Break The Glass: Kit II

 

Break The Glass

In Case of Emergency 

Personalised mental health tools from the Rings of Neptune staff & artists

Tool Kit II: Luc Ringeisen

“In 2020, authorities and a part of society classified music and culture in general as “non-essential.” Paradoxically, the COVID-19 pandemic itself and the successive lockdowns imposed by each country have proven how crucial music is for most of us, our well-being, and overall inner peace — especially during these severe trials and extended periods of isolation. 

Turn off your television and listen to the first trumpet notes of a Miles Davis album or the first syllables of Sade, and chances are your soul is instantly healed. In such moments we are also inspired, reformatted; because ultimately, we are what we listen to. 

Let me share with you a bit of what’s going on in my lockdown playlists these days. Good listening, let’s be patient and keep the faith.” Luc

This is my “Break the Glass — In Case of Emergency” kit to you: 

Break The Glass: Kit I

 

Break The Glass

In Case of Emergency 

Personalised mental health tools from the Rings of Neptune staff & artists

Tool Kit I: Cleymoore

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Unprecedented times we are living. 2020 has been a year full of unprecedented challenges on a global scale. Not that humanity hasn’t lived darker times throughout its tumultuous evolutionary past, of course. Still, the viral loudness of social media and the sheer extent of our overpopulated capitalist culture makes any catastrophe seem like an omen to the end of times.

Global Warming, Mass Pollution, Politics, COVID-19, Racism, White Supremacy, Police Brutality, Cancel Culture, Big-Pharma, Conspiracy Theories, Nuclear Competition, Unemployment, Inflated Real-Estate, Patriarchy… the list could go on. All these issues play a role in creating an ever-growing ball of anxiety that weighs on our shoulders, a weight that can be extremely toling to one’s psyche.

Depression and anxiety are very much rampant among humans and are as deadly as most airborne viruses. And even though the degree of stigma surrounding mental health has been decreasing, it’s still very much a taboo for most. Its silent character separates it from typical physical illnesses, so we tend to devalue the pain it afflicts. A good friend of mine took her own life back in September. She was a beautiful, sweet, and extremely creative person, and none of us will ever know what kind of pain led her to commit suicide. It made me realize our most threatening global pandemic might be, in fact, depression.

During this summer, I’ve made a list of 52 albums that, throughout the years, helped me find my light and see hope in the despair. They did, and always will, save my life. This selection, spanning from ambient to experimental electronica, classical to new age or even post-rock, is purposely un-ordered as I can’t precisely order their emotional significance to me. The records I chose are all executed and recorded in a state I consider beautifully pure. In their vast majority solely instrumental, they provided me the capacity to appreciate life when life itself seemed insufficient.

I hope this selection can bring you some light in these dark times and slow up your mind’s pace. We need to slow down to listen to slow music.

This is my “Break the Glass — In Case of Emergency” kit to you:

Hiroshi Yoshimura
‘Green’ (1986)
AIR Records Inc

Ash Ra Tempel
‘New Age of Earth’ (1976)
Isadora

Biosphere
‘Substrata’ (1997)
Biophon

R. Lovisoni & F. Messina
‘Prati Bagnati Del Monte Analogo’ (1979)
Cramps Records

Voyage Futur
‘Inner Sphere’ (2020)
VILL4IN

Brian Eno & Jon Hassel 
‘Fourth World Vol. 1/2 ‘ (1980)
Editions EG

Tangerine Dream
‘Phaedra’ (1974)
Virgin

“there exists a field known as music therapy, but for now this record may be useful for those who may be suffering from insomnia.” 

— Hiroshi Yoshimura

Harold Budd, Robin Guthrie & Eraldo Bernocchi
‘Winter Garden’ (2011)
RareNoise

Fennesz & Sakamoto
‘Cendre’ (2007)
Touch

Geinoh Yamashirogumi
‘Ecophony Rinne’ (1986)
Invitation

“’Sleep’ is my personal lullaby for a frenetic world – a manifesto for a slower pace of existence

— Max Richter

Fennesz
‘Endless Summer’ (2001)
Mego

Daniel Schmidt & The Berkeley Gamelan
‘In My Arms, Many Flowers’ (2016)
Recital

Midori Takada
‘Tree of Life’ (1999)
BAJ

Phillip Glass
‘Glassworks’ (1986)
CBS

Matthias Frey
‘Onyx’ (1982)
Rillenwerke

Disasterpiece
‘Hyper Light Drifter’ (2016)
Iam8Bit

Alva Noto & Ryuichi Sakamoto 
‘Summvs’ (2011)
Raster-Noton

Brian Eno
‘Ambient 1-4’ (1978-82)
Polydor

“Ambient music must be able to accommodate many levels of listening attention without enforcing one in particular; it must be as ignorable as it is interesting.

— Brian Eno

Masayoshi Fujita & Jan Jelinek
‘Bird, Lake, Objects’ — 2010
Faitiche

Oneohtrix Point Never
‘Returnal’ — 2010
Editions Mego

Murcof & Vanessa Wagner
‘Statea’ — 2016
Infiné

“We’re suffering from brain fade. We need an occasional catastrophe to break up the incessant bombardment of information… The flow is constant… Only a catastrophe gets our attention.” 

— William Basinski

Visible Cloaks
‘Reassemblage’ — 2017
Rvng Intl.

How To Disappear Completely
Mer de Revs I/II/III’ — 2017
Withinwithout

Harold Budd 
‘Luxa’ — 1996
All Saints

Boards of Canada 
‘Tomorrow’s Harvest’ — 2013
Warp

Bohren & Der Club of Gore
‘Patchouli Blue’ — 2020
[pias]

Yasuaki Shimizu
‘Kakashi’ — 1986
Better Days

Laurel Halo 
‘Quarantine’ — 2012
Hyperdub

Jun Fukamachi
‘Nicole’ — 1986
Nicole Company Limited

“I have been trying to express ki-do-ai-raku (the four emotions; joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness) through music. I would like to express even one’s hidden emotion with reality. It’s my eternal goal”

— Susumu Yokota

About Cleymoore:

Bruno Santos is a graphic designer, DJ and producer based in Berlin. He’s also the owner and curator of the Pluie/Noir collective, and co-manager of Rings of Neptune.

— More info here