Well, I have decided to start up a podcast for the site. It will act as a radio show of sorts for the great music here on the site. Hopefully twice a month I will compile a short podcast of music to give readers a chance to hear more of what they are reading about and maybe catch something that they missed. The obvious aim here is to expand the listener base of the artists featured in the show. I have decided not to host the show with any sort of narration and simply let the show notes, the embedded links, and the music speak for itself.

Read the show notes for each episode in the post that contains them and please note that this is an enhanced aac audio file for playback in iTunes or other compatible player like an iPod and contains links to find out more about the artist you are listening to by clicking the cover art of the music you are hearing in the show. I hope that everyone enjoys the shows and I hope that I can manage to stay under the radar with it to avoid any legal backlash what with this whole crazy world of the internet and digital media.

To subscribe to the show simply add the RSS feed for this page to iTunes or another podcast catcher type program and it should download episodes as they become available. Here is the RSS link to make it easy ( http://www.youdisappear.net/files/blog.xml ) and below you will find the show notes for this episode.

...and please, by all means, let me know what you think of the idea and the show.
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The first Episode of the You Disappear Podcast. A mostly secret place for you to sit back, put a nice pair of headphones on, and get lost in some beautiful music.

This episode features music from Brian Borcherdt, Mount Eerie, Colleen, Wixel, and Laura Gibson. (intro music from the Buddha Machine by FM3) Visit their websites or youdisappear.net for more information on the artists.

*Support artists you enjoy here and buy their music, we have to do what we can to keep them making these wonderful sounds.*

The podcast has been created as an enhanced aac file therefore the artwork will change according to the song and the songs have been seperated into chapters as well. Each time the artwork cahnges you will be able to use a link in the artwork which will take you to the artists page.

It is best enjoyed in iTunes or on an iPod of some sort for these features. An mp3 version is available upon request.

If you are an artist featured on this podcast and you wish to have your music removed please contact me directly at john@youdisappear.net and I will be more than happy to remove it for you. I completely understand, the intention of the site is to promote great music of a calm mindset, not capitalize from it. Its for the love of the music.

Direct Link for the show.

Tags: Laura Gibson, Wixel, Brian Borcherdt, Colleen, Mount Eerie

FM3 - Buddha Machine

This is a really unique entry here and many of you may be familiar with this but I felt it belonged among the pages of You Disappear because it calls forth the type of calm I look for when I pick music for the site. The artists that created this are a ambient music duo from China called FM3. This is an album released in a way that some people considered to be more of an art piece than a musical album and I agree to a certain degree. This is sort of a bridge between a modern music instrument and an album. On this box there are nine ambient music loops that vary in length but mostly clock in under a minute in length and the idea is that these loops are played endlessly for you as soon as the box is turned on. Its simplicity comes in that there is only two controls, a volume control and a switch that will select a different loop that will play through the built in speaker or the headphone port on the top of the device.

You simply turn it on pick a loop and let it play. It’s really pretty fascinating to me and I love its approach. I was familiar with the loops in the box after enjoying a version of it which was released for the iPhone/ iPod Touch but to hear it in its proper form is really something unique to experience. The box was inspired by chanting boxes found in buddhist temples and lends itself to such an act as meditation or something to just exist in the background of your life. A subtle echo of sound to focus your mind.

Its beautiful really and I am happy to have finally found the right moment to order it and hear it for myself. The box itself is a cheaply made plastic box that is available in many colors and the built in speaker quickly distorts as you turn up the volume and all of this adds to the fascinating experience of the machine... The sounds that sing out from its tiny speaker are really unique and I would recommend anyone interested to look further into it. There is a newer version than the one I have available as well that adds a pitch bend control and nine different loops from the original.

Artist Site (where you can hear the loops and learn more about it.)

Tags: FM3

Wixel (2009) - Blood Red Bird

I recently posted an album from Wixel but I wanted to add another from the group as they have taken up the challenge of recording 12 albums in 12 months time (over the course of 2009). One for each month and each revolve around some sort of central idea or approach. So far this year they have made it to their third release which is the one I am writing about here. Although I have only heard it a couple of times through it has quickly become my favorite so far and has gotten me exited about hearing the way the project progresses through the year. Typically with this type of approach you end up with a lot of poorly conceived songs without much in the way of real production quality or interesting results for that matter but Wixel has made it seem effortless and I have yet to find a song among this project that left me feeling anything but satisfied. From what I understand from the sites they have set up I believe the music is primarily created by Wim Maesschalc the founding member of the group who is from Belgium.

As for the music on this release they have taken their normally instrumental sound and added soft vocals to many of them and while the music is primarily guitar and vocals the layers of sound and production make it a wonderfully polished and subtle record. The music is a low key collection of songs. In my usual desire to want to come up with an example of where I could imagine this music being enjoyed most I find myself thinking of lying around on a carpeted floor on a blanket and pillows with someone... just lying there with eyes closed while it plays. Im not sure why but maybe you will see what I mean if you hear it. Its a beautiful record and not one to pass up.

I will try and add the other albums from the project slowly on the site so they can be included in its archives. Both links below will take you to a place where you can hear the album streaming and purchase it by naming your own price to do so.

Artist Page • BandCamp page where you can purchase the songs (name your own price!)

Tags: Wixel

Colleen - Colleen Et Les Boîtes À Musique

This album was released by an artist that I am sure you will see more of on these pages in the future as she creates some really beautiful music. This album is seemingly more simplistic in its approach than her other albums but really unique and beautiful all the same. It leaves you with a warm nostalgic sort of a feeling. Imagine a music box that stood up and grew a personality and started making music that you could not imagine such a simple thing creating where layers and layers of plucked metallic and haunting notes ring out into the air and dance around the room. With the first track here you will hear the winding of a music box and it is the perfect introduction the the otherworldly sounds that will follow. Its a unique album that most certainly hear. I have included a song below to give you an idea of what you will find here, it’s my favorite song from the album and one of the more peaceful ones and is called ‘Your Heart Is So Loud.’ I would Imagine this is the sound a heart would make if it were breaking. click through to iTunes or her site for more.



iTunes Link • Artist Page

Tags: Colleen

Brian Borcherdt - Coyotes

This is one of those albums that took me some time to grow into. At first I passed it off as just another guy with his guitar but I recently started listening again and found it has been getting more and more play through my days as it has certainly grown on me. It is perfect music for a rainy day where things seem grey and you simply want to feel that grey and relax. The music is a hushed calm and leaves your mind room to breathe as it plays. On the album you will find a delicate mix of soft singing and layers of acoustic guitar and occasional nearly transparent layers of sound that build as the songs progress along. Simplistic, calm, and beautiful. Right at home here on You Disappear.

iTunes Link • Artist Page

Tags: Brian Borcherdt

Burial - Self Titled

At times I find myself trying to decide how far I should stretch the boundaries of what could be considered to be within the realm of the calm, quieter side of music. Its hard to define because its different for everyone and within different moods. Sometimes its fairly obvious such as music in the world of ambient but even that can drift into being pretty noisy at times. I suppose at best I can simply continue to use my own judgement and eventually begin using a rating system for the level of calm within the music featured.

All that aside there are a number of albums that rest on the boundary of what people may or may not consider calm or peaceful that are on my add too the site list and this is one of them. This is an electronic album that has its foundation firmly laid in its rhythm, slow yet quick and methodical yet organic they carry you along as you listen. It took me at least a year or more to understand why so many people have come to praise the music of Burial so highly but once it clicked I could not stop listening and find that the more I listen the more I enjoy it. I love the way it straddles head nodding moments and ones that are uplifting within their calmness.

I try and think of a way to visualize how this music feels and for some reason two opposing elements come to mind, think fire but somehow burning underwater. The crack, pop, and unpredictable nature of fire slowed by the calm flow and rhythm of the flow of water. For those of you now familiar with his music I would give it a chance, I find it to be really beautiful.

iTunes Link • Artist Page

Tags: Burial

Wixel - Somewhere Between the Sun and the Moon

I am a big fan of the subgenera of music that many have been calling ‘folktronica’ which is a term that I think sounds kind of silly but it works as some general way to describe artists that make this sort of music. It is a sort of light hearted, playful sort of a sound that often uses a minimal approach to composition and the elements in the songs combine acoustic instrumentation along with simple electronic production elements such as sampling environments or light use of other electronic sounds. The combination is common among modern music but it’s the minimal, pleasant, and sometimes avant-garde approach that defines the genera.

Wixel is an artist I only recently discovered and I wanted to add a couple albums from them here on You Disappear. I decided to start with this album which is a wonderfully subtle album of acoustic guitar and playful light feeling that makes for a great album to put on during a sunny day. I feel this album would be perfect for laying in the sun. For whatever reason I imagine lying on a floor in the afternoon sunlight as it comes streaming through a window catching the particles of dust as it floats through the air. I think that pretty well describes the music. Warm and sort of comforting and peaceful in a way. If only every moment in life could be this calm.

Artist Page • Album Page (a page the artist set up to sell the album where you can preview the songs)

Tags: Wixel

Laura Gibson - Beasts Of Seasons

Another great artist hailing from the Hush Records family Laura Gibson is an artist I have wanted to add here for a while now. At the moment this is her latest effort and it does a wonderful job of showcasing what she is capable of as a musician. It’s a gentle singer+guitar album that seems straightforward at first but the more I listen the more I discover in the subtle layers of ambience added by the instrumentation hiding behind her voice and guitar as they lead the way through these songs. Soft orchestral elements and warm deep bass elements add a lot of depth to the otherwise simple, somber, songwriting and it’s really beautiful. Her voice is distinct and begs to be heard as you listen to her sing about the often whispered emotions within our lives.

iTunes Link • Artist Site

Tags: Laura Gibson

Jacaszek - Treny

This is another trip into the world of traditional instrumentation combined with electronic production elements, Treny is a really beautiful collection of songs combining orchestral recordings and samples with haunting vocal melodies and a wonderful electronic element. Every song on the album will leave you feeling warm as the music is deep and haunting in its production. I could imagine this being the soundtrack to a dream... The album is not available on iTunes but can be found digitally on boomkat where you can also hear clips of the songs I have included a link below.

Artist Page • Boomkat

Tags: Jacaszek

No, I have not abandoned the site or anything of the sort, I have just been caught up in other parts of my life at the moment. I have a few albums I will add today hopefully but I think I will have to stop adding streaming songs for now until I can decide on how to do it.

What I am looking for is a way to stream music that is 100 percent safe from being downloaded and better yet, a technically legal way to continue to add a song from the albums I add to the site. I really like the musicon players that I have been using but their policies are changing and I will have to start storing the files here on my server which could lead to a legal action against me down the line as the site grows.

I really want to be able to share bits of music from the albums I feature here to give readers a chance to hear what I attempt to describe and be able to discover music that much more easily but the way things are right now in the heat of illegal music sharing I am simply trying to figure out the best plan for the future of the site. I can only imagine getting a couple hundred albums in here with songs attached and references to them only to have all of that suddenly disappear.

ANY SUGGESTIONS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. Sorry for the all caps there but I could use some help on this. Most services out there either play only part of a song streaming or the embedded players are ugly and full of ads which I am doing my best to avoid here.

Ideally I would LOVE to start a podcast that would arrive bi-monthly and feature music from the blog but again, would I be able to pull that off without catching slack from the labels? Its a sad thing to have to deal with really because I’m not trying to make money from all of this, I just want to share great music and help out all these great artists! But not everyone sees it that way so..

So until I can figure out what to do next I will be leaving off the music from the posts and leaving it to you guys to click through to the iTunes or artist site links to find more.

Johann Johannsson - Fordlandia



This album has taken me some time to digest. It was recommended by a few different people actually and I have come back to it a number of times trying to feel what the music was trying to convey. This morning, a bright snowy morning after 3 days of cold rain, I put the album on again and its starting to make sense somehow. It may be more than the snow covering the ground around me, it may be some of the melancholy dancing in my head or the desire to start making good on some of my grand plans in life. In other words, this album is a gentle uplifting soundtrack for a tired mind. It breathes deep breaths of orchestral swells layered with subtle electronic production and elements that blend into a sort of cloud of emotion. Ha.. My description is a bit much perhaps but suffice to say it is a wonderful collection of music and comes recommended for fans of this new bread of avant classical music that has become so popular as of late. The song featured above is called The Rocket Builder (Io Pan!) and was sort of randomly chosen form the album and I think represents the album fairly well but I think it works best as a whole. This song is one of the more vibrant pieces and not particularly my favorite form the album though..

iTunes Link • Artist Page

Tags: Johann Johannsson

Dan Auerbach - Trouble Weighs A Ton (From the album Keep It Hid)



Dan Aurbach is best known for his work as one half of the Black Keys. A blues band full of grit and edgy blues rock. This solo effort contains much of the same edge that his work with the Black Keys contained only with a more somber, smoother sort of a feel to it I think. While the album as a whole does not belong among the pages of You Disappear, the first track immediately grabbed me as something I wanted to share here. Rather than try and describe the slow driving impact of the songs Simply click play in the player above if you have not already and if you enjoy it support the artist and check out the rest of the album through his site or iTunes.

iTunes Link • Artist Site

Tags: Dan Auerbach