Sunday, April 26, 2020

Presenting ... Seclusion (waag_rel138) by Gurdonark




"Seclusion (waag_rel138)", the latest album from my dear friend Robert H. Nunnally Jr aka Gurdonark, was created during the Covid-19 pandemic. It features his futuristic lullabies, collages that have been informed and inspired by the lockdown. A sense of unease and of distance pervades these soundscapes ... a  vast yet wistful emptiness that is expressed through uncertainty and dissonance.

These are uneasy times and this is uneasy music for these uneasy times ... but with the right attitude and a wee bit of effort, I hope you will find Gurdonark's latest a rewarding one.

A 320kbps version of this release will be available, for free, over on Archive with a lossless version available here on Bandcamp for ‘pay what you want’.

- Thomas

https://archive.org/details/waag_rel138b





Sunday, April 12, 2020

Presenting ... Cousin Silas & Friends volume 8 part 1



It could be argued that strange days require strange music ... uneasy listening for uneasy times ... and it can also be argued that one person's uneasy listening is another's vegan quiche.

These are strange days indeed. I doubt anyone could have predicted the first-half of 2020 would have been so utterly weird. 

Social distancing ... quarantine ... self-isolation ... PPE ... safe, not stuck, at home ... pandemic ... lockdown ... furlough ... terms used daily in the common parlance of those working from home along with those who are not, heard on the broadcast media that has become the focal point of our anxiety and our worry, heard on video calls with loved ones or brief conversations held from the top and bottom of a driveway.

And in response to these strange and uncertain times, Cousin Silas has amassed another group of his friends to create, in collaboration and at a distance, another of his exceptional " ... and friends" albums. 

Together, alone ... this group of friends has created music that speaks to this day with ambient sounds, beats, guitar and bass, found sounds, sampled speech, and even the spoken word of Andrew Darlington ... sometimes in the same track, sometimes not.

I welcome this music from Cousin Silas and his friends, and do note with appreciation, that this is only the first part of Volume 8. More is to come.

May this become the soundtrack to your time at home.

- Thomas

PS Volume 8 in all its parts will be "pay what you want" ... I would rather you download this album for free and pay it forward by using the money you may have spent to donate to a charity doing something positive in these strange days. 

I also want this album to be accessible to folks who may have financial concerns as a result of the pandemic ... please take the album for free and may it be a help and blessing to you in these uncertain times.

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TRACK LISTING
01. Cousin Silas with Har, Wilfried Hanrath, Martin Neuhold, & Andrew Darlington - Four Enigmatic Epitaphs Part 1 01:28
02. Cousin Silas with Tubby Myers, Ron Shayler & Jaime Munárriz - Red Sky Capillary 04:39
03. Cousin Silas with Ron Shayler & Glenn Sogge - Who Am I 04:41
04. Cousin Silas with Har, Wilfried Hanrath, Martin Neuhold, & Andrew Darlington - Four Enigmatic Epitaphs Part 2 01:28
05. Cousin Silas with Miriam Christina, Ron Shayler & Jaime Munárriz - Subtile Sprache 07:40
06. Cousin Silas with computerchemist, Tubby Myers, Kevin Lyons, Ron Shayler & Jaime Munárriz - Skyhigh Glideway 10:39
07. Cousin Silas with Har, Wilfried Hanrath, Martin Neuhold, & Andrew Darlington - Four Enigmatic Epitaphs Part 3 01:16
08. Cousin Silas with Asphalt Layer, Glenn Sogge, Ron Shayler & Jaime Munárriz - Soulidify 04:27
09. Cousin Silas & Adam Sternberg - An Underlying Air Of Uncertainty 07:29
10. Cousin Silas with Har, Wilfried Hanrath, Martin Neuhold, & Andrew Darlington - Four Enigmatic Epitaphs Part 4 02:48
11. Cousin Silas & Ron Depaepe - Space Oddity 04:02
12. Cousin Silas & Srigala - Sharks In Venice 03:37
13. Cousin Silas & Gaetano Fontanazza - Dark Escape 04:53
14. Cousin Silas with Ron Shayler & Martin Neuhold - Everywhere Is Grey 03:44
15. Cousin Silas with Doug Lynner, Ron Shayler & Glenn Sogge - Popgun 06:26
16. Cousin Silas & Glove Of Bones - Intermission 4 (Float) 06:41

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