IAMSEB REVIEWS is going to be a new feature on HI54 where UK illustrator Seb Westcott creates an illustrated summary of an album that’s been occupying a lot of Seb headphone time. The collaboration came about the way all good collaborations come about: Seb emailed me about this idea and I was like, “that’s a good idea, we should do that” and now we are doing that because internet. Follow IAMSEB on the Instagram for more great illustrations + future illustrated album reviews.
* Providing the A's to the 5 HIGHLY RECOMMENDED Q's today is John Thayer — a New York based musician-composer-engineer whose new album ‘Regarding Wave’ just came out and it is a perfect ‘stick in your headphones so you can get some thinking / daydreaming done’ kind of record (probably why the lead off track was recently featured in the HI54 MIX CD ‘Stop Talking… I’m Trying To Think’).
I've really been enjoying Huerco S' 2016 release "Those Of You Who Have Never (And Also Those Who Have)."
It's a beautiful, drifting ambient release, perfect for traveling, walking, driving or just zoning out.
Stray Dog directed by Akira Kurosawa is an amazing Japanese post-war film noir. It has an incredible score by Fumio Hayasaka who worked with Kurosawa on a number of movies before his early death.
Hayasaka was one of the first Japanese composers to integrate found sound and field recordings into his works while also writing pieces for both Japanese and western style instrumentation.
Ocean of Sound: Aether Talk, Ambient Sound & Imaginary Worlds by musician and author David Toop is an incredible book. It's a wonderful history of ambient music that goes far beyond the electronic realm.
I've reread it a number of times and often bring it on the road with me as it's a treasure trove of information, recommend listening and insightful analysis. Toop also released a well curated album of the same name featuring a diverse array of artists many of which fall out of the traditional definition of ambient.
Ring Of Fire: An Indonesian Odyssey is a documentary from 1972 by Lawrence and Lorne Blair, two English brothers who set out on a loosely planned adventure around Indonesia's extended island network. The term for this journey is wanderjahr, a German word generally associated with the travels of a craftsperson upon completion of their apprenticeship.
I spend a great deal of time traveling, I work in NYC, I attempt to save money and then I leave. In the winter of 2018 I backpacked in Indonesia, studying gamelan and making field recordings. My partner's parents had first met in Bali in the 1980's and her father suggested I check out a documentary his friends had made years ago. I really identified with the Blair's sense of adventure and their desire to inhabit the unknown. I found their dealings with the dream world and altered states very much in line with my own experiences.
Anyone interested in this vibe might dig an album I recorded during my travels through Thailand & Cambodia and released on Power Moves Library. PML curates the Excavation Series, a cassette release series featuring field recordings, mixtapes and other travel oriented aural oddities.
We as individuals need to dramatically reduce our consumption, specifically our use of plastics. It takes a small amount of foresight, but actions as simple as not purchasing plastic bottles or not taking a plastic bag upon purchase can have larger impacts if done en masse. I live in NYC and I work at a recording studio, every time people order food during a session it arrives in plastic bags full of plastic containers and is consumed with plastic silverware. Every time you go into a bodega and you buy a bottle of water you're given a plastic bag. I think if people were more educated on how harmful all of this is we could take steps to reduce this level of waste.
We are currently driving full speed off a cliff into a major humanitarian crisis in regards to climate change so suggesting people stop using plastic bags isn't going to save the planet, I realize that. At the same time the accumulation of small actions can have a profound impact on humanity as a whole. The inventor, philosopher and all around futurist Buckminster Fuller often discussed the idea of the trim tab, a small rudder that is at the bottom of a large ship's main rudder. Essentially the big rudder is unable to turn as the force is too great, so the role of the trim tab is to make a smaller directional change which then allows the main rudder to turn. We're all trim tabs, we're all capable of turning society into a more progressive, compassionate direction.
“Something hit me very hard once, thinking about what one little man could do. Think of the Queen Mary—the whole ship goes by and then comes the rudder. And there’s a tiny thing at the edge of the rudder called a trim tab.
It’s a miniature rudder. Just moving the little trim tab builds a low pressure that pulls the rudder around. Takes almost no effort at all. So I said that the little individual can be a trim tab. Society thinks it’s going right by you, that it’s left you altogether. But if you’re doing dynamic things mentally, the fact is that you can just put your foot out like that and the whole big ship of state is going to go.
So I said, call me Trim Tab.”
OK folks, there you have it. Things that John Thayer thinks you should consider incorporating into your day/life. Before you log off and go make yourself a plastic-free trim tab, make sure to follow John on the Instagram and then pop over to Bandcamp and give that new album ‘Regarding Wave’ some lost-in-thought headphone time.
HIGH FIVE FOR… NAPSTER AND JUMPING AROUND PUNCHING THE AIR IN YOUR PARENT'S BASEMENT
This guest mix (and the accompanying words) come via Tom from Frog, who just so happens to have an excellent new album called ‘Whatever We Probably Already Had It’ out on Audio Antihero right now.
“When Napster was a thing, I used it to collect these songs on my parent's computer. I played them loud and flung myself around the basement until dinner was ready. I can't claim to have been a part of a community that listened to this music in a group setting, so I guess thats what I want to do now…
…If you can listen to this playlist at any point before the end of 2018, I promise to be listening to it as much as I can and maybe we'll be doing it together.
If you don't like it, think of it as a neat thing we are doing together as pals.
We'll do whatever you want after, I promise!”
- Tom from Frog
Before you stuff this guest mix into your pocket and disappear to another corner of the internet, make sure to follow Frog on the Twitter / Facebook / Instagram and then go cop that sweet new Frog record over on the Bandcamp.
I get sent a lot of music submissions on SubmitHub. A good chunk of those songs are available on Soundcloud, which got me thinking…
… maybe I should resurrect my Soundcloud account and start putting together monthly collections of all the tracks I approved on SubmitHub that were submitted over on the cloud? This particular playlist will be where you can find all the Soundcloud submissions approved for blahging in December 2018 (tracks added throughout the month).
* Providing the A's to the 5 HIGHLY RECOMMENDED Q's today is Daniel Isaiah — a Canadian singer-songer whose lovely new album ‘Only One Left’ recently dropped and you should check it out wherever you go to check lovely new albums out these days (single ‘Javelin Fade’ was also featured on the ongoing HI54 mix cd ‘Not Lost / Not Found’).
These two guys used to be in Torngat, one of my favourite Montreal bands. What I love about their synth works, besides the great sounds and grooves, is how they get the machines going, without ever letting the machines run away. They exercise just the right amount of control over them.
This was the great director's last film. It is 24 static shots of nature, and animals (mostly birds), that last about 4 minutes each. If you are bored by slow cinema, this isn't for you, but if you can stay with it and bring your attention to it, it will be worth your while.
He was one of a kind. I love his novels, but it's the short stories that I return to most often. "The Judgement" is one of my favourites. A precursor to Lynch. If you've ever had a nightmare about your dad, this one will hit close to home!
I don't know much about this guy, except that he started a label in Japan in the 80s and put out a few records that I guess you would call "minimalist". He died young. This is the only record of his own music that I know of, and I listen to it often. Usually when I'm working.
Jojoba oil. Rub it in your hair, rub it on your skin, rub it on your friends.
I live in a city that is freezing half the year, and the radiators in my apartment suck all the moisture out. So jojoba is an essential oil.
OK folks, there you have it. Things that Daniel Isaiah thinks you should consider incorporating into your day/life. Before you log off and go find some Jojoba oil to rub onto your everything, make sure to follow Daniel on the Facebook & Twitter and then go listen / get the new album ‘Only One Left’.