Somehow it’s February. January went on forever, and in some ways feels like it never ended, but apparently it did. Anyway, tomorrow is the first Bandcamp Friday of the year, and while there are certainly plenty of criticisms to be levied there, if you are throwing some bucks at some rad artists, I wanted to at least share some thoughts on music that’s been getting plenty of airtime at FDHQ.
Additionally, my new solo album, The Sound Leaves, officially releases on Room 40 tomorrow. I’m really proud of this one and hope you will check it out.
There will also be a new batch of Morning Sounds to listen to. We’ve covered four continents with the project now, I believe (if anyone has a connection to someone in Antarctica, get in touch).
And lastly, The Jewel Garden released the first in a new, ongoing 4-way split compilation series, Field Studies. It’s inspired by the old Foxglove Wailing Bones CDRs, and is a way for me to share music and work with artists that I spend a lot of time listening to. I miss some aspects of running a real label (but not most parts of it!), so this helps scratch that itch. Oh, and there’s still a lovely new album from Luiz Ser Eu, which came out last month, that should be on your radar (and a reminder that The Jewel Garden is pay-what-you-can now).
Hexparter Requiem (Self-Released)
Hexpartner (aka Grace Pham) conjures ethereal harp compositions that explore ghost landscapes, creating the elegiac outlines of aural dreamworlds. Her voice swirls and rises in twisting shapes, wrapping around the plucked explorations like smoke through moonlight. There’s a beautiful mix of funereal introspection and quiet catharsis here, where her words hover but still sting. Requiem feels like early music beamed into future memories, glazed with a timeless spirit that exists outside any particular moment. This is enchantment in sonic forms, a stunning record that I’ve had playing on repeat for weeks. Give in to these haunting meditations. Highest possible recommendation.
f.ampism The Vertical Luminous (Hive Mind)
Oh, this is so whimsical, and I can’t get enough of it. Precise electronic textures sit on an unstable grid with tones painted in faded neon that feel welcoming. Gleaming whirrs and aqueous reverie spin alongside plucked strings dancing in crystal blue skies, while percussive moments have real whimsy and even a gentleness, ultimately hitting the sweet spot. So many elements that could be disparate come together in such playful, unpredictable ways. f.ampism builds soundworlds that are overtly melodic and full of fun and impulsive earworms. All of these sounds are a maze, and listening to The Vertical Luminous is a delightful exercise in getting lost. Eccentric in the best possible sense.
Ursula Sereghy Unlock (Gin & Platonic)
Interplanetary dance systems collide with playful, bewitching energy on Unlock. There are so many electronic tones and textures that it feels like wandering through a forest of dancing, living synthesizers. This wild mix of rhythms all makes me want to move, or at least stop sitting still. Interesting melodic sequences glitch and spin, moving in countless directions, while Sereghy’s autotuned and effected vocals flit between adding a humanness and stripping it away, a dichotomy that only adds to the record’s considerable depth. Heavy bombardments collide with moments of genuine softness, and the whole thing is just fun in the best possible way. Damn, I really love this one.
RL Huber Themisto (Self-Released)
RL Huber builds immediate tension fueled by dissonance on Themisto, where blurred synths and languid motifs create an atmosphere all its own. There’s a real drama here, buoyed by emotive orchestral arrangements and restrained-but-massive percussive textures. It feels like it could crack wide open at any moment. Huber writes focused pieces that explore every inch of different, small, interconnected spaces before moving forward, and he’s built a real narrative sense into the work. The twelve tracks are cohesive and make sense together, each one a necessary step in a journey toward something distant and unknowable.
Yves De May Corda (Superpang)
I’ve long been a fan of Yves De May, but Corda caught me off guard. This is a slow-moving, gracious, winding piano-focused exposition based on five chords, where inner silences become entire monologues. Space is De May’s collaborator here: the breaths between the chords, the gentle resonances, the evolving cadence. At times, Corda is lush yet still, the restraint building into an aural glow that’s almost meditative and anodyne, echoing with sheen. Just when it seems like the piece is building toward release, it disintegrates, leaving us with more questions and a desire for more. Stellar.
Stephen Vitiello & Taylor Deupree Brush (12k)
This music is a warm embrace. It hangs heavy with a certain weariness, a feeling of the outside world creeping in, but still Vitiello and Deupree move gently, creating a peaceful sonic environment. Plucked melodies loop and detour, heightened by steel swells that add both lamentations and solace. The palette may be simple, but this music is deep and rich, with all the details making this aural landscape seem more real, more lived-in. Repeating patterns add comfort and familiarity, with elegant passages that move slow, never really worried about if there’s a destination or not. Music with real connective tissue. What a wonderful duo.
fields we found landscape 01 (Self-Released)
With a note that he’s started meditating again and is making music for it, fields we found offers landscape 01. Drones with tactile undercurrents feel like acoustic resonances bleeding into one another and changing shape. Stasis becomes a glowing beacon, a gentle embrace in a bright chord held like a long breath. There’s a real presence in the soft modulations here. It has a sonic evolution that makes it feel as though it’s imbued with a permanence, like it’s going to exist in this space for all time, accessible whenever it’s needed. Really beautiful and surprisingly moving.
Christina Ruf The Unearth the Shared (iapetus)
It all begins with a harmonic spark, methodical and always with purpose, where sonic pointillism and sharp guitar textures tell stories in the intervals between notes. At times, it feels like this music is being stretched to the point of breaking, plaintive and lyrical arrangements morphing into darkening horizons distilled into glass forms. Even with all the density embedded in The Unearth the Shared, Ruf spins moments of lightness, airy tones lingering and oscillating like beacons in empty space. This EP is minimalist but with real heft. Music that rises to meet the moment, rising until it can’t anymore. Really beautiful, moving compositions.
Helena BILBAO MMXXIII (Blu-Rei)
The movement throughout BILBAO MMXXIII is thoughtful and unhurried, a slow-moving dream where each note blooms like a considered phrase. A chime pulls our focus in one direction, a cymbal gently swells pulling us elsewhere, and in one moment, someone coughs (likely an audience member, as this was recorded live in 2023), but it just adds to how human, how real this music feels. There’s a restrained drama here that is dramatic nonetheless, quiet and maybe a little sad, but the way the piano, percussion, and bass interact, dancing in languid patterns and softly intersecting, is pure magic. This is music that asks for patience and generously rewards it.
