Read on Twitter
New Feeling is a collectively run, non-hierarchical music journalist co-operative. As we prepare for the launch of our online publication, some members will be introducing themselves on our social media accounts. Taking over today is
@lstanley24!
@lstanley24!
Hi friends! I’m Laura - a member of New Feeling! I’m a freelance writer based in Toronto. My work has appeared in NOW, Musicworks, Exclaim!, She Shreds, No Depression & more. I’m the former folk & country editor of Exclaim! and I was also an editor of Grayowl Point (RIP).
I’m a big fan of tender tones and so I thought I’d share some of my favourite softly-spun instrumental recordings from the last few years. I suggest listening to these while eating a peach, lying on the floor with a fan pointed at you, or looking at the sky.
Bowed guitarist C. Diab’s new record White Whale is superb mix of thunderous, weighty sounds and playfully light ones. Each note emerges gracefully:
https://cdiab.bandcamp.com/album/white-whale-2
https://cdiab.bandcamp.com/album/white-whale-2
. @HolyHum’s performance at the @musicgalleryTO last fall was magic and his whole set is now up on Bandcamp. I love how the urgency of the first half of his continuous composition dissolves so subtly over a sublime 30-ish minutes
https://holyhum.bandcamp.com/album/if-there-is-transcendence-let-it-be-now
Lots of sparkling, synth goodness within @MatthwCrdinal’s “Pieces: 2011 - 2019”. The first track, “Sleeping in a Grand Piano,” is a goddamn dream. Oh to be asleep in a grand piano…: https://matthewcardinal.bandcamp.com/album/pieces-2011-2019
Sarah Davachi is one of the best! Her 2016 record Dominions was the first record of her’s that I listened to and it deeply influenced my love of slow burning drone music: https://sarahdavachi.bandcamp.com/album/dominions
Every time I listen to @castleif’s Plant Material, I smile. The playful synth tones also help ease my plant-induced anxiety. (The tips of my succulent are brown and the internet says I am either watering it too much or not enough. Plz advise.): https://castleif.bandcamp.com/album/plant-material
Sami Blanco aka temple volant puts out multiple(!) releases (ambient/drone/techno) every month so there’s always something new sink into. aeri, released last spring, feels like a celebration of nature blooming: https://samiblanco.bandcamp.com/album/aeri
Pursuit Grooves’s Felt Armour is an electronic collage of textures and sounds. I feel like I’m always discovering a new sound when I listen to this album:
https://pursuitgrooves.bandcamp.com/album/felt-armour
On her debut H.E.R, @OBUXUM uses electronic/house/hip-hop elements to make miniature worlds. Also be sure to check out her 2020 Polaris Prize long listed release Re-Birth! https://obuxum-urbnet.bandcamp.com/album/h-e-r
Ambient artist @AlaskanTapes has steadily been releasing music that allows you to drift off into oblivion since 2015. You Were Always An Island makes me dream of buying a seaside cottage and maybe getting into fishing even though I don’t do boats:
https://alaskantapes.bandcamp.com/album/you-were-always-an-island
. @nickstorring’s My Magic Dreams Have Lost Their Spell is one of my favourite releases from 2020. There’s so many different movements and moods to get lost in within each orchestral piece:
https://nickstorring.bandcamp.com/album/my-magic-dreams-have-lost-their-spell
. @melodymckiver’s Reckoning EP is a gorgeous collection of solo viola pieces with some electronic touches as well. Super easy to lose yourself in their haunting loops: https://melodymckiver.bandcamp.com/album/reckoning-ep
From the now defunct Hamilton label Quiet Bedrooms comes this blissful split release by GRHMBVRL & Xiao Xuan. Lots of meditative + reverb heavy guitar pieces from both artists:
https://qtqb.bandcamp.com/album/grhmbvrl-xiao-xuan-split-qb004
Wellington Sanipe is one of my favourite ambient artists. I’m also a big fan of calling everything I do a “moment” so Moments - a ghostly labyrinth of sounds - is extra great to me:
https://wellingtonsnipe.bandcamp.com/album/moments
I think Nick Schofield ( @NDScho) Water Sine has been one of my most listened to releases during These Times. This mixture of natural sounds and keys is sooo soothing: https://nickschofield.bandcamp.com/album/water-sine-2
Markus Floats’ Third Album is another 2020 favourite of mine. I love the genre obliterating mix of electronic sounds here and I keep thinking about the track listing:
Forward
And
Forward Again
Always
Moving
Forward Always: https://markusfloats.bandcamp.com/album/third-album
Forward
And
Forward Again
Always
Moving
Forward Always: https://markusfloats.bandcamp.com/album/third-album
Music for Staying Warm by cellist Justin Wright sounds as warm as you think that it would. Absolutely pristine soundscapes abound: https://jwright.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-staying-warm
Phew, lots of tweets! What quiet-ish instrumental recordings do YOU like to listen to?
