Stereo Fireplace

A glance out of the window reveals a grey curtain. Colours are fading away in the fog. It's cold outside; it's getting dark, too dark to see. Leaves are falling to the ground, dancing their last dance.

My apartment doesn't have a fireplace. So the only thing crackling is the stereo. But out of the speakers glows warmth and colourful sparks of Autumn spring off the embers of music.

Relaxing grooves bring back memories of hot, sweaty summer nights. Thick bass drums provoke the longing to storm the dancefloor. And instrumental escapades carry the mind in other dimensions.

Best wishes,

Al Pride – Sweat Soaked

Late summer nights in sweat-soaked bedsheets. Swiss indie band Al Pride lay down on linens of loneliness. And it sounds so excellent, once more demonstrating their sheer musical talent.

There's tension between the slightly off, sunny sound and the deep insight into frontman Nico Schulthess' mental state. Sweat Soaked is a hymn to the thoughtful hearts, to melancholic souls, the sleepless wanderers.

Lizki – Lift Me Up

After a shell shocking explosion of Dynamite, German artist Lizki presents her debut album Forward. But there's no feeling of sudden optimism to be found, certainly not in Lift Me Up.

Lizki pleads with her stunning, classically trained voice: "Lift me up; I've been falling and falling and falling and falling." Beneath the despair, there's a pushing techno sound, ripping through the chest and exposing the heart to the elements—an existential experience.

Levitation Orchestra – Many in Body, One in Mind

An almost 10-minutes long epos of otherworldy escapades. Jazz ensemble Levitation Orchestra's Many in Body, One in Mind is a journey through space and time. The instruments nestle, create harmonies, then flee, dissolving, alienating. They ensnare, fight, collide, and reconcile.

But the song begins to shine halfway through its runtime when suddenly a spoken word intermezzo kicks in. From hallucinating jazz to a pumping rap track – and back again.

Visions In Clouds – Runaway

We're witnessing the rebirth of a band. Swiss duo Visions In Clouds reinvented themselves, transforming their sound from sinister wave and post-punk to a shimmering synth-driven pop sound, enlightening flickering disco dancefloors.

However, their first child, Runaway, doesn't shy away from the past: Between the envigorating hooks, certain darkness still resides in the vast expanses of Visions In Clouds' soundscape.

Stiehler – Lay Me Low

Preparing the arrival of his debut album Solopiano, German pianist Stiehler again grabs us by the hand and escapes into his world of neoclassic beauty with Lay Me Low. A composition that starts with the innocence of a newborn, steadily growing into a tension-filled cinematic performance.

It's borderline Hans Zimmer but never peaking into a Zimmeresque overblow. "Your imaginations are my lyrics," explains Stiehler. And listening to Lay Me Low definitely triggers the mind.