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Light and Space

by Nashville Ambient Ensemble

supported by
Nate Stevens
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Nate Stevens One of the most breathtaking sets of music I've encountered in a long time. There's something completely enveloping and enrapturing about the way Hix's synthesis blends in and out of the compositions. It's just fantastic, I love it. It's weird, I get traces of Pink Floyd at moments, which I feel totally crazy for thinking. Anyway, I very much hope to hear y'all live sometime! Favorite track: Waveguide.
Nickie Harte Kelly
Nickie Harte Kelly thumbnail
Nickie Harte Kelly Just as advertised, this act composes and performs ambient music and they are, indeed, based out of Nashville. Whodathunkit? Well, I would, I lived in Nashville for 9 years and it’s not all country. This is sublime escapist music, with violin, synths, hushed vocals, piano, and electric and pedal steel guitars. The music was composed to accompany an art exhibit at the Frist Museum, and they were so pleased with the result that they recorded the eight pieces for this release. Favorite track: Refraction.
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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    This is the sea glass green vinyl edition of 'Light and Space', limited to 350 copies. Comes in a fully printed inner sleeve with photos from the 'Light and Space' recording sessions.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Light and Space via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    This CD edition of 'Light and Space' comes in a high quality four panel LP gatefold style cardboard sleeve. This is not a jewel case. Limited to 100 copies. Technically, these are high quality professionally pressed CDr copies. Money back if you're not happy. Please note that the image is simply a mock up.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Light and Space via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $12 USD or more 

     

1.
2.
Prism 05:51
3.
Waveguide 06:38
4.
Refraction 05:08
5.
Crystalline 05:23
6.
Gradient 05:10
7.
Channel 05:03
8.
Horizon 03:27

about

Centripetal Force is excited to announce the release of Light and Space, the second full length recording from the Nashville Ambient Ensemble. The album is being presented in a 350 copy vinyl pressing which will be made available for preorder on March 24. There will also be a limited CD run made available for preorder on the same date. Light and Space will be released in stores and on all major digital platforms on April 14th.

The Nashville Ambient Ensemble is led by Michael Hix, an electronic composer and keyboardist whose artistic vision focuses on the spirit of collaboration and the art of improvisation. The group plays a unique form of music that has become loosely defined as ambient country or ambient Americana. Light and Space is the group’s second release, the follow up to 2021’s Cerulean, an album that received a number of accolades from critics, fans, and fellow musicians.

In early 2022 Michael Hix had just completed writing the material for the group’s sophomore release when the Frist Art Museum in Nashville, Tennessee reached out and asked the Nashville Ambient Ensemble to record a series of compositions to be featured in the exhibition, Light, Space, Surface: Works from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Inspired by eight artworks from the exhibit, Hix composed eight completely new compositions and immediately headed into the studio to record. Intended as an alternative to a traditional guided tour, museum patrons were able to pair their journey through the exhibit with the ensemble’s sounds, a feature for which the Nashville Ambient Ensemble and the Frist received overwhelmingly positive feedback, so much so that it was decided the songs deserved a traditional release as the group’s new album. The exhibition ran from June to September and was highlighted by a live performance from the Nashville Ambient Ensemble in the main gallery of the museum, directly in front of the stunning Norman Zammitt painting, Untitled, 1984, which adorns the cover of Light and Space.

Light and Space sees the return of Deli Paloma-Sisk (vocals), Jack Silverman (guitar), Kim Rueger (piano), and Luke Schneider (pedal steel), all of whom were part of the Cerulean sessions. This new album also introduces Alicia Enstrom to the fold. Enstrom, a classically trained and well-rehearsed violinist, adds an additional layer to the ensemble’s already rich sound. Her tone and style is quite captivating and is clear from the opening notes of the album’s lead track, “Band in Boston.”

Like the first album, the songs on Light and Space have a basic structure from which the members work, and in keeping with the Nashville “musicians in the round” kind of tradition, each player is provided the opportunity to take the lead and improvise their own musical passages. Unlike previous recordings, some of the foundational synthesizer elements on Light and Space have a distinct digital sheen. Michael Hix says he normally opts for warm, analog synth sounds in his music, but for the Frist Art Museum’s project he purposely chose to create a "clean, digital palette to complement the show's focus on industrial materials, light, and electricity." In Light and Space, the group hones in on what worked well on Cerulean, refining their improvisatory form and highlighting musicality.

Nashville Ambient Ensemble is scheduled to play their album release show on April 7th at The Blue Room at Third Man Records in Nashville, TN.

The Nashville Ambient Ensemble is recommended for listeners of William Tyler, SUSS, Cocteau Twins, Fennesz and Ryuichi Sakamoto.


About the Musicians

Michael Hix is a composer and musician from Tennessee. His music incorporates synthesizers and electronics to build dynamic structures that evolve over time, delving into the human condition and the metaphysical dimension. His work draws upon classical minimalism, sacred music, analog techno & house, as well as popular music. He lives and works in Nashville.

Diatom Deli is the work of Deli Paloma-Sisk, a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist from Nashville. Her live performance utilizes classical guitar, layered harmonies, synths, and samplers to create powerfully moving melodic soundscapes.

Kim Rueger is a Nashville based keyboardist/recordist/sound editor. As Belly Full of Stars, she blends improvised synths, piano, and textural vocals with processed field recordings and mechanical elements to create experimental soundscapes that veer ambient.

Luke Schneider is a versatile pedal steel guitarist who has performed with a variety of artists, including Margo Price, Orville Peck, and William Tyler. His debut solo album of New Age pedal steel music, Altar of Harmony, was released by Third Man in 2020.

Nashville guitarist Jack Silverman has been a longtime sideman with a number of acts. He has also fronted an assortment of improvisational instrumental ensembles. In 2021, he released the EP Now What on YK Records, and the cassette Live at the 5 Spot on Centripetal Force, both of which included versions of his composition "Cerulean," which was the title track of Nashville Ambient Ensemble's 2021 debut LP. He's currently working on the soundtrack for Greg Mallozzi's documentary Mind Traveler, slated to begin screening in spring 2023. He also plans to release an accompanying soundtrack album.

Alicia Enstrom is a classically trained violinist, composer, producer and reformed circus runaway (Cirque du Soleil) who plays high and loud, tinkers with tech, and loves to use music to stir the pot of your subconscious. She is a unique artist whose work spans that of classical, orchestral, pop, and ambient electronic.

credits

released April 14, 2023

Alicia Enstrom | violin
Michael Hix | synthesizers
Deli Paloma-Sisk | voice
Kim Rueger | piano
Luke Schneider | pedal steel
Jack Silverman | electric guitar

All compositions by Michael Hix except “Channel,” by Jack Silverman.
Recorded by Jake Davis at Club Roar in Nashville, March 2022.
Mastered by Taylor Deupree at 12k Mastering.

Cover: Norman Zammitt, Untitled, 1984, acrylic on canvas, three panels, 111 × 216 in. overall, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, gift of William J. and Marilyn Lasarow, © Estate of Norman Zammitt, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA. Used with permission.

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Nashville Ambient Ensemble Nashville, Tennessee

We are a group of Nashville artists and musicians bringing together synthesizer soundscapes with traditional instrumentation in a semi-improvised setting, celebrating the unique collaborative spirit of making music in our city.

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