Gilead may mean, among other things, “hill of testimony” and that is the meaning The Broken Cradle had in mind when he decided to use it as the name of his latest EP. It is supposed to tell the journey of our respective roads to Gilead in our search for happiness and purpose. The EP is a neoclassical and ambient album that starts with the aptly titled Road to Gilead, a piano-centered track with atmospheric pads that create a mesmerizing soundscape. Listening to the multiple textures in the song feels like scratching an itch and not wanting to stop.
The Broken Cradle is the solo work of Eric McLean, a musician from North Carolina with over 20 years of experience. With influences such as Brian Eno and Olafur Arnalds, it is not surprising that his music could fit so well in an album from any of those renowned artists. He is that good.
There is a town in Japan called Hakone that is famous for its views of Mount Fuji and hot springs. This natural spa inspired LA-based Turkish composer Deniz Cuylan to layer multiple guitar arpeggios in a chaotic but harmonious way, just like a thermal spring. The end result, Flaneurs In Hakone, is certainly a beautiful piece of music that can help relax you even when the closest thing to a hot spring you have around is your shower head.
Flaneurs In Hakone is part of No Such Thing as Free Will, a new album from Deniz Cuylan. In addition to having 10 albums spanning a variety of genres, Deniz also works as a sound designer and film composer on projects such as the Emmy nominated Netflix documentary film, Mars Generation, the Netflix tv series: El Chapo and Rise of Empires: Ottoman.
Listen to this little taster of what this talented musician can do below.
La Strada Per I Vecchi Sogni, which I think means The Road To Old Dreams, is my favorite track off Somewhere Else, the new album from one of the best post-rock acts out there: The Absolute End Of The World. As seems to be the norm within the genre, TAEOTW is a solo act and, as the name of this song suggests, the person behind it, musician Luca Maugeri, is from Italy. He started out in 2011 and has a knack for creating beautiful compositions that can transport you anywhere. He also records, produces and distributes his music himself.
La Strada Per I Vecchi Sogni is a euphoric yet melancholic soundscape that feels like drifting through the air over the Mediterranean Sea. The song seems simple and effortlessly even though actually it is not. I truly think that one of the hardest things to do is to make the complicated seem straightforward and that is what separates virtuosos from truly special composers. This song proves that Luca Maugeri, The Absolute End Of The World, is one of them. Enjoy.
Michael Caria, from Sardinia, Italy, but living in London, calls himself a designer of melancholic soundscapes. I think that’s description is spot on. His musical project is called Michael It‘z and his music, while deeply experimental, is also very pleasant to the ear. It is electronic music but in a relaxing, ambient-like way. Michael’s objective is to make the listener feel something with his music in the same way a surrealist or abstract painting can do that without knowing what the painter had in mind.
Polytechnic Confusion was released as a single late last year with Cleopatra Records, and it is also included in Michael’s brand new album: Plastika | Music For A Film. The track is a great example of everything I mentioned above and then some. Sure, it is an unusual kind of music but there’s something about it that leaves you thirsty for more. Seriously, give it a try.
You may remember Diarmuid J Kennedy from when he was featured here back in September. If that’s the case, you will be happy to hear that he’s back with another beautiful piece called Chase A Loss. This time, he partnered with fellow Irish musician Sinead Hayes, aka sølstrek, who plays the mesmerizing violin part on this piece. A match made in heaven.
This stunning track feels to me like the soundtrack to a beautiful old movie. Call me crazy but I think it got a similar vibe to the Love Theme from Cinema Paradiso, composed by the late legend Ennio Morricone. At the very least, it could be your soundtrack to a perfectly fine Sunday evening. Sit bax, relax, and enjoy!
Dave Mathers is a classically trained pianist and composer from Scotland who loves all kinds of jazz music. He has been playing piano for 20 years (since he was 8) but still thinks he has much to learn, which is the right attitude to have. He started to release music last year under the moniker Fradama while working as a piano tutor for a music school in his country, and doubled his efforts this year in order to take advantage of the 2020 situation. Amongst his latest releases, I particularly liked his beautiful piano piece Promenade Sunset, which is a short but captivating track as relaxing as a walk in an actual seafront promenade.
Fradama hopes to get better known with time if he keeps releasing more music. Promenade Sunset demonstrates that he is talented enough to achieve his goals. All he needs is a little bit of luck. Give him a chance below.
Finnish multi-instrumentalist and composer, Kepa Lehtinen, is a renowned artist in his homeland, after being involved with the scores and soundtracks of multiple award-winning films and TV shows from Finland. In addition to that work, he has released three EP albums: Playing Theremin (2018), Helsinki In November (2019) and It Is Ok To Be Sad And Dark (2020). The latter EP consists of six tracks of what is considered classical electronic music, mostly because of the use of a Theremin (if you don’t know much about this peculiar instrument, I highly recommend watching this video) in some of the tracks. However, my favorite song from that EP, Simple, is just a straightforward piano piece with an enchanting melody. Sometimes, simplicity is all we need.
Marako Marcus started making music on audio cassettes in the 90s and hasn’t stopped since then. Today, he is an indie musician who likes to experiment with lofi, ambient, chill-out, and easy-listening music, giving them his own twist. His musical goal is to create cinematic compositions that allow listeners to immerse themselves into his music, and that’s precisely what he achieved with Raindrops of Refreshing, one of the singles he’s released this year.
Each one of Marako Marcus‘ songs have a story and in the case of Raindrops of Refreshing, it is about relaxing at the end of each day focusing on the positives rather than the negatives. It is a soothing song that relies on acoustic guitars to captivate the listener. On a lazy Sunday just like today, there is no better way to relax (well, besides sitting on a beach drinking cocktaila and reading a nice book, but that feels like science fiction in 2020). Enjoy this lovely tune below.
ThePianoPlayer is a musical project from Italian pianist and composer Enzo Orefice. As ThePianoPlayer, he uses his creativity to experiment with ambient and neo-classical music, but without ending up with abstract pieces. All his pieces are elegantly beautiful yet easily accessible.
Take, for example, one of his releases from 2020, the stunning Secrets. A beautiful song that reminded me of the work Ólafur Arnalds did for the show Broadchurch. Whether you are having a pretty active Sunday or a lazy one, I can’t think of better ways to end it than by listening to this breathtaking piece. Enjoy!
Hopefully, by now, you are familiar with the work of The 93 after we featured them here back in June. I hadn’t been in contact with them before writing that entry but since that entry was published, I’ve got to know Sylwester (one of the two brothers who form this awesome duo) quite a bit and I can say he is one of the kindest and coolest person I have met (as well as one of the most active supporters of T.A.M!). This has allowed me, in some way, to be part of the process behind the release of their new EP, Space, which got out across all platforms in the last 2 days. They worked incredibly hard to get everything ready on time, from composing and making arrangements, to producing the songs, all of this while also taking care of their day jobs/occupations.
Now, something you have to understand about these two brothers is that they aren’t doing this for fame or money, but pure love of music. Their main goal is actually finding people who can connect with them, using music as a language. And that brings me to Space, inspired by their passion for sci-fi movies about space travel. I had an opportunity to listen to the whole EP before it was mastered and I can tell you that even then, the whole record -which consists on five tracks, an intro and an outro- sounded amazing. The 93 tried hard to make it sound as close to audiophile-grade as possible and you can certainly notice it. I simply cannot get enough of the guitar riffs on these songs.
We are familiar already with one of the tracks in this EP, 03, as it is the one featured here before. What I didn’t know then was that the theme of this song was mysticism in the future through sound. Even cooler, however, was what inspired the Intro and Outro, which was basically what you would feel if you were travelling in a space ship, looked out the window and saw a nebula for the first time. 12 is a great track about the current state of the world (2020, hi!) and how we should focus more on peace and prosperity. I was close to featuring this track today but, in the end, I opted for 09, because, quite simply, it is my favorite track in the EP.
From the intro that would make Tom DeLonge jealous for not coming up with it himself for Angels & Airwaves, to the surreal vocals and atmospheric soundscape of the track; everything in this song is flawless. Written as a letter to our architect (or God), The 93 meant to express with it their fears and doubts while respecting said architect. I assure you, you will want to put this song, and the whole album, on repeat.
These two brothers came from a small village in Poland to the UK a few years ago chasing the dream to do music, as they believed they had something to say. I personally think the whole world got lucky because of that. Don’t believe me, just give them a chance.
