I really hate watching England play. My footballing memories stretch back to 1970 and it’s nothing since then but disappointment scattered with the occasional good result to allow hope to return. Only to be dashed later. England are playing as I write and I can’t bear to watch, so something soothing from Benjamin Mauch x Micah Pick, and Philippe Deschamps x A.e.r.o.
Benjamin Mauch x Micah Pick are first up. Benjamin is a musician and teacher from Richmond, VA. He first appeared here just over a year ago. Micah is also a musician and teacher, so I’m going to mind my Ps and Qs.
Their track is Blueberry Jam from their forthcoming album Gloaming Gathering. I’m rather fond of blueberry jam, so it’s handy it’s easy to make. As for the track, it’s a light ambient house track.
There’s a spritely sense of deep house fluffiness and a bit of bubbling synth work. This manages to be uplifting and dreamy all at the same time. A little surface noise and light clatter gives the track a welcome texture.
Melodies are seemingly plucked from the ether. They glitter and jitter like butterflies. Captivating and then. Gone. They arrive in welcome waves. Hard to be sad when this is on.
The track gives you that lifted sense that everything will be alright. But every England football fan knows that’s not the case, so I’ll stick to the music instead.
Ok, so England have scored to level the match. To keep my blood pressure manageable here’s something positively horizontal and drone filled from Philippe Deschamps x A.e.r.o.
Philippe has appeared here a couple of times before. As a reminder Philippe Deschamps is a Paris based film music composer, electronic producer and multi-instrumentalist. He’s got a classical background and has written film scores. A.e.ro is Albert Sipov – chillout, ambient, downtempo, midtempo, synthwave and trance music producer from Belarus.
They’ve collaborated on Into the Blue Sleep. This is every bit as soporific as the title implies. And it’s beautifully executed.
There’s not a beat to be had. This is that smooth liquid ambient that reeks of space, the deep ocean and your dreams. And if you’re waiting for the obligatory Eno reference, insert your own here.
It opens gently and quietly. Things build up slowly until it moves from coma to gentle reverie. A slowly swirling set of sounds. Tones are held but always cut off before it descends into drone. This is quite a lovely dreamy piece.
There comes a point in the track when it becomes really hard to write about it. Everything is so relaxing that typing becomes too much of an effort. This is that good.
And England somehow have won. And I get to do this stress all over again. Gulp.
ACID TED 