music: october 26
questions about context, plus ambient trance on a church organ, big beat from eris drew & octo octa, the durutti column, john beltran and more
This month, I have been thinking a lot about context and its impact on how we experience and understand music, film, art, culture... At the moment I have more questions than answers (and not enough time to think through all of them in detail). So here is a list for future me:
- What counts as (necessary) context: for understanding / enjoying / feeling / experiencing?
- And what kinds of context are there?
- Context about the artist (character, opinions, actions)?
- Context about their circumstances (where they are from, what shaped them)?
- Context about what the work refers to, quotes, samples, criticizes?
- Context that a listener brings (memories, mood, associations, ...)?
- Can two people ever hear/see/experience the same thing?
- Which of these is part of the work? Which is outside of the work?
- Which of these enrich an experience, and which bias it?
- In what order should an artwork and its context be introduced?
- First the work, then the context? So that the listener is not biased by things that are outside of the work? To enjoy mystery? To give the work a chance to stand on its own?
- First the context, then the work? To better understand the work, engage more deeply with it?
- When I experience art, e.g. find a track just "okay", then learn some context, and then suddenly I love the track ... what changed?
- The song stayed the same, so ... I changed?
- Or did the song change, because context is part of the work and I previously listened to an incomplete version of it?
- Or do I like the story, but still find the song "okay"?
Whether you listen or read first is up to you! Here is my listening journal for October, all tracks on Spotify.
Liner notes
- Album: Maxime Denuc – Club Imperiale (wow! drumless ambient trance played on an organ by a computer and recorded in a church; fav tracks: Everytime, La Paloma)
- live in Berlin on Nov 18!
- Album: The Durutti Column – A Paean to Wilson (a bit older but what a beautiful album, very gentle and intimate, I love this guitar; fav tracks: Brother (what a crazy use of Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" sample), Chant)
- Album: John Beltran – Sunrise and the Life We Live (just my fav ambient techno artist at the moment, beautiful and bittersweet, made with a lot of the same gear as Ten Days of Blue; fav tracks: Blue Green Eyes, Ikibana, Austin, Éire, Meant for Her)
- Album: worriedaboutsatan – Outland (a little bit of ambient (techno), a little bit of (post) rock, a little bit of trance – cool album; fav tracks: I've Got Nothing But Time, A New Life Awaits You in the Offline Communities (title!))
- Album: Gaelle – Transient (downtempo plus R&B, at times trip hop, soulful and even a bit housy; fav tracks: Moonsglow (on repeat!), Transient, Rain, Love You More, Falling)
- if her voice sounds familiar, that's because she sang on Wamdue Project's King of My Castle and Ananda Project's Cascades of Colour!!
- Album: Allison de Groot & Rich Ruth – Allison de Groot & Rich Ruth (balearic americana ambient, banjo, at times a little cosmic; fav track: Nervion)
- EP: Claudio PRC – Self Surrender Deconstructed (ambient version of his 2025 techno album Self Surrender – I love it when techno artists make ambient; fav track: Ebony Feathers (soft pads, alien sounds, a bit Matrix))
- Album: Claudio PRC – Self Surrender (opens ambient and dub, moves into minimal and deep techno, def more energy in the second half; fav tracks: Cenere, Covered in Sin, Sigillo, Subversive)
- Album: Hysterical Love Project – February's Album (ambient dream pop and downtempo, slow, smoky reverbcore; fav tracks: A New Extremity, Thinking Woman's Lament, Limbo)
- Track: The Melting Hours – Blue Sun (calm, chill ambient pads by Wata Igarashi and Kuniyuki Takahashi)
White label
- Album: Alchemical Sisters (Eris Drew & Octo Octa) – Alchemical Sisters (euphoric acid big beat, with some cozy downtempo towards the end; big beat is probably the most nostalgic and worst-aged music for me, but I like this a lot; fav tracks: This is How it Should Be Done, We've Seen Great Power, Song For New Hampshire, Why Not Dream)
- Track: Donato Dozzy – Ryoma (Lò Song) (Dozzy + trance? let's goo, can't wait for the full album in November)
- Album: nthng – Last Light of the Sun (starts with hazy ambient and trip hop? then turns into soft and atmospheric d&b; fav tracks: Ghostlike Dreams, Many Reasons, Orchid)
- Track: SPF 50 – Norrsken (very loopy and spacey sci-fi techno)
- Album: Hallucinator – Landlocked (cool 1999 Chain Reaction reissue, foggy, from minimal ambient techno to dub techno; fav tracks: People, Black Angel)
- Album: Steffi – Half an Owl and a Full Moon Rising (energetic, punchy techno; fav tracks: The Rolling Wave, Sudden Flash, Acoustics Of Space, Half An Owl And A Full Moon Rising)
Thanks for reading! And if you have thoughts on the above questions, let me know.
