zakè (ft. various artists) 'Silentium' [2CD]

Glass-mastered, silkscreen printed 2xCD housed in a 6-panel, 300g satin cardstock Digipak. Clear cd trays. Includes a digital download card. Shrinkwrapped. Pressed and printed in the Canada. Edition of 200.

Also available at:

🇬🇧 Juno Records
🇬🇧 Norman Records
🇮🇹 Soundohm Records
🇯🇵 Tobira Records
🇺🇸 pitp.bandcamp.com
🇺🇸 zakedrone.bandcamp.com

zakè [ft. Various Artists] – Silentium (Zakè Drone Recordings, 2025)

Album description & introduction by Thomas Meluch (Benoît Pioulard)

"zakè (aka Zach Frizzell) has consistently built goodwill and community through his renowned family of labels (Past Inside the Present, Zakè Drone Recordings, and Healing Sound Propagandist) since 2018, and with the collaborative anthology Silentium, those roots bear remarkable fruit in the form of 22 compositions across more than two hours. It is a towering testament to care and kinship, as well as to the artist’s noble ambitions as a creator and curator.

During an extended period in early 2024, Frizzell issued a wide-ranging call for organic sounds, outdoor ambience, sound fragments, and environmental frequencies with no style, source, or duration specified. The response was immediate, and the result comprises works with 21 legendary artists and friends of Zach's. (see below for detailed notes).

Whether from handheld chimes or an open churchyard, crunching leaves or clattering subway trains, each source formed the basis of a unique composition, creating a headphone travelogue that passes through such disparate climes as Berlin, Chicago, Florence, Los Angeles, Budapest, and rural China, to name a few. Pieces range from subdued piano loops limned with patina and tissue-thin analog artifacts, to vocal lamentations, to ocean swells of guitar and synth, all unified by emotional intuition and the pursuit of beauty.

Regarding his process for Silentium, Frizzell states, “The goal was to create a portrait of peace, one that captures the true beauty of our planet, both seen and heard. Each response added new depth to this universe of sound, serving as both inspiration and a reminder to appreciate the world as it is, as well as the way it has the potential to be; peaceful and beautiful.”

The release of Silentium honors one of Frizzell’s guiding beliefs: that it is far better to give than to receive. In this spirit, all proceeds from the album will go to the Children's Music Fund, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides music therapy to ailing children with the goal of overcoming pain, fear and anxiety resulting from a wide range of life-altering medical conditions."

Below is the full list of contributing artists, and a brief description of the sounds they captured:

Lucy Gooch documented four recordings near a church in York, England.

William Basinski provided a trio of vignettes captured while on tour: birds singing in Budapest, a walk on an iced path in Winnipeg, and liminal sounds from China.

T.R. Jordan sent a handful of themes from a collection of archived piano pieces.

IKSRE recorded the Koshi chimes that she uses to comfort her young daughter, who says that the sound “makes her heart feel better.”

Slow Dancing Society sent a massive collection of various textures; Frizzell remarks, “the challenge of creating a piece around all of his sounds was considerable, but comforting.”

Cat Tyson Hughes recorded her daughter Camille while they were out on a walk, when her attention was captured by the distant sound of a mechanical box on the train line. Hughes notes, “It was so special to see her as interested in the sound as I was.”

Marc Ertel played the pipe organ at the Crown Hill Cemetery Gothic Chapel in Indianapolis, where he and Frizzell performed together live some years ago.

Benoît Pioulard provided a cassette field recording from his commute to work, going over the Manhattan Bridge on the N train, with the Brooklyn Bridge and Statue of Liberty in view.

Drum & Lace submitted a handful of sounds from Florence, including those of an olive grove, church bells, and several centuries-old fountains.

Tyresta shared an open air recording from near his home in Chicago, IL.

Belly Full of Stars sent three passages: collaborative singing (with Angela Winter and Elisa Faires) in a parking garage, a sound bath crafted by healer Taj Chandler, and a gathering storm heard from her back deck in Tennessee.

Wayne Robert Thomas submitted a recording of wind through swaying trees, captured on a late summer day in 2014.

marine eyes ventured to a creek to document the sounds of spring, stating, "It was just me, the water, and the birds, tucked away in a little canyon taking some time to lift up thoughts of health and love."
City of Dawn, one of Frizzell’s most frequent collaborators, crafted stems for a wide-ranging array of completed sounds and environments.

Christina Giannone shared the results of a walk around Greenpoint, Brooklyn in 2022.

Polar Moon provided four recordings from the streets of Berlin and Paris while on tour with his band, Filter.

Bvdub sent a suite of sonic moments from an airport in Hangzhou, China.

From Overseas and his young son roamed the low hills of Provence, France, to capture wind in the almond trees, and the strange drone of fighter jets in training.

James Bernard improvised and processed various themes on his double-felted piano.

ASC offered a handful of drone motifs from his personal archive.

Angela Winter shared an improvised vocal arrangement, as well as a recording from a hot air balloon ride over the Pyramid of the Sun in Mexico on New Year's Day at sunrise, and various bird calls from Highland Park in Los Angeles.

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Written, recorded, and produced by zakè
Featured field recordings by artist notated in each song title
Mastered at Ambient Mountain House by James Bernard
Album description and introduction by Thomas Meluch
Cover Photography by Cynthia Bernard

© 2025 Zakè Drone Recordings
℗ 2025 Past Inside the Present Publishing (BMI)
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