Tag Archives: Mathias Hammerstrøm

Switched On – Erland Cooper: Asleep On The Wing EP (Mercury KX)

Posted on by
Reply

by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Erland Cooper always has his eye on future projects…so it is no surprise to see him following up his Orcadian odyssey Carve The Runes… with a new ambient EP. Composed as a sister piece to Do Birds Dream?, it renews his close link to bird life – and the weightless release of flight.

The piece is divided into five sections, and there is a shorter edit, but Asleep On The Wing works best as a one-off experience.

What’s the music like?

Immensely restful. What is noticeable is how at ease Erland Cooper is with longer form compositions – and as a result Asleep On The Wing evolves at a natural pace.

With comforting surrounds of ambience, the music grows around a central, sonorous drones, with piano flicks and harp-like sonorities drifting in and out of consciousness, musical images that gain focus for a while before becoming blurred again.

Around the seven minute-mark in the full version the ambient fuzz descends, as though in a deeper sleep, but still there is a depiction of a longer, restful time on the wing – like the murmuration depicted in the sleep visualiser on YouTube but similarly evoking a big bird of prey, a condor in the Andes for instance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLkNWWVXJLY As ever, Cooper’s orchestration is thoughtfully crafted, for while Freya Goldmark is credited as a featured artist her violin is rarely in the foreground – yet there are signs of colouring before the bird calls at the end, which suggest a gradual awakening. Meanwhile human voices occasionally appear in the distance.

Does it all work?

It does indeed…and makes for a very calming 22 minutes.

Is it recommended?

Yes. Once again Erland Cooper has made a lovely score that rewards close inspection while forming a blissful backdrop.

For fans of… Tim Hecker, Biosphere, Stars of the Lid, A Winged Victory for the Sullen

Listen / Buy

For streaming and purchase details, visit the Mercury KX website

Published post no.2,479 – Thursday 20 March 2025

Switched On – Amphior: Disappearing (Glacial Movements)

Posted on by
Reply

by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

For his second album in Glacial Movements under the Amphior alias, Danish musician Mathias Hammerstrøm explores the point where tangible dissolves into ethereal.

It is a deeply personal exploration, as he explains. “The album is a meditation on anxiety and the longing for a time when it had less sway over me. Reflecting on my childhood, I remember how playing the piano was deeply meaningful to me, and crafting Disappearing felt like reconnecting with my younger self through the music.”

What’s the music like?

The eleven tracks here cast a wide net, their moods very different as though experiencing different hours of the day. Some of them cut off abruptly, as though passing through a door from tangible to intangible.

Under The Stars has a suitably wide panorama in its musical outlook, with low piano and spacious textures, the sky arching overhead. By contrast Time Is A Thief has softer and slightly more ominous musings, its added notes portraying the anxiety Hammerstrøm mentions before growing in power.

Echoes From The Past presents a lighter picture, though is slightly wobbly on its feet, while other tracks are much less certain in outcome. The eerie Costume Party briefly resembles the fuzzy nostalgia at the chilling close to The Shining, while some tracks, notably Bring To Light, collapse into disconcerting fragments.

Disappearing itself has an impressive grandeur, a distinctive loop asserting itself against a texture the listener can dive into, while the clock ticks ominously through the fuzzy Bloom. Everything Is Passing has a good deal of musical wow and flutter, removing the firm ground from the listener’s feet before ending in cold ambience.

Does it all work?

It does, and Mathias Hammerstrøm’s music often plays tricks with the listener’s sense of perspective. This is overall a good thing, though can be quite unnerving at times.

Is it recommended?

It is. Amphior’s latest has some highly descriptive music in its eleven short chapters, and though anxiety is never fully quelled it is certainly confronted with the overall ambience of Mathias Hammerstrøm’s distinctive writing.

For fans of… Tim Hecker, Biosphere, Aphex Twin

Listen / Buy

Published post no.2,473 – Friday 14 March 2025

Switched On – Amphior: Another Presence (Glacial Movements)

Posted on by
Reply

amphior

reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

This was made during the first Covid lockdown, described by its author as ‘a strange vacuum of feeling lonely and isolated’. However Amphior – aka Mathias Hammerstrøm – emerged from the period with a positive outcome, connecting with himself as a person and addressing some long-held feelings on introversion and sensitivity. Another Presence allowed him to express those feelings and be more himself in the process.

What’s the music like?

Haunting. It is possible to hear what sound like disembodied voices in many of these tracks, and though they are not noticeably lyric-based there is a primeval vocal quality to a lot of Amphior’s writing.

Void, the first track, has wisps of sound in the middle ground, some of them vocal, above a distorted and cracked profile underfoot, like standing on a large geological feature in a cold wind. The voices become more ominous in the course of the second track Phantasm, as does the darker musical language. After these two heavier pieces of music, Imaginary Shelter is just what’s needed, a comforting wash of sound and soothing harmonies. Dream Traveler offers the same welcoming cushion, though is consciously on the move, with that sounds like slow footsteps in the snow. The slow walking continues, with gradually changing vistas, as Sleepwalker takes in a range of colours both dark and light, before Pathfinder pans right out again. The warm colours of Another Presence find Amphior returning to a settled harmonic base, from which What Was Lost offers thick ambience if a hint of unresolved conflict, before ultimately fading away on the wind.

Does it all work?

Yes. Through the eight tracks here Amphior captures both the claustrophobia and strange, twisted freedom lockdown seemed to offer in equal measure, the qualities complementing each other while never becoming fully satisfying. Here the music is ultimately satisfying, finding its resolution from darker thoughts and feelings earlier on.

Is it recommended?

Yes. Another Presence is an affecting and occasionally disquieting listen, moving at a very slow pace as it examines feelings and experiences held deep beneath the surface. Ultimately those examinations bring forward a positive and deeper calm, the listener able to appreciate the long form ambience of this extremely descriptive album.

Stream

Buy