{"title":"Gregg Kowalsky","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"gregg-kowalsky-eso-es-634457148932","title":"Gregg Kowalsky - Eso Es Standard Black Vinyl","description":"\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eLimited Pressing of 500\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eA thrilling immersion into FM synthesis and a puzzle of MIDI data, the Los Angeles based multi-instrumentalist\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eGregg Kowalsky\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ereturns to\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eMexican Summer\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ewith\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eEso Es\u003c\/em\u003e, his sophomore outing for the label and first new music since 2017’s\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eL'Orange L'Orange\u003c\/em\u003e. Representing a significant creative leap for the veteran composer,\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eEso Es\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eunfolds as a hypnotic journey into Kowalsky’s inner world, laced with a depth of emotiveness and vulnerability that’s rarely encountered in the electronic music realm.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eRaised in South Florida and trained at Mills College under\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eFred Frith\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eand\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003ePauline Oliveros\u003c\/strong\u003e, Kowalsky first came to prominence during the mid-2000s as a member of the thriving experimental music scene in the Bay Area, issuing a series of stunning albums on imprints like\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eKranky\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eand\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eRoot Strata\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003eand contributing to a reinvigoration of American made Minimalist and electroacoustic music. In an addition to composing solo works, pieces for large ensembles, film soundtracks, dance performances, and site-specific installations over the past twenty years, during the 2010s Kowalsky concentrated his energies as one half of the critically acclaimed duo\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eDate Palms\u003c\/strong\u003e, performing extensively and releasing three hypnotic albums, including 2011’s\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eHoney Devash\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eon Mexican Summer.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eHistorically, Kowalsky’s solo efforts have favored durational tonality and harmonic tension, culminating as immersive compositions of textural ambiences, but by 2017’s\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eL'Orange L'Orange\u003c\/em\u003e, subtle shifts were underfoot. Delicate melodies threaded the album’s compositions, while the harmonic relationships hummed with intoxicating warmth. Six years on, what began as subtle interventions have flowered into the monumental creative leap represented by\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eEso Es\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cem data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eEso Es\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eis an album that might not have been; a phoenix from the ashes, born of restlessness and fatigue, that doubles as a poignant reminder that experimental music doesn’t have a fixed aesthetic or “sound.” Returning to Kowalsky's childhood fascination with synthesizers and plunging headlong into the joys of the unknown that drew him toward experimentalism decades ago, the album was composed and recorded almost entirely on a Yamaha DX-7 synthesizer and sequencer both guided by overdriven MIDI data. The album’s seven compositions are the result of an entirely new process for the artist, embracing chance and the organic dialogue between an artist and the limitations and possibilities naturally presented by an unfamiliar instrument. While unquestionably led by a clear sense of process and structure, both were developed responsively, in real time, emphasizing listening as a key element within the act of composing. The resulting lines of shimmering synthesizer and intoxicating rhythms bubble with a gleeful naiveté that often informs the early years of an artist’s practice.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eBegun as a simple series of rhythmic sequences overlaid as interlocking cycles,\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eEso Es\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eunfolds as a hypnotic journey into Kowalsky’s inner world as he emerged from the chrysalis of silence. With the dancing, arpeggiating tones of the album’s opener, “Fragile Water,” we are reminded of early New Age and ambient music’s close ties to Minimalism, as expansive melodies fold back into themselves in seductively repetitive patterns It’s at the tail end of “Fragile Water” that we can listen deeply for Oliveros’s imprint on Kowalsky; a meditative field recording from his time spent recording\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eEso Es\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ein the Everglades of Florida manifests, before entering a state of hypnotic ecstasy across the length of “Fontainebleau.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eEach of\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eEso Es’s\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ecompositions follows its own inner logic and path, while establishing startling, unexpected conversations and an energetic, forward momentum across its entire duration, feeling akin to states of evolving meditation. Passing through the playful sway of “A Chorus of Trees” and the complex tonal tension of “Cold Open Cascade” before entering the constrained elegance of “Nights Move,” the spellbinding rhythmical tonalities of “Throwing Shapes,” and the gauzy dreaminess of “Brass Dolphins,” elegance and simplicity prevails, each note falling exactly where it should and requiring nothing more or less.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eIssued by Mexican Summer as a limited edition vinyl LP,\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eEso Es\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003emarks the return of Gregg Kowalsky as a gentle force in electronic and electroacoustic music and represents another high-water mark in an already remarkable career.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Mexican Summer","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47589448384813,"sku":"634457148932","price":25.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0846\/5802\/8845\/files\/ReleaseProduct-406686-218712.jpg?v=1700163516"},{"product_id":"gregg-kowalsky-lorange-lorange-184923124613","title":"Gregg Kowalsky - L'Orange L'Orange Standard Black Vinyl","description":"\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eWhat does the sun sound like? L’Orange, L’Orange, Gregg Kowalsky’s first solo album in eight years, might have the answer. Its vivid music – sourced from analog synths and mixed on a laptop – arrives in rays of sound that shine skyward. There are many moods in each track, but the overarching aura is one of brightness and optimism. Hence the album title, which nods toward the radiant hue of our life-sustaining star. “That’s the color I started to hear when I mixed these tracks,” Kowalsky says. “Mixing when it’s sunny out every day affects you.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eKowalsky knows sunny days. He was raised in Miami, and has lived in Los Angeles for the past three years. The warm atmospheres of those shining coastal cities infuse the luminous ambience of L’Orange, L’Orange. “After I had worked on this album for a while, I realized the music sounds like those places to me,” Kowalsky explains. “This record is basically about my connection to Florida and California – even the song titles reflect that.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eAs an example, Kowalsky points to the album’s second track, “Maliblue Dream Sequence.” Its lapping synth waves mirror the time he spent working on the record at a friend’s home in the beachside city of Malibu. But you can hear echoes of blue skies, sun-baked shores, and drifting tides throughout L’Orange, L’Orange – from the sparkling ripples of “Tuned to Monochrome,” to the rising rhythm of “Pattern Haze,” to the sandy layers of “Ritual Del Croix.” And it’s not just about LA. “Florida shaped my sound directly, and part of this album is me sticking up for Florida too, a beautiful place that gets a bad rap,” he says. “Florida's all right. That's one thing I want people to take away from this record.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eBetween growing up in Florida and landing in LA, Kowalsky spent a decade in the Bay Area. He completed an MFA in Electronic Music at Mills College in Oakland and recorded two solo albums, 2006’s Through the Cardinal Window and 2009’s Tape Chants. In his last few years there, he concentrated on installations and conceptual pieces, alongside his work in Date Palms, his duo with Marielle Jakobsons (their album Honey Devash was released by Mexican Summer in 2011).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eAfter relocating to Southern California, Kowalsky focused back on making solo music, and realized he had to relearn his approach. “It was a long process of exploration, but I ended up going back to how I started with my first two records,” he explains. “I just wanted to make music to make music, and not think as much about concepts and making the process a big part of the composition. I basically made music that I wanted to listen to.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eKowalsky concocted that music using recordings he had made in Oakland, when his job at an engineering school afforded him the chance to play and record on a collection of analog synthesizers. When editing and mixing those sounds on his computer, he set a few parameters: “work smaller”, creating shorter pieces that didn’t stretch to the 10-minute mark; make sure his drones have rhythm, though without using beats; and, most importantly, “I wanted it to feel like a human made it,” Kowalsky explains. “There are no drum machines, there's no sync. It was about not being constrained to time signatures and being OK with the music drifting. So if an edit was a little off, I thought, ‘Who cares? I'm a human and I made it.’”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003ePerhaps the most human moment on L’Orange, L’Orange comes at the end, when Kowalsky trades synths for acoustic piano on closer “Blind Contour Drawing.” He has no formal piano training, but he used that to his advantage. “That's why I gave the song that title,” he says. “It’s like drawing where you don't pick the pen up – that's how I play piano. I play as if it's a song through spacing.” Once again, Kowalsky’s environment had an impact: he used a piano he found in a rented apartment during a trip to Joshua Tree, and the results – run through a cassette tape echo – have the desolate but wide-open feel of the California desert, sparse but full of potential.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eAs the tracks he was building for L’Orange, L’Orange began to click, Kowalsky was surprised to find he had made something so sunny, given how he got there. The struggle to reboot his solo process, as well as the disorientation of moving to a new city, had made his initial years in LA difficult. “That time was dark, and making this record was what I needed,” he says. He cites the steadying bass line on “Maliblue Dream Sequence” – the only discernible bass on L’Orange, L’Orange – as an emotional analog to his life in the City of Angels. “I made a blissful record, and that’s not usually what I do,” he admits. “Just making it was meditative.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eDon’t mistake meditative for placid, though. Kowalsky has no interest in creating background music, and there are moments throughout L’Orange, L’Orange that surprise, confound, and provoke (just wait until you hear how opener “L’Ambience, L’Orange” ends). “My early work was once described as furniture music, and I was like, ‘What the hell is that?’” Kowalsky recalls. “Everything I’ve made after that forces you to engage. You can't just put it on and do something else. It's nice, but it demands your attention. I don't want to make music that serves any other purpose – that's not why I make music.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eSo the sunshine of L’Orange, L’Orange isn’t just about brightness and bliss. It’s also about engrossing your mind – creating an omnipresence not unlike that shiny orange orb whose ubiquity defines our days and whose absence fills our nights. For Gregg Kowalsky, music can have that same kind of overpowering effect. The sounds of L’Orange, L’Orange can calm your nerves, warm your mood, and maybe even enlighten your mind.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Mexican Summer","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47589448483117,"sku":"184923124613","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0846\/5802\/8845\/files\/ReleaseProduct-195444-111939.jpg?v=1700163599"},{"product_id":"gregg-kowalsky-lorange-lorange-184923124620","title":"Gregg Kowalsky - L'Orange L'Orange CD","description":"\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eWhat does the sun sound like? L’Orange, L’Orange, Gregg Kowalsky’s first solo album in eight years, might have the answer. Its vivid music – sourced from analog synths and mixed on a laptop – arrives in rays of sound that shine skyward. There are many moods in each track, but the overarching aura is one of brightness and optimism. Hence the album title, which nods toward the radiant hue of our life-sustaining star. “That’s the color I started to hear when I mixed these tracks,” Kowalsky says. “Mixing when it’s sunny out every day affects you.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eKowalsky knows sunny days. He was raised in Miami, and has lived in Los Angeles for the past three years. The warm atmospheres of those shining coastal cities infuse the luminous ambience of L’Orange, L’Orange. “After I had worked on this album for a while, I realized the music sounds like those places to me,” Kowalsky explains. “This record is basically about my connection to Florida and California – even the song titles reflect that.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eAs an example, Kowalsky points to the album’s second track, “Maliblue Dream Sequence.” Its lapping synth waves mirror the time he spent working on the record at a friend’s home in the beachside city of Malibu. But you can hear echoes of blue skies, sun-baked shores, and drifting tides throughout L’Orange, L’Orange – from the sparkling ripples of “Tuned to Monochrome,” to the rising rhythm of “Pattern Haze,” to the sandy layers of “Ritual Del Croix.” And it’s not just about LA. “Florida shaped my sound directly, and part of this album is me sticking up for Florida too, a beautiful place that gets a bad rap,” he says. “Florida's all right. That's one thing I want people to take away from this record.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eBetween growing up in Florida and landing in LA, Kowalsky spent a decade in the Bay Area. He completed an MFA in Electronic Music at Mills College in Oakland and recorded two solo albums, 2006’s Through the Cardinal Window and 2009’s Tape Chants. In his last few years there, he concentrated on installations and conceptual pieces, alongside his work in Date Palms, his duo with Marielle Jakobsons (their album Honey Devash was released by Mexican Summer in 2011).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eAfter relocating to Southern California, Kowalsky focused back on making solo music, and realized he had to relearn his approach. “It was a long process of exploration, but I ended up going back to how I started with my first two records,” he explains. “I just wanted to make music to make music, and not think as much about concepts and making the process a big part of the composition. I basically made music that I wanted to listen to.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eKowalsky concocted that music using recordings he had made in Oakland, when his job at an engineering school afforded him the chance to play and record on a collection of analog synthesizers. When editing and mixing those sounds on his computer, he set a few parameters: “work smaller”, creating shorter pieces that didn’t stretch to the 10-minute mark; make sure his drones have rhythm, though without using beats; and, most importantly, “I wanted it to feel like a human made it,” Kowalsky explains. “There are no drum machines, there's no sync. It was about not being constrained to time signatures and being OK with the music drifting. So if an edit was a little off, I thought, ‘Who cares? I'm a human and I made it.’”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003ePerhaps the most human moment on L’Orange, L’Orange comes at the end, when Kowalsky trades synths for acoustic piano on closer “Blind Contour Drawing.” He has no formal piano training, but he used that to his advantage. “That's why I gave the song that title,” he says. “It’s like drawing where you don't pick the pen up – that's how I play piano. I play as if it's a song through spacing.” Once again, Kowalsky’s environment had an impact: he used a piano he found in a rented apartment during a trip to Joshua Tree, and the results – run through a cassette tape echo – have the desolate but wide-open feel of the California desert, sparse but full of potential.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eAs the tracks he was building for L’Orange, L’Orange began to click, Kowalsky was surprised to find he had made something so sunny, given how he got there. The struggle to reboot his solo process, as well as the disorientation of moving to a new city, had made his initial years in LA difficult. “That time was dark, and making this record was what I needed,” he says. He cites the steadying bass line on “Maliblue Dream Sequence” – the only discernible bass on L’Orange, L’Orange – as an emotional analog to his life in the City of Angels. “I made a blissful record, and that’s not usually what I do,” he admits. “Just making it was meditative.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eDon’t mistake meditative for placid, though. Kowalsky has no interest in creating background music, and there are moments throughout L’Orange, L’Orange that surprise, confound, and provoke (just wait until you hear how opener “L’Ambience, L’Orange” ends). “My early work was once described as furniture music, and I was like, ‘What the hell is that?’” Kowalsky recalls. “Everything I’ve made after that forces you to engage. You can't just put it on and do something else. It's nice, but it demands your attention. I don't want to make music that serves any other purpose – that's not why I make music.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eSo the sunshine of L’Orange, L’Orange isn’t just about brightness and bliss. It’s also about engrossing your mind – creating an omnipresence not unlike that shiny orange orb whose ubiquity defines our days and whose absence fills our nights. For Gregg Kowalsky, music can have that same kind of overpowering effect. The sounds of L’Orange, L’Orange can calm your nerves, warm your mood, and maybe even enlighten your mind.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Mexican Summer","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47589448548653,"sku":"184923124620","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0846\/5802\/8845\/files\/ReleaseProduct-195444-111935.jpg?v=1700163572"}],"url":"https:\/\/mexicansummer.myshopify.com\/collections\/gregg-kowalsky.oembed","provider":"Mexican Summer","version":"1.0","type":"link"}