Marcus Fjellström – Schattenspieler (Miasmah)

Dark and moody, sad and beautiful, organic and ghostly, the latest album by Marcus Fjellström, Schattenspieler, is an incredible achievement, that grows on you with every listen. This morning, when I was hoping to be a little upbeat, the rainy weather changed my mood, and I gravitated towards yet another listen of the album, which translates from German as the "Shadowplayer"... Weaving an environment full of scratchy and dusty elements, orchestral arrangements reminiscent of Biosphere's Shenzhou, and sad cinematic passages of forgotten films, Fjellström creates a tense atmosphere for the psychological thriller inside your head. And the references to film-making are not an accident here. At least four tracks on the album were originally commissioned for the film House Without A Door by Bernd Behr. Marcus Fjellström is a Swedish composer and a multimedia artist, appearing on one of our favorite labels, Miasmah, for the first time. His two previous releases, Exercises In Estrangement (2005) and Gebrauchsmusik (2006), were both released by the Manchester based Lampse, which may already be known to the listeners through its Machinefabriek releases. Being a Miasmah release, the album gets treated with cover illustration by Erik Skodvin (Svarte Greiner) and is mastered by Andreas Tilliander (Mokira). Fjellström has also worked with the Swedish Royal Ballet, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, as well as various ensembles and soloists. "Haunting synth and orchestral instrument-based audio constructions, flowing from one moment to the next – the fleeting ghosts of Fjellström’s melodies rise, only to be buried under a claustrophobic clutter of percussion and creaking background noise. These pieces do indeed feel like you’re listening to something more implied than obviously stated, as if Fjellström wants only to expose us to the shadow of the music – the implication being perhaps a more terrifying experience than to be confronted outright… listen to ‘Schattenspieler’ and you may find your mind starts to play tricks on you…" Listening to Schattenspieler, you are placed in a haunted house, where the gray clouds slowly gather over the roof. Finally, after a few intense and electrifying moments, the music begins to drip, and then pour on top of your body, slowly saturating first the stale clothing, then the aching bones. Somewhere in the background a needle is left on a record, skipping on the very last groove. And as you approach a corner, the flickering light of a candle is stretching the shadows beyond their physical size, leaping between the wooden boards and yellow stained ceilings... Something just ran around the corner! Was that a giant cockroach or a starving cat? Do you dare to enter Fjellström's world, descend into the basement and find out? I keep returning to the album, and the repeating melodies begin to unravel themselves, implanting into my mind with every recognizable stab or progression. Perfectly fitting on Miasmah, Schattenspieler is a great addition to the catalog of our favorite releases on the label from Kreng, Jacaszek, Rafael Anton Irisarri, Elegi, and Jasper TX. Highly recommended!

Read also Two and a Half Questions with Marcus Fjellström

myspace.com/marcusfjellstrm | kafkagarden.com
myspace.com/miasmah | miasmah.com

Jasper TX - Black Sleep (Miasmah)

The fragmented world of random memories mixed by a disk jockey is one thing. An album is another. Listening to an album you always start at the beginning. You always start at track one. Dag Rosenqvist, under his moniker Jasper TX, opens up Black Sleep with a swell. It dynamically expands into a quiet drone, setting the tone for the things to come. Using layered pads, lo-fi treatment, and low rumbling tones, Rosenqvist builds a distant soundscape that drapes over my ears like a Valerian pillowcase. Black Sleep drifts me out of collective consciousness, through a tranquil voice of a Buddhist wordless sermon. The tracks on Black Sleep range from serene lullabies to haunting drones. Although the sleep is certainly black, it's not too dark to be enjoyed outdoors. Jasper TX is a perfect artist to end up on Miasmah, which recently stepped up from operating as a net label, the current album being its eighth official release. Miasmah's previous hailed albums include Rafael Anton Irisarri's Daydreaming, Elegi's Sistereis, and Jacaszek's Treny. Jasper TX is Rosenqvist's solo project, under which he has a couple of self released EPs, and a few albums, most notable of these are In A Cool Mansoon (Pumpkin Seeds In The Sand, 2007), and I'll Be Long Gone Before My Light Reaches You (Lampse, 2005). This past February, Jasper TX released yet another ambient album titled This Quiet Season (Slaapwel, 2008). I highly recommend you check it out as well. Besides releasing ambient bliss under Jasper TX, Sweden based Dag Rosenqvist is a member of a post-rock group, De La Mancha. For the likes of Deaf Center, Klimek, Marsen Jules, Fennesz, and Machinefabriek.

myspace.com/jaspertx
myspace.com/miasmah | www.miasmah.com

Jacaszek - Treny (Miasmah / Gusstaff )

Gusstaff is a small independent label based in Poland, which has already released two previous albums by Michal Jacaszek. Jacaszek's third full length album, Treny, is also picked up by Erik Skodvin's Miasmah. The latter mentioned label is quickly gaining recognition among the ambient and modern classical connoisseurs with CD releases (Miasmah started out as a net label) from great artists like Encre, Rafael Anton Irisarri, Elegi and now Jacaszek.  Looks like Miasmah has also picked up Jasper TX for his upcoming July release, Black Sleep, but more on that later... Treny is a modern classical marvel that immediately jumps to the top of my favorites for this year. And big thanks to all my readers who recommended it as Best of 2008 So Far in their submitted lists. Patiently paced melodies evolve in the hands of skillful violinist Stefan Wesolowski and cellist Ania Smiszek-Wesolowska [sounds like the two are a couple ;) ]. The reverb treated organic acoustics are complimented with piano phrases and atmospheric electronic treatments by Jacaszek. Through out the tracks, Maja Sieminska's voice glides within the hazy soundscapes like an echo of awakened ghost. My good friend Paul observes, "I listen and feel I have lost everything..." My immediate impression brings back that majestic moment of discovering an album that will stay with you through sweet and dark moments alike. Based out of Gdansk, Poland, Jacaszek is a profound manipulator of electro-acoustic sounds and fits right along my favorites like Dictaphone, Porn Sword Tobacco, Marsen Jules, Zbigniew Preisner and of course Deaf Center. Highly recommended.

myspace.com/jacaszek | jacaszek.com
myspace.com/miasmah | miasmah.com

Elegi - Sistereis (Miasmah)

Miasmah started off as a free net label back in 1999, run by Oslo based Erik Skodvin (Deaf Center). Last year, the label turned it up a notch with CD releases, kicking it off with an amazing Silva compilation, and full album followups from quickly gaining ground artists like Encre, Rafael Anton Irisarri and Gultskra Artikler. Elegi is an alias of Tommy Jansen (one half of Cordion), and Sistereis is his debut release, in which Jansen explores the dark pathways of echoed memories on his deep-sea wreck-diving journey into the ship graveyards. The dying instruments cry out in moans, the floor boards creak, bowed strings sigh, and the clock is wound with withering fingers. Listening in the dark, the experience is truly haunting and at once unforgettable. Jansen crafts a kaleidoscope of experimental folk and dark ambient sounds which crawl under my skin, and prickle with goose bumps from within. Defying classification, but clutching strongly to the acoustic doom movement, the album is recommended for the likes of Svarte Greiner, Swod, above mentioned artists and Porn Sword Tobacco. Favorite track : Spill For Gallerie.

myspace.com/beatpoet1