New music from the always wonderful Johan G. Winther, out now on . Says the label:
"I've been friends with Johan Gustavsson for a long while now – first through his music as Tsukimono (glitchy noisy drone dreamy electronics stuff that somehow stayed undiscovered by too many people) on labels such as and . Later on I organized some gigs for his instrumental rock band called Scraps of Tape. Some time ago Johan found a battered cd-r with old recordings he made for his grandmother, playing them to a couple of friends (who some of you might know: Nils Frahm & Peter Broderick) – who encouraged him to do something with those beautiful recordings. After some months of thinking and tinkering he finally sent me "For Ingar Gustavsson". A lengthy album, humble, restrained and precise and with a lot of respect. Imagine Arvo Pärt as a bedroom musician, laptop processing his Für Alina pieces with the same understanding and confidence that he originally composed them. Stretching them out into wise, vast wintry landscapes. Embracing life/eternity like only the elderly can. You never fell asleep so calmly."
Out now on : a C25 from lofi indie act Horrible Houses plus a brand new 7-track release from the always-reliable Paddington Distortion Combo. Hit up Bandcamp for ordering info and paid downloads and keep an eye out for new stuff on the label from the likes of Diskoteket, Erik de Vahl, Tsukimono and more.
Liam Murray is a poet from Malmö working on his debut album which will feature him reading his words over background music provided by an array of Swedish artists. First up, a cut with friend-of-the-site Johan Gustavsson aka Jonas G Winther of Scraps of Tape/Tsukimono/Thee Gutted String. Other contributors include Lotta Wenglén and Polar City, plus a few who apparently have yet to be asked. Wait and see!
My friend Johan G Winther (Tsukimono, Scraps of Tape) will be releasing a super-limited 8" lathe-cut EP via with unique artwork for each and every copy supplied by the small circle of folks who manage to purchase a copy (of which I hope to be a part of). Read more about the project here: http://timecanvas.wordpress.com/2011/10/27/upcoming-releases/
IAT.MP3 artist and dear friend Tsukimono is now on Bandcamp with a significant chunk of his discography available for cheap download and/or free streaming, including many long out-of-print releases: http://tsukimono.bandcamp.com/
My dear friend Johan Gustavsson aka Johan G. Winther aka Tsukimono, performing live with Peter Broderick at Flèche d'Or in Paris, playing songs from their new split 7" on .
Introducing The Bells, a new Luleå-affiliated project featuring Jonas Teglund (Park Hotell, Neverna), Peter Nuottaniemi (The Bear Quartet) and Johan Forslind. They have a full-length album on the way entitled "Threads" which was produced by renown musical genius/recluse Björn Olsson and will be released via the band's own in October. Unsurprisingly, it sounds a lot like a mix of Park Hotell and Bear Quartet (circa "Personality crisis"/"My war), which of course is perfectly fine by me (and should be for you too). Four tracks are up for streaming preview at the band's website, my favorite being the ominous/gloomy "Outside". Much like the Tsukimono track I posted earlier today, the song's spaciousness is a perfect companion to the sound of rain; furthermore, it hearkens back to some of BQ's most powerful work such as "Walking out". Resigned and reflective, revealed by severe simplicity, and yes, starkly beautiful; a song that says a lot with very few words/notes.
Fall came early to the northwest; it's been raining pretty much non-stop since yesterday afternoon. But it's not cold yet, at least I have that to be thankful for. And my fall crops are actually doing quite well which is a huge relief following our lousy summer that never quite was. As for a musical accompaniment to go with this seemingly endless patter of rain, I recommend Tsukimono's "Field hollers" netrelease. In a perfect world you all should have already downloaded it by now, but I know that's likely not the case, so here's your chance to make up for it! Adjust your volume so the sounds of "Sung about, gone" blends with the drips and drops and don't forget to take your vitamin D. Download the rest here.
I had this idea; my idea was this collection.
This collection presents the music of Johan Gustavsson made under the Tsukimono moniker. It's meant to work as a "beginner's guide" as well as a testament to Tsukimono's first 10 years as an artist. I hope you enjoy this free-music as much as I have through the years, and I hope it can inspire you, as a listener, to delve deeper into the vast Tsukimono catalogue. There's a plethora of greatness to choose from and making selections for this compilation wasn't an easy task.
Wise men say only fools rush in. Some other wise man (still could've been Elvis though) has also said something to the effect of: Writing about music is like dancing about architecture; it's a very stupid thing to do. And regarding this album, letting the music speak for itself is surely the wisest thing to do.
Finally, just these words about Johan:
I've been close to a lot of people in my life, I've admired and loved quite a few, but Johan Gustavsson is the only man I've ever truly respected.
// David C Sjöberg - Cultural Theoretician and Conceptual Artist, 2010.
It's a Trap! is proud to present our latest netrelease: Tsukimono - "Field hollers 2000 - 2010" [IAT.MP3.015]
Curated, compiled and notated by David C Sjöberg, as quoted above, and featuring cover art by the artist himself, Mr. Johan Gustavsson.
I've known Johan for a number of years now and am ecstatic to continue my association with him, both as a friend and as a label. As with many artists in the experimental music scene, Tsukimono's discography is vast, varied and quite intimidating to the unindoctrinated outsider -- this collection serves as a much-welcome introduction to the man and his music. Organized thematically and not by release date, as you will read in David's superb and extensive liner notes, "Field hollers" aims to reduce the difficulty in approaching sometimes difficult music and succeeds beautifully. As much as I'd like to take credit for it, all must go to David and Johan for putting this collection together; I merely serve as the host. Much love to both of them and may we all enjoy the fruits of their labors.
Also! Johan will be releasing a new split 7" with Peter Broderick in October via , his first under the name Johan G Winther and also the first of the label's new "Re:Create Series" in which they will be recycling second-hand materials to construct the packaging of every release. As for the musical concept, both Peter and Johan decided to write a song about each other and then each covered each other's song, adding up to a grand total of four tracks. No exact release date yet, but it should be out in time for their upcoming tour together which kicks off in early October! Dates:
10/10 - Roepaen, Ottersum (NL)
10/12 - Steinbruch, Duisburg (GER)
10/13 - Sint Elisabeth Church, Gent (BEL)
10/14 - Muziekpodium, Bakkeveen (NL)
10/15 - Ko d'oooor, Middelburg (NL)
10/16 - St Giles, London (UK)
10/18 - St Mary Church, Brighton (UK)
10/19 - Academy, Manchester (UK)
10/20 - Pavillion, Cork (EIR)
10/21 - Harmonic Series @ Workman's Club, Dublin (EIR)
10/22 - Cube, Bristol (UK)
10/23 - South Street Arts Centre, Reading (UK)
10/24 - Supersonic Festival, Brimingham (UK)
10/25 - tba, Arras (FRA)
10/26 - tba, Paris (FRA)
10/28 - Treibhaus, Luzern (CH)
10/30 - Schauburg, Dresden (GER)
10/31 - Haus 73 (Saal), Hamburg (GER)
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU, a special post-SXSW extra-mellow episode:
01. TALK 1
02. Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words - Lost & losing
03. Raison d'Étre - Withstand the fire
04. The Bear Quartet - Carry your weight
05. TALK 2
06. Rasmus Kellerman - Five years from now
07. Jóhann Jóhannsson - Theme
08. Håkon Kornstad - Oslo
09. TALK 3
10. Patrik Andersson & Vegar Vårdal - Gråtaren
11. Folkvang - Myrmark
12. Hello Saferide - Arjeplog
13. David Åhlén - Great is thy faithfulness
14. TALK 4
15. Tsukimono - Gloomy Sunday
16. Hearts No Static - Happy holidays
17. Ted Gärdestad - Come give me love
18. TALK 5
Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and Mondays at 11pm ET on Sirius XMU. That's channel 26 on Sirius, 43 on XM and 831 for DirecTV subscribers.
