago definitely added to the atmosphere - and of course to the 'isolation'.


(Svalbard will be released on CD and digital on October 3, but can already be pre-ordered.)




MUSIC FOR ISOLATION - OM MORGENEN








HENRIK MEIERKORD - SPACE OF LONGING


Swedish musician Henrik Meierkord may be a cellist primarily, but he also plays viola, double bass, guitar and many other instruments. Likewise, he may be known as an 'ambient' musician mainly, but his work covers many different genres. Using both his string instruments and electronics, he creates a fluid and natural combination of neoclassical arrangements and ambient drones.
This is clearly demonstrated on his latest album Space Of Longing, which starts off with a neoclassical tune Höstpromenad (Autumn Walk), and then immediately switches to full ambient mode in Springflowers. The ambient mood is retained in many tracks (such as in the Drone Meditation and Kontracellodrone tracks), but these are interspersed with some more acoustic sounding melancholic melodies - as to avoid us drifting away too deep.


'"There is always something melancholic in the Nordic character,” Meierkord observes. “Melancholy blended with nature, sea and forest, snow and mountains and a folk tone that we grow up with. The Scandinavian winters are long, and we have to do something creative. [...] It’s like some kind of meditation to embrace your unconsciousness. Creating my music is emotionally driven. No rules, just feelings. Both improvisation and intuition as they go hand in hand."'


Space Of Longing is Meierkord's fourth album release on the Projekt label, and is offered as a name-your-price digital download.


Space of longing by Henrik Meierkord

--- originally published on Ambientblog ---

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