Serein | GoodMorninCaptn

December 2015 playlist

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Published: December 14, 2015

Enjoy our December 2015 song selection and digital collage featuring indie pop, ambient, modern classical, folk, rock, and electronic from Scandinavia, Germany, Ukraine, Poland, France, UK, Canada, Venezuela and USA.

December 2015 collage by GoodMorninCaptn

1 – Bersarin Quartett (DE) — Sanft verblassen die Geschichten, from III, out now on Denovali Records
2 – Intertwine (NO) — Northern Light, from Goraikoo, out now on Brilliance Records
3 – The Balustrade Ensemble (UK) — Show Us To The Sky, from Renewed Brilliance out now on Serein
4 – Matmos (US) — Ultimate Care II Excerpt Eight, from Ultimate Care II, out February 19, 2016 on Thrill Jockey Records
5 – arca (VE/London) — Front Load, from Mutant, out now on Mute
6 – Anna von Hausswolff (SE) — Evocation, from The Miraculous, out now on City Slang / Other Music
7 – vert (UK/Berlin) — And I Know, from The Days Within, out now on Shitkatapult
8 – Tortoise (US) Gesceap, from The Catastrophist, out January 22, 2016 on Thrill Jockey Records
9 – Sarah Neufeld (CA) — We’ve Got A Lot, from The Ridge, out February 26 2016 on Paper Bag Records
10 – Metz (CA) — Eraser, from Eraser/Pure Auto 7”, out January 22, 2016 on Three One G
11 – Your Friend (US) — Heathering, from Gumption, out Januray 29, 2016 on Domino Record Co.
12 – Lubomyr Melnyk (UA) — Parasol (excerpt), from Rivers and Streams, out now on Erased Tapes Records
13 – Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes (US) — Out of Sight, Out of Mind (The Five Keys cover)
14 – Library Tapes (SE) — Feathers, from Escapism, out January 29, 2016 on 1631 Recordings and Auetic
15 – Derek Piotr (PL/USA) — Exchanges, from Bahar, out on Bit-Phalanx Music
16 – GABI (USA) — Falling, from Sympathy, out on Software Recording Co.
17 – Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch (FR/London) — Minnesang, from Like Water Through The Sand, out now on 130701 (Fat Cat Records)

2010 – Top 9

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Published: January 28, 2011

GoodMorninCaptn - Top 2010 - Have One On Me, Retold, All Is Falling, Church With No Magic, Until The Point Of Hushed Support, Constellations, The Calcination Of Scout Niblett, All Delighted People EP, I See The Sign AND HERE FINALLY COME OUR FAVORITE 9 RECORDS OF 2010… MANY OF WHICH ARE NICELY ORCHESTRATED, SOME PURELY INSTRUMENTAL AND A FEW OTHERS WITH NOTABLE VOICES; SOME GREAT ALBUMS TO FALL ASLEEP TO AND A FEW MORE ENERGIZING ONES TO FUEL OUR MORNINGS… HOPEFULLY YOU’LL LIKE THEM AS MUCH AS WE DO; HOPEFULLY WE WON’T REGRET ALL THE RECORDS WHICH WE HAD TO OMIT, OR FORGOT, OR HADN’T HAD THE CHANCE TO LISTEN TO IN TIME… HOPEFULLY 2011 WILL BE FILLED WITH JUST AS MUCH INSPIRING MUSIC. IN THE MEANTIME, DON’T HESITATE TO SHARE (here or there) WHAT YOU HAVE LISTENED TO OVER AND OVER IN 2010.

Sam Amidon - I See The Sign Sufjan Stevens - All Delighted People EP The Calcination - Of Scout Niblett

9) SAM AMIDON – “I See The Sign” (Bedroom Community)

Sam marries ageless folk songs to the avant-garde arrangements of label mate Nico Muhly, unveiling unexpected beauty.

8) SUFJAN STEVENS – “All Delighted People EP” (Asthmatic Kitty)

2010 has delighted fans of Sufjan with no less than 2 great new records: the rambling The Age of Adz, and a so-called hour-long “EP”, slightly more focused, but just as grand and luxurious.

7) SCOUT NIBLETT – “The Calcination of Scout Niblett” (Drag City)

Raw rock-and-roll songs to burn your heart down.

Listen to title-track “The Calcination Of Scout Niblett“:

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Read our review of The Calcination of Scout Niblett.

Balmorhea -Constellations Greg Haines - Until The Point Of Hushed Support PVT - Church With No Magic 6) BALMORHEA – “Constellations” (Western Vinyl)

Balmorhea’s compositions got more subtle, welcoming doses of pleasurable silence, and we’ve enjoyed this gentle evolution a lot.

Listen to “Bowsprit“, from “Constellations“:

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5) GREG HAINES – “Until the Point of Hushed Support” (Sonic Pieces)

Strings, church organ, piano, percussions and electronics turn into black magic in the hands of the young and gifted English composer.

Marc’s Descent by Greg Haines

Listen to Until The Point Of Hushed Support on Spotify.

4) PVT – “Church With No Magic” (Warp)

Although the addition of vocals to the Australian trio’s formula may have puzzled a few early fans, it has instilled a touch of immediacy to their music which more than made up for the lost vowels in the band’s name. “Pivot – vowels + vocals = PVT” may have been a winning equation indeed.

PVT – “Window“, directed by Clemens Habicht

Listen to Church With No Magic on Spotify.

James Blackshaw - All Is Falling Nest - Retold Joanna Newsom - Have One On Me 3) JAMES BLACKSHAW – “All is Falling” (Young God Records)

Inspired with his new 12-string electric guitar, James Blackshaw has built a more orchestrated suite, which spins and spins, and speaks and sticks to our inner self.

Listen to “Part 7 (edit)“, from “All Is Falling“:

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Listen to All Is Falling on Spotify.

2) NEST – “Retold” (Serein)

Bare landscapes; quiet and haunting.

Retold by Nest

Listen to Retold on Spotify.

Read our review here.

1) JOANNA NEWSOM – “Have One on Me” (Drag City)

With her fingers running across magic strings (and keys, occasionally), and her voice flying high over lengthy compositions, Joanna keeps seducing crowds (and stuffed animals) with a triple LP, which for many towered high above 2010.

Joanna’s magic shall be experienced through analogical means only (i.e. sorry, no official song or video available online).

Read and listen to our top #30 to #19, and top #18 to #10.

The Story Of Nest Shall be Told On A Loop

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Published: February 3, 2010

With Retold, British-Norwegian duo Huw Roberts and Otto Totland become experts in monochrome impressionism and gift 2010 and the Serein label with a solid debut.

Minimalism is the first word to come. From the faded bluish seashore cover picture of the white digipack to the singsong piano lines of introduction title “Lodge”, layered with digital pads and sampled breath, the impression is almost that of coldness and sadness. “Four notes into Kyoto”, and the richness in arrangements and crystal clear mixes bloom in all directions through the stark instrumentation. Plucked strings, a few electro treats, and field recordings shape out an intricate three-dimensional web. Or rather a lace, infinitely delicate and fragile. Piano again on “Marefjellet”, bass notes pounding like a clock, waves of white noise washing in and out. There is know-how in evoking a fully structured yet entirely fantastic soundscape. “Charlotte” fuzzy intro sets the bed for a haunting melody. A couple of notes only, skilfully enveloped, surrounded, underlied, take on the breathtaking radiance of a cloudless midsummer day.

Listen to “Charlotte”

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It is not accidental if one is reminded of the sound of Miasmah Records here. Otto Totland and Huw Roberts both earned their stripes working there. Totland even partnered with present head of the imprint, Erik Skodvin, as duo Deaf Center (Type records). Roberts, on the other hand, is also founder of Serein records. Formerly devoted to free dowloads, Serein was rebuilt and revamped in 2009, turning to commercial CD releases, primarily to distribute Nest. A risky choice maybe. But a blessing for our ears and CD collections.

The duo’s unquestionable expertise in neo classical and dark ambient becomes more obvious with the fifth track. “Gad Goddeu” offers a more conventional atmosphere for the genre, but also introduces a broader, deeper sound. With a strictly specialised palette ranging from sound effects similar to Elegi’s Tommy Jansen on “Trans Siberian”, to the almost romantic, Max-Richter like piano phrase on “The Helwick”, the inherent variety never jeopardises the whole’s integrity and consistency. There is beauty, if not majesty, in “Far From Land” and “The Twelve”. Bowed strings, pads and sweeps build giant, monstrous, but quiet waves, only to be found in the high sea. Eroded mountains of water, rolling out to horizons, one after the other, endlessly, moving glints on the surface, fugitive shadows disappearing into the vertiginous depth.

Listen to “The Twelve”

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Eventually, the drones of “Amroth” will bring the listener back to the shore, slightly dazed, as if awakening from hypnosis. Indeed, very few records are able to depict such complex sceneries with that little colours. Every nuance in the spectrum is suddenly conveying a unique significance and the world could be painted in all possible shades of blue with as much richness as if resorting to the full colour range, but with another perspective.

Far from discrediting the label, the fact that its founder is involved in this first gem is making us look forward to the next one, and to the unravelling of the Serein vision.

Buy Retold on CD or Digital release on Serein Records