With COVID numbers skyrocketing again in Berlin and pretty much everywhere else, November was an insightful month. Having spent the majority of my days at home with occasional walks here and there to reconnect with the outside world, I found myself exploring the themes of solitude, self-reflection, uncertainty, clarity, fragility, stability, contemplation and new beginnings.
A paradigm shift is defined as "an important change that happens when the usual way of thinking about or doing something is replaced by a new and different way”. Whether correlated to this pandemic or a recent change in my personal life to dedicate more time to photography, this shift is reflected in the sounds you’re about to hear. And without further due, let’s proceed with the usual tracklist walkthrough.
Next is 'Aralkum' by composer and violonist Galya Wisengalieva, released a couple of weeks ago on Berlin Atonal’s More Light compilation. It's taken from her album of the same title, a poignant work that sheds light on the shrinking of the Aral sea, one of the worst environmental disasters on the planet.
We continue with the one and only Nils Frahm. Following the announcement of his new live album and concert film, he just shared a first excerpt titled 'Fundamental Values' (check out the video too).
A month ago, post-industrial pioneer Drew McDowall released Agalma, a liturgical and devotional body of work featuring an impressive spectrum of collaborators. On 'Agalma II', a song McDowall describes as a lament for the lost, Italian synthesist Caterina Barbieri drags us gracefully into a whirlpool of melancholy.
We take a very short break with this interlude from Crepuscule Compilation Tracks, Vol. 1, one of the many great compilations by Les Disques du Crepuscule. This independent label was founded in Brussels in 1980 and boasts a cosmopolitan roster of excellent musicians. Check out their catalog here.
The defunct duo of Nicolas Jaar and Dave Harrington recently made an unexpected reappearance on social media and dropped a 2014 archival recording from a live performance in Belgium, one of their final shows together. Listen to this incredible 17-minute extended version of 'Freak, Go Home' by DARKSIDE.
Cranking it up a notch, Sweedish Anna Von Hausswolff (Jan 2022 mixtape) opens the floodgates and unleashes her extraordinary vocal range on us. Black metal atmosphere, sorcery and eeriness on this superb track taken from her 2018 album Dead Magic.
“We’d run out of material. And we didn’t want to put a cover tune on our first album. So we were left with gap; we needed another seven to nine minutes. So once we’d recorded the basic track [the front section, with the vocals], Mike, Robert and I went back into the studio, set the tape rolling and just improvised for about 10 minutes. And I think it’s alright." - Ian McDonald
