jimmie.hu

i suppose you know the dark. and if you can wrap it up into sounds and music, there is one guy who mastered this. the results are terrifying, gloomy and yet strangely beautiful sounds, amazingly louring and fascinating. the man who is in charge of all that goes by the name of erik k. skodvin. he is from oslo, norway and you might have come across him and his duo project deaf center. well, apart from that he is also running the absolutely stunning label miasmah. what started of as a netlabel in 2006 is now not only pressing vinyls and cds and working together with such beautiful artists as greg haines, elegi (soon more about them here), jasper tx and jacaszek - it is also a graphic design studio. (actually you should stop reading right now - check out their website and music - and come back here)

i am really impressed not only by the huge output of erik skodvin, but also (and even more) by the intense and speacial quality that seemingly all his works hold. just recently he produced a short little video in collaboration with suki chan, a british director. skodvin got in as the sound and music designer - the outcome is stunning:

as a matter of fact, mr. skodvin is rather prolific. thus, he is an active solo-musician himself. as svarte greiner he has released pretty unsettling and intense music, besides others on digitalis (2010) and his debut knive in 2006 on type (that you might have come across here before. you should check out the wonderful set he prepared for their typecast series. it’s the first one in 5 years and holds some notable rarities). his latest work flare, however, will be released on the berlin label sonic pieces (also absolutely worth a visit. wonderful artwork.) you can get it as soon as october 22nd, but you can have a first glimpse at what is going on right here, right now :)

well i suppose you know the dark. this is it.

i admit, i’m a little late. but i just came across this collaboration a few days ago - and it’s arresting! credit goes to two remarkable figures of music: first is the label loaf recordings from london. second is the rather special arctic circle collective. the team around ben eshmade is a group of musicians, artists and promoters who love good music and support young and unknown artists as well as old stagers - by doing concerts, festivals, sessions, a beautiful radio and - of course - records. at the latest after their highly recognized compilation that fuzzy feeling (an absolute recommendation) in 2007 these guys made sure you want to keep an eye on what’s going on when they are teaming up.

well, at least you better do: in january 2010 they launched a one-year collaboration to  publish wonderful music. the explorers club is a monthly digital release of selected music, featuring more than 30 artists - some of them well known, other more of a secret tip. you will find the likes of johann johannsson, peter broderick, nils frahm, ryan teague,  and many more represented by pretty interestig labels (type, static caravan, 4ad, etc.). a true treasure trove of woderful music and special moments that is released digitally, but, however, comes with a survival-kit of artwork, posters, bags, and little goodies.

by the way: the name explorers club is said to be derived from the concept of facing the unknown, that is sending their artists in the hinterland without maps and directions to bring back extraordinary and rare sounds from the wild. i am not to appraise if that’s true or not - as long as the result is that good i won’t ask ;)

check out the past six month’s of the explorers club releases right here right now. a few tips for listening are (most definately) sweet billy pilgrim, (my all-time favourite) peter broderick and the (pretty interesting) sons of noel & adrian.

jan, feb, mar.

penguins rule.

[…] things are best kept secret. To that extent […] is a world, and inside this world a […], and inside this […] a pulse, and where there should be […] said, nothing is said, nothing […] explicit about what this group is, where they are from, what […] do, why they do it, and […] you should listen to it. 

wow.
in a nutshell, that is pretty much everything you can say about Ian M. Hazeldine aka antonymes. when i came across his stunning music i was just captivated. decent ambient music between classical touches and spheric layers. apart from his work as an actual musician, Hazeldine regularly publishes very nice mixed on a (more or less) monthly base for fluid radio. check out the latest one right here, featuring some familiar faces such as clint mansell, valgeir sigurðsson and finn.

yep, ok, this is nice. but it gets even better: Hezldine’s latest release “beauty becomes the enemy of the future” stands between art, photography and music in a beautiful way: in collaboration with David Newlyn and Kim Smith, he created and wonderful piece of art, realizing a rather refreshing idea:

“I’ve had the idea to produce something that was more than just a record for quite a while. Being a musician, graphic designer and photographer, I’ve always tried to combine my disciplines. I’d bought a lovely photo album a year or so ago and a plastic Russian camera.”

well, i think the outcome of that is quite convincing -

wow.

just discovered this beautiful work by stef lewandowski. actually you should have a look at type label anyway. great artists, great music. (more to follow here for sure)

but for now let’s go with this one.

it’s a good one :)