Digital only. wake lives in the interstitial state between dreaming and reality; ambient textures trace evanescent dawn light against the soft contours of sleep. Melodies shimmer into view and dissolve. The New York-based producer hides flashes of feeling within subdued landscapes, sparkling in the quiet depth. Glimpses of romance and loss hover just out of reach. As a filmmaker kj is inspired by the way soundtracks shape narrative from a place beyond language. wake takes a cinematic approach to the people and places that live on the outskirts of memory. This is music from nowhere that can follow you anywhere. RIYL: Ulf Lohmann, William Basinski, Celer, Stars of the Lid
BRIGHTER LATER | The Wolves | 04 DEC 15 | OWNVIN69
12'' vinyl. The Wolves is the debut from Brighter Later — the project of multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Jaye Kranz and collaborators. It was written and produced by Kranz in her home, an old church in Melbourne, Australia, with the help of bandmate Virginia Bott. It’s an intoxicating collection of songs, radiating a half-lit intimacy found only in the early hours of the morning. Each track is wonderfully unhurried and a world unto itself. Swinging from majestic pastoralia, Kranz’s silvery voice emerging above beds of gauzy harmonies, synths and reverbed guitar — to the sparse beauty of songs that have deliberately shed their layers. This is “music you can imagine to”.
DAVID ANDREE + JOSH MASON | Call, Response | 01 JAN 14 | OWNVIN68
12'' vinyl. Call, Response was conceived of as a long distance musical conversation between Mason & Andree. A single take of material performed by one artist was recorded to magnetic tape and sent to the other with the restriction that accompaniment be recorded in real time as well, closely simulating a live performance. Over time, as the players learned more about each other and their methods, an overarching quality to the body of work developed from their shared sensibilities. The call and response format allowed the voice of each artist to be present, interacting and intersecting, within a murky atmosphere punctuated by melodic fragments and moments of clarity.
WOODWORKINGS | day breaks the morning shapes we speak | 12 DEC 13 | OWNVIN67
Limited edition 12'' vinyl. woodworkings is the neoclassical and ambient music of Kyle Woodworth. day breaks the morning shapes we speak features much of its predecessor’s strong base of piano, cellos and guitars, but makes significant departures in tonal shifts, song structure, themes, scope and ambition. The new album is about distance and states—meaning both state of place and state of mind. At the end it is a tired and quiet triumph, but a triumph nonetheless, and day breaks the morning shapes we speak may offer the most beautiful tracks woodworkings has released yet.
Limited edition 12'' vinyl. Pausal is the audio and visual art project of Alex Smalley and Simon Bainton, both from Hampshire, UK. Sky Margin continues their exploration of combining mostly acoustic sound sources (instruments, field and vinyl recordings) with digital and guitar pedal processing. Although somewhat lighter in tone than it's emphatic predecessor, it once again sees the drier and noisier textures rising to the forefront whilst retaining much of the reverb-heavy drone based elements that have consistently marked their work. They have performed across the UK and in Europe supporting artists such as Grouper, Mountains, Stars of the Lid, Chihei Hatakeyama and Greg Haines.
JARED SMITH | Fjall | 07 MAY 2013 | Vinyl + Digital | OWNVIN65
Limited edition 12'' white vinyl. Jared Smith is a musician, photographer, and programmer living in San Francisco. In his third release, Fjall, meaning “mountain” in Icelandic, he provides a stripped down departure from his previous albums. Whether it’s the melodic rapping of a flagpole in front of Hallgrímskirkja church, the hollow clatter of a loose street-tile along Bergstaðastræti, or even the warm, comforting sound of coffee brewing from within flat in Reykjavík, He is able to find the music in the micro and the mundane. Fjall explores the fear that disables enjoyment of beautiful moments, the fear of repeating mistakes, the fear of what a new path will bring.
MELODíA | Saudades | 14 FEB 2013 | Vinyl + Digital | OWNVIN64
Limited edition 12'' vinyl. Saudades is the debut by Melodía, the duo of Federico Durand and Tomoyoshi Date. Fede is a musician who lives in the suburbs of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Born in San Paulo, Brazil, where he lived until the age of three, Tomo currently resides in Tokyo, Japan. They both share a profound passion for music. They both released a solo album on Own Records in 2011 and a few months later (Spring 2012) went to Europe for a common tour where they first met and where they decided to record an album together which was mastered by their friend Stephan Mathieu.