Strumming Music is one of my favourites from Charlemagne Palestine. The way he slowly gets to the beautiful harmonies from sometimes sterile minimalism is very beautiful and transformative like you described. The beautiful parts, to me at least, has similar feeling to them as some more electronicly produced repetitive loop music like William Basinskis The Disintegration Loops or Celer's Engaged Touches, but those works kind of go straight in there, and thus feels like a complished work placed for a show. Where as Palestine takes you there with his process. I guess that is why I usually like to listen to his music from live recordings or youtube videos, since the recorded music tends to fight against it. The process is made for the recording, and I think I can hear it. Strumming Music is one of the less "icey" records from him. It could be also the colourful visuals of the videos that warms the sound. Here's a short excerpt of his work with bells: https://youtu.be/1HnnGopah4A?t=109Omoksha wrote:Charlemagne Palestine; particularly ‘Strumming Music’ and ‘The Apocalypse will Blossom’.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bulibjyaQ0s&t=198s
It is interesting, because minimalism to this extent doesn’t normally move me so much, but there is something very transformative about this piece (Strumming Music).
He is playing between two pianos, I think, but monotonously on the same sustained arpeggio. It is in many ways a practice in patience, but if one can last to the point that the first sustained harmonies begin, they have a profound beauty - at least to me they did/do.
A new finding for me that has been on repeat lately is Thomas Ligotti's The Unholy City. Apparently he's also made music for us to enjoy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJsV69bQhYI