Moderna Records

27/05/2024

Julia Gjertsen performs her latest piece Lotus live from her home studio.

23/05/2024

"Starting off with solo piano notes that unfold like the petals of a flower, the piece captures the delicate beauty of its subject while pondering it as a symbol of hope and resilience."

The wonderful Stationary Travels has premiered the track 'Lotus' by Julia Gjertsen from her upcoming record Shadow Light. Give it an exclusive listen now : )

Julia Gjertsen is a pianist and composer who lives in Oslo, Norway and whose music is characterized by a delightfully inventive blend of electronics and ambient textures with layered piano melodies…

09/05/2024

"... blending a tragic quality of an intimate felted upright piano with the emotional weight of the orchestra..."

A big thank you to Headphone Commute for premiering 'The Girl in the Dark' from Snorri Hallgrímsson's new soundtrack today. It appears in the score for the compelling documentary Innocence by Guy Davidi, about growing up in a heavily militarized state where service is compulsory. You can give the piece an exclusive listen now right here:

headphonecommute.com/2024/05/09/snorri-hallgrimsson-the-girl-in-the-dark/

“… blending a tragic quality of an intimate felted upright piano with the emotional weight of the orchestra…”

30/04/2024

We are SO stoked to announce Oslo-based composer / producer / keyboardist extraordinaire Julia Gjertsen's new LP Shadow Light. This will be the third full length record we release together over the last five years and it's yet another big beautiful work of art. "The music was composed during moments of solitude in the Swedish forest, reflecting on topics such as rootlessness, war, shame, human connection to nature, while also searching for moments of quietness, peace, and presence as I observed the trees, birds, and the interplay between light and shadows."

Shadow Light will drop June 14 and be available in a limited edition vinyl pressing with evocative artwork by Ashlee Gillespie and mastering from the always on-point Guy Davie. Single #1 arrives this Friday!

📷 Julia Kalvik

04/04/2024

30/03/2024

The fantastic folks at Qobuz are offering a sale on high quality downloads in honour of and we're stoked to be involved. It's a great time to get your hands on some of the fine piano music in our catalogue.

Head on over to check out the sale: qobuz.com/ca-en/search?q=pianoday-campaign-2024

27/03/2024

Spring is here and piano day is right around the corner - what more could we ask for? We’re spreading the love with some spot on pieces by some fabulous composers. Check em out on our Piano Shapes playlist, updated this morning.

🎧 spoti.fi/3cJniEO

New this week: Keaton Henson, Ben Lukas Boysen & Lisa Morgenstern, John Thomas Re*****on, Niall Byrne, Jozef De Schutter, Andreas Hauschild, Ole-Bjørn Talstad, Jacob David & Arvid Holst. Hideyuki Hashimoto, Elliott Jack Sansom and Julia Gjertsen.

📷 Alnitak Zeta

27/02/2024

The days are getting longer here in Canada and we can’t wait for spring. We’re basking in the light of some great piano music which we’re sharing with you on this update to our Piano Shapes playlist.

🎧 spoti.fi/3cJniEO

New this week: Arvid Holst, Lullatone & Akira Kosemura, Henri Bardot, Jacob David, Goldmund, Elliott Jack Sansom, Thrupence & Josh Hooke, Ole-Bjørn Talstad, Daniel Schrage and Lullatone & Alaskan Tapes.

20/02/2024

has been crafting an evocative collection of piano pieces that center around narrative. Each composition tells its own story, and together they’ll form the aptly named EP ‘Storylines’ - paired with this very fitting artwork by . The first chapter arrives this Friday.

16/02/2024

We’re celebrating nine years of collaboration with today with a very special ‘Retrospective’ of his piano music. has beautifully remastered fourteen of his pieces, which we’ve paired with artwork by the one and only . The album is available digitally now wherever you find your music (with a brand new bonus track!) and will be available shortly in vinyl & sheet music form on his website.

13/02/2024

This is a big beautiful week for ! He is on his way to Belgium to perform eight intimate solo piano concerts in support of a new vinyl record & sheet music book entitled ‘Retrospective’. This special collection contains fourteen of his piano pieces from the last eight years, remastered and reedited for your listening & sight-reading enjoyment. If you’re in Belgium you can join Jacob live at one of the shows and purchase the new release in person, and for everyone else it’ll be available online this Friday!

07/02/2024

We’re looking ahead to our first release of the year with . It’s a catchy, upbeat piece for piano entitled ‘Kvilestein’ that is accompanied by another brilliant artwork by . This will be the fifth pairing of Ole-Bjørn’s music with Lela’s visuals and we think it’s been a match made in heaven.

02/02/2024

A dreamy, flowing atmosphere bubbles smoothly before our ears in ‘Minasoko’ - the lead single from the upcoming EP ‘Land’ by Japanese artist . It’s a rich ambient number that weaves streams of consciousness through interlocking patterns on piano and synth that are joined by 's evanescent violin lines. It’s out today wherever you find your music, ready to accompany your chill vibes.
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Artwork by the fantastic 🫧

31/01/2024

It’s the last day of January and can we just say…DAMN! 2024 is shaping to be a mighty fine year in piano land. We’ve been working on our first update of the year for our playlist and we’re having trouble choosing between all of the great new pieces. So we’ve opted to share with you our beefiest update yet : )
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📷 ._wizard

23/01/2024

The Qobuz winterfest is on now, which means that you can download high quality versions of the music in our catalogue directly from their shop with a deep discount. They do such a great job supporting artists, we highly recommend. Here's a link directly to our catalogue:

https://www.qobuz.com/store-router/search?q=moderna-records-qobuz-fest-2024

18/01/2024

Oliver Patrice Weder's record The Shoe Factory is out tomorrow and we can't wait for you to listen. The fine folks at A Closer Listen spent time with it earlier this week and provided some really lovely insight into the music.

"The sounds of the factories, coupled with Weder’s piano and electronics and enhanced by saxophone and brass trio, becomes a lovely tribute to the legacy of Mallorca."

After aphids devastated Mallorca’s wine crop, the populace turned their talents to leather shoemaking. At its peak, the area was home to over a hundred shoe factories; a few still survive an…

17/01/2024

The very thoughtful folks at Composerism chatted with Oliver Patrice Weder ahead of his new record The Shoe Factory.

https://www.composerism.org/interviews/interview-with-oliver-patrice-weder

16/01/2024

"The Shoe Factory is no mournful elegy to something bygone. It is a vibrant blend of contemporary classical, jazz, and electronic music which pulses to the rhythm of the machines which may be fewer in number these days but still form the heartbeat for many lives."

Stationary Travels on Oliver Patrice Weder's ambitious new album The Shoe Factory. It's streaming exclusively on their site for the next three days ahead of it's official release, go give this beauteous thing a listen!!

Originally from the small town of Lucerne in the foothills of the Swiss alps, composer Oliver Patrice Weder has enjoyed quite a nomadic lifestyle. Not only has Weder traveled extensively extensive …

07/01/2024

Like everything Headphone Commute does, their best of the year lists are thoughtful and inspiring. Check out this rad list of they've selected from the year that they proposed to be "classified as the soundtrack to your life". It includes the magnificent (in our opinion) LP 'I Am Weary, Don't Let Me Rest' by Snorri Hallgrímsson in some very good company.

In the first instalment of Headphone Commute’s Best of 2023, I gather my favourite selections of the year, consisting of music that simply makes you feel. The albums in this list should just be…

05/01/2024

As we take a moment to be grateful for all of the wonderful music that made 2023 special for us, it's lovely to see a couple of our records included on this very thoughtful review of Modern & Post Classical music by the wonderful Stationary Travels. Give this entry a read, this is a great selection of music in our genre.

"Andersson seamlessly incorporates elements of jazz, ambient, and modern classical into an impressionistic tapestry of melodic expression." - on Julia Andersson's LP Dröm

"Making his debut on the always excellent Moderna Records label this year was German composer & producer Linus Alberg with this lovely album of music inspired by the changing of the seasons." - on Linus Alberg's LP Elements

From the intimacy of a solitary piano to the harmony of an ensemble or the mysterious alchemy forged in the studio where the analog is fused with the electronic, here is a selection of some especia…

26/10/2023

Linus Alberg's LP Elements arrives tomorrow, and we’re SO thrilled to give you a sneak peek of the album track Vienna courtesy of the wonderful Headphone Commute.

"Here, Alberg is able to ring out the textural tone shifts with his exceptional, flawless control of the instrument, painting wide pastel landscapes with a gorgeous sonic palette."

Check out the premiere to give this gem a listen!

“… effortlessly fluttering melodies held together by bass, harmonium, and fragile echoes of the breathy trumpet…”

13/10/2023

Out today - the first single from Oliver Patrice Weder from his upcoming album ‘The Shoe Factory’ which you can listen to right here:

🎧 moderna.ampl.ink/birds

A few words from Oli on the track, entitled 'I'd Like the Birds to Teach Me to Fly' :

It’s something my 3 year old daughter told me while we were staring at the sky together. The simple beauty of her words moved me to tears, and resonated with me in an unexpected way - isn't it wild how the words of a child can be so profound? So I wrote this uplifting and joyous track as a reminder that sometimes we need to take a step back, change perspective and look at life from a different angle. And then, perhaps, we'll be ready to learn to fly!

Artwork by Richard Caldicott

05/10/2023

Believe it or not the first snow fell this week in Nic’s neighbourhood in Whitehorse. Hopefully there’s still some warm weather where you’re at! Whether it’s warm or cold, we hope this new selection of pieces on our Piano Shapes playlist sets the mood just right.

🎧 spoti.fi/3cJniEO

Added this week: Barry Hudson-Taylor Music, Ole-Bjørn Talstad, Gabríel Ólafs, Daigo Hanada & Yoko Komatsu, Oliver Patrice Weder, Linus Alberg, Arvid Holst and Piotr Wiese

📷 Ed Carlsen

22/09/2023

Guess what? We’ve got a brand new record of piano music on the way from Piotr Wiese entitled ‘I Will Keep Sailing’ and the first single dropped today! We’ll tell you all about this reflective and moving collection over the next couple months as we share tracks from it. For now, sink into the slow moving romanticism of the album’s opening track ‘Adagio’.

🎧 moderna.ampl.ink/adagio

Artwork by Gert Motmans

13/09/2023

"Like the wind whispering through the branches or the gentle beating of a butterfly's wings, 'Kalmte' shines with sensitive and intimate tones."

The always thoughtful Gezeitenstrom - Musikmagazin on Barry Hudson-Taylor Music's new EP Kalmte. It arrives this Friday!

Kalmte sind sehr ruhige und friedliche Stücke in Form reiner Klaviersonaten.

06/09/2023

The days are getting a little shorter, but summer’s not quite over yet! We’ve got a sun soaked update for our Piano Shapes playlist with some tasty treats from some top notch pianists for you. You can give it a listen / follow here:

♪ spoti.fi/3cJniEO

New this week: Jozef De Schutter, Jacob David, Daigo Hanada, Rose Riebl, Nolan Khan, Matthew Wilcock, BARTH., Niall Byrne, TWO LANES, Biba Dupont, Julian Klaas, Barry Hudson-Taylor Music and Patrick Watson

📷 Navin Kala

16/06/2023

Happy release day to the one and only Snorri Hallgrímsson. His absolutely stunning full length record 'I Am Weary, Don't Let Me Rest' is out today wherever you find your music:

🎧 moderna.ampl.ink/wearyrest

This album arrives almost 5 years to the day from his debut Orbit, and it's been such a fun ride to witness the growth of his person and music. His music is infused with honesty and vulnerability which are a true gift to all of us listeners. With this LP he dives into the weariness we feel with the hardships of the world - fighting that inner urge to tune it all out; and reminding ourselves of our duty as humans, citizens, neighbours to stay aware and engaged. It's an emotional roller coaster that he narrates so beautifully for us on the piano and a cast of characters include strings, trombone, clarinet, choir and his own voice.

Shoutout to Leigh Wells for the cover art, to Martyn Heyne for the mastering, and for everyone who contributed their playing & insight into bringing this to life.

14/06/2023

We've got a very special guest curator this week for our Spotify playlist Piano Shapes. Check out this lovely selection of pieces chosen by Peruvian pianist and composer Sergio Díaz De Rojas. Sergio has been releasing music and playing concerts throughout Europe and South America since 2015, and is an extremely active and dedicated member of the scene. Be sure to check out his releases as well as the selection he's put together for us here:

🎧 spoti.fi/3cJniEO

His picks include tracks by SOFI PAEZ, Jaime del Adarve, Gia Margaret, Ella van der Woude, Alexandra Stréliski, Vetle Nærø, hania rani and HUNDREDS.

📷 Mathias Lind at PH Furniture & Pianos