THIS IS THE WATER AND THIS IS THE WELL
March 21, 2025 (Western Vinyl)
Single / 4:41
A meditation on transcendence; weaving together elements of lullaby and lamentation into a soundscape that explores the mysteries just beyond our perception—between existence and nothingness.
The track’s origins trace back to Muller’s lifelong love of cinema and deep reverence for the work and ethos of David Lynch. In the weeks following Lynch’s passing, Muller immersed himself in rewatching the director’s films, interviews, and Twin Peaks—a daily ritual of remembrance. One afternoon, while casually playing guitar, a familiar motif emerged—an echo of “Laura Palmer’s Theme”—unconsciously surfacing as an instinctive expression of grief and gratitude. From that moment, the composition took shape, flowing naturally as a tribute to the lasting influence of Lynch’s world.
Muller is joined by collaborators on the track: CJ Camerieri (Paul Simon, Bon Iver), whose layered flugelhorn, trumpet, and French horn billow above Spencer Zahn’s (Dawn Richard, Jessica Pratt) pizzicato bass, each note punctuating with a restrained yet vital presence. Muller’s guitar serves as the composition's grounding force, subtly guiding its movement through shadow and light.
The release features a cover image by photographer Matthew Genitempo, published by Twin Palms and Trespasser. The image—a landscape or perhaps surrealist fragment—feels both serene and unsettling, echoing the music’s delicate balance between tranquility and collapse.
Lynch’s legacy is indelible, his creative spirit forever etched into the cultural landscape. In his final public broadcast, he left us with a simple yet profound blessing: "May everyone be happy. May everyone be free of disease. May auspiciousness be seen everywhere. May suffering belong to no one. Peace. Jai Gurudev."
A percentage of proceeds of this track will benefit the David Lynch Foundation.
Featuring CJ Camerieri & Spencer Zahn
Recorded & Mixed At Elyria Sound, Los Angeles
Mastered By Chuck Johnson At Cirrus Oxide, Oakland
Cover Photograph By Matthew Genitempo
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DOGBREATH
August 1, 2024 (Trespasser)
1 Track / 28:00
Teaser
A commission from artist Matthew Genitempo. Released as a cassette tape companion piece to the 1st print edition monograph published by Tresspasser.
Set amid the extreme heat and sprawling concrete of Tucson, Arizona, Dogbreath is a photobook that depicts a series of restless adolescents as they navigate a fraught and changing world. Through photographs of urban decay, sun-faded neighborhoods, scenes of mosh pits, and punk youths alongside their feral dog counterparts, the book paints a sympathetic view of teenagers adrift in what remains of their adolescence. Interspersed with elliptical texts about a mysterious boy named Dove, who speaks of underground pagans, scrap salvaging, and the search for gold, Dogbreath presents an enigmatic, psychologically engaging portrait of youth on the edge.
Sound selections range from found VHS home movies, church bells in Marfa, winds in the desert mountains of Arizona and rural Tuscan hillsides, a gothic cathedral organ in Los Angeles, rainfall in the Texas hill country, pump jacks in the Carrizo Plain and experimental tape recordings of renowned metal drummer Daniel Davison (Norma Jean, Every Time I Die).
Produced, Arranged & Recorded by Michael A. Muller
Archival Transcriptions by Matthew Genitempo — Marfa, TX
Drums by Daniel Davison at Underground Recording — Nogales, AZ
Mixed by Michael A. Muller at Elyria Sound — Los Angeles, CA
Mastered by Chuck Johnson at Cirrus Oxide — Oakland, CA
Cassettes
Edition of 50
Clay-colored shells in clear casing.
Manufactured at Cryptic Carousel on Super Ferric C60 Cassettes — Kingston, NY
Cover Image, Layout & J-Card Printing by Matthew Genitempo — San Antonio, TX
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MIRROR MUSIC
March 1, 2024 (Deutsche Grammophon)
10 Tracks / 42 Minutes
Featuring
Danny Paul Grody
Chuck Johnson
Vestals
Ilyas Ahmed & Jonathan Sielaff
Douglas McCombs
Rama Parwata
Jefre Cantu-Ledesma
Hania Rani
Jon Porras
Clarice Jensen
Subtle-yet-poignant pieces comprise Mirror Music, Muller's debut full-length release for the Deutsche Grammophon label. With each track, Muller’s compositions—performed on Mellotron, Oberheim, and Rhodes—are expanded through collaboration with 11 different artists. Mirror Music is a study of two halves in confluence; a diptych of images braided into a singular vision.
“Much like natural wonders induce a kind of humility that pushes us to silent reflection, Mirror Music places the listener before the kind of beauty that’s almost imposing in its scale.” — Pop Matters
Produced by Michael A. Muller at Elyria Sound, Los Angeles
1/4” tape mix by Chuck Johnson at Cirrus Oxide, Oakland
Dolby Atmos Mix by Matthias Stalter, Munich
Mastered by Zino Mikorey, Berlin
Cover Painting by John Zabawa
Portrait by Rich Stapleton
Design by Cody Haltom
Digital Apple / Spotify / Tidal / YouTube
Film Mirror 8 by Rich Stapleton
MIRROR MUSIC — Vinyl
Limited Edition of 1,000
Plated & pressed at Pallas
180g black vinyl
Deluxe reverse board-printed jacket
Poly-lined inner sleeve
Purchase
US orders ship direct from artist here
ROW orders may order direct from Amazon, DG, etc
Selected Press
Antica Terra
Aquarium Drunkard
Pop Matters
Spectrum Culture
Tracking Angle
Treblezine
LOWER RIVER REWORKS
Reissue: October 20, 2023 (Deutsche Grammophon)
Original Release: January 17, 2020 (Beacon Sound/1631 Recordings)
9 Tracks / 50 Minutes
Mastered by Rafael Anton Irisarri at Black Knoll, NY
Cover Image by Awoiska van der Molen
“Recedes (Alva Noto Remodel)” is a new track commissioned specifically for this 2023 reissue. Noto’s rendition of the album’s closing piece provides a luscious musical metaphor for the infinite possibilities flowing amid the proverbial lower river.
Featuring
Alva Noto
Bing & Ruth
Marcus Fischer
Masayoshi Fujita
Daigo Hanada
Julia Kent
Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch
Duane Pitre
Saariselka
“Notes stream forth from this radiant river, which itself lays down roots in the mind and the imagination — but there’s a direct impact on the physical body, too… the slowing of the pulse and the loosening heart rate.” — Fluid Radio UK
Digital Apple / Spotify / Tidal / YouTube
Cassette
Edition of 50, hand-numbered
Hand-printed in Portland, OR by RX Letterpress
Silver Ink on matte black dead-stock Stumptown Jackets
Black ink on red shells
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LOWER RIVER
Reissue: September 22, 2023 (Deutsche Grammophon)
Original Release: October 25, 2019 (Beacon Sound/1631)
9 Tracks / 37 Minutes
Conceptually, Lower River explores the place where time, space, and self are occluded — what it means to hear versus to listen; to immerse oneself in navigating the subconscious.
Featuring Heather Woods Broderick, Elan Green, Sam Pankey,
Jonathan Sielaff, Spencer Zahn
Mixed to 1/2” tape by John Michael Landon at Estuary
Mastered by Rafael Anton Irisarri at Black Knoll, NY
Cover Image by Awoiska van der Molen
“One of the most epic journeys of sound.” — BBC
Digital Apple / Spotify / Tidal / YouTube
Films Fixed Shadow / Lower River
Vinyl
Edition of 500
Virgin black vinyl plated & pressed at RTI
Includes riso print of ‘Lower River’ by Ryan Paradiso
PURCHASE
Selected Press
15 Questions
Austin Chronicle
Echoes & Dust
Fluid Radio UK
Magic RPM
Self-Titled Magazine
Ten Laws with East Forest
VÍKINGUR ÓLAFSSON “Bird As Prophet (Michael A. Muller Rework)”
May 26, 2023 (Deutsche Grammophon)
Mastered by Götz-Michael Rieth
The focus track for the From Afar Reworks release from virtuosic Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson was commissioned as a reimagination of Ólafsson’s performance of Schumann’s “Waldszenen, Op. 82 - No. 7, Vogel als Prophet.” Cello, Mellotron and Rhodes make up the new triad of voices in this rework. Produced, recorded and mixed at Elyria Sound by Michael A. Muller & Daniel James. Featuring Heather Woods Broderick on cello.
NIGHT SCENE WITH MOON
March 17, 2023 (Deutsche Grammophon)
Mastered by Martyn Heyne at Lichte Studio, Berlin
Released on World Sleep Day 2023, “Night Scene With Moon” is an abstracted study in sonic repetition, analogous to the ungraspable cycles of the dreaming subconscious. The track casts a feeling similar to the cloudy, disjointed trajectory of a dream — with loops of asymmetrical, cascading voices creating their own order through repetition. A shimmering high-register piano serves as an oscillating tether, conducting the track back into a temporary order before dissolving again into ambiguity. The cover image—a nod to nocturnal symbolism—is from the ‘Halfstory Halflife’ collection of works from American photographer Raymond Meeks.
DAIGO HANADA ”And It Goes On (Michael A. Muller Rework)”
November 22, 2022 (Moderna)
Mastered by Tom Adams
From Satori, the album by minimalist Japanese pianist Daigo Hanada, comes the first rework in a series from the release on the Moderna label. Textural brushed snare, organetta and hypnotic bass pulses recast the dreamy, piano-swirled composition into a new light.
BLUE CANYON
December 1, 2020 (Western Vinyl)
Recorded at Cody Hall — Leakey, Texas
Mixed & Mastered by Jonny Zoum at K13 — Funkhaus, Berlin
Blue Canyon was created during an artist residency in Real County, TX — a rugged property down a near-mile drop in elevation in the cedar and caliche wilderness. For the residency, Muller was invited to stay alone at the property to immerse himself in the isolated beauty of the Frio River canyon. In response, he sought to create music that resounded in the specific confines of the physical and figurative space. Ironically, this period of self-entered isolation happened just a week before the enforced national quarantine in March 2020, resulting in an opting into solitude that now feels like a distant past. Brief yet poignant, it’s a reminder amid uncertain times of the clarifying power behind longed-after repose.
POINTS OF NO RETURN “JN”
August 7, 2020 (Beacon Sound)
Beacon Sound 050 Compilation
Mastered by Jason Powers
Featuring Amulets, Benoit Pioulard, Marcus Fischer, et al
Digital Bandcamp
Cassette
Edition of 50
Printed by RX Letterpress
SOLD OUT
NECK, VOLUME TWO — “Rune”
March 22, 2019 (Neck Press)
Collaborative track with Machinefabriek
Mastered by Martyn Heyne at Lichte Studio, Berlin
Digital Apple / Bandcamp / Spotify / Tidal
Book + Cassette Edition of 350 (5.5 X 8.5" / 280 pages)
Riso print w/ photos & writing from Nick Flynn, Awoiska van der Molen, Fred Moten, et al. Cassette is hand-stamped & dubbed. Features “Rune” + readings from the authors.
Book is perfect bound & cut by Neck Press in Marfa, TX
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