Alec L. Critten
Another stunning release from PITP, with both sides of equally-high quality that complement each other. While I'm happy to support any new material from Wayne, I was also delighted by Isaac's side. "In Which We Hold Our Breath..." feels like a journey, with a gorgeous string section and a very nice piano coda. A very welcome addition to my collection that cements for me this label's deserved reputation.
Favorite track: Cantus in Memoriam Mark David Hollis.
Brett McGrath
You are going to want to get this one before it’s gone! This is a stunning split release from Past Inside the Present. I’ve enjoyed everything this label has put out and RÁS is no different.
Toby Kaufmann-Buhler
Both Thomas and Helsen have produced lovely and heartbreaking work here, impossible to choose a favorite track; also, the cover photography/design is excellent.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Purchasable with gift card
$3USD or more
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
155 gram transparent red vinyl housed in a full color, matte jacket. Full color labels. Records are placed in white paper innersleeves. Shrink-wrapped. Limited to 75 units.
Includes unlimited streaming of RÁS
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
ships out within 4 days
edition of 75
$19USDor more
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
155 gram black vinyl housed in a full color, matte jacket. Full color labels. Records are placed in white paper innersleeves. Shrink-wrapped. Limited to 100 units.
Includes unlimited streaming of RÁS
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Limited Edition LP: 155 gram transparent red vinyl housed in a full color, matte jacket. Full color labels. Records are placed in white paper innersleeves. Shrink-wrapped.
Test Press LP: 155 gram black vinyl LP housed in a black jacket with a 11”x3” test press sticker on front cover. Record placed in an anti-static, high density rice paper innersleeves for ultimate protection. Jacket housed in a polyethylene sleeve. Limited to 3 units. Free shipping worldwide.
Includes unlimited streaming of RÁS
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
‘RÁS’ is derived from a Faroese word, which roughly translates to “a strong current in a narrow passage which links two seas”, mirroring the outcome of Thomas’ & Helsen’s independent arrangements, cultivating a strong bond or link between their compositions.
Wayne Robert Thomas:
'Cantus In Memoriam Mark David Hollis' is a very personal piece that mourns the loss of a very talented human being whose presence will be deeply missed in this world. He's had such a profound influence on me as well as many others and now I feel that his music carries any even greater weight than before when listening to it. This one is for Mark.
'A Grey Morning, Later Lovely Sunshine' was what Alexandra Fyodorovna described the day of July 16, 1918. Unbeknownst to her and the rest of the Russian royal family they were to be brutally murdered late into the night. I felt that this line described perfectly the month of February for me, a month that was full of loss and grief, as it had several overcast days and then sunlight would appear only for something tragic to happen.
Isaac Helsen:
It is often only in hindsight that we are able to fully conceive the spaces we have traversed, notably in those metamorphic shifts of the mind. In looking back, our vision widens and clarifies; the darkness—once so intrusive and internal—is recast. Held against the light, its burden lifts and takes a different shape. The melancholy remains but is buoyed by a new hopefulness, a landscape unfolding, a bright contentment with what is and has been.
credits
released August 16, 2019
Track 1-2: Composed & recorded by Wayne Robert Thomas at the The Winter Dacha in Fairland, Indiana, February 26-27th of 2019
Track 3: Guitar, piano, tape, and electronics composed and performed by Isaac Helsen. Strings composed and performed by Jeffrey Niemeier. Arranged by Jeffrey Niemeier and Isaac Helsen. Recorded, arranged, and mixed at La Chambre de Rêve by Isaac Helsen in January and February of 2019.
Mastered at Black Knoll Studio (NY) by Rafael Anton Irisarri
Cover photography provided by Isaac Helsen
Layout & LP assemblage by zakè
+++REVIEWS+++
“The latest on Past Inside The Present comes from the duo of Wayne Robert Thomas and Isaac Helsen. The trio of works on RÁS (a Faroese word, which roughly translates to “a strong current in a narrow passage which links two seas.” These ambient works of light are elongated, understated, elegant. The fluid and forlorn elegy to the loss of English notable (and underrated) musician Mark David Hollis floats towards the heavens. Their isolated harmonies meander, so ebullient and gentle. This is one melodic dronescape that seems unending, particularly on the eighteen minute stand-alone In Which We Hold Our Breath to Gather Light, a haunting closer that situates the listener somewhere in the woods at night, fire crackling, and much to contemplate in the surrounding wild. Perplexing + mystical.” —Toneshift.net
Past Inside the Present (PITP) is an American ambient label with a focus on offering up some of the very best ambient, ethereal, soundscape, and minimal music by prominent ambient artists from across the globe.
New cassette label full of experimental compositions. "Vol. 1" is a mostly ambient release of meditative instrumentals. Bandcamp New & Notable Jan 31, 2017
