(2022) Jeremiah Chiu & Marta Sofia Honer - Recordings from the Åland Islands          


Review:
In 2017, Los Angeles multi-instrumentalists Jeremiah Chiu and Marta Sofia Honer traveled to the Åland Islands, an archipelago of more than 6,000 islands in the Baltic Sea between Sweden and Finland. Their ostensible purpose was to help two friends rehab an old building in the tiny municipality of Kumlinge — population 320 — and convert it into a hotel. They brought more than just construction tools; they came prepared with a collection of instruments and electronics, and as they adjusted to their surroundings, they documented their time with musical improvisations and field recordings. They found themselves profoundly moved by the experience, and they returned two years later to perform in a 14th century church on the island. They edited this performance together with the field recordings and jam sessions from their first trip, forming their new album Recordings from the Åland Islands in the process. Blending modular synth, piano and viola with richly textured field recordings, Chiu and Honer have crafted something exceptional — an immersive sonic environment that harkens back at times to the work of Brian Eno and Terry Riley without bowing at those particular altars. You could call it ambient music, but that genre tag doesn’t quite fit. This is human music — it lives and breathes, filling the air with strangely slanting light and luminous improv. Even during the album’s lushest moments, Chiu and Honer avoid getting too grandiose; instead, they seem content to let these sounds peacefully coexist with the Åland Islands’ natural landscapes and inhabitants. — aquariumdrunkard.com





Track List:
1.In Åland Air 03:14
2.On the Other Sea 04:13
3.Snåcko 04:47
4.Stureby House Piano 04:59
5.Rocky Passage 01:40
6.Kumlinge Kyrka 02:32
7.Voices 00:58
8.By Foot By Sea 06:32
9.Anna's Organ 02:38
10.Archipelago 07:09
11.Under the Midnight Sun 03:42


Media Report:
Genre: alternative folk, ambient
Country: USA
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits


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