Melodía 'Diario de viaje' [CD]

Repress of Melodía's beautiful 2014 release in a 300 edition. Thick four panel matte card pack as designed by Christian Roth and Ian Hawgood. Glass-mastered (pressed) CD as always. Melodía is Federico Durand and Tomoyoshi Date. This album was recorded in Luxembourg, France, Belgium, Germany and Japan. Mixed in Tokyo and Buenos Aires.

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Press Release for May 2024 Repress (UK):

It has been almost ten years since the release of this seminal work from two of the leading artists in the micro-sound ambient scene in Federico Durand and Tomoyoshi Date. As Melodía, they have released some of the most beautiful fragile music of nature recordings and delicate acoustic instrumentation I've ever come across. Their 2014 release on Home Normal 'Diario de viaje' was no exception.

As part of our fifteen year anniversary, we invited selected artists to create mixes of Home Normal releases. One of the albums that was a clear inspiration to many was this beauty from Melodía. It was a reminder of what a truly inspiring experience it was to work on this together.

The album is a travel diary of Federico's tour with Tomoyoshi in Japan and in Europe and the package consisted of images taken by the duo and Caroline Derselle in memory of this special time together. The package was designed in collaboration with the duo alongside myself and my dear friend (and HN web and package designer back in the day) Christian Roth. It was a reminder of the beauty and joy of collaboration between people trusting each other to create something truly special.

Originally released exclusively in Japan through P*Dis, this is a 300 repress of the exact same package through our old pressing plant in the USA. This is a personal repress as one of my favourite releases in music and design we've ever put out, and really as a little birthday present to myself as a matter of pride for what the label has achieved in its 15 year history.

With gratitude and thanks, Ian

Press Release from December 2014 (Japan):

Tomoyoshi Date has long been on the Home Normal radar due to his wonderful solo work, as well as his work with Chihei Hatakeyama (Opitope), Corey Fuller (ILLUHA), and finally, with our dear friend Federico Durand (Melodía). Born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, but currently residing in Tokyo, Japan, Tomo started working with Fede (himself from a suburb of beautiful Buenos Aires, Argentina), after releasing solo works on the brilliant Own Records label. After touring in Europe in 2012, they released their first album as Melodía called ‘Saudades’ in February of 2013.

After the success of the Melodía debut, as well as Federico’s growing popularity in Japan in particular with the now classic Home Normal release ‘El Libro De Los Árboles Mágicos’, Tomo invited Fede to tour Japan. The result of recordings in hotel rooms, friend’s houses, fields, and various other places, is the perfectly titled ‘Diario de viaje’ (literally translated as ‘travel diary’). Taken from their recordings in both Europe and Japan, the album perfectly embodies the tender, organic nature of their work, as they carefully layer the most fragile of sounds.

Given the nature of Home Normal as essentially a home to wandering / wondering music, ‘Diario de viaje’ is a perfect fit of music through true friendship; a wide-eyed innocent look at the world as it should be. Given that both have recently become fathers (Fede for the first time, Tomo for the second) , this innocence is something warm to snuggle up to as the winter takes its chilly hold. 

Mastered by Tomoyoshi Date
Artwork picture by Caroline Derselle
Tour pictures by Melodía
Design by Christian Roth and Ian Hawgood