Jelena Ćirić, Snorri Hallgrímsson, Cécile Lacharme, Oliver Patrice Weder - Tramuntana Tapes I (Moderna) [Neoclassical]
- The Slow Music Movement
- 15 minutes ago
- 2 min read
*** This blog post first appeared in TSMM's January 15th Newsletter, where you can get all the tips (and more) first ***
Last year was a struggle and my music discovery paid the price, but I found myself with some spare time at the start of the new year and peeked some best of 2025 lists from a few of the more discerning blogs I follow. Stationary Travels, my favourite ambient blog, was one of them and where I discovered this gem from Jelena Ćirić, Snorri Hallgrímsson, Cécile Lacharme and Oliver Patrice Weder.
Apparently the four musicians, all from different countries, have been collaborating in various forms for the last ten years, but only met as a group in 2023 to hunker up in an old shoe factory in Mallorca for a four day improvisatory session, the results of which you hear before you.
Post production is minimal, with Weder who was also responsible for the piano, Wurlitzer and programming doing a fine job as the recording engineer, capturing the live vibe - quirks, creaks, mishaps and all. The recording is intimate and really captures the synergy and musicians delight at finally meeting. Ćirić mainly, but also Hallgrímson are on fine ethereal vocal form, their voices gliding over the plethora of perfectly weighted piano - Ćirić, Hallgrímsson and Weder all play, with Lacharme gracing the free flowing improvisations with her cello. The tracks are mostly serene but at times also playful and excitable; the close micing of instruments captures the incidental sounds of the instruments which accentuates the recording’s intimacy and draws you into the space until you’re sitting cross legged on the factory floor. It’s a delicate and charming listen.