This week on Living Classical: a piece that reveals the cost of escapism

Plus: how daily rituals shape creative work on a new micro/Maker

Author

Tyler Kline
January 30, 2026

🍃 Loose Leaf Transmissions – Weekly Dispatch

Hey folks! I hope this week’s newsletter finds you well.

This week on Living Classical, I'm sharing music that moves between attention and escape in ways I find really compelling. Rob Funkhouser's Iris Field (part of his larger Respiratory Cycle) is shaped by breath and asks for a particular level of patience and close listening.

Then there's Igor Santos's portrait RE, which builds a sound world from the textures of modern life: phone notifications, alert tones, video game systems booting up, and more. That enticing surface gets interrupted by the recorded voice of Brazilian philosopher Paulo Freire, translated to English as “The oppressed must be their own example in the struggle for their redemption.” It’s a phenomenal work that (in my opinion) reveals how escapism dulls our ability to pay attention to what actually matters.

I also have a new micro/Maker episode out this week – just one this time, which wasn't the plan, but here we are. Vanessa Ague talks about the rhythms that shape her writing: daily listening, long walks, and how language moves between repetition and variation. We’re back on schedule with two episodes next week, and starting in March, I’ll be releasing an additional micro/Maker each week!

🎧 New on the Feed

📻 Living Classical with Tyler Kline

Now streaming: Living Classical Episode 5 for January 25 - 31, 2026

On this week's Living Classical with Tyler Kline, music shaped by breath, attention, and interruption. Rob Funkhouser's Iris Field builds large-scale sound from the motion of breathing, opening gradually over time, while Igor Santos's portrait RE fractures familiar textures with the recorded voice of Brazilian philosopher Paulo Freire, insisting on engagement rather than escape.

Also featured: music by Mary Denney, Sebastian Zhang, Ted Hearne, Charly Daniels, David Crowell, Hitomi Oba, Chiyoko Szlavnics, David Acevedo, Natalie Dietterich, and Caroline Shaw.

🎙 micro/Maker

Episode 073: Listening as Creative Practice (featuring Vanessa Ague)

Vanessa Ague on the rhythms that shape her writing – daily listening, long walks, and how language moves between repetition and variation.

Episodes are released every Tuesday and Friday. Subscribe now!

🔜 Coming Up Soon

Coming up on Living Classical (streaming Sunday, February 2): you'll hear Devonté Hynes's Morning Piece, a work where one note more would be too much and one less, too little, alongside Jeffrey Mumford's ...amid still and floating depths, which moves between spareness and intensity. Plus, works by Carlos Simon, Courtney Bryan, James Lee III, Jessie Montgomery, Tyler Taylor, Michael Abels, Ty Bloomfield, Curtis Stewart, Billy Childs, and Shelley Washington.

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I’m grateful, as always, for the time you spend with what I make.