10th Annual Report - Anniversary Edition
"Unexplained Sound turns 10! Ten years of aural disorientation and exploration in the field of the most experimental and adventurous music from the international panorama, involving hundreds of projects from over 70 countries across the globe. A journey marked by passion and dedication, enthusiasm and effort, cultural exchange, and intellectual challenges. We extend our deepest gratitude to all the musicians, artists, technicians, listeners, labels, partners, and everyone who has supported us on…
If We Land On Water
These two are friends. You can tell. They converse with each other, musically speaking. They connect in the way that only really happens when words aren’t needed to explain what you’re getting at. You’ll know when you listen because you’ll hear the trust between them. No fear of self expression to be found here, it’s direct.
They’ve each done great things. Brilliant releases on wonderful labels of varying types, shapes and sizes. They might even have had a hand in running some of them. You can l…
Lume
*100 copies limited edition* Nitechord is an intercontinental ambient-tech duo that has so far issued only two remixes, but they emerge in full form on Lume, a début that extols the calm and mystery of night through mid-tempo pulses and shadowy whispers. Their initial cassette demo landed in Past Inside the Present's mailbox in 2022, devoid of credits or other biographical information, accompanied only by a brief quatrain:
“We hopethere is room enoughin your worldfor this work.”
Those original r…
Hardanger
*150 hand-numbered copies limited edition* Hardanger is a collaboration by Mariska Baars (aka Soccer Committee), Niki Jansen, and Rutger Zuydervelt (aka Machinefabriek). The title refers to the instrument played by Jansen, the Hardanger fiddle. It’s a fresh addition to the established musical chemistry from regular collaborators Baars and Zuydervelt. The music on Hardanger started with improvisations by Niki Jansen, guided by Mariska Baars, who responded with vocal and guitar recordings. Rutger …
A Life In Setting Suns
** 180g opaque blue/pink vinyl record. Edition of 200. ** That liminal moment, when the phosphorescence behind the window shade first disrupts your eyelids, is a difficult one to pinpoint. Sometimes the earliest thought in your mind is a long-tail partial memory of those last few moments of a thousand-yard dream, sometimes it’s an irrepressible descending sigh as you anticipate what’s to follow, whether with apprehension or ardor. Centuries have passed in your unconscious absence; every frequenc…
Obscured Instinct and the pale Folklore
*200 copies limited edition* "Obscured Instinct and the Pale Folklore," is an evocative sonic journey crafted by the Hungarian musician, Kokum. This album traverses the shadowy corridors of dark folk music and the pulsating rhythms of new wave post-industrial soundscapes, creating an otherworldly and mesmerizing experience. Kokum, a visionary artist who utilizes only his voice, field recordings, and the sounds of everyday objects, manipulates these elements with a myriad of electronic effects, b…
City of Tethers
*100 copies limited edition* The album 'City of Tethers' is inspired by a passage from Italo Calvino’s 'Invisible Cities', particularly the description of the city of Ottavia. This city is suspended over an abyss, held up by a net that its inhabitants know will eventually give way. “Suspended over the void, the lives of Ottavia’s inhabitants are less uncertain than in other cities. They know the net will not last,” Calvino writes. The image of Ottavia has become a powerful symbol of fragility an…
Projections Of A Coral City
Coral Morphologic and Nick León’s Projections of a Coral City marks a series of collisions between distant worlds: the organic and the artificial, the Eocene and the Anthropocene, sea and cement—and even, perhaps, ambient music and activism. Coral Morphologic are the Miami duo of marine biologist Colin Foord and musician J.D. McKay; since 2007, they have used a variety of multimedia projects to generate environmental awareness of marine biodiversity—most notably Coral City Camera, an underwater …
MPU105
Ilian Tape kicks on with another entry into its ITX Series, this time with a lovely hand-stamped long player from MPU101. It is a deep dive into escapist ambient worlds with plenty of grainy tape hiss and cosmic static, celestial melodies and provocative moments of introspection. Analogue machinery is really brought to the fore on fuzzy sounds like 'CreamyPORTAL-Xa' with patient and pastoral synth smears, while 'APEX CA 91352' has brighter and more mellifluous melodies rising up through the mix.…
Franciska og Emilie
Jonas Torstensen returns to Discreet Music with the second Franciska album, following up the much praised Tryghed (Discreet Music 12) that was released in early 2023. Since Tryghed came out, Franciska has quickly become an established forefront of a young, new generation of Scandinavian experimental DIY musicians. This time a joint effort with his longtime friend and collaborator Camille Helt Haarder, the new album is dedicated to their shared hometown Odense in Denmark.
Mainly based on piano lo…
För Alltid
*80 copies limited edition* 'För alltid' is an album about time. The fuzzy & shapeless memories floating without coherence. Shortwave radio recordings picking up unbroken codes from the past. Hopeful voices whispering about a possible future from a hopeless now.
Inscriptions
*100 copies limited edition* "'Inscriptions' is an album inspired by the melancholy romance of autumn, the reflection of leaves in the rippling surface of a lake, crumbling architectural facades, and faded ink scripts on parchment. The album began with a collection of environmental sounds I recorded in Tallinn, Estonia back in the autumn of 2011, during a residency at the Estonian Artists' Association. These field recordings focus in on the quiet, everyday sounds of streets, parks, a lake and a …
Polaris
Hot on the heels of their acclaimed second album, Iris, One Million Eyes unveil their latestwork, Polaris. This new album is a rich tapestry of analog and instrumental elements, creatinga vibrant and dynamic experience. Formerly known as Tempelhof (where they collaborated with artists like Gigi Masin), Luciano Ermondi and Paolo Mazzacani created One Million Eyes upon the realizing they needed a new creative outlet to rekindle their passion for making music. This new project allowed them to appro…
Drone Islands - Borealis
While the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, is largely celebrated as a breathtaking natural wonder, it also has a more eerie, unexplained, and sinister side that has perplexed and unsettled observers for centuries. The strange, flickering lights have long been steeped in mystique, inspiring tales of supernatural forces, spirits, and even foreboding omens. In the quiet of the Arctic night, where the lights can seem to pulse with an almost otherworldly energy, it’s easy to understand why ancien…
Below/Light
"Below/Light" by Filer Coleman is a selection of ambient works by Jim Filer Coleman. It represents an antidote, or perhaps a counterpart, to the more aggressive music that he may be more known for such as Cop Shoot Cop and Human Impact. These tracks were recorded over a span of a few years, slowly evolving and seeking definition. Electrocoustic in nature, the approach was always exploratory and playful, searching for balance and connection with the natural world.
Jim Coleman was an instrumental …
Towards the Nocturnal Sun
*300 copies limited edition* Towards the Nocturnal Sun is the second solo album from Malaysian artist Siew Y’ng-Yin’s Reverse Image. Earlier this year she also had her debut album by her noise project Fallen Sun released by Fourth Dimension. Unlike Fallen Sun’s proclivity for melding uncompromising and often abrasive sounds together with occasional rhythmic undercurrents, Reverse Image’s approach to soundmaking is defined by measured crystalline shimmer, iridescent patterns formed on a Martian s…
forge
*200 copies limited edition* On his new album ‚forge’, ambient artist KMRU explores the blend of melody and noise, rhythm and drone. ‚forge’ marks the third release on Seil Records for the Nairobi born and Berlin based producer. Made up of 10 tracks, the album effortlessly wanders from intimate compositions over field recordings to deep and rich soundscapes. The result feels like a living, breathing organism. Music you can immerse yourself in. Like few others, the 27 year old producer carved a n…
Sleep Deprivation
"Sleep Deprivation" began in 2006, during a time when The Black Dog's sleep patterns were drastically altered by constant travel and late-night gigs: "This relentless cycle of broken sleep became a persistent part of our lives, and over time, we noticed something remarkable: our music became more emotional, raw, and vulnerable. Sleep, or the lack of it, affects every aspect of life, and its influence on our creative process was undeniable. For this album, we chose to embrace that emotional inten…