David Stiernholm: Always--Ever

The thrill of sound moves us at NSI. We like music which recognizes the sheer joy in the experience of sound as sound. David Stiernholm, from Sweden, makes music which is the joy of the moment of sound creation. David's inspiration is speed--the quick creation and the intuitive experiment. The Japanese have the concept of wabi-sabi, which honors the imperfect (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabi-sabi). Music created from the creation of the pleasingly imperfect whole is the essence of David's music. In our time of virtual instruments and sequencer hosts, the execution of music runs the danger of a hollow, soul-less perfection. David Stiernholm, know as Puie on http://www.ccmixter.org , creates celebrations of the imperfect moment, largely eschewing the tools of the technician for those of the acoustic instrumentalist. He makes the most of analog instruments and physical objects, using the creative process invites chance and accept what I may first perceive as errors or mistakes, the possible artistic height is what I can achieve plus the infinite possibilities of the unknown, of chance.

Each piece on this release starts with a graphic idea, such as "what would it sound like if the soft oboe played a downward figure consisting of short notes, while the sharp nyckelharpa played a upward figure consisting of long notes bound together". Then, David picks out some harmonies on the piano, just to have something to work with, like a handful of fixed colors with which to paint. He kick starts the motorcycle of creatitivity with the flailing boot of self-imposed boundaries. Then he proceeds to dismantle the boundaries and create new.

Instruments on this album, such as the nyckelharpa, are not often heard on an ambient netlabel.
The point, though, is not novelty, but balance. The goal here is a sense of rightness--like a well cooked meal.

Melodies are the prettiest when they are the least overwrought. David's creative process trusts the first notion, the first sound, and the joy of creation.

We are glad to release David Stiernholm's acoustic explorations, and hope that you, too get caught up in the joy of first creation and novel ideas.

Credits for sample: For "Bombarde Indienne", features drums by spinningmerkaba, which is a Creative Commons sample.

Individual 128kbps Downloads:

Jubel Tone has been downloaded 1018 times
The Japanese Decision has been downloaded 870 times
Bombarde Indienne has been downloaded 823 times
Numbingly Cold Brass has been downloaded 849 times
Farewell has been downloaded 818 times