Harp Mix Tape IX

 This is a mix on the jazzier side of things, except for the last song, which is more in the ambient sphere.

As always, to purchase or listen to the albums heard here in full, click on any of the links in the notes below. To hear this playlist on BNDCMPR where you can purchase the individual songs, head to Harp Mix Tape IX.

When looking for interesting harp music on bandcamp, I search by the tag "harp" and then choose "surprise me". Usually, I can tell by the album cover if the artist has used the tag "harp" to instead mean harmonica, and usually with a blues band. I thought that would be the case with this album, but it is actually some really cool Swedish jazz with harp from Stina Hellberg Agback. There's some electronic manipulation of the sounds on some of the other tracks. This is a really neat album and it's called Winning Isn't Everything, It's the Only Thing.

There are chromatic harps where there are two sets of strings running parallel down the soundboard and neck, or even where the two sets of strings cross in the middle. The advantage of this is you don''t have to change a pedal or lever to change keys. (A harp is diatonic, meaning once you set the key (by levers or pedals), that is the key you are in, until, of course, you change said pedals or levers. That can lead to complications.) This jazz group called Colunia has a player, Émilie Chevillard, who uses a newer chromatic harp (of just 15 years, and of a celtic or folk design) that has a single line of strings, like a typical harp, but it has 12 strings in an octave. So I imagine you'd have to stretch your hands a bit to play. The harp has a nice sound and you can find more on their album Colunia • "Live @ Soleils Bleus"

This album, Tributes & Diatribes by Jesse Sparhawk and Eric Carbonara, has a lot of different sounds and textures on it: Eric is a multi-instrumentalist. This track starts with the harp doubling guitar and continues to switch between that and improv.

The fourth track changes the melody with a lot of pedal slides, that create almost a percussive element when the discs hit the strings. Lou Fait Du Son create a lovely, haunting atmosphere with strings, a drone, and nature sounds on the album Retrograde.

The last track is a wonderfully meditative repetition of simple bendy harp notes, drones, and tapping (which for some reason, I find suuuper relaxing). It's by Marysia Osu and can be found on the album Loop Collection I. It was hard to pick just one track; they're all so good.

Harp Mix Tape VIII

 

To celebrate the upcoming spooky holiday, I have a mix of just two odd songs (can you call that a mix?), but it's over 1/2 hour of music.

As always, to purchase or listen to the albums heard here in full, click on any of the links in the notes below. To hear this playlist on BNDCMPR where you can purchase the individual songs, head to Harp Mix Tape VIII.

First we have combination of harp... and THEREMIN!!! I always knew I needed this combination, and thanks to The Narcoleptor for providing it. It is just as weird and wonderful as I was hoping. The album The Narcoleptor is a mere two songs, and so great.

The way I discover music on bandcamp, is searching for "harp" and then "surprise me".  And this one certainly did. Harp and ... Owen Wilson?  Instruction Manual has made what is definitely an art piece, I didn't know what other mix it would fit into, and so here it is. The album/song is called The Owen Wilson Elegies, and there is also a youtube video.

Have a safe and happy Halloween!

Harp Mix Tape VII

This week we have another wash of harp sound - glisses, loops, reverb.

As always, to purchase or listen to the albums heard here in full, click on any of the links in the notes below. To hear this playlist on BNDCMPR where you can purchase the individual songs, head to Harp Mix Tape VII.

To start us off Amanda Feery from Dublin, Ireland gives us reverbed glisses, with the occasional, low, deep notes adding a bit of tension. The album is called errāta EP Or I guess I should say EP.

The very prolific Mary Lattimore teams up with Mac McCaughan ot give us experimental, processed harp with loops and effects and synths. I feel like I hear birds in there, somewhere, too. The album is a live recording called AVL.

Alex Bernat recorded harp in a tank. No that's not a typo.  They recorded their harp and their whistling at  "The Tank Center For Sonic Arts in Rangely, Colorado - a recording and performance studio built inside of a historic railroad-company water tank". All the sounds are natural, there is no added reverb! The album is Solos from the Tank. I found it not unlike Underground Overlays From the Cistern Chapel by Stuart Dempster.

The next track is listed under the label name Studio 4632, and the artist is Linnea. This is a contemplative, sort of melancholy, reverby ambient study. The album is called Contemplation to Shed Light.

Kronodigger makes ambient, techno, electronic harp loops, and beats, and this one definitely has birds. The EP is titled Rainbows || Silent Motions.

Lastly we have Dave Hoover (and Elijah Parker) playing fast massage music - it's got either a hand pan or rav vast, or both, and a melody maybe being played by a snyth as well as a harp. It's a nice wash of sound the blends everything together for a new-agey, relaxing listen.  The album is Indralaya Dome Sessions (vol. 1).

Harp Mix Tape VI

 

It is officially fall. The rains have begun, so this week's mix is a bit more low-key.  It's mostly acoustic, but there is still some electronic manipulations of sounds.  There's solo harp, harp with cello, harp with flute, and harp with drones.  

As always, to purchase or listen to the albums heard here in full, click on any of the links in the notes below. To hear this playlist on BNDCMPR where you can purchase the individual songs, head to Harp Mix Tape VI. Enjoy...

First up, composer Adrian Ehrlich brings us a haunting suite composed for harp and cello. Played by harpist Katri Tikka and cellist Hsin-Di Shih, it reminds me a little of Rachel's or some of Debussy's later work. It is definitely perfect to start off autumn. The album is called Between the Shine & the Shadow.

And then we have another composer, Solti Árpád, who has written more experimental orchestral music here.  This suite is all over the map - from delicate solos and duets to full electronica. The album is called Shut It Down.

The next suite is from a live album by Heidi Lehwalder from the 80s.  It is straight up regular solo "classically trained" harp. She has such a good, strong sound! This flute and harp suite by Persichetti is a neat modern work with pedal slides and some more modern "noise-making" techniques, as well as prettier movements with syncopation. This track is not available for individual purchase, and I do recommend the whole album 2nd St. Y. For solo harp, you can't go wrong with Hindemith!

heare (Caroline Campbell x heare) gives us some eurorack modular synth drone and harp, and I'm here for it. This track is from their ep roem along with a remix and a couple live tracks.

Next we have a reworking by Jim Perkins of harp and electronics played by Floraleda Sacchi. It is a calm and peaceful listen from the album Pools Re-works.

Lastly, we have a cover of Philip Glass, which works really well on the harp.  Julia Rovinsky's album Dusk is a mix of standard harp repertoire and modern works by the likes of Harold Budd/Brian Eno and the aforementioned Philip Glass. 

Harp Mix Tape V

 

This week we're veering a little more back in experimental territory. One other thing that a lot of these track have in common is it is difficult to distinguish what that actual artist's name is from how it's listed in bandcamp. To purchase or listen to the albums heard here in full, click on any of the links in the notes below. To hear this playlist on BNDCMPR where you can purchase the individual songs, head to Harp Mix Tape V. 

Cyclea + Bell Toll is first up with harp over uneven beats that reminds me somehow of autechre. The album is called Zeropisces, a collaboration with harpist Kathy Fay (Bell Toll) and Jonathan Jindra (Cyclea) on electronics.

DJ SENSESCAPE (listed as Ricardo Huisman, silent noise production) uses harp loops over lots of mechanical noises and possibly field recordings. I like it, I'm not sure it's playable by a person as opposed to a computer. Both tracks are good and I had a hard time deciding which to post. You can hear why on the EP Sense Harp Scapes.

Wend creates a lovely wall or wave of sound with harp (of course) and vocals weaving in and out. This is a relaxing albums aptly titled Meditations.

Zeena Parkins plays a very avant-garde processed harp. This could sound like confusing noise, but she is so skilled it is incredibly compelling. She is much more prolific than bandcamp would suggest.   Captiva is her most recent solo work.

Markus Guentner (on the label A Strangely Isolated Place) makes a wash of glisses from the harp over what sounds like recordings of space. This is the only track on Empire with harp, played by Tom Moth.

The Cloisters, also known as Michael Tanner/Plinth, gives us a spare, muted solo harp over the wind  whistling outside, that transforms into a ghostly and otherwordly chorus. The album is Little Winter.

Harp Mix Tape IV

A bit shorter playlist this week. It's basically just a bunch of my favorites I tried to figure out how to smoosh together. To purchase the albums heard here, click on any of the links in the notes below. To hear this playlist on BNDCMPR where you can purchase the individual songs, head to Harp Mix Tape IV.  And hey, this Friday is Bandcamp Friday!

Emily Hopkins starts us out with little experiments of reverbed noise and slightly distorted harp, that I would love to hear fleshed out. It was really, really hard to pick just one track. You can hear the rest on Time Shadows.

Follwing that is hip-hop with some great harp, from Paul Chin's album Love Letters. It really does the names justice, both the album and the track. I can imagine this as a background to a misty evening stroll through the park to meet up with that special (new?) someone at the movies.

Next is a single + remix from Moon Paw Print called Fate Brought Us Here. It's self-tagged as hip-hop, but I'd put it more in the chillwave or lo-fi category. At least the first track.

Kris Keogh is the next artist. This album is on the label New Weird Australia and is titled Processed Harp Works Vol 1. It basically does what it says on the tin. There are crackly audible edits. I almost wrote edible edits. You can definitely sink your teeth into these.

And we have more beats from Yomi (featuring Blake Davis) mixed with indie pop on Selenite.

Last, but certainly not least, Olga Glazova plays a Gusli, which is described as a Russian harp. This is so, so pretty and has been on repeat for me for weeks. The album is called Six Days of Spring.

Harp Mix Tape III

Sometimes you need music that meshes with what's going on in your head and changes it slightly. My brain has been noisy, and I just needed to add some beautiful dissonance to it this week. To purchase the albums heard here, click on any of the links in the notes below.  To hear this playlist on BNDCMPR where you can purchase the individual songs, head to Harp Mix Tape III.  

Raon / Figueiredo / Hasselberg is a trio that sensibly named themselves after themselves. They play experimental improv with piano, bass, and harp and a bit of processing. In this track, the harp comes in halfway through. The album is called This is What Will Be.

Scott Crawford Morrison "takes fragments of counterpoint by Giovanni da Palestrina (1525 - 1594) and uses these as the basis of new arrangements for alto saxophone and electronics, and lever-harp and electronics." This has an almost music box quality, but maybe the sound is drifting in from the next room. The album is simply called Pale.

Rafael Toral is a Portugese composer. The album Constellation in Still Time is spare experimental music with harp. vibraphone, and computer sine waves.

rough-ah plays acoustic and electric harp, adds field recordings, and then digitally and analog.. ally? processes it. This has some absolutely lovely dissonance and distortion that scratches my itchy brain. Another simple album title: bare.

Duo Harpverk is an Icelandic duo that plays experimental harp and percussion. I always forget that percussion includes marimba. It's a neat combo. The Greenhouse Sessions

L'abri + EVELINE combine harp and field recordings, but this track kind of starts with a Holst's The Planets-like  chorus. so it sounds like it could be here on earth, but maybe it's really out in space. Rêves en cours is the album.