studio textures 10

An hour of music from Macie Stewart, Slowfoam, Sun Eaters (Alberto Novello + Rob Mazurek), Ash Fure, BIG|BRAVE, Helena Gough, Sage Martens (Lieven Martens + M. Sage), the Adrian Myrh Trio, and the Will Mason Quartet.

Here's the opening track, "I Forget How to Remember My Dreams," from multi-instrumentalist Macie Stewart, from When the Distance is Blue, a 2025 release on the great International Anthem label (Bandcamp link).

This track caught my eye because it features string contributions from Lia Kohl, a Chicago-based improvisational cellist who has been captivating my attention recently with a series of interesting releases and performances: the 2024 release Normal Sounds, featuring improvisations which incorporate "field recordings of human-made, non-musical sounds: fridge drones, grocery store beeps, car horns"; In Transit, a 2025 collaboration with ambient musician/collagist Zander Raymond; Music for Union Station, a large scale piece for the great hall of Chicago’s main train station, performed in May.

I couldn't make the May Union Station performance, sadly, but I did manage this week to catch an improvisation between Kohl and LA saxophonist Patrick Shiroishi (who some of you might know from his role in Fuubutsushi). They performed together at Chicago's long-running Hungry Brain venue, part of Kohl's residency there this month.

The rest of the playlist is a perk for subscribers at the paid tier~