The space has been purchased and a domain obtained, although not the one I would have preferred.  H34 will be the name of this project, as I’ve discovered headup.com is now a Firefox plugin of some sort.  I should have bought the damn domain a few years ago and it was still available.

At any rate, since this is the first in what I hope will be a series of enjoyable music picks, I will share two that have been on constant repeat as I’m working on getting this blog up and running.

Benoît Pioulard first came to my ears in late 2006 on a chance encounter with Moodgadget compilation The Rorschach Suite.  Not easily classifiable as one single genre, especially not from release to release, his music has a dreamy, saturated quality.  What really draws me in, however, are the vocals, often unintelligable as if sung while yawning, but rich with melody and subtle harmony.  This track, Golden Grin, off his 2008 release Temper (Kranky), is an especially misty melody.  When the song comes in at 0:20 seconds, it blows me away every time.  Such lo-fi loveliness hasn’t been heard by these ears since Iron & Wine’s The Creek Drank The Cradle.  Keep an eye out for a re-issue of Songs Spun Simla with Praveen (read on) from Moodgadget this spring.

Speaking of Kranky, have caught my fancy, I guess this is one of those bands I should have known about when I first got into ambient music.  This track, Btwn You & Me, off Songs For The Broken Hearted (Kranky), is a good track for meditating, relaxing the mind or falling asleep.  The vocals in this track sound like an ancient greek goddess wispering lullabies in your ear.

Finally, Praveen‘s track Distant Snow, off another Moodgadget compilation called Expanse At Low Levels, is a sweeping, engrossing tune.  As with many of his songs, I get a lot of interesting visual images when I listen to the music, sometime soon I’ll rave over his other track on Expanse… called Tour Around This House.  If you enjoy ambient that rests on the opposite side of the spectrum from someone like the above posted Windy & Carl, Expanse… is definitely one to check out.  It’s an album that tells a story, but each paragraph is told by a different artist, weaving together in an eclectic, yet singular voice that leaves it up to the listener to glean the melodies and soundscapes they enjoy the most.

Benoît Pioulard – Golden Grin

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Windy &  Carl – Btwn You & Me

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Praveen – Distant Snow

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Posted in Music Posted by Alex on Feb 09 2009 06:45 pm

Tags: Ambient, Benoît, Kranky, Moodgadget, Praveen, Windy & Carl