Raphael Loher

forever thankfull to everybody who made this record and my first exhibition possible. 💙🙏💙 
🪼Hug of Gravity🪼 @hallowgroundlabel @dddahler @kplehmann Manuel Egger @ahoi_luzern & @alicebusani @materialdesign_gassler Fabienne Immoos @manueltroller @philippbenjaminschlotter Fotos: Philipp Schlotter und Cornelia Gassler #drawings #penonpaper #minimal

coverstory for @null41.ch with @raphael.loher

Raphael Loher «Hug of Gravity» Plattentaufe Ausstellung & Konzerte Mittwoch 08.04 19h - 22h Konzert: Philipp Schlotter & Raphael Loher Samstag 11.04 14h - 17h & 19h - 22h Konzert: Manuel Troller & Raphael Loher Dienstag 14.04 19h - 22h Konzert: Raphael Loher Konzerte jeweils um 20.15h Voranmeldung empfohlen [email protected] Plätze limitiert Das künstlerische Schaffen von Raphael Loher ist geprägt von der bewussten Reduktion und einer erweiterten Aufmerksamkeit für feine Verschiebungen. Im abgelegenen Bleniotal – umgeben von Bergen und Tälern, vom kalten Fluss hinter dem Haus und von der Ruhe der alten Schokoladenfabrik – haben sich diese Qualitäten im Prozess zum Album «Hug of Gravity» gleichzeitig in der Musik und auf bildlicher Ebene entwickelt und beeinflusst. Die Plattentaufe und Ausstellung im Ahoi ist eine Möglichkeit, die Musik des Albums im Wechselspiel mit den Zeichnungen zu erleben.

Hug of Gravity - Exhibition & Release Concerts

While working in valle di blenio on the album Hug of Gravity, drawings emerged alongside the music — both shaped by conscious reduction and an attentiveness to subtle shifts. The album launch and exhibition @ahoi_luzern offer a chance to experience the music in dialogue with these drawings. Wednesday 08.04 19h - 22h Concert - @philippbenjaminschlotter & Raphael Loher Saturday 11.04 14h - 17h & 19h - 22h 
Concert - @manueltroller & Raphael Loher Tuesday 14.04 19h - 22h 
Concert - Solo

Concerts at 20.15h #minimal #ahoi #drawings @hallowgroundlabel @murailles_music

AGENDA | @raphael.loher : dix notes, deux octaves, une idée sur laquelle se concentrer comme un marteau têtu sur un seul clou jusqu’à la fin des temps: voilà qui suffit à ce pianiste-fakir pour déplier mille paysages (mentaux, abstraits ou très concrets), et y faire scintiller mille épiphanies. → 30/11 • Genève (CH) • @akouphenefest , cave12 cc @hallowgroundlabel

Hug of Gravity is about to turn one month old, and I would like to thank the people of @cimacitta for the fantabulous experience I was able to have there — and to share a little about the process through which the album took shape. Without Cima Città, this album would not exist, and I’m deeply grateful that I had the opportunity to dive into the process of Hug of Gravity at this wonderful residency. The place itself was essential to that process — not only because of the time and space it offered, but because everything around it fed the work: the cold river behind the house, the mountains and valleys, and the silence and solitude. On some days I wandered for nine or ten hours through the nearby mountains, and those walks opened a sense of expanded temporality. Time seemed to lengthen; experiences grew more diverse and more nuanced; the world appeared different. This shift in my perception of time and space shaped the way I worked with the varispeed tape machine. It allowed me to alter the pitch of different recordings as I layered them, letting interference patterns emerge and emphasize the emotional qualities of the samples I was using. My album wouldn’t exist without Cima Città, and Cima Città wouldn’t exist without the many people who took care of this place. So thank you all from the bottom of my heart. 1 - Sasso Lanzone 2 - Cima della Negra 3 - my studio at Cima Citta 4 - river behind the house 5 - on Cima di Aguilla 6 - bath in the Ri di Scaradra 7 - b77 workstation 8 - some goats on the way to Cima di Gana Rossa 9 - near Cima del Simano 10 - Cima Citta #b77 #hugofgravity #cimacittà #cima

⛰︎ ོ ༄ RAPHAEL LOHER Hug of Gravity 2LP Ltd. art editions Raphael Loher is an outstanding Swiss pianist and composer who expands the piano with preparations as well as the use of electronic effects and tape machines. In his music, he deals with the presence of sound and its concentrated reduction. The source material for these four sprawling pieces was culled from recordings of the artist performing the album’s predecessor, 2022’s »Keemuun.« Loher used them in a painstaking two-part working process to create an album that is both a product of and an ode to transformation, exploring themes of alternative temporalities and spatialities. »Hug of Gravity« oscillates between experimental electronic music, ambient, and minimal music and calls to mind the work of artists like William Basinski, Linda Catlin Smith, or label mate Andrius Arutiunian. Credits All music and artwork by Raphael Loher @raphael.loher Mastered by Manuel Egger Lacquer cut by LUPO @lupo_lubich Design by Dorothee Dähler @dddahler and Kaj Lehmann @kplehmann Released by Hallow Ground @hallowgroundlabel

ＨＡＬＬＯＷ ＧＲＯＵＮＤ Ｃｏｌｌｅｃｔｉｖｅ Ｌｉｓｔｅｎｉｎｇ ¸¸♫ Martina Berther Philipp Schlotter 🐐 𝒮𝒾𝓁𝑒𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝒲𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒩𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝒟𝒾𝑒 Raphael Loher ⛰︎ ོ 𝐻𝓊𝑔 𝑜𝒻 𝒢𝓇𝒶𝓋𝒾𝓉𝓎 1. Nov. - Doors 20h - Listening 20.30h (((Drinks))) 2. Nov. - Doors 16h - Listening 17h (((Soup and Drinks))) Albisriederstrasse 108 CH-8003 Zürich @hallowgroundlabel @raphael.loher @martina_berther_ @philippbenjaminschlotter

~*~ Hug of Gravity ~•~ New Solo Album ~*~ Today marks the release of my second solo album Hug of Gravity. I’m deeply greatful that the time has come to let this music go and share it with you. The album took shape over three years in the remote Blenio Valley, during my residency at Cima Città – surrounded by mountains and valleys, by the cold stream behind the house, in the company of solitude, silence, and this music. If you’d like to know more about how this music came into being – slowly, layer by layer – you can find more information on Bandcamp. I had hoped to show you a photo of the physical record – with my drawings that make each copy a unique small universe. But the pressing plant has gone bankrupt, and the vinyl will arrive a few weeks later than planned. On November 1st and 2nd, there will be a Hallow Ground listening session in Zurich – together with the album by Martina Berther & Philipp Schlotter. Because not only music, but also many drawings emerged during my time in the Blenio Valley – drawings that became the album’s artwork – there will be an exhibition at Galerie Ahoi in Lucerne in April 2026, featuring the drawings, listening sessions, and concerts. My heartfelt thanks go out to all the wonderful people who supported me along the way to this album – especially everyone from @cimacitta , @materialdesign_gassler , @dddahler & @kplehmann , Fabienne Immoos, Remo Seeland, @hallowgroundlabel , Gerry Hemingway, Laurina Fässler, Manuel Egger, Robyn Muffler, Yvonne Dünki, and You. #albumrelease #piano #tapemachine @hallowgroundlabel @cimacitta @ahoi_luzern

⛰︎ ོ ༄ A stellar new roster recruits to unveil: we welcome artist Raphael Loher to Hallow Ground’s fold. Raphael Loher is an outstanding Swiss pianist and composer who expands the piano with preparations as well as the use of electronic effects and tape machines. In his music, he deals with the presence of sound and its concentrated reduction. Loher is a member of the groups KALI Trio and Baumschule and performs as a pianist in various constellations. His work combines elements of experimental electronic music, ambient, and minimal music. The pianist spends a lot of time in the mountains and with the practice of meditation, shaping his awareness of the present. Extensive tours provide him with opportunities to explore physical limits and sharpen his senses in order to perceive the subtle changes in his surroundings and within himself. This forms the foundation of a practice that impacts his artistic work: conscious reduction, focused movement, and a heightened awareness of subtle shifts. »Being alone in the mountains has changed my perception of time. In this setting, time expands and changes its character. This expanded temporality, as I like to call it, is important for my music.« »Hug of Gravity« is the second solo album by Raphael Loher and his first for Hallow Ground. Releases October 17th, 2025 Pre-order ltd. vinyl art edition and listen to the first track ⛰︎ ོ ༄ Portrait by Jana Leu Drawing by Raphael Loher @raphael.loher @hallowgroundlabel

I’m pleased to share an excerpt from my new solo album «Hug of Gravity».  The music came alive in a little village called Dangio in the Valle Blenio. It’s a remote valley surrounded by towering mountains, cold rivers, and larch forests. I spent four months there in a residency, working with samples from my previous solo record «Keemuun» and an old Revox B77 tape machine. Being there — out of time, all alone and feeling the vastness and quietness on top of the mountains — shaped me and the music I was working on. In the exploratory process of creation, I discovered this sense of place or emotion also within the music. It somehow feels like a «Hug of Gravity». The full album will be available on October 17th via @hallowgroundlabel as a limited double LP, accompanied by prints of drawings I created during the residency. Link in bio

SIGNATURE | [FR, english below] Raphael Loher est un pianiste et compositeur qui travaille avec un éventail de styles musicaux sur de nombreux projets interdisciplinaires. En 2022, il sort son premier album solo ‘Keemuun’ sur le label three:four records. Sur les quatre pièces de l’album, Loher réduit le piano à seulement dix notes couvrant deux octaves du clavier. Avec son jeu méditatif et focalisé sur cette idée centrale qui est devenue depuis le cœur de son œuvre solo, il explore et nous entraine inlassablement dans d’innombrables variations subtiles et motifs mouvants illusoires. [EN] Raphael Loher is a pianist and composer who works across a wide range of musical styles on numerous interdisciplinary projects. In 2022, he released his debut solo album Keemuun on the three:four records label. Across the album’s four pieces, Loher limits the piano to just ten notes spanning two octaves of the keyboard. With his meditative playing and focus on this central idea – which has since become the core of his solo work – he explores and tirelessly draws us into countless subtle variations and elusive shifting patterns. → En concert : 07.06 • Luzern (CH) • @migma_performance Festival (3h Keemuun Extended Performance)