Tag: lo-fi

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“Welcome” by Harmonia & Eno ’76

"Welcome" by Harmonia & Eno '76

Artist: Harmonia & Eno ’76

Song: Welcome

Genres: #chillout #ambient

Location: Forst, Germany

Release date: November, 1997.

Comment: Today’s song played during the end credits of the 5th episode of the second season of The Bear, and I was absolutely mesmerised by it. A quick Google search told me that it was called “Welcome”, and the artist was Harmonia & Eno ’76. I found this curious, as the track had indeed reminded me of legendary music product Brian Eno, and I wondered if he had been involved with the track. (Narrator: He was).

Harmonia was a German supergroup formed in 1973 as a collaboration between members of two prominent krautrock bands. Brian Eno was a fan and described them in the mid-1970s as “the world’s most important rock group.” The band dissolved in 1976 after releasing two albums, but reformed briefly for 11 days in September 1976 to record some tracks with Mr. Eno himself. These tunes became the “Tracks & Traces” album, which remained unreleased until November 1997 due to lost tapes. In 2009, the album was reissued with additional tracks and credited to Harmonia & Eno ’76.

“Welcome” is the opening track of the album, and it has a minimalist and meditative quality. If you appreciate the art of soundscaping and the beauty of simplicity, you will find “Welcome” to be a captivating and rewarding listen. I can’t get enough of it.

Featured on the following mixtapes:

  • Everything
  • Chill Out
  • Relax

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Damian Boylan – Expansions

Damian Boylan - Expansions

Artist: Damian Boylan

Song: Expansions

Genres: #chillout

Location: London, United Kingdom

Release date: September, 2022.

Comment: With a Master’s degree (MEng) in Aerospace Engineering, most people wouldn’t think Damian Boylan could also have an artistic side, let alone one in which he seems to be good at everything: sculpting, painting, video, and, well, obviously, music. Expansions is one if his latest releases: a poignant, classically-infused electronic track that is basically candy for your ears. Damian also created the audiovisual piece below, the perfect companion to Expansions.

Featured on the following mixtapes:

  • Everything
  • Chill Out

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Simon Mós – Progression

Artist: Simon Mós

Song: Progression

Genres: #chillout

Location: London, United Kingdom

Release date: July, 2022.

Comment: I’m sorry I didn’t feature this great tune, Progression, in time for the summer, but I guess it’s better late than never. The artist behind the track, South London’s Simon Mós, wanted to evoke feelings of nostalgia and melancholy by using experimental guitar recordings into his beats, all of this while maintaining a minimalist production style. Progression is a great example of that and also the perfect way to start your weekend. Enjoy!

Featured on the following mixtapes:

  • Everything
  • Chill Out

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Hatsü – Be Conscious

Artist: Hatsü

Song: Be Conscious

Genres: #relaxing #ambient

Location: London, United Kingdom

Release date: May, 2022.

Comment: Today, middle of the week, let’s switch gears to something extremely relaxing. Be Conscious is a hypnotic track from London-based music producer Bobby Turner, aka Hatsü, which is a Japanese name meaning Beginning. One problem I’ve found with most ambient tracks is that they tend to sound very similar to each other but, luckily, Be Conscious does not suffer from that issue. Instead, Hatsü introduces subtle changes with layer after layer of textures and tones, resulting in a gentle soundscape that will certainly help you to focus, sleep or meditate.

I hope you enjoy this ethereal piece as much as I did.

Featured on the following mixtapes:

  • Everything
  • Relax

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Departure – Calle 63

Photo credit: @santiago_denegurica

Artist: Departure

Song: Calle 63

Genres: #chillout #lofi

Influences: Khruangbin

Location: London, United Kingdom

Release date: April, 2022.

Comment: Camilo Tostón, who produces music as both Departure and for boutique music labels, grew up in Bogotá, Colombia, in a 3-story building inhabited entirely by family members. When he listened to Khruangbin‘s track: Cómo Te Quiero and watched its music video, which depicts the last minutes of a dying grandfather, Camilo got inspired to reminisce about the happy childhood that he had and came up with Calle 63, a magical track that transport you back to those years when we were happy without knowing it.

Calle 63 is Camilo‘s second single as Departure. Something I really like about it is that despite being an electronic track, the main element in this mesmerizing tune is actually a guitar. Outstanding job.

Featured on the following mixtapes:

  • Everything
  • Chill Out

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MIRRORS – Heading Home

MIRRORS - Heading Home

Artist: MIRRORS

Song: Heading Home

Genres: #chillout #ambient

Location: Indianapolis, United States

Release date: April, 2022.

Comment: Here’s another chill-out gem. At one point or another in our lives, we have all had to leave the place we considered home in order to start a new life somewhere else, whether it’s going away to college or moving to a new city or country because life happens. In the process, we feel homesick for the place we’re leaving behind and, at the same time, excited in anticipation of the environment that will become our new home. How will it be? Will we get used to it? That’s the feeling that young and extremely talented music producer Joe Morgan, aka MIRRORS, wanted to convey with the fascinating “Heading Home“. This spellbinding track is simply gorgeous.

The scary part – in a good way – is that MIRRORS, a name chosen based on the project’s main catchphrase, “We reflect what we surround ourselves with,” is just getting started.

Featured on the following mixtapes:

  • Everything
  • Chill Out
  • Relax

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Toteles – Halcyon

Artist: Toteles

Song: Halcyon

Genres: #chillout #ambient

Location: Munich, Germany

Release date: March, 2022.

Comment: Some tracks grab your attention and hold it long after they have finished playing. When this happens with a chill-out/ambient song, it just shows how special that track is. As you probably guessed, that is the case with Halcyon, one of the first singles released by German artist Christoph Sebastian Pabst under the Toteles moniker, which comes from Aristoteles. Christoph has been making music most of his life, initially in projects with some friends and later on under his own name, but Toteles represents a new beginning for him, focusing on electronic music, deep house, ambient, and chill-out music. You need both talent and luck to be successful in the music business. I don’t know how much luck he has, but he certainly got plenty of talent.

Featured on the following mixtapes:

  • Everything
  • Chill Out
  • Relax

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Rosehip – Twilight

Photo credit: @olicutter

Artist: Rosehip

Song: Twilight

Genres: #chillout #lofi

Location: London, United Kingdom

Release date: February, 2022.

Comment: Inspired by the eponymous 1850 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (sampled at 1:16), Twilight is a relaxing and melancholic lo-fi single from London-based producer Rosehip. The poem describes the ocean though the eyes of a child who’s looking at it, in the middle of a storm, from the comfort of home, and that’s the feeling Rosehip wanted to evoke in the listener too: feeling comfortable during turbulent times.

Twilight is part of Stargaze, the new EP by this talented artist. Despite starting pushing the boundaries of lo-fi recently (2020), Rosehip has already achieved over 8 million streams on Spotify. Once you listen to Twilight, you will see why.

Featured on the following mixtapes:

  • Everything
  • Chill Out

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heartaake – unevershowmeløv

Two friends from Sweden, one a house music producer, John Dahlbäck, and the other one a 3D animator, Erik Ande, decided to work together on a music/motion art project as a way to abstract themselves from their hectic lives that involve, according to them, too many children and dogs around. This project is heartaake, and as you can probably guess already, its music style is basically #lofichillout. John and Eric say that their biggest influence is the silence that surrounds them when they make music.

However, unevershowmeløv –I got no clue what it means but the song is about taking it easy– is not your typical chill out tune. It has personality. Sounds and a melody that make it easily identifiable, which is not something I can say of many chill-out tracks. Also, at just 01:46 minutes, it does not overstay its welcome. As implied by the animation below, unevershowmeløv is a great track to listen to while driving. The artists behind heartaake say that this music is their chill zone and I think they manage to transport the listener to that place as well. What else could we ask for? Welcome to the chill zone!

Featured on the following mixtapes:

  • Everything
  • Chill Out

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Low Detail – Pôrto Alegre

Just like importmedia, Low Detail is a Venezuelan lo-fi music producer who happens to be friends with fellow countryman Blure. I also discovered his music when I wrote about Blure back in September. He started releasing music since 2020 and according to his songs’ credits on Spotify, his full name is Manuel Espinel. That’s about all the personal information that you will be able to find about him online. He lets his music speak for itself.

The picture above is the cover art from Low Detail’s EP, Sunny Days, one of the many releases he made in 2020. My favorite track from it is Pôrto Alegre, a charming track whose only drawback is that it is too short. That’s not a big deal though, as the problem can be easily solved by playing this great tune on repeat. Alternatively, you could simply continue with the rest of Low Detail’s musical catalogue. Totally worth it.

Featured on the following mixtapes:

  • Everything
  • Chill Out