Influenced largely by electronic-based post-rock bands – Múm, The Album Leaf, Amiina, Efterklang, Mogwai et al, and gentle acoustic folk – Mirah, Iron and Wine, Maria Taylor, Juana Molina etc (that is to say, sweet and gentle), A Lily was born wide-eyed admiration for starry skies, empty beaches, towering trees and campfires.

Their glimmering and expansive EP is a testament to the life spent where they are, strange since it was composed in far-flung places: Iceland, Arkansas, New York. During the US premiere of Riceboy Sleeps (curated by Josh for friends Jonsi and Alex), Josh Varnedore and Amman Abbasi (Abbasi Brothers) decided to go to Iceland on a quest to make unique and beautiful music. After recording a few tracks there, they collaborated with Hammock and, before long, a collection of songs were born. Even without these auspicious beginnings, the music stands for itself – great expanses – open, wide and inviting.

To further support these tracks, video director David Altobelli, (Hammock, Arms and Sleepers, M83) lovingly captured the track Leawood‘s quiet nostalgia perfectly.

Evan Sornstein may be most at home working under the name of Curium, which he has espoused for 20 years. During that time he has released fourteen suites of music ranging from the haunting and histrionic to the audacious and alchemical. Evan has long been a staple of the San Francisco electronic music scene and has enjoyed contributing to several bands of varying genres: Battery,and Ivoux, the legendary 3 piece industrial/electro band with Shawn Brice (Bloodwire) and sInger Maria Azevedo. Also, he has spent the past 18 years as a part of Nux Vomica, an experimental/ambient collaboration with Alan and Jenny Herrick (Auricular). He has also worked on a synthpop project called AXOE with singer Patrick O’Connor.

We are all filters to what we experience, and Josh is no exception: his inspiration is evident coming from his friends, Hammock and Jonsi and Alex, nodding to the organic, expansive and otherworldly nature of their music. Ultimately, his music is, without a doubt, moving yet strangely familiar.

His distinctive sound encompasses a myriad of instrumentation, electronics and hand made sound. Without the use of software synths or plug-ins, the music is carefully created using a laptop, acoustic instruments and voice. The result is similar to a carefully carved ice-sculpture. Something immediate yet immediate.

A native Angeleno, Jonathan D. Haskell has spent years working and re-working the subtle melodic nuances that have become the headphone-centric Seven Saturdays. Conceived walking the cobblestone streets of Edinburgh, Haskell accepted his inescapable fate of never leaving Los Angeles and his impending return. With that, Seven Saturdays embody his love / hate relationship with said city.

“I became more interested in how music made me feel and became a bit more selfish in the type of sounds I wanted to record. I mostly listen to music in my car, and the sounds that moved me the most occurred late at night while driving around the steep slopes and sharp curves of Mulholland Drive. There’s nothing like that winding road at midnight… the ebb and flow of swirling tones pouring out from all angles leaves you with a renewed sense of focus and direction.”

Seven Saturdays is a direct result of this renewed energy and a reaction to growing up and feeling trapped in Los Angeles. “There is no escaping this city. If you’re born here, even if you move away, its impact is always brewing just below the surface.”

Seven Saturdays was recorded, produced and mixed by Haskell and Daniel Farris (St. Vincent, The Black Pill) in the shadowy confines of downtown Los Angeles. And contributing everything from heart-pulled strings, down tempo beats, delicate keyboards and distant voices, Seven Saturdays comprises an impressive list of talented musicians including: Lester Nuby (Verbena, Terra Naomi), Morgan Grace Kibby (M83), Mike Garson (David Bowie, Smashing Pumpkins), Wesley Precourt (Dave Stewart, Jenny Lewis) and Eric Heywood (The Pretenders, Ray LaMontagne).

Yousuf and Amman Abbasi represent a new generation of evocative and epic instrumentalists. Following in the footsteps of the Eno/Byrne and Rodelius of the late 70′s then wade through the enigma of early-80s 4AD, arriving in the 21st century with a sound that is familiar and yet all their own. Intensely motivated by the moving image, The Abbasi Brothers have created a new lexicon of music using digital instruments, electronics, guitar, piano and found sound. Through dreamlike ‘sound-scenes’ that celebrate nostalgia and the gentleness of the mundane in our day-to-day living they manage to make the ordinary extraordinary. While engulfed in their take on life-as-film made super-real is so rewarding one doesn’t want the simple moments to ever end.

The Balustrade Ensemble has been described as “an underwater haunted bird sanctuary kaleidoscope”, which isn’t too far off the mark. Like the aural background to a Victorian science fiction film, world traveler Grant Miller (from industrial-ambient Mandible Chatter fame), with the help of Scott Solter (Tarentel, Charles Atlas, Boxharp, etc.), has developed an amazing rendition of steampunk-ambient.