A Stroke of Blue - n-So

[andrew]

just listened to the first track of this but intrigued to listen to more. you should check out this album if you haven’t already

[dan_derks]

incredible work @n-So. ‘Isness’ is particularly stunning. every time I go down a “minimal music” rabbit hole, I’m really just looking for this song. wonderful to have it materialized.

gorgeous, gorgeous.

[n-So]

thanks so much Dan! I definitely want to do a project at some point that focuses on this style even more

[alanza]

Now that I have a (mono, d’oh!) tape player I’m finally giving this the attention it deserves and I LOOOOVE the piano work on this!!

[n-So]

thank you so much for the kind words and your support!! the only tape player i have is also mono, and it was fun to hear how it summed when I got the tapes, in particular Anson in mono on cassette on an old player was pretty cool to hear.

the piano ended up being a way bigger character on the album than originally envisioned but I fell in love with the sounds I was getting out of it and with a new kind of minimal composing I’d been experimenting with. will hopefully being going into more detail with @dan_derks in the future about this on the podcast. (sorry dan if that’s a spoiler)

I think the next project is going to dive even deeper into a more minimal/experimental style and with more hand-dampening and other treatments to the strings, combined with more drum machine/modular stuff- for that vibe where you aren’t quite sure what’s “real” and what’s synthesized.

[dan_derks]

sorry dan if that’s a spoiler

it is, but only the best kind. this album is gold. er, this album is blue? it’s fantastic, whatever color it is.

[n-So]

new album idea a stroke of gold

(okay this fake cover actually looks pretty sick)

[unity2k]

I’ll be sure not to miss the cassette release of your next recording.

[howthenightcame]

I just listened to the E.P. while riding a train across Tokyo. It is very beautiful, and Blue III was my favourite. Thank you for sharing your music!!

[cfurrow]

Excellent work! I’m really enjoying this. I especially dig Isnes. I look forward to hearing more from you. .

[ESC]

So good. It’s been in my top 5 the last couple months.

[n-So]

[monolithicfungus]

Awesome album, dude. Really nice. I have a question = The clickiness on Isness… is that JF spitting out CV? It has that sort of feel, which I love.

[n-So]

thanks so much!! I’m not 100% sure but I think that was the sound of pinging (triggers/gates into any of the audio inputs, I probably put mine into ALL) Three Sisters at very low resonance (potentially no resonance) and sweeping around the frequency, probably in bandpass mode.

[monolithicfungus]

thanks for sharing! Best of luck on the new label

[cachalot]

This album is great. Curious how you got the main sound on Anson; the attack sounds so good; is that tape that does the starting and stopping?

[n-So]

thanks so much! yep its a tape loop played at very slow speed on a Nagra-III. the starting and stopping is a result of the loop being poorly taped together

[LLK]

Just a quick word to say I finally got to finish my listening of it and it was soothing, full of character both in terms of textures and atmospheres, and well written.

Bar a few exceptions that unsurprisingly reside and discuss within this community sometimes, I don’t usually care much for ambient music (but what is this guy even doing heeerrre, didn’t he read the memo, you say ? well to answer this question no one asked, first I love you all and second I still think ambiant music is pretty great, it just most of the time makes me dream of the music I want to write with the sounds I hear more than enjoy the thing for what it is, so in a way, frustrating as it might be, it’s my ideal kind of inspirationnal audio source although I just never listen to it other than when I’m here). So yeah, it felt very surprisingly easy to listen to and I knew I’d finish it after only a few minutes (although I started last week, stopped, and ended just now so it effectively took me almost two weeks).

I’m always amazed by the variety and the inventivity of what a lot people in this community come up with, and the “release” category has become one of my happy places of the internet, and you can guess there’s not many happy places on the internet. So, I guess, just bravo @n-So thank you for releasing this into the world. There’s a topic called “who do you make music for ?” and I was happy for half an hour to be allowed to believe you also made music for me. and I’m glad other people seemed to enjoy it it’s a very gracious and breathable space you created.

[n-So]

I was happy for half an hour to be allowed to believe you also made music for me.

wow, some beautiful and seriously kind words there, I am so so grateful for your listening and your message.

I actually have the same feeling about “ambient” music…most music labeled as such isn’t really my gig with a few exceptions. I think the only two tracks that could fit into the “ambient” category are Anson and Oughtness…the rest I don’t know how to label and it’s a bit of a pickle when asked to sum up what “kind” of music I make. Neo-classical? Still not quite sure what that label is supposed to mean.

While I’m here I just want to add I’m in the home stretch of recording for another album, slated to come out early next year on Moderna Records, and I can’t wait for you all to hear it. I’ve learned a LOT about the album-making process this time around, piggybacking off the things learned while making Stroke of Blue, and taking them to the next level, at least to my ears. Can’t wait to talk about the music and the process behind it when the time comes.

[tslesicki]

Really beautiful work, it’s on a constant replay here!