picnic
Creaky Little Branch

The latest offering from 12th Isle collects a variety of recordings from Vasily Stepanov and Vlad Dobrovolski as part of their on-going S A D project (Udacha/Muscut). As part of their process, S A D sample and distort old de-magnetised tapes, constantly adding to and reworking their own sound-world. Layers of kosmiche synthesisers, off-kilter woodblock percussion and lysergic field recordings interplay with dense ambient textures in a true collage-style approach to music making. Across the nine tracks, multiple collaborations and aliases coalesce to present a thorough look at both artists approach to communicating the world around them. Drawing influence from nature and the outdoor concerts of Vladislav’s band Kurvenschreiber as well as late night free jazz shows and a similar ‘hauntological’ approach seen in Dobrovolski’s recent ‘Playbacks for Dreaming’, the pair express a unique genre-traversing attitude. More from the 12th Isle due very soon!

7.1Pretty Sneaky

The duo behind the double album “Duets”, consisting of musicians Bendik Baksaas & Kristoffer Eikrem, is a minimalistic and cinematic ambient experience with emotion, creatively conducted by simple melodies and sounds. Duets’ emotional nerve has some emphasis on the traditional ambient form of music, but at the same time has more of an imaginary and comprehensive take on structure, form and melodies with organic elements spontaneously scattered throughout the music. These organic elements can be heard through the trumpet’s lyrical sounds, field recordings from various parts of the world (recorded by Baksaas) and percussion loops. Baksaas & Eikrem are interested in maintaining the same playfulness and communication often found in jazz bands.Baksaas & Eikrem had already worked together several years prior in 2015, when Baksaas worked with the jazz band Mopti, which Eikrem was already a member of. Their musical collaboration however developed after one concert, where the band Mopti decided that the two of them should perform a duo piece. Both were positively surprised by the result (takes from the concert can be heard on the track “This is nothing personal”) and decided to continue their collaboration together aside from Mopti.Apart from some musical and field recordings, the the album was recorded in Baksaas’ studio, improvised over various ideas. Bendik Baksaas has mixed the album and it is mastered by Christian Obermayer at Strype Audio.

The highly anticipated long player from DJ, producer and musician Lorenzo Morresi alongside 22a label boss, DJ, producer and musician Tenderlonious, sees them serve up 11 irresistible tracks inspired by Italo jazz funk and the Italian library sound."With this project we’ve done our best to deliver our own interpretation of this wonderful era of Italian music and rediscover a beautiful genre, whilst maintaining a strong respect and admiration for the sounds that the original Italian masters created. Their records impressed and inspired us and we hope it will be the same for our listeners today."