Tag Archives: borghi teager

Matt Borghi & Michael Teager’s ‘Subterranean Bearings’ and “Vanishing Point”

Some news on the ambient front.

Subterranean Bearings, the new Matt Borghi & Michael Teager album, is out now. Years in the making, it’s our first LP since 2014’s Shades of Bending Light. While reminiscent of our ambient recordings from 2013-2014, Subterranean Bearings explores new sonic terrain for us.

The material was recorded gradually from 2017 to 2018. Unlike our previous recordings, which were all live free improvisations, the guitar and saxophone parts were recorded separately in our respective home studios in East Lansing, MI and West Seneca, NY over many months. Borghi’s trademark sonic beds are often ornamented here by more active, overtly melodic gestures. Additionally, my contributions include multiple simultaneous horn lines. We tried to keep spontaneity at the core of our new collaborative process. As such, for each piece on the album, each saxophone track was recorded in a single isolated take, without regard for the other saxophonic textures. The horn lines at times complement and agitate one another in intriguing ways. These more actively polyphonic textures combine to offer a new take on the traditional Borghi | Teager aesthetic.

This release will be digital only and is now available for purchase from Bandcamp. It will be available for streaming via Spotify, Apple Music, and other outlets in the coming weeks.

borghiteager_subterraneanbearings
Subterranean Bearings

To coincide with this release, we recently recorded a long-form piece in the vein of our previous work. The piece, “Vanishing Point,” will be released Tuesday 06/30 via the Ambient Soundbath podcast.

borghiteager_vanishingpoint
“Vanishing Point” via the Ambient Soundbath

We’re happy with the new album as well as its accompanying podcast appetizer. We hope you give a listen.

Find Subterranean Bearings on Bandcamp here.
More information on where to listen to “Vanishing Point” and the Ambient Soundbath here (https://ambientsoundbath.com).
More information on Matt Borghi & Michael Teager here.

(The photographs for the album art were taken by me in Austria’s Bregenzerwald [2016] and at Pere Marquette Park in Muskegon, MI [2019], respectively.)

[NOTE: The original post was lost in a site error. This is a reconstruction/re-posting.]

Borghi | Teager at Muskegon’s The Block on Saturday 02.21.15

All has been quiet on the blog front this last month due to the wonderful new addition to our family. Regular posting should resume soon, but first a concert announcement:

This Saturday, I’ll be performing what I believe to be my first hometown show as a leader. I’ve played a number of fun (and occasionally featured) gigs in Muskegon over the years, but none of those have included my name in the top billing. This weekend, however, the Borghi | Teager ambient juggernaut will land in and sound throughout Michigan’s City by the Lake. The weather should hold for the evening, so please come out if you’re in the area. And don’t just take my word for it – we’re #1 is this weekend’s Top 5 Things To Do in the Muskegon Chronicle.

We’re performing at The Block, a wonderful, intimate venue opened by the West Michigan Symphony a couple years ago that offers up-close performances in myriad styles. Matt and I have long thought that our music is more akin to a listening space such as a concert hall as opposed to a rock club (even though we’re happy to play the latter!). Generally, for this type of music in that type of an environment, it’s been Philadelphia’s The Gathering or bust for us, and so we’re excited to have such a great opportunity close to home.

From the official press release:

Performance duo Borghi and Teager bring “jambient” music to a February performance at The Block in downtown Muskegon.

Matt Borghi (guitars, effects) and Michael Teager (saxophones, flute) are a recording and live performance duo focusing on improvised ambient, or “jambient,” music. The duo combines guitars, winds and electronics to make each performance a unique experience. The program starts at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21. Doors and cash bar open at 6:30 p.m.

Matt Borghi is a sound artist, music composer, writer, but he claims that above all he’s a musical improviser, using his guitar in traditional and non-traditional means. His recordings have been featured on NPR, BBC and CBC.

Michael Teager is a Muskegon native and versatile musician, performing frequently throughout the Midwest in a variety of styles. He also serves on the faculties of Spring Arbor University and Michigan State University’s Office of Study Abroad, teaching each summer in Bregenz, Austria.

Saturday evening’s concert is titled “Soundscape. Improvised. Jazz.” When asked what audiences might expect form a Borghi and Teager concert, Michael Teager, who also regularly plays saxophone with the West Michigan Symphony, explained that the concert would be “a unique, contemplative evening of sound. Our music is too active to be considered traditionally ambient, it’s melodic and heavily improvised but doesn’t swing, and there are formal structures that constantly evolve.” Teager continued, “There’s something for everyone. We’ve also put together some visuals to make it a more immersive, sensuous experience.”

Overall, musicians Borghi and Teager are focused on the spontaneity of live performance and on taking the listener on a journey into sound.

Tickets for Borghi and Teager’s concert “Soundscape. Improvised. Jazz.” are $20 and available at the West Michigan Symphony ticket office: 231.726.3231 ext. 223; online at https://itkt.choicecrm.net/templates/WMSO/; or in person at 360 W. Western Ave. in Muskegon. For more information, visit www.westmichigansymphony.org/the-block.

Info:
When: Saturday 02.21 @ 7:30 PM (doors & cash bar at 6:30)
Where: The Block; Muskegon, MI
Tickets: $20, available here

Catching Up

It’s been too long since a new post (not counting the last one, a gig-related update), and the last big entry was pretty inside baseball. The last few months have been quite busy. There are myriad reasons, but the largest of which is likely the prep, execution, and recuperation from the Borghi | Teager East Coast Tour. It was a grassroots, DIY affair and it couldn’t have gone better. Seven shows in four days (not including the bookended days of driving and one day of rest), many of which were in different cities and times (from 4:00 PM to 4:00 AM), including radio sets (both live and pre-taped), genre shows, and non-genre shows. We slept on floors and couches and a few beds and managed to come home with small but comfy profit. Now we’re home, the new studio album is out, and we’re already busy scheming away for 2015 (including a big show in Muskegon – a homecoming of sorts – I’ll plug more at a later date).

But I’ve also been busy teaching and working and attempting a family/social life. And The Fencemen are also quietly rumbling away, dusting off old tunes and writing new ones. And I’m raking leaves. Yada yada…

So I figured I’d perhaps doing a quick roundup of miscellaneous thoughts and notions and updates:

• I actually listened to U2 Songs of Innocence – yes, the free iTunes album everyone was typing in ALL CAPS about. This was about a week ago, actually. I didn’t hyperventilate over it as so many others did. I watched the initial announcement (which was after their performance at the Apple Event) and thought it was more odd than anything, particularly because I thought the song they performed was pretty weak. Granted, I’m a mostly passive U2 fan. I had three albums (not to mention the Batman Forever soundtrack) before Songs…, and I listen to them occasionally at most. I wasn’t too offended that the album was available to download in my account (it didn’t appear on my computer without my authorization), but I was very skeptical and slightly disturbed at the notion that the “freemium” culture had now achieved total corporate saturation. My best case (and hopeful) scenario is that this is hopefully a jumping of the shark of not paying for music. But we’ll see.
Anyway, why did I listen? Because I had read and heard so much about the calamitous PR surrounding and released of the album and almost nothing about the actual content. Well, after one complete listen I can report that most of it didn’t stick with me, save for a couple decent moments. And considering all the hype around the immediate announcement of the album, those moments should’ve been much more than “decent.” I’ll be removing Songs of Meh from my library. I had considered doing a full New Listen going through each song, but that would’ve been more about the act of doing it than caring about the actual music. Which I don’t in this case.

• No matter how big or small a genre or scene may be, I’m continually amazed at the lack of unity or community. You’d think that all would band together and that a rising tide would lift all boats. Instead it’s more like a rising tide is an opportunity to sink your neighbor…

• I recently performed in a chamber recital, my first in a couple years at least. It was lovely to revisit that world and aesthetic, and it has me wanting to possibly do more.

• I’m continually impressed with and amazed by my friends and colleagues. It sounds cliché, but I’m surrounded by some damn talented folks. Some of my favorite music was (and continues to be) created by them.

• The Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross score for Gone Girl is quite good.

• PRISM Quartet’s The Singing Gobi Desert has been nominated for a Grammy. I was happy to see that, as it’s a great release. You can read about it here.

• I should mention again that the new Matt Borghi & Michael Teager effort is out now. Shades of Bending Light is our second studio album. Among many other things, it marks my official return to alto saxophone in a non-classical or musical theater environment. I’ve kept that horn separate for years, for whatever reason. It’s nice to have it back in the fold.

East Coast Performances This Week 10.08-12

Just a quick heads-up, as I know that there are some readers on the East Coast. Should you want to take in some live ambient music, come see Borghi | Teager, my main project with friend and colleague Matt Borghi. The quick rundown:

10.08 Wed. – Baltimore, MD
10.09 Thurs. – Greenwich Village, NYC
10.10 Fri. – Brooklyn, NY
10.10 Fri. – Princeton, NJ (radio)
10.11 Sat. – Philadelphia, PA
10.12 Sun. – Philadelphia, PA (radio)

For full date and venue information, please check our dates page on http://borghi-teager.com.

Previous blog posts on ambient music and stuff related to this project here and here.

Available Now: Borghi | Teager on ‘Ambient Music to Heal’ Compilation

Ambient Music to Heal Cover DD

I’m pleased to announce that Matt and I will be included on a wonderful new album from Dave Luxton‘s ambient label Wayfarer Records. Ambient Music to Heal: An Album for Our Wounded Warriors is a compilation of new works featuring a wonderful lineup that we’re pleased to be a part of, also including: Boreal Taiga, Jonn Serrie, Byron Metcalf, Steve Roach, Dave Luxton, Jon Jenkins, Vic HenneganRobert Rich, and Matt Borghi & Michael Teager. Our contribution, “Cosmic Impression,” is an original piece created and recorded specifically for this release.

Aside from all of the great music, this release has a special aim and is for a noble cause. Dave Luxton is also a clinical psychologist and veteran, and these particular works are meant to “provide a relaxing, therapeutic ambient music for service members and veterans suffering from [physical, mental, emotional health-related [disorders].” All profits of this release will be donated to the Wounded Warriors Project.

Anyone can listen to and enjoy this album, of course. It is available today both digitally and physically from the following outlets:

iTunes
Amazon
CD Baby
Bandcamp