Peter Broderick Archive

Find Love Here And Now? – Playlist

“Find Love Here And Now?” — March/April 2017 playlist and digital collage by GoodMorninCaptn:

Find Love_Here and Now ? collage by GoodMorninCaptn

Find Love_Here and Now ? collage by GoodMorninCaptn

  1. Nadia Reid (NZ) — “The Arrow & The Aim”, from Preservation“, out on Spunk Records / Basin Rock.
  2. Woods (Brooklyn, NY, USA) — “Love Is Love”, from “Love Is Love“, out on Woodsist.
  3. WHY? (Cincinnati, OH, USA) — “Proactive Evolution”, from Moh Lhean“, out on Joyful Noise Recordings.
  4. Bearcubs (London, UK) — “Underwaterfall”, from “Underwaterfall” EP, out on All Points.
  5. NLF3 (Paris, FR) — “Sandy Path”, from Waves Of Black And White“, out on Prohibited Records.
  6. Damaged Bug (San Francisco, CA, USA) — “Bog Dash”, from Bunker Funk“, out on Castle Face Records.
  7. Alexandra Savior (Portland, OR, USA) — “M.T.M.E.”, from “Belladonna of Sadness“, out on Columbia Records.
  8. Boss Hog (NYC, NY, USA) — “17″, from Brood X“, out on In The Red Records.
  9. Mount Eerie (Anacortes, WA, USA) — “Real Death”, from A Crow Looked At Me“, out on P.W. Elverum & Sun.
  10. Oiseaux-Tempête (Paris, FR) — “Carnaval “, from AL-’AN ! الآن (And your night is your shadow — a fairy-tale piece of land to make our dreams)“, out on Sub Rosa.
  11. Father John Misty (LA, CA, USA) — “Two Wildly Different Perspectives”, from Pure Comedy“, out on Sub Pop / Bella Union.
  12. La Terre Tremble!!! (Rennes, FR) — “The Life Within”, from “Fauxbourdon“, out on Murailles Music.
  13. Colin Stetson (USA) — “Spindrift”, from “All This I Do For Glory“, out on 52Hz.
  14. sir Was (Gothenburg, SE) — “A Minor Life”, from Digging A Tunnel“, out on City Slang.
  15. San Fermin (Brooklyn, NY, USA) — “Open”, from Belong“, out on Downtown/Interscope Records.
  16. Part Chimp (London, UK) — “MapoLeon”, from Iv“, out on Rock Action Records.
  17. Karaocake (Paris, FR) — “Youth Slip”, from Here & Now“, out on Objet Disque.
  18. Laura Marling (London, UK) — “Soothing”, from Semper Femina“, out on More Alarming Records.
  19. Kumisolo (Paris, JP) — “Cha Cha André”, from Kabuki Femme Fatale” (Japanese CD bonus), out on Flau (JP) / Alter-K (FR).
  20. Kelly Lee Owens (London, UK) — “Anxi.” (ft. Jenny Hval), from Kelly Lee Owens“, out on Smalltown Supersound.
  21. Allred & Broderick, aka Peter Broderick and David Allred (OR, USA) — “The Ways”, from Find The Ways“, out on Erased Tapes Records.
  22. Justin Walter (Ann Arbor, MI, USA) — “It’s Not What You Think”, from Unseen Forces“, out on Kranky.
  23. Anjou (USA) — “Soucouyant”, from Epithymía“, out on Kranky.

New Year’s Eve Label Interview: Erased Tapes Records

Erased Tapes Records - 2009 > 2010 New Year's Eve label interviewWHILE WE DISCOVERED ERASED TAPES RECORDS THIS YEAR THANKS TO PETER BRODERICK AND ÓLAFUR ARNALDS RELEASES, THIS EXCITING YOUNG LABEL IS ALREADY PREPARING TO CELEBRATE ITS 3RD ANNIVERSARY. BASED IN LONDON, ERASED TAPES HAVE FOUND AN AESTHETIC ON THEIR OWN, SIGNING ARTISTS FROM BERLIN TO PORTLAND, FROM NEO-CLASICAL TO POST-ROCK AND SOULFUL ELECTRONICS, BRIDGING INNOVATIVE CONTEMPLATIVE MUSICS TO CONTEMPORARY DANCE AND VISUAL ARTISTS. LABEL FOUNDER ROBERT RATHS IS PRESENTING US THE ERASED TAPES FRIENDS AND EXTENDED FAMILY, AS THE FIRST ENTRY IN OUR SERIES OF LABEL INTERVIEWS FOR THE NEW YEAR.

A) Which records released in 2009 do you wish you had released on Erased Tapes?

Robert: I am not quite sure. Maybe there just wasn’t any other record that I wish I had put out in 2009? No, that can’t be, can it? Or maybe I was just too busy to pay enough attention to any other records out there? Well, if so, then that’s alright. It’s the timeless records that last and that we can discover years after any sort of hype or flavour of the week nonsense.

Nils Frahm - The Bells (Erased Tapes)The only album that hit me so much I could not sleep without playing it at night, I could not eat without it in the morning and I could not work without it during the day was Nils Frahm’s “The Bells“. I count myself very lucky that it had only just been released in Europe at the time and I was able to sign it for the UK and North America, because I could not imagine Erased Tapes without it anymore.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Nils Frahm – “Said And Done” from “The Bells(Erased Tapes)

Efterklang - Performing Parades (Rumraket/Leaf Label)Of course there were other great releases in 2009. For instance, I really enjoyed our good friends Efterklang & The Danish National Chamber Orchestra – “Performing Parades“. Partly because I was involved in getting them the Barbican show with Britten Sinfonia by telling the right people about this idea of performing their 2007 album with a live orchestra, which this record of course reminds me of. But also because it just sounds so much richer than the original recording, which I really did not think was possible until I heard it.

Then there is this new wave of psychedelic releases from the States, especially New York, which I enjoyed a lot all year. Songs like Animal Collective’s “My Girls” or Dan Deacon’s “Snookered” make me happy every time I hear them. Same thing with the latest Dirty Projectors album.

B) Which artist you wish you had signed will you keep an ear on in 2010?

Efterklang - Magic Chairs (4AD, Feb. 2010)Robert: EFTERKLANG. What I’ve heard of their new album called “Magic Chairs” so far sounded really fresh – more pop and at the same time rawer than their previous material. Think Paul Simon’s “Graceland” played by an army of the most natural and dedicated musicians I know.

Owen Palett - HeartlandOWEN PALLETT. Since I first saw Owen perform his violin with his loop station accompanied by his boyish voice whispering or shouting obscure poetry, I knew I would not rest until I’ve dragged everyone I know to his shows to experience the same. In January 2010 he will release his upcoming album “Heartland“, the first under his real name since he decided to no longer release under his moniker “Final Fantasy. As a friend I wish for him and his music to finally reach a larger audience as he is one of the most gifted and hardest working musicians I know.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Owen Pallett – “Lewis Takes Action” from “Heartland” (Domino)

Nico Muhly (detail from Speaks Volume covert art)NICO MUHLY. Nico is the only person that makes me feel slow. He is also the only person I am actually worried about. Why? Because he is Nico Muhly, the busiest composer around but also a dear friend of mine and I don’t want to see him having a burn-out. Since I know him he has taken on a new project every week or so. The National, Grizzly Bear, Courtney Love, Pet Shop Boys, Elton John… The list is endless. Then there is his own solo recordings, touring and he is writing his first opera for the English National Opera planned to premiere in 2011. And yet he’d find the time to show his pretty face on cooking programs, write essay-sized blogs and reviews about hair, food and art that will now really interest you – all on a daily basis. Basically, it’s hard not to be obsessed with Nico. Last time I stayed at his apartment in Manhattan he was working on some string arrangements for Jónsi (Sigur Rós)’s debut solo album “Go“. He is a man pouring with energy and creativity – enough to power the whole of China Town and make his house cats cook their own fish à la carte.

C) What are you the most proud of for Erased Tapes in 2009?

Olafur Arnalds - Found SongsRobert: Everything. 2009 has been our best year so far in so many ways; it’s been so exciting! Signing Nils Frahm and Peter Broderick to the label meant the world to me. It felt so natural.

I am also especially proud of the way we worked the Found Songs” project and all the beautiful things that have come out of it. The way Ólafur Arnalds managed to finish a song per day for a whole week and how I had to set my alarm to remember uploading and linking each track every evening whilst on tour. It was such a crazy week! I loved the way fans were involved in creating the cover artwork via Flickr and how it inspired Esteban Diácono, a young visual talent from Buenos Aires, to create this astonishing particle animation video for “Ljósið. It was so exciting to see the free low-res version receiving over 200.000 downloads and the video over 500.000 views within only a few weeks time… All the amazing feedback from fans and critics all around the world has given us so much hope really.

Olafur Arnalds - Dyad 1909 (Erased Tapes)Peter Broderick - Music For Falling From TreesThen of course the release of two rather remarkable contemporary dance scores: first there was Peter Broderick’s score “Music For Falling From Trees” for Adrienne Hart’s piece in spring, then the collaboration we initiated between Óli and our choreographer friend Wayne McGregor for “Dyad 1909” in autumn 2009.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Ólafur Arnalds – “Til Enda” from “Dyad 1909” (Erased Tapes)

It makes me very proud to hear from so many people how they discovered contemporary dance through our music and the other way around, how the dance world discovered our music through the performances. It was also great to hear how many people thought this was Peter’s most distinguished work to date. I was so moved when his sister Heather and the Efterklang guys told me they thought so too. There is nothing more I could have hoped to achieve with these two projects.


Peter Broderick – Music for Falling From Trees (video trailer)

Rival Consoles IOBut of course I am just as proud and happy about the albums we released with all the other acts this year. There are so many different forms of happiness I find in their music. Rival Consoles gives me energy every day anew. There must be something in my genes or in my heartbeat that synchs especially well with his tracks.

I’m very proud of all the touring Codes In The Clouds did in 2009. They used up all their holidays and really made an effort to play as many concerts, in-store shows and radio sessions as possible throughout the UK, Ireland and Europe mainland. There were actually so many live performances in 2009 that made me proud of what we’ve got going – it would take ages to list them all.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Codes In The Clouds – “Don’t Go Awash In This Digital Landscape” from “Paper Canyon” (Erased Tapes)

It feels so good to see Erased Tapes becoming more and more of a family. Being the “first born” on the label, Ryan aka Rival Consoles has, is and will always be special to me. He recently moved to London and now lives 5 minutes down the road, which is wonderful as we can meet pretty much every day now. Also Ólafur is visiting us in London more often. Now everyone actually realises the benefits of being on the same label – of being there for each other as artists and friends.

In general I am very happy about what we have created together this year. It’s almost as if there were no compromises needed – on neither side. It was all about sitting in the same boat, finding new currents for music and taking the same risk in doing so.

D) What are the label’s challenges for 2010?

Erased Tapes Collection IIRobert: 2010 will of course see a lot of great new challenges in form of “difficult” second albums, tours, label nights and special projects. We are also working on a brand new website (http://erasedtapes.com) to be launched in time for the official worldwide release of “Erased Tapes Collection II” on February 1 to celebrate our 3rd anniversary. People can download a free low-res version of the compilation by visiting http://ddc.erasedtapes.com and typing in “MY-FREE-ERATP020″ together with their email address.

I am currently working on a very exciting visual concept for the next Rival Consoles album. The music Ryan is making for it is sounding more organic and very cinematic. Also Peter and me skyped the other day and came up with a great concept for his next record on Erased Tapes. Ólafur Arnads just finished mixing Album 2, Codes In The Clouds are writing and Nils Frahm will be concentrating on touring with Balmorhea in spring and Peter Broderick in late 2010.

I don’t want to give away too much, mainly because I tend to change my mind a gazillion times before things are set in stone. It’s all part of the process. It’s pure chaos to begin with – like a puzzle. But once I found two little pieces that match and make sense together things are falling into place bit by bit. I don’t like planning things too tightly. I need enough room to still be flexible and to be able to surprise people – including myself. I hope to be able to surprise you in 2010. That’s my biggest challenge.

You can follow Erased Tapes Records on twitter.com/erasedtapes to be kept up-to-date.

… And please stay tuned to GoodMorninCaptn.com for further label interviews in the coming days.

Fugues’ Unreleased Tracks 2009: A Skillfully Orchestrated Escape

A new compilation of Unreleased Tracks from Paris-based collective Fugues is out this Fall: a narrow-escape for these thirteen tracks.

fugues - unreleased tracks 2009

The third of a series of compilations, and available only by mail order from French label debruit&desilence, Fugues’ Unreleased Tracks 2009 will not go unnoticed among the Parisian and foreigner circles of indie ambient and post-rock, not only thanks the remarkable set of newly confirmed and emerging artists involved in this and the previous issues, but also because of founder Jerome Olivier past and present implications in the independent music scene. Whether many of his past and present acquaintances will take the step from simple recognition to actual mail order is a different matter… Such a release is unfortunately very likely to be overlooked by most of the participating artists’ audience. Yet, as its title indicates, this humble and discrete CD-R contains something that might be very dear to fans: unreleased tracks.

Life Without Dreams sets the exposition with “White Light”. For those who have already taken a peep – or immersed themselves – into Fugues’ aesthetic, the vivid opening guitar arpeggio pattern surprises with its almost Caribbean feel. But then comes the counterpoints, and the Singaporeans glossy pads and scarce floating vocal seamlessly layer into a more atmospheric direction. Though the most accessible and conventional track of the records, it does eventually unravel with the enthusiast tension of a movie’s opening theme, with the promising and overwhelming vastness of an unknown landscape.

The journey begins, and The Toy Library’s “Once the Dust Settles” resounds with a still and contemplative sadness, while Simon Scott’s drone developments offer a moment of rare and almost palpable darkness. We are undoubtedly being taken where we were expecting: away. Rothko, Rafael Anton Irisarri, and Lightsway sweep by in a dreamily succession of textures, though the latter’s usual naïve accents do not convince as much as the two formers’ mastery.

Millimetrik’s “Méduse” may quite sound like a U.F.O amongst such a collection – if not a faux pas. Nonetheless, and surprisingly enough, this middle entry of electro beat does not disrupt but actually achieves a surprisingly convincing articulation to Message to Bears’ almost romantic episode. Silencio’s “Again, Again” brings us back to darker shores with the haunting rhythm of a ticking clock and soon fades out to give way to two tracks of delicate and poignant beauty.

Peter Broderick & Nils Frahm and Goldmund’s cinematic pianos and strings alter and invigorate the scenes with every note. Painful and serene, heartbreaking and soothing, they skilfully bring color and tangibility to the old roll of film.

But it is almost the end, and July Skies’ guitar responds to that of Life Without Dreams, with the same self-contained density. Closing theme. The screen turns black and Last Days’ “Light” 3-notes pattern echoes in you for while. Has it really been an hour?

From the first hearing it is obvious that Unreleased Track 2009 is more than just a compilation. And it does not seem to serve the purpose of showcasing a “vision”. It is the work of a true passionate, a hermit in the city of light. Carefully and patiently collected and put together with commendable coherence, these 13 rarities take on the glimmers of gems. Extracted from the mundane contingences of the musical scene, illustrated by the unsettling words of the man himself, and by the enigmatic picture of photographer Julie Calbert, these orphaned tracks find space to bloom and grow on their audience.

A lucky audience, with only a 100 copies… And if the minimalist home-made packaging lets you think this is all not so serious, playing it through will convince you that Fugues’ vault may be as precious as its content.

Visit Fugues’ Myspace

Order Unreleased Tracks 2009 from debruit&desilence

Balmorhea “All Is Wild, All Is Silent Remixes” (2009)

Balmorhea - All Is Wild, All Is Silent Remixes6 months ago, Balmorhea released their 3rd album, a praised effort that explored the raw landscapes of 19th-century America, in a way that furthered the path of Rachel’s. From the 9 epic songs that owe as much to post-rock and folk as they do to chamber music, 8 have now gone through the hands and ears of 11 of today’s finest sound artists, resulting in a surprising new re-interpretation of the album, now released on double-LP vinyl and digital download by Western Vinyl.

With a 17+minute opening, Eluvium sets the tone, muffling the original melody of “Settler” as an underlying guiding thread for layers of choirs and strings with looped acoustic guitars. As many of the artists here, he has chosen to strip down Balmorhea’s song, and shape their raw sound material into a much more ambient direction. Rafael Anton Irisarri and Tiny Vipers keep on with this introspective approach, both calming down the vigor of “Harm & Boon”, while Bexar Bexar’s guitar samples open up to a slightly brighter sound on his short “Elegy”. After a couple minutes of organ and creaks, Machinefabriek playfully introduces a deep, vibrating double-bass halfway through his vision of “Remembrance”. The Fun Years are the first to use a more straight-forward drum rhythm on “Coahuila”. Library Tapes has also kept the drums for that same track, but the beat gets more hesitant, as it supports an acoustic instrumentation, remaining closer to Balmorhea’s sound than any other remixer on the record. Jacaszek adds a peculiar DIY touch, with cheap percussions, and interweaving waves of organs and guitars. Helios comes next and drags “Truth” into indietronica spheres (Get the MP3 here). Quite unexpectedly, Peter Broderick litteraly addresses a letter to his dear friends from Texas as he builds on a motif of piano and choirs to which he adds his own voice and violin. On the other side of the sound spectrum, Xela eventually slowly lets “November 1, 1832″ drown into a growingly overwhelming feedback.

Compared to the Austin band’s original album, this one may sound drier. It is indeed much more abstract and experimental, the lyricism and complex song structures being left aside to the benefit of feelings and ambiences. Tearing apart and stretching out tiny bits of melodies, resonating strings and sound accidents, those 11 remixes, though illustrated with a black-and-white cover, really reveal myriads of shades through the headphones, and bring the attentive listener into a worthy contemplation of a rich and wild inner nature.

READ MORE ON BALMORHEA AND THEIR REMIXERS ON GOODMORNINCAPTN.COM:

On The Go With Peter Broderick

Peter Broderick at Nouveau Casino, May 11, 2009 (c) GoodMorninCaptn

IN THE MIDST OF A VERY BUSY YEAR, MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST AND COMPOSER PETER BRODERICK PUTS HIS LUGGAGE DOWN FOR A QUICK LOOK BACK ON HIS PROMISING DEBUT AND WALKS US THROUGH A DAZZLING GALLERY OF PROJECTS.

Captn: “4-Track Songs” is being released on Type. You recorded this song collection back in 2006. Do you feel like a lot has changed for you since then, or does it seem like only yesterday?

Peter Broderick - 4 Track SongsPeter: It’s funny, because I only made this music three years ago, but it feels like much longer. So many things have happened in my life since I made that music, and at that time, my own music was only something I did for fun on the side. I never thought I might be able to release records on my own and make a career out of it… When I hear that music now, it’s hard for me to believe that I made it. It’s almost a bit embarrassing actually, but I also like how raw the music is, and I’m happy that Type has reissued it.

Captn: Your roll-out of releases for 2009 is quite impressive. How do you manage so many projects? Do you write and record songs 24/7? How many ghostwriters do you have, and/or do you ever sleep?

Peter: Sleep is something I could probably use a lot more of. These last couple years have been incredibly busy, and in general I’m pretty exhausted sometimes. But I make music whenever I can! I think it’s what keeps me going. And I often work very quickly. I like to work in many different ways. Sometimes spending a lot of time on something in a studio, and sometimes making things really quickly on my computer with the minimal equipment I have. For instance, the music on Five Film Score outtakes was recorded really quickly before I left for an extended North American tour. I set up one microphone on the piano and recorded some improvisations, and then quickly recorded some improvisations on a few other instruments, and then I brought all the files with me on the road, and did all the mixing and assembling in the tour van, with my laptop and noise-canceling headphones. So I’m always working on things!

Peter Broderick & Machinefabriek - Blank Grey Canvas SkyCaptn: “Blank Grey Canvas Sky” is coming out in October on Fang Bomb. What can you tell us from your collaboration with Machinefabriek?

Peter: I am really happy about this one. Over the last couple years, Machinefabriek has become one of my favorite artists, period. Everything he does, from the music, to the design, to the amount of things he releases, his website, etc.  In my eyes he is a completely unique artist, and I have so much respect for what he does. In addition to that, he’s one of the most amazing, positive, and energetic people I’ve ever met. A short email from Rutger (Machinefabriek) always puts a smile on my face and makes my day brighter.  That said, making an album with him was an amazing experience for me. I would record different things and send them over to him (by email), and he would work on it and send it back. Every time he sent something back to me I was blown away. It felt like he took my music and turned it into something much more interesting, in a way that I could have never imagined in my musical brain. I think we have very different approaches to music, and when you combine them, for me it turns into something very special. So I’m really happy about this album. Sadly we’ve had some problems with the master, so it might be delayed a few weeks now, but I look forward for it to be released!

Captn: What about your remix/letter to Balmorhea, which is just out?

Peter: Haha, I don’t think there’s too much to say about that one. Michael and Rob from Balmorhea are two of my favorite people in the world, and great friends. I think the concept of “remixing” music is quite strange, especially when I think the music is already perfect (and I think this about theirs). So when they asked me to contribute to this remix project, rather than sit there spending a lot of time trying to figure out how to approach their remix, I just started recording, and this is what came out…

Peter Broderick - HomeCaptn: You’ve been travelling/touring a lot for the last 2 years. Where do you consider “Home” now?

Peter: Well, at the moment I’m between Copenhagen, Berlin, and Portland, Oregon. My things are scattered all over the place, and I’m really working hard to try and find a place where I can settle for a while. I think the most honest answer to where my home is, is probably in my suitcase at the moment. Sad but true. But someday I’ll have a home!

Captn: You wrote soundtracks to a short film and a dance creation already. Would you be interested in composing a feature film score? If yes, which director would you work with in your wildest dreams?

Peter: I love to work with filmmakers and different kinds of artists to make music. It always encourages me to try something new, and that’s very valuable to me.  If I could choose one artist to work with, it would probably be Miranda July. If she made another film and I got to make the music for it, this would be my dream collaboration.  She is an incredible artist, and so inspiring. Actually once I sent her a fan letter (a real letter, not an email). I spent a lot of time putting it together, and mailed it off feeling really embarrased about it. I never heard anything back. So I don’t think we’ll be collaborating any time soon ;-)

Captn: Owen Pallett of Final Fantasy tweeted you “World’s best looper”. What do you think? And who would you pick for world’s best looper?

Peter: This is crazy. One of my friends forwarded that Tweet to me. I’m stunned by that. Owen Pallett is amazing, and I was really nervous about playing that night with him, because he is who I would consider to be the best looper! So to hear this from him is a real honor.

Captn: Can you tell us a few words on your current recording sessions with Efterklang? What should we expect from “Parades“‘ successor? Will you keep touring with them despite of your numerous projects?

Peter: I am -really- excited about the new Efterklang album. Those guys are my heroes, and they always will be. There is still a lot of work to be done on the album, so I don’t think I should say too much yet. I will say that I think it’s very different for them. But in the best way possible. I will continue to play with them as long as I can! At this point I’m not ready to say goodbye to them and focus only on my solo music. I love having both. So at this point I do everything I can to keep Efterklang a top priority in my schedule.

Peter Broderick at Nouveau Casino, Paris, May 11, 2009Captn: Any details about what will be your next full length album? When should it come out? On which label? Will it be song-oriented or rather instrumental?

Peter: I am working on my next album for Bella Union right now. It’s quite far from being finished, but I think it will most likely be out next Spring. The main difference this time around is that I’m actually spending a lot of time on it. All my other albums have been made really quickly, in focused, condensed periods of time. For once I’m taking some time to really work on something, and I think that’s good. It’s more challenging in a way, because as time goes by, I start to doubt my own ideas, and I try to rework them. There are already three songs on the new album which I’ve recorded two times. After a while the first version wasn’t working to me any more, so I started over with a different approach. And it’s also the first album where I’m not placing any limits on myself. It is mostly song oriented, but there are a lot of strings and piano, etc., and a lot of extended instrumental passages. I think that’s about all I can say now, because I’m still not sure where it’s going! My friend Nils Frahm is producing the album. I’ve been getting to know him really well in the last six months, and I trust his ears so much. He has a great impact on this album, because he has been there almost the whole time, contributing ideas and playing piano, etc.

Captn: Any other projects you are working on or are looking forward to and which you would like to mention?

Peter: There is one thing. There’s a lovely record label from Belgium called Slaapwel, which only releases music to sleep to. They asked me to make a contribution sometime last year, and I immediately said I’d love to. For many years I have often fallen asleep to my favorite music. Not so much these days because I’m always traveling and sleeping in hotels, etc., but when I had my own home I always listened to music to fade away in the night. At the same time, there was a girl in Holland (but actually she’s from Greece…) who made a sleeping sculpture of me. A gigantic sculpture of me, laying in a bed sleeping, with a little motor in the chest so you can hear it breath. When she first proposed the idea to me, I thought it was crazy (a sculpture of ME?), but also beautiful in some way. So I told her I’d love to make a piece of music to acompany the sculpture. I made a long piece of music for this strange version of myself to sleep to. It’s about 30 minutes long, and comprised entirely of my voice and little piano (with a lot of processing and effects). When I made the music, I was maybe the most exhausted I’ve ever been, after my longest tour ever around Europe this Spring. I was nearly falling asleep while I made the music. And when I finished, I sent it to Chrysa (who made the sculpture), and then I took a trip to Amsterdam to see the opening exhibition of the sculpture, with my music playing in the background, on repeat. It was….terrifying. I sat there in this cold, grey room, staring at myself sleeping on this bed, and it felt as if I was watching myself die. And all of a sudden this music I made became very, very sad to me. But at the same time, it became peaceful, like it was ok that I was dying.  …This all probably sounds very strange right now, but this music is really important to me. If I were to die tomorrow, and if there was any kind of funeral held for me, I would like this piece of music to be played there. That image makes me feel very calm. Anyhow, this one will be released at the end of the year. My last release for a very busy year.

Captn: Thanks a lot for your time (and for your music)!

Peter: Thank YOU!

DISCOGRAPHY

READ MORE ON PETER BRODERICK ON GOODMORNINCAPTN.COM:

4-Track Songs: A Sneak Peek Into Peter Broderick’s Home.

A collection of home-recorded drafts and improvisations may sound like a puzzling follow-up to the polished folk of Home and the vibrant modern classic Music For Falling From Trees. At least not one to render his ever-growing rollout of projects more intelligible to a wider audience. Yet, more than any of his previous works, this 25 short tracks give a vivid overview of Peter Broderick’s sound palette… and maybe more.

Peter Broderick - 4 Track SongsThe opening “Untitled” and its fingerpicked austere bass versus chanting trebles accompanying Broderick’s voice immediately evokes his Bella Union release, while the following “Piano and Rain” is a fit illustration of his gift for unpretentious new classic experiments. Other pieces come as a surprise, like the down-tempo trip-hopish “Walking/Thinking” and the drony electro melancholy of “A Low End Rumble”. “For Pop”’s banjo shows an unprecedented country-music inversion.

Nevertheless, this few departing notes do not seem to weaken the ensemble, quite on the contrary. Bearing in mind that this is not just a demo to any of Peter’s latest releases but the 2006 random recordings, audio post-its, and research of a 19-year-old Oregon-based session musician, such heterogeneity is symptomatic of two of Peter Broderick’s greatest strengths: the open-mindedness and spontaneity of a young hard-to-categorize multi-instrumentalist.

If several folk songs in the collection fail to stand up to his 2008 album, more instrumental tracks simply bloom in the stark arrangements allowed by the 4-track recorder. The theme of Float in “More of a Composition”, a mind-blowingly fully-grown newborn, is simply transfigured. From creaking stools to swelling strings, with a pinch of throat-rattling, and a fine sprinkling of field recording, 4-Track Songs is not only a nice insight into Broderick’s workflow, it is a wonderful and moving immersion into his creative process, an unsettling journey among the intimate clutter of music instruments and sonic tropisms. In the semi-darkness of lo-fi recording, his usual blend of tense melancholy and almost naive serenity takes on a tangibly human glimmer.

Initially collected as a teaser for Type records, these 25 4-Track Songs may well set an inspiring foretaste of what Peter Broderick could achieve if he were to grow out of frames and musical genres. And for all the joy his music has brought us so far, let’s pray he eventually does!

Read Peter Broderick’s interview by our Captn.

Buy Peter Broderick “4-Track Songs” on CD, 2LP, or digital from Boomkat.com.

Efterklang’s Parisian Parade

Anna, Niklas, and Casper of Efterklang on April 7, 2008

Anna, Niklas, and Casper of Efterklang in Paris, Apr. 7, 2008.

After a magical show at the Divan du Monde where they presented their 2nd album Parades, Danish elves of Efterklang were back in Paris on April 7. Their unique sounds enlightened the dull concrete of the Point Ephémère.
On stage just like on their records, strings, brass, percussions and electronics delightfully mix with the heartful choirs and communicative enthusiasm of the 7 members.

As a sweet starter, Anna Brønsted, also a full Efterklang live member, sung a few titles alone at the piano, from her own enchanting project Our Broken Garden, whose first EP comes out on April 28 on Rumraket, Efterklang-run label, and internationally on Bella Union.

Efterklang – Prey and Predator (2004)