ambient / experimental
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Over the past several months, we've had the pleasure of receiving a number of pleasant albums from Eilean Records. Somehow this label knows exactly where to find awe-inspiring ambient artists. None of the albums I reviewed for them was disappointing. In fact, many of them showed some interesting approaches and elements into the genre. Now they come up with the debut album by Canadian artist Jonathan Kawchuk, once again a high quality album.
Kawchuk has been working with people like Ben Frost and Nico Muhly but this seems to be the first time that he works on his own. The result is a strange, almost alienating journey into the mind of a young, talented composer and multi-instrumentalist. With elements from ambient, drone music and neo-classical arrangements, Kawchuk seems to find his place between artists like Olafur Arnalds, Nils Frahm, Biosphere, Zoviet France and many others.
The tracks on this album often sound a bit like classical chamber music played on old, scratched records. Sounds seem to skip, glitch and deliberately avoid the overall tempo and groove. Yet, in a way it sounds organic, growing and free. I have no idea what instruments Kawchuk used to compose these anthems but piano certainly is one of them, hence some of the earlier mentioned references.
Another element that seems present, is jazz. There's a strange, eerie feeling present in the music, a bit similar to some free jazz tunes I've heard. In fact, songs like 'Fast Twitch' and 'That So' could have been made by a combination of Dale Cooper & the Dictaphones, Nils Frahm and Aidan Baker. Now that would be an interesting combination but I guess it will never happen. Yet, don't worry, Jonathan Kawchuk came up with something just as amazing and inspiring.
This is Eilean's december release and a great soundtrack for the cold winter days ahead of us. This month you can often find me here in my couch with a glass of wine and some snacks, a fireplace-video on YouTube (I don't have a fireplace myself, unfortunately) and this piece of music on my stereo. It just might become the best winter yet...
Serge
Kawchuk has been working with people like Ben Frost and Nico Muhly but this seems to be the first time that he works on his own. The result is a strange, almost alienating journey into the mind of a young, talented composer and multi-instrumentalist. With elements from ambient, drone music and neo-classical arrangements, Kawchuk seems to find his place between artists like Olafur Arnalds, Nils Frahm, Biosphere, Zoviet France and many others.
The tracks on this album often sound a bit like classical chamber music played on old, scratched records. Sounds seem to skip, glitch and deliberately avoid the overall tempo and groove. Yet, in a way it sounds organic, growing and free. I have no idea what instruments Kawchuk used to compose these anthems but piano certainly is one of them, hence some of the earlier mentioned references.
Another element that seems present, is jazz. There's a strange, eerie feeling present in the music, a bit similar to some free jazz tunes I've heard. In fact, songs like 'Fast Twitch' and 'That So' could have been made by a combination of Dale Cooper & the Dictaphones, Nils Frahm and Aidan Baker. Now that would be an interesting combination but I guess it will never happen. Yet, don't worry, Jonathan Kawchuk came up with something just as amazing and inspiring.
This is Eilean's december release and a great soundtrack for the cold winter days ahead of us. This month you can often find me here in my couch with a glass of wine and some snacks, a fireplace-video on YouTube (I don't have a fireplace myself, unfortunately) and this piece of music on my stereo. It just might become the best winter yet...
Serge