Canigou Records

02/06/2023

Thanks so much to Matthew Blackwell for including Liis Ring's album ‘Homing’ on May’s Best Field Recordings on Bandcamp

"Whether she’s listening in Estonia, Sweden, or somewhere, Ring dives deep into the local surroundings, arranging guitars and keyboards to blur boundaries between music and environmental setting. Ring describes Homing as “fragmented memories from an ongoing search for a definition of home,” but the album suggests that she has found it: Home is where the music is, whether or not you’re the one making it."

Read the full review at https://daily.bandcamp.com/best-field-recordings/the-best-field-recordings-on-bandcamp-may-2023

Cassettes are sold out on the Breton Cassette page, but there are still 3 (!) copies left at https://canigourecords.bandcamp.com

These are the best sounds recorded outside the studio in May.

01/06/2023

It's been a month since Liis Ring's album 'Homing' came out on Canigou & Breton Cassette, and there have been some very kind words about it, including a great review on Foxy Digitalis:

"Liis Ring’s voice drifts across pointillist synth patterns and intuitive acoustic guitar strums. Each piece crystallizes small moments into eternal imagery. Homing is visceral, intimate to the point of breaking us into tiny fragments, but its engaging warmth and melodic reveries become timeless, familiar vignettes."

Read the full review at https://foxydigitalis.zone/2023/05/10/the-capsule-garden-vol-2-17-may-10-2023/

You can listen & grab one of the remaining 5 tapes at https://canigourecords.bandcamp.com/album/liis-ring-homing

29/04/2023

After one year of working together, Canigou Records and Breton Cassette are so happy to announce that Homing by Liis Ring (EE) is released today everywhere

Homing is available digitally as well as physically as an edition of 100 limited edition (and rather beautiful) cassette packages containing Liis’ most recent sound work and 72 original photos, collected in handmade cases. You can listen and buy at: https://canigourecords.bandcamp.com/album/liis-ring-homing

You can also stream the album on any platform at: https://tr.ee/ACUNhwE-ax

The photos and sound for this release were captured and recorded by Liis between 2018 and 2023 and can be seen as fragmented memories from an ongoing search of a definition of home. It's a search for an “original landscape” of what Liis calls an afterimage of home.

Through “Homing”, Liis shares how she as both a musician and a photographer connects her two practices together, and how she sees them as extensions of one another: the sound prolongs the image; the image concretises the sound.

We are so thankful for the opportunity to work with you for the last year, Liis, and appreciate all the time we have spent together, for the wonderful musician and visual artist you are and for the friendship that has risen out of this collaboration.

Sound, images and text by Liis Ring
Mastered by the legend Adam Badí Donoval
Documentation by Erik Mowinckel

Homing is supported by Association of Norwegian Visual Artists and Arts and Cultures Norway

21/04/2023

'Homing', Liis Ring's new album, comes out next week on Canigou Records and Breton Cassette, and you can now stream the second single, 'after-image V: sügis tornis' on Bandcamp and all streaming platforms: https://tr.ee/GQpqoKfAMS

You can also pre-order a copy of the (very) limited edition cassette at https://canigourecords.bandcamp.com/album/liis-ring-homing

"Sügis tornis' means 'autumn in the lighthouse' in Estonian, which is exactly what you are hearing on this track. It was composed and recorded inside Tahkuna Lighthouse on the island Hiiumaa off the Estonian west coast on 1st of October 2022. You can hear the autumn winds making the cast iron construction sing along with my synths and resonating with my voice".

13/04/2023

"Dancing has always been something I do in places where I feel safe. In other words, where I feel at home. Maybe it's also the other way around - that some places become more like my own through dancing?"
�
'after-image I: nothing stands still’, the first single from Liis Ring's new album ’Homing' is out today on all streaming platforms: tr.ee/WNK6_P6J5b

The album (with limited edition cassettes) is up on Bandcamp for pre-order, ahead of the release on April 28th, in collaboration with Breton Cassette: https://canigourecords.bandcamp.com/album/liis-ring-homing

Liis will open the Bergen Book Fair with a concert at Landmark Bergen tomorrow, April 14th at 21:00, and Breton Cassette will be taking part in the book fair the whole weekend

06/04/2023

A little surprise: ‘Homing’, the new album by Liis Ring, comes out on April 28th on Canigou Records & Breton Cassette (yes, finally!)

Daryl Worthington wrote a lovely review on the album for the Spool’s Out column on the Quietus: “As the title alludes, the album is propelled by ruminations on what home is. Ring finds it’s transitory and mutable, existing in feelings and events beyond those contained by four walls.“

Read the full article at: https://thequietus.com/articles/32796-abadir-fausto-mercier-andy-loebs-sheng-jie-asher-zax-cassette

The album will be available on a pretty astonishing limited edition cassette, which you can pre-order (as well as the digital) on https://canigourecords.bandcamp.com/album/liis-ring-homing,

Canigou’s been (and will be) a little more quiet whilst I’m busy with other life things in the Sahel, but we’ve been preparing this release for over a year and it’s really quite special. More news & music next week!

Among drone-folk trips and joyously messed up noise jazz, Daryl Worthington finds the cassette scene has taken a political turn, whether immersive electronics fighting for free time, nostalgia-busting collages, or colonialism attacking text-sound compositions

04/12/2022

Very grateful that Matthew Blackwell gave me the chance to talk about Canigou for the Tape Label Report on Bandcamp daily, alongside some incredible labels that I’ve followed for years like Constellation Tatsu 🙌

Our ‘release to start with’ is the beautiful ‘cruzar pisando piedras’, the latest album by Lumtz

You can read the full report/interview at https://daily.bandcamp.com/tape-label-report/the-tape-label-report-november-2022

🙏

November's round-up of five cassette labels you need to know about.

19/11/2022

Hace 2 semanas que salió 'cruzar pisando piedras' de Lumtz 🌊

Gracias a todxs por escucharlo, comprarlo y compartirlo!

Los cassettes están disponibles en https://bit.ly/cruzarpisandopiedras y el album se puede escuchar en cualquier plataforma de streaming en https://lnk.to/streamcruzar

/// /// ///

It’s been 2 weeks since ‘cruzar pisando piedras’ by Lumtz was released

Thanks to everyone for listening/buying/sharing!

You can listen and grab a tape at https://bit.ly/cruzarpisandopiedras and stream the album on any platform you like at https://lnk.to/streamcruzar

04/11/2022

‘cruzar pisando piedras’ de Lumtz está disponible *hoy* y se pueden comprar los cassettes de edición limitada (20 disponibles en Argentina para Latam y 20 para el resto del mundo) en https://bit.ly/cruzarpisandopiedras

Hoy además es Bandcamp Friday, y Bandcamp cede su porcentaje de todas las ventas a artistas & sellos ;)

El album también se puede escuchar en todas las plataformas de streaming: https://linktr.ee/canigourecords
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3h18Xu4
Apple Music: https://apple.co/3zKDN0G

Gracias a Luciano Lamtzev por confiar en Canigou, y a Akina Matayoshi por su diseño de portada y de los cassettes. Es una alegría trabajar con gente tan creativa y profesional, y poder compartir, por fin, la música de Lumtz a través de Canigou ✨💙

///

‘cruzar pisando piedras’ by Lumtz is out *today* and you can grab one of the limited edition cassettes (20 available in Argentina for the Latin America region, 20 available for the rest of the world) at https://bit.ly/cruzarpisandopiedras

Today is also Bandcamp Friday, when Bandcamp waives its revenue share and artists & labels receive more for their music ;)

The album is also available on all streaming platforms: https://linktr.ee/canigourecords
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3h18Xu4
Apple Music: https://apple.co/3zKDN0G

Thanks so much to Lu for choosing Canigou and to Akina Matayoshi for designing the album cover and the cassettes. It’s a real joy to work with such creative and motivated artists and to finally be able to share Lumtz’s music through Canigou 💙✨

03/11/2022

Suuuper contentos de compartir los nuevos cassettes de Lumtz, que estarán disponibles mañana con su album ‘cruzar pisando piedras’

Se pueden pedir ya en https://bit.ly/cruzarpisandopiedras ✨

Cada k7 viene con un ‘O-card’ de papel reciclado y un A5 diseñado por la gran Akina Matayoshi y con fotos de Lumtz

Amigues de LATAM, en Bandcamp encontraréis la opción de pedir los cassettes directamente desde Argentina, para abaratar el envío. Tardarán un poco más pero habrá 20 copias en Argentina y Lu se encargará de que os lleguen 🙂

///

Very happy to share these cassettes by Lumtz, as part of his new album ‘cruzar pisando piedras’, available tomorrow (Bandcamp Friday) at https://bit.ly/cruzarpisandopiedras

The clear turquoise cassettes come with a with recycled O-card, on-body printing and a foldable A5 insert with art by Akina Matayoshi and photography by Lumtz. Always exciting to see these transatlantic collaborations come to life 🌱

Full album out tomorrow digitally as well!

02/11/2022

Lumtz es el seudónimo de Luciano Lamtzev, músico argentino afincado en Bariloche. Su música se basa en la búsqueda de un sonido orgánico entre experimentos intuitivos y melodías simples, interpretando libremente su entorno y creando de esa manera un registro sonoro autobiográfico íntimo, profundo y liviano.

Lu también está detrás del sello Bruma del sur que además de trabajar como taller de edición de cassettes, lleva desde 2020 lanzando música ambient, experimental y electrónica de artistas latinoamericanos como Dyb, Selva Aime, Germán Leonel, américa analógica, Francisco Juacida, Matt Cianfo y Lorenzo Gómez Oviedo, entre otros.

El nuevo album de Lumtz, ‘cruzar pisando piedras’, sale este mismo viernes en cassette & streaming: https://bit.ly/cruzarpisandopiedras

Fotos de Violeta Rosello

///

Lumtz is the moniker of Patagonia-based Argentinian musician Luciano Lamtzev, who creates organic sounds from intuitive experiments and simple melodies, reinterpreting his surroundings and building an intimate yet light autobiographical sonic landscape.

Lu is also behind the prolific label and cassette workshop Bruma del sur, where for the last 2 years, he has been releasing ambient, experimental and electronic music by Latin American artists like Dyb, Selva Aime, Germán Leonel, américa analógica, Francisco Juacida, Matt Cianfo or Lorenzo Gómez Oviedo

The new album by Lumtz, ‘cruzar pisando piedras’, comes out this very Friday on cassette & digital, and can be pre-ordered at https://bit.ly/cruzarpisandopiedras

Photos by Violeta Rosello

28/10/2022

- cruzar pisando piedras - es un álbum de música instrumental que resume las diferentes aristas de composición y producción musical que fue recorriendo Lumtz a lo largo de estos últimos años. En este álbum, busca mezclar samples de sí mismo en sus diferentes versiones, acústico, eléctrico, melódico, experimental, emocional, abstracto, profundo y liviano.

8 tracks que incluyen texturas encontradas en grabaciones de campo, piano, guitarras, loops de cinta, pequeños ritmos con elementos acústicos mezclados con elementos naturales, samples de todo eso, voces, sintetizadores, etc. Todo ello crea un ambiente lúdico, abstracto y autobiográfico.

El nombre del álbum hace referencia a un acto simple y de exploración, a la frescura y al equilibrio. El entorno del proceso de gestación del álbum fue principalmente en las cercanías del arroyo casa de piedra de Bariloche, en la Patagonia Argentina.

El album, en cassette y digital, sale e 4 de noviembre y se puede pedir ya en https://bit.ly/cruzarpisandopiedras

/// /// ///

- cruzar pisando piedras - ('crossing by stepping on stones') is an instrumental album summarising the different compositional and production approaches that Argentinian artist Lumtz has explored over the last few years. In this album, he samples himself in different contexts, forms and moods: acoustic, electronic sounds, melodic, experimental, emotional, abstract and light. He presents textures generated from field recordings, piano, guitars, tape loops, small rhythmic motifs combined with natural sounds, voices, synths... intertwined with samples of all those elements that create a playful and yet abstract autobiographical sonic landscape.

The name of the album is a reference to the simplest act of exploring, to a sense of freshness in nature and to the idea of balance. The album was created and recorded near a stream named casa de piedra in Bariloche, in the Argentinian Patagonia.

The album will be available on cassette and digital on November 4th, and can already pre-ordered at https://bit.ly/cruzarpisandopiedras

21/10/2022

Hoy por finnnnn anunciamos ‘𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗼 𝗹𝗼 𝗾𝘂𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗹 𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗼’ de Lumtz, el precioso primer single de ‘𝗰𝗿𝘂𝘇𝗮𝗿 𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼 𝗽𝗶𝗲𝗱𝗿𝗮𝘀’, su próximo album en Canigou, que sale el 𝟰 𝗱𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗿𝗲 en cassette y digital. Podéis escucharlo ya y pedir un cassette en https://bit.ly/cruzarpisandopiedras

También está disponible ya en todas las plataformas digitales en http://hyperurl.co/todoloquecaedelcielo

En febrero de 2020 conocí a Luciano en Bariloche, en la Patagonia argentina, donde me invitó a pasar unos días en su casa con su familia, grabando y escuchando música que iba sacando en Bruma del sur. No puedo estar más contento de ver que este proyecto por fin ve la luz después de varios años hablando some posibles lanzamientos y que nunca se diera el momento. Espero que os guste tanto como a mí!

/// /// ///

Today, fiiiiinally, we can announce the release of ‘𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗼 𝗹𝗼 𝗾𝘂𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗹 𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗼’ (𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙛𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙠𝙮) by Lumtz, the beautiful first single from ‘𝗰𝗿𝘂𝘇𝗮𝗿 𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼 𝗽𝗶𝗲𝗱𝗿𝗮𝘀’ (𝙘𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙗𝙮 𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙥𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙣 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨), his new album on Canigou, which comes out on 𝗡𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟰𝘁𝗵 on cassette and digital. You can listen and pre-order a cassette at https://bit.ly/cruzarpisandopiedras

You can also listen on all streaming platforms at http://hyperurl.co/todoloquecaedelcielo

I met Luciano in February 2020 in Bariloche, in the Argentinian Patagonia, where he was kind enough to invite me to his house for a few days to spend time with his family, do some recording and listen to the music that he was releasing on Bruma del sur. I couldn’t be happier to see this project finally come together after a few years of discussing releases and never quite finding the right time. I hope you like it as much as I do!

18/10/2022

Do you have yours yet?

Wow, thanks so much for the support you’ve shown for Benjin's new album! The first batch has run out but we've just added 10 more copies to Bandcamp, in case you'd like to grab one online: https://bit.ly/benjinIXtapes

benjin will also be selling some copies at his upcoming gigs, the first of which is aboard TSB Raybel this Saturday (22.10.22) at Dolphin Yard in Sittingbourne, UK. For those of you living close by, tickets are available here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/live-concert-on-raybel-benjin-music-for-cello-and-nyckelharpa-tickets-430119538117

18/10/2022

So excited to announce I will be playing my next concert aboard TSB Raybel this Saturday (22.10.22) in support of the new Benjin release. The barge is currently being rebuilt and refitted at Dolphin Yard in Sittingbourne. Tickets and more details of this unique gig can be found here: bit.ly/benjinlive . Support for this show is the outstanding young classical guitarist Lucian Hawkes. Cant wait! x

11/10/2022

Mad love to The Nest Collective for making 'Samphire II' from Vol. IX their song of the day!

https://twitter.com/NestFolk/status/1579743640334655488?s=20&t=h8DorivUOw26mH3Ou5M9rQ

Only two more sleeps till the Benjin launch gig on 13.10.22. Book a seat and get more info at bit.ly/benjinmusic ! x

07/10/2022

This is Benjin and his nyckelharpa back in March

You can see him play this beautiful instrument next week at Sands Films Music Room in London on 13th October, and (donation-based) tickets are available at: https://bit.ly/benjinIXreleaseshow

Today’s also Bandcamp Friday - a great day to support artists & labels - and you can find benjin’s new collection of compositions & Bach arrangements for cello & nyckelharpa at https://bit.ly/benjinIXtapes

07/10/2022

04/10/2022

04/10/2022

In case you missed it, Benjin's new album, 'Vol. IX: Music for Cello and Nyckelharpa', came out last Friday digitally and on cassette 🎻

The album cover and all illustrations on the cassettes, prints and box were all created especially for this release by artist Ambar Sethi

You can grab a copy at https://bit.ly/benjinIXtapes and listen on all platforms at http://hyperurl.co/streambenjinIX

30/09/2022

Fiiiiinally - here it is: Benjin's 9th album, ‘Music for Cello & Nyckelharpa’, out today on all streaming platforms and on this very special limited edition cassette

Grab one at https://bit.ly/benjinIXtapes or listen at: http://hyperurl.co/streambenjinIX

It comes with 4 riso prints with illustrations by artist Ambar Sethi and the story behind the album, printed by Wild and Kind in Scotland, a community interest company who only use sustainable garments and eco-friendly print & embroidery processes. It also comes with a recycled O-card, inside an FSC certified cardboard box from Tidmas Townsend in London, screen printed by Tuckshop, also in London. A logistical riddle this was.

So so happy to be able to release this album, after many conversations with Benjin since I met him in London, and over a year of brainstorming, editing and throwing ideas at each other back and forth. Benjin *somehow* managed to pick the nyckelharpa up 4 years ago, teach himself how to play it, write an album’s worth of material and translate, memorise, and reinterpret Bach’s Violin Sonata No. 1 for the nyckelharpa. Ambar turned his virtuosic playing into a set of beautiful illustrations that accompany the album and create a world of their own.

Cassettes come with download codes, of course, and if you’re keen to support but don’t have a tape player (why not?), the digital album is also available at canigourecords.bandcamp.com (all links in our bio).

If you’re in London, the release show is at Sands Films Music Room on 13th October, and you can grab pay-what-you-can tickets at https://bit.ly/benjinIXreleaseshow

Enjoy listening!
💙

26/09/2022

“I first found out about the nyckelharpa when a Swedish friend, Arvid Utas, gave me a 50-krona banknote as a keepsake back in 2007. From the moment I saw a picture of this instrument printed on the reverse side of the note, I was intrigued to find out more about its sound and roots. During a visit to Sweden in 2008, I attended several nyckelharpa music concerts in the Uppland region and was also kindly loaned a pretty run- down ‘harpa’ to play around with for a month in Björklinge. Although at that point I had many musical fires on the go, I decided that one day I would dedicate myself to learning to play the instrument and exploring the possibilities of pushing the boundaries of its contemporary use.

I began this process in 2018, primarily acquainting myself with the folk repertoire that the nyckelharpa is associated with in Sweden. Since then, I have used the instrument in a number of improvisatory, avant-garde and experimental settings. In early 2020, just before the world entered lockdown, I played a solo nyckelharpa concert for the first time; at this point, I had developed an evolving repertoire for performance which included a mix of folk songs, free improvisation, and Baroque compositions. In many ways, getting this live set together was also the start of the writing process for this album.

So here, amongst my own compositions, you will also find arrangements of the Swedish lament ‘Vem Kan Segla Förutan Vind?’ (Who Can Sail Without the Wind?) alongside the Abbotts Bromley Horn Dance, a British folk song which can be traced back to the 1200s.”

Music for Cello and Nyckelharpa is out this Friday! Listen at: https://on.soundcloud.com/VKs7i 🎻

23/09/2022

Benjin is a multi-instrumentalist who has toured and recorded across Europe with a number of experimental ensembles over the last 15 years. His solo compositions use classical guitar, cello, harp, clarinet, vocals, nyckelharpa, field recordings and found sounds. Aside from regular concert performances and art installations, benjin's music has been featured on BBC Radio 6 and Radio 3, at the TATE and Serpentine Galleries.

Vol. IX: Music for Cello and Nyckelharpa is out in a week!

21/09/2022

‘Music for Cello and Nyckelharpa’, Benjin's 9th solo album, is a musical conversation between the cello and its lesser-known cousin, the nyckelharpa. Translated into English as a ‘keyed fiddle’or literally a ‘key harp’, the nyckelharpa is a bowed instrument with three melody strings, one drone and twelve sympathetic strings (which give it its unique ethereal sound). The left hand operates three (or four) separate rows of keys which then press directly onto the strings and change the notes. This keyed mechanism means that all ornamentation on the ‘harpa’ is without vibrato and imbued with a distinct percussive aesthetic.

Over the last two centuries, the nyckelharpa has been primarily upheld as the national instrument of Sweden where it is generally played in a variety of folk-dance music contexts. However, from decorative carvings found on the entrances to 14th Century churches in Lower Saxony, through to fresco paintings adorning halls in Renaissance Siena, traces of premodern iterations of the keyed fiddle can be found across Europe. Given this pan-European lineage, the music contained in ‘Music for Cello and Nyckelharpa’, which comes out on September 30th, seeks to expand our ideas of the nyckelharpa and to reach beyond discrete national boundaries or repertoires.

You can listen to a preview of the album ahead of its release next week at https://on.soundcloud.com/m7CeF

16/09/2022

Friends, we’re so, so excited to be releasing a new album by London-based artist and good friend Benjin on 30th September, titled ‘Vol. IX: Music for Cello and Nyckelharpa’

You can listen to a preview of the full album on Soundcloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/m7CeF

If you’re in , the release show will be at Sands Films Music Room on 13th October, and you can grab pay-what-you-can tickets at https://tinyurl.com/benjinIXreleaseshow

The Facebook event is here: https://fb.me/e/5ERahU5si

More news soon :)