Pattern Year

Time Rival

Recorded between January 15th and January 31st, 2024

Pattern Year is a project I started after coming off of my larger and more structured 2023 projects "Outside" and "Inaction". I wanted to work on something more free spirited that captured my feelings of starting fresh in the new year and going where the ideas take me. The end result is a mixed bag of lo-fi, IDM, experimental, and solo piano.

Some of the inspiration for Pattern Year came from experimenting with my DIY electroacoustic instruments, my son's Casiotone, and some new software I picked up over the holidays.

This is the first album I'm releasing that won't ever be available on Spotify, due to some disagreements I've had with their customer service and general business practices. But it is available on Shopify, which is spelled very similarly.

Written, recorded & produced by Michael Southard
Mastered by Michael Southard
Artwork by Michael Southard

Recorded between January 15th and January 31st, 2024
Pattern Year is a project I started after coming off of my larger and more structured 2023 projects "Outside" and "Inaction". I wanted to work on something more free spirited that captured my feelings of starting fresh in the new year and going where the ideas take me. The end result is a mixed bag of lo-fi, IDM, experimental, and solo piano.
Some of the inspiration for Pattern Year came from experimenting with my DIY electroacoustic instruments, my son's Casiotone, and some new software I picked up over the holidays.
This is the first album I'm releasing that won't ever be available on Spotify, due to some disagreements I've had with their customer service and general business practices. But it is available on Shopify, which is spelled very similarly.
Written, recorded &amp; produced by Michael Southard
Mastered by Michael Southard
Artwork by Michael Southard

Pattern Day

Unexpected Lodestar

Unexpected Lodestar(2-3 Master) by Time Rival

Bankole

Megaba

Novel System

Larkin

Ranula

Aomame

Asha Vere

Bring Your Own Oxidizer

Bring Your Own Oxidizer(2-4 Rev) by Time Rival

Nocturnes I

Christian Wittman

The starting point for this album is a photo taken one summer evening from a window in Dunkirk, a memory of a free reverie in front of the spectacle of a blazing twilight, where the last lights of the setting sun were about to vanish between the darkness of the Northern sea and that of the sky.

"Nocturnes I" is the musical story of a night between dusk and dawn, accompanying thoughts, images, memories and sensations.

Minimalist, intimate musical landscapes, where electronic instruments and treatments gently suggest peace and serenity.

Ambient music between wakefulness and sleep, at the threshold of dreams, when everything calms down and silence is woven in with the murmurs of the night. 

"Nocturnes I" accompanies the quiet flight of consciousness into the dreamy heart of night.

-----------------------------------

REVIEWS

•• "One of the standout tracks from this captivating release is the mesmerizing “Evanescent Shades,” an ambient composition that delicately weaves together ethereal tones and atmospheric textures."
https://electronica.org.uk/blog/christian-wittman-takes-us-on-a-serene-journey-with-evanescent-shades/

•• "I really love the sound design of your work. It's so alive, so organic, like I've said before I am left wondering how it's done 😊 It really is a unique atmosphere created in the hands of someone with a keen eye both of the details and the totality." (Beatradar)

•• "Nocturnes is listened to with eyes half-closed, letting its shifting landscapes unfold, so many subtle incidences inviting themselves surreptitiously.
An unfolding of our inner films, Chritian Wittman's ambient is always sonic lacework, nothing predictable, you have to follow the path as it unfolds, and when it's over, you pick up another from his discography.
I draw the parallel with possible sonic haikus.
Enjoy your immersion."
(THIERRY MOREAU)

The starting point for this album is a photo taken one summer evening from a window in Dunkirk, a memory of a free reverie in front of the spectacle of a blazing twilight, where the last lights of the setting sun were about to vanish between the darkness of the Northern sea and that of the sky.
"Nocturnes I" is the musical story of a night between dusk and dawn, accompanying thoughts, images, memories and sensations.
Minimalist, intimate musical landscapes, where electronic instruments and treatments gently suggest peace and serenity.
Ambient music between wakefulness and sleep, at the threshold of dreams, when everything calms down and silence is woven in with the murmurs of the night. 
"Nocturnes I" accompanies the quiet flight of consciousness into the dreamy heart of night.
<hr>
REVIEWS
•• "One of the standout tracks from this captivating release is the mesmerizing “Evanescent Shades,” an ambient composition that delicately weaves together ethereal tones and atmospheric textures."
<a href="https://electronica.org.uk/blog/christian-wittman-takes-us-on-a-serene-journey-with-evanescent-shades/">https://electronica.org.uk/blog/christian-wittman-takes-us-on-a-serene-journey-with-evanescent-shades/</a>
•• "I really love the sound design of your work. It's so alive, so organic, like I've said before I am left wondering how it's done 😊 It really is a unique atmosphere created in the hands of someone with a keen eye both of the details and the totality." (Beatradar)
•• "Nocturnes is listened to with eyes half-closed, letting its shifting landscapes unfold, so many subtle incidences inviting themselves surreptitiously.
An unfolding of our inner films, Chritian Wittman's ambient is always sonic lacework, nothing predictable, you have to follow the path as it unfolds, and when it's over, you pick up another from his discography.
I draw the parallel with possible sonic haikus.
Enjoy your immersion."
(THIERRY MOREAU)

Twilight on Fire

Gates of Consciousness

Gates of Consciousness by Christian Wittman

Rivers of Dreams

Ethereal Lullaby

Around Midnight

Evanescent Shades

Flight of a Sleeping Soul

Flight of a Sleeping Soul by Christian Wittman

Pale Dawn

A Slow Awakening

Apeiron

"Apeiron" is a Greek word which, according to the philosopher Anaximander of Miletus (6th century BC), designates the first element from which everything emerged, the primordial entity which generated the cosmos by successive splits.

The meaning of this word is still debated today: "infinite" or "indeterminate"? Literally: "without limit".

“Apeiron” was thus the founding concept of a bold rational cosmology, distinct from traditional myths, to explain the genesis of the universe, the earth, the ocean, the celestial sphere, the stars, physical phenomena and, of course, the emergence of life forms.

This starting point inspired me a form of contemplative and spiritual "space music", which attempts to reflect the mixture of imagination and intellectual speculation at work in this conquest of the universe by human thought.

With this album, I'm moving towards a more contemporary, hybrid sound and style, mixing electronic treatments and textures with processed human voices and classical instruments.

“Apeiron” is an attempt to explore new listening dimensions in the genre of electronic space music.
credits
released February 2, 2024

Electronics, sound design: Christian Wittman

Composed and produced at Nina Studio, Paris, November - December 2023.

Artwork: Christian Wittman 

"Apeiron" is a Greek word which, according to the philosopher Anaximander of Miletus (6th century BC), designates the first element from which everything emerged, the primordial entity which generated the cosmos by successive splits.
The meaning of this word is still debated today: "infinite" or "indeterminate"? Literally: "without limit".
“Apeiron” was thus the founding concept of a bold rational cosmology, distinct from traditional myths, to explain the genesis of the universe, the earth, the ocean, the celestial sphere, the stars, physical phenomena and, of course, the emergence of life forms.
This starting point inspired me a form of contemplative and spiritual "space music", which attempts to reflect the mixture of imagination and intellectual speculation at work in this conquest of the universe by human thought.
With this album, I'm moving towards a more contemporary, hybrid sound and style, mixing electronic treatments and textures with processed human voices and classical instruments.
“Apeiron” is an attempt to explore new listening dimensions in the genre of electronic space music.
credits
released February 2, 2024
Electronics, sound design: Christian Wittman
Composed and produced at Nina Studio, Paris, November - December 2023.
Artwork: Christian Wittman

1. Astral Dream (Original Mix)

1. Astral Dream

2. Apeiron Whispers (Original Mix)

2. Apeiron Whispers

3. Chiaroscuro of Infinity. (Original Mix)

3. Chiaroscuro of Infinity. by Christian Wittman

3. Chiaroscuro of Infinity.

4. Spectral Ambiguity (Original Mix)

4. Spectral Ambiguity by Christian Wittman

4. Spectral Ambiguity

5. Indistinct Echoes (Original Mix)

5. Indistinct Echoes by Christian Wittman

5. Indistinct Echoes

6. Logos and Cosmos (Original Mix)

6. Logos and Cosmos

7. Contours of the Void (Original Mix)

7. Contours of the Void by Christian Wittman

7. Contours of the Void

8. Mystic Harmony (Original Mix)

8. Mystic Harmony

Ambient Mapping II

Ambient music is an encounter with slowness, silence, the depth of listening, immersion in sound, navigation on sounds to dream, think, travel, imagine...

"Ambient Mapping II" weaves different threads: silence, loops, sound spaces, "Fourth World" rhythms, possible melodies.

In this album, I experimented with geometrical compositional forms, superimposed, shifted, random, in different mixes distributing sounds, patterns, rhythms in an evolving space.

--------

REVIEWS

• "This is very good. Subtle piano tones with powerful deep pads sound great" (Chitra Records)

• "Lovely composition. I loved the soft and ethereal melodies. Nice piano touch, so sweet and peaceful. I loved the melancholy mood. We’ll add your beautiful music to our playlist "focus instrumentals" (About "Lines") (Listnerd, Spotify playlist curator)


•  "Cinematic music at it's best. Wonderful soundtrack feel here. A proper production and theme. Adding this on Cinematic Soundscapes and Compositional Ambient" (about "Lines"). Lauge  (musician and playlists curator)

• "Meditative and relaxing..." Maneli (Spotify playlist curator)

• "This is a delightful ambient track and makes a great fit for our Ambient playlist.  Wishing you much success!" Sherry Finzer (Spotify playlist curator)

• "Lovely delicate ambient work, happy to have it in the Slow Ambient list." The Slow Music Movement (Spotify playlist curator)

• "Very cool! Great work on the instrumental! Great work on designing the various sounds. Nice work on the synth sound! It works very well.
Focussing on mixing, you make the instrumental sound very good !"  Palette (Spotify playlist curator)

• "Very beautiful, certainly a great fit for one of our playlists!"   Music Dances When You Sleep, Spotify playlist curator, blogger.

• "Stunning track! Keep the beautiful music!" (About Curves) Salt of the Sound, Spotify / Apple Music playlists curator.  

Ambient music is an encounter with slowness, silence, the depth of listening, immersion in sound, navigation on sounds to dream, think, travel, imagine...
"Ambient Mapping II" weaves different threads: silence, loops, sound spaces, "Fourth World" rhythms, possible melodies.
In this album, I experimented with geometrical compositional forms, superimposed, shifted, random, in different mixes distributing sounds, patterns, rhythms in an evolving space.
<hr>
REVIEWS
• "This is very good. Subtle piano tones with powerful deep pads sound great" (Chitra Records)
• "Lovely composition. I loved the soft and ethereal melodies. Nice piano touch, so sweet and peaceful. I loved the melancholy mood. We’ll add your beautiful music to our playlist "focus instrumentals" (About "Lines") (Listnerd, Spotify playlist curator)
• "Cinematic music at it's best. Wonderful soundtrack feel here. A proper production and theme. Adding this on Cinematic Soundscapes and Compositional Ambient" (about "Lines"). Lauge (musician and playlists curator)
• "Meditative and relaxing..." Maneli (Spotify playlist curator)
• "This is a delightful ambient track and makes a great fit for our Ambient playlist. Wishing you much success!" Sherry Finzer (Spotify playlist curator)
• "Lovely delicate ambient work, happy to have it in the Slow Ambient list." The Slow Music Movement (Spotify playlist curator)
• "Very cool! Great work on the instrumental! Great work on designing the various sounds. Nice work on the synth sound! It works very well.
Focussing on mixing, you make the instrumental sound very good !" Palette (Spotify playlist curator)
• "Very beautiful, certainly a great fit for one of our playlists!" Music Dances When You Sleep, Spotify playlist curator, blogger.
• "Stunning track! Keep the beautiful music!" (About Curves) Salt of the Sound, Spotify / Apple Music playlists curator.

Line (Original Mix)

Line

Curves (Original Mix)

Curves

Ridge Line (Original Mix)

Ridge Line

Canopy (Original Mix)

Canopy

Delineation (Original Mix)

Delineation

Fourth World (Original Mix)

Fourth World

Squaring the circle (Original Mix)

Squaring the circle

Music for Art Gallery I

"Music for Art Gallery I"  is inspired by the world of contemporary art - sculptures, video installations, performances, painting - and invites you to a journey through some of the great art capitals of today, from New York to Amsterdam, from Berlin to Athens, from Rome to Los Angeles.

These eight compositions are both ambient and experimental, they are at the crossroads of minimalism, a certain acousmatic abstraction and sound design...

I tried to suggest through sound design the sensory, visual, tactile, spatial universe of contemporary art, with its surfaces, its materiality, its geometry, its perspective games, its architectures of lines and shapes.

It is an ambient music that unfolds contemplative atmospheres in a slow travelling of the gaze and the mind on virtual works, that the listener is invited to imagine....

I hope to initiate a collaboration with art galleries and contemporary artists to inscribe my sound research in real places.

-----

REVIEWS

••• "Conceived as a multi-sensory experiential piece best suited for visual accompaniment of a gallery, the French artist Christian Wittman’s “Manhattan” is a lovely slice of experimental ambient work that finds its home in various nexuses of a venn diagram of several musical schools of thought. Of the piece, Wittman states, “I tried to suggest through sound design the sensory, visual, tactile, spatial universe of contemporary art, with its surfaces, its materiality, its geometry, its perspective games, its architectures of lines and shapes.” The resulting composition is one that is easy to get lost in - all the better to take while you stroll the MOMA or Whitney in Manhattan. "

Ryan HALL. Tome of the Weather Machine (tometotheweathermachine.com)

•• Great sounds and cool production. Beautiful arrangements.
I really enjoyed the ethereal and mysterious mood! (LISTNERD, about "Manhattan")

•• "Captivating soundscapes and floating atmosphere.." (Music for Home, about "Manhattan")

 

"Music for Art Gallery I" is inspired by the world of contemporary art - sculptures, video installations, performances, painting - and invites you to a journey through some of the great art capitals of today, from New York to Amsterdam, from Berlin to Athens, from Rome to Los Angeles.
These eight compositions are both ambient and experimental, they are at the crossroads of minimalism, a certain acousmatic abstraction and sound design...
I tried to suggest through sound design the sensory, visual, tactile, spatial universe of contemporary art, with its surfaces, its materiality, its geometry, its perspective games, its architectures of lines and shapes.
It is an ambient music that unfolds contemplative atmospheres in a slow travelling of the gaze and the mind on virtual works, that the listener is invited to imagine....
I hope to initiate a collaboration with art galleries and contemporary artists to inscribe my sound research in real places.
<hr>
REVIEWS
••• "Conceived as a multi-sensory experiential piece best suited for visual accompaniment of a gallery, the French artist Christian Wittman’s “Manhattan” is a lovely slice of experimental ambient work that finds its home in various nexuses of a venn diagram of several musical schools of thought. Of the piece, Wittman states, “I tried to suggest through sound design the sensory, visual, tactile, spatial universe of contemporary art, with its surfaces, its materiality, its geometry, its perspective games, its architectures of lines and shapes.” The resulting composition is one that is easy to get lost in - all the better to take while you stroll the MOMA or Whitney in Manhattan. "
Ryan HALL. Tome of the Weather Machine (tometotheweathermachine.com)
•• Great sounds and cool production. Beautiful arrangements.
I really enjoyed the ethereal and mysterious mood! (LISTNERD, about "Manhattan")
•• "Captivating soundscapes and floating atmosphere.." (Music for Home, about "Manhattan")

Music for Art Gallery I by Christian Wittman

Manhattan (Original Mix)

Manhattan

Auguststrasse (Original Mix)

Auguststrasse

West Hollywood (Original Mix)

West Hollywood

Marais (Original Mix)

Marais

Flaminio (Original Mix)

Flaminio

Kolonaki (Original Mix)

Kolonaki

Soho (Original Mix)

Soho

Spiegelwartier (Original Mix)

Spiegelwartier

A Faithful Terror

Aidan Thomas Tobin

music by Aidan Thomas Tobin //
cover art by Emma O'Brien

music by Aidan Thomas Tobin //
cover art by Emma O'Brien

Holy Fool (Original Mix)

Holy Fool

I'm in an Absolute Fouler and You're Only Making It Worse (Original Mix)

I'm in an Absolute Fouler and You're Only Making It Worse by Aidan Thomas Tobin

I'm in an Absolute Fouler and You're Only Making It Worse

Lifeblood (Original Mix)

Lifeblood

A Naysayer and Hatchetman in the Fight Against Violence (Original Mix)

A Naysayer and Hatchetman in the Fight Against Violence by Aidan Thomas Tobin

A Naysayer and Hatchetman in the Fight Against Violence

Scene V (Original Mix)

Scene V

What's So Precious About A Monster? (Original Mix)

What's So Precious About A Monster? by Aidan Thomas Tobin

What's So Precious About A Monster?

Queen of Summer (Original Mix)

Queen of Summer

Bitter Perfume (Original Mix)

Bitter Perfume

How to Wear a Scowl (Original Mix)

How to Wear a Scowl by Aidan Thomas Tobin

How to Wear a Scowl

A Faithful Terror (Original Mix)

Unnecessarily Dramatic Ambient Guitar

David Dellacroce

Unnecessarily Dramatic Ambient Guitar by David Dellacroce

Duck and Seal

Reference Signs

Flânerie

Emotional Dumping

Half Analogy

Nylon

Sliding Disinvestment

Sliding Disinvestment by David Dellacroce

Generously Backlit

Couch To Refrigerator

Couch To Refrigerator by David Dellacroce

Before the Bolt

Blackish

Fudo Kazuki

Blackish (Original Mix)

引きこもり (feat. Aindra dasa)

引きこもり(feat. Aindra dasa) by Fudo Kazuki

引きこもり

I really like it. You just wouldn’t expect. Beautiful track!” – Rianne Thompson, Amazing Radio

"It may all be based on the Hare Krishna teachings but the track itself is undeniably beautiful. Beats are slow, synth chords are soft and there’s even a bit of Knopfler-esque guitar." - Acidted

"I've titled my new track 引きこもり (jap. Hikikomori) to say that this world with all it's beauty and the rest is nothing but a prison. Sometimes we get better cells with a better view, but it's not a place for living being to be.
We travel daydreaming in our shells from born to death, switching places and bodies in this whirlpool of samsara." - Fudo Kazuki
lyrics
"What does it mean to be humble? it means Sumedha Saha. Wherever you go in this world perform Nam Sankirtan. Forget all of this psychophysical business. The soul has to go back home, back to Godhead and the way that's going to happen is if the soul agrees to engage all of his psychophysical energies and his whole heart in the performance of sneha, samyukta Harinam Sankirtan.

We don’t know what’s gonna happen in the future, but right now we can take the opportunity, right now we have the facility to congregate and chant Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare…Yuga dharma doesn’t change. The next yuga is Satya Yuga and for them contemplated peaceful meditation is where it stands. But in Kali Yuga you got to get it fired up.

Chanting and dancing from the heart like you really mean it, like you really want Lord Caitanya’s mercy, so that you can even think, even hope to go back home to Godhead in this one lifetime."

- Sripad Aindra das, Varshana 2009

I really like it. You just wouldn’t expect. Beautiful track!” – Rianne Thompson, Amazing Radio
"It may all be based on the Hare Krishna teachings but the track itself is undeniably beautiful. Beats are slow, synth chords are soft and there’s even a bit of Knopfler-esque guitar." - Acidted
"I've titled my new track 引きこもり (jap. Hikikomori) to say that this world with all it's beauty and the rest is nothing but a prison. Sometimes we get better cells with a better view, but it's not a place for living being to be.
We travel daydreaming in our shells from born to death, switching places and bodies in this whirlpool of samsara." - Fudo Kazuki
lyrics
"What does it mean to be humble? it means Sumedha Saha. Wherever you go in this world perform Nam Sankirtan. Forget all of this psychophysical business. The soul has to go back home, back to Godhead and the way that's going to happen is if the soul agrees to engage all of his psychophysical energies and his whole heart in the performance of sneha, samyukta Harinam Sankirtan.
We don’t know what’s gonna happen in the future, but right now we can take the opportunity, right now we have the facility to congregate and chant Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare…Yuga dharma doesn’t change. The next yuga is Satya Yuga and for them contemplated peaceful meditation is where it stands. But in Kali Yuga you got to get it fired up.
Chanting and dancing from the heart like you really mean it, like you really want Lord Caitanya’s mercy, so that you can even think, even hope to go back home to Godhead in this one lifetime."
<ul>
<li>Sripad Aindra das, Varshana 2009</li>
</ul>

引きこもり (feat. Aindra dasa) by Fudo Kazuki

Outside

Music created with and inspired by field recordings. This was an ongoing project from 2023 that had periodic updates throughout the year featuring new music from new locations.


Music created with and inspired by field recordings. This was an ongoing project from 2023 that had periodic updates throughout the year featuring new music from new locations.