Over the holidays, Nicholas Szczepanik quietly released La Luna del Este, a gorgeous, 43-minute ambient drone piece. It’s a moody affair, but not loudly so; invoking the works of such luminaries as William Basinski and Aidan Baker, this piece simply turns on the coldness—an appropriate emotion to feel during the bleakness of the winter. Within its cold-natured heart, though, is a warm, warming, reassuring comfort. It’s space, but it’s not infinite space. It doesn’t challenge, it simply asks you to turn off your mind, relax, and float downstream.
