The Los Angeles ambient musician continues to explore the interdependence of plants and humans, but they add new wrinkles to their placid style, shifting from easy listening to dynamic soundscaping.
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A simple, open sense of awe suffuses the music Olive Ardizoni makes as Green-House. Their debut record under that alias, the calming, contemplative
, came out in early 2020 via the Los Angeles label Leaving, a longtime home for music with a spiritual slant and a reverent embrace of nature. Like Mort Garsonâs 1976 cult classic
Mother Earthâs Plantasia, the first Green-House release took plants and their caretakers as its intended audience. Ardizoni similarly followed Stevie Wonderâs mesmerizing 1979 score
Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants in mapping the behaviors of flora onto synthesized compositions, trying to imagine what kind of musical patterns plants might like to hearâor, conversely, what kind of rhythms and melodies might induce in people the opportunity to empathize somatically with their still, unspeaking neighbors.
[You’ve Changed]
Fiver is the musical project of Toronto-based singer, guitarist, and producer Simone Schmidt. Schmidt’s latest work is a collaboration with drummer Bianca Palmer and multi-instrumentalists Nick Dourado and Jeremy Costello. Schmidt recorded with the trio dubbed the Atlantic School of Spontaneous Composition in Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq People near Nova Scotia. Schmidt produced the album, which explores an improvisational approach to country music and got recorded between 2017 and 2018.
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Cuteness can be therapeutic. Thatâs the message that Olive Ardizoni wants to get across in their music as Green-House. âCuteness and joy are gateways to compassion,â says the Los Angeles musician, who is nonbinary. âFind Home,â an emotional standout from their album
Music for Living Spaces, upcoming from Los Angelesâ Leaving Records, confirms that âcutenessâ neednât be synonymous with frivolity.
In recent years, Leaving has become an outpost for the new-age revival, wholeheartedly embracing musicâs potential as a conduit for wellness and spiritual betterment, and Green-Houseâs practice is perfectly in tune with this philosophy. Before moving to Los Angeles from Asheville, North Carolina, Ardizoni sang in punk and metal bands, but they were also in the habit of talking to plants, which eventually led them to make music for them. (Hence, perhaps, the artistâs photosynthesis-friendly alias.) Itâs e