a closer listen

8 min read 2022-02-05 07:01:40

SP* Episode 22: SHUT UP AND LISTEN! – with The World According to Sound [podcast]

We kick off season 3 with an interview with the creators behind The World According To Sound, in honor of their 2022 Winter Listening Series. A

2 min read 2022-02-04 07:01:38

Patient composition meets patient listening in the world of prolific artist bvdub, whose latest album features only four tracks, each approximately

2 min read 2022-02-03 07:01:40

What does it take to master a skill? Sven Helbig‘s album is a loving tribute to generations of artisans, engravers, doctors, debaters, and of

2 min read 2022-02-02 07:01:59

One of the season’s loveliest albums was borne out of heartbreak. An aubade is “a morning love song about lovers separating at dawn.”

1 min read 2022-02-01 07:01:04

A lock for our year-end Winter Music chart, stars of ice is a gorgeous half hour of samples and loops. The photograph, taken in 1900, suggests

3 min read 2022-01-31 07:01:55

The curse of listing our favorite releases of the year is that a few soundtracks always arrive too late for us to properly digest. Here are two

2 min read 2022-01-30 07:01:00

Lost villages, abandoned workings, hidden gardens – things you might find on an unmap. The places in-between, transient, neither one thing or

2 min read 2022-01-29 07:01:26

It’s a podcast! It’s an album! It’s a podcast AND an album! No, wait, TWO albums! Update: two albums and two books! On the excuse the

2 min read 2022-01-28 07:01:15

On the heels of Lawrence English‘s Viento reissue comes a new work one might consider a companion. ‘Oseni is a benefit album for the Kingdom

2 min read 2022-01-27 07:01:25

Is post-rock meant to be this relaxing? According to The Royal Arctic Institute, this isn’t post-rock, it’s “post-everything.” The album

1 min read 2022-01-26 07:01:23

The EP may be short, but so is the life of a cloud. We identify shapes in clouds, turn to a friend, look again, and all too often the shapes are

2 min read 2022-01-25 07:01:58

Terre Promise (Promised Land) is an uplifting album, dedicated to Blutch‘s native Brittany. The title’s dual implication is that there is

1 min read 2022-01-24 07:01:29

The Slow Music Movement Label plunges into winter with an album suited to its theme. The Irish folk of multi-instrumentalist Ben McElroy seems to

2 min read 2022-01-23 07:01:00

There are times when we check an album’s genre tags on Bandcamp to be sure we are in the right area. Does the artist consider their work drone or

1 min read 2022-01-22 07:01:00

If the pandemic prompted some people to reach for their duvet and binge Tiger King, then it also sparked a creative burst in others. Take up