Hior Chronik - Taking The Veil

When I first listened to the Arovane & Hior Chronik demo many months ago, two things became clear regarding my understanding of Hior Chronik and his music: One, his touches are minimal but complimentary and powerful. And two, he seems to work extremely well with partners, or in collaboration.

Hior's most powerful work to date and his first 'solo' effort, stays true to those two observations. Taking The Veil, recently released by the esteemed Singapore/Tokyo based Kitchen Label, is a series of collaborations that place Hior's minimal, piano-focused compositions front and center alongside a number of talented partners. Included in the modest yet brimming lineup are: Field Rotation (Denovali Records), Aaron Martin, Sophie Hutchings (Preservation), Luup (Experimedia) and Japanese composers Yasushi Yoshida (noble) and Yoshinori Takezawa (Schole Records).

From such an extensive list of artists, you'd expect an album that spanned many styles as each artist took it upon themselves to shine. But here, the duos are never overly present and the album is a masterpiece in complementing Hior's core talent. Taking the Veil comes off in one fell swoop as an immersive journey into delicate and intricate tales told by a truly talented cast.

Hior's beautiful Piano-work is apparent throughout, adorning dreamy vocal tracks such as Between Two Rooms alongside Seiji Takahashi, and patiently backing Luup's enchanting Flute-work. The instrumentalists conjuring the paintings at-hand are unclear - Nest Of Autumn, alongside the uprising Sophie Hutchings (go check her free EP here) floats by so unassumingly that to think the two have only collaborated on this one track, is a crime. Hior makes it clear he has no intention of being the star of the show, but instead, has sought after the very best to help him along these vivid creations - an avid photographer, it's clear that Hior paints with music.

I'm a big fan of Field Rotation, and Oblivion is the defining piece of this album that would put some of the best Motion Picture Soundtrack pieces to shame. Oblivion could live amongst the likes of many Clint Mansell or James Newton-Howard scores - The Village  (a big favourite of mine) actually came to mind as this track unwound across the four, way-too-short-minutes.

Aaron Martin, who also stars on the upcoming ASIP release with Hior, pairs up in a similar manner to provide added texture to one of the most beautiful melodies on the album in Quiet Inside Your Chest. And if you thought the album would continue in a similar vein with the piano taking center-stage, Amber Ortolano provides a wistful and dreamy vocal across the tinkering bells of Sailing Away and Yoshinori Takezawa adds a child-like playful element to an otherwise very serious album in We Are All Snowflakes.

ASIP star Halo also graces us with another masterful composition. When similar talent like Pasquale and Hior collide, the roles in tracks like The Sense We Make become unclear, but as I mentioned earlier - this effect, most definitely intentional, is often hard to contain with such a long roster of collaborators. Hior's hand-picked roster has accentuated each of his productions, allowing every single track to shine in its own unique way - something single artists albums often struggle to do. The smallest of details from the producers featured here are given the room to grow.

What I love most about this album is that despite the intensity, the detail, and the assuming amount of effort gone into collaborating, Hior graces us with a couple of very magical unexpected moments: a short, but very sweet rendition of London Bridge Is Falling Down, and a cover of Little Dragon's track, Twice with album starlet Amber Ortolano giving her own spin on the unique vocals of Yukimi Nagano.

An irrelevant fact: Little Dragon's Twice was the very first track I posted here on ASIP some seven years ago - to see it recreated by Hior at the same time he prepares a release on ASIP gave me a small, token smile - and on a very personal note, sums up an absolutely brilliant album that touches on some of the finest moments of music I often seek. Taking The Veil presents us with thirteen delicate compositions and beautiful hand-crafted melodies, with each tracks' own unique, respected nuances left to shine and revel in the power of the multiple masters at hand. 

Taking the Veil CD available now at Kitchen Label which also includes the above pictured Art Book.

https://soundcloud.com/hiorchronik
Preview Hior's upcoming collaboration with Arovane.

isolatedmix 55 - Loess

I bet you can think of a number of notorious electronica duos you wish had made more music. There seemed to be a certain rarity to them a while back, and in the past ten years or so, many have submerged into the studio never to surface again. They probably live-on through a Discogs vinyl want-list, or a name that sits top of your mind every-time you go crate-digging - I'll just check under 'A' anyway... JUST in-case this shop somehow has an early Autechre record ...

One of these duos are Loess. Formed of Clay Emerson and Ian Pullman, their last release together was in 2009, but their heyday was back in 2002/2003 with an innovative self-titled album on Nonresponse and a defining IDM piece on Toytronic, titled 3D Concepts Part 2  - this slice of orange vinyl gets a reaction every time - an absolutely stunning piece of glitchy-beats underpinned by beautiful melodies. 

Loess then followed up with a limited 7" on n5MD and an album titled Wind & Water. It was this album which seemed to solidify an IDM cult-following and an ever loyal fan-base, which has since been heard echoing the electronic music forums begging for more; comparing them to Aphex Twin or BoC amongst others, and reminiscing the defining days of IDM.

Loess' isolatedmix transports you into the eclectic minds of two producers at the front of the IDM era of yesteryear - what their music and that style has gone on to influence nowadays is unquantifiable, yet their musical heritage can be traced back to numerous styles and influences. From the undeniable sound of Squarepusher, Autechre, Aphex and Boards of Canada, to dub and nordic folk; these are tracks that will always sit top of their minds irrespective of genre: "Each of these songs sound just as good today, as they did the first time we heard them".

A sentiment that's undoubtedly echoed when slipping on a Loess album. Luckily, the duo are working on new material and plan to be releasing new music in the future...

Download.

Tracklist:
01. Augustus Pablo - Burial Dub
02. Squarepusher - Lambic 5 Poetry
03. Arovane - Thaem Nue
04. Aphex Twin - Alberto Balsam
05. Mum - We have a map of the piano
06. Nick Drake - Road
07. Vasen - Slunken
08. Bibio - Quantock
09. Orchestra Baobab - Utrus Horas
10. Rhythm & Sound w/ Shalom - We Been Troddin
11. Plug - DBC
12. Boards of Canada - Everything You Do Is a Balloon
13. Autechre - Draun Quarter

todos - Cold Shoulders

After twelve Kilchurn Sessions, you can only imagine how many tracks todos has selected, filtered, tried and ultimately cut from the bunch. It's what makes a mix so time consuming - you can come up with a 'playlist' but most of the time, these tracks wont blend together well, don't flow well, or just don't belong. I personally have a list of tracks which never really fit well in a mix despite my ongoing efforts - it includes some of my favourite music ever, but some tracks just don't work well as  part of a larger mix.

In Cold Shoulders, todos, has  managed to conjure a solid journey out of the many tracks he has left behind over the past few Kilchurn Sessions. Despite its connotations, this is as attractive a mix as any of the Kilchurn Sessions, and may just be the greatest reject mix you've ever heard.

"The previous 3 Kilchurn Sessions have seen many great tracks dashed aside, either they didn’t fit the mix, the mood or the feeling at the time. At the end of the day, they didn’t make the cut! Here, I have put many of them together, in a mix of their own. It’s not an official Kilchurn but takes a similar approach. Less time was taken with it, hardly any edits done or pain staking samples tweaked and added.  It is a collection of great “rejects”. Hence the name ‘Cold Shoulders’ I hope you enjoy" - todos.

Download.

Tracklist:

01. Steinbrüchel - ’08’
02. Swartz Et - ‘Yours Mine Ours’ / Brooke Blair and Will Blair - ‘Lights Out’
03. Christopher Willits - ’Now’
04. Gacha Bakradze - ‘Mississipi’
05. Need a Name - ‘Road to Berlin’
06. Theodore Shapiro, José González & Mark Graham - ‘Quintessence’
07. Turtle - ‘Us’
08. Christopher Willits - ‘Wide’
09. The Field - ‘No. No…’
10. Taiga - ‘East Breeze’
11. Burstbot - ‘Inherited’
12. Tom Raybould - ‘The End’
13. Seekae - ‘Another’
14. I Break Horses - ‘Heart To Know’
15. Rival Consoles - ‘Haunt’

Portals: Modern Classical

As described in the Portals introductory post,  this series is an attempt to help everyone explore more, maybe point you to something new, or change your mind completely about a specific style of music. It's a once-click down from the article I wrote on ambient music (Neither Scene Nor Heard...) and will likely go through the many styles described in there as the series progresses. Up first, a style that's taking on the old.

I won't be making an attempt at listing the best Modern Classical artists of today; instead, I will be looking at several artists whose influences or style may relate back to classical music, artists that could be considered as defining or even re-defining what we think of as Modern Classical and tracks that have introduced me to, or led me to explore more of this specific style of music. If you're a die-hard Modern Classical fan, then this post will hopefully help you open up to something more, or different. If you're new to the genre, it may be your way in.

To wrap a loose definition around the term Modern Classical, it's often defined as music whose influences stem from early classical music (the classical music you are probably more familiar with), as opposed to rock, pop, folk, jazz etc. 

This article by  Luke Muehlhauser, provided some great in-depth background on Modern Classical music, but I hope to bring a more ambient/electronic lens as a result of my own personal experiences. I do, however, echo his sentiments surrounding the exploration of the genre; it's pointless trying to make you enjoy all types of Modern Classical music, but I do hope you find something you enjoy, can relate to, and ultimately explore further.

I encourage your comments, recommendations, and experiences in the comments below so we can help one-another explore even more.

~

When I explain to some of my friends or family that I enjoy Modern Classical music, they find it hard to understand. All my years submerged in electronic music - how can I possibly like something like Classical music?! Classical music has connotations of 70-year-old men, dusty record shops with gramophones, or theatres full of tuxedos watching the back of a conductor. Modern Classical and the many artists pioneering it today are breaking new ground, crossing into electronic and ambient music, playing at major festivals, making techno music on the side (or vice-versa), and recruiting a much younger generation of listeners.

Recomposed By Max Richter: Vivaldi - The Four Seasons - Spring 1. (2012)

Let's start as close to the origins of classical music as possible. Max Richter is one of the best composers of the modern age and for many, responsible for defining Modern Classical music.

Richter will come as no stranger to many of us, and the renowned German/Brit is the epitome of Modern Classical music - forging the gap between the old and the new. In no production is this more apparent or beautiful, as Spring 1, taken from Max's reinterpretation of a classical masterpiece, The Four Seasons by one of Classical music's very own legends, Vivaldi.

Spring 1, combines an emotional, soaring Moog synth which juxtaposes the sharp violins paving the way for the introductory piece of the record. It's the Yin to the Yang, the old parallel to the new, and this electronic addition is the most obvious of elements you'll witness amongst Max's many modern and minimal takes on classical music we've heard in the likes of Memoryhouse and Infra.

Watch a video of the entire concert here and a clip of Spring 1, below with Max on the Moog.

Steve Reich - Six Pianos (1974)

Steve Reich is often talked about in the same vein as Max Richter, both namely responsible for the modern-minimalist movement, but in many respects, Reich may be an easier 'in' for many of us - his variations and experimental approaches are more likely to resonate with you at some point along his 40+ year career. 

His track Electric Counterpoint, for example, the source for samples in The Orb's Little Fluffy Clouds, and his most notorious release, Music for 18 Musicians, recently repressed for Record Store Day 2015 and his most celebrated and respected piece to date. 

But it's the 1974 track, Six Pianos which I've chosen to feature here. The repetitive pianos, whilst absent of any obvious emotion we heard in Max Richter's piece, are something I've come to see and respect within performances from the artists of today. The ability to hang an audience on single notes, or these repetitions, for minutes on-end... it takes a special someone to pull that off. 

Ryuichi Sakamoto - Completion (2007) (With Christopher Willits) 

Ryuichi Sakaomoto is another artist responsible for injecting new life into classical music. His extensive list of collaborators ranges from: ambient and experimental visionaries such as Taylor Deupree, (here playing an experimental set at St Johns for 
Boiler Room)  Fennesz (here combining Fennesz's fuzzy electronics in the classic piano track, Amore) David Byrne (here for The Last Emperor Soundtrack) Alva Noto, (here layering keys amongst the static and glitch of Raster Noton's finest) and the track chosen here alongside Ghostly's ambient star, Christopher Willits, combining textures on
Completion. 

Sakamoto may not be down as your most obvious Modern Classical character, but he's a prime example of an artist pushing the boundaries of what we may have previously deemed classical. Starting as a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra and going on to record such infamous piano compositions such as, Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence (still a big favourite of mine - watch a live recording here), he's brought the piano to the world in as many guises as physically possible.

Nils Frahm - Said And Done (2013) (pictured)

The German is single-handedly responsible for making me fall in love with this type of music all over again and Said And Done is just one example of Modern Classical at its finest. 

The track features three parts which repeatedly sends shivers down my spine. First, the sustained keys - I've seen Nils tease out the audience with this section for what seems like hours on end. Second, this (sometimes aggressive) playing eases into the track's gentle melody, which oozes with melancholy. Until third, the keys are once again pounded with such significance you wonder if Nils is even human - head down, beads of sweat breaking across his brow, arms drawn across the stage... and then it hooks you.

Spaces, his 2014 release, was without a doubt my favourite album of the year and whilst pieces like Said And Done are strictly piano, Nils continues to push the boundaries with his modern take on classical music, combining vintage synthesizers, custom piano builds (the largest piano in the world), dub-remixes for Jon Hopkins, his very own Piano Day, and more recently debuting a motion-picture soundtrack for Victoria.

The below video isn't of Said And Done, because to single-out this track amongst Nil's performances wouldn't do it justice, but if you're familiar with Nils, you probably already know the track. If you're new to Nils, then watch the below and have your mind and ears blown. 

Said And Done begins at around 17 minutes.

Ólafur Arnalds and Alice Sara Ott - Verses - The Chopin Project (2015)

I found the following Youtube comment on one of Ólafur Arnald's videos for his recent Chopin project: "Chopin published the 3rd Sonata in 1844, Arnald's published this is 2015 ... There's 171 years of music in this 4 minute video"...

Just like Nils, Ólafur has been one of the biggest and most talented stars to emerge from this music style, bringing the pure beauty of a piano to the masses of people who now flock to his concerts and shows globally. Quotes like the above really put the gravitas of Modern Classical into context, and go to show that good music never really goes away - it just gets reinterpreted, sampled or built upon for new audiences who are willing to listen and learn. 

Ólafur began his career in a Heavy Metal band and to this day consistently reminds us of the power behind a composition. He integrates powerful vocals in For Now I Am Winter, writes music for Broadchurch, combines classical elements with dance music as Kiasmos, and here, with Alice Sara Ott, reinterprets the legendary Polish virtuoso Pianist, Chopin.

Dustin O'Halloran - A Great Divide (2011)

This entire article could go on to feature many of the stars grown by the brilliant Erased Tapes label. From Germany's Nils Frahm, to Olafur Arnalds' early works, and Portland's Peter Broderick, to more recent label additions such as "the fastest pianist in the world"; Lubomyr Melynk, veteran composer Michael Price and the soaring beauty of A Winged Victory For The Sullen. The latter of which, formed of Adam Wiltzie (of Stars Of The Lid fame) and self-taught pianist Dustin O'Halloran. 

Dustin's release Vorleben, on the brilliant Sonic Pieces record label in 2011, seemed to be a defining piece for the American pianist and label alike. The Berlin based collective, now synonymous with some of the very best modern-classical music, housed early Nils Frahm albums such as Wintermusik in 2009, Otto A Totland's short and minimalist album, Pinô, and the Norwegian dark-ambient pairing, Deaf Center.  Despite playing a modest part of this well-respected label's growth, it's Dustin's work as one half of A Winged Victory For The Sullen which has propelled him, and in many respects, Modern Classical music, forward. 

Whether you prefer your piano blanketed in ambience alongside slow riffs from Adam Wiltzie in AWVFTS (read a live review here), or more classical compositions from Dustin's individual work, productions such as A Great Divide highlight just how accomplished this man is, alone or accompanied. 

Ben Woods - Fond Of You (2014)

Diving deeper into this particular style, I have a long list of ambient artists that could be seen as having Modern Classical influences. I'll create a separate Portals specifically for those artists, and they'll likely creep-in when I focus on Soundtracks, or dive into ambient music specifically, but for now I wanted to just keep it to one track and mention a few should you want to be eased into this softly-lit world. 

Strictly speaking, ambient music tends to go one of two ways for me. Either electronic, synthesized sounds, accentuated by samples or analog instruments. Or, where Modern Classical is concerned, instrumentalists adding textures, or even playing textures through piano, strings or guitar. Sometimes they're classically trained, or as I've learned, in many instances have no training whatsoever, and have simply mastered programs like Ableton. 

There's a whole world of these talented pianists, cellists, guitarists, and violinists that form the back-bone of much of the ambient music we hear today. They deserve to be credited with opening our ears to the powerful and evocative styles behind Modern Classical music; be it hidden amongst textures, or in Ben Woods' case, playing the lead role in the beautiful track, Fond Of You.

This more ambient focused approach can also be found in the likes of: Helios, Brambles, Halo, Hior Chronik, Jacaszek, Arc Of Doves, and when leaning more towards soundtrack styles: Bruno Sanfilippo, Rhian Sheehan, Levi Patel and Luke Howard to name just a few to get you started... Expect more to come on this particular style of music in another Portals.

Christina Vantzou - VHS

I wanted to represent a few different styles throughout this post and Christina Vantzou's VHS does just that. Her experimental and omnidirectional take on Classical music is a refreshing and bold approach to reconstructing music. 

I was lucky enough to witness Christina at Substrata Festival a few years back, where she orchestrated a specially commissioned string-quartet, dancing around on stage bare-footed, her artistic qualities were evident, as are they in VHS, with its haunting 
instruments and hypnotic accompanying video.

Instead of crafting extended, complicated compositions, Christina can be found creating minimal, experimental stories, often focusing on string instruments, but as with VHS, combining a multitude of different approaches, tones, and emotions. 

Christina's albums on Kranky also provide the perfect entry point to explore a further multitude of artists that touch the Modern Classical realm; throughout her self-released remix albums No1 and No2. Loscil, Motion Sickness of Time Travel, Koen Holtkamp, ISAN, and Dustin O'Halloran are just a few artists who stepped up to reinterpret her works.

My favourite track of Christina's may actually be Going backwards to recover that which was left behind, but VHS provides a slightly different perspective to the music featured here. If you're in need of more experimental artists that have their own non-traditional approach, I'd also recommend Hauschka, whose prepared piano is an absolute spectacle. 

Jeff Mills & The Montpelier Philharmonic Orchestra (2005)

You may be aware of Aphex Twin's Remote Orchestra? It received mixed reviews, but his intentions were never faulted and at the very least it gave birth to this rather beautiful remix of Rhubarb. The idea of controlling a 48 piece string section and a 24 strong choir by remote control, using a host of electronics, midi controllers, and remote visual cues wasn't RDJ's finest moment, but it was a stroke of genius, going one step further than anyone else looking to smash down any musical boundaries.

For the techno enthusiasts amongst us you may also remember Carl Craig stepping up in front of Les Siècles Orchestra - another great example of two musical worlds colliding. Or earlier in 2005, another techno legend, Jeff Mills, playing alongside The Montpelier Philharmonic Orchestra.

For anybody my age growing up listening to electronic music, it's easy to recognise the classical elements or instruments in techno tracks; the piano leads of early house music, the Strings Of Life we came to recognize, but it's extremely hard to imagine them ever becoming so apparent. That is, until you witness the natural harmony between electronic musicians on stage backed by a 909 and fronted by an Orchestra. It's hard to not fall in love with what the likes of Jeff Mills, Carl Craig, and Aphex Twin have done for music across the board - irrespective of genre. 

The integration of classical instruments and the world of techno/electronic music can also be flipped completely on its head. From electronic music integrating classical, to classical music mimicking electronic. 

Irrespective of genre or label, these reinterpretations of early electronic music over the past few years have opened up my eyes to how powerful string, wood, and brass instruments can be, even without a kick-drum. In the same way I witnessed Jeff Mills and Carl Craig on stage in-front of an Orchestra, playing some of my all-time favourite tracks in a completely different manner; these performances gave me a whole new-found respect for anybody mastering these instruments.

Alarm Will Sound took on Aphex Twin with their version of Blue Calx (coming the closest to matching RDJ's original), but The Williams Fairey Brass Band may just be your favourite find of the article. Covering early 90's acid-house tracks from 808 State, The KLF, and A Guy Called Gerald, if this doesn't make you want to seek out the potential of a Trombone, then I don't know what will...

Moby - God Moving Over The Face Of The Waters (1995)

Lastly, something you probably weren't expecting: a track that cut straight through a plethora of electronic music during its most celebrated age, a CD full of rave music, a track that many people wouldn't consider Modern Classical, yet if played live would probably be one of the greatest performances of our times without the need for any electronic instruments at all.

God Moving Over The Face Of The Waters by Moby may be boxed as ambient, soundtrack or just simply instrumental, but it has all the elements of an epic orchestral performance. If you ever doubted the use of classical instruments, strings or piano in music, then this track could be your way in, as it was for me back in 1995.

I'm not sure if Moby has ever played this live with an orchestra but there's an amazing similarity between this song and many of the artists mentioned in this article. Moby gets a hard-rap nowadays, but he gets my nod for somehow producing one of the best instrumental tracks in the past twenty years and for being one of the very first people to make me think,"Wow. The strings and piano in this are really something, I wonder what else is similar?"...

~

Portals Episode 1: Modern Classical d/l

Tracklist:

01. Recomposed By Max Richter: Vivaldi - The Four Seasons - Spring 0 & 1
02. Nils Frahm - Said And Done.
03. Willits & Sakamoto - Completion
04. Dustin O'Halloran - A Great Divide
05. Ólafur Arnalds and Alice Sara Ott - Verses
06. Christina Vantzou - VHS
07. Ben Woods - Fond Of You
08. Jeff Mills & The Montpelier Philharmonic Orchestra - Imagine (Blue Potential Version)
09. Moby - God Moving Over The Face Of The Waters
10. Steve Reich - Six Pianos

Portals: an introduction

All of us are passionate about exploring new styles of music, and when it comes to ambient and electronic, we're pretty lucky at how far and wide that spectrum spans. With such breadth however, comes a lack of knowledge in some of the hard-to-reach areas - the less accessible music maybe. Or for some, they don't take the steps to explore any further, to go outside of what they're comfortable with. Maybe it's a lack of time, maybe it's just not knowing where to start. 

Genres are difficult and contentious subjects to navigate, but only when we draw boundaries instead of breaking them down. When exploring new music, it's much more helpful to say what genre a track may belong to, or what may have influenced it, than say what genre it doesn't belong to. And that openness often leads you into new territory. 

So I'm starting a new blog series titled Portals.

In this series, I'll focus on one specific style of music or an associated topic - often a derivative or influence of ambient or electronic music, similar to how I explored ambient music in my long-read, "Neither Scene Nor Heard: a journey through ambient music". Each episode will look deeper into the specific style or topic in an attempt to introduce you to, open-up the aperture and hold open the door to an entirely new place. There will be ten tracks in each of the posts, and they will attempt to cover some of the styles that represent that topic - think of it as one-click down from "Neither Scene Nor Heard.." 

There will be many of you down the rabbit-hole already; many of you better placed to tell the story of a style, so feel free to contribute in the comments below each post with tracks or artists you feel fit the topic. I'll also be featuring guest editors who better represent a specific style or topic.

The first Portals feature will focus on Modern Classical music, with ten tracks that have helped me fall in love with the style over the past few years. When I explain to some of my friends or family that I enjoy Modern Classical music, they find it hard to grasp. Classical music has connotations of 70-year-old men, dusty record shops with gramophones, or a theatre-full of tuxedos watching the back of a conductor. Modern Classical and the many artists pioneering it today are breaking new ground, crossing into electronic and ambient music, playing at major festivals, making techno music on the side, and doing it in style.

Coming soon: Portals: Modern Classical.