qd15 Slow Reels (Ian Hawgood and James Murray) - Everyday Exotic - out now!
and qd09 observatories second run x
Hi friends - hope all good :)
Delighted to announce that next in the quiet details series we have two of the most well-respected artists currently in modern ambient and experimental music, Ian Hawgood and James Murray, here as Slow Reels.
Out now on digital and limited CD with long-form edition, six panel digipack and fine art print. Digital half price until 29th March x
Listening party Friday 22nd March - 19:00 UK time - link to follow.
Ian is one of the people behind the legendary label Home Normal, plus has a vast discography of releases under his own name and in collaborations. A masterful exponent of magnetic tape, synthesisers and electro-acoustics - Ian is loved across the musical world for his deeply thoughtful production and curation. James runs the wonderful Slowcraft label, another fantastic outlet for some of the best ambient-leaning music around. His own productions are also of the highest calibre, exploring analogue and digital techniques to breath-taking effect. Also working on film scores and more, James is an artist with many talents.
Together they complement each other perfectly, as shown by the previous two Slow Reels releases - Farewell Islands (Morr Music) and Sustain (Fluid Audio). This is continued in stunning fashion here, they have made something quite wonderful with their latest album, Everyday Exotic.
Bringing all their melodic and textural sensibilities, they have created an album that’s full of beautiful and deeply moving moments, always evolving yet giving you enough time to fully immerse yourself in the harmonic wonder and the vast open spaces only artists of their skill and experience can achieve.
Piano, electro-acoustics and field recordings meet incredibly creative synth-work and granular processing, creating a peerless marriage of layers and textures - you can feel the respect and affection these artists have for each other coming through every element - some collaborations just work and this is easily one of my most loved.
Each track moves gently and seamlessly into the next, the pacing and range of emotions are again a sign of musicians with full command of not only their tools, but also the human feeling behind what they are aiming to express.
To me, this is as close to sonic bliss as you can get, it’s my great honour to share it with you.
The artwork was made as always influenced by the music and idea behind the album - this time originating from a picture of James’ beautiful cockatiel friend Coco, which was then captured with analogue photography and processed here at quiet details studios.
Such a pleasure to share this with you, I’m certain you’ll love it as much as I do.
Also out today is the second run of qd09 observatories - Ian and Craig Tattersall. Such a wonderful bit of serendipitous timing to put these out on the same day. If you’ve read my newsletters before you’ve heard me wax lyrical about Ian and Craig’s incredible music and art, solo and together. Just two of the most talented people and lovely people around.
qd09 frost forms is so incredibly good, I love it dearly and, together with qd15, we can see Ian in his collaborative element - two different yet equally beautiful albums.
While we’re on the subject of Ian, today is the 15th birthday of his label Home Normal, such a huge and inspiring achievement - especially as the quality is peerless from start to finish. It was a huge honour to release my album, Trust, on the label in 2022 (as fields we found).
Highly recommend checking it out, especially as throughout March and April there’s 15% off everything and the full discography is also hugely discounted - an essential purchase if there ever was one. Start here and keep digging:
Now a few shout-outs:
qd15
Anne at Sounds Vegan with a lovely review
Bepi on Bepi Crespan Presents Episode March 16, 2024 and pt2
Mike S on kmxtfreeform.blogspot.com
Kate Bosworth on Dark Train 18 March
DJ BLeeK the Urban Mutant 18 March
Richard Heinemann on E-Lodie
qd14 and qd15
Chuck Van Zyl at Star Send
Support the writers and DJs however you can friends x
Hope you enjoy the music, thanks so much for all your support - forever grateful.
Much love
Alex
quietdetails.com
quiet details Bandcamp
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quiet details studios - mastering and audio services
Even better is if you subscribe to Home Normal: https://homenormal.bandcamp.com/subscribe. You get an insane number of releases, fantastic music as it’s released and you give the label support and financial stability to keep the releases coming. It’s a win-win for everyone. And as if that wasn’t enough you can also subscribe to Ian’s Folk Reels label and get all sorts of Ian Hawgood flavoured releases. https://folkreels.bandcamp.com/subscribe. Neither are expensive…