Eeriemysterious instrumentals
Eeriemysterious instrumentals
an introduction for new subscribers & some non-chill music sans vox
This italicized preface is for anyone who signed up after this January post which explains what my mixtape delivery service is all about.
That introductory post includes some suggestions for subscriber-only posts to start exploring the newsletter’s archive. As a token of gratitude, I’ve given new readers a complimentary subscription so you can browse the entire archive for the next month.
If you like what you read & hear, consider subscribing. I’ve discounted annual subscriptions to $35. Paid subs help me dedicate more time to this project.
An intro to AHB’s Goodies ⬆ — — Learn more about my label ⬆
Now onto the latest playlist (aka mixtape)… ⬇
# of Tracks: more than 60
Length: almost 5 hours
Themes: not ambient music ~ the mood is a bit creepy-crawly but not in a Halloween way ~ instrumentals that demand your attention ~ exploring the question: what was post-rock exactly? (Rodan, Codeine, Slint) ~ Gastr del Sol as keystone influence ~ 21st century smooth jazz (Connan Mockasin, Men I Trust, Khruangbin) ~ a global array of subtly tweaked experimental sounds: Portugal’s Rafael Toral, Italy’s Ennio Morricone, Japan’s Masaki Batoh, Mexico’s Atrás del Cosmos, Australia’s Oren Ambarchi, and Guatamala’s Mabe Fratti ~ plus some lo-fi beats worthy of your attention
Links: Spotify — Apple Music — YouTube
The early 20th-century French composer Erik Satie famously referred to some of his compositions as ‘furniture music,’ meaning sound which could exist in the background without demanding the listener’s full attention. Some of the recordings on this playlist might be considered furniture music, but if so, it is home decor that’s rather uncomfortable to sit on.1
The tone for the mix is set by a recording from another French composer, Luc Ferrari,2 who gained renown in the 1970s. He was a pioneer of musique concrète, a style created through the editing and manipulation of magnetic tape. His 25-minute piece “Petite symphonie intuitive pour un paysage de printemps” (trans “Little intuitive symphony for a spring landscape”) kicks off the mix. While discordant at times—a kind of horror/thriller for the ears—I encourage you to start there and stick with it. It will tune your senses for what follows.
Spotify version
Apple version
YouTube version
Want to support AHB’s Goodies? If you enjoy my mixtape delivery service but can’t commit to a subscription, there is now a one-time donation option. Visit Ko-Fi to throw a few dollars in the tip jar.
Next Steps:
If you enjoyed this mix, here are some other playlists in the AHB’s Goodies archive which might scratch a similar itch.
Wordless vocals & music before language - link: What singing sounds like before language. When people communicate in hums, grunts, and bird song. When a foreign language is perceived not as words but as pure phonics.
Ooze Out And Away, Onehow aka ambient moving service aka - link: Inspired by Jon Hassell’s Fourth World music. The title references a track from a lesser-known Cocteau Twins LP made in collaboration with Harold Budd. This mix features lots of space funk and songs so laid-back they practically stop.
Music for heart & breath & floating & falling & dreaming - link: A blend of ambient dub, chill classical composition, and haunting folk, featuring multiple recordings by Brian Eno, Alabaster DePlume, Julee Cruise, and Haruomi Hosono. Inspired by a beloved 2022 LP which my comrade Richard Reed Parry made in collaboration with Susie Ibarra.
Some recent favorites:
This section is usually devoted to three or four selections from the new mixtape—often live versions of the songs, if I can source them. This time, however, I’ve curated an indie & pop-focused counterpoint to the weirder, more instrumental-leaning tunes on this month’s mix. Here are four recordings, all released in the last year, that have grabbed and held my attention.
^ Chappell Roan: “Pink Pony Club”: Her 2023 LP, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, is dense with pop bangers that seem like they’ve existed forever. I am a recent but devoted convert.
^ MJ Lenderman: “She’s Leaving You”: Dirtbag indie Americana with a Southern drawl and a gently insinuating way of worming its way into your heart.
^ Mermaid Chunky: “Friends”: They refer to themselves as “an audio visual duo.” The music is a spacey and whimsical version of dance-punk, made more convincing when you see them pull it off live “accompanied by euphoric sculptural visuals and an entourage of sweating puppy’s [sic]3 in frills.”
^ FKA twigs: “Eusexua”: A pulse-pounding electronic ballad accompanied by a video that showcases incredible world-building and sensual, nightmare-fuel choreography.
People Who Died:
Cissy Houston • Dikembe Mutombo • Ka • Kris Kristofferson • Phil Donahue • Sarah Gibson • Tim Ruth4
I try to make this mixtape delivery service about mixtapes and steer clear of topics like politics…and self-promotion for my other projects. That said, I’ve run a record label called Brassland for 20+ years, and occasionally it feels appropriate to highlight our new releases.
This month there is an unfortunate crossover between the label and my regular in memoriam section.
This summer, Brassland put out a beautiful 27-minute piece of music called 3 BPM, created by conductor and composer Christopher Rountree. Here’s the cover:
I’ve known Chris for about a decade, and he has always struck me as an ideal example of a hybrid musician and community organizer—an artist devoted to enabling the work of others. He has begun composing not out of ego, but as an extension of his communitarian ideals.5 Chris describes the 3 BPM piece like so:
3 BPM (Three Beats Per Minute) is a musical framework for being together. It comes out of my interest in the social dynamics of music making. It’s a piece drawn out of that energy, meant to bring a room full of people together around abstract gestures, harmonies, phrases, arcs, events, melodies, textures, games, and musical language.
With that in mind, you’ll understand why it was a particular shock when, two days after we released this album, one of the musicians who recorded it, Sarah Gibson, died of cancer at her home in Los Angeles.
I did not know her personally so I won’t attempt a eulogy. (The Washington Post ran an informative one.) I also won’t pretend recorded music can serve as a sufficient memorial for someone who left behind a growing family. But I love recorded music, in part, because it enables us to remember one of the most ephemeral arts. In an environment where culture that doesn’t ‘go viral’ is often overlooked, I’m grateful that this document of Sarah’s artistic community has continued to receive kind notices after its initial release.6
As much as I’d like to sell you a download or compact disc, 3 BPM is freely streaming in all the places. Sarah’s family has honored her memory by creating a Foundation to support young musicians. If you have the resources, I’m sure a donation would be noticed and greatly appreciated.
As always, thanks for listening.
I spent some time Googling this in a bout of free association via search engine. If this Eeriemysterious mix is furniture music it’s “Spaghetti Bale” (2008), a bench designed by Pablo Reinoso,
Or maybe it’s Salvador Dali’s “Mae West Lips Sofa.” Online accounts offer a hazy origin story (that it was created in the 1930s but not commercially produced until the 1970s). What’s clear, however, is that it was never intended to be sat upon.
Finally I’ll leave you with Valentina Gonzalez Wohlers’ “Ghost of a Chair” (2010), individually crafted from 4mm transparent polyester sheets. While it is functional, using it might evoke a distinct sense of psychological unease.
A bit more on Luc Ferrari at his Wikipedia page. I’m not including video excerpts of selections from the mix this month, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t ensure you had easy access to the piece that inspired the entire playlist.
The description—including the “puppies” pluralization error—is theirs! The video I shared features no canines but Mermaid Chunky are, apparently, very into dogs. Tiny ones. When asked about the “craziest performance they’ve ever done” by Era Journal, group member Freya replied: “I think it’s probably the Tiny Dog Wedding. We put on a dog wedding event and there were lots of tiny dogs. We even flew a pastor in from Vegas.” There are more details on their website. Sort of.
I do not link to an obituary about Tim Ruth because I’m not sure a proper one exists. If you Google him, all that turns up is a Reddit post on a Louisville subreddit, a brief squib in his hometown newspaper, and some details about his encounters with Kentucky’s legal system (which I will decline to link to).
However, I am an enormous admirer of a deeply obscure but fondly remembered album that Ruth made with a quirky punk band called Evergreen in the early ‘90s. For the nerds out there, post-hardcore would be the precise genre I’d place them in. It was recorded by a pre-fame James Murphy, who later founded LCD Soundsystem and DFA Records, and features cult-famous drummer Britt Walford, a member of Slint and The Breeders.
An acquaintance of mine, Jeff Mueller, shared a memory about Tim and his band in a (public) Facebook post which I’ll quote at length:
Evergreen somehow captured and made attractive all the chaos, psychosis, and general upside down-ness of Louisville in the mid-90’s. There’s a cladding of magnetic, joyous, perplexing energy to their music, with a brazen abandonment and pull towards absolute danger just below the surface.
I left Louisville for Chicago before much of that brazen abandonment and danger caught up with the very real life of Tim Ruth - I only experienced him as a hyper-smart, charismatic, genius guitar player. In truth, I hadn’t thought about him specifically in years, yet, today, with the news of his passing - I can clearly see him curbside after a 1993 Tewligan’s show that nearly caught the place on fire, in my house on S. Fourth Street feeling like the floor was about to collapse, and, really deep inside my subconscious, recording these songs in a studio in New York City.
Damn Tim, what a fucking ride. Rest easy
I think the record is a masterpiece of tension and anguish that never quite boils over. Bandcamp is the best place to listen, and I encourage you to consider supporting Evergreen’s (minor) legacy. Start with the tracks “Sweet Jane”, “New York City”, and “Pants Off” all of which sound like they document a mad bender that’s more fun to listen to than to live through.
If you want to know more about Chris, I’d suggest starting with the About page for his organization, Wild Up. Notably the focus is not on him, but on Us—a collective portrait of all the players that make up the ensemble.
Bandcamp named 3 BPM one of the summer’s Best Contemporary Classical recordings. In August, WNYC’s New Sounds featured a bang-up live version. Then, in late September, NPR Music discussed it for 10-minutes on their All Songs Considered podcast (start listening at the 9:00 minute mark).