Ever since debuting with the Tape series on Soundway Records in 2018, Dutch musician and producer Felbm has found a broad international audience with his gentle instrumental music, often recorded on four-track cassette. This series’ soft, jazzy and soulful sounds, captured on four EPs and two vinyl LPs, gradually found their way to well-regarded DJs, playlists and radio stations such as KEXP, NPR, BBC Radio, NTS, FIP and many more.
In 2021 Felbm (real name Eelco Topper) released a conceptual record titled Elements of Nature, made during a 2-week residency in a former monastery. The initial self-release on cassette sold out quickly and was followed up by an exclusive double LP on Soundway Records. Inspired by the architecture and natural surroundings of the monastery, the concept album showed a new side to Topper, exploring and implementing acoustic sounds like singing bowls, wooden percussion, cello, flute and saxophone.
During the first half of 2022 Felbm started working on a new conceptual composition, born from a lifelong interest and growing awareness of the cyclical nature of the world around him - be it through observing nature as well as personal life, or through minimalist composers such as Erik Satie and Steve Reich. This work now sees daylight as new record cycli infini : a 38-minute composition of metamorphosing tape loops, musical patterns and instrumental sketches.
Anchor-points in the track are defined by a three-piece horn section, comprised of flute, alto saxophone and bass trumpet, playing themes and solos while the ever-changing musical landscape toys with jazz, ambient, fourth world and percussive sounds. As the music evolves through the key progression, organic elements such as birdsong and wind chimes ground the piece in nature.
While Topper's previous releases comprised series of short, individual tracks, on cycli infini the tapestry is sewn seamlessly together using a step-like progression through the circle of fifths, which as the name suggests, brings the listener back to the musical key and soundscape at which they started. Should the full track be played on repeat, it begins anew without disruption, creating an essentially never-ending piece that challenges the idea of the traditional listening process.
More:
The Music of Felbm - a film by Pierre Zylstra (2023)
RE:Noise Podcast (2022)
Interview with Ban Ban Ton Ton (2021)
