CARTA MARINA
Stoic Records presents the first entry in the series Stoic Studies.
Leaving the shoreline behind, Carta Marina sets sail with two cinematic instrumental tracks, scoring their voyage through uncharted waters. On board stands Nipaluna-based Maggie Abraham (vibraphone), Naarm-based Alex Roper (drums), and Stoic mates Nate Scott (guitar) and Jamie Stroud (bass). Their first collaboration draws on a shared interest in European composers of the 60s and 70s, shaped here into a dark nautical world filled with tension and atmosphere.
“Tempest Riven” documents passage through a storm. Built on a jagged groove, distorted guitar erodes along the vessel as vibraphone sways with the push and pull. Locked-in drums hold the sails in place while a picked bass drifts between melody and rhythm. The song descends into chaos as the band crosses the eye of the storm, before finding reprieve through a break in the swell.
“Murmurations” tells a different story - one where the crew witnesses a formation so vast that the boundary between the sea and sky begins to dissolve. Ethereal melodies from vibraphone and guitar circle and converge, guiding the music forward as the rhythm section remains steadfast.
The recordings were created in Naarm / Melbourne on the eve of a significant lockdown announcement in 2020. Engineered and mixed by Jamie Stroud, the sessions favoured a raw, live take through a Tascam TSR-8 ¼ tape machine and 3500 console, retaining small imperfections, strange inconsistencies and all. The approach captured the music’s tension and instability, placing it somewhere between a live document and an imagined score.
Carta Marina presents its findings as Stoic Studies Vol. 1 - a late-night transmission from open water, continuing to chart a course into the unknown.