The best Surprise ever

original art by Sarah Sullivan - 2009

I lack the proper words to describe my happiness. Today I won something that I will treasure when it arrives.

Cottage Garden Studios have had a giveaway of some original art by teacher, artists and mother of five - Sarah Sullivan. She does a kind of warm whimsical art filled with mystical creatures and characters. There is a earthy and kind air to her work and it's filled with witches, cats and unicorns.

She also wrote some very nice words about my photography and my blog which makes me very happy. Here I am living a life in Sweden and this amazing woman is sending me some of her original art from Idaho. Boy, am I lucky. I am thankful for the influx of goodness coming my way lately.

This is only one of several kind words that have traveled my way recently. Both from people I have gotten to know on the blogosphere and in real life. You know who you are.

I will find a special place for this when it has traveled all the way to Sweden.

Broken Home

Broken Home
Originally uploaded by suecae sounds

This is a a detail I captured the 20th of April of an abandoned house in Gaperud, near the small town of Molkom. This house have most likely been abandoned for several years and is in a state of decay.
Click on the image for a bigger version.

A different kind of musical journey

I have been out of touch with the older music labels in net-label scene as of late. As this way of distributing music literally has exploded in the last couple of years, it has grown harder and harder to keep track of. I have a few reliable sources which helps me to keep track on new releases, but some of the old labels should not be forgotten. One of these labels is Kahvi Collective.

The artist Ambientium released a truly epic album for free at the collective February this year. Its name is Fractal Philosophy and I hope that it will move beyond being only listened to by those who already know about the net label scene.

What you get when you download the album is ten tracks of ambient and electronic music with a clear spiritual touch which tells the unusual vivid imaginative progression of the universe. From the beginning to the now. It takes off with the track Hadron Era trough the subsequently nine breathing stations with the final destination of Home.

In the beginning it is composed of loose and slightly bent out of shape ambient. As it continues it moves to the terrain on to more accessible electronica, only to later go back to realm of ambient again. As a listener you sense an underlying story in the journey. What that story is? That is up for you to find out and quite possibly create. As this album is less about songs and more about setting a mood it is best enjoyed in its totality. As a personal suggestion I can recommend it in unison with any kind of contemplative practice. Like mediation, prayer or just relaxation.

Bottom line is: Fractal Philosophy has personality. It is distinctly different and carefully blends the dreamy with the focused. It gently drifts along its soundscape and begs to be listened to with headphones to make you appreciate the subtleties and stereo panorama.

It is no wonder that it is precisely Kahvi Collective who provides us with this treat. They have over 250 releases of albums, singles and ep’s available for free on their website for everyone to enjoy - and quite possible fall in love with. Even though it is free they do however encourage people to donate money to their favorite artists. For the very modest sum of 30 $ they will even send you two DVD’s with all their releases thus far.

Ambientium's website can be found here.

The wonders of the One thing

The wonders of the One thing
Originally uploaded by suecae sounds

This photo was taken the 11th of April, in the small countryside village of Botorp. I got lots of photos taken in Botorp, this is one of my several favorites of that day.

Click on it to view it as a larger image.

Sign of the Times to Come

Taken today, the sixth of April next to Klarälven and the Karlstad Theatre. These crocus have now finally spread their wings into beautiful; although still small and fragile, flowers.

Equipment used:
Pentax K100D, using my FA 1:1.4 50 mm lens. I originally bought the lens from greenland resident talent Thomas. This is my most common set-up, since I really love the results that I am able to produce with this lens. Thomas work can be seen at Duplo Photography. I especially recommend people to look at his arctic imagery.

I am also happy to tell any readers out there that I have reviewed the free EP A resonant discovery for Original Sound Version. Today they also published my review of the deeply haunting soundtrack for the game Dead Space. For those who happen to be swedish or speak the language, I also would like to mention that I have been published on Yelah, reviewing the excellent record Guaranteed Niceness by german super-band Sonar Kollektiv Orchester.

Ascending

Ascending
Originally uploaded by suecae sounds

Yesterday I went out early in the morning to capture the first of April in all it's glory. This was one of the definitive 'keepers' of the day.