the sound of interrailing
by Jonas R
Last year in October I did a small two-week trip by train. I started in Berlin, made a quick stop in Dortmund, then went through Cologne and Bruxelles to Paris, hustled through the Metro in order to catch the TGV at Gare de Lyon to Barcelona, had a marvelous week there, then flew to Mallorca where I spent another awesome week with friends before going all the way back again.
During the trip I had my Tascam DR 05X with me, recording bits of the environment I was surrounded with. The idea was to later pair these recordings with songs that described the mood of all the particular situations and then put it all in a continuous mix. It turned out to be a beautiful acoustical rendition of the trip that I regularly come back to when I want to reminisce about it. You can listen to the mix here:
Taking the train was hella inspiring. Excitement, nervousness, hectic, joy and astonishment were among the feelings that I had, and the whole trip turned out to be the perfect occasion for collecting some of my favorite ambient, idm, drone and dub records that reflect what going on long train rides feels like. Find a small representation of it here, lay back and enjoy these wonderful pieces of music:
Toki Fuko – Spirit Medicine (AI-34)
The first one is from Toki Fuko on Astral Industries, a label I find heavily inspiring. Every record they release is pure meditation, and especially this one has both a calming and an attentive effect which perfectly reflects the mood of sitting in a train when the world flies by. The tribal textures combined with animal noises, flutes, subtile chants and spoken words remind me of the soundtrack of Far Cry 4, maybe a reason why the record keeps sitting in my brain (played this game A LOT)…
Also I rediscovered the record at Yoyako Record Store in Paris and had to put it on this list (awesome store, great selection & very nice people).
Also, check out the other releases on AI, no miss on there.
Rainforest Spiritual Atmospheres – Killer Whale Atmospheres
I was blown away by this album when I first heard it. An immersive combination of deep sub bass rhythms, mystic melodies, enthralling drone sounds and natural field recordings make this piece a wonderful musical adventure from start to finish.
I just love the intensity of all the tracks, the album and track titles perfectly match the music.
Pendant – Make Me Know You Sweet (OUEST099)
I’ve been listening to Huerco S. for quite a while now, he accompanied a lot of my studying hours. The American producer released this album on his own Philadelphia based label West Mineral ltd. in 2018.
The whole album is pure magic, it contains loops of spaced out pads combined with field recordings and some weird fx sounds. When I sat in the train from Paris to Barcelona as the corn fields passed by, I felt nothing but bliss.
I featured the track IBX-BZC in the interrailing mix.
Rafael Anton Irisarri – The Unintentional Sea (RM455)
Possibly my favorite and most listened piece of ambient/drone ever. Released on the Australian experimental label Room40 in 2013, Rafael Anton Irisarri creates an unique atmosphere, making me feel like being in a foggy valley with mountains surrounding me. Just chills every time.
Imagine this while riding through the south of France, the sun setting at the horizon and the dark sky slowly evolving around you…
Joel Tammik – Millegist (U-COVER cdR 008)
Clicks, cuts & plonks - this IDM album by Joel Tammik is ridiculous. Coming out of the Estonian underground electronic scene, he has released several records on U-COVER, with this one being my favorite. The structured randomness of effects and melodies are a common thread on the whole album, very fascinating.
