[28th] December: HEXAMOTEN – HEXATONY

In progress. Listen.

[27th] December: Zarkoff – Lead Me On

Soon an article will show up.

[26th] December: Tifaret – The Red Dress – Parts I / II

Article in progress. Listen to the sound.

Exclusive: Ash Code – Oblivion (Minuit Machine Remix)

Writing the article. Holidays still in full swing. Listen to a remix.

[24th|25th] December: L’Avenir & MAKiNA GiRGiR

Enjoy their sounds until the article goes up.

Listen: Hante – Her Fall And Rise

Here there will be an article.

[22nd|23rd] December: Identity Theft & Michael Idehall

Diligent musician Michael have ran Katabatik Records for a while now. Being that of a creative soul himself, he’s occupied with a multitude of different projects, in tune with his artistry. There’s a difference between his own project and that of Seacrypt – a group that became a household name, with their smashing mini-album “Seekers” – released on Falco Invernale Records in March of this year. We shouldn’t forget to mention Nommo Ogo, a more experimental act which have been around since the 1990s, which is one of his other groups. This main difference consists of how he portrays his sounds, because under the guise of Identity Theft – he’s developed it further into the obscure, but remains a lot more unique in sound – added to his repertoire via prolonged experimentation.

For his addition to Ljudkalendern he chose a topic, saddening as it is to read about it, for his song titled “Wait For Mask Signal” – which takes up a fragment of the “Leads Mask Case“. That adds a dimension to a song which make it more emotional to say the least. This clouds our own judgement of it and we leave it as a sonic piece; regardless of the influence. Musically, it’s a minimalistic journey with a solid rhythm that furthers an atmospheric consciousness. We feel busily engaged as we normally don’t do in a minimalist’s setting, as we travel into the music instantly. There’s a certain vibe that Michael have managed to create notwithstanding the topic, sonically – which makes us tranquil. Listen to it in whole down below, exclusively for you, in tune with 22nd December of Ljudkalendern.

The master himself returns with an homage, that we interpret ourselves to be, in honor of an ancient Roman tradition. If you don’t know what that is, it’s the ancient roman celebration and festival, which according to the Julian calendar falls in between the 17th and 23rd December. Originally intended to be a celebratory gesture towards the God of sow and seed – Saturnus¹. Just as this is written, “Svartkonster” have been launched on Beläten. It was originally a mix that Michael Idehall did for Repartiseraren and has now turned into physical emblems, items and a full release both digitally and otherwise. We thought we would mention it, at least. Because there haven’t been anything else since “Deep Code”, it’s interesting to bring something to those of you mainly interested in the sound – as we are.

For Ljudkalendern and originally intended to be launched on the 23rd December, but due to difficulties to find any time to make an effort for the article – it’s written right here and now, with the help of earlier unfinished scribblings, so bear with us. The song that is shared is titled “Saturnalia” and is a rough mix, both sonically and also because it is an early rendition of what might be something else in the future. Probably one of the rougher pieces he’s created, spanning not so long in time but carrying a weight that smashes through anything – maybe even Mach 1 wouldn’t be a problem if it would’ve been anything even remotely related to aerodynamics. Well, listen for yourselves and see what you feel and hear.

1 – Grout, James. Encyclopaedia Romana; Saturnalia. (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/calendar/saturnalia.html)

Listen: PERSON:A – Escaping the Noise

Article is being written…

[20th|21st] December: Lymland & Neugeborene Nachtmusik!

Two small Islands not too far away from one another—Langeland and Lilleø—might have more in common then you think. Both are geographically not far away from one another. The last-mentioned is closer to a bigger island, the fourth largest island of Denmark, namely: Lolland. If their names were to be transfused and given a totally new one, it would be close to suggest a certain Swedish act that released their debut-album in September of 2012. Since you’re reading this article and have glanced over the headline – you already know what duo we’re writing about.

“Lymland“—an Island full of lemmings? No, it’s not very likely. Rather: an island of wastrels – as “lymmel” is an older Swedish word for “wastrel“. Jerker Kaj and Sonja Perander, currently based in Malmö, released their first album under the name of “Ensamtidsroman” – which sounds terrible if translated directly in English and beautiful – in Swedish. Here’s where the actual thought about their own island came to set root. They created a map to represent their small island. Their reference for the outline of a map perhaps actually was Lilleø—one of the smallest islands in Denmark with an area of meager 0.86 km². Linguistically the name is constructed of two components: “lille” (little) and “ø” (island), when combined becomes “lilleø” (little island) – with an uppercase “L” transforms into: “Lilleø” (Little Island).

Their artwork for the album outlines the different portions of the island, most of it linguistically interesting, with names on land such as: “Björndalen” (Bearvalley), “Saven” (The Sap), “Molnbyggen” (Cloud-constructions), “Stora Sågen” (Big Saw), “Klingen” (Third Person); from Old High German, etymologically in New Swedish: the blade of a sword. “Notgrund” (Shallow-Note), “Ryggen” (The Back), and “Snårskog” (Brushwood). When it comes to the coast and off the shore, the following names show up: “Gråsjälsgrynnar“, where “grynna” means: underwater shallow. “Silvertoner” – a reference to Sanna Nielsen’s debut in 1996 with the same name? Probably not, but maybe. “Hammar” – their Swedish place of origin? Which could be one of these two places: Hammar, Kungälv or Hammar, Hammarö. The final name, and description of their map is written out as: “Bullerkobban” (Noise-Islet), located in the North-East of their map and island.

Enough with our etymological descriptions and speculations, now it’s time for their actual music. Even though a description they themselves want to put on “Ensamtidsroman” is, and I quote a part of a whole collateral sentence: “Nine tracks that are held together by an honesty and simplicity…,” may not be as developed like what we’re about to show you, but with the aesthetics of an island by our own definition, with the exception of their original intent, go well together and bring forth visuals that we ourselves adore. The idyllic setting and the freedom of an eremite, if only for a few moments, are what’s needed when you’d want to take a break and rewind. That’s what their music do on this specific album.

We’ve asked them to contribute for Ljudkalendern, a non-commercial collection where different songs are put up each day to create a nice palette of different kinds of music. For everyone to enjoy now when Christmas is soon upon us. So they worked on a track and got it mastered. Now for the 20th of December which we all missed, it will be our pleasure to bring forth “Fantom Mot Fantom” – a track seemingly inspired by the Finland-Swedish poet Edith Södergran, and specifically her poem: “Stormen (Rosenaltaret)“.

[19th] December: Mlada Fronta – Rocket

A placeholder for an article. Writing it as quickly as possible. Write… write… listen to a song, will you?