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Reveries
by Dawn Chorus and the Infallible Sea purchase > April 26, 2024 Limited Edition Solid Orange LP Limited Edition Mini-LP Slipcase CD + Digital Download About___ There is a particular, melancholy vibration that resonates through any given album closer, whether it’s in the arrangement and atmosphere, or in the basic understanding that an experience is coming to its end. A well-composed denouement can bring together loose ends, act as a thematic refrain or create an unexpected twist, but it’s always a defining element of the whole. With Reveries, Dawn Chorus and the Infallible Sea (the trio of Zach Frizzell, Marc Ertel and Damien Duque) offer a sustained embrace of this enigmatic mood across six patiently-evolving pieces, each of which manifests an aching, funereal fullness. The opening title track emerges quietly in a swirl of strings the texture of tulle, while a foundation of warm low-end and sighing synths carries the piece into a pensive, pastel haze of overlapping vapors. From here the album pulses like a hibernation heartbeat, rising and receding in slow-motion, each entry a vital breath to ward off a crystalline cold. “Deus” eases its fittingly reverent grain into a glorious minor-key immensity, while lead single “Cadere” pulls together an evolving cast of orchestral instruments into a comforting devotional that exemplifies the artists’ growth and development across the past half-decade. |
Like-minded stalwarts Stars of the Lid were known to work with string players based on their ability to maintain perfect intonation on the same note for minutes on end, with the intention of fostering lucid dreams during their performances – in a similar spirit, “Somnium” plays out in diffuse, shimmering melodic rounds while a roiling sea churns beneath. This piece might bear the closest resemblance to Frizzell’s (known as zakè) landmark Orchestral Tape Studies series, but in the context of collaboration it finds its own echelon of expressive allure.
The final act of Reveries comprises two angles of a view across the plain: “Vale” blossoms from a pair of sparse, alternating chord swells that transform into a soothing, angelic mist, while “Aufero” is a perfect coda that reprises the low-end rumble of the album’s overture under an aural cotton batting that evokes summer rainfall, or the idle hiss of worn tape.
According to the artists, the creation of this suite was “heavily reliant on improvisation, intuition, and allowing the compositions to exist in their own moment; the aim was a feeling of fluidity and a sense that every instrument has its place and purpose.” Further echoing the bedrock philosophy of many releases on his own Past Inside the Present label, Frizzell adds, “We live in an era of infinite distraction, where often the most valuable thing you can find is a respite for the soul.” With “Reveries”, Frizzell, Ertel and Duque grant us just such an antidote to anxiety, acknowledging inevitable ends but leaving the window open for whatever might follow.
Credits___
Written, recorded, and produced by Dawn Chorus and the Infallible Sea
Mixed and mastered at Ambient Mountain House by James Bernard
Design and layout by zakè
Dawn Chorus and the Infallible Sea is Zach Frizzell, Marc Ertel, and Damien Duque
© 2024 Sonic Cathedral
℗ Past Inside the Present Publishing (BMI)
This is SCR275
dcatis.bandcamp.com
soniccathedral.bandcamp.com
RIYL___
Billow Observatory, William Basinski, Stars of the Lid, Marsen Jules, Christina Vantzou, Eluvium, Jacaszek
TAGS___
drone ambient, ambient, ambient music, ambient electronica, drone, soundscape, space ambient, orchestral, neoclassical, minimal classical, ambience, space music
The final act of Reveries comprises two angles of a view across the plain: “Vale” blossoms from a pair of sparse, alternating chord swells that transform into a soothing, angelic mist, while “Aufero” is a perfect coda that reprises the low-end rumble of the album’s overture under an aural cotton batting that evokes summer rainfall, or the idle hiss of worn tape.
According to the artists, the creation of this suite was “heavily reliant on improvisation, intuition, and allowing the compositions to exist in their own moment; the aim was a feeling of fluidity and a sense that every instrument has its place and purpose.” Further echoing the bedrock philosophy of many releases on his own Past Inside the Present label, Frizzell adds, “We live in an era of infinite distraction, where often the most valuable thing you can find is a respite for the soul.” With “Reveries”, Frizzell, Ertel and Duque grant us just such an antidote to anxiety, acknowledging inevitable ends but leaving the window open for whatever might follow.
Credits___
Written, recorded, and produced by Dawn Chorus and the Infallible Sea
Mixed and mastered at Ambient Mountain House by James Bernard
Design and layout by zakè
Dawn Chorus and the Infallible Sea is Zach Frizzell, Marc Ertel, and Damien Duque
© 2024 Sonic Cathedral
℗ Past Inside the Present Publishing (BMI)
This is SCR275
dcatis.bandcamp.com
soniccathedral.bandcamp.com
RIYL___
Billow Observatory, William Basinski, Stars of the Lid, Marsen Jules, Christina Vantzou, Eluvium, Jacaszek
TAGS___
drone ambient, ambient, ambient music, ambient electronica, drone, soundscape, space ambient, orchestral, neoclassical, minimal classical, ambience, space music
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B⁴+3
by zakè purchase > March 1, 2024 Limited Edition Cassette + Digital Download About___ “Monochrome drone for the gray days we see more often than we wish.” This is the enigmatic description given by zakè (aka Zach Frizzell) of B⁴+3, a reimagined and expanded edition of B⁴ (Zakè Drone Recordings, 2023), which was originally composed to accompany a limited series of striking, chiaroscuro art prints created by the artist. While the suite may conjure grayscale melancholy, it is characteristically brimming with texture and depth. Anyone familiar with Frizzell’s worldly catalog of tape-saturated drone knows that each volume exists in its own unique climate, and forms a distinct topography – with B⁴+3, you might imagine a weathered harbor dock at dawn, with black water rippling out into fog, and dense swathes of old-growth looming behind. “Bracken” opens with delicate harmonic themes that build into vast waves, while a granular crackle intimates the last throes of life in the soil before hibernation. Like much of zakè’s work, its simmering power comes from restraint and patience. “Betrayal” – the first of a trio of new pieces on this collection – goes a notch darker, teasing out layers of listing soundforms across a sprawling drone, each one a ship’s light passing and disappearing into the distance. |
When discussing the original quartet of themes on B⁴, zakè notes an ongoing feeling of “unfinished business”, and of having left them “in a kind of purgatory state”, which kept pulling him back to the studio. The revised iteration of “Burnt” is the sound of a roiling sky, opening up as a murmuration spills across the panorama. The warp and weft of its carefully developed structure make it a standout not only of this album, but of the broader genre of organic, tonal ambient music that zakè fosters through his renowned Past Inside the Present label.
On “Banded”, strata of ice begin to crystallize at the shoreline, moving outward while shafts of light dapple the surface in the distance. Comforting, sub-bass swells appear in full form, imperceptibly pulsing like the slowed hearts of subaquatic life in the midst of a freeze. The album’s most shadowy passage arrives with new pieces “Blight” and “Bane” – the former a bone-chilling wind across the tundra, and the latter a dive through an ice cave into some unforgiving abyss, both illustrating the immense range that defines zakè’s vision.
“Barren” is a perfect closer to this suite, its solemn, holy tonality like an ashen cross on the forehead, a mark of grace and humility in the cryptic infinite. As its final chords fade, B⁴+3 offers only an ambiguous sense of resolution. Through pensive processes and a philosophy of open-ended, shapeshifting composition, zakè reminds us that no piece of music is ever truly finished – one only finds a stopping place before summoning the will to carry on deeper into the mist.
Credits___
Written, recorded, and produced by zakè
Mixed at Kaleidoscope Tone Studio by zakè
Mastered at Ambient Mountain House by James Bernard
Layout and design by zakè
© 2024 Zakè Drone Recordings
℗ Past Inside the Present Publishing (BMI)
This is ZD-030 | MMXXIII
zakedronerecordings.com
zakedrone.com
pitp.us
On “Banded”, strata of ice begin to crystallize at the shoreline, moving outward while shafts of light dapple the surface in the distance. Comforting, sub-bass swells appear in full form, imperceptibly pulsing like the slowed hearts of subaquatic life in the midst of a freeze. The album’s most shadowy passage arrives with new pieces “Blight” and “Bane” – the former a bone-chilling wind across the tundra, and the latter a dive through an ice cave into some unforgiving abyss, both illustrating the immense range that defines zakè’s vision.
“Barren” is a perfect closer to this suite, its solemn, holy tonality like an ashen cross on the forehead, a mark of grace and humility in the cryptic infinite. As its final chords fade, B⁴+3 offers only an ambiguous sense of resolution. Through pensive processes and a philosophy of open-ended, shapeshifting composition, zakè reminds us that no piece of music is ever truly finished – one only finds a stopping place before summoning the will to carry on deeper into the mist.
Credits___
Written, recorded, and produced by zakè
Mixed at Kaleidoscope Tone Studio by zakè
Mastered at Ambient Mountain House by James Bernard
Layout and design by zakè
© 2024 Zakè Drone Recordings
℗ Past Inside the Present Publishing (BMI)
This is ZD-030 | MMXXIII
zakedronerecordings.com
zakedrone.com
pitp.us
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Lapis
by zakè purchase > January 17, 2024 Limited edition CD and Art Print Digital Download [at] quietdetails.bandcamp.com Read more [at] quietdetails.com About___ "To bring in the new year, one of the of pillars of modern electronic music has shared their interpretation of quiet details, the visionary zakè. Founder of Past Inside the Present, one of the leading labels focusing on ambient in all its forms, and many sub-labels and connected imprints, zakè has built up an incredible community of artists and fans alike - a world of positivity and forward-thinking music loved across the board. His own music is a cornerstone of this and, in many ways, represents the fundamental expression - on zakè Drone Recordings we find a dazzling array of solo and collaborative albums - the mark of an artist with a clear and pure vision, and we see this brought to bear with his stunning qd album, Lapis. This is ambient music in its purest form. Layers upon layers of highly textural loops intertwine with each other over the course of each track, ever shifting and morphing as new forms emerge during the passing of time. |
zakè creates boundless and totally immersive sound-worlds, infinite expanses in which to wander - beautiful melodic and harmonic phrases drift in and out of focus, a true sense of three dimensional space underpinned by the deepest and most enveloping bass frequencies, themselves providing a perfect counterpoint to the elements undulating above.
Played low, this is a guided meditation; played loud it is physical music that’s nothing less than transcendent. The stunning textures are sourced from a range of instruments and recording techniques - an antique Steinway piano, vintage synths and tape decks, field recordings - all contribute to the atmospheric wonder.
Credits___
Music by zakè
Mastered by Alex at quiet details studios
Artwork by quiet details in collaboration with zakè
Design by quiet details
© quiet details, qd12
Played low, this is a guided meditation; played loud it is physical music that’s nothing less than transcendent. The stunning textures are sourced from a range of instruments and recording techniques - an antique Steinway piano, vintage synths and tape decks, field recordings - all contribute to the atmospheric wonder.
Credits___
Music by zakè
Mastered by Alex at quiet details studios
Artwork by quiet details in collaboration with zakè
Design by quiet details
© quiet details, qd12
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Live Improvisations
by Chihei Hatakeyama, Hakobune, zakè, From Overseas purchase > January 1, 2024 Limited edition LP Digital Download [at] zakedrone.bandcamp.com About___ The colours that appear in autumn are the soul of perennial transition and slow breath; once a chill sets in and the chlorophyll-green of the leaves migrates to the trunk of the tree, those yellows, oranges and reds emerge from chemical remnants that have in fact been there all along, awaiting their moment on the forest’s lissome stage. It is a graceful manner of self-sustenance for the organism, but a source of ineffable beauty for the observing eye. Potent, poetic echoes of nostalgia and mortality coexist in a quiet fanfare brought to its end by literal gravity and decay. There is a tender, undeniable strain of this fundamental complexity in the catalogues of Japanese ambient legends Chihei Hatakeyama and Hakobune (aka Takahiro Yorifuji), who have each composed dozens of works for the likes of kranky, Room40, Constellation Tatsu, and Hatakeyama’s own White Paddy Mountain, among many others. Yorifuji’s gorgeous 2019 LP for Past Inside the Present is even fittingly titled The Last of Our Time Together, an acknowledgement of the falling-away to which all things are subject. Resulting from a 2014 session between Yorifuji and Hatakeyama in rural Japan, and unearthed after a curatorial conversation with PITP head Zach Frizzell, the 22-minute unfurling of “Live Improvisation I” displays a depth of intuition and pacing that can only develop over years of individual exploration and a particular aligning of the planets. |
Their progressions evolve almost imperceptibly, allowing for moments of negative space that give way to gossamer swells in the purest of warm guitar tones. At times the only reminder of human hands in this billowing expanse is the distant flit of a fingertip, lightly scratching the A string while shifting chords. Altogether it gives the feeling of being dropped into one extended moment of an eternal drift, eons easing outward on either side of the fade.
Inspired by the richness of this source material, zakè (Frizzell) and From Overseas (aka Kévin Séry) crafted “Live Improvisation II” in order to forge an intercontinental bond, similarly performed in a single take with minimal editing. While graced by a kindred patina, their side adds the subtle but very effective crackle of a well-loved, dusty LP that’s been pulled from the shelf after a few years; whatever sounds the grooves might have once held, they are reshaped here into an impressionistic memory of a first listen long ago. Frizzell and Séry’s remarkable long-form album Demain, dès l’aube (PITP, 2023) forged its environments from nocturnal mystery, but on Live Improvisations they offer a lucid, delicate glow that rises humbly across the loam.
Since 2018 zakè has produced an unimpeachable catalog of affecting ambient releases, both solo and as an adventurous, prolific collaborator. From Overseas may be the newest to the game among this quartet, but his work effortlessly flows into that of the legacy artists, and the torch they collectively bear will continue to light the caverns of the ever-expanding modern experimental landscape. Live Improvisations brims with a consistent mastery of tone, texture and movement, and elegantly takes its time in doing so.
Credits___
Live Improvisation I -
Written, recorded, and produced by Chihei Hatakeyama
and Hakobune
Live Improvisation II -
Written, recorded, and produced by zakè and From Overseas
Additional guitar textures by Chihei Hatakeyama and Hakobune
Mixed at Kaleidoscope Tone Studio by zakè
Mastered at Ambient Mountain House by James Bernard
Photography, layout, and design by zakè
Cut at WMM
Pressed by GGR
Manufactured and assembled in the USA
Marketed, distributed, and
phonographic copyright:
Zakè Drone Recordings
This is ZD-027
© 2024 Zakè Drone Recordings
℗ 2024 Past Inside the Present Publishing (BMI)
Inspired by the richness of this source material, zakè (Frizzell) and From Overseas (aka Kévin Séry) crafted “Live Improvisation II” in order to forge an intercontinental bond, similarly performed in a single take with minimal editing. While graced by a kindred patina, their side adds the subtle but very effective crackle of a well-loved, dusty LP that’s been pulled from the shelf after a few years; whatever sounds the grooves might have once held, they are reshaped here into an impressionistic memory of a first listen long ago. Frizzell and Séry’s remarkable long-form album Demain, dès l’aube (PITP, 2023) forged its environments from nocturnal mystery, but on Live Improvisations they offer a lucid, delicate glow that rises humbly across the loam.
Since 2018 zakè has produced an unimpeachable catalog of affecting ambient releases, both solo and as an adventurous, prolific collaborator. From Overseas may be the newest to the game among this quartet, but his work effortlessly flows into that of the legacy artists, and the torch they collectively bear will continue to light the caverns of the ever-expanding modern experimental landscape. Live Improvisations brims with a consistent mastery of tone, texture and movement, and elegantly takes its time in doing so.
Credits___
Live Improvisation I -
Written, recorded, and produced by Chihei Hatakeyama
and Hakobune
Live Improvisation II -
Written, recorded, and produced by zakè and From Overseas
Additional guitar textures by Chihei Hatakeyama and Hakobune
Mixed at Kaleidoscope Tone Studio by zakè
Mastered at Ambient Mountain House by James Bernard
Photography, layout, and design by zakè
Cut at WMM
Pressed by GGR
Manufactured and assembled in the USA
Marketed, distributed, and
phonographic copyright:
Zakè Drone Recordings
This is ZD-027
© 2024 Zakè Drone Recordings
℗ 2024 Past Inside the Present Publishing (BMI)
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eve
by zakè & Benoît Pioulard purchase > December 24, 2023 Signed, hand-assembled CD + unique Polaroid photo [ltd. to 30] Digital Download About___ Winter’s most precious gift is its snow-muffled hush. eve, the first full-length collaboration between zakè and Benoît Pioulard, pays tribute to the kind of supernatural December night where fleeting moments of peace manifest in visible exhalations and crystalline silence. Comprising three long-form pieces, eve arose from more than a decade’s worth of sound fragments, recovered and arranged into harmonic strata like photographs in a family album. For each chapter, zakè crafted the sonic bedrock from these remnants, and Pioulard added varying orchestrations of tape-processed guitar, voice, dulcimer, melodica, and synthesizer. The results strike a perfect balance between the idiosyncratic textures of each artist, while conveying the kinship of melancholy beauty that defines their solo works. The title track, “eve”, rises with rich, low-end swells and the subtle scrape of a turntable stylus, suggesting light hail on a metal roof, or the comforting crackle of a fire in the next room. It is pensive and patient in its slow-moving expanse, a cold sun nesting behind gray clouds. “frost” sets in on swirls of Pioulard’s reverent voice, progressing into windswept drones and shimmering bells, which ripple across the stereo field throughout its glacial second half. |
Monumental closer, “pine”, evokes the imposing stature and strength of its namesake, and the eerie union of comfort and mystery that occurs in the depths of the forest. Across twenty minutes, a dark, breathy undercurrent is accented by soft-needle dulcimers and reedy whispers, eventually opening to a final few minutes of utter calm. Here we find the edge of the wood, and a windless snowfall settling on an open field.
Artists___
zakè (aka Zach Frizzell) is the founder and head of Indianapolis-based Past Inside the Present, which has become a standard bearer for modern ambient and experimental artistry since its creation in 2018. In addition to PITP, he runs the collaboration-focused Zakè Drone Recordings, and has released for Azure Vista Records, Dunk!Records, Polar Seas Recordings and others.
Benoît Pioulard (aka Thomas Meluch) is a Michigan-born, Brooklyn-based musician and photographer with an extensive body of work for kranky, Morr Music, A Strangely Isolated Place, Dauw, and others. Previous efforts for Past Inside the Present include the May/Atra LP (2019) and Silencer EP (2021), as well as many of the label’s album covers, which he shoots exclusively on Polaroid SX70 film.
Credits___
Written and produced by zakè & Benoît Pioulard
Recorded late 2023 in Indiana and New York
Mixed at Kaleidoscope Tone Studio by zakè
Mastered at Ambient Mountain House by James Bernard
Cover photography by Benoît Pioulard
© 2023 Zakè Drone Recordings
This is ZD-028
zakedrone.com
pioulard.bandcamp.com
zakedronerecordings.com
ambientmountainhouse.com
Artists___
zakè (aka Zach Frizzell) is the founder and head of Indianapolis-based Past Inside the Present, which has become a standard bearer for modern ambient and experimental artistry since its creation in 2018. In addition to PITP, he runs the collaboration-focused Zakè Drone Recordings, and has released for Azure Vista Records, Dunk!Records, Polar Seas Recordings and others.
Benoît Pioulard (aka Thomas Meluch) is a Michigan-born, Brooklyn-based musician and photographer with an extensive body of work for kranky, Morr Music, A Strangely Isolated Place, Dauw, and others. Previous efforts for Past Inside the Present include the May/Atra LP (2019) and Silencer EP (2021), as well as many of the label’s album covers, which he shoots exclusively on Polaroid SX70 film.
Credits___
Written and produced by zakè & Benoît Pioulard
Recorded late 2023 in Indiana and New York
Mixed at Kaleidoscope Tone Studio by zakè
Mastered at Ambient Mountain House by James Bernard
Cover photography by Benoît Pioulard
© 2023 Zakè Drone Recordings
This is ZD-028
zakedrone.com
pioulard.bandcamp.com
zakedronerecordings.com
ambientmountainhouse.com
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Demain, dès l’aube
by From Overseas & zakè October 4, 2023 160g Opaque Maroon 2LP Set + Download Card 160g Audiophile Black 2LP Set + Download Code About___ ‘Demain, dès l’aube’ is a quietly powerful collaboration between From Overseas and zakè with a beautiful stillness at its center. The repetition of these arrangements comforts and lulls, while offering plenty of calm instances. The arrangements on Demain, dès l’aube were intentionally written to ebb and flow seamlessly, slowly converging en masse. A stately set of primarily long-form arrangements that burgeon with unhurried celerity, exemplifying patience while displaying meticulous attention to the finer details. Creating an abundance of short vignettes, the duo took their favorite sounds and created foundational loops for these solemn arrangements. They expanded on these short loops with intentional reshaping and expansion of the initial sounds by introducing and converging various guitar parts, tape processing, and synthesizer work. The richness of these long-forms are evident and delicately glide along in a timeless journey. Credits___ Written, recorded and produced by From Overseas & zakè Mixed at Kaleidoscope Tone Studio by zakè Mastered at Schwebung Mastering by Stephan Mathieu Photography by Kévin Séry Design and layout by zakè © 2023 Past Inside the Present ℗ 2023 Past Inside the Present Publishing (BMI) This is PITP-V054 | MMXXIII |