Ambientblog: Recent Episodes
PvC - Ambientblog.net
Ambient with a refreshing rhythmic twist: James Murray's Islands Alight.
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"Even if morning comes..." - DreamScenes for August 2026.
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Lawrence English' theory about 'acid nostalgia' has inspired him to create 'The Rest Is My Ghost' - which may very well prove to be one of the most important albums of this year.
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Introducing a new weekly ambient music radio show: 'Liminal State'. Also: a change in the DreamScenes broadcast schedule.
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Two albums by Estonian composer Paul Beaudoin, both exploring 'the space between intent and reception'.
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“Expect the unexpected, and even then you’re way off ...” - power ambient by The [Law-Rah] Collective (Bauke van der Wal).
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The fascinating orchestral sound of twelve amplified lap steel guitars and electronics: Olivier Alary's 'Vestiges' on the Line label.
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"The signal became the noise": Robert Henke's follow-up to his 2004 album Signal To Noise.
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Imagine Andrew Heath pulling the leavers and watching the dials on an album dedicated to the early age of powered flight.
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'Night recedes, yet morning remains unseen': Corrado Maria De Santis' Treshold Of Light.
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The Quiet Details label celebrates its 50th release with an extended album of spacey 'Echospace-like' ambient music by Variant (Stephen Hitchell).
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Reflecting the stillness of natural surroundings in the midst of human made chaos: Anthéne's Air Signs.
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Boduf Songs' instrumental works are made to be listened to in low light and long shadows.
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Daniel Jolan (also known as 't Geruis) presents Sublime Lenteur: 'amazing slowness' as part of Lost Tribe Sounds' 'Moss and Melee' series.
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Lawrence English& Werner Dafeldecker's detailed sound worlds on Fathom Tides remind us that our clocks are not those of the world around us.
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Heÿkla's Echoes Of Loneliness offers 13 tracks to 'drift though invisible places and discover beauty in quiet transformation'.
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Ben Vida's Oblivion Seekers defies existing genre definitions. Nót ambient music, but music with a strong ambient connection - and guaranteed to surprise.
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Ambient music from South Korea that you can listen and enjoy, but cannot buy (yet?): Jinwoo's 'Three Soundworks For Tea'.
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The second studio collaboration of Abul Mogard & Rafael Anton Irisarri feels "like they were inside a system moving on its own".
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Two massive label compilations: an overview of ambient music on the Affin label between 2022 and 2026, and a selection of (relatively unknown) artists on Passed Recordings who all contributed a track in the key of C.
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Anne Chris Bakker describes the anxiety and excitement of moving to Norway * Ard Bit & Radboud Mens drift on an imaginary sea of silence.
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The Miasmah label surprises us with a new Deaf Center release as well as a new Kreng album. I guess you don't need my words to know what to do now ...
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Luca Formentini's Angel Lost is a 30-minute addendum to his I Am Ghost album Pepo Galán, Joachim Spieth and Markus Guentner* join forces on Obreel.
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DreamScenes for April 2026: "There Is No End To Anything Round".
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'Afterlife Requiem' is Those Who Walk Away (Andrew Patton)'s impressive requiem for Jóhann Jóhannsson, featuring unfinished recordings from Jóhannsson's hard drives.
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So much music, not enough time....
Five albums that have been waiting in vain for me to find the time to write about them but are definitely worth checking out!
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Fascinating 'neo-classical' albums from violinist Isabel Pine ('Fables', on Kranky) and cellist Dobrawa Czocher ('State Of Matter', on 130701).
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Quiet, slow, tender, intimate and introspective music by Clariloops and Robert Scott Thompson.
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Dark music for dark times: Myllykoski & Äijälä ask questions about contemporary war zones, while Kaarlo Herden & IT904 re-imagine wars and expeditions in hostile deserts.
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"A Place Where Silence Feels Safe" - DreamScenes for March 2026
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Machinefabriek can make machines sound as if they're happy * Meredith Bates challenges your notion of time.
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Scott Monteith's Krautrock-ish session together with Andreas Voelk, ánd his new release as Deadbeat.
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Isobel Waller-Bridge shifts the focus to the objects around you * Wil Bolton & David Cordero show you how to make sense of downtime.
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Clara Brea & Menhir's 'Growing Forests In The City is a remix collaboration with Son of Chi * From Poland comes 'Fumarola' by Kult Masek & Petr Vrba.
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Lush sonic panoramas and antidotes to an overstimulated world: albums by Eaton & Fullen (& Mader) and The Volume Settings Folder.
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Rafael Anton Irisarri blends seemingly opposing elements * Joachim Spieth explores how minimal sound particles can carry presence and motion.
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The night tremors, so it begs the dawn. --- DreamScenes for January 2026
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"Dark New Age for the New Dark Age" .... a 2x2.5 hour psychedelic trip by 400 Lonely Things.
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Ambient ambiances: albums from Laurent Pernice, Pietro Zollo, and Le Code.
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Drone (or better: drone-based) music exploring the Scottish landscape (Claire M. Singer) or researching spatial acoustics (Mattie Barber).
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My 2-hour contribution to the 7th edition (2025) of the 8-hour Winter Solstice broadcast on Concertzender Nederland.
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Two productions by Rutger Zuydervelt were created for dance performances, and there's a third album released under his alias Machinefabriek.
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Peter Knight's new album is a must-hear for fans of Jon Hassell * Tauceti's exploration of her cultural heritage results in a refreshingly original ambient album.
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Two 'classic ambient' albums that originated from different sources of inspiration: a walk through the dunes (Siddharta Barnhoorn), and generative audio systems (Alan Brown).
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Two immersive soundscapes using (mainly) acoustic instruments: albums by Signal To Noise Ratio and Minua.
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Two releases in the Kringloop Kassettes series, both by Nÿland * The Subliminal Growth Patterns created by Hadley Roe.
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"Constructions Nocturnes" - DreamScenes for November 2025
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Iceland's northwestern coast inspired Kasper Bjørke to create Heimr (Music For Landscapes 1) * Mike Majkowsky's Tide gradually decelerates and feels as if you're slowly falling asleep.
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Explore the sounds from Scanner's stainless steel staircase (on 'Forces, Reactions, Deflections), ánd his collaboration with Gareth Davis on 'Songlines'.
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A combination of darkness and light on the post-mortem release of Ø (Mika Vaino) * Lazy sunny afternoon music for reveries and fantasies by Franz Kirmann.
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If you check the oldest posts on this blog, you'll find that they were posted on October, 21, 2005. So hey... it's the 20th anniversary of Ambientblog today!! An appropriate time for a bit of retrospection - ánd a few celebration gifts!
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"No One Is Free Until All Are Free" - DreamScenes for October 2025
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'Lulu And The Blacks' is the enigmatic title of Michael Begg's new album * Lukas Lauermann blends post-classical music, minimalism and experimental music on 'Varve'.
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"Empty, yet vast and charged with potential" - Mendel Kaelen's return to music is an all-encompassing experience. (PLUS: your chance to get a free download code for this album)
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Refreshing as a cool summer breeze (Aiko Takahashi), and coded foggy textures (Seth Thorn).
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Crows Labyrinth matches generative music with 80s cyberpunk Sci-Fi * Rick Sanders' latest release on Dronarivm
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"Where We Are At Night" - DreamScenes for September 2025
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Music for "VHS Drifting" by Underwater Sleep Orchestra, and a soundtrack for an expedition to an imaginary planet by Emmanuel Régis.
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Intense 'reverse enchantment' by Wolfgang Voigt on the 'Im Tunnel' edition of his Rückverzauberung series.
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Music from the isolated (far) North, melancholy blended with nature: Music For Isolation and Henrik Meierkord.
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Yann Novak unlocks the hidden details from sounds collected in public spaces * øjeRum dreams in slow matter.
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Melaine Dalibert and David Sylvian collaborate on 'Vermilion Hours' * Akhira Sano's 'D-R' may sound vaguely familiar but different at the same time.
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Immersive warm ambient using the 'happy accidents' of reel-to-reel tape loops: albums by Thomas Ciufo and Isostatic.
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Richard Skelton celebrates the 20th anniversary of his Sustain-Release label with a new album * Madeleine Cocolas presents an album that explores the nexus between music, place, and memory.
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DreamScenes for July 2025: "Muzak For The Encouragement Of Unproductivity"
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Ancient Grounds and Inner Harmonies... albums by Hler (Heikki Lindgren and Esa Ruoho), and Polaroid Notes.
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Sadie Powers used her fretless bass to create soundscapes meditating on loss and grief * Kurt Liedwart kicks off his new label with music for the chillout rooms of modern techno culture.
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DAVID DONOHOE & KATE CARR - A STORM AND ITS AFTERMATHField recordings can be an enjoyable listening experience, but at what moment can it be considered 'music'? That, of course, depends on your personal definition and experience, but personally, I think it becomes music when the recordings get manipulated and restructured by the composer.
Like Edgar Varèse said, "Music is organized sound."
With that definition, A Storm And Its Aftermath can definitely be seen as a musical composition. Kate Carr and David Donohoe combine field recordings from Sherkin Island in Cork (Ireland) with various instruments and with foley effects with natural materials. This way, they "re-evaluate the dynamics and limits of a storm".
"There’s no dramatic climax. The thunder is fleeting and subdued, caught within the crossfade between anticipation and consequence."
When exactly does a storm begin? Is it with the quietening of the birds? Is it when the first drops of rain start falling? Or if you feel the thickening of the wind?
The album title may be somewhat confusing, since this 45-minute piece focuses on the beginning of the storm and not so much on its aftermath: it takes a full half-hour before you hear the first rumble of thunder. The music (yes I think this is music) fades out in the last five minutes when suddenly the storm passes and the quiet returns ...
"Thus, we’re left to reevaluate the edges that constitute the composition and its concept."
Maybe the true aftermath begins when you finish listening to this piece?
A Storm and its Aftermath by David Donohoe and Kate Carr
LUDWIG BERGER / VADRET DA MORTERATSCH - CRYING GLACIERVadret da Morteratsch is not the name of a musician, but the name of a glacier in the Swiss Alps. The artist on this album is Ludwig Berger, "a landscape sound artist, musician, and educator whose work engages with the sonic presences of organisms and places, attuning to the diverse ways they can be perceived" - but he mentions the glacier as if it were his collaboration artist for this album.
Which, in fact, it literally was.
"Berger spent a decade visiting Morteratsch, so frequently that each time he returned, it felt like he was coming back to someone, not just something."
"The melting ice grunts, growls, bubbles, cracks, breaks, snaps, gushes, trickles, and leaks — all in a splendid and intricate vocabulary [...] Throughout the album, these voices accumulate into a thick, multi-layered, glacial noise, as if Berger invited us into the microcosm of the ice".
In the nine (gaplessly sequenced) tracks, the glacier comes alive with incredible detail, its multiple layers presenting an adventurous, physical exploration. At some moments, like in A Kind Of Person, it is hard to imagine what these sounds are exactly and in which way they are generated by the glacier. I could almost imagine 'Vadret' having some rather heavy stomach issues in some of the tracks.
Of course, this album conveys a significant message. After all, the United Nations declared 2025 to be the International Year of Glaciers' Preservation, to help raise awareness about the critical role of glaciers in the climate system.
An important message, because like many glaciers, the Vadret da Morteratsch is rapidly melting.
“The zone where the glacier has recently melted is like a desert”, alerts Berger, a warning embodied by
the album’s last track, which imagines the future soundscape of the Morteratsch Valley stripped of its glacier. [...] Without climate protection, it is likely that Ludwig Berger’s recordings will outlive alpine glaciers."
Crying Glacier is also the soundtrack for the film with the same name, directed by Lutz Stautner. The album is released on the Forms Of Minutiae label as the second in a series of albums dedicated to glaciers.
Available on vinyl and digital.
crying glacier by ludwig berger & vadret da morteratsch
MANJA RISTIĆ - SARGASSUM AETERNAOf the three albums mentioned here, Manja Ristić'sSargassum Aeterna is the most 'musical' - as in combining field recordings with instrumental drones. Manja has a lot of experience in different fields of art: as a classical violin musician, composer, and improvisational musician, creating electro-acoustic soundscapes. Her sound-related research focuses on interdisciplinary approaches to sound, field recording, and experimental radio arts.
Sargassum Aeterna comes with (and tells) a story in four parts:
It is 'set in a dystopian future—the year 2221—where today’s social and ecological contradictions have reached their most extreme conclusions. Within this future world, we witness catastrophes largely of human making: disturbances in the Earth's magnetic field, a global war (North vs. South), destructive ocean mining, and the suspension of human rights.
Amid the gloom, however, there are sanctuaries: the Scottish Isle of Arran, “home to the child-God Luka” (presumably depicted on the album cover), and the island of Mljet in the Adriatic, just southwest of Korčula, where “coralligenous species flourish, alongside insects, small mammals, and the few remaining traces of marine life.”'
The fictional tale is definitely rooted in today's signs: "the ecological crisis, the disregard for human life in the Mediterranean and along Europe’s borders, looming imperial wars, genocides committed with impunity, the steady rise of fascism."
But the uncanny and detailed combination of field recordings, drones, and hydrophones offers not only anxiety, but also tranquility.
"Trepidation, but also melancholia [...] A sense of ominous stillness".
Sargassum Aeterna is released on the (Greek) Rekem label, and is available in a digital and a vinyl edition.
Sargassum aeterna by Manja Ristić
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VERLOREN SCHATTEN - VERLOREN SCHATTENDon't be ashamed if you have never heard of Verloren Schatten before: this is their very first recording. It is released on the Omnempathy label, curated by Michael Begg, who also produced the album.
Verloren Schatten ('Lost Shadow(s)') is the duo of Petra Brücken (Germany) and Heike Engels (Scotland). You won't find much information online when searching for their names: Michael Begg persuaded them to develop an online profile, so you'll only find them on Bluesky until now (@verlorenschatten.bsky.social). But don't expect to find much background information there: the duo remains mysterious.
"We make musik (sic) of the sacred night. We break into churches after dark to play our songs."
But this debut album does not sound like it's their first attempt at creating music: "There is a viscous nocturnal quality to their music that gives credence to their claim of performing after hours in churches. The synths are deep and velvety dark, often counterpointed by passages of strings that call to mind the mathematically precise mysteries of holy minimalism."
To describe the music on this album, I'll simply copy part of the liner notes, because I would not be able to write a more seductive description than this:
"Tasting notes: The nostalgic erosions of William Basinski, the glacial chamber drift of Stars of the Lid, the nocturnal evanescence of Eno’s 1970s ambient, the persuasive mass of Abul Mogard’s modular storms, the alchemic process and microscopic patience of Alexander Knaifel and Arvo Pärt, the velvet depths of Faith era The Cure, the DIY clatter hacking of Malaria! the reverb trails of Pauline Oliveros…"
Somewhat over the top, of course - a list like that may set the expectations a bit too high.
But if it triggers you to check out the album, that's fine.
Verloren Schatten is a digital-only release.
Verloren Schatten by Verloren Schatten
SINIUS - THE SILENCE BEFORE THE HAUNTINGYou'll need to take some time exploring this album: the 35 tracks on The Silence Before The Haunting add up to 3 hours and 57 minutes! A dark and chilling four hours filled with dark ambient "designed to conjure the very essence of dread and anticipation, much like the ominous calm before a storm or the desolate beauty of an abandoned house".
'Dark Ambient' can be a difficult label, a genre description raising prejudices of 'easy trickery with churchbells and chanting monks'. A bit like 'new age music' filled with 'sounds of waves and singing dolphins'.
But those are the clichés. In the right hands, the music can create fascinating, often cinematic, atmospheres. It can "evoke a sense of forgotten histories, lingering presences, and quiet decay that holds untold stories within its shadows."
And Sinius (Daljit Kundi, UK) definitely has the experience to do so. In the past he has released quite a lot of music for various films and video productions - most (if not all) related to the paranormal and the haunting. Besides his work for films and video, he also released quite a lot of EPs and albums (on his own online Sinius Productions), as well the collaboration album Embryology with Purl in 2023 (on Past Inside The Present).
The Silence Before The Haunting is "a journey into the liminal space where the veil between worlds thins, a perfect companion for late-night musings and explorations into the unseen."
I assume it's no surprise that, due to the length of this album, it is only available as a digital download.
As a side note:
For video creators who want to use this music in their content, Sinius offers an interesting option, especially for YouTube creators: simply use it. The YouTube Content ID system will automatically detect it, which means that a portion of the ad revenue will automatically go to Sinius, but without the video being taken down. Music licensing made easy! For use outside YouTube, written permission is still necessary.
The Silence Before the Haunting by SINIUS
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MONOGOTO - PARTIAL DELETION OF EVERYTHING (VOL. 3)Monogoto is the ambient music trio formed by David Newman (also known as Autistici), Porya Hatami, and Ian Hawgood.
Previous editions of the Partial Deletion Of Everything series were released in 2020 (on 12k) and 2022 (on Polar Seas Recordings). This third volume finds its home on Home Normal, the label curated by Ian Hawgood.
When I read a title like this, I prepare for some harsh, noisy sounds, because 'destruction' is usually not very quiet. But there's no need for this on this album, because the two long tracks - Marine Snow (Deletion 23) and Virgo (Deletion 84) - are comfortably calm soundscapes in the best ambient tradition.
For the concept of 'Partial Deletion', we have to go back to the liner notes for Vol. 1: this is a series of works "based on the concept of creation, change, and loss. The Partial Deletion of Everything series focuses on impermanent objects and their placement within time. Even something as vast and powerful as the ocean was once not here. The Work chronicles the impact of beautiful moments in time and documents how they change, disintegrate, and fade. [...] As an artist collective, we are pleased the music is at once exquisitely sad and uplifting."
'Everything is impermanent, so enjoy it while you can' - is what this music seems to tell us. If the goal is to 'delete everything (partially)', I guess this will probably not be the last of the series.
There's probably more uplifting sadness where this came from...
Partial Deletion of Everything, Vol. 3 by Monogoto
'T GERUIS - THE KINDEST ENCOUNTERS't Geruis is the alias of Belgian artist Daniël Jolan. It is a Dutch(/Belgian) word that is a bit hard to translate: I think 'the murmur' (as a soft, slightly distorted sound) comes close best.
't Geruis released six albums since 2021, on various well-known labels. The 'otherworldly, dusty memory-hued' music caught the attention of Ian Hawgood, who now proudly presents The Kindest Encounters on his Home Normal label:
"In this digital age I am so thankful for the warmth of such an analog spirit as 't Geruis wandering the world sharing the things that sit just slightly out of view; blurred and often forgotten but always there, guiding us home."
In every release, Daniël Jolan is searching for "the balance between beauty and what is broken, or generally what might be considered so". This includes a lot of hiss, noises, and sounds of deterioration, as well as brighter sounds like a piano. The result is, indeed, an otherworldly atmosphere.
The combination of this particular, unusual sound design with the gentle melodies and loops is what makes the music of 't Geruis immediately recognizable.
The Kindest Encounters is available as a limited (100) CD and, of course, as a digital download.
The Kindest Encounters by 't Geruis
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AIKO TAKAHASHI - THE GRASS HARPIn November 2023, Aiko Takahashi released It Could Have Been A Beautiful as a part of the IIKKI series (the book/CD combinations). She now returns with The Grass Harp on the Spring edition for Laaps Records which, like IIKKI is also curated by Mathias van Eeclo. Van Eecloo specifically asked Takahashi to create 'a new complete piece of sounds' for the Laaps label.
Aiko Takahashi resides in Nova Gorca, a city in Slovenia close to Gorizia on the Italian side of the border.
"Just like the line that separates the two cities, divided between two countries yet united as one, Aiko’s
music exists on a boundary. A line that separates silence from peculiar, almost imperceptible sounds. Too quiet to be ambient, too ambient to be sound art."
The Grass Harp is a perfect release for Spring (Laaps editions are paired with the seasons they are released in), but will also sound refreshing in Summer. Open up your doors and windows, and the sound of birds will become part of this "meditation on decay and silence, blending warm soundscapes with soft, playful melodies".
Released on vinyl (200), CD (150), and digital. The official release date was June 9, but only a very few physical releases were left then.
The Grass Harp by Aiko Takahashi
PAN AMERICAN & KRAMER - INTERIOR OF AN EDIFICE UNDER THE SEAKramer (Mark Kramer*, New York-based producer, musician, and owner of Shimmy Disc Records) and Pan American (Mark Nelson, also known as a member of Labradford) previously released a collaboration album in 2024 called Reverberations Of Non-Stop Traffic On Redding Road*.
On their second collaboration they present their "further explorations into the deep space of the future/past", only this time exploring the depth of the earth's seas, "pulling the listener down beside them as they explore the uncharted currents that fuel the human imagination, fluid, always moving, and always changing."
It is a unique combination of 'minimalist' guitar, orchestral drones, and mellotron. It is ambient in atmosphere, but at the same time it isn't because of the clear melodies (which are not 'ignorable' in the classic ambient sens I mean).
"We fluidly go where the currents take us. Our music breathes the liquid air of Freedom. My hope is that listeners will experience at least some of what I myself feel when I breathe this air, should they inhale deeply enough."
It's a beautiful combination, which is immediately clear from the very first track In The Time It Takes To Drown. These "wordless paintings out of thin air" are surely a welcome breath of fresh musical air too.
Available in black or clear vinyl and as a digital download.
Interior of an Edifice Under the Sea by Pan American & Kramer
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REVERIE
Tracklist:
- 00:00 DreamScenes - Intro (Susanna)
- 00:44 Deaf Center - Erie (Excerpt 1)
Reverie, 2025, Sonic Pieces - 03:23 Zyklen - Legend Of Cape Bojador
Desire Paths, 2025, Owl Totem - 06:36 RL Huber - Dagos
Dagos, 2025, self-released - 10:24 Philippe Deschamps - Shapes Of The Sea
Endless Vanishing Lines, 2025, self-released - 13:56 The Harp Players - Some Place I Know
Destruction, 2025, Constellation Tatsu - 18:15 Caldon Glover - A Dream About A Stranger
Eternal Night Radio, 2025, Cryo Chamber - 23:11 Lawson & Merrill - Points On A Line (edit)
Analogues, 2025, Neuma Records - 30:04 Pye Corner Audio - Volcanic Rock
Lake Deep Memory, 2025, Quiet Details - 35:48 Sadie Powers - Right After
Souvenir, 2025, Room40 - 44:35 Franz Kirmann - Le Reve De Marie
Heures Indues, 2025, Courier Sound - 48:08 Abul Mogard - In A Studded Procession
Quiet Places, 2025, Soft Echoes - 55:24 Sarah Davachi - Basse Brevis (Excerpt)
Basse Brevis, 2024, Portraits GRM - 59:01 DreamScenes - Outro (Dean Hurley)
Play this edition on-demand from the Concertzender website
OR:
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ZYKLEN - DESIRE PATHSI had not heard of Zyklen *(Simon Ferris, from Devon, UK) before, even though he has released no less than 19 titles since 2017. The first 14 on his own personal netlabel novinyl.net, and some labels like Neotantra, Mare Nostrum and Chitra Records since 2022.
His latest album, Desire Paths, is the third release on the brand new Owl Totem Recordings - the 'dark vibes division' of Dronarivm.*
Whether these are indeed 'dark vibes' is for the listener to judge - I did not experience this as 'dark ambient' myself at all. This is varied ambient, drawing inspiration from numerous sources: Ferris cites Loscil, Trent Reznor, Loop Guru, Pete Namlook, Michael Brook, Jean Michel Jarre, and Tangerine Dream as his sources of inspiration (among others).
Working from his home studio with a relatively compact setup, Zyklen can produce an immersive cinematic sound (Legend Of Cape Bojador), includes his voice for a chilling chant-like effect (Pytheas And The Frozen Ocean), or even a full (synthetic) choir arrangement when needed (Roanoke).
There's not much background information about this album,but the quote about "The human obsession with exploring [...], or simply discover what's over the horizon' tells you all you need to know about Zyklen's music.
Desire Paths is available on CD (ltd. 100) and digital.
DAVID MARGOLIN LAWSON & DAVID MERRILL - ANALOGUESThe New-York based recording engineers and sound designers David Margolin Lawson and David Merrill are used to working on all kinds of theatrical, orchestral, film projects, and live events. As a duo, they use that experience to create music celebrating their inspiration from 'mid-century' electronic composers. This refers to composers like Morton Subotnick, Éliane Radigue, Edgar Varèse, Iannis Xenakis, LaMonte Young, but also artists such as Vangelis, Steve Reich, Klaus Schulze, Tangerine Dream, and Jean-Michel Jarre.
Reading such a list usually suggests you're in for a nostalgic trip with musicians keen on re-creating the music from that era as exactly as possible. But not in the case of Lawson & Merril. What struck me is that the influences of the artists and composers mentioned are definitely audible (the 'pop' artists somewhat more prominent than the composers by the way). At the same time, the duo manages to turn all those influences into their own blend, which is music from NOW as much as it uses nostalgic 'mid-century' elements and citations. Each of these long tracks (12-16 minutes each, except the 8-minute closing track) is a carefully crafted 'sonic landscape that explores our macro and microcosmic relationship to time and place'.
The album title may suggest that mainly analogue synths were used, but that is not entirely true: Analogues is created with a mixture of vintage and modern analog and digital synthesizers with 'a fair amount' of electronic processing.
It's the duo's second album, following up Signals from 2022 which was also released on Neuma Records. I'm not familiar with that album, but after listening to Analogues I'll definitely check out its predecessor too.
Unlike Signals, Analogues is a digital-only release.
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RICHARD HAMILTON - DEUS EX MACHINAWhen a co-owner of a post-production sound studio, film/tv composer, award-winning sound designer (who worked for clients like Google, NASA, etc) releases his own debut album, it's time to pay attention.
Deus Ex Machina is a captivating sonic journey that showcases Richard Hamilton's many years of sound design experience.
'Deus Ex Machina' is used in film making or storytelling when 'a seemingly unsolvable problem in a story is suddenly or abruptly resolved by an unexpected and unlikely occurence'. It originated in the ancient Greek theatre, 'where actors who were playing gods were brought on stage using a machine' (Wikipedia).
The music on Hamilton's album is full of 'unexpected occurrences indeed. Each track tells a story 'that revolves around a sci-fi dystopian mood and imagines a far future dystopia relating to ideas of technology, religion, and mystical experiences [...] dealing with themes through the sonic lens of four of the world's major religions (Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism.'
These stories may not be immediately apparent from the songs' incomprehensible titles. But Hamilton provides the general plot and starting point of each song on the Bandcamp track info pages. (To read these outlines, click the track links from the Bandcamp album page)
"But damn that thing to hell. Ever since it arrived, it's turned us all into jealous, ravenous monstrosities.
We knew peace before, now we fight, we covet, and we hate. This thing is driving us all insane."
(from \Opium.Naroda> )
It is an interesting experience to read the story and then let the music create your own imaginary movie. But you can also ignore the stories that go with it and let your fantasy run its own course - the music on Deus Ex Machina is extremely cinematic. And overall quite intense!
So don't play this if you need a calm environment. This is music for sweaty palms!
"Scanning our firewall systems for routine security checks, I saw the tail end of some code drift by….I’ve never seen anything like it
It followed me home and started sending me messages, simple at first, but then they got more frightening. I thought I was going crazy."
(from Worm.Vishvarupa.sm)
Deus Ex Machina by Richard Hamilton
ANTHONY PATERAS - REISE DER SCHATTENAnother soundtrack - but this time from an existing movie: Anthony Pateras' score for Reise der Schatten(Journey of Shadows). A soundtrack in a more traditional sense: lots (29) of short themes and miniatures, based on 'weird folk themes', performed by a live acoustic ensemble. At times, the music is enriched by the use of feedback, tape delay, analogue synthesizers, and samples from vinyl records 'to give the film a more fantastical, fairy-tale feeling'.
Reise der Schatten is a debut animation film by Swiss artist Yves Netzhammer. It 'tells the abstracted story of a genderless being coming to terms with its identity and place in a world full of conflicts and systems of control'.
Initially, Pateras wanted to compose something "typically experimental" for this film, but found that was not what he wanted. He wanted to create "a kind of distance, or perceptual shift, but also a narrative drive and emotional context which is not always clear".
The initial recording sessions, played on metallophones, laid the foundations for the arrangements of the full acoustic ensemble that followed.
It would be nice to know how this plays out in the film, but there is absolutely no need to know the film to enjoy the music on this album. It's fun enough to add to the ‘narrative drive and emotional context’ yourself.
ANTHONY PATERAS - Reise der Schatten by Anthony Pateras
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
DEAF CENTER - REVERIEDeaf Center is not exactly flooding the market with their releases: their last album, Low Distance, was released in 2019 - before that, Recount was released in 2014. Like Recount, Reverie presents two long tracks both around 17 minutes (so the perfect length for the (red) vinyl edition, leaving enough room for the dynamics).
It will not be immediately clear on first listen, but Reverie (split into Rev and Erie) is a live recording from October 2024, performed for Sonic Pieces' 15th anniversary celebration.
Skodvin and Otto Totland had not performed together since 2019, but their musical interaction in this spontaneous improvisation (!) feels like returning home after a long absence.
Reverie obviously means 'daydream', but - especially on Rev - this daydream gets quite intense. The piece starts with Totland's distinctly melancholic piano melodies - the kind you would expect in a piece called Reverie. Slowly yet inevitably, Skodvin's electronic processing creeps in, accompanied by his heavily processed guitar and cello. Even under the pressure of an intense climax, Totland's peaceful piano playing bravely holds up.
Erie begins as a duo between piano and cello, slowly working towards the end where "the piano motifs from before repeat and vary, for then to slowly settle into gentle melancholy, supported only by a low, rumbling ambient shadow".
"Totland’s deep melodic feeling is underscored by Skodvin’s abstract ambience and processing. Dark versus light, loud versus quiet - this has always been at the core of what makes Deaf Center a special project".
Reverie is released on Sonic Pieces on a limited red vinyl edition and as a download. (There's no CD version).
ABUL MOGARD - QUIET PIECESQuiet Pieces is the promising title of Abul Mogard (Guido Zen)'s new album, and the first release on his own personal label imprint called Soft Echoes.
His widescreen immersive music is instantly recognisable, yet the composition process was different than before. It started with archived material from earlier projects, which were combined with fragments from a collection of 78 rpm classical and opera records from his late uncle. The latter are not recognisable as such, since the samples were heavily processed. Also, the processed fragments became a source of inspiration for the new compositions.
Although all of this music is new, it may also wake up some almost forgotten memories: a different version of In A Studded Procession, for example, was featured on 2013's Sequence 7 compilation - but the additional Serge modular synthesiser was recorded after that (in 2015).
"Voluminous waves of quiet and loud undulate between consonance and dissonance, conjuring imagery of a decaying grandeur that humanity’s decadence has surrendered to the elements."
Mogard's music always feels to me like a storm slowly building up around me, starting slow, quiet, and intimate, but slowly increasing the intensity without ever losing its intimacy. It works wonders on many different levels and volumes.
The physical edition of Quiet Pieces is pressed on biovinyl. Its official release date is May 30, but it's already sold out on Bandcamp. The Bandcamp page mentions a few online resources where it is still available - but don't hesitate too long! Of course, there's also a download version available.
LOSCIL - LAKE FIREWhen Scott (Loscil) Morgan made a road trip into the mountains ("marking a personal half-century milestone") he was surrounded by "the ominous proximity of wildfires and dense smoke", thus "celebrating life while the world burns".
It usually does not take much time after a forest fire before the first signs of new life become visible, the new shoots of trees and plants breaking through the ashes.
The music on this new album came to life in a somewhat similar process: a lot of compositions for a different project were initially discarded (apart from Ash Clouds), and what remained was completely reshaped and remixed. Lake Fire became "an album burnt to the ground only to be reassembled out of its cinders. Fragments of the original lurk beneath a densely overpainted canvas of sound."
Forest fires are often named after a nearby regional lake. This may sound strange, but there's a simple reason for that: naming conventions prioritize the use of the nearest prominent geographic feature to the fire's point of origin, which often happens to be a lake.
The grey cover photo was taken from a rowboat, the mountainside obfuscated by smoke from a nearby lake fire. So there's the album title..
In line with its underlying theme and composition process, the music on this album feels somewhat more ominous than most of Scott Morgan's earlier works. The "ash-laden sonics" definitely "mine the tension within the cycle of destruction and rejuvenation". Its subtleties require dedicated listening and a solid sound system.
Lake Fire is released by Kranky, and available on CD, as a 2LP vinyl album, and as a digital download.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
...
Tracklist
- 00:00 DreamScenes - Intro (Susanna)
- 00:43 Pan American & Kramer - In The Time It Takes To Drown
Interior Of An Edifice Under The Sea, 2025, Shimmy Disc (rel. 27-06) - 07:18 RL Huber - Passages
Hafgufa, 2025, self-released - 08:46 Loscil - Doux
Lake Fire, 2025, Kranky - 14:48 Mike Lazarev - The Final Resonance Of Light
Tarnished Tapes And Saturated Signals, 2025, Dronarivm - 19:05 Anthony Pateras - Tod Und Der Affe #2
Reise Der Schatten, 2025, Hallow Ground - 20:21 Michael Begg - Deception I
Witness. Ambient Chamber Works 2020-2024, 2025, Omnempathy - 24:11 Kurt Liedwart - Volta
Volta, 2025, Ton - 28:32 Marcus Schwindt - I Smoke In The Rain (edit)
Same, 2025, Attenuation Circuit - 32:42 Ben Bertrand - Stereo B
Relic Radiation, 2025, Stroom.tv - 37:08 David Margolin Lawson & David Merrill - Waters Of The Moon (edit)
Analogues, 2025, Neuma Records - 40:52 Divide & Dissolve - Grief
Insatiable, 2025, Bella Union - 41:37 Markus Guentner & Joachim Spieth - Scope (Abul Mogard Rework) (edit)
Overlay Reworks, 2025, Affin - 46:45 Rebekka Karijord - Vespera
The Bell Tower, 2025, Bella Union - 50:08 Primal Era Worship - Eyes Of The Deep Desert
Last Outpost, 2025, Cryo Chamber - 54:59 Michael A. Muller - Lower River - Masayoshi Fujita Rework
Lower River Reworks, 2019, Beacon Sound - 59:01 DreamScenes - Outro (Dean Hurley)
Play this edition on-demand from the Concertzender website
OR:
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
FIELDS WE FOUND - IN YOUR HANDSQuiet Details is the label where "each release is an artist's own unique interpretation of that phrase". The label is run/curated by Alex Gold aka Fields We Found. Apart from running the label, he is also a mastering engineer and a musician himself.
Consequently, In Your Hands is Alex's musical interpretation of the idea behind Quiet Details. It is not his first album: his music was previously released on Ambientologist, Handstitched Recordings, Home Normal, Fluid Audio, and Headphone Commute. In 2022, a short EP called Chroma was published on Quiet Details.
The music on In Your Hands has an intense personal background story: in February 2024, Gold was diagnosed with lymphoma. The intense treatment that followed thankfully worked, and the experience profoundly transformed his view of music.
"Music was a panacea in these times; long listening sessions were truly healing. I learnt a lot and knew it was important that my own music came out of it. This album is the result."
The immersive drones are created on modular synthesizers "for deeply expressive tonal and textural explorations", performed live directly from the machines to tape. Field recordings that were made by family and friends are subtly (almost unnoticeably) added to the soundscapes, so in this way the people who helped him and were important to him became part of this music.
All proceeds from this album are donated to the Milton Keynes University Hospital Cancer Center to support their work. In Your Hands is available on CD (including a fine art print) and as a digital download.
in your hands by fields we found
KAPTEP - EXHALEI had never heard of KapTep before, and there was not much information I found online apart from a short bio on the Chitra Records label. KapTep is Derek Carter's ambient/drone project alias (Sullivan, Illinois).
"The concept behind the KapTep project was to try creating the style of emotional music that he wanted to listen to himself."
Exhale is the third solo album for this label. KapTep's Bandcamp page also mentions four more (self-released) titles.
Exhale presents eleven relatively short pieces (most around 5 minutes), with different atmospheres - but all of them quiet, unhurried, and immersive.
"Every track should evoke an emotion to which you can write your own story."
Kapteps adds hints for these stories in the liner notes, but these are not very helpful (intentionally, I suppose):
"Probably not really a Lullaby per se, and maybe not ambient. You can decide." (for Static Lullabye)
"I think they are one of my favorite flowers for some reason, I don’t know why." (for Geranium)
So I guess you'd best make up your own story for these tracks. Or: just enjoy them as they are.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
MICHAEL BEGG - WITNESS. AMBIENT CHAMBER WORKS 2020-2024It's not easy to describe Michael Begg's output in a few words. He is a member of Human Greed, Fovea Hex, and the Black Glass Ensemble, and collaborated with artists like Colin Potter, Hans-Joachim Roedelius, Chris Connelly. But he also released many solo albums, approaching music from many different angles.
But his music is always "located in the place where formal composition and electronic erosion meet; a liminal space coloured by longing and discomfort".
His discography includes the Witness series (1-5), created with the Witness Engine software he developed 'to sonify earth monitoring and environmental data': 'an‘engine’ to consume live data from numerous locations and turn the various elements of the air quality index into sound and audio processes'.
The data sources varied from levels of carbon monoxide, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide in the atmosphere, to orbital patterns of satellites, live local data from Openweathermap, or receding Arctic ice of collapsing glaciers.
This new release features selections from this Witness Series, but also pieces from Light Water is Black Water, Sounding The Ice Factory, and the forthcoming album Out of Whose Womb Comes the Ice. There are some live recordings and alternative mixes.
The result is an extensive (13 tracks in 80 minutes) overview of Michael Begg's versatility. There's deep ambient music, orchestral neo-classical arrangement (with the Black Glass Ensemble), and more abstract soundscapes.
Witness, Ambient Chamber Works 2020-2024 will be released on CD in a six panel ecopack with full track and production notes - which will hopefully also reveal some information about the relation of the compositions to their original datasets. Release date is May 19, but the album can already be pre-ordered.
WITNESS. Ambient Chamber Works 2020-2024 by Michael Begg
RL HUBER - HAFGUFAThere's not much information about who RL (Ryan) Huber is: he is relatively private about his background, keeping the focus on his music. The only known fact is that he is from Eureka Springs, Arkansas.
His latest album Hafgufa is released without additional information - not even a word about the album title, which is not exactly explanatory.
A quick search learns that Hafgufa (meaning something like 'sea-steamer') refers to a legendary sea creature, 'purported to inhabit Iceland's waters (Greenland Sea) and southward toward Helluland. Although it was thought to be a sea monster, research suggests that the stories originated from a specialized feeding technique among whales known as trap-feeding'.
Knowing this gives some meaning to the track titles.
Huber has recorded music since 2004, under project names such as Vopat and Olekranon. But his Bandcamp page only presents more recent albums: one from 2023, three from 2024 (Memories Of Falling was my first encounter with his music), and now Hafgufa.
The music on Hafgufa is very cinematic: this could easily have been a soundtrack for a movie. It would be quite a dark and suspenseful - or maybe dystopic - movie. The (twelve) tracks can best be played in a continuous sequence: they slowly build up to some carefully placed climaxes. Most of the music is quiet and atmospheric, perfectly balancing electronics and acoustic (or acoustic-sounding) strings for full effect.
Hafgufa is a digital-only release.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
GIOVANNI DI DOMENICO / RUTGER ZUYDERVELT - PAINT A PICTURE - PICTURE A PAINTINGGiovanni Di Domenico and Rutger Zuydervelt first met in 2019 for a short live improv set. Later, in 2022, Di Domenico also performed live with the Hydra Ensemble. As things go, the two decided to work on a collaboration project
Paint A Picture - Picture A Painting are the titles of the two tracks on this album. With their relatively short length (13:10 and 17:46) they are perfectly fitted for a vinyl release (there is no CD version this time).
On the first track, Zuydervelt reacts to Di Domenico's improvised piano. On the second, it's the other way around but also a continuation: Rutger manipulates sounds from the first piece, laying the foundation for Giovanni to improvise over.
With some 225 releases as Machinefabriek and 70+ under his own name, I'll simply skip the introduction and assume his work is familiar. It shóuld be, anyway!
Giovanni Di Domenico is also quite a prolific artist himself: his discography also boasts no less than 70 albums released since 2010. By far, most of them are collaboration projects or appearances in groups: he has previously worked with artists like Arve Henriksen, Nate Wooley, Jim O'Rourke, Okkyung Lee, Toshimaru Nakamura - and many others.
Both artists are eager to experiment, cross borders, and defy expectations. But without their music becoming incomprehensible elitist 'avant-garde'.
The album (vinyl and digital) will be released on June 13 but can already be pre-ordered. During the pre-order period, a t-shirt with a stripped-down version of Christiaan Kuitwaard's cover art is also available.
Painting A Picture / Picture A Painting by Giovanni Di Domenico & Rutger Zuydervelt
HARA ALONSO - TOUCH ME NOTHara Alonso is a pianist, composer, and sound artist born in Spain, but currently based in Stockholm. 'Pianist' doesn't really cover her work:
"In the last years she has expanded the timbral and performative possibilities of the piano through extended techniques, somatic practices and signal processing. Her sonic universe, described as a ‘gloomy bubbling electronic power ambient’, navigates between granular landscapes, minimal beats and hypnotic layers with a strong micro lyrical presence."
The music on Touch Me Not is inspired by Emanuel Swedenburg's concept of 'correspondence' ('the events of the sensual world as a proof of the spiritual world') and Baudelaire's poem Correspondances, "in which the senses are confused, immersed in a synaesthetic hallucination".
Hara Alonso crafts her music with a focus on this concept of synaesthesia, taking us "on a walk not far away from the path Baudelaire strolled, through meadows, symbols, light and perfumes, entering a dimension of inverted senses". She does so with the help of Ryan Packard (percussion), Ville Bromander (double bass) and Ellen Söderhult (voice). The music is perfectly mastered by Stephan Mathieu.
Touch Me Not is available on vinyl and as a digital download.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
BEN BERTRAND - RELIC RADIATIONRelic Radiation is Ben Bertrand's fourth solo album since his 2018 debut NGC 1999 (not counting two collaboration albums with Otto Lindholm and Manah Depauw), and the second release on the Belgian Stroom.tv label.
If you've heard his music before (or saw him perform live, which I heartily recommend) you'll have no problem recognizing his sound. The way he plays his (bass) clarinet and embeds it into abstract layers of electronics is a personal 'interpretation of the bass clarinet as an instrument of the avant-garde'.
Don't let the 'avant-garde' put you off: most of his music sounds gentle, and subdued. But at the same time, a lot is going on within: hints of fragile melodies, occasional minimalist loops - "an at times almost sequenced feel to treated and overdubbed bass clarinet end clarinet notes"
"The music is competent and familiar, distant without being distant. There is no predefined form or context here. It is a different kind of colour. Touching upon ambient and cosmic as well as earthy sceneries, his is a gentle musical paradox come to life."
The (seven) tracks on Relic Radiation were all composed during a residency in Slovakia, in the water mill of the Slovakian National Gallery in Pezinok. Judged by the music (and by the photos in the link) this is an inspiring - and peaceful - place to create music.
Relic Radiation by Ben Bertrand
MARKUS GUENTNER / JOACHIM SPIETH - OVERLAY REWORKSIn November 2023 Markus Guentner and Joachim Spieth released their collaborative album Overlay - an album 'where the flow of things knows no distinct start or finish - rather, it's a continuous stream of material in motion'.
That 'continuous stream' can be taken quite literally as the release was followed by three EPs with 'variations' and 'reworks. ' The Overlay Variations were additions by Guentner and Spieth themselves. The first Reworks EP featured interpretations of Nukleus by Hollie Kenniff and Rafael Anton Irisarri. The second EP presented additional reworks of two tracks (Void and Scope) by Pole and Abul Mogard.
As if that was not enough, now there's the full album of Overlay Reworks, featuring all of the tracks from these EP's. But there's more: it also features new reworks by Leandro Fresco and (Pepo) Galán and (Karen) Vogt and a new Guentner/Spieth track called Prologue (I'm not sure if this is really a new track: it may also be a rework of Praeludium without the beats).
All in all, this 'continuous stream of material' grew into an impressive collection!
It's interesting to hear that all of the remixers (reworkers) on this album stay close to the sound of the original tracks, while also adding a layer of their own signature sounds.
Guentner/Spieth's original music is already very immersive. But if Overlay was a HD-movie, Overlay Reworks would be the 4K version.
Overlay Reworks by Guentner Spieth
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
Two Hundred Words For Loneliness
Tracklist
- 00:00 DreamScenes - Intro (Susanna)
- 00:30 Rebekka Karijord - Megafauna Pt. 1
The Bell Tower, 2025, Bella Union - 02:11 Ben Bertrand - Big Bounce
Relic Radiation, 2025, Stroom - 07:51 RL Huber - Universe For One
Hafgufa, 2025, Self-Released - 11:39 Bitoi - Bu-Ru-Se
Sirkulu, 2025, Supertraditional Records - 15:37 Maya Fridman - Fjóla Evans: Vatnaskuggi - Meeting Your Water Shadow
Ordo Ritualis - Black Edition, 2025, Trptk - 20:17 Brannan Lane - Northern Lights (Part 1) Northern Lights, 2025, Ambientcat
- 22:42 Adrian Lane - What Is A Month For The Sea
Desire Paths, 2025, Chitra Records - 27:31 Bodil Rørtveit - Djupna
Djupna, 2025, Rainshine Records - 34:13 Michael Grigoni & Pan•american - Blue Tears Never Dry
New World, Lonely Ride, 2025, Kranky - 37:22 Samatha - Weightless Moments
Balancing Act, 2025, Self-released - 40:54 Antonin Gougeon-Moisan - Rivière 9
Montréal Rivières, 2025, Label Formes Ondes - 47:55 Dag Rosenqvist - Sjörök
Tvåhundra Ord För Ensamhet, 2025, Dronarivm - 49:37 Jon Hopkins - Part VIII - Nothing Is Lost
Ritual, 2024, Domino Recording Company - 54:28 Bitoi - Ma-A-Goa
Sirkulu, 2025, Supertraditional Records - 59:01 DreamScenes - Outro (Dean Hurley)
Play this edition on-demand from the Concertzender website
OR:
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
[audio src="https://www.ambientblog.net/mix/Opus.mp3" controls /]
Maybe I should begin with a disclaimer: this one is different from the previous mixes.
After publishing many ambient mix-collages (87 and counting!), I decided to challenge myself. What if I combined ambient soundscapes and classical music? Would that work out?
This proved to be more difficult than I expected. It proved to be much easier to combine abstract atmospheric music than ambient music with 'program music' like classical. It proved even more difficult when choosing from 'classical classical' music such as baroque music, polyphonic choir music, or music from the absolute giants (Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, etc.). Maybe because I definitely wanted to retain an introspective atmosphere, but also include some 'tension - release dynamics' to avoid the mix becoming too 'easy listening'.
With only two exceptions, the 'classical' fragments come from contemporary composers. Also, this mix features fewer layers playing simultaneously (compared to my previous mixes).
In that respect, this is more like a 'mix-tape' than a 'collage'.
All titles used in this mix are fragments, only small parts of the original compositions. So: if you hear something you like (and I hope you do), please check out the original.
I must admit that I had some doubts about publishing this mix. Would it possibly appeal to an ambient music-oriented audience? And what would aficionados of classical music think of it? Is this a musical blasphemy?
But then again, I found myself listening to it regularly, enjoying it for what it has become.
So why not publish it and see what happens? Let's see.
I'm curious to know what you think about this particular mix experiment!
Tracklist
- 00:00 Anton Friisgaard - You Never Wanna Do Anything Fun
Minor Blossoms, 2024 - 02:10 Alexander Knaifel - O Comforter Lukomoriye, 2018
Lege Artis Choir, Boris Abalian - 03:44 Erik K. Skodvin - Alone In The Dark
Darkness OST, 2025 - 05:04 Djivan Gasparyan - Memories Provenance, 2011
Maya Beiser - Cello - 06:04 Markus Guentner - Hive Black Dahlia, 2025
- 09:16 Anna Thorvaldsdottir - Hidden - Past And Present
Rhizoma, 2011 - 10:27 Arvo Pärt - Solitudine - Stato D'Animo Lamentate, 2005
SWR Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, Andrey Boreyko - 11:59 Paul Beaudoin - That Empty Room
Early January, 2024 - 14:44 Jane Antonia Cornish - Yügen
Seascapes, 2019 - 16:59 Arvo Pärt - The Deer's Cry Choral Music, 2014
Polyphony, Stephen Layton - 18:16 Jane Antonia Cornish - Yüge
Seascapes, 2019 - 19:33 Chihei Hatakeyama - Mizar
Norma, 2012 - 20:44 Krzysztof Penderecki - The Awakening Of Jacob (aka The Dream Of Jacob) The Shining Complete Soundtrack, 2005
Polish Radio National Orchestra, Krzysztof Penderecki - 24:44 Jana Irmert - No Ground To Fall On
When I Dissolve, 2024 - 26:30 Kloob - Whispers Of The Ethereal Current
Drone Islands - Borealis, 2024 - 27:29 Valentin Silvestrov - Hymn 2001
Leggiero, Pesante, 2002
Valentin Silvestrov - piano - 31:04 Julien Demoulin - A Trial Of Distances (.Foundation Rework)
A Trial Of Distances, 2025 - 34:00 Henryk Górecki - Wislo Moja, Wislo Szara Opus 46
Miserere, 1994
Chicago Lyric Opera Chorus, John Nelson - 36:52 George Frideric Handel - Xerxes - Larghetto
Night Music 8, 1991
Capella Istropolitana, Richard Edlinger - 40:21 Jóhann Jóhansson & BJ Nilsen - Shower
I Am Here, 2014 - 40:30 Erik K. Skodvin - Alone In The Dark
From Darkness OST, 2025 - 41:55 Enrique Crespo - Brückner Etude Für Das Tiefe Blech
New Trombone Collective, 2007 - 45:08 Anna Thorvaldsdottir - Hidden Inwards
Rhizoma, 2011 - 46:24 Traditional - El Cant De La Sibil-La - La Catalunya
la Capella Reial De Catalunya, Jordi Savall - 50:17 Kenji Kawai - Type 2052 Hadaly
Innocence, Ghost In The Shell 2, 2004 - 51:19 We Like We & Jacob Kirkegaard - Ganymede & Zeus
Time Is Local, 2019
Download Opus now 122Mb (53:32 min.)Alternative download from Archive.org
(check here for lossless download)
OR: Listen on Mixcloud, YouTube, Spotify or iTunes:
Please note: this edition may not be available on Spotify
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
RENGBIRD - ORIGAMI MOUNTAINSOrigami Mountains is the debut album by Dutch artist Rengert "Rengbird" Eggink. Like me, you probably haven't heard from him before (it's his 'debut' album, after all), but judging by the sound on this album, he definitely has some experience in sound design.
Even more surprising is that these tracks were recorded while on the road in South Africa (where he originally comes from, if I understand right) using only a 4-track cassette recorder, sampler, and a few effect pedals. "Using the cassette as a way to bring life and grainy textures to my sounds'.
The two-month trip came at a personally challenging time, but "these tunes came to me as a necessity of peace and introspection".
And indeed, they are peaceful, introspective, and surprisingly adventurous in sound design.
Origami Mountains presents six tracks, with the closing title track taking up half of the 43 minutes.
HARA ALONSO - TOUCH ME NOTHara Alonso is a Swedish pianist, composer, and sound artist. For her compositions, she 'explores multisensory practices, memory, space and imagination as instruments for sound-making'.
There's a lot of philosophy in the liner notes accompanying this album: Touch Me Not 'delves deep into our approach to sensoriality as bodies and sentient beings, by refusing to operate a discrimination of species'.
The music is inspired by Emanuel Swedenborg's idea of 'correspondence', and Baudelaire's corresponding poem 'Correspondances', 'in which the senses are confused, immersed in a synesthetic hallucination'.
I'm having a hard time understanding what all this exactly means, I'm afraid - philosophy is not my forte.
But what I dó understand is that this underlying concept may be the very reason why Alonso's intricate compositions sounds so interesting - why it dóes confuse the senses.
With her music, we're "entering a dimension of inverted senses where the body spills into a circle of desiring sensations and sensational desires, enclosing an innocent memory surrendered to the whole".
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
PRUSKI - DRIFTING STONESThe IIKKI concept should be familiar by now: a series of books and discs (vinyl, cd, or both) presenting 'a dialog between a visual artist and a music artist'. Drifting Stones is the 27th edition in the series, presenting the work of Dutch photographer Paul Cupido and the music of Polish artist Pawel Pruski.
Most of (Pawel) Pruski's albums until now were released on the Whitelabrecs label, this is his first on IIKKI. "In his sound creation process, he experiments with various modular systems and logical-mathematical concepts, such as the implementation of probability theory." Apart from releasing his music, he also creates sound installations "using sensors and detectors, forming interactive installations where the audience often becomes an integral part of the experience."
Overall, the tone of Drifting Stones is bright, open and fresh - a perfect release for the Spring season. It's a combination of many elements: organic and synthetic. Six (of the seven) tracks are fairly abstract soundscapes, among which the sequencer driven Cycles is a pulsating exception.
It will definitely be a pleasure to listen to this music while studying the photography of Paul Cupido, but the music is also enjoyable on its own. Which is a good thing, because (as usual) the book/disc combinations are quickly sold out on pre-order.
If you've missed the book, you can find a preview here.
PRUSKI - LEAFSHADE
ADRIAN LANE - DESIRE PATHSAdrian Lane is a musician and a painter/visual artist. His website has examples of his visual work, but if you want an impression you can also check (most of) his album covers.
He has released music on labels like Preserved Sound, Whitelabrecs, Naviar, and Oscarson since 2013, and - more recently also on Chitra Records.
On Desire Paths, Lane explores 'tape-saturated sounds combined with piano and vintage synthesizers'. That doesn't mean the music sounds 'lo-fi' and 'hissy' (as I somewhat expected) but if you listen closely you can sometimes hear a slight flutter or distortion in the sound, caused by the micro-cassette Dictaphone used 'to create sounds evoking nostalgia and melancholy'. It is a creative way to take advantage of technical shortcomings and add them to the sound design.
According to the liner notes, this album is darker in mood than his previous album on the same label, Water Wash Away The Waves, 2023. But I don't really think this music is dark at all. Nostalgic, yes, melancholic, yes, but not dark. But then again, I'm not familiar with that previous album so I can't really compare.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
PAUL BEAUDOIN - ICOSA / MOON WOKE ME NINE TIMESUntil recently I had not heard of Paul Beaudoin before. This felt weird when I checked out his Bandcamp page: no less than 30 releases since 2020. And that is only his musical output: as an 'interdisciplinary artist', he also works with paint, video, and text.
But it was even more remarkable when I found out Beaudoin is an academically trained composer (with a Ph.D. in music theory and composition) who published on John Cage, Gyorgy Ligeti, and the history of American music. In the past, he worked with renowned artists like John Cage, Morton Feldman, and Milton Babbitt (among others).
After a scholarship in Estonia in 2015, Paul 'experienced a radical shift in his creative work [...] his music moved away from the dissonant, angular music he felt was expected of an academic composer in New England. Paul’s music softened, expanding into long, slowly evolving soundscapes living somewhere between ambient music and the long drone music of composers such as La Monte Young, Tony Conrad, and Eliane Radigue'.
From the may releases that appeared in 2024 (and in the beginning of 2025), I picked only two to mention here as an example of his work. This was a fairly random choice, to be honest - I could have easily picked more from the wealth of music he released.
Icosa (released in May 2024), is a 60-minute continuous piece. It is named after the art gallery in Austin, Texas, where this music was played continuously from 5:00pm until 7:00am for one month. And indeed: this is perfect music to accompany a night's sleep or a sleepless night.
Moon Woke Me Nine Times also presents subtle ambient, but now as nine relatively shorter tracks, each with its own atmosphere. Beaudoin obviously prefers to leave interpretations to the listener, since there is no introduction to the music on this album.
You'll have to do with the track titles, like Ancestral Shadows, The Stone Grinder, Restless Thoughts, Dream State, and Shishi-Odoshi.
moon woke me nine times by Paul Beaudoin
As I said, these are only two albums (almost randomly chosen) from his digital catalog. They're only meant as a starting point for you to learn more about this fascinating (and prolific) ambient music artist.
PAUL BEAUDOIN - ALCHEMIESIn addition to his own series of self-released albums, Beaudoin has also released a new album on the Ambientcat label, a sublabel of Chitra Records. Chitra Records is a label dedicated to 'surreal music for a deep listening experience'. For their Ambientcat sublabel, 'the only requirement is that the sound is pleasant. Music should be relaxing or even healing'.
Alchemies shows a different perspective of Beaudoin's music. Here, he blends orchestra textures with glitch and noise elements. 'These contrasting sound worlds - organic and synthetic, refined and raw - come together in a seamless dialogue', related to the theme of this album: alchemy - 'the quest to turn base materials into gold and seek the philosopher's stone'.
Besides the more 'orchestral' ambient tracks there are also a few more rhythmic electronic tracks (Lunar Conjunction, Mercury's Whisper), completing this album full of varied sonic perspectives.
As far as I'm aware no alchemist ever succeeded in the quest to 'unlock the hidden potential of the universe'. , The journey is far more important than the destination. The same is true for music. But the interplay of the different elements is definitely an enjoyable 'alchemical transformation of sound and silence into rich tapestries of experience'.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
KATE CARR - RUBBER BAND MUSIC**Kate Carr** is unafraid to take things a few steps further and go where others hesitate to go - last December's Rubbish Music, which was literally created using rubbish, is a great example.
"Everything from vibrations caused by cars and footfalls, to indistinct murmurs, music in public space, and the roar of distant sporting events has found its way into my compositions."
Carr'sgrowing catalogue of works was released on various labels, but mostly on Flaming Pines - the label she founded herself.
I guess most of us have sometimes plucked a rubber band and listened how that sounded (I did, anyway). Carr created her own noise boxes, using various constructions with rubber bands and springs.
She recorded these experiments with contact microphones, and post-processed the sonic material with various effects. The result sounds utterly different from what you might have expected. I'm not sure how to describe it in words other than fascinating and adventurous, so I suggest you just listen for yourself.
Rubber Band Music is released on CD and as a download. With the initial pre-release there was also a 'noise box edition' available, with a hand-crafted noise box including springs, rubber bands, 'items to produce textural sounds', also fitted with a contact mix and 1/4" socket for amplification.
Interested? Sorry, note the 'was' in this sentence. Sold out long before release date (which is the day I publish this post!).
But with the images in mind, it shouldn't be too hard to build one yourself?
Rubber Band Music by Kate Carr
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
Dreams Remembered
Tracklist:
- 00:00 DreamScenes - Intro (Susanna)
- 00:20 Clima - Mutant Dub (edit)
Appx:15 Transient State, 2025, appendix.files - 02:11 Rutger Zuydervelt - Concrete Fields
Microtopia (Original Game Score), 2025, self-released - 07:13 Robert Farrugia - Qabru (Radio Version)
Natura Maltija, 2025, Phantom Limb - 09:59 Erik K Skodvin - Alone In The Dark
From Darkness (OST), 2025, Miasma Recordings - 11:30 Jacob Kirkegaard - Animal
Snowblind, 2025, The Helen Scarsdale Agency - 13:15 Ella Van Der Woude - Wetterhorn
- 14:06 Ella Van Der Woude - Vertigo
Alpha (OST), 2025, Ash International - 15:35 Víz - Eden X
Danse de Larmes, 2025, Heat Crimes - 20:07 James Murray - Safehaven (edit)
Safehaven, 2025, Home Normal - 25:19 Asc - Realisations
Tales Of Introspection, 2025, Quiet Details - 32:09 Etüüd - Kohtumised Sügaviku Piiri (Meeting On The Border Of The Depths)
Hääletu Kaos (A Silent Chaos), 2025, Shimmering Moods - 36:28 Interstellar Data Unit - Oort Cloud Research
Crossing The Heliopause, 2018, self-released - 43:08 Fields We Found - Resolve / Relate 02 (Stasis Dub)
Resolve / Relate 02, 2025, Quiet Details - 49:57 Naneum - Triads
Dreams Remembered, 2025, Heart Dance Records - 52:55 Paolo Fresu, A Filetta Corsican Voices, Daniele Di Bonaventura - Rex Tremendae (edit)
Mistico Mediterraneo, 2011, ECM Records - 56:09 Mourneress - Pearl Pallor
A Rooted Sorrow, 2023, Tragedy Productions - 59:01 DreamScenes - Outro (Dean Hurley)
Play this edition on-demand from the Concertzender website
OR:
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
PHILIPPE DESCHAMPS - REMEMBER THE CLOUDSPhilippe Deschamps is a French composer and sound engineer who primarily composes and creates film music but also releases ambient music. Most of his releases are short: there is only one full album listed on Discogs, next to 15 EPs. With its 14+ minutes, Remember The Clouds is also one of these EP's.
All tracks on this mini-album are created with a Telecaster guitar, 'and a volume pedal to soften the attack'. Wind sounds and bass were added, as well as 'transformations of guitar recordings with delay pedals and granular reverb'.
The result is music that changes like clouds in the sky: 'takes shape, deforms and fades, color intensifies, shines, fades and disappears.'
Remember The Clouds is a digital-download only release.
Remember the Clouds by Philippe Deschamps
ARBORESCENCE - VISITATIONSImagine yourself walking through forgotten ruins:
'Follow the forgotten traces of weathered stone walls, inscribed on them are the commanding gestures of time. [...] Here the storms of time have swept through and yet the deep wells of the past remain unscathed, a testament to the power of beauty and form.'
This is the atmosphere Arborescence (Jean Patier) conjures on his third self-released solo album Visitations. With field recordings (don't it always seem to rain when you visit ancient ruins?), piano, harp, flutes and synths he creates a serene soundtrack for your ventures - either reail or imaginary.
'Walk attentively through these thresholds, and in these quiet hours of musical contemplation, may a serene repose guide your footsteps'.
Visitations is available on CD and as a download.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
CAMERON MACNAIR - TO MAKE THE BODY GLOWThis one has been waiting on my 'to-do list' for some time. In the past few weeks I noticed I regularly returned to this album (which is always a good sign).
Cameron MacNair is a Seattle-based composer and musician. Some of you may know his work as Carbon in Prose. He has a background in music technology and traditional instrumentation, and holds a Master of Science degree in Digital Composition and Performance from the University of Edinburgh. His work 'often highlights juxtapositions of sound sources and texture'.
To Make The Body Glow is inspired by the concept of 'the "Body of Light"—a notion that our bodies are formed of the same ethereal essence as the stars', perhaps somewhat more familiar as 'Astral Body'.
The music is 'a metaphor of contemplations of this message, and the search for it.'
A metaphysical theme like that often indicates we're dealing with fairly shallow new age music. But not here - this music is definitely on another level. After all, To Make The Body Glow is released on Yann Novak's Dragon's Eye Recording, the quality label 'emphasizing the elevation of marginalized voices in experimental music'. This is released in their digital-only series.
To Make The Body Glow by Cameron MacNair
WIL BOLTON - SOUTH OF THE LAKEAnother album I regularly re-played (and released in January) is South Of The Lake by Wil Bolton. It is released on the Quiet Details label. Quiet Details is very actively promoting their new releases, which means that I must unfortunately say that the CD version is already sold out (which for this label is usually the case on or shortly after the release dates).
But, there's still digital, so no reason not to mention this beautiful album.
South Of The Lake is inspired by a (spring) road trip around Honam, the southwestern region of Korea. The music radiates serene 'moments of stillness and quiet in temples, nature reserves and a tea garden'.
Many field recordings are taken from this journey - a temple, a tea garden, a nature reserve - and create an extra layer for the music. The bright atmosphere, fresh like spring indeed, is created with singing bowls, bells, windchimes etc, that matches perfectly with their electronic counterparts (a fascinating Cocoquantus among them).
We're nearing Spring again (in the Northern Hemisphere anyway), so be sure to make South Of The Lake part of your seasonal soundtrack.
South of the Lake by Wil Bolton
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
JAMES MURRAY - SAFEHAVENJames Murray's Landscapes of Lovers was originally released on the Fluid Audio label in 2018. But the releases on that label usually sell out quickly, so a physical release was unavailable - until Home Normal recently re-released it. I won't write the same words about this release again, just click the link in the title to read my 2018 recommendation. So, if you're unfamiliar with Landscape Of Lovers you can now make up for that.
I mention this re-release because Home Normal not only re-releases this album but celebrates the re-release with two extra (digital) releases featuring James Murray's music.
And they are spoiling us even more by offering these two as Name-Your-Price downloads!
The first is a brand new track called Safehaven. Written and recorded over Christmas 2024 at Home Normal Headquarters 'inspired by the quietude of the surrounding environment and a new studio set-up to work from'.
It is presented as a 'long-form track', but with 10 minutes and 40 seconds, I would not call it that myself - although it's probably too long for most radio stations.
(When do we speak about 'long-form' music? One hour? Three hours? 24 hours? 25 minutes? 11 minutes).
But that is hardly relevant: the track is as beautiful as can be expected from Murray.
The other pleasant surprise is a remix of tracks from each solo and collaborative release by James Murray on the Home Normal label.
Thirteen tracks, all from different releases (including one yet to be released in April) were carefully mixed by label owner Ian Hawgood into a seamless 80-minute mix. (Track details on the Bandcamp page).
Not only a perfect introduction to 'the sheer breadth and creativity of this truly great artist' and a wonderful addition to those already familiar with his work.
And don't forget: this is a pay-what-you-can release with all donations going to the artist.
Home Normal x James Murray by Home Normal x James Murray
LANTSCAP - FRAGILE PEAKSLantscap is the (somewhat unusual) name for the Ian Hawgood and Warren Forrest Kroll duo. Hawgood is a well-known artist and label curator but I knew nothing about Kroll, who - according to the liner notes - 'has been releasing music as Forrest and Dorosoto for years, and is one half of the widely and wildly loved High Tides duo with acid-electro x hazy synth releases on Rad Cult'.
As Lantscap, the duo previously released 'Varying Degrees Of Alive' in 2013.
Fragile Peaks, released on the first day of this year, is a very quiet 'piece of tape-looped mellotron and synth tones, with multiple guitar drones floating and weaving in and out'.
35 Minutes (and 20 seconds) of ambient in its purest form, to 'gaze over the fragile peaks of our imminent future with no small amount of love and hope'.
IAN HAWGOOD - SAVAGE MODERN STRUCTURESA few weeks after releasing the Lantscap album Ian Hawgood also presented a new solo album called Savage Modern Structures. The title may suggest some 'savage' music, but the music is surprisingly soft-natured.
Using his guitar, mellotron and some classic amps, Hawgood wanted to 'capture the sound of his amps and tapes within the dynamics of his small studio room to absorb the reverberations as they hit him when he makes music'. Recorded entirely at night and mixed in the early hours Hawgood 'poured a lot of late night exhaustion and frustration into the music here but ended up creating something deeply cathartic and melodic, whilst grabbing the wonderful dirt, fuzziness and hum of these old pieces of kit through the recording techniques used.
It is a deeply personal album that originally was not intended to be released. In the liner notes, Hawgood describes a difficult time in his life, physically as well as mental, which took many months of rehabilitation and coundselling to recover. Re-visiting and re-working these recordings were a major help in his recovery.
It was a part of the therapy for 'the deep frustration with the expectation of music' and the 'feelings towards the music industry or scene(s) in the current climate and how damaging the modern affliction of these attitudes and narcissicm truly is'.
Being a creative musican and a passionate label manager can clearly take its toll: "I let it get to me over a sustained period of running a label and over-giving my personal self to others to be blunt".
So there's the relation with the title's 'Savage', perhaps. This album is the gentlest way to 'look into the savagery of the modern heart and tells it to go fuck itself with righteous anger and furious rage'.
Savage Modern Structures by Ian Hawgood
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
MARKUS GUENTNER - BLACK DAHLIAMarkus Guentner is not only a well-known ambient music artist but also the designer creating the visual identity of (Joachim Spieth's) Affin label. Black Dahlia, his latest release and follow-up of September 2024's Kontrapunkt, combines both: the hand-crafted 4-panel CD comes with an extra cover insert card and a sticker.
On Black Dahlia, Guentner presents dark and immersive soundscapes, venturing into 'unexplored territories of experimental sound design while retaining his unmistakable sonic identity. Each track serves as a sonic vignette, weaving intricate layers of pulsating rhythms, haunting melodies and ethereal atmospheres."
The music on this 7-track/51-minute album has an exquisite cinematic 'Sci-Fi' feel, blending the vast sonic textures with all kinds of electronic elements to create a dark but exciting atmosphere.
Black Dahlia does not offer 'ambient' of the 'ignorable' kind, but it's a treat for the adventurous sonic traveler.
Black Dahlia by Markus Guentner
JACOB KIRKEGAARD - SNOWBLINDFor his sound art, Jacob Kirkegaard often chooses fascinating themes. The sound of four deserted rooms in Chernobyl (Four Rooms), the vibrations of the earth around a Geysir in Iceland (Eldfjall), shifting sands in the desert (Sabulation), the sound of the inner ear (Labyrinthitis), or a 'post-mortem' sound study (Opus Mors).
With Snowblind, Kirkegaard turns his attention to barren, icy territory again. The soundscapes on this album are highly programmatic: based on the history of 'a failed attempt for a team of Swedish explorers to reach the North Pole by balloon' in 1897. After two days in the air their balloon crashed. This did not end well for them: they did not survive the cold. Documentation of their journey was discovered thirty years after their death.
As Kirkegaard explains himself: "I wanted to create a cold and hostile album, where there is no escape, no warmth, and no happy ending. Yet, I wanted to leave out any immediate drama. It is the creeping shock, the icy feeling from realizing what has been lost and that there's no escape."
So before listening to this album, you'd better wear an extra sweater. |You'll relive the story in the eleven (all relatively short) sonic vignettes.
Ascend, the first track, builds up to a raging storm and then suddenly drops in an unexpected fade (the moment the balloon crashes?). From there it's a bleak, isolationist journey "of cryptic tone, thrumming reverberation, arctic bluster, and a plethora of harrowing sonic proclamations", ending with the last track called Perish.
It's not exactly what we call 'Easy Listening,' but Jacob Kirkegaard never takes the easy way out. Which always results in remarkable sonic adventures.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
FENNESZ - THE LAST DAYS OF MAYIts release schedule was regular as clockwork: four Longform Edition releases every two months, since June 2018 (with a few exceptions when the interval was only one month). Releases from a wide range of artists curated by Andrew Khedoori - the cover image created with expressive fonts created by typographer Mark Gowing.
But suddenly, without warning, the Longform Edition series ends. #42 (February 2025) will be the final edition, presenting the last four titles of a series of 168 pieces. This last batch presents music by Tujiko Noriko, Natalia Beylis, whait, and Fennesz.
(Christian) Fennesz' piece is called The Last Days Of May. With its 24-minute length, it's his longest piece to date. It starts with ominous low notes, like a church bell, before slightly distorted guitar chords appear (The Last Day Of May was inspired by the Australian guitar player Rowland Stuart Howard, who died in 2009. He was, among others, a member of The Birthday Party and Crime And The City Solution). The distortion takes over, and the piece changes into a noisy drone. Halfway through, the sound-waves get more electronic, but it takes until six minutes before the end of the piece to calm down. And then it suddenly stops with a somewhat unexpected fade.
The Last Days Of May was recorded in the last days of May 2024, It was contributed to Volume 2024, a music series presented by the Art Gallery of New South Wales in July. The piece, conceived as a sound installation, "is meant to blend into everyday soundscapes and occasionally stand out. However, it can also be listened to at full volume on headphones."
The Last Days of May by Fennesz
ASC - TALES OF INTROSPECTIONWith 42 albums and no less than 149 Singles and EPs listed on Discogs (for his Asc alias alone), it's safe to say that James Clements is a productive artist. The UK-born producer (now living in San Diego, USA) not only makes ambient music but also covers many other genres and writing scores for film.
But Tales Of Introspection, released on the Quiet Details label, is definitely one of his ambient music releases. One hour of excellently produced layered sounds, "evoking the sense of infinite space, out of which emerge mesmeric motifs and meticulously crafted harmonies".
Whether you play this soft or loud, the sound envelops you like a thick warm blanket - "with a dynamic
arc that takes you from quiet reflection to full emotional release and back again".
Since their first release in 2022, Quiet Detailshas become one of the most active (ambient) music labels. They often present their new releases with a 'listening party', resulting in a loyal fan base. But also in the releases selling out quickly. This means the CD edition of Tales Of Introspection is already sold out by now, only the digital download remains available.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
"Lucid Dream Technique"
Tracklist:
- 00:00 DreamScenes - Intro (Susanna)
- 00:46 Anton Friisgaard - Syrati
Teratai Åkande, 2024, Stroom - 06:41 Hessel Veldman & Marianna Maruyama - Softly, At First
- 08:04 Hessel Veldman & Marianna Maruyama - Viktorija (fragment)
Salt, 2025, Stroom - 11:11 Michel Banabila - Lucid Dream Technique
Passion For Experiment, 2025, P-Art - 14:33 Julie Walkington & Jim Howard - Off The Beaten Track (fragment)
Beyond The Treeline, 2025, Elsden Music (rel. 02-28) - 18:43 Jakob Kirkegaard - Torment
Snowblind, 2025, Helen Scarsdale Agency - 20:49 DYL & Senking - Not Just Numbers
Diving Saucer Attack, 2024, Karaoke Kalk - 24:02 [something's happening] - Hold
Buzz, 2025, Flaming Pines - 24:51 Markus Guentner- Shattered Remains
Black Dahlia, 2025, Affin - 31:40 Pietro Zollo - Mindful State (edit)
Abstraction, 2025, Projekt (rel. 02-21) - 34:02 Yair Elazar Glotman & Mats Erlandsson - At Ends
Glory Fades, 2025, Xkatedral - 36:56 Thme - Mirage
Anti Atlas, 2025, Laaps - 40:57 Thierry David - Causality
Six Waves, 2024, self-released - 45:18 Atte Elias Kantonen - Isle Of What
A Path With A Name, 2023, Soda Gong - 48:56 Sherry Finzer & Jere Friedman - Stirring
Inner Sojourn, 2024, Heartdance - 54:49 Nicolas Jaar - F Collect
Piedras 1 & 2, 2024, Other People - 59:01 DreamScenes - Outro (Dean Hurley)
Play this edition on-demand from the Concertzender website
OR:
[audio src="https://www.ambientblog.net/mix/dreamscenes-124.mp3"]
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
Andrew Heath and Harry Towell are two names regularly featured on Ambientblog. Both are active musicians, and Harry also runs the Whitelabrecs label. The two worked together in creating a new and promising ambient music label called Driftworks.
Driftworks specialises in lower case, ambient and minimal music from artists that specialize in soundscape, experimental electronic, and electro/acoustic music, often containing fragmentary melodies and field recordings. Together with the label launch they also present The Inner Echo: a community platform 'based around the Whitelabrecs and Driftwork record labels, and the wider Ambient music scenes'.
The label launched with three titles: albums by Andrew Heath and Harry Towell (as Glåsbird) themselves as well as a short album by Peter Maynard called Upper Tranquility Fields.
The label launched on February 7, but was obviously highly anticipated: the (notably too small) physical editions of all three albums were sold out on the first day of pre-order.
ANDREW HEATH - SIGNALS AND CODESInspired by 'academic research into paranormal activities', Signals And Codes presents Andrew Heath's trademark 'lower case music': subtle, immersive soundscapes crafted from acoustic instruments like guitar and piano, incorporating found sounds and field recordings as integral musical elements.
"I continue to explore a dreamlike impressionistic world through my sound palette of piano, guitar, electronics, treatments and field recordings. Signals and Codes further explores this lighter tone. One which drifts and then coalesces occasionally when fragments of melody surface."
Though released as a single CDr, Signals And Codes turns out to be a double album (CDr buyers receive a download code. Literally 'doubled': the ten tracks are all remixed by different artists but presented in the same order as the original album. Together, these twenty tracks present two hours and fourteen minutes of music. The list of artists remixing the tracks demonstrates the vast network around Heath and Towell - most of them have published work on Whitelabrecs before.
Signals And Codes (the original album) itself is beautiful and a pleasure to listen to, but it's also nice to hear what other artists do with the original material. The source - Heath's music - remains clear, but each remixer definitely puts his (yes, they're all male) own spin on it..
Signals and Codes by Andrew Heath
GLÅSBIRD - GLACIAL DRIFTUntil Spring 2024, Glåsbird was an anonymous artist. But now we know that it's one of the aliases of Harry Towell (also known as Audio Gourmet, Spheruleus, and other names). Glåsbird always presented soundtrack-like music, closely related to different geographic locations.
Like Himalaya (2022), Glacial Drift links to mountains: in this case the Swiss Alps. A series of photographs from the Alps from 1938 - 'portraying glaciers, mountains, and valleys showing a very different world' - was the primary inspiration for this album.
But, realizing that Samuel Barber's Adagio For Strings premiered in the same year, a different perspective emerged: the connection with modern classical music that inspires him.
"Clear themes developed with each track representing a year and studying the techniques, equipment and sound aesthetic for a particularly acclaimed artist, starting with Samuel Barber."
These other artists are not named explicitly, but each tracks name is year for its name (1938, 1948, 1959, ... , 2016, 2022) - so you'll have to do some research to find out to whom Harry is referring.
The music in these 10 tracks follows 'the evolution of Ambient, Avant Garde and Minimalist music over the course of the 86 years'. Thus, the album presents different styles: starting as (modern classical) orchestral work, it slowly turns into more electronic, sometimes more ambient soundscapes. But there's always a link to Glåsbird's modern classical 'soundtrack' music. On a different level, with the starting point of the 1938 Swiss Alp photo in mind, it also speaks about "the effects of global warming, accelerated by humans and industry."
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
LAWRENCE ENGLISH - EVEN THE HORIZON KNOWS ITS BOUNDSThere is a direct relationship between sound and architecture: what you hear at home will sound quite different in a church.
Even The Horizon Knows Its Bounds started with an invitation to create a sound environment 'reflecting on the Naala Badu building ar the Art Gallery of New South Wales'. Following the opening in 2022, this music was played for a year 'offering an atmospheric tint to visitors walking through the building'.
It is now presented as an uninterrupted piece, 45 minutes long, divided into eight seamlessly merging segments.
Lawrence English created this piece by sending two long-form 'sound prompts' to different artists, who responded with their contribution which was then 'digested' in the final piece. It's an impressive list of collaborators, featuring - among others - Chris Abrahams, Claire Rousay, Dean Hurley, Jim O'Rourke, Madeleine Cocolas, Norman Westberg.
As a result, the different segments all have their own specific atmosphere, all embedded in the continuous soundscapes created by English. It is quite a journey from the piano improvisations (Abrahams?) to the abstract 'Lynchian' depths (Hurley?) and back via a different route.
If you are familiar with the work of the contributing artists, then you may perhaps recognize their particular contribution. But as a whole, this is definitely a Lawrence English composition. And a quite intense one, too.
Seeing the images of the Naala Badu building (link above) I wonder about the impact of these sounds on the visitors. That will probably also depend on the volume in which it was played, but it must have been quite an experience.
At your home, it deserves to be played on a decent level, through decent speakers. And to be listened to without distraction.
Available on vinyl and dgital download.
Even The Horizon Knows Its Bounds by Lawrence English
SARA PERSICO - SPHAÎRASphaîra, the new album by Italian artist Sara Persico (currently based in Berlin) is also closely related to architecture. The music on this album is created with sounds recorded at the Rachid Karami International Fair in Tripoli, Libanon. A vast exhibition center designed between 1962 and 1967, that was never completed.
'When civil war broke out in 1975, construction ground to a halt and was never resumed, leaving the sea air to
slowly dissolve the 18 abandoned concrete structures.'
Its Experimental Theatre dome has a unique 'whispering effect' acoustics that allows visitors standing on opposite sides of the building to hear each other clearly, no matter how softly they're speaking.
On her visit in 2022, Persico recorded the environment's uncanny acoustic atmosphere. 'By singing, screaming, whispering, moving objects, and producing sound with metal plates that hung from the roof of the structure, she sketched out every corner of the theatre.'
These recordings are not simply presented as they are, but are heavily processed and reworked into - perhaps even more uncanny - different electro-acoustic soundscapes.
'It's as if Persico is communicating with not just the space, but with history - her processes are contemporary, but the elements themselves have been snatched from time.'
Sphaîra is only available as a digital download.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
JOACHIM SPIETH & WARMTH - FRAGMENTSThe music of Joachim Spieth has a characteristic 'widescreen' production and sounds deep, comforting, and warm. So it's only fitting that he collaborates with Spanish ambient producer Agustin 'Warmth' Mena on this album. Both have extensive experience creating music: Spieth released nine albums since 2000, and Warmth presented no less than 29 albums since 2014 under this alias alone (not counting the releases from his side project SVLBRD).
Apart from sharing their 'affinity for expansive, imaginary soundscapes and atmospheric compositions', they also run their own ambient music labels: Archives and Faint (Mena) and Affin (Spieth).
After working together on mutual remix projects, Spieth and Mena decided to create an album together. On seven tracks around the 5-7 minute mark (so less 'fragmented' than one might expect from the title), the duo 'takes the listener on a walk through organic textures and places of longing'.
If you wrap yourself in their music, you will probably lose all sense of space and time - at least for the 42 minutes this album lasts.
Fragments is available on CD and as a digital download.
Fragments by Joachim Spieth | Warmth
DAVID CORDERO - MELODÍAS SUSURRADAS / POSTALESMelodías Susurradas ('Whispered Melodies') has been lying on my to-do stack for too long: it was already released in September 2024. So chances are you're already familiar with this album by Spanish musician David Cordero. But if you are not: it's never too late.
David Cordero has released music since 2012, appearing on various labels like Home Normal, Dronarivm, Lontano Series, Polar Seas Recordings, Past Inside The Present, etc. Melodías Susurradas, however, is a self-released album, available on CD and as a download.
The music on this album was inspired by Cordero walking the Carrascón trail - an ornithological route in the Bay of Cadiz (Spain). The field recordings he made of the numerous birds 'such as the bar-tailed godwit, the grey plover, the pied avocet, or the flamingo', can at moments be heard in the background, but this is not primarily a field recording album. It is music radiating stillness ad tranquility - softly whispering. Or, as I believe they say in Spanish: 'sussurrando suavemente'.
Melodías Susurradas by David Cordero
A few months after the release of Melodías Susurradas, the Dronarivm label released another David Cordero album celebrating Spain's most beautiful landscapes. Each of the 11 titles on Postales ('Postcards') refers to a specific place in Spain: 'I've tried to reflect the beauty of the Irati Forest in Navarra, the Flysh of Zumaia in Gipuzkoa, the Albufera of Valencia, the Gorafe desert in Granada or the Somiedo natural park in Asturias, among other amazing places.'
If you look up these names, you'll find that this time, it's not about a walking trail: the locations are spread out all over Spain. These tracks are intended as musical postcards (hence the album title). Quite literally, too: the special edition CD version comes with a set of eleven postcards. (This edition is limited to 40 and will probably be sold out by the time you read this.) Standard CD versions and downloads are also available.
The music is quiet and peaceful. Ánd bright: there are no dark undertones here. And - remarkably perhaps - no field recordings either. Combine the music with the postcard views, and it gets tempting to start thinking about a holiday in Spain this year.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
∅JERUM - LANGT FRA JORDENThe IIkki series - combining the work of a photographer with that of a musician - continues with edition #26: the result of a dialogue between Spanish photographer Irene Zottola and Danish musician øjeRum (Paw Grabowski).
The book - titled Lejos De La Tierra (Away From The Earth) - is available as a limited (100) hardcover edition, which will not be reprinted in the future. Zottola's photography 'explores the limits of analog photography to generate a world of dreamlike and poetic character'. The IIkki webpage shows examples taken from this book, as does Zottola's website.
The book includes a digital download of the accompanying music, which is also available separately as a download or on CD or vinyl. The musical album also has its title in the language of its artist: in this case Langt Fra Jorden (which has the same meaning). Here, øjeRum presents music with a mysterious atmosphere: earthly for its use of acoustic instruments, and at the same time soaring in the way these sounds are embedded in an almost palpable environment.
As usual, the best way to experience the IIkki releases is to enjoy the book and the music, together, but both are beautiful on their own as well
THIERRY DAVID - SIX WAVESEven if he has released almost 30 albums since 1987, and is named 'one of the most noted composers of New Age / Ambient / Electronic Music today', I must confess that this is the first time I heard music by French composer Thierry David.
No idea why... maybe because it was marketed under New Age - which I usually avoid because most of that is shallow formulaic music to be played in wellness centers. But that's a risky prejudice, as is proven here. But I personally would not call this music 'New Age', I guess 'Ambient', of the 'Pop Ambient' kind, is a better fitting description.
Thierry David has a long history of creating music. Jazz, classical, South American music, and Peruvian music (he has lived there for quite some time). He also studied at the Berklee College of Music. In 1986 he founded his own label K-Vox.
This is how he describes his music: "I strive to create an imaginary universe where ambient sounds merge with rhythmic patterns and where harmonic sequences weave with pulsating melodies allowing the listener to plunge into a personal intimate atmosphere conducive to meditation, peace and serenity."
This is also a fitting description of the music on Six Waves: quiet, calm, and atmospheric, yet also demanding some attention by adding relaxed grooves - 'based on sonic reverberated sculptures'
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
ABUL MOGARD & RAFAEL ANTON IRISARRI - LIVE AT LE GUESS WHOLe Guess Who is a Dutch yearly festival presenting a broad spectrum of music, 'promoting sounds that are often overlooked, and to platform fresh perspectives on what is possible in music'. Over the years, it has grown into one of the greatest and most important festivals for adventurous music in Europe - attracting visitors from over 60 different countries to Utrecht (my hometown).
Ambient/Electronic music is well-represented throughout this festival, among the countless other genres. The 2024 edition presented quite some remarkable performances. Among those scheduled on Saturday evening in the beautiful (and reverberating) space of the Jacobi church were two duos both presenting their overwhelming sets: one was Kevin Richard Martin / KMRU, the other Abul Mogard / Rafael Anton Irisarri.
Mogard and Irisarri performed a carefully structured set, presenting material from Impossibly Distant, Impossibly Close, released earlier that year. The set starts slowly and restrained - 'opening with field recordings to serve as a palette cleanser before transitioning into "Waking Up Dizzy on a Bastion"—a piece that builds from delicate bowed guitar and synth tones to become an immersive wall of sound filling the vaulted ceilings of the gothic church with its raw emotional power.'
'At the heart of the set is "Place of Forever," showcasing Mogard’s sweeping synth lines, and paired with Irisarri’s signature cascading guitar textures, they stretch the tension and release over seventeen spellbinding minutes.'
These two tracks from Impossibly Distant, Impossibly Close were mixed into an uninterrupted set also featuring two other tracks which (as far as I know but correct me if I'm wrong) are previously unreleased: A Secret Postcard From Nowhere and Cascade Infinite.
An intense and almost physical set like this can of course best be experienced live. But this recording of the full 50-minute set is almost as good as being there (provided you play it at an appropriate volume of course). Well-recorded, and meticulously mastered by Stephan Mathieu, who managed to 'preserve every nuance of the live experience—from the reverberations of Jacobikerk’s ancient walls to the standing ovation of the attentive audience'.
For those who were there, this is a reminder of the unforgettable experience that night. For those who could not be there, this is a nice compensation for what you missed out on.
And the best news of all is that this live recording is released as a name-your-price download!! Available from Abul Mogard's Bandcamp page or from Rafael Anton Irisarri's Bandcamp page.
Live at Le Guess Who? by Abul Mogard & Rafael Anton Irisarri
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
Taepyongga (Song Of Great Peace)
Tracklist:
- 00:00 DreamScenes - Intro (Susanna)
- 00:31 Saba Alizadeh - Clamour
Temple Of Hope, 2025, 30M Records - 03:10 Peter James - The End Of Night
Homework - Year 9, 2024, Taâlem - 08:16 Claire Rousay - II
The Bloody Lady, 2024, Viernulvier Records - 12:16 Park Jiha - Blown Leaves
All Living Things, 2025, tak:til/Glitterbeat - 15:48 Michael Stearns - Morris Dreams Of A Past Life
Purr24, 2024, Projekt Records - 19:53 Ben Lukas Boysen - Mere
Alta Ripa, 2024, Erased Tapes - 22:15 James Bernard - Mars Rain (edit)
Past/Present 2024 Compilation, 2024, Past Inside The Present - 25:14 Clint Mansell - Red Light
Love Lies Bleeding OST, 2024, A24 Music - 27:14 Yttriphie - Absrpt-Nline
An Extremely Slow Motion Explosion, 2025, Projekt Records (release Jan 24) - 32:09 Sara Persico - Blue Box
Sphaîra, 2025, Subtext - 33:20 Cameron MacNair - New Born Old
To Make The Body Glow, 2025, Dragon's Eye Recordings - 35:52 Haepaary - Taepyeongga ()
Guruguru Brain Wash 2, 2024, Guruguru Brain* - 40:13 Come Le Onde - La Voce Del Vento
L'immensa Solitudine Delle Montagne, 2024, Oscarson - 43:40 Small Things On Sundays - Moonship (edit)
Guide, 2023, self-released - 47:06 Alva Noto - Xerrox Sans Nom II
Xerrox Vol. V, 2024, Noton - 51:14 William St. Hugh - Scintilla
Our Better Selves, 2024, Self-released - 55:30 Saba Alizadeh - Plain Of The Free ()
Temple Of Hope, 2025, 30M Records - 59:01 DreamScenes - Outro (Dean Hurley)
() Taepyongga (태평가, Korean) means 'Song Of Great Peace'
Taepyeong (태평, 太平) - 'great peace' or 'tranquility.'
Ga (가, 歌)*: "song."
() 'Plain Of The Free'** ends with cries of the people as they demand their right to water during the "Uprising of the Thirsty" in the city of Susangerd (Iran) in 2021
Play this edition on-demand from the Concertzender website
OR:
[audio src="https://www.ambientblog.net/mix/dreamscenes-123.mp3"]
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
MARIANNA MARUYAMA & HESSEL VELDMAN - SALTHessel Veldman has produced experimental music ever since the '70s. He was (and still is) a passionate advocator of DIY music and cassette culture. In recent years, he turned his focus to creating new music, such as releases with Martijn Comes (such as Manifest Exodus), and his solo album Ymuiden.
For Salt - released on cassette (as expected) via Stroom - he provides subtle, almost unnoticeable (but atmosphere-defining) drones for the spoken word poetry of Marianna Maruyama.
Marianna has a beautiful soft voice, intimate - it feels as if you have already known her for years. She describes everyday incidents in a completely unique, personal way. About her dentist, for example, who 'eased my pain and caused some, too', and 'no one wants to think about dentistry as being a practice of touch'.
While currently living in the Netherlands, she also recalls a long list of jobs she had when living in Tokyo - with some remarkable occupations among them: 'lipstick tester, wine taster, page-turner, onsen companion'. One of these jobs was recording her voice for use in an automated cooler ('Press 1 for cold water'). Remembering this job, she asks herself 'I wonder where my voice has gone - and to whom it has spoken'.
As the album progresses, the atmosphere gets somewhat more tense. In the fourth track, Are You Satisfied?, Marianna's voice gets some alienating treatments, increasing the intensity. But with Not Knowing, the album closes quietly again. The music gets more uplifting than it was before, bringing this hallucinogenic album to a peaceful end.
'When I let him read my poems he said they were more like thoughts. I think they can be both'
This album requires dedicated listening - this is not intended to be played in the background. Observations like Maruyama's, spoken like this and combined with Hessel Veldman's ethereal soundscapes are like dreaming with eyes wide open.
Salt by Marianna Maruyama & Hessel Veldman
NATE WOOLEY - HENRY HOUSENate Wooley is an American composer and trumpet player 'dedicated to the American tradition of vibrantly shaggy experimentalism'. He has worked closely with many familiar artists, Eliane Radigue and Annea Lockwood among many other familiar names.
As I understand it (I'm not familiar with his work), Henry House is a rather radical departure from most of his work. Here, he is the composer who has 'removed himself as a performer'.
The 'recurring dream song' on this album combines 'closely tuned instruments and sinetones, tape-music editing techniques, field recordings, and voice' in an eighty-minute, five-part song cycle.
The texts about the fictional main character were taken from four different sources (details can be found in the liner notes), but then extensively edited, processed, rewritten, and restructured to become the finalized texts heard in tracks one and two. For each next piece, they were rewritten again 'to further the depth of the stories'.
In three of the tracks, the texts (spoken by Matt Maneri) are accompanied by 'the interactions between slowly shifting sine tone frequencies and massed, slightly detuned instruments—vibraphones, brass, pianos—to affect a warmly wobbling harmonic pad'.
The other two tracks - both called Stump The World - are spoken by Megan Schubert in an alienating combination with field recordings, interspersed with 'hard cuts of her singing voice constructed into a massive, tape-affected choir'.
Like all spoken word projects, these pieces require dedicated listening. At the same time, they have an elusive dreamy atmosphere. It may not be the easiest to listen to, but rewarding 'vibrantly shaggy experimentalism' it definitely is!
Henry House is released on the Ideologic Organ label, which is curated by Stephen O'Malley. It is available on CD and as a digital download.
NATE WOOLEY - HENRY HOUSE (short edit)
[this is only a short edit of two fragments from track 1 and 3]
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
MATILDE MEIRELES - LOOP. AND AGAIN"Has it ever happened to you while passing by a familiar place that you noticed or heard something for the first time? Something that was always there but because you were not attentive enough it passed unnoticed?"
That's the kind of introduction that triggers anyone devoted to 'ambient' (music and) sound.
It is also the introduction to X Marks The Spot - an 'environmental walk' project in Belfast, Ireland, in which telecommunication boxes emitting an audible drone/hum were tagged between 2013 and 2019. The boxes were not only mapped but their sounds were also recorded and recreated into short compositions that can still be found on the project website.
The project was realized by sound artist Matilde Mereiles, who now used these recorded hums to create the electroacoustic soundscapes on this album Loop. And Again. The hums and drones of the boxes - recorded with contact microphones - merge with ambisonic recordings of their direct environment and with hydrophonic recordings of the river Lagan. The result is a fascinating (and surprisingly musical) mix of pure drone, electronic hums and environmental recordings.
Of the three pieces of this album, the third one has a somewhat different atmosphere than the the first two. Apart from the mentioned ingredients this track also includes trombone improvisations by Tullis Rennie, and recent home recordings of Matilde's time at 'Fingal, Bronagh, and Paul's house close to Cross Parade' (a street in Belfast).
Loop. And Again is a digital-only release on Crónica
Loop. And Again. by Matilde Meireles
BALDINI / DAFELDECKER / STRÜVER - PRISMATICIn the opening half of Prismatic, the music feels entirely acoustic. The three acoustic instruments are chosen for their 'transparent and contrasting soundscape': trumpet (Marco Baldini), double bass, and piano (Werner Dafeldecker). The slow tones set a 'film-noir-like' mood 'of an auditory atmosphere that seems at once real and otherworldly'.
Almost unnoticed, non-acoustic sounds are introduced in the background using tapes and turntables (Jens Strüver) and some electronics (Dafeldecker) - all of them adding to the intensity of the music. Not the kind of 'physical' intensity like that of many 'power ambient' artists, however: the volume does not increase and the pace remains slow.
'The recordings create an acoustic connection to the environment and its historical contexts reflected in the music, contributing to the ambiguity of the music as it moves through shadow and light, much like the prismatic lenses of the musicians reflecting the sounds'.
Prismatic presents a completely different sound, a welcome diversion especially if you feel that too much ambient music starts to sound the same nowadays. If this four-part suite should be called 'ambient' is open to discussion of course. Other labels are also appropriate here - the music is somewhat unclassifiable (which is part of its appeal).
If putting genre labels is difficult, maybe mentioning it is released on the Room40 label is more helpful. But the best way to find out is to listen to it.
Prismatic is a digital-only release.
Prismatic by Baldini/Dafeldecker/Strüver
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
[audio src="https://www.ambientblog.net/mix/WinterSolstice6.mp3" controls /]
The Winter Solstice Ambient Night on Concertzender Nederland has become a yearly tradition: this is the sixth edition already of the 8-hour ambient music night presented by four of their radio show hosts.
Like in all previous editions, I'm honored to close the night with a two-hour collage. My contribution is presented here, but for those interested the complete night will remain available on-demand from the Concertzender Nederland website.
Other than you might expect, this mix is not intended to make you sleep. On the contrary: the challenge is to keep you awake in these last two hours of this ambient music night. Which will probably be quite hard if you're listening in real time.
As usual, only very few tracks are played in full here. Most are fragments, sometimes samples, taken from much longer pieces (which you can check out using the list below).
This time, the overall key of this mix is E-Minor.
TRACKLIST:
Start time Sample length Artist – Title
Album Title, Year, Label
- 00:00 4:56 The [Law_Rah] Collective - In Simulacra
Innovation, 2018, Raubbau - 04:00 3:29 Anxious_Bot - Last Look
Chronic Limbo, 2024, self-released - 06:02 2:36 Acasta Gneiss - Leliestad
Glimmer, 2023, Anterior Insula - 08.21 4:02 Bistro Boy - Colour Arrows
Ambient Short Stories, 2024, self-released - 09:27 5:35 Richard Chartier - Variance 4
On Leaving, 2024, Touch - 10:48 5:56 Loscil - Strathcona
Strathcona Variations, 2009, Ghostly International - 15:55 2:06 Richard Skelton - Under Glotta
The Old Thrawing Crux, 2024, Aeolian Editions - 17:14 2:53 Markus Stockhausen & Luca Formentini - Spirits Everywhere
Rêverie, 2023, Dark Companion - 19:26 3:12 Kassel Jaeger - Khari
Andrei Tarkovky - Another Kind Of Language, 2015, and/OAR - 21:47 1:54 Trepaneringsritualen - The First Adam
The Totality Of Death (Omega), 2024, Cold Spring - 22:55 2:08 Ryuichi Sakamoto & Alva Noto - Carrying Glass
The Revenant (OST), 2016, Milan Records - 24:36 1:03 Gustavo Santaolalla - All Gone [Aftermath]
The Last Of Us (Game Score), 2013, Sony Masterworks - 25:33 2:26 Anne Chris Bakker - Paths (For Robert)
15 Shades of White, 2013, Dronarivm - 27:37 2:15 Associated Sine Tone Services - 000800
Associated Sine Tone Services, 2024, Flag Day Recording - 28:06 2:54 Anthéne - Stray Light
Stray Light, 2024, Floralia - 29:35 3:54 Dakota Suite & Emanuele Errante - A Loveless Moment
The North Green Down, 2011, Lidar - 33:04 2:15 Distant Fires Burning - Book Of Pointless Endurance
Interspectycon Vol. 2, 2022, Audiobulb - 34:57 2:33 Kilometre Club - Hug
At Dusk Hour The Crickets, 2024, Polar Seas Recording - 36:27 2:54 Melanie De Biasio - Alba
Il Viaggio, 2023, [PIAS} Le Label - 38:54 4:08 The Orchestra Of Mirrored Reflections - Lay Your Head Down On My Withering Cloud
Dead Beat, 2017, self-released - 44:03 1:44 Listening Mirror - Midnight At Teques, Storm Approaching
The Heart Of The Sky, 2011, Bathetic Records - 44:55 3:44 Charles Rehill - Fata Obstant
Devises, 2024, self-released - 47:41 2:21 Chloe Alexandra Thompson - Improv
They Can Never Burn The Stars, 2022, Sige Records - 49:17 4:13 Alva Noto - Hybrid Oval Spin
HYbr:ID I, 2021, Noton - 51:49 3:14 Anne Garner (+James Murray) - Soft Eyes
Be Life, 2015, Slowcraft Records / Unperceived Records - 53:43 2:11 Angelo Badalamenti - Dark Space Low
Twin Peaks (Limited Event Series Soundtrack), 2017, Rhino Records - 56:22 2:59 Ambiente Solstice - 4D Spacetime
Out Of The Void, 2023, Wayfarer Records - 58:34 2:32 An Moku & Stefan Schmidt - Medium
Raum, 2021, Karl Records - 60:35 4:26 Aret Madillian - Procyon
The Abbey Project, 2022, self-released - 62:50 3:54 Stephan Mathieu - In Them A Giant Diverted Himself
Trace. Recordings Of Entropic Systems 1998-2018, 2018, Schwebung - 65:59 3:06 Susana López - Concentric
The Edge Of The Circle, 2022, Elevator Bath - 68:39 2:21 Szymon Kaliski To Specific Place
Out Of Forgetting, 2010, Audiomoves - 70:10 3:15 Brian McBride - Several Tries (In An Unelevated Style)
The Effective Disconnect, 2010, Kranky - 72:58 3:00 Spring Quintet - Raven, Raven, Raven (Part 5)
Raven, Raven, Raven, 2019, Whitlelabrecs - 74:00 2:47 John Von Seggern & Dean Benedictis - Shadow Lake
Taking Shasta Mountain (By Strategy), 2024, self-released - 75:25 3:34 Nobuka - Of What Remains
To Yemen With Love, 2020, self-released - 78:03 5:28 Bruce Gilbert & BAW - The Void
Diluvial, 2013, Touch - 82:40 3:26 Angelina Yershova - Khan Tengri
Cosmo Tengri, 2019, Twin Paradox - 85:04 3:38 Bad Sector - Peaks
Incendium III, 2000, Loki Foundation - 87:45 2:55 Ben Lukas Boysen - Evensong
Spells, 2016, Erased Tapes Records - 90:18 2:42 Beyond The Ghost - The Sadness Of All Things
The Last Resort, 2021, Cryo Chamber - 92:23 6:00 Henrik Meierkord - Ambient Dreams
Falling, 2024, Projekt - 96:35 4:32 Federico Mosconi - At 4:00 AM
Nocturnal, 2023, Drnarivm - 100:21 3:23 Loscil - Equivalent 8
Equivalents, 2019, Kranky - 103:23 5:25 Staad - Im Schatten
Staad, 2022, House Of Inkantation - 105:00 2:15 Carl Lord - Bedtime Voices
Sacred, 2024, Heart Dance Records - 108:02 2:03 Forest Robots - Of Embers Warmth The Long Forgotten Memories
Supermoon Moonlight II, 2022, Subexotic Records - 109:55 2:42 John Foxx, Harold Budd, Ruben Garcia - Nighthawks
Nighthawks, 2015, Metamatic - 112:09 2:58 Marek Kaminski & Piotr Michalowski - Ruminations
Sleeplaboratory 2.0, 2020, Whitelabrecs - 114:28 5:27 Erik Wøllo - Nightscape
North Star, 2021, Projekt
Download Winter Solstice 6 now 274Mb (120 min.)Alternative download from Archive.org
(check here for lossless download)[Surround-version (DTS.wav/FLAC/WMA 5.1) here]
OR: Listen on Mixcloud, Spotify or iTunes:
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
FRINGO CHILLS - ...IN NORWAYFringo Chills is the alias of German electronic music artist / synthesizer player Frank Rothe. Since 2015 he has released five albums under this name (including this one), each of its titles beginning with "...".
"... In Norway" is inspired by the landscape, mountains and fjords of - you guessed it - Norway. And especially Norway in the Winter season, with its never-ending nights and northern lights (known as Aurora Borealis).
Rothe's music is firmly rooted in the German electronic scene, the 'Berlin school'. Some parts of the five long tracks sound as if they could've been made in the early days of Klaus Schulze and Tangerine Dream, the time when new possibilities of synthesizers and sequencers were explored. But at the same time, the production is definitely contemporary - it is not just nostalgic.
All of the 'long evolving rhythms and epic soundscapes' (the longest track is just short of 20 minutes) are created with Frank Rothe on synths and sequencers, with a vocal guest performance of Katje Haring on Aurora Borealis.
Her beautiful soft voice and German spoken word lyrics brought me back to the moment I discovered ambient music in 1973, when I heard Ash Ra Tempel's Jenseits on the radio (from Join Inn, featuring Klaus Schulze, Manuel Göttsching and the enchanting voice or Rosi Müller).
I had never heard anything like that before - it sounded like music from another world. Music like this was not called 'ambient' then - the legendary Ohr label called it 'Kosmische Musik' (cosmic music).
"... In Norway" can definitely also be filed under 'Kosmische Musik', even though its main source of inspiration is Norway, not space. But with the right circumstances, it's easy to float away on this music - into space, to Norway, or wherever you like.
RUBBISH MUSIC - FATBERGSRubbish Music is not a self-deprecating reference to the musical content but to the source materials used to create this music: rubbish, or discarded materials. Rubbish Music is also the name of the duo of Kate Carr and Iain Chambers. Fatbergs is their second album, following up 2022's Upcycling.
'Fatbergs' are 'monsters built from wet wipes, nappies, food waste, fats, and oils, [which] haunt us as a nightmarish return of the soiled, rejected and rotten'.
The 'stinking and roiling matter of fatbergs' is the starting point of Rubbish Music's compositions, in which they 'creatively transform domestic waste items into engaging sound art'.
The music is not as 'disgusting' as this may sound. Carr and Chambers are experienced sound artists, who know how to transform field recordings and found sounds into an engaging soundscape.
Their 'toolkit of rusty bells, dirty over grills, onion skins, toilet plungers, wine bottles, nasal spray, squeaky chicken toy' and whatever else they found in the enormous mountains of waste finds new purpose in fascinating compositions that are part Musique Concrête, part electroacoustic music.
A different kind of upcycling, perhaps, but upcycling it is!
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
LONGFORM EDITIONS - #41Ever since 2018, Longform Editions has published batches of four titles by four different artists every two months. The musical curator of the series is Andrew Khedoori, alongside Mark Gowing who designs the remarkable typographic cover for each release.
This month (December 2024), edition #41 will be released, presenting tracks 161-164, by Sanae Yamada, The Nighttime Ensemble, Reign Of Ferns, and Jolanda Moletta and Karen Vogt.
As its name reveals, all pieces are relatively long, sharing the intention 'to foster and celebrate immersive listening experiences for the musically adventurous'. Which, by the way, implies that the music can not always be labeled as 'ambient'. It can be ambient, generative electronics, improv, modern classical, field recordings... just about anything that fits the concept as long as it is 'immersive' and/or 'adventurous'.
The 'long-form' length can range from around 20 minutes to over one hour. Musically, the editions cover a broad and somewhat hard-to-define range of styles.
Below are two examples from the latest batch:
Sanae Yamada - a member of the 'proto-punk, fuzz-trance outfit Moon Duo - explores a different territory in her calm and gentle piece Flowering Tree.
On Suspended Between Worlds, Jolanda Moletta and Karen Vogt 'use vocal intonations as the key source to conjure cocooning compositions of dream-like ambience'.
Each piece in the Longform Editions series can be obtained separately, but with a subscription, you'll receive all editions (ánd some subscriber-only releases) for no more than $6AUD (3,70 EUR or $2,60 USD) per month.
Flowering Tree by Sanae Yamada
Suspended Between Worlds by Jolanda Moletta and Karen Vogt
VARIOUS ARTISTS - ILLUMINATIONS IIIIn the twelve years of their existence, the Dronarivm label has built a firm and reliable reputation of releasing nothing but quality ambient music. And doing so, they also built a strong network of artists - as is demonstrated by their 100th release: Illuminations III.
For this 24-track (2hr24 minute) compilation, they invited musicians who released music on the label to create a track in collaboration with another (Dronarivm-)artist of their choice. As a result, there is an amazing array of unique music spanning 'the vast musical spectrum of the genre we generally call "ambient"'.
There are (of course) many familiar names in the list of contributors. Naming them all would result in a long list, so I'll only mention a few: Chihei Hatakeyama, Offthesky, Henrik Meierkord, Andrew Heath, Snufmumriko, Enrico Coniglio, Machinefabriek, The Green Kingdom, Porya Hatami, Celer, Aaron Martin, Anthéne, and so on and so on... But I guess that's enough to spark your interest.
More good news is that this compilation is free to download! But by way of saying thanks, you can of course also add a donation which will help finance future projects.
Illuminations III is primarily a download-only release, but if you prefer to have a physical edition the album is also available as a print-on-demand double CDr.
Illuminations III (free download) by Various Artists
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
Den Farben dieser Nacht
Tracklist:
- 00:00 DreamScenes - Intro (Susanna)
- 00:12 Alva Noto - Xerrox Nausicaa
Xerrox Vol. 5, 2024, Noton - 06:30 David Cordero & Rhucle - Far Away
Illuminations III, 2024, Dronarivm - 08:44 Fringo Chills - Aurora Borealis (edit)
… In Norway, 2024, Syngate - 18:00 Ezdanitoff - Ortophonics
Kraezicken, 2024, Kringloop Kassettes - 20:12 Janek Schaefer - Quest For … / +ve Intent…
Conscious Sedation, 2024, Self-released - 26:13 Ava Rasti - Wound (edit)
The River, 2024, Fatcat Records - 29:27 Ben Bertrand & Manah Depauw - Reach Out
Black Zodian, 2024, Stroom.tv - 33:00 Niton - Noi ft. Meryem Aboulouafa & Vanni Bianconi
Niton11, 2024, Shameless Records/Pulver Und Asche Records - 36:00 Hammock - Ultrasound
From The Void, 2024, Hammock Music - 39:13 Dirk Serries -Lullabye For Kuro (edit)
Purr24, 2024, Projekt - 44:01 The Black Dog - Sleep Deprivation 20 Floatation
Sleep Deprivation, 2024, Dust Science Recordings - 47:45 David Darling & Hans Christian - Unforseen Rain Ambient
Ocean Dreaming Ocean, 2023, Self-released - 49:48 Simon Öggl - Appel Du Vide
Xenotopia, 2024, Col Legno - 55:19 Mardit B. Lleshi - Deporare Silentii
Monumenta, 2024, Whitelabrecs - 59:01 DreamScenes - Outro (Dean Hurley)
Play this edition on-demand from the Concertzender website
OR:
[audio src="https://www.ambientblog.net/mix/dreamscenes-122.mp3"]
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
ALVA NOTO - XERROX VOL. 5No less than four years after 2020's Volume 4, we finally can welcome the closing part of the Xerrox series that Alva Noto (Carsten Nicolai) started in 2007. I doubted the series would ever come to a close, because of other releases that came in between, like HYbr:ID I-III and various movie soundtracks.
The Xerrox series is based on the concept of repeating digital copies as in a sonic photocopier, each time with subtle distortions, and finding out what happens to the sound. Can (digital) distortion evoke emotional resonance? This was perhaps most clear in the first part of the series (2007), but later in the series the music became more personal and emotional - including more melodic layers to temper the abstract, digital edge. It felt as if the xeroxed artifacts slowly disappeared into the background.
Volume 2 appeared in 2009, and it wasn't until 2015 that Volume 3 - an attempt to make the unknown and the infinite tangible - was released. Volume 4 departed from abstract sounds to create a more vulnerable and accessible work. Nicolai referred to it as a 'love story'.
Xerrox Vol. 4 was arranged for performances with Ensemble Modern in 2021 (Frankfurt, Germany) and in 2024 on November Music in Holland. (If you're interested in how the sounds of Xerrox Vol. 4 translate into ensemble arrangements: the full 2021 performance is still available on YouTube.)
And now here is the concluding edition, finally completing the word X.E.R.R.O.X. spelled by the five covers.
"The copying process is now less visible through software manipulation; rather, it unfolds as the artist describes melodic and acoustic images that are then manipulated, copied, and transformed into new patterns during composition."
The performances with Ensemble Modern have left their mark on the latest edition: “This experience of working with acoustic classical instruments has flowed into the compositional process for Xerrox Vol. 5. Certain instruments are designed with potential orchestral translation in mind.”
It's not hard to imagine how Vol. 5 will sound in a string arrangement setting, so who knows what the future may bring.
Volume 5 is even more personal and emotional than Volume 4. It is 'embued with melancholy and the bittersweet essence of farewell'. And that is not just the farewell to the series, but also farewell to people who were close to Nicolai. Such as the passing of Ryuichi Sakamoto, with who Carsten Nicolai has often worked (and who was an admirer of the Xerrox series).
The subtitles of the different parts of the series are an indication of its expanding universe: Old World (Vol.1), To The New World (2), Towards Space (3), Transit Extrasolar Territories And Inner Worlds (4), and, finally, Sailing With The Ion Wind In The Ocean Of Dissolution (5).
Together, the series is a fascinating journey that starts with abstract and somewhat distant electronics but gradually transforms into melancholic and sensitive arrangements fit for orchestra performance.
ALVA NOTO - XERROX ARC
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
JANEK SCHAEFER - CONSCIOUS SEDATIONWhile struggling with serious health issues, and awaiting an operation, a nurse mentioned that Janek Schaefer was about to have 'conscious sedation' surgery. Janek immediately recognized this as the title for his new album.
Empowered by his concept of '+ve intent' (+ve = positive), the album portrays Janek's 'cosmic metaphysical experiences having daily ‘photon power showers’ in order to save my life, using the same fundamental electromagnetic waves that bring us our life on planet earth'.
In the context of a serious radiotherapy treatment that may sound somewhat scary and worrying, but the music is quite the opposite of that. The tracks are 'like a sonic portrait of the energy waves and fluid flow of life dawning' and sound 'uplifting, drifting like a comfortable soundtrack to hallucinogenic daydreams'.
The titles form the sentence The Eternal / Quest for / +ve Intent - all three tracks are repeated three times each in different forms.
Like his previous album, Love Hertz, the physical edition Conscious Sedation is released as a CD plus DVD.
The music on this album is the soundtrack to 'an abstract portrait of vibrating molecules, from the origin of life within me, nurturing my new baby cells to replace the rogue cells'.
I guess a positive attitude (+ve intent!) as shown in the music must inevitably also have a good impact on Janek's healing. Get well soon, Janek!
Conscious Sedation by Janek Schaefer
BAŞAK GÜNAK - REWILDINGBaşak Günak (born in Istanbul but currently living and working in Berlin) may also be known as AH! KOSMOS. This is the first album that is released under her own name. She also composes for theatre, dance, visual arts, and site-specific performances.
Her extensive experience in creating and performing electronic music is clear from the very first moments of Rewilding.
Günak uses all kinds of materials in her work: whistles, whispers, deconstructed South-Eastern Anatolian folk songs, a range of instruments including a halldorophone (I had never heard of that instrument before), and fragments of her earlier installations. As a result, the intricate and detailed soundscapes 'take the form of a distant sound of a murmur that tends to disappear and then reaches to the surface again and overflows into audibility'.
Başak Günak plays the halldorophone, organ, Buchla 100, electronics, piano, and does the programming. Vocal parts (on Foraging) are taken from a 2020 sound installation, while the bass clarinet on the title track is played by Isak Hedtjärn.
Together, the music on this 37-minute album often feels more organic than electronic. This perfectly fits the theme of the album: rewilding - letting nature take care of itself, enabling natural processes to shape land and sea.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
ROD MODELL - MUSIC FOR BUS STATIONSAnyone who ever travels by public transport knows the feeling you get when you just miss the bus or train and have to wait for the next one. And how it raises your blood pressure, not just from running trying to catch the one that just left, but also from irritation.
With this release, you can comfortably retreat into the audio bubble that Rod Modell (also known as DeepChord, Echospace, Waveform Transmission, and more) creates for you.
It is called '... for bus stations', because the inspiration came from avant-garde bus station designs such as Domitianus Arquitectura's station in Rio Maior, Portugal; Bluck & Morgen's Busbahnhof Poppenbuttel in Hamburg, Germany; and Metaraum Architect's bus station in Pzorzheim, Germany (that's the one on the cover).
But the 62-minute 'generative backdrop, designed to enhance space and portray a mod of progressiveness, grandeur, and ethereal calm' is not just suitable for bus stations, but for virtually any place where you have to wait for a longer time.
Except for airports, for obvious reasons. (And toilets, for less obvious reasons).
Mentioning the 62 minutes refers to the continuous CD-mix (now sold out). But in fact, the composition is made of four parts, subtly different but without touching the delicate atmosphere. These four parts were spread out over 2 vinyl albums that are (you guessed it) also sold out already.
But there's still the download of course - and if you're listening to this music while waiting for your transport to arrive, you'll probably listen to it on a portable device anyway.
Music for Bus Stations by Rod Modell
LONEWARD - FRACTIONAL DIMENSIONS VOL. 4If, by chance, your public transport is delayed for more than the 62 minutes mentioned above, you can add this fourth volume of Fractional Dimensions to your playlist for another 65 minutes of ambient bliss.
Loneward is one of the aliases for the work of Mike Carss from Ontario, Canada. Loneward's purpose is "to provide a consistent listening experience across its discography. If you enjoy one Loneward release, you'll enjoy them all". As Altus, Carss aims more to explore ideas outside the ambient/new age genre, and with Burlorke he creates a mix of 80s/90s synthpop, new wave, and darkwave.
Loneward's music is simply unpretentious: it is "ambient music in its purest form, exploring slow-moving spaces for contemplation, meditation, and sleep". And any other use that works for you, of course.
It has the classic ambient quality: captivating when you focus on it, yet easy to tune out if you choose. Or, to re-phrase that in the words of Brian Eno: 'as interesting as it is ignorable'.
If long-form ambient is not your preference: the plan is to release shorter versions of the four tracks as a compilation EP somewhere in the future.
Fractional Dimensions Volume 4 by Loneward
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
MARISKA BAARS, NIKI JANSEN, RUTGER ZUYDERVELT - HARDANGERYou can trust Rutger 'Machinefabriek' Zuydervelt to always come up with surprises again and again - even with approximately 103 albums as Machinefabriek and another 43 under his own name.
This time, it's a new collaboration with Mariska Baars - known for her work as soccer Committee but also for various other collaborations, Piiptsjilling and Fean among them. And with Niki Jansen, who plays the hardanger fiddle that gave this album its name.
On two 17-minute tracks, the trio presents a remarkable combination of Niki Jansen's fiddle, Mariska Baars' guitar and voice, and the additional sine waves of Rutger Zuydervelt, who also processed and edited the material to this result.
"The music on Hardanger started with improvisations by Niki Jansen, guided by Mariska Baars, who responded with vocal and guitar recordings. Rutger Zuydervelt used this material as the building blocks for the two long-form pieces found on the album."
Hardanger is the 50th release in the ongoing Laaps series, which means this series is half-way now (it will end at #100). It is available on CD, vinyl and as a digital download.
Hardanger by Mariska Baars / Niki Jansen / Rutger Zuydervelt
PROTOU - THE VOICE OF SERENITYThe Cryo Chamber label is known for specializing in 'dark' (and 'cold') ambient. But, as its title suggests, the latest protoU album is a rather serene adventure - not necessarily 'dark' though it has some dark undertones at times.
The 'dreamy sweeping voyage across light and dark' is recommended for 'fans of field recordings, harmonic pads, and tranquil soundscapes'.
This is protoU's 17th album for the label - the exception being her collaboration with Purl on Dronarivm in 2019. protoU (the capitalization is intended) is the alias of Oleksandra Puzan from Kyiv, Ukraine, sometimes also known as Robocat, Sasha Cats, and some other aliases. Her husband is Oleg Puzan, also known as Dronny Darko (another Cryo Chamber regular).
protoU often collaborates with other artists, but five of the seven tracks here are her solo work. The remaining two tracks feature Fractalyst (Dimitris Valasopolous) and Skrika (Monty Adkins), respectively.
The Voice Of Serenity will definitely appeal to Cryo Chamber aficionados. It's also recommended if you're not yet familiar with the label and want a taste of its music without diving too deep into its darker depths—at least for now.
The Voice of Serenity by ProtoU
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
LORENZ WEBER - A SHEPHERD'S LIFEIt's a commonly known fact that musicians - especially those in the ambient genre - have to have a side job to be able to earn a living. But I doubt there are many whose side job is being a shepherd. Lorenz Weber is - or was.
On A Shepherd's Life he combines his experiences as a shepherd with his music. His quiet piano phrases are combined with sounds he recorded during his work as a shepherd. In that way, the twelve-track album is "a diary-like sound collection that provides an intimate snapshot of a shepherd's life in the mountains."
The track titles describe the condition of the moment: Tension, Awe And Wonder, Uncertainty, Sky Clears, Rest Day, and Stillness. Those are all the piano pieces, while A Thousand Lives, A Thousand Landscapes, A Thousand Raindrops, A Thousand Emotions present the different field recordings.
If you want a visual impression to go with the music, Weber also has a collection of prints "to make this world of the shepherd closer to you". You can browse them [here].
A Shepherds Life by Lorenz Weber
BISTRO BOY - AMBIENT SHORT STORIESUntil now, I have never heard of Bistro Boy (Reykjavik based artist Frosti Jónsson) - even though this is his ninth album since 2012. But Ambient Short Stories is a pleasant introduction, that immediately caught my ears with the bright high notes combined with the ambient sax in the opening track Colour Arrows.
After dropping out of classical piano lessons, Jónsson focused on electronic music: ambient-fused electro, often introspective and melancholic.
Starting with ("not always successfull") improvised melodies on his saxophone, and letting these grow into something else, the album grew into a collection of melodic, free-spirited and uplifting tracks. And to me, this feels like a relief in between the overwhelming lot of dark and haunting ambient music currently available.
There's a right time for everything of course, but sometimes it feels like 'positive', brighter, ambient is more difficult to create than the darker kind. Someone unknown described Bistro Boy as "one of the most creative Icelandic electronic projects that can use sounds to remove weight and gravity from reality".
It seems that's exactly what the world needs most right now.
There's still enough room for melancholy on Ambient Short Stories too, though: Frosti 'Bistro Boy' Jónsson 'aimed to evoke emotions, tell stories in sound, and paint a sonic landscape for the audience'.
Ambient Short Stories by Bistro Boy
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
The Joy Paradox
Tracklist:
- 00:00 DreamScenes - Intro (Susanna)
- 00:25 Alva Noto - Xerrox Xenonym
Xerrox Vol. 5, 2024, Noton (release November 29) - 05:32 Mikkel Ploug, Sissel Vera Pettersen, Joachim Badenhorst - Hinterland
Lento, 2024, Klein Records - 08:07 Jacek Doroszenko - Identity Values - Movement I
Identity Values, 2024, Audiobulb - 12:25 Craven Faults - Long Stoop
Bounds, 2024, Leaf - 15:17 Faith Coloccia - Pleione (fragment)
Philip Jeck - RPM, 2024, Touch - 17:14 Philip Jeck & Claire M. Singer - Sketch One
- Philip Jeck - RPM, 2024, Touch
- 22:47 Samuel Reinhard - No. 2 (edit)
Movement, 2024, Hallow Ground - 29:50 Andrew Ostler - The Blind Sublime, Part 2: Confession
The Blind Sublime, 2024, Expert Sleepers - 35:58 De Mannen Broeders - Alle Roem Is Uitgesloten (fragment)
Sober Maal, 2024, Relapse Records - 38:49 Erland Cooper - Then Be Content (Mvt. 2) (Pt. 3 "Walking Through Heather And Peat")
Carve The Runes Then Be Content With Silence, 2024, Mercury KX - 43:07 Anna Clementi & Thomas Stern - Regen
Doppelmoppel - Poems By Kurt Schwitters, 2024, Corvo Records - 44:00 Moskitoo - Unspoken Poetry
Unspoken Poetry, 2024, Weather/Headz - 46:23 Cephas Azariah - Amber Clouds (fragment)
Joy Paradox, 2024, Reflections - 47:35 Robert Schwarz - OSW
Stridulations 1-14, 2024, Superpang - 49:06 Daniela Huerta - Riachuelo
Soplo, 2024, Elevator Bath - 51:16 Conrad Schnitzler - 2:05
Magie, 2024, Flip-Flap - 53:02 Arve Henriksen & Harmen Fraanje - Mirror Images
Touch Of Time, 2024, ECM Records - 55:37 Christopher Colm Morrin - 02
Sketches 1-17, 2024, Stray Signals - 59:01 DreamScenes - Outro (Dean Hurley)
Play this edition on-demand from the Concertzender website
OR:
[audio src="https://www.ambientblog.net/mix/dreamscenes-121.mp3"]
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
EDU COMELLES & SERGI PALAU - ABOUT BERLANGAThe audio-visual multimedia project About Berlanga is a homage to Spanish film director Luis Garciá Berlanga (Valencia, 1921). It is created from completely deconstructed parts of the soundtracks for his films Placido (1961), El Verdugo (1963), and Bienvenido Mr. Marshall (1953) - all written by composer Miguel Asins Arbó.
You will probably have a hard time recognizing the original soundtrack (assuming that you are familiar with them), because Edu Comelles has completely torn them apart and recreated it into soundscapes "in which the noise of old magnetophonic tapes and loudspeakers dialogues with musical reveries that trigger the memory and the recollection of melodies that, more than soundtracks, are already part of a common cultural imaginary."
To complete the project, visuals, and stills from the same movies were added by Sergi Palau, seeking "to create a new narrative without separating from the social message derived from them".
True to the nature of its intentions, About Berlanga is released on a 4Gb SD card containing the music (3 tracks, 33 minutes) as well as the FullHD video of the AV show premiere at La Mutant (Valencia). Four stills are included. The music is also available separately as a digital download (without the video).
About Berlanga by Edu Comelles/Sergi Palau
JACEK DOROSZENKO - IDENTITY VALUESJacek Doroszenko is an audiovisual artist from Poland, based in Warsaw and Krakow. In his work, he focuses on multimedia art, music, and audio phenomena. Discogs only mentions three previous releases on familiar labels like Eilean Rec., Audiobulb, and Time Released Sound - but his discography spans much more than those three albums (such as four titles on Zoharum, for example).
Identity Values is his latest release on Audiobulb Records and is inspired by the way "individuals shape their identity based on the values that are important to them". An interesting subject, especially since I write this on the day of the American elections.
"Contemporary approaches to identity assume that it is constructed and negotiated in response to changing social and cultural conditions."
How exactly this translates into the music is of course a subjective matter, but some of the track titles may help: Identity Is Malleable, A Motivated Man, Self-Control Model...
The electronic soundscapes are a fascinating collection of 'audio phenomena', sometimes hectic, sometimes relaxing, and sometimes both at the same time.
As complex and unfathomable as the concept of identity itself, perhaps?
Identity Values by Jacek Doroszenko
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
ANDREW OSTLER - THE BLIND SUBLIMEOpening with a striking full-choir chord, Andrew Ostler's Blind Sublime draws immediate attention - as if to say "sit down, and listen'. I did not expect to hear a choir in this setting, but what a surprise it is!
This album - Ostler's fifth for his own label Expert Sleepers - is a surprise in more than one way. The instrumentation is partly taken from his previous albums (Dots On A Disk Of Snow for the string arrangements, Four Drones For Saxophone And Modular Synthesizer for the sax drones) and can definitely be called 'ambient' music. But on top of that, full choir arrangements are added, taking the album to a completely different level. This is as much ambient music as it is contemporary classical. As stated in the info sheet: "RIYL: Arvo Pärt, Stars Of The Lid". (Sunn O))) is also mentioned but don't think that really compares).
There are four pieces on this album - three shorter pieces on side one (of the blue vinyl album), and the 20-minute Meditation on side two. The atmosphere ranges from gentle, confident to quite intense - with the choir in the leading role this is not ambient music of the 'ignorable' kind.
The choir itself is not mentioned, because it does not exist: it's Ostler himself performing the saxophones, modular synthesizers, and the orchestral and choral arrangements. The choir arrangements sound really lifelike, hard - if not impossible - to distinguish from a real choir.
I don't know what Ostler used to achieve this, but perhaps the answer can be found on the Expert Sleepers website: apart from being a small music label they also create synth hardware and various audio plugins.
The Blind Sublime by Andrew Ostler
DANIEL M. KARLSSON - TOWARDS A MUSIC FOR A LARGE ENSEMBLEYou need to know a few things about Daniel M. Karlsson if you want to be his friend: "he is a composer focused primarily on texture and timbre, works extensively with algorithmic composition", and describes himself as a "Marxist transhumanist singulitarian". Don't worry if you don't know what that means, check his website for an explanation. Also, the composer from Stockholm is a well-known evangelist for the open-source music coding platform Supercollider. (If you are familiar with Supercollider: the cover shows the codes for each of the 64 instruments Karlsson used for these pieces - enlarge the image for details).
This album (his third, but the first solo album on vinyl) presents music that was commissioned for the Edition Festival 2024, where it was presented on the multichannel Acousmonium (must have been quite an experience!). But obviously, these are the stereo versions.
Both pieces may be entirely computer-generated, but they sound remarkably live-like: as if performed by an ensemble "where the members are listening to each other and interacting and responding to musical events that happen within the group. [...] I love that kind of thing where there is no conductor."
"I want to make music that contains a cognitive dissonance of some kind — where you are second guessing your own ability to discern what is real. [...] I want this to become a confusing, enveloping mesh of possibilities that puts you in a state of uncertainty. What is it that you are listening to?"
Towards A Music For A Large Ensemble is available on vinyl or as a (24/44.1 kHz) download. With the purchase, you also receive a bonus PDF containing the complete source code for the piece as well as a download link for the 10.5-hour (!) version called Towards A Music Of Long Duration".
Towards a Music for Large Ensemble by Daniel M Karlsson
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
PHILIP JECK - RPMPhilip Jeck, who passed away in 2022, will be remembered as the godfather of turntablism. He worked with old records and record players, playing them as musical instruments and thus creating a new kind of performance art. His 'Vinyl Requiem' (with Lol Sargent) used no less than 180 (!) record players - and won the Time Out Performance Award in 1993. He played and performed with many well-known artists such as Jah Wobble, Steve Lacy, Jaki Liebezeit, David Sylvian - and many, many more.
Touch, the label that released many of Jeck's albums, now honors the artist with a 16-track double CD of his music in collaboration with an impressive array of artists: Fennesz, Gavin Bryars, Chris Watson, Rosy Parlane, Cris Cheek, Claire M Singer, Faith Coloccia, David Sylvian & Hildur Guðnadóttir, Jah Wobble & Deep Space, Drums Off Chaos, Chandra Shukla, and Jana Winderen.
RPM is not a collection of remixes of precious tracks, but a selection of music these artists worked on with Philip Jeck during the last years of Jeck's life. It is an ode to the versatility and diversity of his music, including restless turntablist loops, calm ambient dronescapes, processed field recordings, dubby bass, and fierce rhythms. In working with so many different artists, Jeck proved himself a musical chameleon: each track is undeniably his, yet it unmistakably reflects the style of the artist he collaborates with.
By 'joining some of the dots of Philip's life and involving many other collaborators, early and more recent', Touch created a monumental tribute to this unique artist.
DOMINIQUE BASSAL - ÉCRASER L'AUTREDominique Bassal's new album is released on Empreintes Digitales, thé label specializing in electroacoustic-/acousmatic music and musique concrète since 1990. If you're familiar with the label, you probably know what sort of sonic adventures to expect.
But Basset obviously wanted 'to throw a cat amongst the pigeons' with Écraser L'Autre ('Crush The Other'), to shake up his fellow acousticians with provocative statements. There are quite a lot of those in the self-deprecating liner notes - some of which I will quote here:
"Acousmatic music exists only as the prisoner of an unsympathetic, exclusivist, and ascetic convention.[...] Shielded as I am by acousmatics’ total lack of exposure, I can allow myself to disobey any and all rules. So here’s my “process”: we still sound pretty bad. And why is that? Because acousmatic music is foremost the victim of a geek complex both deeply ingrained and highly paradoxical: the absolute rejection of emotional musical content, of an understandable narrative arc, of any compromise in terms of predictability.” [...] Our avant-garde esthetics do not automatically turn sound materials into something listenable, let alone enjoyable."
He then continues to rub some extra salt in the wound by stating that acousmatic composers wrongfully ignore (or avoid with disdain) the technical skills of commercial producers and the new tools being developed in other genres.
"And yet, some of those techniques are based on serious analytical research, for instance on treating potential conflicts — or unexpected collisions — between sound materials themselves and the human ear. And those techniques (often) work. [...] A quick survey of the big names of acousmatic music shows that no one in the “community” has exhibited a fraction of the creative genius required to compete with the massive knowledge and techniques collectively gathered by pop music producers in recent decades."
Ouch!
Does this mean that Bassal's music on Écraser L'Autre sounds different - more pop-oriented perhaps - from other releases on Empreintes Digitales?
Not really, if you ask me - these fascinating soundscapes still perfectly fit the label. At times, parts may be more accessible than some of the more hardcore acousmatic music. And maybe Bassal used some of the 'commercial' producer's techniques to achieve his results. As he says himself: "I’m not pretending I’ve gotten there yet, but it’s a fair step in the right direction…"
In any case, this is not only a fun read (full text on the Bandcamp page), but it's also a fun listen - especially if you can appreciate these kinds of wild-ride, abstract compositions created from amazing sounds.
Note: Bandcamp only hosts the digital download version. A CD-R version can be obtained here.
Écraser l’autre by Dominique Bassal
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
SAMUEL REINHARD - MOVEMENTIn July this year, I recommended listening to Samuel Reinhard's For Piano And Shō, praising its slowed-down atmosphere created by the two acoustic instruments. His new album, Movement, reveals Reinhard's return 'with a suite of electroacoustic collages'. Despite this, the four 20-minute movements feature only acoustic instruments: piano (Reinhard), bass flute (John Also Bennett), baritone sax (Michal Biel), cello (Leila Bordreuil), pedal harp (Shelley Burgon), and double bass (Vincent Yuen Ruiz).
The term 'electroacoustic' might be open to interpretation, as the music sounds organic and acoustic but has been treated and layered to create a quiet state of immersion, reminiscent of Brian Eno's early ambient recordings.
"In his ongoing investigation of musical duration, perception, and attention, Reinhard deemphasizes progress through an embrace of repetition and negative space, inviting listeners to linger in time [...] This breadth of instrumentation, arriving as individual notes stretched and overlapped, is treated not as an opportunity for
immersive coalescence, but rather a gentle augmentation of texture, free-floating counterpoint. [...] We hear resonance in the process of being sustained, as well as in the release that follows."
Movement is available in a 2LP version as well as a digital download. It is a joint release from Hallow Ground and Präsens Editionen.
SAMUEL REINHARD - Movement by Samuel Reinhard
LONGSWARM - HEMISPHERESLongswarm is a duo consisting of Liz Helman and Darren McClure. They never met while creating this album: Hemispheres is the result of exchanging their ideas between London (Helman) and Matsumoto, Japan (McClure).
The tracks are "mined from their individual 'sound pools' and repurposing each other's materials", resulting in (six) deeply immersive soundscapes combining drones, field recordings. 'and other secret sounds'.
Helman's basic materials for her drone compositions are usually field recordings she collects while walking the streets. McClure is well-known for his "widescreen drones and minimal, abstract ambience". The two artists match perfectly, exploring their common ground but at the same time expanding it into restrained yet adventurous soundscapes. Another great example of how one plus one can equal more than two.
Hemispheres is available digitally and on CD.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
LF58 - RADIALSAstral Industries' releases are easy to recognize by their album covers, all created by Theo Ellsworth. But not just that - all of the (now 38) releases seem to share their artistic vision. There may of course be different aspects from different artists - the music may vary from Fourth-World-like sounds to rather psychedelic soundscapes - but still it seems that if you like one, you'll probably like them all. Also, none of their titles are released as CD - they are only available on vinyl or digitally.
LF58, the ambient duo of Giuseppe Tillieci and Filippo Scorcucchi now released their third album on this label. Radials, named after the Roman artist group Sbagliato's contribution to the 2023 Venice Biennale Architettura. Sbagliato proposed Radials, 'a spatial transformation of the renovations of the historic sixteenth-century building [the Fondaco dei Tedeschi] that would blur the lines between fiction and the real'.
LF58 translated this visual concept into sound in a (quadraphonic!) concert at the Fondaco in October 2023. This album is the recording of that liveset.
'The opening scene of running waters and the cacophony of the bustling city streets quickly dissolves under the chiming of nearby bells, as hidden liminal spaces become revealed. It’s not long before all remnants of the ordinary are left behind, as the listener is submerged into the shimmering frequencies of parallel dimensions.'
SON OF CHI - SEVEN YEARS AT THE CHI FACTORYWith no less than nine releases on the label, Son of Chi (also: Chi or Chi Factory) is also one of the Astral Industries regulars. Seven Years At The Chi Factory, however, is not released on this label, but is self-released by Hanyo van Oosterom (Son of Chi's principal artist) to help finance new recordings and releases.
Apart from four previously unreleased tracks, the 84-minute album is a continuous compilation of music from all their Astral Industries releases. The unreleased tracks include a remix of the Ryuichi Sakamoto live tribute at the Mostra Festival Barcelona 2023, and the last acoustic session with Jacobus Derwort, one of the original Chi members who passed away in 2018. This was recorded in Derwort's garden: "We played some old bells that were still up in the trees. The birds join us as we also recorded some random flutes for the overdubs. The last recorded original Chi track.'
If you are familiar with their previous albums you'll recognize some of the music now re-organised in a different context. If you are nót yet familiar with Son Of Chi/Chi Factory's lush mix of fourth-world music, ambient jazz, and immersive soundscapes, this is a great introduction to their music.
Seven Years At The Chi Factory is available digitally and on CD, but a limited vinyl 'on demand' edition is in preparation.
Seven Years At The Chi Factory by Son Of Chi
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
Secrets only I believed
Tracklist:
- 00:00 DreamScenes - Intro (Susanna)
- 00:43 Jon Hopkins & Ishq - Part 1 - Altar
Ritual, 2024, Domino Recording Co Ltd - 03:59 Karen Willems, Romke Kleefstra, Jan Kleefstra - Dage Dei Dize
It Deel III, 2024, Moving Furniture Records - 08:16 Simon Fisher Turner - I Can't Hear Anything
Instability Of The Signal, 2024, Mute - 12:51 Seefeel - Lose The Minus
Everything Squared, 2024, Warp Records - 14:37 Başak Günak - Canon Bee
Rewilding, 2024, Subtext Records - 17:40 mHz - Brass (Loscil)
Material Prosody, 2024, Room40 - 23:44 Akira Kosemura & Lawrence English - Mirroring Feldspar
Selene, 2024, Temporary Residence Limited - 26:47 Civilistjävell - VI (feat. Thommy Wahlström)
Brödföda, 2024, Felt - 31:23 Andrew Heath - Return
Fold, 2023, Dronarivm - 35:53 Colin Riley, Gareth Davies, Rutger Zuydervelt - Secrets Only I Believed
Songs Of Coiled Lights, 2024, Squeaky Kate - 40:42 Trio Ramberget & Matti Bye - Cinereous
Mirror Variations, 2024, self-released - 46:31 James Murray - Larkspur
Weeds, 2024, Quiet Details - 50:14 Rafael Anton Irisarri - Dispersion Of Belief
FAÇADISMS, 2024, Black Knoll Editions - 54:36 Erik Honoré - Prague
Triage, 2024, Punkt Editions - 59:01 DreamScenes - Outro (Dean Hurley)
Play this edition on-demand from the Concertzender website
OR:
[audio src="https://www.ambientblog.net/mix/dreamscenes-120.mp3"]
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
MATTHEW FLORIANZ - ONBEGONNEN Dutch sound designer Matthew Florianz (currently working in the UK) presents what could be called an 'evolving album'. Onbegonnen (or: not started) is a collection of 'archived music, experiments, stepping stones, live recordings, hard to find and unfinished work' (ironically, none of these are literally 'onbegonnen').
The album collects four tracks (32 minutes) coming from different periods, three of them previously unreleased. Onbegonnen can be downloaded for free (or better: name your price). But there is a good reason why streaming via the Bandcamp app (which is possible if you purchase it for 0.50 GBP or more) is a better way to play it. The 'least streamed' tracks will be replaced regularly, which could mean that over time the album tracks may be completely replaced. If you only play the offline version, these plays are not counted so your plays have no impact on the result.
Downloading the album has an added bonus obviously: With its future changes your album will grow bigger and bigger over time - provided you don't do as Matthew does and do not delete the tracks.
With this in mind, one could say that Onbegonnen is a kind of 'generative' album, but in a way that (as far as I know) no one else has thought of before.
onbegonnen by Matthew Florianz // Liquid Morphine
ARTHUR KING - UMN (UNKNOWN MOVIE NIGHT)Performing a live soundtrack with an existing movie is not exactly new - it already existed in the era of silent movies. But most of these re-invented scores are composed to align with the movie timing.
Not in the case of the Unknown Movie Nights in Los Angeles, where the audience as well as the musicians do nót know beforehand which movie will be screened. That must take the improvisation skills of the musicians to a next level: not only do they need to react to the other musicians, but also to what happens on the screen at the same time!
These remarkable improvisations are always performed by Arthur King. Not, as you might expect, an individual, but an ever changing array of artists revolving around guitarist Peter Walker. For each UMN, the music is perfomed by a different collective.
The movies are selected (and introduced) by a guest curator. There were quite a few well-known titles in the past - to name a few: Run Lola Run, Drive, Koyaanisqatsi, The Red Turtle, Jurrassic Park, and Edward Scissorhands. Often, the performance is recorded and (parts of it are) released as a soundtrack recording (without the movie obviously).
The most recent release is the performances for Five Summer Stories - a surf movie from 1972 I am not familiar with. It is released simultaneously with the UMN version of March Of The Penguins.
Even without the movie as a reference, the recording for Five Summer Stories is an exciting trip through various emotions, with a nice Krautrock-ish atmosphere. Along Peter Walker, the performing artists in this case are Mark Kimbrell, David Ralicke, Chuck Soo-Hoo and Joel Virgo.
Note: this soundtrack is not yet available at the time of writing (scheduled for October 11), so for the time being below is the 2022 selection for Koyaanisqatsi.
UMN (Koyaanisqatsi) by Arthur King
MICHAEL J. SCHUMACHER - LIVING ROOM PIECESThanks to Brian Eno's visionary work, most (ambient music) listeners are familiar with the concept of Generative Music: music that is different every time it is played and never repeats itself in the same way twice.
By definition, generative music cannot be released on fixed media. Brooklyn-based composer Michael J. Schumacher found a different approach: his Living Room Pieces is released on a RaspBerry Pi computer in a beautiful custom-made case.
Living Room Pieces is a 'long-form composition designed for living spaces', based on a seven-day structural cycle, twelve hours per day. This does not mean that these twelve 'on' hours are constantly filled with sound: silent spaces are important parts of the composition and can last between about ten and thirty minutes.
The sounds are constructed from a library of 7.000+ sounds, altered by computer algorithms controlling volume, panning, delay, speed, effects and other parameters. Rest assured: no part of the piece will even be the same twice.
This device 'serves to reframe one's sonic environment' and is intended 'to enrich one’s sonic environment, and provide an endless source of contemplation, discussion and inspiration' - just like a painting may do.
But - as expected - you'll have to have rather deep pockets to be able to enjoy it: Living Room Pieces is released in a very small edition of 10, which are available for 300$. This is a second edition: the first 10 were released in 2021, but in a different (black) casing.
Living Room Pieces will be available on November 15 from Chaikin Records. From that day a livestream will also be available which will be active every day between 0 and 23 EST until December 31, 2024.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
MARCUS FJELLSTRÖM - THE LAST SUNSET OF THE YEARMarcus Fjellström is a Swedish composer and multimedia artist whose work ranged from purely orchestral to electronic music. After graduating from his composition and orchestration study in Sweden, he released his debut album Excercises in Estrangement in 2005. Three other solo albums would follow: Gebrauchsmusik, Schattenspieler, and Skelektikon. Apart from that, some of his audiovisual work can be seen on his youTube channel Kafkagarden.
Fjellström passed away in 2017 in Berlin, at the very young age of 37. The year before his death he had been working on the soundtrack for the first series of the AMC TV series The Terror, which told the story of the doomed 1845 Franklin Expedition to find the Northwest Passage. He wrote no less than 75 pieces for this show, sometimes as many as six or seven versions of one piece. Erik K. Skodvin and Dave Kajganich, both close friends and colleagues, made a selection from these tracks and combined them into Fjellströms posthumous album called The Last Sunset Of The Year.
This posthumous album is not intended as a soundtrack album: some of the pieces have appeared in the series in a different form, and others are available here for the first time. This album is a showcase of Fjellström's capabilities as a composer and musician and should be seen as his last and final album.
The 26 tracks (87 minutes) have no titles of their own, but the album is divided in four sections which inevitably link the music to the series theme: Last Morning Watch, Last Draughts - Best Efforts, Last Fixed Position, and Last Heat, Last Exertions. "It is a journey that evokes the mystery, grandeur, and desolation of the Arctic, and articulates the spiritual and existential implications of traveling there."
But with this dark and brooding music, it's impossible not to relate is to Fjellström's untimely death, too.
"None of those men could know, nor can we, what waits for us across the line of death, but in The Last Sunset of the Year, Marcus seems to have had a notion."
The Last Sunset Of The Year is released as a 2CD or 2LP release on Miasmah Recordings; also available as a digital download.
The Last Sunset Of The Year by Marcus Fjellström
TRIO RAMBERGET & MATTI BYE - MIRROR VARIATIONSTrio Ramberget is an 'acoustic ambient group' (or 'acoustic ambient-jazz group' if you prefer) from Sweden, formed by Gustav Davidsson (trombone, vibraphonette), Johanna Ekholm (double bass, vibraphonette), and Pelle Westlin (bass clarinet, tubular bells).
On this release, the trio is expanded to a quartet featuring Matti Bye adding the sounds of a muted piano, celesta, live electronics, and an EMS synth AKS. Composer and musician Matti Bye, also Swedish, is mainly known for his compositions for contemporary films, TV productions, and documentaries. He also performs live, playing at silent music festivals and other screenings.
This is not the first time they worked together: Matti contributed to the trio's Drone Positions in 2023. Mirror Variations feels as if Ramberget has been a quartet all along.
The six tracks are partly improvised, some entirely free-form, while others are based on 'various compositional and philosophical ideas'.
Two of the tracks are just above one minute long, and the remaining four are longer - ranging from six to almost eleven minutes.
But regardless of their length, all tracks have the same well-balanced atmsphere, 'exploring shapes, presence, time, and reflections, taking listeners to different worlds, spaces, and places'.
Mirror Variations will be released on November 17, on vinyl as well as digital.
TRIO RAMBERGET & MATTI BYE - CINEREOUS
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
JAMES MURRAY - WEEDSThe Quiet Details label started off in 2023 (at least that is where the catalog numbers began - they were preceded by a digital release by Fields We Found in 2022), but is now rapidly becoming one of the most active labels in the ambient music field. 'Ambient' may not be the right label exactly: the label describes itself as a placefor 'each artist's own unique interpretation of that phrase' ('quiet details', that is).
James Murray is no stranger to the label: in March this year, Slow Reels (his collaboration project with Ian Hawgood) released Everyday Exotic on the label. Weeds is Murray's latest solo album.
If you know the work of James Murray (and I think you should), you probably also know what to expect. Murray is a master in subtle music, full of quiet details indeed, presented in an immaculate production. However, according to Murray, the music on this album is somewhat 'less sculpted and less formal' than that on its 'sister album' Soundflowers (2023): "I've dialed back some of the intentionality and let generative methods take more of the lead compositionally and in terms of textural, granular detail".
Each track is celebrated a different weed - 'the understated, overlooked, so-called inconvenient or arbitrarily maligned'. It's a different way of looking at plants that are mostly unwanted but have their own beauty
"James has a way of creating ambient music that is engaging and demands close listening, and at the same time meditative and powerfully hypnotic".
Weeds is available as a digital download as well as on CD. The latter also includes a fine art print of the label artwork ánd a special long-form edition of the (38-minute) album, which can be downloaded after purchase (just ask the label).
CLEARED - HEXACleared is the Chicago-based duo of Steven Hess and Michael Vallera. Hess is a percussionist and Vallera a guitarist - but that's not something you'd directly guess when listening to Cleared. Both work in various settings as well as as solo artists, but as Cleared the duo has released albums since 2011. Hexa is their sixth album, and the third on the Touch label.
Although both artists are based in Chicago, Hexa is the result of a 'classic' collaboration - with Hess sending his recorded sessions to Vallera to further add and manipulate them. In the process, almost all of the references to the original instruments are lost and morphed into new sounds.
Some of the tracks are based on drones, but there are also deep pulsations and heavily dubbed rhythmic patterns. The short intermission-like track 53S, on the other hand, is built from a field recording from a train station that was recorded by Chris Watson (I assume you remember his masterpiece El Tren Fantasma?).
There is a lot to be explored on this album. All tracks are full of details but at the same time have a nice 'gritty' sound (as in 'not too over-produced' - although I realize that it takes a lot of production skills to create this sound).
These almost industrial soundscapes may be a bit too intense to be called 'ambient music' in the classic definition. So: "if you need to identify a genre locale, put Hexa on the side of the street where current electronic music lives".
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
MARKUS GUENTNER - KONTRAPUNKTEver since his first releases - Regensburg in 2000 and In Moll in 2001 - Markus Guentner has developed his own personal style: 'deep, atmospheric and textured music, characterized by subtle but intense arcs of harmony and melody'. That style is the connecting factor on his recent Kontrapunkt release, even if all of the eight tracks were created in collaboration with different artists - each bringing his/her own style to merge with that of Guentner.
It is an impressive group of artists he worked with: you'll find collaborations with Joachim Spieth, Karen Vogt, Sonae, Pepo Galán, Arovane, Benoît Poulard, Abul Mogard, and Hollie Kenniff. A list that guarantees quality in itself, but each track on Kontrapunkt demonstraties that 1+1 can be more than 2.
Each track has its own identity - widely cinematic, angelic voices, sub-level pulsating thumps, overwhelming layers, dub-techno, drones... but still the album as a whole is very consistent. Which one more shows what Markus Guentner is capable of.
With Kontrapunkt, Guentner returns to the A Strangely Isolated Place label, on which he previously released four album between 2015 and 2021. It is physically released as a black-marbled white+blue double album in a gatefold sleeve. And also available digitally, of course
Kontrapunkt by Markus Guentner
JOACHIM SPIETH - RETRACEWe already met Joachim Spieth in collaboration with Markus Guentner, above. Retrace is his new album, released on his own label Affin. Retrace is his seventh solo album since 2000 - full album that is, not counting numerous EPs and singles that appeared on various labels including Kompakt.
With their meticulous production, the tracks on Retrace are as wide as they are deep. Retrace offers the kind of "signature ambient soundscapes that have come to define his musical identity", but this time Spieth also adds extra layers of dubby rhythms, 'leading listeners through a labyrinth of sonic possibilities'.
I could try to to describe the sound, but I guess I cannot say it more poetically than Spieth himself, so here's the lazy quote:
"Like glittering drops of water, the sound elements combine to slowly filter through sonic biotopes until they extend across the spectrum in full frequency."
Retrace is available as a digital download as well as on CD.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
KILOMETRE CLUB - EARNEST TUBLong-form ambient tracks often explore a basic idea, which then is developed... or even just repeated in a loop. This remarkable album by Kilometre Club (Daniel Field, from Toronto, Canada) does the opposite: it presents just those basic ideas. 103 (One-Hundred-And- Three!) of them, to be exact, each of them 80 seconds (more or less), with a total playing time of 131 minutes.
Why 103? That's simple: "Because that's a very unaesthetic number. It's the second prime number above 100. It's not overly memorable."
"One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned when making ambient music is that the longer one spends on a track has absolutely nothing to do with its success, with some of my most streamed songs ones on which I dwelt the shortest amount of time".
In his extensive liner notes, Field elaborates extensively on the album's context. The title, for instance, refers to country singer Earnest Tubb, who died on September 6, 1984 - the day Daniel Field was born. But: 'it has absolutely nothing to do with him".
Before creating electronic/ambient music as Kilometre Club, Field used to make folk music too. After releasing his first album and finding out that it garnered more listeners than his folk music ever received ("50 different listeners in total!"), he further explored the genre.
These liner notes are worth reading for the ironic self-deprecating tone, but there are also more serious remarks about the music and its place in society these days:
"Here’s the thing. I may be talking like this whole thing is a bit of a joke, but I actually think it’s a pretty great album. The short and simple tracks are like vignettes, and they don’t require much from listeners. [...] At the same time, I want to be very transparent that this is an album also designed for algorithms on streaming services. These are short and inoffensive songs that fit the mold of many playlists and stations and I don’t think it’s worth pretending that they’re something else. [...] I am sure I will get some flak from others, but this is music as a product; as ‘content’, as some might say. Does it cheapen its effect? I think that if it finds ears of listeners on a meditation or reading playlist, it has done its job as music. [...] At what point is there just too much? Can we be satisfied with what we have? This album doesn’t answer that."
Earnest Tub is released on the Imaginary North label (Fields' own label) as a limited (24) double cassette as well as a digital release.
Oh, and it may be good to know that "at least three songs are performed in part by dishwashers."
ROBERT RICH - LONG TAIL OF THE QUIET GONGFrom a collection of short tracks to an example of a beautiful long-form ambient piece: Robert Rich's Long Tail Of The Quiet Gong.
Robert Rich is the Grandmaster of Sleep Music, but with its 90 minutes and 24 seconds Long Tail Of The Quiet Gong does not cover a full night of sleep like Somnium and Perpetual. But it serves a similar purpose, as 'functional music, for sleep, contemplation, incubation or to color a space'. In fact, the 90 minutes represent the time of one REM sleep cycle.
The piece was created for the Hypno Campus Experiment, initiated by Gareth Whittock. Other artists involved in this project are Peter Chilvers, Martin Stürtzer, and Luca Formentini.
"Hypno-Campus project is part sound art, part psychological/sociological experiment. It’s an exciting first step into a branch of unconscious audio art, a special kind of sleep concert.
Participants not only sleep during the music but upon awakening, compare their dreams to see if the music has induced some sort of subconscious commonality of feelings or images.
Participants in the project download over 7 hours of music, (5 x 90 minute REM cycles) along with an anonymous dream questionnaire the results of which are collated and analysed using a large language model to search for themes and commonalities. Participants are not allowed access to the database of dreams until they have uploaded their own in order to avoid unconscious bias".
The Hypno-Campus experiment ended in July 2024. I could not find any information about the results, but perhaps this will be published later.
Now, Robert Rich published his contribution (as a name-your-price download!) so that non-participants also can enjoy it. For those interested, there's even a surround version, which is also available as a name your price download from the surroundmusic.one website.
Long Tail Of The Quiet Gong is a perfect piece to drift away on. There is, of course, no gradual build-up to a climax - the atmosphere remains consistent over the piece's full lenght. But that does nót mean there's nothing happening... it constantly shifts from calm and timeless to a slightly more intense surrounding, like a wind that picks up and then drops away again.
This is 'sleep music' at its best. Let's hope that the other contributions will also be published, so that we all can find out what dreams they generate.
Long Tail of the Quiet Gong by Robert Rich
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
The first edition of DreamScenes was published in October 2014. This means that the September 2024 edition celebrates the 10th anniversary of this monthly series!
For this occasion, I have combined ALL DreamScenes episodes on a 32Gb Credit Card USB, which is available in a very limited edition (45) from Bandcamp. That’s 120 (One-Hundred-and-Twenty!!) hours of music on one USB card - a massive collection of dreamlike atmospheric mixes.
“Dreamlike” does not simply mean the music is intended to sleep (or meditate). Not all music is ‘calm ambient’, there are also darker, or more experimental moments. After all, not every dream is a comfortable one.
This collection represents a significant selection from the ambient, electronic, experimental, and (sometimes) modern-classical music of the last ten years. But it cannot be a 'complete' overview of the genre: the ('dreamlike') concept of these mixes defined the selections. There is álways more music to be left out than can be included.
The first 32 DreamScenes editions (before DreamScenes became a monthly radio show) are included in 320kbps MP3 format - all remaining editions are in FLAC format. Extensive track details are included for each edition.
With this purchase, you help to keep ambientblog.net online and ad-free.
https://ambientblog.bandcamp.com/merch/the-dreamscenes-decennium
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
This is the 10-Year Anniversary Edition of DreamScenes - stay tuned for more news!
Belle Nuit Et Fait De Beaux Rêves
Tracklist:
- 00:00 DreamScenes - Intro (Susanna)
- 00:52 Bosque Vacío - Subterránea
Cantera Oriente, 2024, Flaming Pines - 05:24 Henrik Meierkord & Knivtid - Drommen
I Ett Annat Land, 2024, Whitelabrecs - 11:57 Brian Baumbusch - Adzan (fragment)
Polytempo Music, 2024, Other Minds + Holography Release: August 23 - 14:33 Masayoshi Fujita - Valley
Migratory, 2024 Erased Tapes Release Sept 6 - 17:54 Penelope Trappes - Harmonic No. 4
Hommelen, 2024, Self-released - 20:46 NTHNL - Nourishing, Holding
Ontogenesis, 2024, Self-Released - 23:12 Oliver Cong - Solid Sun
Tropical Church, 2024, Someone Good / Room40 - 25:35 Theadelaidan & Steve Roach - South Parallel
Parallels, 2024, Projekt - 29:59 Yann Novak - Seeing Light Without Knowing Darkness (Lawrence English Remix)
The Voice Of Theseus (Reworks), 2024, Room40 - 35:23 Willebrant & Paul Williamson - 5 to 9
Night Daze, 2024, Self-Released - 37:12 The Green Kingdom - Diamond Rains
Horizons, 2024, Le Mont Analogue/Slow Music Movement - 41:13 Larkenlyre - Seeing The Dream
Psalms And Sutras, 2024, Self-released - 44:20 Bahrambient And Scarless Arms - Belle Nuit Et Fait De Beaux Rêves
Imaginary North Transmission 008, 2024, Imaginary North - 47:21 John Von Seggern & Dean Benedictis - Tamarack
Taking Shasta Mountain (By Strategy), 2024, Self-Released - 50:05 Dawno Temu - Hierophany
Sacralia, 2024, Pointless Geometry - 54:06 Demetrio Cecchitelli - Dictaphone
Unity, 2024, Rohs Records - 54:44 Nicholas Skalba - Bowls (Ceremony)
(Circadian) Ambiance And Soundscapes, 2024, Self-Released - 59:01 DreamScenes - Outro (Dean Hurley)
Play this edition on-demand from the Concertzender website
OR:
[audio src="https://www.ambientblog.net/mix/dreamscenes-119.mp3"]
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
While Hunting Nightmares And Dreaming For Peace
Tracklist:
- 00:00 DreamScenes - Intro (Susanna)
- 00:42 Henrik Meierkord & Knivtid - Sammanhang
I Ett Annat Land, 2024, Whitelabrecs - 05:10 Markus Guentner - All Light Will Remain (feat. Karen Vogt)
Kontrapunkt, 2024, A Strangely Isolated Place - 10:36 Yann Novak - Traversing The Substrate feat. G. Brenner
The Voice Of Theseus, 2024, Room40 - 15:39 Ghost Dubs - Second Thoughts
Damaged, 2024, Pressure - 19:14 Sherry Finzer & Jere Friedman - Stirring
Inner Sojourn, 2024, Heart Dance Records - 23:14 Willebrant & Paul Williamson - Vesper (edit)
Night Daze, 2024, Self-Released - 30:40 Ekin Fil - Sonuna Kadar
Sleepwalkers, 2024, Helen Scarcedale Agency - 36:15 R.L. Huber - Afterburn
Return Of The Cosmonaut, 2024, self-released - 39:02 Darksonictales - Ellipsis (edit)
Ellipsis, 2024, Hallow Ground - 44:52 Markus Guentner - While Hunting Nightmares And Dreaming For Peace (feat. Abul Mogard)
Kontrapunkt, 2024, A Strangely Isolated Place - 50:33 John Von Seggern & Dean Debenedictis - Cascade Range
Taking Shasta Mountain (By Strategy), 2024, Self-Released - 54:02 Toán & Francis Gri - Rêve Huit
Le Tissage Des Rêves, 2024, self-released - 59:01 DreamScenes - Outro (Dean Hurley)
Play this edition on-demand from the Concertzender website
OR:
[audio src="https://www.ambientblog.net/mix/dreamscenes-117.mp3"]
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
ACOXACA - THE GALVANIC MEASUREThis is the first time I heard music by Acoxaca, but it is not his (her? their? no idea) first release: there were two earlier albums, both on the same Other Forms Of Consecrated Life label.
With a running time of two hours (divided into 4 parts of 30 minutes each), this is music for patient listeners. There is a slow, barely noticeable but also undeniable, progress in these four movements.
The origin of these orchestral sounding loops comes from Wagner's Parsival, more precisely from musical elements from Act III, 'and specifically the moments when the protagonist is overwhelmed by the beauty of the natural world'.
These found musical elements, however, were removed afterward, 'to reveal a series of stark, low-voltage transmissions'. Herein lies the relation to the title: The Galvanic Measure refers to Selim Lemström's 1883 experiments with 'galvanometric recordings of the aurora borealis in Lapland.'
With its slow pace and long playing time, this music is extremely relaxing and meditative - perfect for passive listening, if you want. Its effect is not unlike that of William Basinski's Disintegration Loops - but without the slow deterioration of the tape.
The Galvanic Measure by Acoxaca
VARIOUS ARTISTS - THE LONGEST TIMETalk about music for patient listeners - how about a 19-hour and 38-minute ambient compilation album? Impossible to listen in one session but obviously not intended to do so.
This is not the first time the Imaginary North label has presented a massive project like this: in June 2023 they released the 24-hour compilation Today Until Tomorrow (which is still available to download). And, like with last year's compilation, they are once again donating all proceeds and donations to Music Declares Emergency Canada, an organization dedicated to supporting musicians in the fight against climate change. This may be a fine reason to donate a bit more than the $10 they ask for this massive compilation download.
There are a few known artists among the 71 tracks included, such as Kilometre Club, Hollie Kenniff, Markus Guentner, Henrik Meierkord, Tewskbury, Willebrant, Zakè, City Of Dawn, ... and probably some more names you'll recognize. But the majority of artists are unknown (to me). Sometimes I had the feeling that this compilation had the risk of being quantity over quality because to be honest: not all tracks are good. But I guess this is inevitable with a project like this. And after all - even if you pick only the tracks that appeal to you then there is still enough to justify the purchase!
Though introduced as 'some of the best longform ambient, neoclassical, and experimental works', I found that most of the artists remain close to the ambient side of the genre, with only some exceptions. This means that the compilation can be played in random order without the mood being broken by a sudden change of genre.
By the way: 'longform' means any possible length between 8:00 and 39:34 minutes.
The Longest Time by Various Artists
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
PJS - FLORAThe PJS duo (Patrick Dique and Jordan Cristoff) have released quite some albums since their first release in 2015. Almost every single one was released on a different label - this is their first release on Dronarivm.
The album is introduced with a quote from Hildegardis Bingensis (also known as Hildegard von Bingen). I am not sure about her relation to this music (Hildegard is known for many things - music, poetry, and philosophy among them), but since this album is called Flora I assume that it refers to her botanical writings.
All of these (four) tracks are recorded live 'without computer sounds or screens'. It would have been nice to hear some more about the process involved here, but we'll have to do with the music itself. Which is warm, immersive, and sometimes sounds a bit nostalgic like classic ambient from the 90s.
Not exactly 'terrible with the terror of avenging lightning', like in the Bingensis quote, but definitely 'gentle with the goodness of the bright sun'.
MU TATE - WANTING LESSLatvian (but now London-based) producer Mu Tate (real name unknown) has released most of his singles/EPs without a label, all digital until now. His two albums (2021 and 2023) were also released on vinyl, as is his latest album, released on the Bratislavan label Warm Winters.
I cannot tell much about Mu Tate's background (and I must admit I did not know any of his previous work), but this album is a very pleasing introduction. It is atmospheric, definitely with an ambient atmosphere, but it has a different sound. This is immediately clear in the first track Your Host, with jazzy drums in the background - the kind you don't hear often in music like this.
The album is full of clever and inventive combinations of 'crackling field recordings, soporific atmospheres, swooping sub-bass and cascading synths', at times with a (not too prominent) beat, all of it mixed in a nice dubby production. Some of the tracks (like the Bandcamp preview track) are quite abstract, while others are more jazzy and melodic.
According to the label introduction, this is Mu Tate 'at his least hallucinatory, yet the music still tingles the deepest recesses of the mind & explores deeply nocturnal atmospheres'. With what I guess is a mushroom on the cover, it's safe to say this music is still quite hallucinatory. Now I'm also curious about his earlier productions!
Wanting Less will be released on vinyl as well as digital on September 27.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
SAMUEL REINHARD - FOR PIANO AND SHŌ On Discogs, Swiss-born but New York-based composer Samuel Reinhard is described as 'a composer of electroacoustic music'. I am not (yet) familiar with his earlier work, but I definitely would not call the two pieces on For Piano and Shō 'electroacoustic': they are performed with only two acoustic instruments. (Maybe that is why on the About page on his website, this part is skipped).
'Guided by minimalist and aleatoric tenets, Reinhard's work emphasizes repetition and extended duration'. This part is absolutely true, though, and I would add 'unhurried' ("To be slow and still") to that: I don't think I have heard music this slowed-down since Reinbert de Leeuw's piano interpretations of the music of Satie.
The two (20-minute) compositions are based on slow, repeated piano motifs, at times accentuated by the sound of the shō - a fascinating Japanese reed instrument with 17 bamboo pipes, somewhat resembling an organ and with a very distinctive sound 'said to imitate the call of a phoenix'. The combination of these two completely different instruments - the piano (performed by Paul Jacob Fossum) and the shō (played by Haruna Higashida) - works extremely well.
There is a small difference between the two compositions: the first one is a multitrack recording with three pianos 'slowly encircling each other, each at their own pace', and three shōs 'providing harmonic "reflections" of the melodic motifs'. (I must confess however that I had not noticed there were more than the two instruments involved here).
In the second piece, 'a piano moves through a trio of figures—an arpeggio, an improvisation, a chord—for the duration of the performance. Each iteration of this sequence is accompanied by a single shō, which freely selects and plays a note or chord, emerging from the piano's first figure and disappearing into the third'.
The music exudes absolute tranquility because the players hold their notes 'through touch or breath' until the sound fully decays. Music, based on repetition, yet ever-changing... I played the album on repeat because I wanted it to last longer than these beautiful 40 minutes...
(If you want to read more about this album and the composer: Elsewheremusic (the label) has published a Q&A with Samuel Reinhard here).
For Piano and Shō by Samuel Reinhard (Haruna Higashida, Paul Jacob Fossum)
NESTOR - BÓRDICEThere is an ongoing discussion about which tuning is preferred for music: 432 Hz or 440 Hz. Historically, 432 Hz was the standard for music, but in the 20th century, 440 Hz became more popular (and is currently the standard 'ISO 16' tuning. Each tuning has its own advocates: some believe that 432 Hz provides a deeper, more harmonious experience (and may even have a positive impact on relaxation and well-being), while others argue that 440 Hz sounds brighter and more energetic. There is no scientific evidence that one is better than the other, so - like most things regarding music - it comes down to a matter of taste.
Enter Nestor's Bórdice. Nestor is Noé Cuéllar, also one half of the duo Coppice.* Bórdice*** is a (digital-only) double album presenting all (11) tracks in 432 Hz as well as in 440 Hz - so decide for yourself which tuning you prefer.
It's not only the different tuning that is remarkable on this album: it's also the sound. It may sound like very interesting synth patches - and perhaps they are: this music is created with "phantom" glass instruments: (glass) organs, glass harmonica, verrophone (also known as glass harp), and blown bottles. I'm not really sure what 'phantom' means, but I like to tell myself they are real instruments (but what about the different tuning then?). Real or 'phantom', the music has a beautiful 'glassy' sound - bright yet mysterious.
All tracks are composed by Cuéllar except Jasmine, which fans of Current 93 may recognize.
If you like to experience your music with accompanying visuals, the full album (both 'cycles': 122 minutes) is also available on YouTube.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
DEMETRIO CECCHITELLI - JUMPThe Dronarivm label mostly releases its albums on CD, but since 2020 there's also a sublabel named Le Mont Analogue, especially for cassette releases. The previous (five) releases all got a catalog number from the Dronarivm series (DR-), but Demetrio Ceccitelli's Jump*** has catalog number LMA-01 - which feels a bit like the 'official start' of the sublabel.
As if to celebrate this, there are two versions of the cassette, both limited to 35 copies: the 'classic' edition and the 'deluxe' edition. Of course, there is also a digital version available.
Cecchitelli has released 22 albums on various labels since 2019; this is his first on Dronarivm/Le Mont Analogue. In ten relatively short pieces (totaling 37 minutes), he shows his versatility in creating ambient/drone pieces. Often (but not always) combined with field recordings, each track has a different atmosphere.
The result is a remarkably adventurous album of 'curved vibrations, nocturnal environments mixed with contemporary research attitudes within the world of liminal/drone music'.
All in a sound quality that actually deserved a release on CD as well, but oh well - cassettes are nice to collect too.
THE GREEN KINGDOM - HORIZONSMichigan's Michael Cottone uses different aliases for his musical output. As The Green Kingdom, he 'produces minimal ambient music using a variety of digitally-manipulated sounds sourced from a variety of acoustic and electronic instruments'.
The main instrument on Horizons is his guitar, acoustic as well as electric, comfortably embedded in the supporting electronic background. The combination results in a bright and optimistic, summer-like, and possibly 'green' sound truly a pleasure to listen to.
Compared to his previous releases (Cottone has been releasing music for some 20 years on many different labels) the music is somewhat less focused on ambient (though it definitely has the atmosphere) and focuses more on rhythm - even if 'they're more heartbeats than encouragement to move your body'.
Horizons is a (digital-only) release on The Slow Music Movement, a label that grew from a radio show and 'recommendation service' (a description that also fits Ambientblog, by the way). If you consider buying this release, it may help to know that The Slow Music Movement donates a percentage of their revenue to the Client Earth organization.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
Rainbow Clouds
- 00:00 DreamScenes - Intro (Susanna)
- 00:28 Plant43 - Incessant Circling
The Unfading Spark, 2024, Quiet Details - 03:06 Thom Yorke - Secret Clarinet
Confidenza OST, 2024, XL Recordings - 04:07 Rutger Zuydervelt - Dawn
Banzo (Music For A Film By Margarida Cardoso), 2024, self-released - 06:23 KRM/KMRU - Differ (edit)
Disconnect, 2024, Phantom Limb - 09:35 Niecy Blues - The Nite B4
Exit Simulation, 2024, Kranky - 12:17 Trepaneringsritualen - The First Adam (edit)
The Totality Of Death (Omega), 2024, Cold Spring - 14:30 Sylvaine - Tussmørke
Eg Er Fremand, 2024,Season Of Mist - 16:54 Bosque Vacío - Manantial
Cantera Oriente, 2024, Flaming Pines - 19:23 Laurent Pernice, Jacques Barbéri, Dominique Beven - Après Le Feu, Tout Resplendit
Nine Tales Of Winds, 2024, Psychofon Records - 23:19 Associated Sine Tone Services - 000800
Associated Sine Tone Services, 2024, Flag Day Recordings - 27:43 Innesti - Astral Secrets
Contemplate, 2024, self-released - 30:50 Ard Bit & Radboud Mens - Orientation
Marking A Boundary With The Turning Point, 2024, Shimmering Moods - 36:04 Ark Zead - Iglu (edit)
Niptaktuk, 2024, Glacial Movements - 40:48 Kate Carr - A Strangely Located Cafe, Echoes Of St. Paul's And A Drain The Drew Breath As I Journeyed Into Blackfriars (fragment)
Midsummer, London, 2024, self-released - 41:20 Andrea De Witt - Oct Y
Andrea De Witt, 2024, Undogmatisch - 44:46 Loscil & Lawrence English - Sienna
Chroma, 2024, self-released - 49:38 Laurent Pernice - Thème D'Antigone + Son Reflet Dans L'Ombre
Antigone, 2024, ADN Records - 54:17 Klangriket & Sjors Mans - Regnbågsmoln
Origami Birds, 2024, Piano And Coffee Records - 57:53 Sylvain Chauveau - Or (Live)
Ultra-Minimal, 2024, self-released - 59:01 DreamScenes - Outro (Dean Hurley)
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--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
ANDREW HEATH - THE CLOUD MACHINEAfter a spring that felt like autumn and a very wet start of summer, we finally had some warm/hot summer days here in Holland. And I immediately felt the need for some 'cooling' music, music like a refreshing morning breeze on a summer's day. The Cloud Machine proved to be exactly what I needed.
Its freshness, by the way, came from the sound of ... rain in the first track. Oh, the irony!
But it's not only that particular recording of rain - it is also the bright way the instruments (mainly piano and guitar) are recorded, how they are embedded in subtle electronics, and also how they merge with the field recordings. The music - Andrew Heath himself calls it 'lower case music' - has a distinct and immediately recognizable style. And somehow I always imagine a very English landscape with it.
The music on The Cloud Machine is intended as "a sound painting of light, radiance and naive joy through the metaphor of clouds and of a gaze drawn to the skies".
It is released in a very small (40) CDr edition on the Whitelabrecs label
The Cloud Machine by Andrew Heath
PLANTS43 - THE UNFADING SPARKThe Quiet Details label has only been in business since February 2023, but already has earned itself a firm reputation. The Unfading Spark is their 20th release, presenting the work of Plant43 - Tresor-resident Emile Facey, who until now released most of his albums on his own label Plant43 Recordings.
As a producer and live performer, Plant43 can present 'everything from the deepest ambience to true dancefloor electro'. This means The Unfading Spark is not strictly speaking an 'ambient' album, even if it has a lot of ambient atmospheres. There are also rhythm-based tracks, although I don't think they are aimed at the dancefloor this time.
"Here we see the impeccable marriage of widescreen synths, elastic bass and minimal syncopated percussion nodding to classic electro sound-design, with vast and polychromatic atmospheres, sparkling digital synthesis and ever-shifting distant landscapes - emotionally the quiet moments are as important as the loud and he finds the spaces between in a way that everyone who has experienced such moments can relate to."
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
RUTGER ZUYDERVELT - BANZO Blink with your eyes and you have probably missed at least one new release by Rutger Zuydervelt (or his alter ego Machinefabriek). It's virtually impossible to keep track, and it's also unbelievable how he manages to come up with so many releases and maintain such high quality.
When he uses his own name and not his alias, it often concerns a score for a play, a dance production, or a movie. Such is the case with Banzo (Music For A Film By Margarida Cardoso).
Banzo is a movie about a group of workers on a tropical island, who are "plagued by a mysterious affliction called banzo, also known as slave nostalgia. Those affected feel an intense homesickness, fall into apathy, lose the strength to live, and eventually die." (Read more in the synopsis).
Zuydervelt's score effectively reflects the mysteriousness and the 'oppressive atmosphere of the isolated tropical island', as demonstrated in this trailer:
Even if the movie itself is over 2 hours long, the score presented here is only 35 minutes, divided into nine short pieces. The music is Zuydervelt at his darkest, and also most minimalist. It's definitely 'dark' - but without the usual 'dark ambient characteristics'. This album stands strong without having seen the movie it was created for, simply because its haunting atmosphere is a pleasure to listen to.
Banzo (music for a film by Margarida Cardoso) by Rutger Zuydervelt
ASSOCIATED SINE TONE SERVICES - ASSOCIATED SINE TONE SERVICESThe Associated Sine Tone Services shows a different - more playful - side of Rutger Zuydervelt, and also of his fondness for collaborations. ASTS is a 'conceptual collaboration between analog oscillator wielders' Jeremy Young, Nicolas Bernier (both from Montreal, Canada), and Rutger Zuydervelt**.
As the title already implies, this music is generated using sine wave oscillators, combined with electronic filters, stacks, and (a lot of) processing. It is experimental electronic music - but it is surprisingly accessible.
As it says in the liner notes: "This is music, over sound design, contrary to what listeners might expect from an album entirely built from sine waves and the analog fidelity of vintage studio tools."
The whole album also breathes a nice nostalgic atmosphere, as if it could have been the soundtrack for a 50's science fiction movie. But it sounds many, many times better now than it did then.
Associated Sine Tone Services will be released on July, 30, but can already be pre-ordered. For those that want to order the physical CD, please note that it can be pre-ordered from Flag Day Recordingsin the US, or from SoundOhm in the EU.
Associated Sine Tone Services by Associated Sine Tone Services
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
KILOMETRE CLUB - LET US COMPARE GEOGRAPHIESKilometre Club (Daniel Field from Toronto) is a relatively new name in the ambient music field: he has created music under this name since 2020. Let Us Compare Geographies is his fifth album.
The title refers to Leonard Cohen's first book of poetry published in 1956: Let Us Compare Mythologies.
('Do not look for him in brittle mountain streams: they are too cold for any god'...).
But here, each track's title refers to one of many small towns in Canada - 'towns that [Field] has visited, or the hometowns of families and friends'.
With guitar loops, Bass VI swells and synth pads, Kilometre Club creates ten tracks that 'unfold at glacial paces, highlighting the vastness between chord changes and the ways in which these songs evolve and fill out frequencies to create lush soundscapes'.
But here, 'glacial' does not refer to 'cold' or 'dark': the music on Let Us Compare Geographiesis 'hopeful and optimistic, finding the tones and melodies that link us as people together no matter the kilometres of separation'.
Let Us Compare Geographies by Kilometre Club
BRANNAN LANE - THE SLEEP ALBUMI must have fallen asleep for quite some time: this album was already released on March 1 this year. But it's never too late to recommend an album, especially when it is a digital-only release so not sold out yet.
According to the label (Wayfarer Records), this is Brannan Lane's 30th release since his debut in 1998. Due to his steady output, he can be regarded as a veteran of the ambient (or new age) scene. Apart from releasing his music he also works on assignments for various television stations and for Sony Play Station.
The Sleep Album has no other pretensions than being just that: 'giving listeners a sonic experience to encourage rest and relaxation while taking the listener on a beautiful sonic journey'.
Ten tracks in 38 minutes, all referring to the kind of restful moments you can have during the day: Slumber, Snooze Button, Tranquil, Daydreamer, etcetera. The lighter kind of sleep - because in 'deep sleep' you probably wouldn't hear the music anymore.
Recommended music for during your energy-refreshing power nap!
The Sleep Album by Brannan Lane
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
EKIN FIL - SLEEPWALKERS"... Vaporous tone and forlorn, distant song, as if plucked from a dream" reads the description of the music of Ekin Fil (Ekin Üzeltüzenci, from Istanbul, Turkey). And that is exactly how it sounds on this new album - her 17th (according to Discogs) and the seventh for the Helen Scarsdale Agency label. Obviously, Ekin found a fitting place on this label 'dedicated to a particular thread of post-industrial research, surrealist collage, refined minimalism, caustic electro-acoustics, sublimated dream-pop, obfuscated field recordings, recombinant noise, existential vacancy, and then some'.
It may be plucked from a dream, not necessarily from a nice dream, but from 'the unsettled state of existence between sleep and being awake. [...] Loves lost. A world broken. All is not hopeless, but there is a considerable amount of shit to wade through.'
That last sentence may also be a fitting description for the ambient music genre in general, but it definitely does nót refer to Ekin Fil's music itself - which is haunting yet beautiful, but with sharp edges where needed.
It is no coincidence that Ekin Fil is often mentioned in the same sentence as Grouper (she opened for Grouper in the past) - her music will definitely appeal to the same audience. But if you want references one could also mention the music of Tim Hecker or Rafael Anton Irisarri. Such comparisons are tricky, and only useful to give an idea of what to expect to listeners who don't know her work (yet). It's clear that Ekin Fil has developed her own, intriguing personal style and found her own place. She has become a 'reference artist' herself.
TRISTAN DA CUNHA - HIDDEN SEATristan da Cunha sounds like a person's name, but it's not. At least, not in this case (several artists and bands can be found under this particular name, but it is also the name of a small island in the South Atlantic Ocean). Here, it's a duo from Italy, formed by Francesco Fara (guitar, sampler, laptop) and Luca Scotti (drums, ocean drum, cymbals). Hidden Sea is their sixth release.
Hidden Sea unlocks the 'hidden world' of sound frequencies present in instruments such as the drums and cymbals. They were recorded using a Zoom H1 close to the sources, (of course) heavily sampled and processed, and finally completed by adding guitar parts.
The result is a 30-minute set of mysteriously moving soundscapes with a rather dark atmosphere - which is well-captured in this accompanying video:
Hidden Sea by Tristan da Cunha
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
ARK ZEAD - NIPTAKTUKEverything - and I mean EVERYTHING - about this release breathes an extreme cold. Look at the album cover. Look at the track titles, that feel like they come from the Inuit language (although Båken Nunatak refers to a Norwegian-claimed mountain ridge in Antarctica). And - listen to the music!
This music could not have been released on any óther label than Glacial Movements.
No one knows a thing about Ark Zead. 'No reference sites, no biography, and no place of origin'. The artist describes himself (or herself, but I'll use him for simplicity's sake) as 'a gong and Tibetan singing bowls player, interested in vibes in a very usual way'. A visit to a 'hostile cold' Canada inspired him to modify the usual sounds 'to describe the state of isolationism you have to reach to enjoy the beauty of the True North'.
Well - mission accomplished I'd say!
The cover aesthetics, the track titles, ánd the music itself also triggered another association: this is not unlike the art of Thomas Köner, who also created his first albums with the manipulated sounds of slowed-down gongs (and whose first album release was called Nunatak Gongamur). There are differences ... but there are also similarities.
Niptaktuk is definitely a must-check for those of you who love the music of Thomas Köner. But it's also strongly recommended for those who can appreciate a sound that will lower the temperature in your room by more than a few degrees.
FINAL - WHAT WE DON'T SEEYou may know Justin (K) Broadrick from many other projects he was involved in, solo as well as in groups like Godflesh or Techno Animal. He uses many different aliases - as he puts it himself: "I am sure since I was a child, that within me I am many, I am more than this".
His Final output is quite different from all that. It is a hazy, impenetrable mist of distorted guitar that works on different levels but probably best when played loud (I mean Sunn O))) loud).
Final (and his listeners) 'dwell in a foggy and subliminal zone where source materials are submerged, morphed and reborn as wholly different sound-beings'.
There are some more flowery descriptions in the notes about this music, so I'll just quote here: 'a record that pierces into the realm of post-experience that exists beyond sense and sensation. It reaches towards the invisible, the inaudible and the intangible and imagines a soundtrack to this non-place'.
What We Don't See's cover is well chosen: this is pretty much the feeling this music evokes. The sound of an invisible world about which Broadrick says: "I find comfort in knowing that this is all not just us here and now, that there's something else around us".
If this invisible world is either dark or threatening, or adventurous, or peaceful, is probably in the ear of the listener.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
ARD BIT & RADBOUD MENS - MARKING A BOUNDARY WITH THE TURNING POINTArd Bit (Ard Janssen) and Radboud Mens are two artists from the Netherlands, each with his own musical history. Ard Bit ('Electronic compost (sic!) and sounds artist', according to his Discogs profile) studied electronic music composition at the Institute of Sonology, and has released music since 2009. A lot of his works involve field recordings. Radboud Mens' musical history goes back further in time: he started creating noise machines in 1988; his first release appeared in 1999.
Though their music definitely shares a common ground, their individual output can be quite different. And that difference is the starting point for this work, in which they explore 'the paradox of drone music, where stasis and movement coalesce in a delicate dance'.
This is 'drone music' indeed, but it is filled to the brim with all kinds of sonic details, 'tiny acoustic events [that] enrich the sonic landscape with subtlety and nuance'. The result is a set of (nine) adventurous soundscapes where so much is happening that they no longer fit the classic definition of 'music that is ignorable ...' but at the same time have an ambient atmosphere all over them.
'This album is about the tension between the horizontal and vertical musical events' - the 'horizontal' being the underlying drone 'creating an illusion of immobility', the 'vertical' being the 'small acoustic events that introduce the elusive dynamics'.
The whole is more than the sum of it parts - that applies to the two artists working together as well as to the resulting music. Ard Bit and Radboud Mens manage to refresh the genre with a lively kind of sound art seldom heard.
The sad news is that Shimmering Moods Records released the CD edition in a limited run of 50 only, which - you guessed it - sold out before the release date. This one definitely needs a repress!
Marking A Boundary With The Turning Point by Ard Bit & Radboud Mens
JOHN VON SEGGERN / DEAN DEBENEDICTIS - TAKING SHASTA MOUNTAIN (BY STRATEGY)It feels perhaps somewhat tricky to name an album so directly referring to Brian Eno's second solo album Taking Tiger Mountain By Strategy, because it will immediately lead to unfair comparisons. So what's the link exactly?
Mount Shasta refers to the mountain that John von Seggern and Dean DeBenedictis climbed on their trip after recording the sessions for this album. Secondly, Eno's album title 'was based on one of the few operas allowed to be produced in Communist China, a place John von visited many times as a bass player for Cantonese pop stars'. And while the music on this album may not have a direct link to Eno's, it is definitely indebted to his legacy.
Not only did Von Seggern perform bass with Cantonese pop stars, he also contributed to Jon Hassell's albums Seeing Through Sound and Listening To Pictures, after which he focused on a more ambient output. A year ago, he released his album Ambient Bass Guitar. On Taking Shasta Mountain, he plays bass and a Chapman Stick.
Dean DeBenedictis, also known sometimes as Surface 10, is a composer, musician, and performer working in different genres (he worked with a group like Brand X in the past), but is mainly known for his ambient / techno ambient output. Here, he contributes keyboard and samples.
As can be expected with their backgrounds like this, this is not exactly your average standard ambient album. Their track are full of subtle details emphasizing the atmosphere, which can be soft and friendly but can also take quite a darker turn at times (like in Shadow Lake).
Taking Shasta Mountain (By Strategy) by John Von Seggern & Dean DeBenedictis
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
"The Web Of Dreams"
TRACKLIST:
- 00:00 DreamScenes - Intro (Susanna)
- 00:44 Tapani Rinne & Juha Mäki-Patola - Figures
Decaying Light, 2024, Bigo & Twigetti - 03:46 Fortresses - East (Preview Edit)
East, 2024, Flaming Pines - 07:54 Tashi Wada - What Is Not Strange?
What Is Not Strange?, 2024, RVNG Intl - 09:44 Copper Sounds - Sequenced Ceramics (Dan Thorman's Pseudo Spiritual Drone Mix) (edit)
Sequenced Ceramics, 2024, TBC Editions - 13:33 Juan J.G. Escudero - Sur La Pente Du Talis (fragment)
Ice Door, 2024, Neuma - 16:50 Michel Banabila - Darker And Darker
Unspeakable Visions, 2024, Knekelhuis - 19:33 Isabel Pine - Vanish
Where The Flowers Grow, 2024, self-released - 22:47 Laurent Pernice - Ismène À Thèbes
Antigone, 2024, ADN Records - 27:03 Dustin O'Halloran, Bryan Senti, Reykjavik Silfur Choir - Spiritus Naturnae Aeternus (Pt 1)
1001, 2024, Deutsche Grammophon - 29:45 Rutger Zuydervelt - Breath (Fragment)
Kites (Music For A Performance by Roshanak Morrowatian), 2024, self-released - 33:04 Andrew Heath & James Osland - Industrial Breathing
Elysian Fields, 2024, Fluid Audio - 40:07 RL Huber - Restless Sun
Memories Of Falling, 2024, self-released - 42:44 Maya Shenfield - Tehom
Under The Sun, 2024, self-released - 45:38 Toàn & Francis Gri - Rêve Cinq
Le Tissage Des Rêves, 2024, self-released - 52:02 Driftmachine & Ammer - Sonic Sculpture ft. Ted Milton (edit)
Sonic Behaviour, 2024, Umor-Rex - 59:01 DreamScenes - Outro (Dean Hurley)
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--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
CAT TYSON HUGHES - ROSES IN THE CASEMENT WINDOWI'm ashamed to admit: this one was left on the shelf for far too long. Roses In The Casement Window was already released in mid-December 2023 - and sold out quickly. The Quiet Details label even did a second run (announced on May, 8) but this is also gone by now.
But there's still the digital download - so I guess this album is still worth mentioning for those of you who may have missed it too.
Cat Tyson Hughes is a new name for me. This is her third album, following her (self-released) debut in 2019, and the follow-up Crossing Water in 2023 (on Past Inside The Present). If you picture in your mind some Roses In The Casement Window, you may already have an idea how the music sounds. It is all very gentle, peaceful, and dreamlike - with Cat's ethereal voice, sampled and stretched and used as an instrument, layered over 'clouds and waves of sonic bliss, with constant movement and endless layers overlapping to create soundscapes that have the potential to transport you to another place.'
Most of the music is created and performed by Tyson Hughes herself, but four of the (nine) tracks are collaborations with 'label mates' Zakè, Marine Eyes (Cynthia Bernard), Fields We Found, and Jim McDonald.
'In Cat’s own words this is 'about childhood imagination and having the chance to live the simplest childhood dreams as an adult''.
Roses in the Casement Window by Cat Tyson Hughes
ZAKÈ - DOLEREFrom the collaboration track with Cat Tyson Hughes (above) it's a natural step to Zakè's newest album Dolere. Zakè is the alias of Zach Frizell, the prolific 'droner' who released no less than 49 albums since 2019, and who also runs the labels of Past Inside The Present, Healing Sound Propagandist and Zakè Drone Recordings.
Dolere, however, is not released on any of these: it is released on Joachim Spieth's Affin label.
The album presents two long-form drone tracks: Dolereand Dolera. There is a 'small but significant linguistic difference' in these two words: Dolera comes from the Latin ‘dolor’, which describes anguish or fear; Dolore is its present tense, infinitive form.
Like the words itself, the two tracks have a slightly different atmosphere: one somewhat darker than the other. But - as perhaps expected from this drone master - both tracks set a comfortable atmosphere, the 'trademark analog hiss' locking out unwanted outside noises, and the tracks long enough to help you forget about time.
In Zakè's own words: “This year, my life came to a halt, as if the Spring froze in its tracks; amidst the heaviness I longed for reprieve, and to escape the relentless march forward. These tracks serve as a refuge for those burdened by distraction or sorrow, offering a brief respite from the inexorable passage of time.”
ZAKÈ - DOLERE/DOLERA (preview edit)
(Note: this is a preview only - this is not how this appears on the album)
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
MICHEL BANABILA - UNSPEAKABLE VISIONSShortly after Michel Banabila dropped The Unreal Realm, he's back with a new album titled Unspeakable Visions. This new album shows a completely different side of Banabila's music, demonstrating his musical versatility.
Unspeakable Visions is his second release on the Amsterdam-based Knekelhuis - a label 'motivated by conflict and surprise, [releasing music that's] as alien as it is familiar, as bodily as it is soulful, as bizarre as it is beautiful'.
Unspeakable Visions perfectly fits this description. The (eleven) tracks are relatively short this time - most are under five minutes. All are created around manipulated vocal samples, some of which can be recognized from his earlier work or live performances. It feels as if these samples come from about every corner of the world, but I assume Banabila created most of them - if not all - himself.
Paired with fitting instrumental arrangements, the tracks range from evoking fourth-world atmospheres to ambient soundscapes and lively rhythmic patterns.
While his early influences from Eno & Byrne's "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts" and the spirit of Jon Hassell can still be discerned, Banabila has sculpted his own personal style over the past four decades. His evolution has birthed a genre-defying sound that's instantly identifiable and impossible to replicate. Unspeakable Visions presents the kind of music that only Michel Banabila himself can create.
Unspeakable Visions by Michel Banabila
WHETTMAN CHELMETS - A NEW PLACEMulti-instrumentalist Whettman Chelmets (from Joplin, Missouri) describes his music as 'ambient drone shoegazey composed. Confrontational, uplifting, and silly'.
It is indeed a bit hard to get a grip on his music, especially in the first minutes when one of his children performs a kind of free-form improvisation. But from there, things fall into place and a deeper soundscape unfolds, one with a sonic surprise around every corner. Soft passages can suddenly derail into violent distortion, which retreats just as quickly. Chelmets uses everything he's got - guitar, trumpet, field recordings, synths, his kids (on vocal and on 'screwdriver guitar'), and who knows what else to throw us off guard.
The title track of this album, a 7'14" 'power ambient' piece, is the shortest of the three. It is preceded by Prelude To A New Place, which is twice as long. The album closes with the 19+-minute Longing For A New Place. Slowly building up to a sonic climax halfway, it suddenly changes into a different atmosphere. The second half could as well be a different track, with Chelmets playing his trumpet as if it was recorded in a street - which radiates a sense of longing indeed.
One could wonder why this album is released on a label called Quiet Details: it isn't exactly 'quiet'...
But it definitely is full of details!
A New Place by Whettman Chelmets
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
CHRISTOPHER CERRONE - BEAUFORT SCALESThe Beaufort Scale, devised in 1805 by Francis Beaufort, relates wind speed to observed conditions at sea or on land. It is a 13-part scale of increasing intensity. Experiencing wind is strongly subjective - 'one man's stiff breeze might be another's soft breeze' - which is why describing the conditions by sea or land conditions is helpful. For example: Beaufort 0 is described as 'sea like a mirror' and 'smoke rises vertically'. Beaufort 12 (the heaviest storm imaginable) as 'the air is filled with foam and spray; sea is completely white with driving spray; visibility very seriously affected' and with the much shorter land condition 'devastation'. (Full descriptions on the Wikipedia page).
The different descriptions of wind forces readlike a poem. This inspired composer Christopher Cerrone (1984, New York) to compose Beaufort Scales, a composition for (female) choir and electronics, 'transforming the steps of the scale into 13 corresponding movements of escalating musical intensity'.
"As the work proceeds and the weather becomes more violent, I use different forms of electronic processing—granulation, downsampling, pitch shifting—to distort the voices."
Between the steps, there are also four spoken interludes, with wind-related texts from The Great Gatsby, Moby Dick, The Anthology Of Water, and the King James Bible. At these moments, you can regain your breath somewhat, because - even if this composition is no longer than 35 minutes - it gets more and more intense as it progresses. Which can of course be expected when following the Beaufort Scale from 0 to 12.
But even the strongest storm eventually subsides: tranquillity returns in the Postlude: "It will be fair weather, for the sky is red (Matthew (16:2)".
Beaufort Scales by Christopher Cerrone
LAURENT PERNICE - ANTIGONEQuite a few scores are written for old (silent) movies, but Laurent Pernice goes further back in time, presenting his score for Sophocles' Antigone, a play written in 441 BC! This score was written for the play as performed by Anima Motrix, directed by Emma Gustafsso and Laurent Hatat.
Antigone cannot easily be summarised so I simply refer to the Wikipedia page for convenience. Pernice's score tells the story in just one hour, in 20 relatively short tracks filled with all kinds of emotions.
Laurent Pernice is no stranger to music: Antigone is his 20th album! For a previous Anima Matrix production (Foucault's Le Corps Utopique) he focused on wind instruments from all over the world, but this time it's strings. Pernice plays bass, double bass, zither, and harp, but there's an important role for Violaine Sultan - a teacher at the Marseille Conservatory of Music, on viola. The acoustic performances are subtly altered by Pernice's electronic treatments: 'the sound of [Sultan's] instrument, while sometimes very clear and simple, interpreting melodies of a elegant beauty akin to that of classical music, is often turned on its head, slowed down, overdriven, to create textures conducive to the atmosphere of this or that part of the play'.
Obviously the soundtrack score will have extra impact when you have seen the performance, but it definitely speaks for itself too, even without the text of the original play. The music itself 'takes you on a journey of an absolute tragedy, while revealing the infinite complexity of the human being'.
Please note that the Bandcamp page only presents the digital download and refers to the ADN Records (Alma De Nieto) website for a CD version - but I couldn't find out how to order the CD from this site, so you may want to check SoundOhm if you want a physical copy.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
JAN JELINEK - SOCIAL ENGINEERING"Permit me to inform you of my desire of going into business relationship with you."
A great idea always raises the question 'Why didn't anyone think of this before'?
Everyone with an online existence has experienced the nauseating phenomenon of phishing mails, but it requires some kind of genius to turn it into art. Enter Jan Jelinek, who did exactly this.
On Social Engineering, he used thirteen text fragments from phishing emails and transformed them using speech synthesis tools into spoken or sung texts. For this, he used the kind of speech synthesis that is easily distinguished as such, not the recent AI tools that can hardly be distinguished from natural speech. After all, any alert person could distinguish a phishing mail from a real person's mail in a similarway.
The texts are then extensively manipulated and 'transformed into abstract textures', and that is the moment this idea becomes true sound art. It is fascinating in such a way that you might actually welcome the next phishing mail you receive, imagining in your mind 'what would Jan Jelinekwould have made from this?'
The tracks on Social Engineering (which are perfectly mastered by Rashad Becker by the way), were originally conceived as a radio hörspiel for the Sudwestrundfunk/ARD but it definitely deserves a wider listen. The vinyl version contains all of the 'lyrics' printed but I guess the tracks are pretty self-explanatory in itself. Stay aware!
Social Engineering by Jan Jelinek
ALVA NOTO - HYbr:ID IIIThe music of Alva Noto (Carsten Nicolai) often comes in series, such as the acclaimed series Xerrox I-IV (which, judging by the cover layout, still waits for edition V). The HYbr:ID series has now reached its third chapter, after I (2021) and II (2023). And like its predecessors, it has an unmatched sophisticated sound design - only a few can create electronic sounds like Alva Noto can.
The 'soundscape of meditative and resonant tones' Alva Noto creates draws its inspiration from 'Noh, a traditional Japanese musical drama dating back to the 14th century. The album reflects the genre's distinctive rhythmic movements and its nuanced expression of emotions through subtle gestures.'*
I'm not familiar with Noh to say anything about this, but I can hear what Nicolai* means when he says that he wants the tracks 'to possess a sculptural quality'.
"The HYbr:ID series is Carsten Nicolai’s ongoing research into heterogeneous compositional methods that converge in music fusing geometries, dystopias, and scientific references. The sounds oscillate between stylized, dilated rhythms and dreamy atmospheres generated by high and low frequencies."
The thirteen compositions on this album were also commissioned to score Richard Siegals Ballet of (Dis)Obedience. When you are in Rome before August 2025 this year, visit the #Chamber Music at the Macro Museum to experience the music of HYbr:ID in an exhibition setting.
But I strongly recommend enjoying this on a decent and capable sound system at home.
ALVA NOTO - HYBR:ID SCRIPT SACRE DRONE
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
Forest Of My Nights
Tracklist:
- 00:00 DreamScenes - Intro (Susanna)
- 00:42 Christopher Cerrone & Lorelei Ensemble - Prelude: Sea Like A Mirror
Beaufort Scales, 2024, Cold Blue Music - 03:07 Dronny Darko - As Far As The Eyes Can See
Godless Lands, 2024, Cryo Chamber - 06:08 Banabila & Machinefabriek - Oumuamua
A Looming Presence, 2024, Tapu Records - 09:01 Jan Jelinek - Social Engineering 1 (The Narrative Of The Heritage)
Social Engineering, 2024, Faitiche - 12:40 Atticus Ross, Leopold Ross, Nick Chuba - Erasmus
Shogun OST, 2024, Mutant - 13:10 Aki-Yli Salomäki & Antti Salovaara - Matala (Low)
Matala, 2024, Eclipse Music - 17:27 A Lily - Zezine Ddoqq is-Shab
Saru l-Qamar, 2024, Phantom Limb - 21:48 NLC - Epsylon
The Golden Age (Of Nothing), 2022, Attenuation Circuit - 23:09 Madeleine Cocolas - The Creek
Bodies, 2024, Room40 - 28:27 Robert Farrugia - Sway
Tilwin, 2024, Dronarivm - 31:09 Isabel Pine - Hideaway
Where The Flowers Grow, 2024, self-released - 33:00 Glamourie - Fog Over The Tumulus
Lady From The Outside, 2024, self-released - 36:07 Pinkcourtesyphone - The Pinkish Gate / Foregone Inconclusion
Arise In Sinking Feelings, 2024, Room40 - 38:20 Dullmea - Noite Curva Dia [Morchella]
Ñe’ẽsẽ, 2024, self-released - 41:23 Werner Hasler & Carlo Niederhauser - Pateek
Out Session [recordings], 2024, Everest Records - 45:08 Elif Yalvac - Harmonicity
Vection, 2024, Moving Furniture Records/Eliane Tapes - 50:13 Moritz von Oswald - Opaco (version)
Silencio, 2023, Tresor Records - 51:38 Philippe Deschamps - Behind The Curtain Of Dreams Pt. 2
Forest Of My Nights, 2024, self-released - 54:42 Christopher Cerrone & Lorelei Ensemble - Steps 4,5,& 6: Small, Moderate, And Large Waves
- Beaufort Scales, 2024, Cold Blue Music
- 59:08 DreamScenes - Outro (Dean Hurley)
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--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
ROBERT FARRUGIA - TILWINRobert Farrugia is born on Malta. In the Maltese language, Tilwin means 'colouring'. With this album, Farrugia is 'colouring' some major event in his life in the second half of 2023, 'a period of lows and highs'. Only a few details are given: 'events as varied as a tragic incident endured by a loved one and their period of convalescence' (Long Wait), or 'the birth of a new family member on the Christmas day' (Post Christmas). For the rest, the music itself will have to tell the story - a different story for each listener.
'Each event described here is coloured in Robert's mind by a 'hue', that was then reflected in each track forming the album. Hence the album name: Tilwin'**
The physical CD-edition (150) is packed in a 4-panel digipack with a very nice soft touch finish, in a hand-stamped heavyweight slipcase. Tilwin is released on the Dronarivm label, which are currently distributed from Amsterdam by Fonodroom.
ENRICO CONIGLIO - THE SIRENS OF TITANThis new album by Enrico Coniglio is also released on Dronarivm and also in a classy soft-touch digisleeve and slipcase (but in this case a 6-panel digipack including 8 prints on tracing paper). According to Discogs, this is his 17th album (since 2002), and his fourth for Dronarivm.
The Sirens Of Titan is an homage to Kurt Vonnegut's novel from 1959, a 'comic science fiction involving issues of free will, omniscience, and the overall purpose of human history, with much of the story revolving around a Martian invasion of Earth' (Wiki).
With 'guitar tapestries and space oddities, Coniglio transports audiences to uncharted realms of delicate emotions'. For those who have read the Vonnegut novel, the music works as its music score, but knowledge of the story is not needed to enjoy it.
The prints that are included with the CD-release (limited to 150 copies) are created by Alina Lutaeva. These drawings are based on scenes for the novel and specifically created for this release.
The Sirens of Titan by Enrico Coniglio
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
RICHARD CHARTIER - ON LEAVINGOf course, Richard Chartier and Pinkcourtesyphone are the same person - but there is a distinct difference in the music released under these names. As Pinkcourtesyphone, Chartier presents a somewhat 'tongue-in-cheek' side of music, more emotional, with perhaps some slightly 'campy' themes. Or, as Chartier himself says: 'more musical'. But Pinkcouresyphone's output should be taken as seriously as the work released under his own name - which is a sound art more minimal, spatial, and abstract perhaps.
With these two (almost simultaneously released) new albums the differences (as well as the similarities) can easily be explored.
On Leaving is dedicated to Steve Roden, who died in 2023, suffering from Alzheimer: "Steve saw and heard everything between the noise, no matter how faint".
"I worked on the compositions included on this album as Steve gradually slipped away from communication. He was not in my life like he had been before. [...] on listening... on loss... on leaving..."
With this background in mind, the five variances get a dark touch, but in itself, the music is free of such emotional value. It is also intensely quiet and peaceful. The 'implied silence, finely structured and in some cases cyclical' requires listening at low volumes or on headphones.
One question remains, however: 'What would Steve hear in the details'?
On Leaving by Richard Chartier
PINKCOURTESYPHONE - ARISE IN SINKING FEELINGSI'm always a bit confused when Richard Chartier mentions that his output as Pinkcourtesyphone is 'more musical' than that under his own name. Because that implies that the music he puts out as Richard Chartier is less musical? I don't think so!
But the difference is in the music itself. From the first notes of the (70-second) intro track The Pinkish Gate, it is clear that this music is more playful, and more cinematic, putting itself in perspective without becoming cheesy.
You may prefer one above the other, but both complement each other, showing two sides of the same fascinating personality.
Arise In Sinking Feelings is about 'soft lights ... cool evening breezes, toxic fumes, burnt champagne [?] and supper for one... love and longing...disenchantment... [...] a fanciful flight of neurosis'.
And with some remarkable self-mockery, Chartier continues: 'No one who is anyone has heard it and even they were met with incomprehension. "A Stunning Blandness!" read the headlines.'
But don't make the mistake of taking this music any less seriously after reading these words. This is a serious sonic trip that may conjure many different emotions. The sound design is incredibly deep and the found sound fragments feel as if they are taken from the back of your forgotten dreams.
Arise In Sinking Feelings is released on Room40, who 'recommend the ‘Double Sensory’ method of absorbing sonic information. Its consistent use will greatly increase your powers of concentration and retention.'
Arise in Sinking Feelings by Pinkcourtesyphone
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
RL HUBER - MEMORIES OF FALLINGI had never heard of RL Huber before until I heard this album, which - according to BandCamp - is his second album (in four months: Animam Edere was released in December 2023). That is, if you check his Bandcamp page as RL Huber - there's also a RyanHuber Bandcamp page which seems to be the same artist. The difference: the latter is heavily beat-oriented, while the 'RL' music is far more cinematic ambient.
I'm afraid I can't tell you much more about his background, either, apart from that he is inspired by artists like Ryuichi Sakamoto, Max Richter, and Anna Thorvaldsdottir. These influences can easily be heard in the music of Memories Of Falling: this music would have been a perfect soundtrack to a movie about ... about what exactly?
As Ryan Huber explains himself: "I started working on it after having a series of random dreams and then having memories (?) that may have been dreams. I've attempted to "soundtrack" the experience."
So, let's simply leave it at that: this is a perfect soundtrack to dreams and memories that may have been dreams.
Memories of Falling by RL Huber
SIMON McCORRY & WODWO - EVERY CREEPING THINGWith some 160 releases (since 2016), it's a bit hard to keep up with Harry Towell's Whitelabrecs** label. But it's worth trying: there are many gems to be found in its catalogue.
Gloucester-based cellist, composer and sound designer Simon McCorry is a regular guest on the label. His companion for this release is Wodwo - Ray Robinson, also from the UK - who contributed a track for the january release Sleeplaboratory 4.0. on Whitelabrecs, but has quite a few more releases available on his Bandcamp page.
Every Creeping Thing is 'a celebration of mud and moss and slugs and bugs and roots and damp - songs of the forgotten, the small, the overlooked'. More of an introduction is hardly necessary, I think.
'Guitar, cello, and modular synth are played, processed, and recorded live. Nothing is sequenced or quantised, maintaining an organic breath.'
The track titles are taken from Jacob Polley's poetry collection, Jackself, to which Ray felt a strong connection: 'it felt as if they were inhabiting similar worlds: a world of frosty mornings, kidney-coloured pools, rosehips, and buzzards’ wings'.
Every Creeping Thing by Simon McCorry & Wodwo
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
ABUL MOGARD & RAFAEL ANTON IRISARRI -IMPOSSIBLY DISTANT, IMPOSSIBLY CLOSEA collaboration with two artists' names that immediately should raise attention: Abul Mogard (Guido Zen) and Rafael Anton Irisarri. Impossibly Distant, Impossibly Close is released on Black Knoll Editions (Irisarri is the owner of the Black Knoll Studio).
A 2023 performance in Madrid inspired Mogard and Irisarri to work together, resulting in this album. The second track Waking Up Dizzy On A Bastion is a recording from that performance - it is easy to hear why this piece 'resonated deeply with the audience'.
Place Of Forever is a studio work that 'builds on the same energy of that live performance': 'Starting with a somber and minimal tone, the track gradually evolves, unfurling layers of deep bass tonalities draped in blissful gauze as it progresses'.
The studio track was probably created through online collaboration from their studios ('impossibly distant'); they were obviously 'impossibly close' at the live performance. Mogard's Farfisa (+ effects) and Irisarri's electric guitar (+ treatments) sound 'impossibly close' in both the live and studio tracks.
Notably, the (black, yellow, and green) vinyl versions are pressed on sustainable bio-vinyl. Unfortunately, they are allready sold out before the official release date.
Impossibly distant, impossibly close by Abul Mogard & Rafael Anton Irisarri
LOSCIL & LAWRENCE ENGLISH - CHROMAAnother collaboration of a dream duo: Loscil (Scott Morgan) and Lawrence English. Chroma is a limited edition tour CD which was sold at their recent concerts. only a few copies were available on Bandcamp, but ... you guessed it ... no more physical left by now, only digital.
The duo's work on Colours Of Air (2023) resulted in an invitation to perform at the Vox Organi festival in Vancouver. For this performance, an organ would have to be played live, 'and not just as a rich sound source'.
Preparing for this performance led to all sorts of new ideas, which were then exchanged and became Chroma.
'This edition collects a series of pieces that travel in parallel with Colours Of Air. Each piece is drawn from the same source, the organ at Brisbane's Old Museum, but opens it out in ways not necessarily collected on the Colours Of Air album'.
The album also contains a live recording of Vermillion, which was written for the Vox Organi performance.
Chroma by loscil // lawrence english
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
ELIF YALVAÇ - VECTIONMoving Furniture Records, the unstoppable and persistent Dutch label for electronic and experimental music, runs a sub-series named Eliane Tapes. Named, of course, after Éliane Radigue, whose work inspired many artists in the field of drone or minimal electronic music. Éliane herself gave her approval to the series, which is a quality trademark in itself.
Elif Yalvaç's Vection is the seventh release in this series and is the first one released on CD (previous titles were released on cassette). Yalvaç holds an MA degree in Sonic arts (from Istanbul Technical University), and currently works in the UK teaching electronic music in London and Electronic Music Composition at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU). She has always found inspiration in women artists, Eliane Radigue and the composition L'Île Resonante in particular.
Her music embraces opposites: 'microsound glitches and slow builds; celestial beauty and abrasive energy'. While heavily influenced by (and dedicated to) Eliane Radigue, Vection is far more 'dynamic' (I could even say 'dramatic') than Radigue's drone works.
To create her music, Elif uses MAX/MSP patches to 'process the sounds usually with granular synthesis, FM synthesis, and wavetable synthesis', also adding electric guitar, some field recordings, and sounds from her Game Boy.
The titles refer to 'sky objects and physical phenomena as well as events that affect me in my life as I observe my environment', and while the 33 minutes are divided into five tracks, they can (and should) be heard as one single composition.
HANNES STROBL - TRANSFORMATION SONORWithout it being explicitly mentioned, one could say that Transformation Sonor by Hannes Strobl is also very much in line with the music and sound of Eliane Radigue:
'Transformation Sonor explores the idea of process, of the slow transition from one musical situation to another, of transformation on the threshold of equivalence and differentiation. Expressive, outward gestures that allow the sound to fade into the background are avoided. Sound by itself beyond the perception of precise chords, harmonies or rhythms is at the centre of the composition'.
Berlin-based composer Hannes Strobl performs on his electric upright bass, creating a fascinating drone together with Elena Kakaliagou on French horn. These two instruments are combined with live electronics, 'dissolving the boundaries between instrumental and electro-acoustic music'.
Transformation Sonor is released on Crónica and is available as a name-your-price (!) digital download.
Transformation Sonor by Hannes Strobl
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
"Inward Spiral"
Tracklist:
- 00:00 DreamScenes - Intro (Susanna)
- 00:45 Sumner James, Robert Chamberlain, Volcano Lazerbeam & Saroon - Scattering
Dive 1: Refraction, 2024, Bathysphere Records - 05:09 Galati - With Wide, Unbelieving Eyes
Cold As A February Sky, 2024, Glacial movements - 07:31 Punkt Stillefelt - Karadeniz
Modest Utopias, 2024, Punkt - 11:05 Adam Wiltzie - Tissue Of Lies
Eleven Fugues For Sodium Penthotal, 2024, Kranky - 14:07 Slow Reels - Open Book
Everyday Exotic, 2024, Quiet Details - 16:49 Andrew Heath - Landscape After Corot
The Cloud Machine, 2024, Whitelabrecs - 21:25 Stefan Goldmann - Sector 1 Excerpt
Expanse, 2024, Edition Kymata/Macro-Rec - 23:22 Michel Banabila & Machinefabriek - Inward Spiral
The Unreal Realm, 2024, Tapu Records - 28:22 Caldon Glover - Communion (edit)
Metrophagy, 2024, Cryo Chamber - 33:04 Johanna Elina Sulkunen - XXIV How Dreams
Coexistence, 2024, Tila (rel. May 24) - 38:28 Dylan Henner - Our Ancient People
The Shepherds, 2024, Phantom Limb - 41:50 Achim Mohné - Variations From Fritz-Box
Noise Of Cologne, 2024, Mark e.V - 42:12 Lorenz Weber - Rustling Leaves
Plenty Of Time, 2024, self-released (tba) - 45:47 Ruth Wilhelmine Meyer - Elegy
One Voices, 2024, Simax Classics - 49:04 Doc Wör Mirran ft. Adrian Gormley - I Got The Pfizer In Me (edit)
Schnulz, 2024, Attenuation Circuit - 52:12 Loscil - Two Chambers
Ambient Layers Vol.II, 2023, 7K! - 55:40 Manu Delago & Mad About Lemon - Immersion (edit)
Snow From Yesterday, 2024, One Little Independent - 59:16 DreamScenes - Outro (Dean Hurley)
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--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
MICHEL BANABILA - THE UNREAL REALMA new album by one of my long-time favorite artists, Michel Banabila, is always a welcome surprise. And this one does not disappoint!
Mostly, The Unreal Realm presents rather contemplative music - perhaps even dark at some moments. This is especially the case in the compositions that were commissioned for new choreographies by Yin Yue: three tracks for 'Somewhere' (which will be premiered in New York in June this year), and another two for 'Timeless Tide' (which premiered recently in Columbus, US). The music for these dance performances is hauntingly dynamic. In longer tracks (up to 15 minutes) Banabila takes his time slowly leading us to intense sound climaxes - and back again into the quiet.
Apart from the music for these choreographies, the album is further completed with four tracks. Two of those were previously released as digital singles: one with Pierre Bastien and the other with Dave Liebman.
Bogus Dominion and Inward Spiral are two (aptly named) collaborations with Mete Erker and Machinefabriek (Rutger Zuydervelt) respectively.
The title of the album, The Unreal Realm, refers to the hypocrisy of Western society. Recent turmoil in the world is a major concern to Banabila, who recently released an instrumental single with Cengiz Arslanpay called 'Stop The Genocide! End The Occupation Now'. Some of this album may express this concern at its darkest moments. But never too explicitly - so, ironically, it is a great pleasure to listen to.
The Unreal Realm by Michel Banabila
RUTGER ZUYDERVELT - KITESI'll assume Rutger ('Machinefabriek') Zuydervelt needs no further introduction here. In his massive back-catalogue of music, there are quite some original scores for choreographies or other performances. Usually, these are presented under his own name, as is this one: Kites - Music For A Performance By Roshanak Morrowatian. Kites is the first score Zuydervelt created for Morrowatian. It premiered in 2021, but it is only now released as an album.
Roshanak Morrowatian is an Iranian dancer, choreographer, and actor working from Maastricht (NL). She previously worked with people like Marina Abramovic and Pina Bausch. Her Kites performance deals with her own experience: “What is it like to have to flee your homeland at a young age and grow up in an asylum seekers’ centre, in a ‘limbo’ between past and future?”
Zuydervelt's score is mainly instrumental, but some of Roshanak's experiences are voiced in the piece Places, which features her own voice.
Zuydervelt's music has no roots in Iranian culture. Still, in this score, he manages to create the feeling of total displacement - especially by subtly incorporating fragments of some Iranian hit songs from a cassette he got from Roshanak's parents. He adds "I hope they do not sound too Fourth World-ish". I personally love a good 'Fourth World sound', but indeed this is nothing like that. As far as I can tell without having seen the performance, I feel that this score perfectly conveys the message that Morrowatian intended with her performance.
Kites (music for a performance by Roshanak Morrowatian) by Rutger Zuydervelt
BRUNO DUPLANT & RUTGER ZUYDERVELT - EDGE OF OBLIVIONI could easily fill this whole blog with the music of Rutger Zuydervelt (or Michel Banabila, for that matter) - sometimes it is hard to choose. But since these two albums are released almost simultaneously, I may as well mention Zuydervelt's collaboration with French artist Bruno Duplant.
It's not the first time these two worked together: in 2020 they released their collaboration album L'incertitude; followed with Synchronicité in 2021.
With current high-speed connections, artists can collaborate without meeting each other in real-time. But for Duplant and Zuydervelt, this approach wasn't satisfactory:
"Bruno sent me his parts, and I added mine. And we were happy. Until we weren’t and decided to shake things up a little: Bruno’s parts were trashed, keeping only my whizzing sci-fi noises. A slab of organ was then thrown into the mix, adding a sense of menace and unease with its atonal tone clusters. Some more editing and
fine (de)tuning was done, et voila..."
The result is a 36-minute 'heavy disorienting trip' indeed! One that can best be experienced in half-dark with speakers on full-blast, or with a quality headset. Don't know what the edge of oblivion looks like, but now we know what it may sound like.
Edge of Oblivion by Bruno Duplant & Rutger Zuydervelt
BANABILA & MACHINEFABRIEK - A LOOMING PRESENCEWe come full circle with A Looming Presence - the sixth collaboration album of Michel Banabila and Machinefabriek (Rutger Zuydervelt, this time using his alias). And it is a pleasant surprise once again: quite different from the previous albums they made together, but still undeniably the kind of work only théy can create.
The first thing I noticed is that most of these tracks are heavily rhythm-oriented, with just a few exceptions (such as the title track and the quiet Oumuamua). The music is playful, but also 'a dark soundtrack for a crumbling world'.
On Cracked Dispatch the duo is completed by Oene van Geel's trombone and viola and Maryana Golovchenko singing the Ukrainian traditional In The Sea There's A Marble Stone. This song's atmosphere pleasantly reminded me of Holger Czukay's Boat Woman Song from 1969 (show hands if you remember that one).
Unlike their previous albums, A Looming Presence is a digital-only release; there are (currently) no plans for a physical release.
A Looming Presence by Banabila & Machinefabriek
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
TAYLOR DEUPREE - STI.IIWhen delving into new albums, I usually refrain from reading any accompanying information beforehand. Hopefully, this allows for a more unbiased initial listening experience. So, you can imagine my surprise when I was greeted by the sounds of a fully acoustic ensemble upon pressing play. Could this truly be the work of Taylor Deupree, as I've come to know it?
Had my memory served me better, I might have recognized the musical themes themselves. "Sti.ll" is an acoustic reinterpretation of Deupree's 2002 album, 'Stil.', arranged for a lineup including clarinet, vibraphone, cello, double bass, flute, guitar, lap harp, and percussion.
Remarkably, the arrangements stay true to the original tracks, maintaining the same sequence and durations. Thus, it becomes particularly intriguing to juxtapose both albums and observe how Deupree's 'exploration of extreme repetitions and stillness' translates into the realm of acoustic performance.
Which is easy, because the original version of Stil. is also included in the download.
The reconstructions are meticulously crafted by arranger and producer Joseph Branciforte, marking the second release in his Folio series - 'a release format that sets out to answer the question: why release music in a physical form today?'
Sti.ll is a hybrid offering, combining a high-resolution digital download of both albums with a 6.5x8" hardcover book. Within the book, readers will find an introduction penned by Pitchfork's Philip Sherburne, essays contributed by Deupree, Branciforte, and Greenstone reflecting on the album's conception and creation, as well as a complete reproduction of Branciforte's arrangements in full score, complemented by studio photography courtesy of Deupree.
Sti.II will be released on May 17 but can be pre-ordered from the link above or from Bandcamp.
SUMNER JAMES, ROBERT CHAMBERLAIN, VOLCANO LAZERBEAM & SAROON - DIVE 1: REFRACTIONThe Bathysphere Records label started out in January 2023. It is a cassette-only label, but their releases are also available as digital downloads.
Dive1: Refraction is their 12th album release, and brings together artists that have released on the label before:
James Phillips (or Sumner James), Justin Longerbeam and Christina Cano (known as Volcano Lazerbeam), Robert Chamberlain, and Ayal Alves (Saroon).**
'We brought together artists from around the country and engaged in an evening of improvisational recordings. The resulting works were thoughtfully curated and sent to Ayal Alves, who composed and performed intricate woodwind arrangements, unifying the piece.'
There's a delicate balance between organic and electronic sounds - the woodwind arrangements indeed make the tracks feel natural and organic. The music isn't 'simply' ambient, it is quiet introspective jazz also.
But I guess I should not try to fix a genre label to it and just note that this is 'a sensory expedition mirroring the synergetic spirit and aesthetic of Bathysphere Records.'
In the future, there will be more collaborations like this, 'uniting artists from the label roster to craft unique and immersive musical experiences'.
Based on this edition, that is definitely something to look forward to!
Dive 1: Refraction by Sumner James, Robert Chamberlain, Volcano Lazerbeam, & Saroon
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
CROWS LABYRINTH & PERRY FRANK - VANISHINGCrows Labyrinth is Dutch artist Theo Tol's solo project. His ambient soundscapes are created mostly by using only his bass guitar and effects. This album, released on the Mare Nostrum label, is his collaboration with Sardinian guitarist Perry Frank**.
The relatively short (but very effective) album presents four tracks plus remixes from two of these by Le Code and Pulse Mandala). There's not much information included (none, exactly), so you'll have to do with the music and titles like Daylight Sonata, Nostalgia, Twilight Ghosts, and, of course, Vanishing.
It's always risky to compare music. But every time I listened to this album (and to the first two tracks especially), the lush atmosphere and mix reminded me of Brian Eno/Daniel Lanois' Apollo album from 1983. It's the same kind of feeling, like floating in space, created by the unique combination of bass, guitar, embedded in layers of synths.
I guess that's enough recommendation for now...
Vanishing by Crows Labyrinth, Perry Frank
GREGORY PAUL MINEEFF - SO MANY, DIMINISHESAlthough Australian composer and multi-instrumentalist Gregory Paul Mineeff has published some digital albums on the Cosmicleaf Records label, this release on Whitelabrecs' eRecords series is my first encounter with his music. And it's a delightful introduction!
Mineeff uses a variety of instruments (piano, analog synths, guitar, bass) to create his music 'focusing on minimal structures and melody'. Most of the tracks began with simple analog synth drones, then he added layers of guitar motifs, bass, and electric piano.
'So Many, Diminishes is an exploration of the restorative power of music and the meditative practice of composing and performing the music itself. The album was born of the exhaustion of everyday life and the many trials we endure. Each piece is a minimal meditation on this idea, with the title of each track combining to form one whole poem'.
So Many, Diminishes by Gregory Paul Mineeff
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
ADAM WILTZIE - ELEVEN FUGUES FOR SODIUM PENTOTHALThe title sounds like one of the Stars Of The Lid albums. Not surprisingly, since Adam (Bryanbaum) Wiltzie was a core member of this legendary duo together with Brian McBride.
With Dustin O'Halloran he's in A Winged Victory For The Sullen, and with Chantal Acda he performed as Sleepingdog. And in the past, there was also Aix Em Klemm with Bonny Donne and The Dead Texan with Christina Vantzou. A man of duo's, it seems, now presents a solo album under his own name.
Eleven Fugues For Sodium Pentothal is not his first solo album - Adam Wiltzie composed quite some movie scores, Salero (2016) and American Woman (2019) among those. But it is the first solo album under his own name nót related to a movie. It unequivocally demonstrates his experience and demonstrates why all of the projects he participates in end up in so many 'best of' lists in ambient music.
There's this signature combination of electronics and acoustic orchestration: the basic tracks were recorded in Wiltzie's home studio in Belgium, and strings were added in Budapest. Robert Hampson mixed it in such a way that it is hard to distinguish one from the others, 'further lending the music a sense of cinematic expanse and oblique hypnosis'.
Initially, the music was inspired by 'a recurring dream wherein “if someone listened to the music I created, then they would die.”', and the music 'uniquely evokes and evades the allure of oblivion, keening between beauty and ruin, forever unresolved'.
Until, after 36 minutes and 40 seconds, it ends surprisingly abruptly in the closing (Don't Go Back To) Boogerville.
Sodium Pentothal, by the way, is a 'rapid-onset short-acting barbiturate, used commonly in the induction phase of general anesthetic'.
As Adam Wiltzie comments about the title: “When you are sitting face forward on the daily emotional meat grinder of life, I always wished I could have some, so I could just fall asleep automatically and the feeling would not be there anymore.”
Listening to Eleven Fugues ... also helps - without any side effects other than comfortable sleepiness.
Eleven Fugues For Sodium Pentothal by Adam Wiltzie
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
SLOW REELS - EVERYDAY EXOTICSlow Reels is the project of duo Ian Hawgood and James Murray. Both artists are well-known for their personal output (as well as for curating their labels: Home Normal and Slowcraft, respectively). But as a duo, they are a match made in ambient heaven. They complement each other so that it is impossible to hear who did what, delivering an immersive sonic soundscape that is sensible and melodic.
Sometimes, ambient music can feel artificial - as if it was created by machines (and I do not mean that in a negative way: it can have it's own special kind of beauty). But not that of Slow Reels: their music feels deeply organic and personal - 'always evolving yet giving you enough time to fully immerse yourself in the harmonic wonder and the vast open spaces only artists of their skill and experience can achieve'.
On their third album as a duo, 'piano, electro-acoustics and field recordings meet incredibly creative synth-work and granular processing, creating a peerless marriage of layers and textures - you can feel the respect and affection these artists have for each other coming through every element.'
Everyday Exotic is not released on one of their labels but on the Quiet Details label. It is the 15th release on this label 'where each release is an artist's own unique interpretation of that phrase'.
Everyday Exotic by Slow Reels (Ian Hawgood and James Murray)
FEDERICO MOSCONI - SLOW MOTIONFederico Mosconi holds degrees in classical guitar and multimedia composition. He performs classical and contemporary music, as well as solo recitals or orchestral works. As an artist, he is 'constantly looking for the perfect balance between purity and slight imperfection, where sound comes to life'.
Reading this introduction, you probably won't immediately think of the sounds he presents on Slow Motion. The three tracks are deeply immersive 'cyclic trips', created with guitar, objects, field recordings, and heavy sound processing.
They are, indeed, progressing in slow motion - and thus exactly what you need when you want to check out some deeply relaxing, subtly layered ambient music.
Three beautiful, slowly moving drones (different in length: ranging from six to thirty-one minutes) 'where the original sonic material evolves at each cycle creating a familiar but different scenario at each passage, a stream which time and experience slowly transform'.
Slow Motion by federico mosconi
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
MINING - CHIMETThere are many ways to compose music - and in recent years, we've been seeing compositions more and more frequently that are based on external streams of data. That's not as straightforward as it sounds: it takes a lot of extra work to transform a data stream into an interesting soundscape.
Mining - named after a weather station a mile off the coast of Hayling Bay, West Sussex - is the auditory reflection of the storms Ophelia and Brian that battered the coast of England in October 2017.
"The music on Chimet charts the progress of the two storms over the course of a week. It was created using 2,016 sampled data streams, collected every five minutes between 0030 on October 16th, 2017 and 0025 on the 23rd, translating seven days of information into 67 minutes and 12 seconds of detailed and evolving music."
Craig Kirkpatrick-Whitby is the data scientist, inventor, and sailor behind this project. He assembled a team of programmers, musicians, and designers for this project. Sound designer PJ Davy developed the soundscapes based on the data, and then Matthew Bourne improvised the piano parts in response to those soundscapes and then added cello and Memorymoog parts.
Without detailed explanation, it's not entirely clear how the data were precisely used, but nonetheless, the final result is more 'musical' than one would expect from such a statistical background.
It's a dynamic listening experience that 'seems to change depending on your state of mind, and resonates on a primal level which belies its data-led compositional approach. While the origins of Chimet lie in the numbers, the resultant record sits proudly in that artistic tradition'.
The same data were also used for the visual aspect: graphic designer Oli Bentley and generative artist Sock Baeus Redding utilized them to create the artwork for the 2LP and CD editions (physical stock runs out fast, by the way), as well as for the videos included.
MICHAEL KLUBERTANZ - MUSIC FROM CLOUDSOn his debut album Music From Clouds, German composer Michael Klubertanz also transforms a natural phenomenon into music, but he uses a completely different process: optical synthesis. This means the sounds on this album are derived exclusively from photographs of clouds. 'No synths, no presets, handcrafted sound!'
I definitely would have wanted to know more about this process: how is the image on the photo transformed to sound? But unfortunately, we have to guess and leave that to our imagination because there are no further details given on that process. (*)
This may be Michael Klubertanz's debut album, but that does not mean he has just started making music. As a composer he has created 60+ scores for film and TV, some of them award-winning. There were some soundtrack albums released previously, but this is his first 'solo' album (unrelated to a soundtrack), focusing on 'more abstract ways of expressing himself'.
The music is available on streaming platforms only (Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, Deezer, Soundcloud, Amazon etc) and cannot be obtained in the traditional sense. Simply check the links in the title to listen to this album.
MICHAEL KLUBERTANZ - CLOUDS 4 Vapors
() edit:
Klubertanz added further details about Optical Synthesis: "The technique is not new at all. The internet is full of videos where people synthesize their photographs with software like Photosounder. I was always intrigued by the idea and very much underwhelmed by the results. The programs I finally found most versatile in sound were SonicPhoto and SoundArt.
Once I had my ten different cloud sounds I started to process them further. In their original state (which you still can hear at times in the album) they were atmospheric (no pun intended) and of a very noisy yet semitonal quality. Lengths ranged from eighteen seconds up to almost three minutes. These were all nice but unfit for music. I needed shorter segments and more tonal precision. So the basic sounds were further elaborated on, filtered, cut up, shortened, stretched and cleaned up.
The resulting sounds were subsequently fed into audio and sampler tracks in Cubase, imported into instruments like Kontakt and Portatron and treated with (mostly onboard) effects."*
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
CERFILIC - SHOURES SOOTEIf you're curious about the title, it originates from a line in Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and translates most accurately to 'sweet showers'. And concerning the artist alias, Cerfilic is the moniker of London-based Jamie Michael McCarthy, a seasoned musician who studied music (and played) under Gavin Bryars at Leicester Polytechnic. In the mid-80s, many composers associated with the English Experimental music scene were linked to that institution, including Gavin Bryars, John White, and Christopher Hobbs, all of whom released music on Brian Eno's Obscure label.
|Jamie McCarthy has presented his 'symphonic drone music' under the Cerfilic alias since 2010.
'Symphonic drone music' is indeed the best way to describe the composition Shoures Soote. Starting with the slow notes of a string quartet, the grouped notes gradually become 'seeds' that are subjected to sound treatment, time stretching, and compacting. The 62 minutes on this recording are an extract from a work of indeterminate length.
'I used the word ‘seed’ for these bits of material I make because everything grows out of them, but it’s appropriate too, because of the way I have to work with them: It’s a process of tending – waiting - observing what the material seems to suggest for itself.'
Shoures Soote is dedicated to McCarthy's brother John, who passed away unexpectedly at the end of 2022. For a few months after his death, creating music felt impossible as it seemed like a betrayal of his brother. It was only when, at a poignant moment, he sensed that his brother was content with him resuming music creation and advised him, 'you have to release death from your body and learn to live again', that Jamie could pick up his cello once more and commence work on this piece. Thus, Shoures Soote serves as a requiem for his brother.
The music is as melancholic as it is splendid: 'there is grief there, but it's also an affirmation of life in the face of it.'
DIRK SERRIES - STREAMS OF CONSCIOUSNESS COMPILEDDirk Serries' remarkable output, both in terms of quality and quantity, manifests in various forms. His journey began in the mid-eighties under the moniker Vidna Obmana, with releases spanning until around 2005, although titles continued to emerge even after he ceased using this alias. He then transitioned to projects such as Fear Falls Burning or Microphonics, among others, showcasing his seemingly boundless creativity.
One of his notable endeavors, Streams of Consciousness, ran from 2013 to 2015, and again from 2023 up until February 2024. This ongoing project comprises 18 editions, each featuring two tracks roughly 20 minutes in duration. The titles of each edition are suffixed with a number, likely indicating the creation date in YYDDMM format. The complete series is available on the Streams Of Consciousness Bandcamp page.
Projekt Records now offers a compilation from this series, featuring a selection of 8 tracks, each drawn from a different edition. Though termed a 'selection,' it offers nearly three hours of profound ambient guitar drones - 'a slowflow inner exploration of sonics and emotional states... Dirk Serries' homage and return to pure harmonic sonic moments'. This music is purely 'in-the-moment' ambient, 'relying entirely on his ability to create these linear masses of ambience from scratch and real-time on the electric guitar and just a handful of pedal effects – no computer is applied. No post-production or editing is involved.'
Generously, Projekt Records and Dirk Serries provide this compilation as a name-your-price download (for a limited time). However, for completists, the journey doesn't end here. To be continued.
Streams Of Consciousness Compiled by Dirk Serries
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
"The Zone Of Interest"
- 00:00 DreamScenes - Intro (Susanna)
- 00:45 Mica Levi - The Zone Of Interest
The Zone Of Interest OST, 2024, A24 - 03:11 Cengiz Arslanpay & Michel Banabila - Stop The Genocide! End The Occupation Now
Stop The Genocide! End The Occupation Now, 2024, Tapu Records - 10:41 Catherine Graindorge - Joan
Songs For The Dead, 2024, Glitterbeat/tak:til - 16:01 Laura Masotto - Under The Bombs
The Spirit Of Things, 2024, 7K! - 18:42 Ian Wellman - Forest Of Tragedy
The Night The Stars Fell, 2024, Ash International - 22:47 Canberk Ulaş - Broken
Echoes Of Becoming, 2024, Jazzland Recordings - 24:55 Glacis - When The Sun Goes Down
Perseverance, 2024, Oscarson - 30:13 Evgueni Galperine - This Town Will Burn Before Dawn
Theory Of Becoming, 2022, ECM - 35:00 Ruth Wilhelmine Meyer - Trinity
One Voices, 2024, Simax Classics - 39:14 Emma Margetson - Gestört
Contemplations, 2024, Empreintes Digitales IMED - 42:23 David Shea - The Sirens
The Ship, 2024, Room40 - 47:32 Boris Blank - Elements Of Life
Resonance, 2024, Ian Records - 52:33 Michiel De Malsche - Mourning Silence
The Discomfort Of Evening, 2022, Meakusma - 54:38 Canberk Ulaş - A New Beginning
Echoes Of Becoming, 2024, - 59:00 DreamScenes - Outro (Dean Hurley)
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--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
DAVID SHEA - THE SHIPThe Ship is David Shea's music for (and inspired by) the virtual reality game Materials created by Tom Crago. Perhaps 'virtual reality artwork' is a better description, because after its premiere in 2017, it was acquired by the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia. So I don't think you'll find it in your local game shop.
'The game transports us onto a ship and we are asked to journey through the virtual space, discovering its possibilities, to generate our own artwork. As we undertake the journey we are surrounded by ambient sound, created by sound designer David Shea, and we discover pieces of an artwork by Viv Miller that combine into the player’s own composition. [...] The player could in certain locations make and enhance their own score additions by placing the sound objects onto a water mirror and experiment with new sound combinations.'
That is of course a unique and personal experience that cannot be reproduced on a fixed media album. So for this release, David Shea has recreated the soundtrack into eight compositions that can be enjoyed without any knowledge of what it was originally created for. The Ship is an album of beautiful cinematic soundscapes - 'a mix of singing bowls, gongs, samples, piano, instrument ensembles and cinema sound design.'
The only downside I can think of is that this music makes you want to experience the original VR game/artwork too. But that would require a trip to Melbourne, Australia.
IAN BODDY - MODAL OPERANDIIan Boddy has been around for quite some time. Inspired by the music of Tangerine Dream he started composing music in the late 70's. His first release was in 1980, his back catalogue now spans over 80 titles (not counting the library music he wrote and the sound libraries he designed for various sample packs). In 1999 he started the DiN label to release 'ambient electronica that bridged the gap between the analogue sounds of the early 70's and the digital soundscapes of the more experimental modern exponents of electronic music.'
Modal Operandi is created 'entirely in the analogue domain, with each track based on a highly processed field recording'. The synths and effects used range from classic Roland and EMS, to Serge and Eurorack modules, to Moog and Buchla. In the hands of Ian Boddy this guarantees some wonderful otherworldly soundscapes.
All tracks are in the key of C Major; the album moves through the different musical moded of that scale - as can be read from the track titles: Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aoelian, and Locrian. Which makes this album, in Boddy's own words, 'a sonic journey in seven musical modes'.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
PUNKT | STILLEFELT - MODEST UTOPIASFirst, Punkt refers to the annual Norwegian festival founded by Jan Bang and Erik Honoré - a festival with a distinct concept: 'live sampling and live remix of music. Continuous creation and collaboration'. It is different from other festivals: for example, all concerts are remixed live: 'the audience gets to hear the remixes immediately after each concert. In many cases, the remixers also invite musicians to interact with the remixes, making them a vehicle for continuous innovation and improvisation'.
But it doesn't stop there: since 2022, there's also Punkt Editions: a label releasing 'Punkt-related' music (music that has the same adventurous starting point).
And now, there's also Punkt referring to a music collective: in this case, the core members Jan Bang and Erik Honoré working with University of Agder music students (performing on vocals, electronics, samples, duduk, guitar). And, as if that wasn't enough, there's this collaboration project with British trio Stillefelt (which means 'quiet field'): Chris Mapp (bass, electronics), Percy Pursglove (trumpet), Thomas Seminar Ford (guitar, electronics).
Like everything related to Punkt - performing just outside your comfort zone as a goal - this collaboration was no standard exchange procedure: 'Stillefelt’s performances in Birmingham were reimagined and enhanced in the Punkt Studio in Kristiansand before being returned for further creative input by Stillefelt.'
As can be expected in such a setting, this music defies simple categorization. Part of it is (dream-)pop, but there's also jazz, ambient electronics, and improvisation. But there's absolutely no predictability. And all of it is presented in a top-notch sound production.
Modest Utopias contains all that Punkt stands for.
Modest Utopias by Punkt | Stillefelt
JOHN DEREK BISHOP - FLOWPunkt Editions is a sublabel of the Norwegian label Jazzland Recordings, founded by Bugge Wesseltoft. The name may suggest a jazz label, but that would be too simple: the label is open to all music with an open mind, music with 'new conceptions'.
As is demonstrated by John Derek Bishop's album Flow. Bishop is a Norwegian-American musician and producer from Stavanger, Norway.
Flow is his seventh recording for Jazzland Recordings, this one being 'his most minimalistic to date' - a meditative ambient-electronic album inspired by Norwegian nature (and if you ever visited Norway, you know they have a LOT of nature!). Flow presents 11 relatively short tracks that are different but form a coherent album together. Bishop uses electric piano, guitar, piccolo bass, and modular synths (and a trumpet sample on one track), all 'manipulated to create complex soundscapes combined with field recordings from nature and urban areas'. After finishing recording, the album was remixed in a beer brewing hall 'to give the album a wider sound and an organic reverb.'
'A cornerstone in Bishop´s production is the texture and timbre of sound. He searches for sounds that are out of the ordinary and places the listener in different emotional states.'
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
JANEK SCHAEFER - LOVE HERTZAs a listener, you can ignore the background story of this album and just focus on what this music means to you. If I remember well, Janek Schaefer suggests somewhere in this interview (an interesting insight into the man and his motifs in itself) that this is a possible way of listening. The accompanying 'featureless' film, included on DVD with this release, doesn't tell much either: it shows an endlessly repeating image of 'light descending from the cloudcraft above, projecting hope across the waves'.
However, the album and track titles provide more context about the experience that led to this album: Attraction, Attrition, Separation, Loss, Closure. It tells the story of (Schaefer's emotions after) his separation from the 'love of his lifetime' after 21 years of being together. He now refers to his former wife as his 'wifex'.
And yes... Love Hertz...
"Making [ this album] helped me process my emotions and memories. I was able to revel in that dark state, yet exclaim how the music felt exactly how I was feeling back then."
Surprisingly, this is not a 'sad' album at all. (Which máy depend on how you feel yourself, of course). As the third part of a trilogy - preceded by Glitter In My Tears (2017) and ...On Reflection (2022, with William Basinski) - this album is all about 'closure' - coming to terms with what happened.
Love Hertz is a drone-based album - a 'power ambient' album, as Schaefer calls it ('but not the "I'LL KILL YOU WITH SOUND" kind'). The tracks are created with a shruti box (an Indian drone harmonium), pipe organs, and a fan-powered reed organ. All heavily processed and with intended distortion of course, as well as featuring the kind of field recordings you may expect from him - in the first track it sounds like Janek himself is rummaging around your room, opening all available cupboards to check what's in them.
The CD and DVD are for home use, obviously, but being a performance artist, Schaefer imagined it to be in an installation performance setting: an 'endless AV/HD projection onto a large monolith in a blue room'.
CELER - CURSORY ASPERSESIt has been a while since I heard from Celer (Will Long): the last album mentioned here was Xièxie (2019), but there were quite a few releases after that - most of them self-released. Still, the latest album release (mentioned on Discogs) was from 2021, so from there to 2024 seems quite a long time of silence for someone boasting no less than 196 album releases since 2006. (If I'm correct in doing the math, there has been a monthly Celer release on average between 2006 and 2023!!)
Cursory Asperses is not a new album: it was recorded from 2007 and 2008, when Celer still was a duo formed by Will Long and his wife Danielle Baquet - who tragically died of heart failure in 2009, only 27 years old. It was previously released in 2008 on Slow Flow Rec in Japan, it probably was hard to find then. So here's another chance with this re-release on Room40.
The music once again demonstrates the strength of this duo, whose work 'went on to become a blueprint for an approach to sound that was equal parts patient, generous and drifting.'
It may be hardly noticeable in the end result, but the music on Cursory Asperses was created from 'cassette tape recordings of water sounds from various rivers, streams, lakes, beaches, and pools, combined with direct-to-tape instrument recordings from synthesizers, an organ, cello, piano, and bowed instruments'. You will hear no sound of water at all, because the water recordings 'were used as an impulse for the instrument sounds.'
As a result, the music floats like the water it was derived from: 'passing by, no different than it was years before'.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
STEFANO GUZZETTI & IAN HAWGOOD - HEREDue to serious health issues, Ian Hawgood has been somewhat off the radar in the past year. He's back - and started 2024 with a bunch of new releases. Some were released physically and others digitally.
This hopefully marks the beginning of a brighter future for Ian personally.
Here is a short EP featuring the musical collaboration of Ian Hawgood with Stefano Guzzetti. Guzzetti and Hawgood knew each other for 12 years, sharing their love for 'the romanticism of electronic-ambient music'. This is their first work as a duo, and it is a celebration of 'the romantic nature of the present moment and the mindfulness therein'.
However hard the times must have been for Ian, this music shows nothing of that struggle. Quite the opposite: this music radiates appreciation for the beauty of life. It's 'a note of love between friends and passion for the romanticism of life, memories and deep acceptance to the present moment'.
The limited 3" CD version has unfortunately sold out at the speed of light. A second (and final) edition is in the making at the moment - so keep an eye on the Bandcamp page. And of course, there's also the download version to treasure. It's available from 2020 Editions as well as from Home Normal.
Here by Stefano Guzzetti and Ian Hawgood
IAN HAWGOOD & DAVID CORDERO - WILD AIRAnother collaboration in the batch of new Home Normal releases is this one called Wild Air, by Ian Hawgood and David Cordero. Cordero previously released some albums on Home Normal, but this is his first collaboration with Hawgood.
The tracks on this (32-minute) album are simply presented as 'eight Hohner Pianet pieces in a small modular framework'.
The Hohner Pianet is an early electronic piano that was very popular in 60s and 70s pop music. It has a distinct sound due to how the tones are generated (read more about that on the wiki page): 'brighter than the Rhodes, but somewhat less bright than the Wurlitzer'. You may know its sound from hits like The Zombies' She's Not There, Richard Berry's Louie Louie, or from The Beatles' I Am The Walrus. Out of production since the early 80s, the Pianet became popular again recently, mainly due to its 'retro' sound.
But Wild Air is no 'retro' album - on the contrary! And no 'pop' hit here, either. The bright, bell-like sound of the Pianet perfectly fits the 'modular framework', and creates a lovely - contemporary - atmosphere of summer evening freshness filled with windchime-like sounds.
Wild Air by Ian Hawgood & David Cordero
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
HENRIK MEIERKORD - PROSCENIUMHenrik Meierkord is a productive artist: his name has popped up often recently. Only in December there was the release of Zeitreisen, and a few weeks later we are treated with another two releases worth listening to.
The first is Proscenium, released on the Whitelabrecs label. It's Meierkord's first full-length SOLO album for the label, following up Inseln - a collaboration with Logic Moon (see below for more of that) - and a Cello Improvisations EP. Apart from the releases on this label, Meierkord released quite a lot on various other labels (and self-released them if he could not find a label).
His cello is never far away and is often the composition's foundation. But Meierkord embeds the instrument in dream-like orchestrations created with piano, double bass, violin, synths, and whatever else is needed. His music thus borders on neo-classical and atmospheric ambient.
Proscenium is the word for 'the view the audience has when watching an Ancient Greek theatre performance, or indeed the location from which the actors carry out their performance'.
The track titles may suggest Meierkord had a specific play in mind, but he hadn't: 'it could in fact be numerous stories collected together as many overlapping emotions, played back all at once, as if recalling centuries of moments emitted from a theatre stage'.
Proscenium by Henrik Meierkord
LOGIC MOON & HENRIK MEIERKORD - EWIGER WALDEwiger Wald (Eternal Forest) is the second time Henrik Meierkord and Logic Moon (Tobias Lorsbach) worked together: they also released Inseln in 2022. This time, their work is released on the Dronarivm label - in another sort of collaboration with Fonodroom. (The latter is the (distribution) label of Artem O., or Artyom Kryptogem, who represents both labels after relocating from Russia to Amsterdam. Explains the link but is perhaps also a bit too much information ;-) )
Meierkord's cello and violin and Lorsbach's electronics are a perfect match, meandering between (or combining) ambient soundscapes and neo-classical music - 'encapsulating a wide range of modern ambient music'. A wide range in a short time, unfortunately: the EP presents no more than 20 minutes of music in 5 tracks on a 3" CDr. Which leaves us longing for more (fortunately there's also Meierkord's solo release mentioned above).
The short playing time is compensated with the package: Ewiger Wald is released in a 10x10cm box, which includes 3 grams of 'Taiga' herbal tea (also known as 'Siberian Ginseng') and two paper tea sachets.
Don't get too excited, please: the limited edition (of 50) immediately sold out before the release date.
We can only be happy that the music still remains available.
Ewiger Wald by Logic Moon & Henrik Meierkord
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
"The Beauty Of Sundays"
- 00:00 DreamScenes - Intro (Susanna)
- 00:45 Jan Bang - Delia
Reading The Air, 2024, Punkt Editions - 05:18 Crows Labyrinth & Perry Frank - Nostalgia
Vanishing, 2024, Mare Nostrum - 08:35 Stefano Guzzetti & Ian Hawgood - January
Here, 2024, Home Normal - 11:25 Arve Henriksen & Harmen Fraanje - The Beauty Of Sundays
Touch Of Time, 2024, ECM - 14:27 Yui Onodera - Semi Lattice 7
Semi Lattice, 2024, Baskaru - 18:35 Allison Burik - Heiemo Og Nykkjen
Realm, 2024, Riparina Media - 21:57 Sumner James, Robert Chamberlain, Volcano Lazerbeam, Saroon - Scattering
Dive 1: Refraction, 2024, Bathysphere Records - 26:17 Gregory Paul Mineeff - So Many, Diminishes
So many, Dimishes, 2024, Whitelabrecs - 30:15 Logic Moon & Henrik Meierkord - Skogsfolk
Ewiger Wald, 2024, Dronarivm - 33:44 Comes & Veldman - Release
Manifest Exodus, 2024, Dead Mind Records - 39:48 Bonfarado - Eternity In An Hour
Elan Vital, 2024, Shimmering Moods - 45:01 Russ Young - Pollinated
Audiobulb Plays He Can Jog, 2024, Audiobulb - 49:36 Sedibus - SETI Part 1
SETI, 2024, Orbscure Recordings - 56:25 Crows Labyrinth & Perry Frank - Vanishing
Vanishing, 2024, Mare Nostrum - 59:00 DreamScenes - Outro (Dean Hurley)
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--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
AIKO TAKAHASHI - IT COULD HAVE BEEN A BEAUTIFULThe IIKKI series (which comes from the same creative source as the ongoing Laaps series) presents its 22nd edition. As always, each IIKKI releases pairs the music to a photography book: this edition presents the work of French photographer Edouard Elias in dialogue with Aiko Takahashi - an electronic music producer from Kobe, Japan.
It remains unclear who exactly this Aiko Takahashi is: she 'is a concept, an entity, a ghost that appears only through her own music', who has previously released under other (unmentioned) names, but 'materialized' as Aiko in 2022. (It makes me wonder if there is any relation to Iu Takahashi, who recently released an album through Laaps. But based on their description this probably is a coincidence.)
There are four tracks on this album (three on the vinyl version but the missing track is available in the download that comes with it). Each track title completes the album title: It Could Have Been A Beautiful ... Afternoon / Evening / Night / Morning.Each track is a sound collage 'cut, stitched together and reassembled to give shape and restore unity from the fragments'. All have the natural freshness of a summer day/night.
As usual for the IIKKIreleases, this is available as a combined package (LP or CD with book), or as separate items.
It Could Have Been A Beautiful by Aiko Takahashi
PHONSONIC - TAPESTRY OF ECHOES After Spectral Drift (2022) and Chrome (2023), Tapestry Of Echoes is the new album presented by Phonsonic. Phonsonic is Alexander Caminada - not only a musician but also a professional photographer (see his site for details) who in the past delivered artwork for releases from Roger Eno, Michael Brook, and Djivan Gasparyan. (Which is not directly related to his own musical output but I think it's a nice detail to mention).
Without echo (and reverb), ambient music would probably not exist. On Tapestry Of Echoes, 'the tools of reverb and echo become a metaphor for repeated events. Events that are never quite the same and add new layers to an evolving journey. New stories emerge and resonate with space'.
However, Caminada subtly uses these tools in these tracks and cleverly avoids overusing them. The (seven) tracks, created with 'hard and soft synths, modular experiments and field recordings' all have a nice relaxing atmosphere (not unlike some of the work of Biosphere) - with considerably less effect than used in - say - the average dub-reggae track. 'The ambient foundations are always present, rooted in hums and quiet murmur. Resonances peaking but balanced by the depth of a grounding bass'.
On one track, Dream Song, Caminada proudly introduces the (samples) vocal contribution of his grand-daughter Myla, but otherwise this album is fully instrumental.
Tapestry Of Echoes is only available as a digital download.
Tapestry of Echoes by Phonsonic
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
PHILL NIBLOCK - LOOKING FOR DANIELIn January 2024, Phill Niblock passed away. The influence of this 'master of minimalism' can hardly be overstated. 'Known for his thick, loud drones of music, Niblock’s signature sound is filled with microtones of instrumental timbres that generate many other tones in the performance space'.
His music is often stretched out until time is no longer relevant, but at the same time it can be quite intense: as Lawrence English quotes in his obituary, Phill once wrote "You should play the music very loud. If the neighbours don't complain, it's probably not loud enough."
Two beautiful examples of his encompassing drone compositions are presented on Looking For Daniel, an album that was completed in collaboration with Niblock shortly before he died.
The first is Biliana, composed in 2023 and performed by Biliana Voutchkova - the violinist it was written for. "Her violin phrases and vocalizations carve out a deep sonorous space full of fluctuating overtones."
Exploratory, Rhine Version, Looking for Daniel, is created from three different performance recordings by Ensemble Modelo62 and Scordatura Ensemble.
This composition is dedicated to the co-director of Ensemble Phoenix in Basel, "which the Rhine river flows through. He disappeared one night and was found along the river after a few weeks. Evidently, he dropped off a bridge. No one thinks it was a deliberate suicide. He is missed.”
Both compositions feature long extended string chords; it's interesting to experience the fluctuations in sound, the movement of the waves. Biliana feels like a steady drone, with subtle and hardly noticeable changes in the overtones. Exploratory, Rhine Version, Looking for Daniel, on the other hand, is a drone that is constantly changing its underlying structure: 'a work comprising of 20 parts, where lines seem to emerge and
disappear out of a landscape of harmonies and sonic spectra'.
Phill Niblock's legacy is a large body of work that deserves to be explored. But I guess the could hardly be a better way to end his career than with these two compositions, which encapsulate everything his music stood for.
Looking for Daniel by Phill Niblock
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
RNGMNN & KARINA DORIN - NEVER SLEEP AGAINNever Sleep Again - now that's a scary title. And the Winter-Light label - specializing in deep ambient, experimental and drone soundscapes - is clearly not afraid of the dark. But don't let this scare you away, because this collaboration is very much worth listening to - even if 'our most unsettling fears are only a dream away'.
RNGMNN is the 'haunting music alias' of Berlin-based Ronny Engmann. Since 2007 he has released his music on various label such as Reverse Alignment and Cryo Chamber, and of course on Winter-Light. On Never Sleep Again he provides the atmospheric setting for Karina Dorin's vocals.
Don't expect 'songs' in the traditional way. Karina Dorin's voice can sometimes be clearly heard, but at other times it is masqued using her effect pedals. After a classical music education and studying jazz, she found her calling in experimental electronic composition, and 'delved into vocal sampling-based methods, incorporating the human voice into an electronic musical environment'.
The two found each other due to their shared musical interest and decided to work together. Dorin recorded her vocal tracks and sent them to Engmann. The 'songs' emerged in the usual exchange process, but were then rehearsed and finalized in Karina's studio. Which obviously went well, as can be heard on this album, but also because they were able to perform this work live. This will probably not the last time they work together.
Never Sleep Again by RNGMNN & Karina Dorin
SOVA STROJ - TRAVELLING WAVES IIThere is a reason why the pipe organ (or church organ) has become a popular instrument for drone recordings in recent years. The incredible dynamics of the sound, for instance: from subtle sounds to thunderstorms and everything in between. But also because of its specific characteristics: the instrument seems to 'breathe' like a living being: the pump's breathing, the pipes' sighing, and its mechanical noises.
Travelling Waves II focuses on these distinct characteristics. It is recorded on the pipe organ in a former synagogue, which is part of the Dutch Willem Twee Studios (the same studio where Sova Stroj also recorded Travelling Waves I, which focused on the sound of the ARP 2500 synthesizer).
Sova Stroj is Luxembourg-based Michel Flammant. He approaches the organ like a wounded beast: 'a beast that reacts to touch, groaning, snarling and changing position with snapping joints, scarred but very much alive. Instead of making the beast sing, I want to listen to what it had to say when I let it speak for itself.'
And doing so, he unleashes the full power of the organ.
Some of these (four) tracks have a hint of a melody (like I.II), but at other times it simply focuses on the sonic characteristics of the organ. The first half of II.I, which - when played at an appropriate level - may vibrate anything in your house not properly attached.
Travelling Waves II is released on Élan Vital Recordings. The physical edition (CD) is limited to 20 copies.
Travelling Waves II by Sova Stroj
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
MORITZ VON OSWALD - SILENCIOMoritz von Oswald is a tough artist to pinpoint, and that is usually a good sign. Influential techno producer, Palais Schaumburg percussionist. Co-founder of the legendary dub-techno duo Basic Channel as well as (one of my all-time favorite reggae acts) Rhythm & Sound, never afraid to enter unexpected experimental territories and cross musical boundaries.
Silencio opens with a long (12:34) electronic track which sounds fairly standard at first, but soon introduces some elements indicating which direction the album will take. In the tracks that follow, the 16-voice choir Vocalconsort Berlin often takes the lead, but is countered by von Oswald's electronics and synthesizer voices. Four tracks (Luminoso, Infinito, Volta and Opaco) appear in two different versions; three others (Silencio, Librarsi and Colpo) only feature their original version.
'What are the differences and similarities between human and artificial sound, between oscillations generated by vocal cords and synthesizer voices, voltage amplified by speakers? [...] The vast dynamism of the human voice adds to the profound weight of electronics while offering up a rhythmic source and sonic noise palette unexplored in von Oswald’s repertoire. [...] The focus is not on using one means to imitate the other, but to sonically discuss the tensions and harmonies between the two worlds and create a dialogue between them.'
This exciting music on Silencio is reminiscing the work of composers like Varèse, Ligeti and Xenakis. This music is meant for an avant-garde-loving audience, for those listeners who are not afraid of trodding unexpected new paths.
SMALL THINGS ON SUNDAYS - GUIDEWhen listening to a lot of ambient music releases, there will come a time when a lot of music starts to sound the same. Or same-ish. After all, like any other genre, it has its own cycle of innovation (when creative artists develop new sounds) and consolidation (when other artists start to adopt these sounds).
So it is always nice to hear a sound that is different from what is in fashion at the moment - a sound that feels personal, and unrelated to current fashion trends.
When listening to Small Things On Sundays Guide, I felt that I heard such an original, different, and surprising, sound.
I did not realize that everything on this release (apart from the opener Prozac) was previously released between 2008 and 2017. In fact, this album sounds like it could have been created and released today. This demonstrates that Henrik Bagner and Claus Polsen created their own unique soundworld using turntables, (broken) guitar, radio, tapes, casio keyboard, viola, and whatever else they could use.
This release is like a 'young person's guide to Small Things On Sundays' - and it is a perfect introduction to their work.
Guide by Small Things on Sundays
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
BERSARIN QUARTETT - SYSTEMEThe fifth full release of Bersarin Quartett sees the light of day four years after 2019's Methoden Und Maschinen. This imaginary quartet still is no more (and no less) than one person: Thomas Bücker from Münster, Germany.
The music on Systeme still presents the widescreen cinematic arrangements we've come to expect from Bersarin Quartett. But Systeme is not simply repeating a successful formula. There are deeper layers here, a hard-to-define dimension below the surface that makes this album 'exciting without freezing in escapism'.
'Microtonal shifts, polyrhythmic structures, tempo fluctuations and sound aesthetics torn out of context create a fragile, unpredictable foundation' - but at the same time, the music feels natural and accessible. No shallow melancholy here on what may prove to be the best Bersarin Quartett release until now.
ERALDO BERNOCCHI / HOSHIKO YAMANE - SABIAlso on the Denovali label (like the Bersarin Quartett release above), is this second collaboration of Italian composer Eraldo Bernocchi and violinist (and Tangerine Dream member) Hoshiko Yamane. It is the follow-up to 2020's Mujo.
'"Sabi" is a Japanese aesthetic that celebrates the beauty of impermanence and decay. It is often associated with the simplicity, austerity, and solitude found in nature, and is said to evoke a sense of melancholy, nostalgia, and reverence for the passage of time.'
The reference to 'impermanence and decay' applies to the musical themes, not to a lo-fi production technique - on the contrary even. Bernocchi's electronic soundscapes perfectly match Yamane's acoustic violin parts. The music is 'sometimes melancholic, evoking a sense of solitude and simplicity, at other times more energetic and uplifting, celebrating the beauty of transience'.
Sabi by Eraldo Bernocchi & Hoshiko Yamane
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
COMES / VELDMAN - MANIFEST EXODUSManifest Exodus is the second collaboration of Martijn Comes and Hessel Veldman (their first was Epox in 2020). The two artists share their interest in 'timbral' electro-acoustic music, both not afraid to explore the abrasive side of music but also looking for harmony within the noise.
And that is the fascinating sonic contradiction: while there is quite some noise within these sounds (as can be heard immediately in the opener Firstborn), there is also something resigned about it - as if one can come at peace with the turmoil. As the album progresses, the sound gets somewhat quieter without ever getting 'slick'.
Comes and Veldman describe the process of creating this album as 'a musical exploration and a search for peace, balance and above all freedom. Reaching out to a distant world, a place to come to terms with ourselves'. Which, as reflected in their sound, is not a simple quest in these perilous times.
According to the liner notes, they even consulted a reverend for this album, 'because of the emotional and poetic weight of the pieces'. Curiously, the advice of this reverend remains undisclosed. We can only wonder - maybe he was the one who advised on the track titles...
"Throughout the chapters of this album layers of sound and distant voices arise and seem to float on the surface before they disappear again. Swaying on the gentle waves, running ashore, we find ourselves in unknown places."
This may be true for the creators as well as for the listeners.
Manifest Exodus is released as a vinyl album and a digital download. There is no CD version. Please note that the Bandcamp page of the label (Dead Mind Records) only mentions the digital release. For the LP version, visit the labels shop site or directly order it from Martijn Comes's Bandcamp page.
Manifest Exodus by Comes • Veldman
ANNIE ARIES - IT'S NOT QUIET IN THE VOIDAnnie Aries is the alias of Swiss-Philippine artist Annie Rüfenacht. As far as I can see she has no previous releases (apart from two titles as the Aries Zaes duo), but has quite an impressive experience in the field of audio-visual installations. Studied historical musicology, holds an M.A. in Music & Media arts, faculty member of the Sound Arts department at Bern University of Arts....
Using a custom-made modular synth she 'aims at a minimal, reduced yet complex textural sound world', focusing on 'how her instrument fosters the interplay between generative musical approaches and improvised live performance'.
Perhaps just let the title of this album guide you into this fascinating void - a void filled with sound indeed.
'Things appear distant, suddenly in front, only to settle far off. The small becomes immense and the immense becomes small'.
It’s Not Quiet In The Void by Annie Aries
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
"Mirrored Solitude"
- 00:00 DreamScenes - Intro (Susanna)
- 00:32 Francesco Bosa - Postludio Sulle Litanie
Ricercare II, 2023, Cantet Music - 03:38 Gydja - Leiptr
Þjóðáar Fnæstu Eitri, 2023, Winter-Light - 09:04 Moritz von Oswald - Librarsi (Original Mix)
Silencio, 2023, Tresor - 11:38 Bruno Sanfilippo & Jorge Haro - Collab 3
Collab 3 [single], 2023, self-released - 15:32 Rinneradio - One Earth
Balladium, 2023, Rockadillo Records - 19:23 Bersarin Quartett - Gespenster
Systeme, 2024, Denovali - 21:43 Eleh - Kicktile (edit)
Kicktile, 2023, self-released - 24:44 Guentner / Spieth - Overlay Variation 1
Overlay Variations EP, 2024, Affin (tba) - 31:00 Yann Novak - Poisoned Silver Sky
Homework, Year 8, 2023, Taâlem - 34:58 Gregory Paul Mineeff - Reset Anchor
Sleeplaboratory4.0, 2024, Whitelabrecs - 39:49 Kalia Vandever - Mirrored Solitude
We Fell In Turn, 2023, AKP Records - 42:48 Eaton / Fullen - The Drive Out Of Mongolia
She Saw The Ocean, 2023, self-released - 46:41 Skrika - Solitude Chamber
Vyeltyra Vortex, 2023, Cryo Chamber - 55:32 Dean Hurley, DJ Muggs - Drone Interrogation
Divinity OST, 2023, Sacred Bones Records - 59:00 DreamScenes - Outro (Dean Hurley)
Play this edition on-demand from the Concertzender website
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[audio src="https://www.ambientblog.net/mix/dreamscenes-111.mp3"/]
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--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
SIMON WHETHAM - ORGANIC VOLATILISATION NEAR IMPERCEIVABLEI think I can safely assume that you have no idea what the process of fermentation sounds like. Well, look no further: here's the answer!
Simon Whetham was invited to explore the subject in 2022, and explored and recorded 'the sounds of various fermentations including red and white cabbage, green beans, ginger, courgette (a huge one donated to the project by the neighbouring florist), (non-lactose) kefir and mead.'
https://player.vimeo.com/video/772622964?h=cef15ddd99The results were presented in a Swiss installation, but now also as a release on the label experienced in the most fascinating field recordings: Gruenrekorder, who released it on cassette. Which is now sold out but personally I would recommend the digital download anyway due to the intricate details of the sound recordings.
Listening to the detailed high-pitched pinches, sometimes near imperceivable indeed, reminded me of some of the work of Jacob Kirkegaard - especially the sounds of decomposing in his Opus Putesco part of Opus Mors. But Kirkegaard documents the sound of decay, while Whetham focuses on the process in which microorganisms create a desirable change to food or drinks.
It may not be 'music' (in the traditional sense), but it's beautiful.
Organic Volatilisation Near Imperceivable by simon whetham
EMMANUEL RÉGIS - TSSAÄNÈNEI have a somewhat difficult relationship with field recordings. When used in a pure documentary way, and when properly recorded, I can definitely enjoy them. Especially when played in the background, the sound of the outside world can be comfortably masked by the sound of another.
But it's different when I listen actively. Then, I need a more 'musical' approach: a composition created with the recorded sounds. Something that triggers my fantasy with tension/release dynamics, or with unusual combinations, impossible in real life, suggesting a completely different world.
Tssaänène is a fascinating example of the latter. Emmanuel Régis (from Lyon, France) uses 'sounds collected on Earth', adding synths and software effects where required to create his 'hand-sewn atmospheres'. And those atmospheres (I typed 'artmospheres' accidentally!) are vaguely familiar, but at the same time they seem to come from 'a science-fiction universe that suggests vast, titanic open spaces'. Like it could have been a modern-day score for Solaris...
'Through sounds with earthly connotations, you no longer know where you really are in space and time'.
Emmanuel Régis is part of the Explocréateurs collective ('We travel into a sci-fi imaginary world!') and has experience in creating soundscapes for their exhibitions and publications. He used that experience to create his first solo album Tssaänène, because he wanted to do a more personal project.
Régis recommends headphone listening for the maximum immersive experience.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
FROM OVERSEAS & ZAKÈ - DEMAIN, DÈS L'AUBEAnother impressive release on the Past Inside The Present (PITP) label: this time it's a collaboration of Zakè (Zach Frisell) and From Overseas (Kévin Séry).
'Creating an abundance of short vignettes, the duo took their favorite sounds and created foundational loops for these solemn arrangements. They expanded on these short loops with intentional reshaping and expansion of the initial sounds by introducing and converging various guitar parts, tape processing, and synthesizer work.'
The (eight) tracks have varying lengths, somewhere between 5 and 21 minutes, but all of them feel as if time doesn't exist, 'exemplifying patience while displaying meticulous attention to the finer details.'
Demain, Dès L'Aube translates as Tomorrow, At Dawn - and the music on this album makes one curious about what possibly awaits us at that particular moment. One thing is certain: it will be very peaceful. A moment to look forward to.
Demain, dès l’aube by From Overseas & zakè
AMONGST MYSELVES - AN ABANDONED DAYAmongst Myselves is the project of Australian artist Steve Roberts, who began making music after hearing the early electronics from artists like Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, Vangelis, and the like. But this does not mean he tries to copy their music: over the years he developed his own - immersive - style.
His first albums were released between 2001 and 2014. After a break, The Good Earth was released in 2020.
And now there's An Abandoned Day, the ninth release. On this album, Roberts 'explores endings. From changes in climates to the end of life'. Tracks deal with issues like the changing seasons, the overuse of agricultural chemicals, pollution, melting oceans, the universe, and, ultimately, the end of humanity. No less.
But this does not mean the music is dark and pessimistic. At least, not necessarily - it'll probably depend on the mood of the listener itself. According to Steve Roberts, 'the compositions are more melodic in structure, taking a step away from drone to some degree but retaining the atmospheric characteristics he is known for'.
Apart from using synths, guitars, and field recodings, he also includes some interesting hand-made electronics to 'continue his quest to create compelling landscapes based on observations of the world and universe around him'.
An Abandoned Day by Amongst Myselves
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
BILL SEAMAN, TIM DIAGRAM, STEPHEN SPERA - THE WORLD WAS TURNING BEFOREReleased at the same time in the Laaps series, and so also meant to celebrate Autumn (but equally enjoyable in Winter or any other season), is this collaboration of Bill Seaman, Tim Diagram (aka Maps and Diagrams), and Stephen Spera. Seaman and Spera worked together earlier on Architectures of Light, which was released on Diagram's Handstitched label in 2022.
The World Was Turning Before 'focuses on a balance of sound-making and collecting processes explored individually as well as between the three' - which means a lot is happening in the detailed layers of sounds: 'images dissolve one into the other forming textures and shifting visions, as well as lovely minimal tonal gestures. This collaged tapestry forms from slightly different sources in each work, giving the album a rich diversity of sound perspectives, yet forms a strong cohesive whole.'
After creating these (11) compositions, they 'no longer knew who played what...'. The trio obviously enjoyed their adventurous musical trip: I guess this will not be the last time they work together.
The World Was Turning Before by Bill Seaman / Tim Diagram / Stephen Spera
IU TAKAHASHI - SENSE / MARGINAlthough it was released a week before Winter started, this 32nd release in the ongoing Laaps series is dedicated to Autumn. Indeed it has a nice autumnal atmosphere, which can immediately be felt in the opening track Awake / Lakeside.
Iu Takahashi is a sound artist living in Yokohama. Sense / Margin is her sixth release. Her music (or world views as she calls it) is often used in exhibitions and in videos. Apart from the found sounds, field recordings, and synthesizers, her voice plays an important role in her soundscapes.
Her music is based on the Japanese ambient music tradition, inspired by artists like Hiroshi Yoshimura and Satoshi Ashikawa. But Sense / Margin clearly demonstrates that she has developed her own distinct sound - always keeping in mind 'to deliver music that is considerate of the listener's thoughts and feelings .... Music that is conscious of the unconscious mind'.
If 'Zen' was a sound it would probably sound like this.
Sense / Margin by iu takahashi
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
ZANE TROW - QUIRE Zane Trow has been professionally involved in the contemporary live and sound arts since the mid-70s. Most of his work was created for various performances, film, visual arts, and 'large scale sound installations/performance projects' with people like David Toop, Richard Barrett, and Scanner.
His extensive experience is only partly reflected in his discography, however: his 2004 debut For Those Who Hear Actual Voices was the only physical (CD-)release, the six other titles (such as Why Echoes, 2021, and Envoûteuse Haleine, 2023) were download-only releases. And so is his new release, also on Room40: Quire.**
I had to look the meaning of that title, and found that it can refer to 'a pamphlet of four pages folded to make eight leaves (16 pages): the ordinary unit of construction for early manuscripts and books', but also to 'choir'. Not sure what the connection really is, but the fact that Quire has eight tracks will probably be no coincidence.
With the help of Stephen Spencer on saxophone and treatments, Zane Trow presents an attractive and varied atmospheric collection of works that he introduces with these words:
'The simplest of these works have taken the most cajoling towards their intended form … dust in the breeze of a sonic moment … others are a textual gesture toward peculiar notions of sound as memory and evocation'.
WILL GARDNER - REMAINSThere's a very sad background story behind this debut album of Will Gardner: it is based on his experience of caring for his father through the final stages of his Parkinson's Dementia.
"It is both an aural imagining of his dementia experience (its delusions, paranoias, and memory slippages), whilst also being a personal story about grieving for a parent, and what it means to grieve for someone who is still alive."
Gardner used fragments of his father's diaries as an inspirational source, to derive the rhythms and melodies for this album. After removing the text, 'the 'textual' meaning became lost, but an imprint of it remained, in traces, within the music.'
Remains is a touching album, but not as dark and confronting as The Caretaker's Everywhere At The End Of Time series which dealt with the same team. In alternating between Will's own perspective and the imagined perspective of his father:
“Whilst trying to capture this dark and incoherent internal world that my Dad was experiencing, I noticed that I kept returning, somewhat counter-intuitively, to quite delicate, soft sounds. I realized that these sounds were like seeing my own reflection emerge within the work - my own sense of concern for what he was going through and my own grief for what was being lost day by day."
Remains is Gardner's debut album, taking his experience as orchestrator and arranger (for Alt-J, for example) to a new and different level. The album is released in 'bone white' vinyl on the Castles In Space label.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
[audio src="https://www.ambientblog.net/mix/WinterSolstice5.mp3" controls /]
It has become some kind of tradition: on the Winter Solstice night (December 21-22 in the Northern hemisphere), the Dutch radio station Concertzender Nederland presents the fifth all-night 8-hour ambient night from 23:00 until 07:00 (CET). Four radio hosts create a 2-hour set each - I am honored to contribute the final part.
For those who can't stay awake all night: the full 8 hours will stay available for on-demand streaming afterward!
Thís page here on Ambientblog presents my contribution to this night, a mix that you can enjoy and/or download if you wish. Additionally, I have also made a surround version which you can find on the Surround page.
(And if you want to check out the previous 4 contributions: be my guest!)
For this fifth Winter Solstice mix, I chose fragments (most of them heavily edited) that are all more or less in the same key. In the first hour all tracks are in B-minor, in the second hour the tracks are in F-minor (first half) and A-minor (closing half). These chords define the overall atmosphere: from 'solitary, melancholic' to 'obscure, funereal', and finally 'tender, soothing'.
At least, that's what the theory says. In the end, it's the listener that associates his emotions with the soundscapes. But one thing is clear: these two hours definitely fit the darkest and longest of nights.
TRACKLIST:
Start time Sample length Artist – Title
Album Title, Year, Label
- 00:00 2:25 Svartsinn - Traces Of Nothingness (Kammarheit Mix)
Elegies For The End, 2009, Cyclic Law - 01:12 5:42 Max Richter - Movement Study
Voices 2, 2021, Decca - 07:41 3:15 Keosz - Trust No One
Neven OST, 2023, Cryo Chamber - 08:28 2:35 Illuminine - Dualismus 3
3, 2018, Ferryhouse Productions - 10:38 2:14 David Cordero - All Your Silences
Among Pale Trees, 2023, Lontano Series - 12:21 2:29 The Broken Cradle - The Oracle
Gilead, 2021, self-released - 14:29 1:16 Cliff Martinez - See You In Four
Drive (OST), 2011, Invada - 14:59 2:35 Sleepingdog - Kitten Plays The Harmony Rocket
With Our Heads In The Clouds & Our Hearts In The Fields, 2011, Zealrecords - 17:17 2:19 Dean Hurley - Eastern European Symphonic Mood No. 1
Anthology Resource Vol. 1, 2017, Sacred Bones Records - 18:36 2:43 Underwater Sleep Orchestra - Abandon
Insomnolence, 2023, Cryo Chamber - 20:49 5:39 Ian Hawgood, Stijn Hüwels, James Murray - Day Falls
Day Falls, 2021, Home Normal - 24:45 2:23 A Winged Victory For The Sullen - A Minor Fifth Is Made Of Phantoms
The Undivided Five, 2019, Ninja Tune - 26:25 3:42 Oren Ambarchi - The Strouhal Number
Intermission 2000-2008, 2009, Touch - 29:25 1:54 Elisa Luu - Piano
Underwater Noises, 2010, Ephre Imprint - 30:36 3:17 Michel Banabila - Des Traces Retrouvées 2 - II
Trespassing/Marilli, 2017, Séance Centre - 33:24 3:30 Michel Redolfi - Nocturnal
Sonic Waters, Underwater Music 1979-1987, 2021, Sub Rosa - 36:16 4:21 Loscil - City Hospital
City Hospital,2012, Wist Rec - 39:18 2:43 Kate Carr - Shy, Typically Alone Or In pairs
A Field Guide To Phantasmic Birds, 2023, Room40 - 40:46 3:41 Galya Bisengalieva - Moynaq
Aralkum, 2020, One Little Independent Records - 44:08 1:40 Freya Arde - Shimmer
String Layers II, 2022, 7K! - 45:26 1:15 Hammock - Elsewhere
Elsewhere, 2021, Hammock Music - 46:28 2:18 Benedicte Maurseth - Snø Over Sysendalen
Hárr, 2022, Hubro - 48:32 3:27 Erik Wøllo - Echotides No. 2
Echotides, 2015, Projekt - 51:32 1:51 Marielle V Jakobsons - Shale Hollows
Glass Canyon, 2012, Students Of Decay - 52:22 2:08 Mahsa Vahdat, Kronos Quartet, Marjan Vahdat - My Tresses In the Wind
Placeless, 2019, Kirkelig Kulturverksted - 54:08 3:00 Michaelsberg - Refugio #8
Refugio, 2020, self-released - 55:33 4:17 James Murray - Found
Eiléan 100, 2019, Eiléan Records - 59:16 4:28 Aleksi Myllykoski ft. Tapani Rinne - Signature Dark
Silent Chaos, 2023, Signature Dark - 62:47 2:40 A-Sun Amissa - Plucking Feathers From A Swan Song
Black Rain, 2020, Gizeh Records - 65:07 3:00 Arve Henriksen - Le Cimetière Marin
Places Of Worship, 2013, Rune Grammofon - 67:55 2:55 Selaxon Lutberg - Untitled
Simboli Accidentali, 2013, Denovali - 70:08 2:30 Ruairi O'Baoighill - Veil
The Faceless One, 2014, Cursed Monk Records - 71:40 3:33 S.E.T.I. - Primordial Bonds
Sleep Environments For Interplanetary Travel, 2018, Power & Steel - 74:03 4:59 Yui Onodera - Ray 11 ft. Robert Lippok
Ray, 2020, Serein - 78:34 3:24 Kyle Bobby Dunn - Empty Gazing
A Young Person's Guide To …, 2010, Low Point - 81:18 5.23 Clarice Jensen - Love
Esthesis, 2022, 130701 - 84:15 4:59 BJ Nilsen - Alpe Djouan
Massif Trophies, 2017, Editions Mego - 86:44 5:21 Jan M. Iversen - Harmegas
Standalones, 2010, TIBprod - 90:23 4:17 LLyn Y Cwyn - Doppler Current Profiler
Sargo/Posidonia, 2023, Cold Spring - 93:33 3:02 Jari Pitkänen - Nemesia
Numiana, 2010, Enough Records - 95:30 4:01 Underwater Sleep Orchestra - Counting Poisoned Sheep
Insomnolence, 2023, Cryo Chamber - 97:45 4:01 Sarah Davachi - Composition Of Flowers (Excerpt)
Selected Works II, 2023, Late Music - 99:59 2:32 Christina Giannone - Zone 1
Zone 7, 2022, Room40 - 102:06 2:17 Paweł Kuczyński - Anticipatry Grief
Biosignatures, 2023, Pointless Geometry - 102:58 3:42 Antonymes - Coming Into Silence
The Gramophone Suite, 2023, Les Disques de L'Accalmie - 106:01 5:15 Savaran - The Forest
Resonances, 2011, Feedback Loop Label - 109:26 3:27 Machinefabriek - Stillness #6 (Lemaire Channel, Antarctica)
Stillness Soundtracks II, 2019, Glacial Movements Records - 112:38 2:49 A Winged Victory For The Sullen - The Divided City
Invisible Cities, 2021, Artificial Pine Arch Manufacturing - 115:23 4:32 Aret Madilian - Sirius
The Abbey Project, 2022, self-released
Download Winter Solstice 5 now 274Mb (120 min.)Alternative download from Archive.org (check here for lossless downloads)][Surround-version (DTS.wav/WMA 5.1) here]
OR: Listen on Mixcloud, Spotify or iTunes:
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
THE INWARD CIRCLES - BEFORE WE LIE DOWN IN DARKNESSEThe Inward Circles is one of the aliases of Richard Skelton. On his sixth album as The Inward Circles he 'continues his preoccupation with decay and transformation'. One look at the album title is enough that this will not be an album of hedonistic happiness. The track titles confirm this: for example the last two pieces are called The Glory Of The World Is Surely Over and To End Their Days In Fire. These titles, by the way, are all taken from Thomas Browne's Urn Burial (1658)
This album came to life when Skelton found an fifty-year-old vinyl album with Baroque recorder music in a charity shop. There's no sound of any recorder on it, however: he only used the last six seconds of the runout groove to create these compositions. The result is less minimalistic than this may sound: the sounds of the runout groove are heavily manipulated into layered chords that form these compositions.
Overall, the atmosphere is sad, as expected, but not hopeless: 'the music of 'Before We Lie Down in Darknesse' glimmers all the more brightly because it is recuperated from a source that is on the point of disappearing. Even as Skelton acknowledges—via the words of Thomas Browne—our seemingly inevitable descent into impending darkness, he cannot help but offer a small gesture of hope; a belief in the possibility of change and renewal'.
Before We Lie Down in Darknesse by The Inward Circles
BRAD E. ROSE - I'M SCARED OF DYING An album title as a direct personal statement full of existential dread... What can we expect it to sound like? I guess that depends on what mood the listener is in at the time of listening. I didn't feel it sounded very dark, or scared, even though the hazy soundscapes do sound like they're built from insecurities at times.
And also like the sound of insomnia: according to Brad E. Rose, the music began as a series of vignettes he made late at night while he could not sleep. They grew into a six-part 35-minute piece that plays uninterrupted.
'If I wake up in the middle of the night and don’t get back to sleep immediately, my mind flips on and just starts going. Those small pieces were a way I tried to quiet the barrage, with soft, resonant explorations; the
sounds of water and shaded drones. It mostly didn’t work.'
Often, when he did so, his daughter came out in the middle of the night to see what he was doing. Which made him think about what it would be for her if he wasn't around anymore. 'I'm terrified of not being with them' - a feeling I guess most parents will recognize. And that's where the fear of dying came from.
Again: the music is not as dark and death-obsessed as this may sound. It's the opposite, actually. It helped Rose to put the pieces together, 'channeling the dark and amorphous horizon into a focused beam of light'. It worked for him: 'lately, I am feeling better about being afraid'.
I'm Scared Of Dying is released on Room40 and is only available as a digital download.
I’m Scared of Dying by Brad E. Rose
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
HENRIK MEIERKORD - ZEITREISENSweden's Henrik Meierkord's main instrument is the cello, which defines most of the atmospheres of his music. But he also masters the viola, double bass, guitar, other instruments, and is no stranger to incorporating electronics either. His knowledge enables him to create a well-balanced combination of neo-classical music and atmospheric ambient, drawing 'as much from ambient music's meditative qualities as they do from humanity's rich history of classical styles'.
Meierkord has released 9 solo albums until now (Kval from 2021 being the latest), but he also frequently appears on compilation albums and in many collaboration projects (such as A Black Tape For A Blue Girl and Aarktica).
Four of the 10 tracks are 'Cello Ambient Improvisations', and the others have titles like Mitthavet (Mediterranean Sea), Våren Står På Lut (Spring Is In The Air), Doppelgänger, Sarabande, and Danza. Ranging from solo cello to (almost) entirely electronic, Zeitreisen is a perfect album to demonstrate what Meierkord is capable of.
'Understated and graceful, the beautiful and mysterious string-fused soundscapes find emotional stimuli and tension within a melancholic soul'.
(Zeitreisen is offered as a name-your-price download)
Zeitreisen by Henrik Meierkord
HARRY TOWELL - INFINITE LIGHTHarry Towell is not only the label owner of the prolific Whitelabrecs label, he also releases music as Spheruleus. Infinite Light, the label's 150th release (!), is released under his own name. And rightly so: it is a highly personal (double) album, documenting the first year he and his family spent inside the home they moved in a year ago.
Each of the 28 tracks is explained in detail in the included 32-page booklet, describing the home-related experiences with words and images.
'I was given a 2023 diary for Christmas and so took note of all the home improvements we did, the decorating, the projects, the challenges, as well as noting days out and other events. I captured field recordings regularly and took several photos, as I tried to build a time capsule of memories.'
There were many challenges, but Harry is an optimistic man, obviously: 'whilst life is always full of challenges (of which there were many over the course of this year), my rose-tinted view of the world sees only infinite light for our future here as a family'.
Infinite Light presents acoustic modern classical music, with an atmosphere directly linked to the atmosphere of the Lincolnshire surroundings. Acoustic and Stratocaster guitar, ukelele, harmonica, mandola, violin, hang drum, cymbal, zither, kalimba, recorder, piano, and - of course - various field recordings. Hardly any electronica is involved apart from some sparse plugins.
This music is as organic and natural as can be - almost as if you're living there with them in the same house.
infinite light by harry towell
GLACIS - INTERPRETATIONSScottish composer Euan Millar-McMeeken, better known as Glacis, often collaborated with other artists in the past. This led to the idea to invite artists 'to adapt, distort, and deconstruct a collection of his original compositions', thus creating a completely new album.
There's a simple reason this album is called Interpretations: all (11) tracks are, ehh, interpretations. I'm not sure what the exact difference is between a 'remix' and an 'interpretation', but Euan explains 'he’s never really liked the term ‘remix’ as it simplifies the process of working with original material'. So, 'interpretations are not simply remixes' - they are 'careful sonic studies of the original work that respond and react in different ways. Some of the pieces contain moments of the original pieces, some are unrecognisable, all are fascinating examinations.' If you feel the need, you could compare the interpretations with the originals on his earlier albums Death And Piano, Ten, Memory Pool, Transcend, and Wake.
The list of interpreters includes many familiar names: like C. Diab, The Humble Bee, Claire Deak, The Green Kingdom, Adrian Lane, Simon McCorry, Tape Loop Orchestra, and Glåsbird. With so many different artists involved, each putting their distinct personal mark on the music, it is remarkable that the album has a consistent atmosphere: quiet, introverted, and somewhat melancholic. I guess shows that the common denominator of this album is the music of Glacis himself.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
“Lay Your Ear To The Rail… (once more)”
Tracklist:
- 00:00 DreamScenes - Intro (Susanna)
- 00:45 Aret Madilian - Arcturus
The Abbey Project, 2022, self-released - 04:42 L. Petitgand, Scanner, Geins't Naït - Idiot Scan LP1
Et Il Y Avait, 2023, Ici d'Ailleurs - 09:47 Roedelius & Arnold Kasar - Lifeline
Zensibility, 2023, 7K! - 15:18 The Green Kingdom - Gathering Clouds
Ether Hymns, 2023, Dronarivm - 18:16 Melanie De Biasio - Chiesa
Il Viaggio, 2023, PIAS Le Label - 24:20 Galán / Vogt - Panacea III (Akira Rabelais Remix) (edit)
All The Time In The World, 2023, self-released - 29:38 Henrik Meierkord - Doppelgänger I
Zeitreisen, 2023, Projekt - 32:27 Choeur Tac-Til - Object VII (fragment)
Blind Ecosystem, 2023, UNrec - 34:52 Hilary Woods - Burial Rites
Acts Of Light, 2023, Sacred Bones Records - 37:36 Andrea Burelli - Ali Di Cotone
Sonic Mystics For Poems (Of Life And Death Of A Phoenix), 2023, self-released - 38:52 Rakhi Singh - Julia Wolfe: Lad (edit)
Purnima, 2023, Cantaloupe Music - 42:24 Antonymes - Remember Me
The Gramophone Suite, 2023, Les Disques de L'Accalmie - 44:47 CV & JAB (Christina Vantzou & John Also Bennett) - El Muelle (fragment)
Κλίμα (Klima), 2023, Editions Basilic - 45:36 Iu Takahashi - Awake Lakeside
Sense Margin, 2023, Laaps - 50:17 Brian Eno - Floating On Sleep's Shore
Top Boy OST, 2023, Opal Records - 54:53 Aret Madilian - Procyon
The Abbey Project, 2022, self-released - 59:00 DreamScenes - Outro (Dean Hurley)
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--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
SORIAH with HANS JOACHIM ROEDELIUS / NORMAN WESTBERG - LUMINAEven though he has released music since 2006, and some of the albums on the Projekt label, I had not heard anything from Soriah before. Obviously, a collaboration with experimental legends like Hans-Joachim Roedelius (Cluster) and Norman Westberg (Swans) is a good way to get into the spotlight!
Soriah is the 'stage persona' for Enrique Ugalde, born in California but now based in Oregon as well as in the Tuvan Republic (Russia). He practices the traditional Khöömei (Tuvan throat singing), but blends it with 'his own visceral voice', and with playing the igil (a two-stringed instrument of the Tuvan steppes).
On the two 12-minute tracks on Lumina, his throat singing blends beautifully with the pipe organ played by Roedelius (on Alba Via, which means White Road) and with Westberg's drone guitar (on Mirrored in Amber).
Some of the music sounds rather dark, and (to my ears) throat-singing is always somewhat haunting, but still 'this work intends on bringing peace to lost souls of those who have recently passed. Not to bring the dead back into the corporeal, but to help them achieve their proper plane of existence through a series of humming pathways. A sonic cleansing of the soul.'
Lumina is available on a clear white vinyl 10", and also as a digital download (offered at a tempting low price).
(note: the Bandcamp page and the label pages offer no previews, so I created a short edit with a fragment from both tracks)
SORIAH with ROEDELIUS/WESTBERG - LUMINA (edit)
ROEDELIUS & ARNOLD KASAR - ZENSIBILITYZensibility, the second collaboration album of Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Arnold Kasar, has a completely different atmosphere. The music here is more light-hearted, sunny, and full of life.
The eight tracks are 'call-and-response pieces', with Roedelius playing the grand piano and Kasar (who is a pianist himself, too) contributing the electronic elements.
Collaborative 'call-and-response' composing is not new, of course, especially since the COVID crisis years (these pieces were created just before the first lockdown in 2020, by the way). But Roedelius and Kasar did not work apart from each other, but together in the studio carefully listening to each other. The pieces were created over a period of three days in 30 short studio sessions, where the duo would dedicate itself to one track per session.
'Often it would be Hans-Joachim Roedelius who would begin, or, “speak” with his aphoristic piano miniatures, to which Arnold Kasar would then “respond” with utmost reduced, minimalistic counter melodies made from sensitively balanced, electronic soundscapes. Only through the interplay the work is completed in its entirety.'
The music feels like spontaneous creations, almost live - and, in a way, it is: 'the only intervention was that almost all tracks in the "original" were much longer than the versions that can be heard on Zensibility: in most cases, a few minutes were cut away at the beginning and the end. [...] The only guideline there has been for this album was a series of terms that Joachim wrote down on a piece of paper: warmth, rest, relaxation,
well-being, love, proximity, affection, compassion, happiness, understanding, and mindfulness.'
Zensibility by Roedelius & Arnold Kasar
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
Based on the poll below, and on the discussion about it (here and on Facebook), I have decided to stop adding Spotify links to the recommendations. And consequently also to delete the Ambienblog playlist there. (The ambientblog mix podcast will remain available).
As you can see below, a small majority of only 58% voted NO (at the time of writing). 34% Would like to keep the links, 9% doesn't care.
Since I do not intend to also include links to other platforms (Deezer, Tidal, Apple, etc), I feel it's best to stop adding Spotify links and only refer to Bandcamp (or directly to the label or artist site if there's no Bandcamp). After all, those that dó use Spotify (or other services) will be smart enough to look up the album there, if they want to. It only takes a few extra clicks after all.
As a side thought: this discussion also made me think about what I would do if I were a musician (which I am not!). I would definitely NOT take the music off of this platform, but simply would not expect any money from it. After all, there ís a (small) chance for new listeners to discover the music - especially when a track is added to one of their curated (and also cursed, in my opinion, but that's another discussion) playlists.
Those who want to buy will ultimately find a way to support the artist (and those who don't won't). There's no use in fighting streaming: it is here to stay. And with a niche like this, I guess Spotify won't be really impressed if you remove your music.
Whatever speculations there may be about Bandcamp's future, it still is the place to go for independent artists.
Original Post:Until now, I always add a Spotify link to the recommendation (if available).
But currently, there's a lot of discussion about Spotify's decision NOT to pay any royalties anymore for tracks that have less than 1000 plays. This means that many 'indie' musicians of the more obscure genres will not receive any payouts at all anymore (even the ones that previously earned some of the 0,003 cents per stream in the past).
I assume that this affects almost all of the artists recommended here on Ambientblog.net. The cumulated payouts of the streams will go to major artists. So, even if you continuously stream your favorite underground artist, the money will go to artists like Taylor Swift and the like. To those who don't need more than they already have - unlike the artists who are passionate enough to make music but cannot ever live off of it.
A ridiculous decision. It should be the opposite: stimulate beginning and experimental artists to innovate further by paying them a fair amount, and pay a bit less to those that already can swim in their $$$.
On the other hand... Spotify can still be a great way to explore music... to check out if an album appeals to you before you decide you like it enough to buy it or support the artist in any other way. Yes, Bandcamp is great for that, too, but Spotify has some extras to find new music you probably like, such as the weekly Discover Weekly and Release Radar playlists.
(Yes, I know there are other streaming platforms like Tidal, Deezer etc. But I have no subscription to those services and cannot afford to join all of them even if I wanted. I simply chose Spotify in the past because they have the largest user base by far).
So here's the dilemma: should I keep adding the Spotify links to the recommendations? Or should I stop doing so and stop promoting the use of Spotify?
I love to hear your opinions about this! You can simply use the poll below or discuss this in more detail in the comments. Let me know your opinion on this matter!
[poll id="6"]
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
ALEKSI MYLLYKOSKI - SILENT CHAOS I guess Aleksi Myllykoski may not be a familiar name outside Finland... yet. He was featured earlier on Ambientblog with a few impressive releases together with Tapani Rinne, such as Dark Days from 2020.
Myllykoski is also the founder of the Signature Dark label (which is also the title of the third track), specializing in presenting music 'that encapsulates the qualities of darkness, melancholy, minimalism, and cinematic essence'. And that is a great description of the music on this album. Dark and brooding ambient, or jazz noir if you prefer. More Silent than Chaos, by the way.
The theme of the album is based on 'the idea of irreversible movement shaping the present moment'.
'Change eventually occurs forcefully as tension escalates beyond limits. Irreversible transformation takes place, inevitably progressing change creates endless, slowly revealing chaos around us and in our daily lives. Only unpredictable change is permanent.'
Reading this one might expect music to represent that chaos, music with complex structures difficult to comprehend. But almost the opposite is true: most of the music is very calm, and slow. But there is also a gradually intensifying tension, inevitable and irreversible.
Silent Chaos is Myllykoski's solo album, but he gets some help from Tapani Rinne playing saxophone on two tracks. The Signature Dark track also features Heikki Lindgren playing the jouhikko, a two- or three-stringed instrument from Finland and Karelia. The album is skillfully mastered by Ian Hawgood.
Currently, Silent Chaos is only available as a digital download, but it will also be available on vinyl later (though it is not yet known when that will be).
Silent Chaos by Aleksi Myllykoski
TOMOSLA - MOOR THOUGHTSI re-started this album a few times because I thought there was something wrong. It starts with a soft, distorted interference-like noise, which stops after a few seconds, followed by a few seconds of silence, after which the interference sound returns but layered with soft notes from an electric piano or synth.
Intended confusion - great!
Tomosla is the duo formed by James Osland and Thomas Hoey. Moor Thoughts is the result of several improvised sessions recorded on the outskirts of Dartmoor National Park in the southwest of England. This of course means that sounds from the moor are also included: the 'interference' slowly merges with the sound of rain.
'Inspired by time passed and futures unfolding', this 40-minute soundscape is a pleasurable listen, creating an atmosphere as depicted on the cover.
Moor Thoughts is released by Shimmering Moods Records as a part of their Slow Tone Collage series. It is still available as a digital download, but the CD version is unfortunately already sold out... as can of course be expected with a limited edition of 40.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
THE GREEN KINGDOM - ETHER HYMNS Michael 'The Green Kingdom' Cottone has released his music on various labels, but Ether Hymns is his fourth album on Dronarivm. Cottone is a musician (and also graphic designer) from Detroit, Michigan, who works under various monikers. As Dustcraft, he presents ambient dub techno, Pineson is for his solo acoustic guitar music - but The Green Kingdom is his most important and best-known alias for his 'minimal ambient music using a variety of digitally manipulated sounds sourced from a variety of acoustic and electronic instruments'.
'Ether' can refer to different things: 'the clear sky; the upper regions of air beyond the clouds', 'air regarded as a medium for radio', (as well as to the chemical substances such as diethyl ether, but this is not the ether Michael Cottone is referring to). He defines his music as 'ephemeral in nature': [the music is] 'brought in to existence from nothingness. They drift into the listener's space, evolve over time, and drift off like clouds on the wind'.
While this is a great description of the music itself, which floats and drifts like breaths of fresh air, it also feels like an understatement: this music will not 'drift off like clouds on the wind'. It will linger with you and you will return to it in the future. Which, after all, is not possible with clouds.
Ether Hymns is physically released in an edition of 100 LPs. The first batch of CDs were quickly sold out, but there's an additional batch of 50 still available.
(A note about shipping: in the past, Dronarivm releases were shipped from Russia, which sometimes resulted in legal problems with the orders. Currently, orders are shipped from Amsterdam so that problem is solved now.)
Ether Hymns by The Green Kingdom
SPACECRAFT - ABOVE THE CLOUDS Like Green Kingdom, Spacecraft (Rishi Bhatia, from Mumbai, India)* also dwells above the clouds*, helping to 'transport listeners to a serene and contemplative realm'.
Above The Clouds differs from Ether Hymns in the use of instruments: Bhatia's immersive sonic landscapes are strictly electronic - there are no (audible) acoustic instruments.
With just over 26 minutes, and each of the 6 tracks under 3-5 minutes, the album is relatively short. It's a short but satisfying drone ambient journey - not into outer space, but just above the clouds. Enough to return to earth refreshed.
Above the Clouds by Spacecraft
SNUFMUMRIKO - HAVSTRAKT Gothenburg-based producer Ingmar Wennerberg, known as the man with the uncomprehensible alias Snufmumriko, presents a double album called Havstrakt ('Marine Area'), inspired by 'the liminal border realm between land and sea.'
The 2CD set features 8 original tracks, 6 of which are remixed in another 8 tracks featured on the second CD. Remixers include Moss Covered Technology, Gallery Six, Purl, Innesti, Warmth (among others) ... which should give you some idea of what kind of music to expect.
Snufmumriko's music is described on Discogs like this: 'sculpting his sound from field recordings and old records, he aims to create sonic environments which both work as background music and reward active listening'. While the latter part is true, the 'solo'-CD feels as if he is using much more than just 'field recordings and old records'.
Snufmumriko's solo tracks are worth listening to in their own right, but apparently Wennerberg is a modest man: he claims that 'the real standouts on the release, however, are the remixes on CD 2'.
Yes, the remixes are great too, certainly - but please don't underestimate your own work!
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
KATE CARR - A FIELD GUIDE TO PHANTASMIC BIRDS 'All the birds Kate Carr never recorded, and some she did. In a field recording she never made'.
Field recordings always raise the same question: is this for documentary purposes, can it be considered music?
If 'music is organized sound' (R. Murray Schaefer), the answer is clear. But for some, even the unaltered, unorganized sound of nature is the most beautiful music in their ears. Kate Carr further challenges this discussion with her new album: field recordings of non-existent birds.
The first track is called Unlikely To Be Heard, and is created primarily with bird horns. The three following tracks are composed (or 'organised') from various dawn chorus field recordings from South Africa, Australia, and the UK.
One might argue that only the birds in the first track are phantasmic because the others really do exist somewhere on the planet. But not in this setting, 're-imagined. Stretched and stuttering, glitching and morphing, swirling and sputtering. Artifact and performance, digital bits all.'
The tracks all have descriptive titles: 'A Loud Hissing Screech Which Drops In Pitch Halfway', 'Usually Concealed In Dense Foliage', and the melancholic closing track 'Shy, Typically Alone Or In Pairs'.
By adding her layered electronics, Kate Carr settles the argument for once and for all: this definitely is 'music'. Music for Phantasmic Landscapes.
A Field Guide To Phantasmic Birds is released on Room40 and mastered by Lawrence English, who is no stranger to challenging field recordings himself.
A Field Guide To Phantasmic Birds by Kate Carr
VARIOUS ARTISTS - SYNTHETIC BIRD MUSIC It is no surprise that we also find Kate Carr on this compilation on the Mappa label from Slovakia. Her track Three Calls is one of the 32 tracks on this 132-minute album filled with exactly what the title promises us.
Most of the artists involved are unknown to me, but there are some familiar names too: JAB (John Also Bennett), Mike Cooper, Andrew Pekler, Felicity Mangan. But that's about it for me, so there's quite a lot of new names to explore.
The compilation "crystallises the borders between memory, beauty, and anxiety and follows a chronological order from dawn to dusk and deep into the night".
While Kate Carr's phantasmic field recordings (see above) sound as if they an environment like that could exist somewhere on this planet, such is clearly not the intention here. These are synthetic birds - metallic, electronic, alienating. And definitely fascinating, even if it is a lot to listen to in one session.
Occasionally, there is also a 'true' musical composition based on birdsounds (for example 'Wind Up Paradise Birds' by Øyvind Torvund, BIT20 Ensemble, Trond Madsen, Jørgen Træen, and Kjetil Møster)
"You could stop there, enjoying this record on a musical level, but it invites us to do one step further, to consider reconfiguring our relationship with the Earth and its inhabitants. To question our impact, and to ask why we need synthetic bird music. Is it just a visionary endeavor or is it because we are failing at fostering a world in which organic birds and other creatures can thrive?"
Synthetic Bird Music is available as a digital download but also as a limited double cassette. Profits from the record will be donated to the SOS/BirdLife Slovakia, an organization protecting the bird biotops by river Ipeľ, in the south of Slovakia.
So that we can enjoy real bird sounds in the future too!
Synthetic Bird Music by Various Artists
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
URUK - THE GREAT CENTRAL SUN Uruk has existed since 2016, and The Great Central Sun is their fourth album - the second for the Ici D'Ailleurs label. It is the duo formed by Timothy Lewis (aka Thighpaulsandra) and Massimo Pupillo.
Lewismay be known for his work with Coil on Musick To Play In The Dark; he also joined Spiritualized* on their US tour. Pupillo is a bass player who collaborated with Dälek and recently with This Immortal Coil, as well as being a long-term member of the Italian jazzcore trio Zu*.
The Great Central Sun presents two long (20+ minute) tracks with overwhelmingly cinematic ambient that - indeed - can be described as 'music to play in the dark'. The first track, Per speculum in aenigmates ('through a mirror, in a riddle'), opens relatively quiet, but the second, Radiating Rainbows, builds up to a tense climax.
Clearly, this is not intended as 'ignorable' background ambient! But it is a rewarding listen for those that pay attention to this 'album oscillating between drone and ambient, in a mysterious and hazy atmosphere, evoking
images of interstellar travel or mental explorations [...] a real sensory journey, immersing the listener in a dense and complex sound universe'.
The Great Central Sun by Mind Travels Series
SIMON KIRBY - AT RAHOY, THE EARLY LIGHT Simon Kirby (from Scotland) is not only a musician but also a professor of language evolution at the University of Edinburgh, where he 'heads a group probing the question of what it is that makes us
human'. As a musician, he asks the same question but from a different perspective.
At Rahoy, The Early Light is his first solo album and presents two (17+ minute) soundscapes. The first is based on a journey through Japan and was recorded live on a modular synth directly after returning. The second piece, From Up Here The Icebergs Look Like Dust, presents a 'backdrop of drones using a mathematically perfect but slightly uncanny just intonation tuning scheme', layered with baritone and trumpet performed by Andrew Ostler. Field recordings (from Japan) and 'recordings of crinkling baking paper pitched down two octaves to create the sound of melting icebergs' complete the mental image of the sonic journey.
At Rahoy, The Early Light is released on Expert Sleepers, a label from the music company to showcase artists using their products. In this case, Kirby uses the Dream Machine mode of the Disting EX Synthesizer module.
At Rahoy, The Early Light by Simon Kirby
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
STEVE ROACH - SANCTUARY OF DESIRE Sometimes, one seems to overlook things that have always been there. And maybe that is somewhat the same for artists. Steve Roach is one of the artists that has been around from almost the beginning of 'ambient' music. Heavily inspired by Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, Vangelis, he began releasing music in 1982. In the past 41 years, he released over 200 albums, thus averaging almost five titles every year (!).
His early inspiration may be rooted in the 70s electronic music scene, but he soon developed a personal style that is immediately recognizable. His musical language is completely independent of all the different currents in contemporary ambient - like a beacon in a rough sea.
It seems Roach can draw his inspiration from an inexhaustible source: Sanctuary Of Desire is a 2CD album with no less than 2.5 hours of music.
In the nine tracks, varying in length from 7:20 to 31:21, he 'explores a realm of suspended tranquility, sustained reflection, and emotional resonance'.
The first CD offers music drifting as if on a calm ocean, surrounding you like a warm blanket, for moments of peace in a world in turmoil. The second CD is more energetic, based on the restless sequencer loop patterns that directly link back to the original 'Berlin School' type of music.
As Roach describes it himself: 'from this moment of repose that Joan Halifax calls 'the fertile darkness', comes the music on the second disc. The internal becomes action'.
Oh... and I forgot to mention that the digital download of this 153-minute album is offered as name-your-price!
Sanctuary of Desire by Steve Roach
CRYPTIC SCENERY - IMAGINARY CITIES IIIIn what may (or may not) be the last in his Imaginary Cities series, Cryptic Scenery (Christian H. Sötemann) takes us to four new imaginary cities.
Like on the previous editions in the series, each track is around 20 minutes long and has a quietly evolving soundscape built around guitar loops and synths. The tracks perfectly match those of the earlier releases, even if there are subtle differences: 'in each volume, different synthesizers were used to some extent, and the track „Eighth Imaginary City“ is the only of the ten tracks for which all parts were recorded on guitar, and without synthesizers'.
80 Quiet, immersive minutes (not counting the previous six tracks of course) available as a free or name your price download ... no reason to hesitate!
Imaginary Cities III by cryptic scenery
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
"Lay Your Ear To The Rail..."
Tracklist:
- 00:00 DreamScenes - Intro (Susanna)
- 00:27 Roger Waters - Speak To Me / Pink Floyd - Free Four
Dark Side Of The Moon Redux, 2023, Cooking Vinyl / Obscured By Clouds, 1972, Harvest - 01:50 Galya Bisengalieva - Alash-Kala
Polygon, 2023, One Little Independant - 03:44 Melanie De Biasio - Lay Your Ear To The Rail
Il Viaggio, 2023, PIAS Le Label - 08:52 Rumpistol - Opening - C#M 82.00
Going Inside, 2023, Ratsek Plader - 13:03 Zane Trow - Haunted Cane Field Dub
Quire, 2023, Room40 - 16:26 Trio Ramberget - Just Innan Gryningen - Matti Bye
Drone Positions, 2023, self-released - 20:55 Ocoeur - Compassion
Nouveau Départ, 2023, n5MD - 24:21 Anthéne & David Cordero - Night Sea
Lost Under The Sea, 2023, Home Normal - 28:15 Lawrence English - It Is Night, Outside
Micro Ambient Music: Tribute To Ryuichi Sakamoto, 2023, Micro Ambient Music - 31:58 Dreamwader - Shores Of Perception
Soundtrack To A Daydream, 2023, self-released - 33:41 Piiptsjilling - Moarntiidsreagen
In Spoar, 2023, Cloudchamber Recordings - 39:25 Alva Noto - Hybr:id Ectopia Interacting (edit)
HYBR:ID II, 2023, Noton - 44:00 McCorman - Respiro
A Page Is Turned | A Mountain Collapses | A Guy Leaves, 2023, Kohlhass - 46:47 Jóhann Jóhannsson, Icelandic Symphony Orchestra - Suite From Sicario, 1. Target
A Prayer To The Dynamo, 2023, Deutsche Grammophon - 48:35 Jon Christopher Nelson - When Left To His Own Device (edit)
The Persistence Of Time And Memory, 2023, Neuma Records - 51:01 Claire M. Singer - Forrig (edit)
Saor, 2023, Touch - 59:00 DreamScenes - Outro (Dean Hurley)
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--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
CLAIRE M. SINGER - SAOR Saor (pronounced Sieur, as in Monsieur, and meaning 'free' in Scottish Gaelic) is the first of a triptych of releases inspired by the peaks of Claire M Singer's homeland (she grew up in Aberdeenshire). For this album she wanted to capture the dramatic visions of the landscape she grew up in, but at the same time it's an exploration to get to know the organ more intimately.
Singer started playing the cello when she was six but got hooked on the sound of the church organ after a commission to write an organ piece in 2006.
Currently, she is the music director of the 1877 ‘Father’ Henry Willis organ at the world-famous Union Chapel, but this is not the only organ she plays on this album. Much of it was written and recorded in her home country Aberdeenshire, and the title track is recorded in Amsterdam's Orgelpark (where the album release party will be held, with Claire performing on five organs simultaneously!).
"I realised by controlling how much wind enters the pipe affects the tuning and you can create rich harmonic textures and complex overtones that create ever-shifting melodic and rhythmic patterns. It was incredible to produce a sound which came from the same sonic palette I was working with in the studio but was completely acoustic".
Don't expect 'traditional' music for church organ, obviously: Singer approaches the instrument as a sound source with almost limitless possibilities. And on the 70 minutes of this album featuring nine tracks of varying lengths (the title track almost 25 minutes, the shortest only 17 seconds) these possibilities are demonstrated convincingly.
However, the organ is not the only instrument used. Claire also plays mellotron, harmonium, cello, and electronics, and the sound palette is completed by Brian Shook (trumpet on Cairn Toul), Yann Ghiro (clarinet), Andy Saunders (French horn), and Patsy Reid (strings on Càrn).
GALYA BISENGALIEVA - POLYGON With her album releases until now (Aralkum + remixes, The Ice Dive OST) and her impressive live performances, Kazakh/British composer Galya Bisengalieva has set herself a high standard. She is a violinist with experience in contemporary classical music (member of the London Contemporary Orchestra), but easily transcends any genre merging classical roots with folk, ambient, and electronic music. She has worked with Steve Reich, Suzanne Cianni, Laurie Spiegel, Terry Riley, Pauline Oliveros, Hildur Gudnadottir, Sarah Davachi, and Mica Levi - which should be enough references to check out her solo work!
Polygon is her third solo album. Again, the violin is her main instrument, but overall the music is more experimental than contemporary classical, and involves a lot of electronics. Just listen to the title track to get an idea.
Polygon refers to the Semipalatinsk Test Site on the steppe in northeast Kazakhstan - the primary testing venue for the Soviet Union's nuclear weapons.
'For the [Kazakh] inhabitants, the 465 nuclear tests conducted during its existence had dire consequences on an ancient landscape that supported traditional pasturelands with little regard for their effect on the local people or the environment, leading to devastating long-term impacts.'
A dark and dreary theme unmistakably echoed in the music. Chilling, scary, but at the same time fascinating in its haunting beauty. Anyone who remembers (and enjoyed) Hildur Gudnadottir's soundtrack for Chernobyl should check out this album. But that is of course because the underlying themes are also connected. Apart from that, this album also demonstrates what can be achieved with uncompromising out-of-the-box thinking.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
RHUCLE - FEEL Over 60 album releases since 2014, and yet not much is known about Rhucle apart from his music. A Tokyo-based artist, perhaps called Yuta Kudo which is one of his aliases. But the background is not very relevant obviously: it's the music that counts.
And that music has the delicate, hard-to-describe, Japanese touch - as is demonstrated on this set of eleven relatively short pieces creating 'a calming blanket of sound intended to relax the listener'.
Feel is released as a limited cassette edition of 54 by Polar Seas Recordings - which inevitably sold out soon after the release date. But luckily the digital download edition still remains available.
DAVID CORDERO - RECURRENT PROCESSES It's a seamless transition from the Rhucle album mentioned above to David Cordero's Recurrent Processes: and not just because the opening track Si'umim is a collaboration of both artists or the fact that Rhucle provided the album artwork.
It is the only collaborative track on the album; the following (seven) tracks are solo tracks. But they retain the same lovely, carefree atmosphere. Fragile sounds and subtle field recording feel like a lazy afternoon on a warm (but not too warm) summer day.
Recurrent Processes by David Cordero
DAVID CORDERO & RHUCLE - SUMMER CHRONICLESSi'umim clearly wasn't a one-off collaboration, but a prelude to this full album by Rhucle and David Cordero.
2022 and 2023 are clearly inspirational and productive years for David Cordero: Summer Chronicles is the first of four of his releases on the Home Normal label coming up in 2023 and 2024.
Summer Chronicles reflects their memories of the summer of 2022. 'During several weeks we exchanged some sketches and over a number of edits and adjustments we were able to evolve the gentle sounds reflective of nature in that period that encompassed our vision for the organic work we were able to create together'.
Apart from making music that summer, David Cordero played the videogame Xenoblade Chronicles, which title was the inspiration for the album title. Released in November, this album will bring back clear memories of warm summers past.
Summer Chronicles by David Cordero & Rhucle
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
ALVA NOTO - HYBR:ID II 2023 is a very good year for Alva Noto fans. Two soundtracks were released earlier this year (Kinder Der Sonne and This Stolen Country Of Mine), and now we find the second edition of the HYBR:ID series he started back in 2021.
Strictly speaking, this is a soundtrack once again. Or better: a performance score.
Like HYBR:ID I, this music is commissioned work created for a Richard Siegal choreography: this time Ectopia, performed by Tanztheater Pina Bausch in 2021. The stage setting for the performance was Anish Kapoor's Shooting In The Corner. That 'hybrid' combination of dance, sound, and physical installation must have been quite an impressive, multi-sensory experience.
Isolated from the performance and its setting, the soundtrack is equally impressive. **Alva Noto* (Carsten Nicolai) creates immensely deep soundscapes 'gracefully hover, reminiscent of celestial bodies orbiting in perfect cosmic unison. The sonic landscape gradually unfolds with somber and brooding tones, incorporating spacious sound design, ethereal atmospheres, and cascading metallic percussions'.*
Carsten Nicolai's 'intricately manipulated digital production' is analytical and emotional at the same time. It's almost as if we already entered the era where digital machines show that they, too, have emotions.
ALVA NOTO - HYbr:ID ECTOPIA QUARKS MINUS
ATOM™ - TEXTUREN VIAfter featuring Texturen I, II, and III, I somehow lost track of this excellent series by Atom™, one of the aliases of Uwe Schmidt. Only recently I found out that edition VI was released last September. A good reason to revisit the series (and the missing editions). And, as expected, this did not disappoint.
Once again, Schmidt explores the texture of (electronic) sound in a 54-minute drone-based piece. For some reason, the piece is split into six nine-minute parts, but it clearly works best when listened to sequentially - a gapless bonus track is included in the download to facilitate this.
The bonus track is presented in the standard 44.1kHz/16-bit format, but the separate tracks are available in hi-res 96 kHz/32-bit. And that is no unnecessary luxury because these sounds are best enjoyed on a hi-fi system, capable of reproducing the massive lower sub-bass sounds involved.
The foundation of Texturen may be a drone, but there's a lot happening above and beyond that basic ingredient. Sounds are constanly morphing, increasing in intensity, disappearing again, changing shape - some soft and rounded, others sharp with teeth.
There couldn't have been a better title for this series: this is an in-depth exploration of all possible textures of sound.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
FROM THE MOUTH OF THE SUN - VALLEY OF THE HUMMINGBIRDS Valley Of The Hummingbirds is one of the albums that are parts of the 'Maps To Where The Poison Grows' subscription series. Subscribing to these series on the Lost Tribe Sound label means that you receive it at a reduced price, as a reward for your faith in the label release policy. But Lost Tribe Sound is kind enough to also present the album as a regular release for those who do not want (or cannot afford) a full subscription.
From The Mouth Of The Sun is the name of the duo formed by Aaron Martin and Dag Rosenqvist. The music on this album was originally written for the dance performance by Greek choreographers Danae & Dyonisos, but was adapted to fit an album release.
The opening track, The Herd (Murmuration), starts slow and quiet but gradually builds up to a frantic rhythm-driven piece of post-rock proportions. With its 20 minutes, this is the longest track on the album. It is followed by two tracks shorter in length (The Medusa and Dandelion, each around 10 minutes) - somewhat more subdued at the beginning but also building up to rather intense climaxes. The Herd (Murmuration) and Dandelion are then reprised in shorter (5-minute) versions.
Valley of the Hummingbirds by From the Mouth of the Sun
CLAIRE DEAK - SOTTO VOCE Claire Deak's Sotto Voce is part of the same subscription series Maps To Where The Poison Grows. While the compositions sound like they were conceived recently, they are in fact loosely based on the works of early baroque composers Francesca Caccini and Barbara Strozzi - both early 17th century.
Claire Deak extensively mentions the sources for the music as well as for the titles, but her interpretations are definitely contemporary and sound nothing like the original work of these composers. So all credits due to Claire Deak!
She is not performing this work alone, by the way: the Sotto Voce Consort is completed with Lizzy Welsh (violin, viola da gamba), Judith Hamman (cello), Tony Dupé (violin, cello, contrabas), Edwina Cordingley (baroque cello), and Lucy Adlington (lute). Claire Deak herself additionally performs many different instruments, as well as adding her voice.
Sotto Voce: 'soft voice' - a quiet voice so that only people near can hear. But also: intentionally lowering the volume of one's voice for emphasis.
If you're interested in contemporary music that combines classical influences with modern composition techniques, I can only emphasize, in my own soft voice, that you should definitely listen to Claire Deak's 'soft voice'.
For what it's worth: this music was recorded 'in a 19th century wooden church on unceded Wurundjeri-Woi Wurrung Country'. Which, as far as I can feel, definitely adds to the atmosphere of this album.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
YUI ONODERA - MIZUNIWA Tokyo-based sound artist Yui Onodera presents an ode to the Nasuregion in Japan, 'home to a harmonious coexistence of northern and southern plant species'.
On the hills of the Nasu mountains, Junya Ishigami created the 'Water Garden', an ever-evolving masterpiece of landscape art that 'blurs the lines between architecture, landscape design, art, and environmentalism.
This inspired Onodera to create a musical 'symphony of nature'. Expect a lot of environmental sounds of rain, murmuring water, rustling trees, and the whisper of leaves to converge with the warm sounds of synths and electric guitar. There is nothing new in the use of environmental sounds in ambient music (in fact it seems to be some kind of standard), but few recordings feel as well-balanced as a Japanese garden.
Minizuwa is released on the Decaying Spheres label. Unfortunately, the cassette editions are already sold out, so for now only the digital download remains.
YUI ONODERA & TAKASHI KOKUBO - THOUSAND BELLS Yui Onodera teams up with Grammy-nominated musician, composer, and sound designer Takashi Kokubo. I must admit I had never heard of Kokubo** before but he seems to have played a significant role in shaping the ambient music landscape in Japan. And not just ambient music: on his Discogs page (53 albums since 1980!) we learn that he also created the nationally-used mobile phone earthquake alert and numerous credit card payment jingles.
Thousand Bells is a very short (13'44" in 4 tracks) but extremely satisfying album, combining Onodera's soundscapes and Kokubo's traditional Japanese instrumentation. The tinkling notes of the bells (even if not thousand by far) are as fresh as the morning dew, and easily 'transport the listener to a realm of serenity and introspection.'
For only 14 minutes, unfortunately.
Thousand Bells is released on Constellation Tatsu.
Thousand Bells by Yui Onodera and Takashi Kokubo
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
CV & JAB - KLIMA (Κλίμα**)CV & JAB is the shortcode for the duo Christina Vantzou and John Also Bennett. Klima is their third album together, preceded by Zin Taylor's Thoughts Of A Dot As It Travels A Surface (2018) and Landscape Architecture (2020). In 2022, the duo expanded to a trio with Michael Harrison on a self-titled album (with their full names).
They refer to the album as a 'rhizomatic composition rather than a sequential excursus' ('rhizomatic': a concept describing a nonlinear network that connects any point to any other point). A varied, associative collection of different atmospheres, each of them enigmatic in its own way.
'Percussion, refracted voices, chirps and gurgles, other-worldly synthetic winks, reverberated piano chords, and yearning flute circumnavigations all surface sometimes in solo, sometimes synchronically to eventually dissipate again'.
There are introspective piano pieces, ghostly ('flickering plasma') voices, and collages of field recordings taken out of context. The more abstract soundscapes are balanced with more soothing tracks featuring JAB's (bass) flute like Dwelling and Pottery Fragments.
As different as the songs are, on the album they still fit together beautifully, 'inducing listeners into a contemplative state through mellifluous repetitions and offshore sci-fi inflections ... sounds and chords materialize and dematerialize as landscapes at which we gaze, half-asleep over a long journey'.
CHRISTINA VANTZOU - OBSERVATIONS, EDITS, A CURE FOR RESTLESSNESS More good news for those of you who - like me - can't get enough of Christina Vantzou's music: a 20-minute soundscape track is featured in edition #34 of the Longform Editions series.
Observations, Edits, A Cure For Restlessness presents an 'exquisitely sequenced stream of intimate sound fragments [that] creates a realm where reality seeps into an imaginary haze, like the random, varying moods that circle through places where time's measure changes in unexpected ways'.
The sounds were gathered in over ten years. As Christina *Vantzou states: 'I like the idea that sound can ripen like fruit, age like wine, and bond organically when in contact with another sound.'*
If you didn't know already: the Longform Edition series, curated by Andrew Khedoori, releases (longform) tracks from different artists, in batches of four every two months.
Christina Vantzou's addition is already #134 in the ever-expanding list. Other artists in thís edition (#34, 18-10-2023) are Arp, Dania and Suss & Andrew Tuttle.
Observations, edits, a cure for restlessness by Christina Vantzou
JOSEPH BRANCIFORTE & THEO BLECKMANN - LP2In 2019, Joseph Branciforte (electronics) and Theo Bleckmann (voice) released their first album called LP1. So their follow-up album's title is hardly a surprise. For those who know LP1, the music on LP2 is hardly a surprise either. Or, let me rephrase that: it's as big a surprise as LP1 was.
It's the same unique musical language: Branciforte's electronics together with Bleckmann's wordless vocalizations. The tracks on LP2 are built on the duo's experience in live performance, and 'further dissolve the
boundaries between improvisation & composition, live performance, studio production, human & machine-generated sound'.
Both albums are linked with the opening track, 1.13, which served as a soundcheck improvisation when recording LP1, 'to make sure levels were set properly and we could hear one another'.
There are similarities in both albums ('extended improvisations built upon asynchronous looping, live analog & digital processing, and deep listening'), but the compositional process was different: 'in addition to free improvisation, each of us brought in a few 'prompts' or 'scenes'. These prompts could be a verbal description, a musical or textural seed, or more explicitly composed material'.
LP2 is released on Branciforte's own Greyfade label. It will be released on 8 December but can be pre-ordered (soon).
LP2 by Joseph Branciforte & Theo Bleckmann
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
RUTGER ZUYDERVELT - KALEIDING The music of Rutger 'Machinefabriek' Zuydervelt has graced these pages so often that I can ship the introduction - even if I covered only a fraction of his work on Ambientblog. Discogs mentions no less than 222 releases as Machinefabriek and 56 under his own name (and I doubt if even that is a complete overview). He must be a completist's worst nightmare (or perhaps biggest dream, that depends).
Zuydervelt is no stranger to composing scores, most often for dance performances. Kaleiding (a non-existing and untranslatable word) is scored for the performance of 'contemporary circus company' Lily&Janick (no spaces). Viewing the teaser video on the Bandcamp page this is close to a dance performance, but it it is more than that: 'Kaleiding is a movement-based show working on the border between dance, circus and visual arts'.
The score for this performance is, in Rutger's own words, a 'mixed bag'. The opening track Utopia, with almost 19 minutes the longest on the album, is a quiet, slowly evolving ambient piece that has a lot in common with Halfslaap ('semi-sleep', from 2010). Which along with Halfslaap II is one of my favorite releases in Machinefabriek's catalog, and will probably most appeal to the ambient audience.
But Escallation, the second track, will pull you out of your ambient slumber with 'the closest I [Rutger] ever came to creating a techno track'. Not the kind of techno you'll hear on the dancefloor, I guess, it's too complex for that. But it'll definitely work great in the performance setting. Two more (and shorter) tracks conclude the album: the more abstract soundscape-ish Dystopia, and Point Of No Return, a slightly more laid-back version of Escallation.
Zuydervelt miraculously builds a repertoire that is consistent and recognizable but at the same time surprises with each new release.
Kaleiding (music for a performance by Lily&Janick) by Rutger Zuydervelt
COEN OSCAR POLACK - A CONCRETE PASTUREIn 2020, Coen Oscar Polack surprised many with his Haarlemmerhout release, named after inspired by the park with the same name - including local field recordings with additional atmospheric layering.
A Concrete Pasture expands on this idea, but this time the recordings come from different locations such as Schiermonnikoog (one of the Dutch islands), Hong Kong, Bangkok, and possibly even more.
The opening track Cuore Nero with its fairly loud 'powerchords' acts like a statement telling us not to expect any 'documentary-style' of the isolated field recordings: it's better to approach what comes next as an orchestrated composition. The field recordings are treated as if they were one of the instruments; Polack adds many different layers of sound to create a musical composition around them.
This way, Polack is 'balancing natural textures with synthetic and instrumental sounds [...] giving a meaning to a music that is liberated of its formalities and charged with a poignant imagery by transformation.'
And that can get rather intense, as can be heard in the way the drone builds up in the 20-minute Kraaiennest, before it morphs into a bagpipe-like sound and closes with a tenor-sax solo.
A Concrete Pasture by Coen Oscar Polack
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
QUIET PLACES - QUIET PLACES, VOL. 2Quiet Places not only (partly) describes the music on this album, but it is also the name of the trio formed by Dennis White, Charlie May and Dave Gardner.
After releasing Volume 1 in 2020, Volume 2 expands upon 'their deep and suitably hypnotic long-form compositions', once again captured in four untitled tracks on a 2LP vinyl release (the digital download also features a bonus track titled 'The Empty View'). The vinyl edition is available in marbled green, black or yellow vinyl. I must admit that I am quite late in mentioning this album (it was released on A Strangely Isolated Place on July 7), so I'm happy to say that at the time of writing, there are still physical copies available.
The music on these four tracks, best played in one session, is an associative set of 'moments of melody amongst the wide landscape of abstract sounds and samples'. With 'associative', I mean that the music takes some unexpected turns, opening surprising views of different sonic landscapes without becoming chaotic.
It's a risky comparison due to the legendary status of that album, but listening to this Quiet Places album somewhat reminded me of KLF's Chillout Album. But perhaps it's better to decide for yourself.
FLOCKS - FLOCKSFlocks is the debut album of the duo with the same name, consisting of Werner Durand and Uli Hohmann. The duo may be new, but the artists are seasoned musician presenting a music that goes beyond any genre boundary.
Werner Durand has played and performed with Amelia Cuni, Urban Sax, Arnold Dreyblatt, Ellen Fullman, Catherine Christer Hennix, Hilary Jeffery, and also released quite some solo work. He studied saxophone as well as Indian/Persian flutes, and is also 'a highly reputated protagonist in the drone scene'.
If some of the wind instruments he plays on this album sound a bit unfamiliar to you, you are right: he plays wind instruments he invented himself: ur-sax, buzz-clarinets, PVC neys and horns. But also regular instruments like tenor-sax, blown kalimba, mouth harp and drones.
Uli Hohmann also performs on self-invented instruments: plucked, bowed & hammered string instruments in this case, apart from creating rhythms with frame drums like kanjira (South Indian frame drum) or riq (Arabian frame drum). Hohmann followed his interest in music from Asia, India and Africa, and studied with Ghanaian master drummer Mustapha Tettey Addy and others.
In Flocks, the combination of these more or less unfamiliar wind instrument sounds, the steady yet complex rhythms, and the electronics creates music that feels traditional ánd experimental.
Mix and merge Jon Hassel's Fourth World music with a healthy dose of Krautrock and you may get an idea.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
'In Search Of The Lost Silence'
Tracklist:
- 00:00 DreamScenes - Intro (Susanna)
- 00:21 William St. Hugh - Down Rider
High Upon The Serpent Mound, 2023, self-released - 04:23 Zöj - Hangman
Fil O Fenjoon, 2023, Bleemo Music/Parenthèses Music - 09:46 Slagwerk Den Haag - North Star
Vitreous Body, 2022, Orange Mountain Music - 13:40 Imaginary Landscapes - Auf Den Strassen
Auf Der Suche Nach Der Verlorene Stille, 2023, Syngate - 18:21 Joseph Branciforte & Theo Bleckmann - 10.17.13
- 19:20 Joseph Branciforte & Theo Bleckmann - 1.13
LP2, 2023, Greyfade - 26:00 CV * JAB (Christina Vantzou & John Also Bennett) - Dwelling
Κλίμα (Klima), 2023, Editions Basilic - 28:51 Rutger Zuydervelt - Kaleiding, Part 1 - Utopia (fragment)
Kaleiding (Music For A Performance By Lily&Janick), 2023, self-released - 35:54 Dead Melodies - Chasing Shadows (Part 1)
Murken Hollow, 2022, Cryo Chamber - 39:41 Antonymes - The Gramphone Suite III
The Gramophone Suite, 2023, Les Disques De L 'Accalmie - 47:47 Erik Wøllo - Rainshine
Cloud Of Strings, 2023, Projekt Records - 50:54 Kate Carr - Shy, Typically Alone Or In Pairs
A Field Guide To Phantasmic Birds, 2023, Room40 - 55:23 CV * JAB (Christina Vantzou & John Also Bennett) - Lands Of Permanent Mist
Κλίμα (Klima), 2023, Editions Basilic - 59:00 DreamScenes - Outro (Dean Hurley)
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--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
DRAWING VIRTUAL GARDENS - 22:22As the second release in the Lost Tribe Sound subscription series Maps To Where The Poison Grows, Drawing Virtual Gardens (David Gutman) releases 22:22.
The title remains unclear, as the album lasts not 22 minutes but almost 36. The closing track, called 22+22=44, only adds to the mystery.
Gutman explains: '22:22 is an hour that continuously intrigued Gutman. He began noticing it was a common occurrence to reference his watch at this exact hour during the night. His curiosity grew as he wondered what unexplained consciousness kept pointing him towards this time'.
The music itself is as enigmatic as its titles: Be Aware There Is A Goat Hidden In The Trees, Une Chateau De Sable S'Agrandit, Les Gens Peuvent Entrer (A Sandcastle Grows, People Can Enter), La goute d'eau sur le mirroire (The Drop Of Water On The Mirror), etcetera. But there is a lot to be discovered in their well-balanced instrumentation and 'non-linear motion (which) may stir up as much dust as they help to settle'.
Lay back and let the sounds pour over you, or sit up and actively listen to discover all the fine details. With this album, you can do both.
22:22 by Drawing Virtual Gardens
KILOMETRE CLUB - HOW TO UNRAVELKilometre Club is the alias of Daniel Field from Toronto, Canada (yes, they use the metric system over there). But he is not performing alone here on How To Unravel: there's a full ensemble featuring violin, cello, harp, modular synth, guitar, and sax completing Field's textured ambient and electronics.
How To Unravel is Kilometre Club's second album, his first on the We Are Busy Bodies label. It's the follow-up to 2022's self-released Minus Time. 'It’s ambient music, but it also tries to be more than that, with inspiration and influences from post-rock, neoclassical, experimental, indie rock, electronic, and more'.
The album has a distinct premise: it 'is about how we might fall apart, and how we find ways to come back together again. The first half follows all of the paths that lead in circles, the tangled yarn that never finds the end. But it holds on. It’s stronger than you think. The second half is how we untangle and get put together again.'
So, if you have some serious doubts about where to go with your life, this album may put you back on track. If not, it is a very, very enjoyable listen, too.
How To Unravel by Kilometre Club
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
At A Loss
- 00:00 DreamScenes - Intro (Susanna)
- 00:42 Zimoun - Modular Guitar Fields I (edit)
Modular Guitar Fields I-VI, 2023, 12K - 05:05 Virus2020 - Holyluciddream (edit)
Khusshue, 2023, Unexplained Sounds Group - 06:07 Natasha Barrett - Impossible Moments From Venice 1 (fragment)
Reconfiguring The Landscape, 2023, Persistence Of Sound - 08:11 Legiac - Banesteriopsis Caapi
Banesteriopsis Caapi, 2023, self-released - 11:06 Ard Bit - Vervloekte Bergen
Field Recordings - 04 Balkans, 2023, self-released - 14:20 Joana De Sá - Silvery-Grey (edit)
Lightwaves, 2023, Sirr-ecords - 18:17 Blair Coron - Song For Lismore
A Carrying Stream, 2023, self-released - 21:00 Gdanian - The Darkest Cavern
Mechanical Gods, 2023, Cryo Chamber - 23:27 CV & JAB (Christina Vantzou & John Also Bennett) - Pottery Fragments
Κλίμα (Klima), 2023, Editions Basilic - 29:34 Zakè & City Of Dawn - Lo
Ash, 2023, Azure Vista Records - 33:10 Benjy Wertheimer & John De Kadt - Tabla Breath (edit)
One River, 2012, Mantrology - 36:03 Lisa Lerkenfeldt - Shell Of A City (Excerpt)
Shell Of A City, 2023, Room40 - 39:28 Claire Deak - Dampen The Waves
Sotto Voce, 2023, Lost Tribe Sound - 42:46 Brian McBride - At A Loss
Air Texture Vol. II, 2012, Air Texture - 48:16 Alva Noto - Info Resistance
This Stolen Country Of Mine OST, 2023, Noton - 50:42 Kate Carr - A Remora On The Underside Of A Manta Ray
Fever Dreams, 2023, Mana - 54:00 Yann Novak - Reflex Point
The Voice Of Theseus, 2023, Room40 - 55:05 From The Mouth Of The Sun - Dandelion (Edit)
Valley Of The Hummingbirds, 2023, Lost Tribe Sound - 59:00 DreamScenes - Outro (Dean Hurley)
Play this edition on-demand from the Concertzender website
(available 1hr after broadcast)
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--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
TOKI FUKO - SPIRIT MEDICINE The releases on Astral Industries can easily be recognized from their cover art (by Theo Ellsworth) alone. But the music of their releases is equally recognizable: most Astral Industries releases share a similar style and atmosphere. Or at least variations on that signature style.
Spirit Medicine, the new release of Toki Foku, has that pleasant 'Fourth World Music' atmosphere, similar to label-mates Chi Factory. A hypnotic rhythm, bamboo flute, didgeridoo drone in the background.... 'a venture into the realms of consciousness...'
Side two dives even deeper into that realm, with the extensive use of voice samples that - according to a commenter on Discogs - are (partly) taken from an interview with 'a catatonic schizophrenic, patient 18' from 1961. (This interview can be seen on YouTube, and until now reached a fascinating 24 million views).
And that is where the warm relaxing atmosphere slowly drifts into uncanny valley territory.
Toki Fuko, Russian artist Sergey Korotaev, previously created deep and hypnotic techno. On what seems to be his third full album release the 'deep and hypnotic' remains, but the techno is exchanged for sounds more psychedelic.
"Perhaps a memory, or the momentary glimpse of a parallel reality."
AI-34: Spirit Medicine by Toki Fuko
ROD MODELL - GHOST LIGHTS 'Dub Techno Legend' Rod Modell (a.k.a. Deepchord) presents his new solo album as the 35th release for the Astral Industries label. Not his first title for the label but the first under his own name - Lanterns (2014) and Immersions (2018) were previously released as Deepchord; while Bioluminence (2020), V 3.0-3.9 (2020) and Cardamom & Laudanum (2022) featured Modell as part of various duos.
Modell leaves out the dub technno beats to present a wide, cinematic sound - with long arching contours, ripping textures and cavernous sound design'.
The best way to experience this is lying back relaxed, with the lights dimmed, and let 'each chapter take you successively deeper into the twilight zone.
The only downside is that you have to get up three times to flip the record: the four sides of around 17 minutes would have perfectly fitted the CD format, but such is not the policy of Astral Industries: Ghost Lights is released as a double vinyl album and as a digital download. To enjoy Ghost Lights in one uninterrupted go, Astral Industries provides a download code with the 2x12" release.
AI-35: Ghost Lights by Rod Modell
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
MARTINA TESTEN & SIMON ŠERC - EKODUKT First, a word of warning: this album contains no music. Unless, of course, you define music as 'organized sound' (like Edgar Varèse said).
In this 'forest bathing for the ears', Martina Testen and Simon Šerc capture the sounds of the Slovenian Goriška region and the Italian Friuli Venezia Giulia, between sunrise and sunset, and then comprise these sounds into a two-hour mix. It is interesting to hear the forest sound palette change over time: starting with the birds, then hearing the frogs and crickets take over later on the day, and then the return of the birds when sunset nears.
It is a very refreshing sound to play in the background of your own environment. It is also a bit confronting since it made me realize that a rich and lively fauna like this, a place where you hear no human-made background noises, is almost impossible to find in my country (Netherlands).
Ekodukt is a continuation of Biodukt from 2020, which apart from an album also culminated in immersive installations. The sound recordings were part of the thesis by Martina Testen: 'Analysis of the influence of the sound environment on customer behavior'.
Ekodukt is released on Blu-Ray disc, which means you can enjoy the two-hour soundscape uninterrupted, but also has the accompanying video, taken from the installation, which is probably as beautiful as the sounds (I haven't seen the video but I have no doubts about that). If the sounds are enough for you, there's also the audio-only digital download.
Ekodukt by Martina Testen / Simon Šerc
NATASHA BARRETT - RECONFIGURING THE LANDSCAPE Also created entirely from environmental recordings, but with a completely different intention is Natasha Barrett's aptly titled Reconfiguring The Landscape. Barrett has built herself quite a reputation as a composer of 3-D audio and ambisonics, 'treating spatialisation as a musical parameter'.
Reconfiguring The Landscape is her 'artistic research project investigating how 3-D electroacoustic composition and sound art can evoke and provoke a new awareness of our outdoor sound environment'.
She does so in three (remixes of) installations and a two-part work, Impossible Moments From Venice.
'Capturing reality seemed impossible', she says about recording the sounds of Venice. That also accurately describes the soundscapes she creates: the sounds are familiar enough, but together they seem to re-create a different, non-existent, and dreamlike world. A different reality, strange yet attractive. A world filled with sounds of incredible clarity, even when the mixes merge an 8-channel installation into 2-channel stereo.
“I’m really concerned with the idea of tangibility. Sound is invisible, but we can do things that make you want to reach out and touch it.”
Reconfiguring the Landscape by Natasha Barrett
DORIAN WOOD - EXCESIVA I assume you have probably asked yourself many times how an environment would sound if you could listen from within an empty milk jar. If you did (ánd if you didn't): Dorian Wood provides the answer.
For this recording, the milk jar and microphone are placed 'near a dilapidated old amphitheater on the grounds of the MacDowell Artist’s Residency in Peterborough, New Hampshire where Wood was a resident in the fall
of 2022, and captured the afternoon unfolding around its borders. Bird calls echo against the glass, filtered through the wind, which carries also the distant sounds of hunters’ guns, and the rustling of oaks at the base of Mount Monadnock'.
This may sound like a somewhat strange starting point for a 44-minute sound recording, but in fact the result can be very satisfying, at least for those that can 'still themselves long enough' to hear the far away details. It is a sound that wraps around you like an isolation tank would do, a way to shut out all other sounds and drift around, focusing on your own thoughts.
Excesiva is mastered by Lawrence English and released (digital only) on Yann Novak's Dragon's Eye Recordings label.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
YANN NOVAK - THE VOICE OF THESEUS For The Voice Of Theseus, Yann Novak invited vocalists Dorian Wood and G. Brenner to contribute to the core elements of this album. By adding their vocals to his compositions, and merging them with his electronic soundscapes, Novak explores a completely new compositional field, 'expanding his mode of operation'.
Novak explores his perceptual differences, as he calls them, compared to other people: partial color blindness, dyslexia, and a more recently acquired tinnitus. 'Sensory challenges that shaped my artistic practice by creating what I call a perceptual insecurity':
'If I have trouble perceiving reds and greens, if I have trouble hearing certain frequencies, if I don’t interpret written language in a standard way, how closely can I experience reality in the way that others experience it?'
The listener, on the other hand, will never know in which way the music hé hears may differ from how Novak himself experiences it. One thing is sure, however: it can never be the same.
The ancient Greek legend of Theseus raises a philosophical question: 'if a ship is repaired, piece by piece, until it was no longer composed of any original parts, at what point could the ship no longer be considered the
same entity?'
The same can be applied to the manipulations of the recorded vocals in these pieces: 'how far can these vocals
be pushed while still remaining attached to the vocalists’ identities?'
Questions that are impossible to answer: 'There’s no real way to know how great the disparity is between my observational experiences and another’s, and no clear limit of how many pieces of our shared reality can be
altered—before it stops being just that.'
These are interesting things to ponder about while listening to The Voice Of Theseus, but it's not necessary background information to fully enjoy the resulting music. There are tracks on which the voices of Wood and Brenner are used (almost) unaltered, most notably on the opening track A Monument To Oblivion. At other times, the vocals can hardly be recognized as such. The music is extremely atmospheric, with enigmatic undertones triggered by their titles which probably refer to different stages in the Theseus legend.
The Voice of Theseus by Yann Novak
SIAVASH AMINI - EIDOLON Iranian composer Siavash Amini's music is described as 'vertical', which means it is based on simultaneous sounding tones (chords), as opposed to 'horizontal' which is based on successively sounding tones (melody).
As a 'self confessed tuning obsessive', he wanted to explore the 17-tone scale described by Safi-al-din Urmavi in the 13th century. But not with conventional instruments and composition techniques and not in a historical sense.
Using contemporary techniques of experimental and electronic music he creates an 'undetermined sound space' by 'letting their frequencies and intervals roll over each other, and letting the resulting sound and textures float, crash, spill and bleed.'
In that 'undetermined space' of these three intense soundscapes, an apparition may appear (Eidolon means phantom, or apparition), 'taking shape in an instant and gone in the next, something you’re not sure you’ve seen.'
ARIA ROSTAMI - SIREN
The use of field recordings combined with ambient music is anything but new. But on his latest album Siren, Brooklyn-based Aria Rostami takes it to a different level.
He uses 'literal' field recordings, but combines them with 'composed musical emulations of environments': by taking field recordings from recordings of field recordings playing in his studio. Or by recording the piano parts with a field recorder (are you still here?).
Field recordings, recordings of field recordings, and field recordings of playing musical instruments are then blended 'into an undefined grey area'. Which, to my ears, is not particularly 'grey', but very pleasing. Even if some of the environments sound quite 'busy' (as they can do in real life of course).
After releasing his music since 2011 on various different labels, this (20th?) album is his first release on Dronarivm. It is available digitally and as a CD in a disc box slider cover.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
MICHAEL SCOTT DAWSON - FIND YOURSELF LOST
When you read about 'the fringes of country & western' your first association will probably not be connected top ambient music. Unless you're listening to Michael Scott Dawson's third album, Find Yourself Lost.
The pedal steel guitar may remind you of Daniel Lanois on Apollo, and the Paris, Texas soundtrack can also come to mind. But Dawson has created his own process to come to this grounded yet unearthly result.
He 'began to experiment with alternate tunings and granular guitar. He recorded and mixed a full album, and then called upon a handful of friends and kindred peers to improvise on top of it. Treating their contributions like found sounds or samples he stole little moments, manipulated passages, and dismantled his original recordings in the process.'
This means that this is the first album where Dawson is joined by other musicians: Ettienne Soulodre on pedal steel, Dalton Lam on Flugelhorn, Bryce Lewis on guitar, Aaron Kapinka on dobro, and Gage McGuire on baritone guitar.
And, to top that off, there are also a few (almost hidden) fragments from an unlabeled garage sale cassette of someone's home-dubbed line dancing (!).
Find Yourself Lost by Michael Scott Dawson
CHRISTIAN WITTMAN - ORION NEBULA Christian Wittman was one of the founders of the French group Lightwave, who started around 1985 playing 'Kosmische' Berlin-school music and later more avant-garde electronic music. as a solo artist, his music is 'at the crossroads of ambient music and space music, with a strong emphasis on sound design and atmospheres'.
Orion Nebula quite literally refers to outer space: to the 'cloud of cosmic light, color, gas and dust located in the heart of the Orion Constellation.'
There are 9 'stages' in this 'weightless journey'. However, Wittman does not want to tell a story with his music. It is up to the listener to 'lose himself or herself in the labyrinth of memories, ideas, sensations and images' - and with immersive music like this, that is not hard to do.
Bandcamp offers only the download version of Orion Nebula, but the CD version can be bought from Kunaki
Orion Nebula [CYD 0080] by Christian Wittman
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
MATTHEW FLORIANZ - A RIVER BURIED IN SAND In his early days, some 25 years ago, Matthew Florianz referred to himself with the alias Liquid Morphine, and recently he picked that alias up again. With over 20 albums, he has built an impressive catalog of ambient music that can (sometimes, not always) serve as a tranquilizer in hectic times.
On A River Buried In Sand, Florianz combines his experience as a musical artist with that as a senior audio designer in the game industry: its subtitle is Ambiences For Imaginary Games. This also means that the soundscapes included are not primarily intended to 'soothe': they can be quite adventurous - like in a game environment. Especially in the first half of the album; the second half slowly 'mellows into a serene space'.
It is up to the listener to decide what kind of images, memories, or mental environment this music evokes. But for Matthew Florianz himself, this feels like 'a soundtrack for an exploration into the underworld, an ambience for an imaginary game and also as a reflection on the five stages of grief'.
31-08
A River Buried in Sand: Ambiences for Imaginary Games by Matthew Florianz a.k.a. Liquid Morphine
MANJA RISTIĆ - DOBRA VODA, ACT TWO In August 2022, Manja Ristić released Dobra Voda, a 20-minute aquatic soundscape created with audio recordings made in and near the remote beach of Dobra Voda, a small bay on the island of Silba (Croatia).
Act Two is a continued exploration created with the same sound material but in a different mix. The delicate sounds of shells, sand, and other materials from the beach are embedded in a deep dark drone. Like the first part, it is also relatively short (15'40") but it is very immersive - almost overwhelming.
Dobra Voda is 'deeply inspired by the constant movement of the sea': 'the compositional approach of act two moves the focus from holistic listening to the chosen locale toward the phenomenological positioning of oneself in relation to geomorphic bio-acoustics.'
Dobra Voda, Act Two premiered at the Listening Biennial 2023 in Belgrade in July this year. This is a digital-only release.
Dobra voda, act two by Manja Ristić
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
"Memories Of Essential Ignorances"
Tracklist:
- 00:00 DreamScenes - Intro (Susanna)
- 00:45 Yann Novak - A Monument To Oblivion
The Voice Of Theseus, 2023, Room40 - 01:59 Manja Ristić - Dobra Voda, Act Two (fragment)
Dobra Voda, Act Two, 2023, self-released - 06:25 Andrew Heath & Anne Chris Bakker - Muen
Sollia, 2023, Polar Seas Recordings - 12:27 Pulse Mandala & Distant Fires Burning - Antikythera Rddl
R Abacus Lndr, 2023, Audiobulb - 18:49 David Cordero - Si'umim (feat. Rhucle)
Recurrent Processes, 2023, self-released - 23:23 Maud The Moth + Trajedesaliva - Perdí Pie
Bordando El Manto Terrestre, 2023, Woordford Halse - 28:23 Carl Stone - Confusong 2, from Three Confusongs (1972)
Electronic Music From 1972-2022, 2023, Unseen Worlds - 29:51 Matthew Florianz a.k.a. Liquid Morphine - Of Untenable Prognostications
A River Buried In Sand: Ambiences For Imaginary Games, 2023, self-released - 34:11 Kilometre Club - Unraveler's Hymn
How To Unravel, 2023, We Are Busy Bodies - 36:35 Yui Onodera & Takashi Kokubo - Thousand Bells 2
Thousand Bells, 2023, Constellation Tatsu (rel: Sept 26) - 39:22 Sara Oswald & Feldermelder - Memories Of Essential Ignorances (fragment)
Dual | Duel, 2023, Ous - 41:07 Sílení - Shadows Of A Holy Past
Music For Abandoned Monasteries, 2023, Eighth Tower Records - 43:34 Sonmi451 - A Taste For Vicarious Pleasure
The Eighteen Minute Gap, 2023, Laaps - 48:06 David Toop & Lawrence English - Huanghu
The Shell That Speaks The Sea, 2023, Room40 - 50:33 Copenhagen Clarinet Choir - Three Movements - Mvt. 3
Organism, 2022, År Og Dag - 53:38 Peter Garland - Lyrical, Tranquil
The Basketweave Elegies, 2023, Cold Blue Music - 56:36 soccer Committee - Reaching
❤️/Lamb, 2023, Morc Records - 59:00 DreamScenes - Outro (Dean Hurley)
Play this edition on-demand from the Concertzender website
Or:
[audio src="https://streams.greenhost.nl/cz/cz/rod/20230813-2000.mp3" /]
DreamScenes editions are also available as a podcast!
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--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
SONMI451 - THE EIGHTEEN MINUTE GAP
Laaps Records opens its summer season with the release of The Eighteen Minute Gap by Sonmi451 (Belgian artist Bernard Zwijzen's alias named after a character from Cloud Atlas).
Let me remove the first doubt right away: this album does not last only 18 minutes. The vinyl version plays for 38 minutes, the CD version is a few seconds short of one hour. I honestly can't think of a fitting explanation for the album title, and there is no explanation in the sparse liner notes either.
But from the very first minutes, it is clear that this is 'vintage' Sonmi451, further exploring a path he has set for his last albums (this is his thirteenth release). Soft, mysterious, and ethereal ambient music - but at the same time full of small details created from field recordings and manipulating textures and sounds.
The tracks have a special kind of ASMR quality through the prominent use of soft whispered vocals, which appear to be Japanese (or perhaps Korean, like Sonmi451 herself). But maybe they aren't and only sound like that. Maybe they're even AI-generated: there is no mention or credit for the vocals. But they are extremely effective and a pleasure to listen to - especially in the way they are embedded in the soundscapes.
Join Sonmi451 on his 'mysterious journey into a world of ethereal ambient music, where beautiful and soothing listening experiences await.'
The Eighteen Minute Gap by Sonmi451
CORAL SEA - IF MEMORY SERVES ME Do not confuse Coral Sea with THE Coral Sea, which is the moniker of singer, songwriter Rey Villalobos. Thís Coral Sea (without The) is Ed Banton, sometimes called 'the Jacques Cousteau of ambient music' - and if you listen to his album If Memory Serves Me you'll understand why.
'Coral Sea’s obsession with the underwater world is absolute and the music he creates on this new collection is supremely immersive.'
'Heavily treated guitar, atmospherics, and hypnotic and often blissed out soundscapes attempt to represent and recreate the multitude of rhythms and resonances found within water.'
I can't tell much about Ed 'Coral Sea' Banton, apart from the fact that he lives in London and has a past of 'chasing the sublime in noise rock bands and drone music'. I don't even know if this is his first album as Coral Sea, but I assume it is.
If Memory Serves Me is a cassette release (also available digitally) on the lofirecordings label.
If Memory Serves Me by Coral Sea
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
DRØNE - THE LONG SONG The core of Drøne is the duo Mark van Hoen and Mike Harding, but on their album, they are 'assisted by many'. On The Long Song that means they are assisted by a choir of seven female artists 'which reasserts the feminine while the male world falls apart': Galya Bisengalieva, Ipek Gorgun, Bana Haffar, Alex Hoang, Bethan Kellough, Jana Winderen and Anna von Hausswolff. And apart from the choir there's also Claire M Singer playing the organ from the Union Chapel.
An impressive list of names, but both Anna and Mike have an extensive network: Anna also runs the Pomperipossa Records label which released (almost) all of the Drøne albums. Mike Harding is also the publisher and curator of the Touch label.
With a name like Drøne, one might expect pure 'drone' music. There are definitely drones involved, but The Long Song is much more than just that. Along with (perhaps even opposing') the female choir is a 'miasma of field recordings, modular synth, static, electronics, found sounds, and 'musique concrete''.
Unearthly and fascinating music, which I think is not unlike some of the work of Holger Czukay.
The songs on both sides of the album have different titles but play continuously. In the digital version the two sides are simply The Long Song I and II.
The 12" vinyl edition comes with a poster with black & white photos by Nico van Hoen. As usual, the album is also available as a download.
RAND - PERIPHERIE / PERIPHERIE REMIXES
Rand is the name of the Berlin-based duo formed by Jan Gerdes (piano) and Frank Bodganowitz aka Dr. Nojoke (electronics). Peripherie was originally released in 2020, and rereleased in September 2022.
The album shows both artists' fascination 'for the frontiers of contemporary piano music and experimental club electronics and the acoustic and performative interweaving of individualized, poetic and lyrical piano sound with the overwhelming, orchestral and bizarre soundscapes of electronic music'.
Their 'jazzy-IDM' combines many different styles: 'minimal, romantic and contemporary music as well as to jazz, ambient, drone, glitch, clicks & cuts and club music'.
All these lengthy descriptions may suggest their music could go in any direction - but the opposite is true: their music is actually very focused and coherent. The piano and the electronics complement each other seamlessly, it's as if the compositions were improvised on the spot.
Peripherie is now completed with the release of Peripherie Remixed, a 25-minute EP presenting remixes of four tracks from the original album. Lucid, San Gimignano, Hoola, and Siegfried 2.0 are remixed by Steevio, Deadbeat, Dr. Nojoke,and Andrea Cicheki. The remix artists show their respect for the original music but also add their own dimension, taking the tracks to another/different level. Steevio and Dr. Nojoke add a solid beat; Deadbeat and Cicheki counter-balance this by focusing on the ambient side of the tracks.
The remixes are mastered by none other than Stefan Betke (Pole).
The only downside is the fact that this is such a short EP with only four of these remixes. It would've been great if the other tracks from Peripherie got the same treatment by some other artists too to complete a full album. But hey - who knows what's to come in the future.
Peripherie Remixed is released on (Dr. Nojoke's) Clikno label and is available on vinyl (including a poster) as well as a digital download.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
AKI YLI-SALOMÄKI - JÄI MIELEEN From Finland comes the chamber music of Aki Yli-Salomäki. Jäi Mieleen roughly translates as 'Memory Lingers', and that is an apt description of this 'deep northern slow listening music manifested by grand sonority and soaring melodic arcs'.
Yli-Salomäki has a diverse musical background: he started out as a punk/metal bass player in the 1980s, released ambient/electronic music as OSA7029, and studied classical music at the University of Helsinki.
The three pieces opening Jäi Mieleen represent the latter: slow and thoughtful music written for acoustic instruments (a string quartet). This is followed by five sections of Vain Kaikuja (Only Echoes) introducing Yli-Salomäki on synthesizer together with the same string quartet. Slowly but undeniably the music is getting more otherworldly. The closing piece Siirtyma (A Transition) ends the album in full electronic mode but with the same calming mood as the beginning of the album.
Jäi Mieleen is Yli-Salomäki's second album, following up the (more orchestral) Valunta debut in 2022. But this will surely not be the last time we will hear from this composer.
Jäi mieleen by Aki Yli-Salomäki
MARDIT B. LLESHI / BLEDI BORAKU - SAGGIO Mardit B. Lleshi and Bledi Boraku: two artists from Albania. Both have released music before, but I guess I can safely assume that these are new names for most (non-Albanian) users. They have also previously worked together in live settings but this release is their album debut as a duo.
With only two instruments - Boraku's electric guitar and Lleshi's cello - they present music that sounds as if many more instruments were involved.
The pieces on Saggio ( 'Wise') were recorded live in a dimly-lit church (as depicted in the cover art), and the feeling of the instantaneous moment is preserved by 'capturing the acoustics of the room as a key component of this record'. The combination of cello with electric guitar is quite unusual (as far as I know), and the instruments engage in an interesting dialogue.
There was no intention to polish the recording afterward, which I think was a wise decision since the music sounds as spontaneous as a live performance. Based on this album, I would definitely love to see the duo perform live, but I guess this will not happen soon. So I'll have to do with this album for now.
Saggio by Mardit B. Lleshi - Bledi Boraku
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
IAN HAWGOOD - WHERE YOU GO I CANNOT FOLLOW / AND THEN THERE WAS NOTHING
It is not unusual for a busy label (-owner) to take some time off. So when Home Normal's Ian Hawgood mentioned the label's hiatus in 2022 I thought he was taking a break from the busy release schedule to regain the energy to continue. Little did I know that the real reason was a very serious one - as can be read in his intimate personal notes about the background of these albums.
In short, Ian suffered from severe depression, even leading to an attempt to take his life. He was saved by his wife and close friends, who 'made sure I didn't say goodbye quite yet'.
It took him some weeks until he was glad they did.
These two albums - and their background told by Ian himself in the liner notes which are available on his Bandcamp release page - tell us about this dark period in his life. Where I Go You Cannot Follow is intended as 'both a love letter and a goodbye letter to my wife'. And Then There Was Nothing 'is a reflection on the moment when I was slowly fading after overdosing'.
I don't think there are any other albums that are as deeply personal as this. Or maybe there are - but the story behind their existence is not often told a explicitly as this. Hawgood found it 'a very hard decision to write about [this period]', but felt 'it was important to be open about the theme behind these two albums'.
'I chose not to hide behind what has happened on a personal level if it meant that even one person could understand that they are not alone in their thoughts and feelings'.
The titles of both albums reflect the all-encompassing feeling of deep depression. But what does the music itself tell? This depends on how you listen and what you know about the context. It is of course impossible to ignore the story behind it once you read it (or even: once you read the album titles). But if you'd listen to this music without knowing anything about the personal tragedy behind it, you might describe it as warm and comforting. Peaceful. The music is open, floating, light even. As comforting as ambient music can be.
Hawgood's intention was not to describe despair and darkness: 'Both albums are a reflection on the perfection of fleeting moments of quietude as an observer, when life has faded away from a mental and then nearly a physical stand-point too. Both albums are a reflection of love and beauty in their purest form, without self, intention and control. These are love letters of peace; before, during and after the hardest and most traumatic of personal times'.
And this is the important message of this album to everyone struggling with depression:
'There is help, support and love out there, even in the darkest of times. You are not alone in your feelings and thoughts. Life isn't easy for any of us but we are not alone. I am deeply thankful for this'.
and then there was nothing by Ian Hawgood
where i go you cannot follow by Ian Hawgood
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
THE [LAW-RAH] COLLECTIVE - INTROSPECTION
From the 24 releases of the [Law-Rah] Collective back catalog, 13 were created as a duo featuring Bauke van der Wal and Martijn Pieck. Every one of these albums sounds different in its own way because van der Wal and Pieck change their method of creation every time - 'to keep things interesting for ourselves' (ánd for the audience, I may add).
For Introspection, Martijn did all the sound design ( 'with just a global indication for the composition'), while Bauke did all the arranging, rearranging, and post-production.
Introspection started to materialize during the worldwide pandemic, and this may very well be the reason it is indeed very ... eh ... introspective.
'The lockdowns and limitations that were forced upon us have been confrontational in many ways. the freedom we took for granted became a luxury we felt we didn't have any longer. so we started to explore and research who we were, what we knew, what we did and had, what we could and couldn't do any longer.'
The compositional process is reflected in the titles: Research, Reflect, and Revalidate. These three 20+-minute soundscapes are also rather dark in nature, but that can of course be expected from a collective whose website is named darkambient.net. It is not the 'scary' kind of dark, however, but adventurous and at times even (somewhat) meditative.
'An intense amalgamation of drone, modern classical, analog, and electroacoustic sounds and ideas. It's the collective's exploration within themselves that led to this. They might guide you into a journey of self-reflection'.
introspection by the [law-rah] collective
'T GERUIS - TERRE, POUSSIÈRE With only a few releases in two years (on renowned labels such as Lost Tribe Sound, LAAPS, Line, and now on the new Quiet Details) 't Geruis (best translated as 'murmur', but not to be confused with 'noise') has defined a unique, recognizable, and personal sound. It is still not clear who is the Daniel behind this alias, but he definitely has created his own niche of sound.
It is a weird sonic world 't Geruis creates: it is subtle but at the same time saturated almost up to distortion. Filled with minimalist loops that sound like a close-up of a mushroom forest. This association may not be as funny as it sounds, by the way: Terre, Poussière translates as 'Earth, Dust'.
By treating sounds as if you could observe them through a looking glass, 't Geruis manages to focus on 'the things that make your day special, the things that make a person beautiful, or the things that make a place feel like home. The little events that create big stories, the momentary instants that only later make
the impression that flew away so quickly.'
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
ALVA NOTO - THIS STOLEN COUNTRY OF MINE Shortly after the music for the play Kinder der Sonne (released in May this year), Alva Noto presents another soundtrack. This time it's the score for the German documentary of the same name, directed by Marc Wiese.
The synopsis: 'The documentary film explores the question of a state's sovereignty in the face of foreign powers. The film portrays Ecuadorian resistance fighters and journalists who oppose the sell-off of an extensive part of the country's resources to Chinese investors.'
With a theme like that one would possibly expect a soundtrack full of local music, but there's none of that. And without having seen the documentary itself, I can imagine that that may exactly be why the sound may add extra impact to the theme of the documentary. Noto received the German Documentary Film Music Award for this soundtrack at the Munich 37 DOK.fest in Munich.
'Alva Noto's music subtly accompanies the struggle of a mountain village, immersing us into the film’s narrative and pathos'.
Like his Kinder der Sonne soundtrack, the music on this soundtrack is highly emotional, cleverly combining orchestral sounds with the bright kind of electronic sounds and the production value only Carsten Nicolai can present. It is 'applied music', of course, so the context is quite different than that from his Xerrox-series for example.
In these 75 minutes (19 relatively short tracks released on 2LP vinyl, CD, and download) Alva Noto intensely reflects on 'the dark shadows and the glares of hope of communal resistance'.
ALVA NOTO - RITUAL
SNORRI HALLGRÍMSSON - I AM WEARY, DON'T LET ME REST Moderna Records, the label that released all of Snorri Hallgrímsson's work, calls this 'his 'sophomore LP' (released five years after his debut Orbit in 2018). But with that, it ignores the (digital only) Chasing The Present (2020) and the Landbrot double-ep from 2021.
Perhaps because it was written in a 3-month period in the middle of winter, Hallgrímsson 'dives into the weariness we feel with the hardships of the world - fighting that inner urge to tune it all out, and reminding ourselves of our duty as humans, citizens, neighbours to stay aware and engaged. Moments of heart-wrenching melancholia are interspersed with dramatic orchestral swells that somehow always find a hopeful resolution.'
He paints the pictures by alternating intimate, soft piano compositions with full orchestral works performed by the Reykjavik Recording Orchestra led by Viktor Ori Árnason - and including the Voices Of Ulysses choir on the haunting Worth And Knowledge.
I Am Weary, Don't Let Me Rest sounds like a major movie soundtrack, but it isn't. If it was, it would have been a soundtrack for a sad - or heavily melancholic movie. That's what a 3-month winter does.
As far as I can see, I Am Weary, Don't Let Me Rest is only released digitally; no physical version. As much as I am in favor of digital releases myself, I think that is a bit of a shame, because an album like this really deserves a physical edition.
I Am Weary, Don't Let Me Rest by Snorri Hallgrímsson
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
GUNNAR JÓNSSON COLLIDER - S.W.I.M. Gunnar Jónsson Collider is a music producer from Reykjavik, Iceland, who has released a few albums on local labels. I don’t know much about him beyond what you can easily find out yourself. What makes him different from most other ambient (/techno) artists is that he usually accompanies his music with programmed or AI-generated visuals.
His latest album, S.W.I.M., is his first release on the ASIP label (A Strangely Isolated Place), and his ‘most horizontal album to date’. The entire album is visualized by video artist Arna Beth.
You can watch the 49-minute video of Environment 1-6 below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGQModA55M0
S.W.I.M. seems to be an acronym that stands for Sounds Without Image Music, which implies that you can imagine your own images with the music. But you can of course also let Arna Beth’s beautiful video guide your imagination.
If you prefer to enjoy the music without the visuals, ASIP offers a digital download or a (very limited) blue smoke 12" vinyl.
S.W.I.M. by Gunnar Jónsson Collider
MOUNT SHRINE - LOST LOOPS COLLECTION Mount Shrine is one of the many aliases of César Alexandre from Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Starting out creating breakcore and dub techno around 2012, he took up the Mount Shrine alias to create dark ambient music from 2017. Apart from the titles he released himself, most of his work was released on the Cryo Chamber label. This label now also releases this collection - a massive posthumous tribute, as Alexandre died in 2021 from Covid-19.
The Lost Loops Collection is a compilation presenting all ('currently known') underground albums, singles and EPs that César Alexandre produced as Mount Shrine. 'Underground' means all the music that was previously self-released and thus hard to find until now.
No less than 4 hours (and 4 minutes to be exact) of deep, dark, swirling drones in 23 tracks of various length, available on a 5-CD set or as a digital download. The dark ambient soundscapes can be experienced as 'warm' or 'cold', this may depend on the listener or on the moment.
But whatever landscape visions this music may conjure up: there's a lot of rain either way.
Lost Loops Collection by Mount Shrine
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
STEFANO GUZZETTI - LETTERS FROM NOWHERE (PIANO BOOK VOL. 3) This is the third (obviously) and also the final release in Stefano Guzzetti's 'Piano Book' trilogy. The first (At Home, 2014) focused strictly on the piano alone, Short Stories (2018) added some subtle electronics. Now on Letters From Nowhere 'the piano plays along with a range of selected old hardware synthesizers'.
This means there are different moods and atmospheres on this album, thus avoiding the pitfalls of the currently overabundant solo-piano music.
'“Letters from Nowhere” is a correspondence from imaginary places and states of mind, where the composer took his time to describe the intensity of one moment, the vastness of despair, but also the joy of reuniting again with the people and places we love'.
This release on Home Normal has catalogue number #150 - now that's a fact worthy of congratulations!
Letters from Nowhere - Piano Book Volume Three by Stefano Guzzetti
FEDERICO DURAND - TOUR TAPES Federico Durand is a big fan of the merchandise tables at concerts: 'For me, fanzines, posters, tapes and limited-edition CDs from independent labels are objects of great beauty. Its modesty tell us about careful craftsmanship and love for music.'
This is why this limited 2CD edition on Home Normal compiles three of the tapes that were previously available at his concert tour in Europe ('Adormidera') and two tours he did in Japan ('Música Para Manuel' and 'Pavel'). "Tour Tapes" now makes the music available to those who were unable to attend one of these concerts.
Most of the (nine) titles are extended tracks ranging from 12 to 20 minutes. The opener, Adormidera, has the hypnotising effect of a Basinski-loop. If you surrender to the 16-minute Niebla, Montaña, Pinos, you will completely lose track of time. There are also a few short tracks, skethes no longer than 2 minutes each.
They may all have a different sound, yet they all fit together very well due to the way Federico Durand uses 'acoustic and electronic instruments, experiments with tapes, rustic, recorded in my old house in Buenos Aires and in my home in La Cumbre, a mountain town in Argentina'.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
Livid Walls Of Thought
Tracklist:
- 00:00 DreamScenes - Intro (Susanna)
- 00:47 Nils Økland & Sigbjørn Apeland - Skynd Deg, Skynd Deg
Glimmer, 2023, ECM Records - 05:05 Alva Noto - Village 1
- 09:20 Alva Noto - Ritual
This Stolen Country Of Mine (Soundtrack for a Documentary Film By Marc Wiese), 2023, Noton - 12:54 Ian Hawgood - Movement III
And Then There Was Nothing, 2023, Home Normal - 16:36 soccer Committee - Imagining You In The Room (fragment)
❤️ /Lamb, 2023, Morc Records - 21:07 Machinefabriek & Monika Bugajny - II (After Brahms)
Recytle, 2023, Self-released - 24:31 Lull - Range - Excerpt
Arise - A Cold Spring Sampler, 2023, Cold Spring - 28:09 Lønning, Reinertsen, Kleefstra & Kleefstra - Yn It Ferbeane Lân
It Deel II, 2023, Moving Furniture Records - 35:40 Sonmi451 - The Eighteen Minute Gap
The Eighteen Minute Gap, 2023, Laaps Records - 41:31 Shida Shahabi - Kinsei
Living Circle, 2023,130701 - 44:56 Andrew Heath - Shelter
Fold, 2023, Dronarivm - 48:04 Mardit B. Lleshi, Bledi Boraku - Mija 1
Saggio, 2023, Whitelabrecs - 51:33 Pruski - Moment III
Moments Of Immersion, 2023, Whitlebrecs - 56:19 Solo Andata - Livid Walls Of Thought
Slip Casting, 2023, 12K - 59:00 DreamScenes - Outro (Dean Hurley)
Play this edition on-demand from the Concertzender website
Or:
[audio src="https://streams.greenhost.nl/cz/cz/rod/20230709-2000.mp3" /]
(available ca 1 hour after the radio broadcast)
DreamScenes editions are also available as a podcast!
Receive the full **DreamScenes** tracklist automatically at every new edition? Simply subscribe here!
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
JAMES MURRAY - ASCENSIÓN POR CHIMO PÉREZ
Chimo Pérez (Alicante, 1968) paints his landscapes and portraits with incredible detail, 'enhancing the aesthetic beauty of the model as he is able to express their emotions'.
This short video documentary shows the meticulousness and endless patience of the painter at work. In this case, the painting itself (I assume it is called Ascensción) is not a human portrait but a painting of (something that looks like but does not really seem to be) a tree.
The 27-minute documentary by Joan Gili Prohens showcases the creative process without spoken commentary but with an intense soundtrack by James Murray.
Like the painting itself, Murray's soundtrack is full of details - it seems to literally follow the pencil's stroke. The result is a dense immersive soundscape - not dense as in 'noisy' but as in detailed.
According to Murray, the soundtrack is 'composed on tactile and generative electronic instruments in response to the evolving on-screen kinetics':
'Direct source recordings of realtime physical interactions with Chimo’s materials are integral to the soundtrack, treated by the composer and processed to produce melodic flourish, resonant percussion, and harmonic texturing. Over the unfolding of this visual vigil pencil shading becomes clouds of granular noise, brushes glissando languidly, heavy charcoal impacts and water drops audibly chime'.
I can't really imagine how this worked exactly, so maybe it's time for a documentary about the making of the soundtrack for a documentary. But in any case, the result is an impressive 27-minute set that has all the characteristics of Murray's music yet is different from his earlier work.
Ascensión por Chimo Pérez is released on his own Slowcraft Records label and includes a CDr and a Bluray containing the video documentary as well as a surround sound version (!!!).
Ascensión por Chimo Pérez by James Murray
JOHN VON SEGGERN - AMBIENT BASS GUITAR
John von Seggern began his musical journey in 1991, studying bass and improvisation with jazz bass legends such as Gary Peacock and Reggie Workman. He moved to Tokyo and later Hong Kong in the 90s, where he became a DJ and joined a band called Digital Cutup Lounge. He has not previously released any solo albums, but he has collaborated with other artists as a session musician, including Thomas Newman (on the soundtrack for Wall-E) and Paul Haslinger (ex-Tangerine Dream).
More recently, he also worked closely with Jon Hassell on Listening To Pictures and Seeing Through Sound.
Ambient Bass Guitar is heavily influenced by Hassell’s way of approaching music, but von Seggern has his own unique style: he ‘used the software setup he had created for Hassel, well as Hassel’s one take, no edits/overdubs recording style’.
The title reveals that all the sounds are produced by playing the bass and running it through ‘complex chains of processing and effects’ in real-time.
Von Seggern creates a different mood for each of the 12 relatively short tracks and demonstrates how to make a diverse album with just one instrument.
Ambient Bass Guitar by John von Seggern
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
ULRICH KRIEGER - APHOTIC I - HADAL Ulrich Krieger is a German composer and musician 'not accepting stylistic boundaries'. Apart from his solo work, released on many different labels, he also is connected to many groups - of which Art Zoyd may be the best known.
His new release on the Room40 label shows his fascination for the ''alienness' of oceanic depths': Hadal is the deepest of the so-called aphotic ('lightless') oceanic zones: 6.000 - 11.000 m.
In an unlikely coincidence, Aphotic I - Hadal was released two days before the Titan submersible was reported missing. It turned out to be imploded at a depth of 3.500 m below sea level: the Bathyal zone. Given the pressure at that depth, it is impossible to imagine what the pressure must be in the Hadal zone.
Scuba divers will know that 'underwater also has its own, different acoustic that irritates our senses and creates a new, unique experience - sounds seem to come from everywhere, meaning we cannot orientate by sound anymore. Further, there is the filter effect of water, making the underwater soundscape filtered, darker and quieter. And the deeper we go pressure gets stronger, water gets colder, and less animal life can be found.'
This is the exact atmosphere the Ulrich Krieger recreates in these three 20-minute versions of Hadal: Acoustic, Delay, and Electronic. The sonic depth created by UlrichKrieger (bass clarinet, electronics), Ben Richter (accordion), and Alkis Nicolaides (electric guitar) is almost palpable.
The I in the album title suggests that more Aphotic releases may follow in the future. Slowly moving up from Hadal through Abyssal (4.000 - 6.000), Bathyal (1.000-4.000), and Mesopelagic (200-1.000) - until finally, in Epipelagic (0-200), we'll be able to see the sunlight again.
Aphotic I — Hadal by Ulrich Krieger
OLIVIER ALARY - APPARITIONS (VOL. 1) Olivier Alary, born in France but now living in Montreal, has released four albums under his own name since 2016 - two on 130701 and two (including this one) on Richard Chartier's Line Records. Apart from his solo albums, he also released work as Ensemble, whose debut Sketch Proposals caught the attention of Björk who invited him to remix two of her songs. Later, he also collaborated with Johannes Malfatti and Ian William Craig. He composed music for more than 50 feature fiction and documentary films.
Apparitions, Vol. 1 is the first of a series of composed works, 'instrumental acoustic pieces centered around the idea of a musical representation of the spectrality of memory - a space where time collapses and our past collective memories haunt our minds, like a ghost.'
Coming from an electronic music background, Alary chose to limit himself to acoustic instruments without using any electronic processes. The three tracks are written for (and performed by) 3 violas, 4 vibraphones, and marimba, and 3 bassoons. Each piece takes the time to develop the composition to maximum effect.
The 'Apparitions' from the title - referring to 'hauntology music which relies on the intersections of memories and depicts musically how we are haunted by the past' - is the result of using similar instruments played together 'in order to use psychoacoustic effects coming from the closeness of the timbres'.
Someone on the Line BandCamp page commented with the simple statement 'Contemporary done right' - and I can heartily agree with that. Even if it's hard to explain what exactly is 'right' and what is not, this is definitely 'done right'!
Apparitions (Vol. 1) by OLIVIER ALARY
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
JANEK SCHAEFER (a.m.o) - FOUNDSOUNDSCAPE You can always count on Janek Schaefer to come up with an original concept. After all, he started his sonic career with Recorded Delivery in 1995, posting a sound-activated tape recorder (technological possibilities were quite different then, mind you) and contributing the recorded journey of the package to the exhibition called'self storage' curated by Brian Eno and Laurie Anderson. Since then, many interesting projects followed - some strictly conceptual, some musical, often some of both.
Foundsoundscape originally started in 2015, when Schaefer collected all sorts of environmental recordings from artists (and non-artists), which resulted in 100+ artists sending in recordings of 1000+ locations. All of these fragments were randomly mixed using three software players simultaneously so the combination would be ever-changing. And representing a non-existing sonic world, because it may sound like a familiar environment but it cannot exist in real-time this way.
The list of contributors is rather impressive. To name but a few: Brian Eno, Chris Watson, Pauline Oliveros, Hildegard Westerkamp, Christina Kubisch, Charlemagne Palestine, Phill Niblock, Stephan Mathieu, William Basinski, Maggi Payne, Rhys Chatham, Lawrence English, ... well, I must stop here because otherwise, the list would be too long (just check the page for details).
But don't expect musical contributions from these artists: there is no music here, apart from some fragments that were recorded on the street or in any other environment. This is, after all, an environmental soundscape, not a musical composition (although this is open to discussion).
It was inspired by a radio station that 'simply played a recording of a rural location. Radio you could just leave running to add a peaceful ambience to your environment indoors.'
'Using over 1000 calm & curious location recordings from all over the globe, captured by 100 recordists, the sounds were simply edited, and are played back three at a time at various volumes in shuffle mode, and the result is never the same twice. You often hear the edges of time as files begin or stop playing mid flow.'
It is not intended to actively listen to: no sane person will probably have the patience to listen to the full 24 hours. But it can be played in the background for a fresh sonic enhancement of your environment (and probably helps filter out unwanted outside noises).
It may be a nice experiment to play this on a separate system in your house (like a Bluetooth speaker instead of your main audio system, for instance), setting the volume quite low and then proceed to do what you normally do, so you can still play other music on your main system, too.
But be aware: this is not a single continuous environment like a 10-hour recording of soothing rain or things like that. It constantly and randomly changes sounds from all over the world, like switching channels on your radio. 'A salute to serendipity and shared sonic space.'
Foundsoundscape.com is still online, though not in its original (randomized and endless) form: it now links to the 24-hour files on YouTube and Spotify. For offline listening, Janek Schaefer presents this download of 24 one-hour files that can be played in any random order.
Foundsoundscape by Janek Schaefer
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
LOSCIL - ALTA
I guess I can safely assume that (Scott Morgan) aka loscil (no capitalization) needs no further introduction. If it does, I strongly recommend you to check his back catalog which started in 2001 and contains quite some reference albums when it comes to ambient music.
Apart from all 'official' releases (by which I mean those that are released on labels like Kranky and Glacial Movement), Morgan sometimes also self-releases music, not on any label. Alta is a recent example.
Alta is a rendered version of a generative music piece created for an audiovisual installation in Vancouver BC in March 2023. Originally an endless piece of music for four channels (oh how I would love to suggest Scott to also release a digital multichannel version like Robert Rich does), but now available as a stereo version of 42 minutes. (And 'available' means 'name your price'!!).
The piece is related to the music for Adrift, originally written for a mobile application, but available as a download since 2020. Like the music on that release, Alta is also named after an abandoned sea vessel.
With the sound rolling in like quiet waves, the piece is extremely relaxing, and I can easily imagine it going on for a very very long time without getting boring. By the lack of the endless generative version, it's best to simply put this one on repeat.
ANDREW HEATH - FOLD
Just a few weeks after the release of Landscape Studies No.3 (see below), the Dronarivm label surprises us with a full-length release of music by Andrew Heath.
Knowing his 'lower case music' (as he calls it), ánd knowing the consistent quality of the Dronarivm releases, my expectations were high.
And Fold does not disappoint.
Andrew Heath's music is like a breath of fresh air, with its perfectly produced sound field. Every single instrument can be clearly heard without dominating the field.
Still, Heath claims this album is a shift in his work 'towards a more open and tonal sound - warmer and more dreamlike'.
Of course, I am not to argue with that but I would have used that description (open, tonal, warm, dreamlike) for most - if not all - of his previous works. Because that is exactly why I love it so.
'Fold is a slow-moving tone poem with delicate piano motifs and evolving e-bowed guitar notes that seem to form from nowhere and then disappear into the ether, always searching for that elusive and constantly shifting space between sleeping and waking.'
I simply have nothing to add to that.
Physically, Fold is only available in a cassette edition in a strictly limited edition of 50 handmade boxes that will be gone in a blink of an eye. However, there's also a digital download option.
ANDREW HEATH - LANDSCAPE STUDIES No. 3
The music of Andrew Heath is always closely connected to the landscapes that surround him. Often - but not exclusively - with a genuine 'English' atmosphere (although it's hard to explain why I feel this). On Landscape Studies, however, he focuses on 'places I have visited and even those in distant memories'.
Each edition opens and closes with a short environmental recording, between that the music drifts off to explore the landscape - imaginary or real.
Landscape Studies No.3 is the final part of this series of short albums. This time, the field recordings are from Norway, because this edition 'takes us to winter and the season\s cold grasp on everything around us'.
Do not expect cold, glacial dark ambient though: Heath's music is warm and comforting as always. Maybe because he focuses on the different light in winter: 'gentle soft colours and tones that obscure the distance or a moonlit radiance on the soft snow'.
Each edition of this trilogy is around 25 minutes long. So they would perfectly fit together on a CD if you ask me. Unfortunately, there's no sign of this happening ... for now, the three Landscape Studies are only available digitally.
Landscape Studies No. 3 by Andrew Heath
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
For The Birds: The Birdsong Project is a collection of no less than 245 (!) bird-inspired tracks by famous (as well as lesser-known) artists. When I read about this collection, I felt that I wanted to make a radio show about it with a selection from the material. That led to three one-hour broadcasts on Concertzender Nederland.
Like all radio shows onthis station, they remain available on-demand afterward.
The 13 hours on this 20LP collection represent every musical style imaginable and include music as well as poetry. Apart from this release, The Birdsong Project grew into a larger platform of activities such as exhibitions, live performances, artist-designed birdhouses, etcetera, of which all proceedings are donated to The Audubon Society.
And since I am very happy that I had the privilege to compile these selections, I like to mention them here - even though they have only minor 'ambient' content (there is sóme of that, however: by artists like Chris Watson, Jana Winderen, Ben Lukas Boysen).
Below are the links to the three shows on Concertzender Nederland. I hope you'll enjoy listening!
Part 1
[audio src="https://streams.greenhost.nl/cz/cz/rod/20230503-2200.mp3" /]
Cosmo Sheldrake, Nick Cave, Beck, Maki Namekawa/Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson, David van Tieghem, Danielle Lupi, Chris Watson, Suzzy Roche, Loudon Wainwright III, Midori Hirano, Tawiah, Mamadou Kelly, Michael Penn, Yo Yo Ma, Jana Winderen.
https://www.concertzender.nl/programma/popart_716072/
Part 2
[audio src="https://streams.greenhost.nl/cz/cz/rod/20230510-2200.mp3" /]
Cosmo Sheldrake, Calexico, Makaya McCraven, Chilly Gonzalez, Anthony Roth Constanzo, Peter Broderick, Daniel Lanois, Annie Gosfield, Olivia Chaney, The Album Leaf, Koa Kalish, Kaoru Watanabe, Cassandra Jenkins, Mark Mothersbaugh, Hidden Orchestra ft. Tim Southorn, Steve Gunn, Ragazze Quartet.
https://www.concertzender.nl/programma/popart_717200/
Part 3
[audio src="https://streams.greenhost.nl/cz/cz/rod/20230607-2200.mp3" /]
Cosmo Sheldrake, Balmorhea, El Buho, Sam Gendel, The Flaming Lips, Saunder Jurriaan & Danni Bensi, Lee Ranaldo & Michael McClure, John Cale, Nico Muhly, Devendra Barnhart, Roddy Bottum, Vince Giordiano & The Nighthawks, Meara O'Reilly, The Haden Triplets, Ben Lukas Boysen, Spring Summer, Mary Lattimore.
https://www.concertzender.nl/programma/popart_722061/
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
MACHINEFABRIEK WITH MONIKA BUGAJNY - RECYTLE It's been a while since I last recommended work from Machinefabriek/Rutger Zuydervelt (well, to be exact, it was January this year, but before that, you'll have to go way back to 2021). But that has nothing to do with his output: in the meantime Rutger has probably released more music than most readers own. One of the constants in his output is that it is always surprising - while at the same time, his discography shows remarkable coherence.
One of the many short pieces on '+' featured clarinetist Monika Bugajni, and that 'concoction' (as he calls it) was the start of a fruitful collaboration resulting in this new album.
Recytle (Recital / Recycle, get it?) is more subdued and less exuberant than some of Machinefabriek's earlier output, but this is exactly what this music needs.
Monika Bugajni gets all the space to excel with her clarinet reinterpretations of classical music, while Zuydervelt takes a modest but effective role in manipulating the material and adding 'moody and woozy' electronics.
Music inspired by Poulenc, Brahms, Copland, Messiaen, Stravinsky, Debussy, Arnold, Horovitz .. few would have expected to hear these names on a Machinefabriek release (Rutger himself perhaps least of all).
But it works wonders.
It may have a classical atmosphere, but it definitely is contemporary music. It also may be one of Rutger's most accessible albums, so I strongly advise to check it out, whether you are a Machinefabriek adept or not.
Recytle by Machinefabriek with Monika Bugajny
LOUISE CAMPBELL - SOURCES
Louise Campbell is an artist from Montréal, who feels so closely connected to the St. Lawrence Seaway that she dedicated her debut album to it. Her primary instrument is the clarinet, and she pairs this instrument with intricate electronics to create 'rich yet spacious sonic environments, attentively layering and shaping the
instrument's characteristic pure tone through the aid of surreptitious processing, [folding] delicate microtonal sighs, futtering textures, and distant echoes into a single evocative image.'.
This album's four pieces can be enjoyed without further context, but it is still nice to know that this music is part of a larger multimedia setting: there will be an interactive outdoor installation in Montréal, which will include a system of small modular speakers as well as the bult-in speakers on participants phones. Apart from that, Campbell also devised a sense-walk, 'guiding listeners to interface with their surroundings in new ways.'
But of course, and unfortunately, that is only interesting for those near Montréal. The rest of us will have to do with the music on this album. Which proves to be satisfying enough!
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
"A Descent Into The Maelström"
Tracklist:
- 00:00 DreamScenes - Intro (Susanna)
- 00:22 Snorri Hallgrimsson - Behind the Sun
I Am Weary, Don't Let Me Rest, 2023, Moderna Records - 06:24 Machinefabriek & Monika Bugajny - IV (After Horowitz)
Recytle, 2023, self-released - 09:36 Nicholas Britell - End Credits - Choir And Orchestra - With Open Eyes
- 11:46 Nicholas Britell - Langsam - We Gave It A Go
Succession S04 OST, 2023, HBO - 13:40 Craven Faults - Severals
Standers, 2023, Leaf - 17:19 Kloob & Onasander - A Descent Into The Maelström
Mysterium, Incubus et Terror. Music inspired by Edgar Allan Poe stories, 2023, Eighth Tower Recordings - 22:51 Katta - Meditace I
Vox Organi, 2023, Emika Records - 25:19 Gabriel Ólafs - Sálmur
Lullabies For Piano And Cello, 2023, Decca (rel: june 9) - 28:05 Kajsa Magnarsson - Meditation
New Age Sound Aesthetics, 2023, Outerdisk - 31:18 Loscil - Alta (fragment)
Alta, 2023, self-released - 35:14 France Jobin - String 3
10-33CM, 2023, Room40 - 38:21 Louise Campbell - Songbird (edit)
Sources, 2023, Redshift Records - 43:56 Cruel Diagonals - Lament
Fractured Whole, 2023, Beacon Sound - 46:47 Robert Rich & Luca Formentini - Murmurs
For Sundays When It Rains, 2022, Soundscape - 49:40 Runhild Gammelsaeter & Lasse Marhaug - The Magus
Higgs Boson, 2022, Ideologic Organ - 54:03 Nicholas Britell - Phone Call
57:16 Nicholas Britell - My Dear, Dear, World Of A Father
Succession S04 OST, 2023, HBO - 59:02 DreamScenes - Outro (Dean Hurley)
Play this edition on-demand from the Concertzender website
OR:
https://streams.greenhost.nl/cz/cz/rod/20230611-2000.mp3
(available ca 1 hour after the radio broadcast)
DreamScenes editions are also available as a podcast!
Please note:
This month's edition is not available on Mixcloud because of their new licensing constrictions (max 3 tracks from one album).
Receive the full **DreamScenes** tracklist automatically at every new edition? Simply subscribe here!
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
DAVID TOOP & LAWRENCE ENGLISH - THE SHELL THAT SPEAKS THE SEA When these two artists collaborate, you know you’re in for a strangely wonderful sonic adventure. The opening track, Abyssal Tracker, sets the tone with its dark atmosphere.
The Shell That Speaks The Sea is a result of David Toop's and Lawrence English's shared interest in sounds that evoke emotions and memories rather than facts and events. One example is the sound of the Tawny Frogmouth, a mysterious bird whose call sounds like a low-frequency oscillator that changes pitch.
The compositions started from Lawrence English’s collection of (haunting) field recordings, to which they added voice, electronics, guitars, bowing, whistling, percussion, flutes (David Toop) and electronics, shortwave radio, bass drum, ghost flute, bamboo, stones (Lawrence English).
The Chair’s Story is a remake of one of the tracks on David Toop’s debut album New And Rediscovered Musical Instruments from 1975 (released on Brian Eno’s Obscure Records). The chair’s voice has aged over the 48 years but the track remains (or even becomes more) intriguing and mysterious.
The Shell That Speaks The Sea defies any standard genre classification because it creates a genre of its own created by Toop and English. It combines elements of electroacoustic soundscapes, musique concrète, and acousmatic music - all of them haunting and ‘charged with unexpected dynamics’.
The Shell That Speaks The Sea by David Toop & Lawrence English
CRUEL DIAGONALS - FRACTURED WHOLE Cruel Diagonals is the alias of multimedia artist Megan Mitchell. She has a classical background and is ‘well-versed in jazz standards’, but her music here is far from conventional jazz - unless you have a very broad definition of ‘jazz’.
Fractured Whole is her fourth full-length album. The eleven tracks are made with only her voice (and electronics), 'chopped up, warped, rendered unrecognizable, ringing out in hymn-like incantations - a powerful exploration of vulnerability and resistance'.
The vocal soundscapes explore various emotions - as the liner notes say, they ‘range from the sacred music of Hildegard von Bingen to the satanic masses of Diamanda Galas’.
Those are the two extremes; Mitchell’s music is not as frightening as Galas’, even though it can be haunting. But it shows the territory that Megan Mitchell covers on this adventurous album.
Fractured Whole by Cruel Diagonals
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
RUSSELL BURDEN & CRAIG TATTERSALL - DIAGENESIS The Laaps release for Spring (it was released on 24-04-2023) is a collaboration album by Russell Burden and Craig Tattersall (also known as The Humble Bee). Both are sound and visual artists with a special dedication to the environment.
Burden specifically explores 'qualities of ambient perception, most often through the lens of hydrological, geological or biological processes', while Tattersall focuses on his own interactions within his environment.
This is especially clear on this album, where the soundscapes are built from many different field recordings to create a detailed fantasy landscape. But the result is not simply a collection of documentary environmental recordings, but four undoubtly musical soundscapes.
Diagenesis,the (well-chosen) album title, means 'the watery interactions, microbial activities, alterations, compactions, and chemical transformations of sediments slowly converting to rock'.
Diagenesis by Russell Burden & Craig Tattersall
NED MILLIGAN - CONSIDERABLE Next in line in the continuing Laaps series (but still representing the Spring season, slowly nearing Summer) is Ned Milligan's Considerable.
New York-based Ned Milligan's daytime job is an elementary school teacher, but apart from that he is an 'occasional' musician.
For this occasion, he created a beautiful companion to the aforementioned Burden/Tattersall album, completing the field recordings with chimes, singing drum, autoharp, and - of course - extensive processing.
'My work in the past five years has been grounded in recording and playing outdoors, trying to communicate the meaning of being in a particular location and finding meaning in interacting with whatever sounds or elements are equally present'.
Personally, I would have skipped the 'graciously and anonymously donated singing' in the beginning of A Crack In The Sky, because for me it somewhat breaks the spell of a fresh and sparkling outdoor holiday vacation that the rest of the album radiates. A vacation in York, Maine, obviously, because that is where most of the sounds were recorded.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
AMBIENT LAYERS VOL. II In their ongoing Layers-series, the 7K! label presents piano-, string-, wind-, ambient-, and duet layers. Some of them already two volumes: the Piano and String layers before, and now there's also a second volume of Ambient Layers, It is a digital-only release presenting 21 previously unreleased tracks (97 minutes) 'that outline and take a picture of the current underground ambient scene'.
There are familiar artists that can generate interest (like KMRU, Loscil, Jacaszek, Marconi Union, Skalpel) but the showcase also presents lesser-known artists from all over the world.
Overall, the music also represents a wide range of ambient of the more 'experimental' kind - no new-agey muzak here!
Expect the definition of 'ambient music ' to be somewhat stretched for the occasion: a track like Skalpel's Syntetik (great track by the way) would be more likely to be expected on a volume called Jazz Layers. And Joycut's C-Kdaster or Sundrugs Rapids would perfectly fit on something like Noise Layers.
'Ambient' obviously comes in many colors!
Ambient Layers Vol.II by Various Artists
THESE CLOUDS...
The Sound In Silence label celebrates its 100th release with an 18-track compilation. In fact, it is only their second compilation: the label started in 2006 with a compilation called These Waves...
The compilation covers different - but related - styles: ambient, modern classical, electronica and post-rock.
Many of the artists previously released work on this label, but there are also new names that will be releasing more work in the future. If you're a regular visitor of Ambientblog, you'll definitely find some familiar names in the list of contributors:
Panoptique Electrical, Sven Laux, Yellow6, The Green Kingdom, Benoît Pioulard, Wil Bolton, David Newlyn, Akira Kosemura, Halftribe, A Lily, SineRider, Absent Without Leave, Hotel Neon, worriedaboutsatan, r beny, Jakob Lindhagen, The Humble Bee, and Hainbach.
Like all releases on Sound In Silence, These Clouds... is released in a hand-stamped cardboard envelope, 'with the front cover image printed on a polaroid style photo paper'.
These Clouds... by Various Artists
MYSTERIUM, INCUBIS ET TERROR- MUSIC INSPIRED BY EDGAR ALLAN POE
This compilation is considerably darker than the two mentioned before. Of course, this is to be expected from a compilation tribute to Edgar Allan Poe, the legendary writer of macabre mystery tales.
'His meandering stories featuring such things as the onset of plague in a quarantined complex, troubles at sea, a murderer preying upon victims in their homes in the streets of Paris and quite frequently the haunting phantasms of guilt and grief and loss. At the times the supernatural drifts in, it is frequently with a disconcerting subtlety, even when wreathed in Gothic robes'.
The ten tracks on this (63-minute) album are like soundtracks to Poe's stories: frightening, scary, and nightmarish. Just how you expect (and want) them to be. The titles are like summaries: The Masque Of The Red Death, The Premature Burial, A Descent Into The Maelstrom, The Murders In The Rue Morgue. Don't say you weren't warned.
The haunting atmospheres are crafted by - among others - Morgen Wurde, Kloob & Onasander, Rapoon, Michael Bonaventure, Henrik Meierkord.
To complete this release, Eight Tower Records (part of the Unexplained Sounds Network, aka the Network of Aural Disorientation) also released an accompanying book with 13 illustrated Poe tales. Of course, the stories that were set to music on the album are present here. The book and album are also available separately, or as a bundled edition.
So if you want, you can play the music as a soundtrack while you read. Cold shivers are guaranteed.
Mysterium, Incubus et Terror. Music inspired by Edgar Allan Poe stories by Various Artists
MAPS TO WHERE THE POISON GROWS
Maps To Where The Poison Grows is not exactly a 'standard' compilation: it is intended as a sneak preview to the subscription series that Lost Tribe Sound will release over the year 2023. This will include 10 full-length albums (of which one is a double-album): each of these releases is presented here with a preview track. This is not the first time Lost Tribe Sound does a series like this: in fact is is already the fifth series.
You can either subscribe to the digital releases or to the CD-versions. If you choose the CD-edition, you'll receive the digital versions on their release date, but the physical editions will be shipped in one shipment on completion of the series to avoid extra shipping costs.
Lost Tribe Sound promises a lot of adventurous music, as can be heard on this introduction compilation:
'This series will expand upon our signature sound... dusted, intense modern composition teeming with electroacoustic experimentation. Elsewhere, heady ritual and slow-driving industrial ambient helps to disrupt, corroded circuitry and late-night alchemy brings comfort in the form of electroacoustic ambient works. Additionally, there's thirty-one minutes of circuit-bending post-folk experimentalism and a mammoth solo debut which explores themes of illness, apotheosis, and death.'
Maps To Where The Poison Grows will present albums by Claire Deak, Lavatone, Skyphone, mastroKristo, R.A. Sanchez, 't Geruis, Kaya North, Drawing Virtual Gardens, From The Mouth Of The Sun, and Civic Hall.
Maps To Where The Poison Grows (Subscription Series) by Lost Tribe Sound
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
BRÌGHDE CHAIMBEUL (& COLIN STETSON) - CARRY THEM WITH US Not many of you will probably associate the sound of a bagpipe to 'ambient' music, because of the often rather penetrating sound most people know. But it is probably also the first instrument that comes to mind that produces a distinct 'drone', along with instruments like the tanpoura and the sitar or the hurdy-gurdy.
Brìghde Chaimbeul is a Scottish pipe player from the Isle of Skye. She explains: "I’m always led by the drone. To be a piper you must have a natural attraction to drones. That’s the minimalist aspect, the atmosphere it creates, rather than a rhythm. The other side is melody, one or two of them in a tune, repeating them so it becomes trance-like, and getting lost in them a little bit."
Listen to Crònan (highlighted) below and you'll feel what she means by this.
Chainbeul plays the Scottish smallpipe, an instrument that almost was forgotten but which she helped to revive. Compared to the Great Highland Bagpipe, it has a much softer sound - it is suited for playing indoors and with other instruments and has a soft tone similar to a clarinet. (On this page, the three Scottish bagpipes are compared).
On Carry Them With Us she collaborates with the well-known saxophonist Colin Stetson: 'he uses atmospheres that inspired me.' The two instruments fit together beautifully and complement each other's sound - and the same is true for the way they are played.
If you like the sound and tradition of the Scottish pipe, this is mandatory listening. If not, I advise you to set aside your prejudice, open your ears and discover the fascinating sound of Brìghde Chambeul's smallpipe music.
Carry Them With Us by Brìghde Chaimbeul
SIX O'MATIC - A MISNOMERED PIPE'S DREAM And while on the subject of bagpipes, we might as well check out this unusual release by Six O'Matic - a somewhat enigmatic and mysterious musician from Pittsburgh. His catalog covers all kinds of styles: 'from ambient to Appalachian, from silly to psychedelic'.
'For more than 25 years he's been exploring the sounds in his head before they escape forever'. Besides, he has played the Scottish great highland bagpipe for more than 35 years.
In his own words, A Misnomered Pipe's Dream is 'the ambient bagpipe album nobody asked for [...] and nobody realized they needed to hear'.
On the short (22 minute) 5-track album he plays acoustic and electronic bagpipes, combined with synths and electronics. He blends experimental and improvisational methods to create these tracks, which also mean that the music is less rooted in the traditional Scottish culture compared to Brìghde Chaimbeul's album mentioned above. It may come from a different angle, but it's just as much fun to listen to!
A Misnomered Pipe's Dream (EP) by Six O'Matic
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
[Video by Dave Michuda / image by midjourney]
[audio src="https://www.ambientblog.net/mix/Saddest_Chord.mp3" controls /]
Could this be 'the saddest mix of all time'? I don't think so myself, I would rather call it melancholic - in a pleasant way. But it's a fact that all of these tracks are in D minor (Dm), which is said to be 'the saddest chord':
"The D minor chord (often written as Dm) is a chord that evokes a sense of melancholy and contemplation on the negative side of situations. Like many other minor chords, Dm can create a heavy, serious atmosphere -- and sometimes even creates an almost otherworldly sense of drama."
There are many ambient moments, but (like most Ambientblog mixes) this is not a pure 'ambient' mix, since it includes many 'post-classical' strings and piano moments.
One advantage of selecting fragments based on the chord is that the tracks are selected regardless of the release year. Which feels like ‘as if time were the easiest thing to walk’ (The Dwindlers).
I am honored that this mix is also featured on Dave Michuda's Low Light Mixes. Dave also created the beautiful promo videos for this mix. Thanks a million for that, Dave!
Tracks included:
This mix is created using bits, pieces, fragments, samples & edits from the following tracks:
start time sample length Artist - Title
album, year, label
- 00:00 0:38 Erik K Skodvin & Rauelsson - The Return
A Score For Darling, 2018, Sonic Pieces - 00:30 4:47 Erik Wøllo & Michael Stearns - Ruins Of The Past
Convergence, 2020, Projekt - 03:49 2:19 Zoviet France - Amber Rose Hand
The Tables Are Turning, 2013, Soleilmoon Recordings - 04:40 2:28 Monolake - Allure Publison
Archaeopteryx, 2020, Imbalance Computer Music - 05:56 2:42 Mark Tamea - Tower Ch1 Rearranged
Five Augmented Locations (Vol. 1), 2014, EQ:RA - 06:51 3:52 Trans Alp - Gymnopédies No. 1
Après Quatre Pièces D'Erik Satie, 2013, Camomille Music - 09:32 1:59 Luc Ferrari - Presque Rien No. 2 Ou Ainsi Continue La Nuit Dans Ma Tête Multiple
L'Oeuvre Électronique, 2009, INA-GRM - 10:14 2:15 Madeleine Cocolas - And Then I Watch It Fall Apart
Spectral, 2022, Room40 - 10:40 03:53 Chihei Hatakeyama & Good Weather For An Airstrike - Lost In The City
Falling Sun, 2014, Rural Colours - 12:42 3:26 Luke Howard - The Closing Of The Gates (with Budapest Art Orchestra)
All Of Us, 2022, Mercury KX - 15:01 3:55 Jacob Kirkegaard - Chasm Chant
Pod Tune, 2018, Not On Label - 16:20 5:19 Mendel Kaelen - Light Of Nature
Remembering What Was Forgotten, 2010, Self-released - 20:12 4:33 Jon Hopkins - How I Live Now
How I Live Now OST, 2013, Just Music - 24:02 2:37 The Dwindlers - Dekuji Praha
Beautiful Unfamiliar, 2019, self-released - 26:04 2:13 Simon Fisher Turner - Nanda Devi
The Epic Of Everest, 2013, Mute - 27:26 1:51 Jeremiah Cymerman - From The Metaphysical To The Transcendental (for Bill Smith)
Citadels & Sanctuaries, 2021, 5049 Records - 28:52 1:40 Don Hill (with Blast Theory) - WRGO (Lunar Lander)
WRGO (What's Really Going On), 2019, self-released - 29:48 4:54 Roger Eno & Brian Eno - Obsidian
Mixing Colours, 2020, Deutsche Grammophon - 34:09 3:17 Mike Lazarev - When You Are
When You Are, 2022, Slowcraft Records - 36:37 4:11 London Docks - Violin Improvisation - La Lluvia
Tangaróa, 2014, self-released - 38:47 3:43 Agate Rollings - 1.12 AM - On The Fingers Of A Heat Which Is Burning Out
Meantime/Elsewhere, 2021, Midira Records - 41:31 3:52 Gareth Davis - Stone
Souvenirs Van De Woeste Grond, 2014, Esc.Rec - 41:38 2:11 Endless Melancholy - Broken
An Introduction To Soft, 2014, Soft Recordings - 44:21 1:57 Arve Henriksen - First Life
Chron, 2012, Rune Grammofon - 46:12 5:01 Ketil Bjørnstadt & Svante Henryson - Reticence
Night Song, 2011, ECM Records - 48:09 1:26 Loscil - Ma.Org (Seque) Re.Mx
Ma.Org Pa.Git.Re.Mx, 2015 Crónica - 48:11 2:36 Ben Lukas Boysen & Sebastian Plano - Glacial Sunbeam
Everything, 2017, Erased Tapes Records - 50:38 2:54 Anne Chris Bakker - Droesem
Reminiscences, 2014, Dronarivm - 52:51 1:23 Greg Haines - Birthday Scene
Touched 3, 2016, Touched - 53:26 1:01 Clara Engel & Bradley Sean Alexander - Sleeps Again
Ghost Bird, 2021, Polar Seas Recording - 54:26 1:42 Eleni Karaindrou - Adagio
Concert in Athens, 2013, ECM Records - 55:59 1:49 Hans Zimmer - The One
Dune OST, 2021, WaterTower Music - 57:31 4:00 Voces8 - Ola Gjeillo Still (Arr. Lawson)
Infinity, 2021, Decca Classics
Download In Praise of the Saddest Chord now 138Mb (60 min.)Alternative download from Archive.org (check here for lossless downloads)][Surround-version (DTS.wav/WMA 5.1) here]
OR: Listen on Mixcloud, Spotify or iTunes:
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
"Vini mínum vagga ég í ró
En úti biður andlit á glugga""My little friend I lull to rest
But outside, a face looms at the window"Bíum Bíum Bambalo
Tracklist:
- 00:00 DreamScenes - Intro (Susanna)
- 00:42 Six O'Matic - Attack (Shock and Aww)
A Misnomered Pipe's Dream, 2023, Monkey Corner Records - 03:04 Alva Noto - Son
- 03:50 Alva Noto - Kinder Der Sonne - Intro
Kinder der Sonne, 2023, Noton - 06:57 Isabel Pine - Embers
Embers, 2023, Self-released - 10:12 Brian Eno - Inclusion (Instrumental)
Foreverandevernomore (Forever Voiceless Edition), 2023, Universal UMC - 14:21 Brian Eno & Fred Again - Cmon
- 18:14 Brian Eno & Fred Again - Pause
Secret Life, 2023, Text Records - 21:07 Michel Banabila & Mete Erker - Observatory II - Sax Version
Observatory II, 2023, Tapu Records - 22:26 Oleg Buloshkin - Sacrament
Musical Offering, 2023, Cold Spring - 24:31 Stephan Mathieu - Mauve District (fragment)
Mauve District, 2023, Schwebung - 28:10 Angélica Castelló - Rompeme (edit)
Catorce Reflexiones Sobre El Fin (Fourteen Reflections On The End), 2023, Gruenrekorder - 30:18 Subheim - Static
Raeon, 2023, Denovali - 31:57 Zakè, Markus Guentner, James Bernard - Glacia
Pyramiden, 2023, Zakè Drone Recordings - 34:46 Gabriel Ólafs - Bambalo
Lullabies for Piano and Cello, 2023, Decca (rel: June 9) - 37:21 Julia Andersson - Edith
Dröm, 2023, Moderna Records - 40:11 Vetle Nærø - Little Dreamer
From Moments, 2023, 7K! - 43:22 Louise Rossiter - Homo Machina (fragment)
Der Industriepalast Part 1, 2023, Oscillations - 46:35 Genesis P-Orridge & The Hafler Trio - Slave Priest (Yes) (fragment)
Dream Less Suite, 2023, Cortizona - 48:43 Yann Van Der Cruyssen - Control Room (edit)
Stray (OST), 2022, Annapurna Interactive - 51:15 Jonas Colstrup - Continuum ft. Budapest Art Orchestra & Theatre of Voices
At The Crest, 2022, 7K! - 54:55 Lisa Stenberg - Oracular
Monument, 2023, Fylkingen (rel. May 20) - 59:00 DreamScenes - Outro (Dean Hurley)
Play this edition on-demand from the Concertzender website
OR:
[audio src="https://streams.greenhost.nl/cz/cz/rod/20230514-2000.mp3" /]
(available ca 1 hour after the radio broadcast).
DreamScenes editions are also available as a podcast!
Receive the full **DreamScenes** tracklist automatically at every new edition? Simply subscribe here!
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
ALVA NOTO - KINDER DER SONNE Alva Noto's music is sometimes associated with an analytical, almost mathematical approach and for that reason also somewhat detached from human emotions. But that is not the complete story, and greatly undervalues his work - as is convincingly demonstrated in this latest album.
Carsten Nicolai (which is his real name) 'seeks to overcome the separation of the sensory perceptions of man by making scientific phenomenons like sound and light frequencies perceivable for both eyes and ears'.
Kinder der Sonne (Children of the Sun) presents music that is written for the theater piece Komplizen ('Accomplices') by Simon Stone - a play he wrote based on Maxim Gorky's play 'Children of the Sun', written in the context of the 1905 Russian revolution.
In its 75-minutes, Noto/Nicolai 'unveils a romantic space, charting a sublime path with a new depth of harmonics and vibrant color', taking 'the listener into a sonic journey of emotional tension and release, revealing a particular kind of sci-fi lust fused with a suite of modern, minimalist ambient classical'.
(I'm simply copying the official information here because I'd find no better words to describe it).
This is electronic music in its most compelling form, created by an artist that absolutely masters his instruments and tools, but who also knows that 'less is more' can achieve maximum impact.
Kinder der Sonne is available on CD and as a 2LP version.
ALVA NOTO - UNGEWISSHEIT IM SINUS
MARKUS GUENTNER - ONDA Markus Guentner's Onda is said to be the follow-up to 2021's Empire, an album that I labeled 'a landmark release. One for the history books'.
According to Discogs, naming Onda the follow-up to Empire is a bit strange: After Empire (2018), there were at least three different releases - two of them on A Strangely Isolated Place (Gradient Spirits and Extropy in 2020 and 2021) and a collaboration release with Zakè and James Bernard called Pyramiden* earlier in 2023 (another one that is definitely worth checking out, by the way).
Furthermore, Guentner himself describes Theia (2015), Empire and Extropy* as a 'trilogy' - so what does that make Onda? Part Four of a trilogy?
But all this nitpicking aside; this new release on Joachim Spieth's Affin Records definitely lives up to the expectations. Guentner has been named 'the inventor of pop ambient' (also referring to the Pop Ambient series curated by Wolfgang Voigt) - but Onda clearly focuses more on the 'ambient' side than on the 'pop' aspect.
Ever since his first release on Kompakt in 2000, Marku Guentner has developed his 'deep, atmospheric music, characterized by subtle but intense arcs of harmony and melody.'
The slowly developing 'orchestral progressions' in these six tracks are enticing and immersive - I can easily imagine (and would love to hear) these pieces in a full orchestral arrangement. One for the repeat button.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
400 LONELY THINGS - MOTHER MOON I'm not ashamed to admit that I had never heard of 400 Lonely Things before, even if they have been releasing albums since 2003. In my defense: most of them were released on rather obscure; only in 2020 there appeared a split-release cassette with Fossil Aerosol Mining Project on Helen Scarsdale Agency. Their latest, Mother Moon is released on Cold Spring, and it will probably gain some more attention - especially since it is produced by none other than William Basinski.
400 Lonely Things are Craig Varian and Jonathan McCall. For this album, 400 Lonely Things found inspiration in the Banning Mill, a 'decaying "mansion" and haven for artists, freaks, and misfits in the backwoods of the American Deep South in the 1970s-1990s'.
Mother Moon is described as a 'dark ambient, sample-based séance', and the 79 minutes of 'melancholic instrumentals with weathered sampling at its core' indeed feels like a mysterious séance. At times, it is frightening like a weird nightmarish dream - but it's the kind of frightening you don't want to stop because it is so damn fascinating.
The background of Banning Mill and the way it inspired this music is explained in detail in the accompanying 44-page book, illustrated with weird David Lynch-like art. The book is included in the download, but can also be obtained separately as a soft-cover book. And that is not all: a 'peep show shirt' is also available.
As said, Mother Moon is produced by William Basinski. Even though the music here is none like Basinski's own stretched-out ambient dronescapes, his influence can clearly be heard in the melancholic sound of deterioration.
I'm sure that Banning Millmust have been a fascinating and inspiring place to be. But at the same time, listening to Mother Moon and browsing through the book feels like remembering something you would have preferred to leave forgotten.
And that is meant as a true compliment. After all, the motto of 400 Lonely Thing is: 'Dark New Age for the New Dark Age.'
Mother Moon by 400 Lonely Things
PUSH FOR NIGHT + JON MUELLER - LAPSED GASPS Push For Night is the name of the duo formed by James Elliott and Oliver Chapoy. Don't worry if you haven't heard about them before: until now they only released a few tracks on compilation albums and one self-titled release on the Tapeworm label in 2021.
Some years ago, around 2007, Elliott met Jon Mueller, a drummer/percussionist who 'focuses on the dialog between sound and the situation it's presented in, often bypassing standard approaches to percussion'. Mueller worked with artists like Rhys Chatham, James Plotkin, Asmus Tietchens, Z'EV, etc... so this may give an idea about his work. Only many years later, Elliott rediscovered Mueller's album Gong/Snare and suddenly realized its potential.
Everything you hear on Lapsed Gasps is based on this original album, after 'embellishing and reshaping that material via extensive processing, augmented with our own electronics, guitar, field recordings, and additional percussion'. Jon Mueller added some new material himself, created with his drum kit and his lawn sprinkler (!).
The result is an otherworldly sound trip that will have you on the edge of your seat. 'Bypassing standard approaches to percussion' is a kind of understatement here. The 'thick, liminal record, rich with the dread, absurdity, and delirium of the past several years' is clearly not easy listening material, but it will trigger your imagination in unexpected ways.
Lapsed Gasps by Push For Night + Jon Mueller
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
MICHAEL BEGG - SOUNDING THE ICE FACTORYMichael Begg has specialized in using all kinds of data as an input source for his music: oceanic details on Light Water Is Black Water, weather data on Witness 2, and the movement of satellites on Witness 1 and Witness 3.
The pieces on Sounding The Ice Factory 'assume their structure from observed data and modelling
predictions arising from studies of Pine Island Glacier as well as the Ronne-Filchner ice shelf and Weddell Sea in western Antarctica'. And there are many, many data to observe: 'the temperature of water, the concentration of salt, the rate of current flow, the wind and its ability to transport ice formed in polynyas (openings in the sea ice cover), the rise and fall of the thermocline; the depth at which cold, salt rich surface water meets warmer, deeper water.'
I cannot begin to understand what complex algorithms are used to turn this massive amount of data into (more or less) coherent sounds, so I simply trust Begg in creating this 'faithful report in which the aesthetics of sound have steered the way.'
He doesn't offer us a finalized opinion, but aims 'to allow the data to speak for itself', and just asks us to 'listen to the relationship between the flow of data points. For the most part it should be possible to discern a curious harmonic balance in these ambient chamber pieces. But where the readings break, or shift uncomfortably, the sound breaks too'.
Sounding The Ice Factory by Michael Begg
THEADELAIDEAN - HYPERAUREA The climate crisis obviously has an increasing impact on music, too. The decline of Antarctica may be perhaps the most poignant and urgent example of what lies ahead of us. On Hyperaurea, however, the focus is not on the impending crisis itself, but on a sonic description of the enigmatic beauty of the landscape itself. Still, the message is clear: we should do everything possible to preserve the mystery of Antarctica.
theAdelaidean is the musical alias of best-selling author Sean Williams (from Adelaide, of course). Hyperaurea (literally meaning 'beyond south') is his 'latest attempt to capture the essence of my fantastical journey south'. It is the soundtrack of William's journey to Antarctica in 2017. Details of this expedition are included in the extensive 23-page booklet that is included in the download, which also describes the memories that formed the basis for each track.
The vastness of the Antarctic landscape is also mirrored in this project: no less than three hours and fifty minutes divided in three chapters: Echoes of Antarctica, Ghosts Of The Ice, and Southern Stars. The first two present 14 pieces in various lengths, ranging from 59 seconds to 36 minutes. The third chapter has one 61-minute composition: Polaris Australis.
The music 'evokes the timeless, dreamlike nature of life and death on the ice', charting 'a course through the ice, sky, water, weather and rock of a precious and hostile landscape that few people ever visit'.
The massive release is divided in three chapters called Disc 1, 2, and 3 - but this does not refer to a physical release: Hyperaurea is a digital-only release that is offered as a Name Your Price download (!!).
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
TIM HECKER - NO HIGHS Well, this is quite a statement: No Highs 'serves as a beacon of unease against the deluge of false positive corporate ambient currently in vogue. [...] this is music of austerity and ambiguity, purgatorial and seasick. A jagged anti-relaxant for our medicated age, rough-hewn and undefined.'
I had to re-listen to this album with this statement in mind (I usually listen to albums without reading any background information first), because somehow I felt that No Highs was somewhat less 'in-your-face power ambient' than some of Hecker's earlier albums. I also try to not look at track titles at first listen, too, otherwise, titles like Monotony, Total Garbage, Pulse Depression, Anxiety, and Sense Suppression would probably have altered my experience somewhat in the intended direction. I guess this shows that the perception of music is always related to the context (and mental state) in which it is experienced.
But it's true: Hecker's music is nowhere near 'false positive corporate ambient.' It is not the kind of ambient you enjoy while relaxing on your yoga mat - this music needs your full attention and engagement. It's, as it is stated, 'an escape from escapism'.
But still, throughout, the pieces are 'more attuned to undertow than crescendo'.. and I guess that was exactly what triggered me in the first place.
PHONSONIC - CHROMEFor the pieces on Chrome, Alexander 'Phonsonic' Caminada started with 'a simple found sound, a randomly generated sequence or a melody played on an instrument'. From there the pieces further came alive while improvising. The result is a collection of seven pieces, each telling a different story with a different atmosphere. Some of the tracks use sequencer patterns, while other tracks are more abstract.
Even though his Bandcamp page presents 20 different titles, there is not much background information about Phonsonic as a musician. Discogs only mentions the self-released Temporal Discoveries from 2020 and even puts more emphasis on Caminada's other (main) work as a professional photographer. Something to be proud of, definitely, since he provided visuals for releases by none other than Michael Brook, Roger Eno, and Djivan Gasparyan. Of course that is a different branch to work in, but Chrome demonstrates that the music of Phonsonic (or Konstruct, for that matter: his collaboration project with Andrew Heath and Simon McCorry) deserves the same attention too.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
MATTHEW FLORIANZ - A BEAUTIFUL BRUTAL BETRAYAL I'm glad to see that Matthew Florianz has reinstated his former alias Liquid Morphine, since I always thought that was an apt description of his music. I have been following Florianz' music ever since his earliest releases in 2001 (Grijsgebied and Molenstraat), when he was part of the early Dutch ambient music scene, creating his soundscapes with relatively simple means (as I remember, hist first albums were created only using a Korg synth and some effects).
A lot has changed since then: Florianz moved to the UK to become a professional (game) sound designer. But on more than 20 albums, he consistently focused on his immersive ambient soundscapes.
A Beautiful Brutal Betrayal originated in 2017, but Matthew thought it didn't work for him then, since 'it sounded too close to Wasteland Signals (2016)'. But time was patient and created enough distance to the material to start working on it, post-processing and editing, until it was found fit to release.
Like most of Matthew'smusic, the soundscapes evoke wide sonic - yet unearthly - landscapes. The album title is a bit of a mystery to me, but as Florianz says: "I’ll try not to spoil too much of the audio trip so you can form your own ideas and opinions while I will leave my associations in the track titles".
Most of the tracks are fairly short, with the exception of the title track (20'24") and Under A Strand Of Hair (11'38"). But since all tracks are sequenced gapless, the album can best be experienced in one single session.
The closing track (Backside Mirror) ends abruptly, as if you suddenly awake from a pleasant dream. For a moment, I thought this was an error in the file, but when I asked Matthew he assured me that this was by design: "It's abrupt but it builds to it somewhat subtly, as if playing backward. Sorry for "brutally betraying" the listener!"
The download also contains four bonus 'sketches', one of them unused in the final album.
A Beautiful Brutal Betrayal by Matthew Florianz
REMANENCE - SEPIADRONE Remanence is the name of a duo formed by Brian McWilliams (also known as Aperus), and John Phipps. As their influences, they cite artists like Brian Eno, David Sylvian, This Mortal Coil, In The Nursery, SPK, and Lustmord. These are great references but don't tell us very much since these are the inspiration sources of many artists in the genre.
They also are 'intrigued by the creative possibilities of recordings as tangible objects', like the releases designed by Russell Mills, 4AD, etc. This is clear with their latest release, Sepiadrone, which comes in two beautiful physical editions: a 'Europack' or a limited CD tin release. Both come with 3 double-sided art prints, a band photo, and album credits printed on recycled paper. But that's just the form... let's talk about the content.
Sepiadrone is Remanence's fifth album since 1995. The basic material of these soundscapes already existed for a few years, but for some reason were never completed. 'There were countless versions of songs, edits, overdubs, and mastering attempts', resulting in a 'fear that the album would sound disjointed and incomplete'. But in fact, it is exactly that which makes this music adventurous and fascinating. Most of the pieces may be based on drones, but this is not 'drone music' - 'it is the sound of best-laid plans falling apart, ideas languishing in obscurity, and songs colored by time'.
There are many things happening in this adventurous sonic journey. Sometimes sounding like field recordings of an industrial environment, 'Sepiadrone connects a series of scattered points in an almost straight line, creating shifting tones that exist somewhere outside of time.'
PACO MADDALENA - ITINERE Paco Maddalena is an Italian filmmaker, so it is no surprise that his music is highly cinematic. Apart from being a film director and creating ambient/electroacoustic music, he also plays bass in various (Italian) post-rock bands. Unfortunately, I could not find much information about his (musical) background, apart from his Bandcamp page featuring a few titles from recent years.
Itinere is a collection of 'urban soundscapes bringing the listener to open public spaces full of distant voices'.
Maddalena always starts with field recordings and then 'associates each soundscape with delicate use of desktop synthesizers and euro rack systems'. Before finishing, the sounds are passed through tape 'to add that layer of dirt and warmth'.
The (digital-only) album is released by Histamine Tapes as a Name-Your-Price download, but before downloading it please note that all proceeds of this album will go to Friends of the Winooski River.
Itinere (HT085) by Paco Maddalena
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
VARIOUS ARTISTS - MERCURY MISSION DIARIES If you like your ambient music dark, widescreen cinematic, and sci-fi as possible, this Cryo Chamber release is the place to go. It is a various artist compilation, but one that sounds like a coherent movie soundtrack.
It comes with a story outline to trigger your imagination:
"The harvester class ship came to life with a low, guttural hum as the crew prepared to activate the propulsion systems [...] With each passing second, the possibility of escape dwindled, leaving the crew with nothing but their fears and a haunting silence."
But you can ignore that if you want, since the music itself tells a story of outer-space travelling, desolate darkness, and unimaginable distances.
The Mercury Mission Diaries open with Escape Transit by Skrika which is none other than Monty Adkins in his dark sci-fi ambient disguise. Following are other Cryo Chamber acts like Red Fog, Keosz, Sole Massif & Tineidae, Dronny Darko, RNGMNN, Onasander, and In Quantum accompanying us in this journey that is 'recommended for fans of both subtle droning and dramatic space scenes'.
Mercury Mission Diaries by Cryo Chamber
ONASANDER & ASHTORETH - DEVOTIOLess Sci-Fi but more 'Ritualistic' is this album by Onasander (Maurizion Landini) and Ashtoreth *(Peter Verwimp), but the ultimate sonic effect is similar.
A Devotio was 'a sacrifice, promise or gift to a deity in return for a request, in which the Roman commander promised to devote his life to chthonic gods in battle with the enemy in return for the victory of their own troops.'*
Not always to the desired effect, it seems:
'The most famous devotio in Roman history is probably that of the consul Publius Decius Mus, who was fighting a battle against a coalition of Samnites and Gauls at Sentinum in 295 BCE. According to the Roman historian Livy, he dedicated himself to the gods of the Underworld and rode, on horseback, to his enemies, who killed him.'
Onasander and Ashtoreth express this theme in a compelling - and again a highly cinematic - way that triggers the imagination.
And yes, this is dark music, pitch-black at times. But it's not the kind of darkness you want to avoid - more like the darkness inviting to be explored.
Devotio by Onasander & Ashtoreth
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
JEFF GREINKE - A THOUSAND YEAR FLOOD Actively releasing music since the early 80s, Jeff Greinke has created his very own sound: rich in texture, depth, mood, and subtle detail.
"Jeff sculpts sound worlds that conjure a strong sense of place, hovering somewhere between the exotic and the familiar".
He is often labeled as an 'ambient' musician and composer, but his work is not strictly electronic and encompasses much more than 'just' ambient music. His latest release A Thousand Year Flood is a great example of the music that can perhaps be best described as 'impressionistic ambient chamber music'.
The album presents a perfect blend of ambient soundscapes and contemporary classical music. References can be made to composers like Olafur Arnalds, Nils Frahm Jóhann Jóhannsson, or Max Richter, although the compositions are somewhat more 'abstract' than that of said composers.
A Thousand Year Flood is created in close collaboration with cellist/violist Heather Bentley.
Greinke: "Whether working with scored parts, improvising under my direction, or freely exploring her own ideas over my sketched-out sections, Heather’s thoughtful expressions fit seamlessly within my own".
At the same time, Greinke himself focused on 'utilizing less sonic material, paring back the amount of instrumental layering'.
The combination of this resulted in a powerful intimacy that can almost be felt.
A Thousand Year Flood is available on CD but also as a name-your-price (!) download.
A Thousand Year Flood (name-your-price) by Jeff Greinke
ROMANCE & DEAN HURLEY - RIVER OF DREAMSI have no clue who or what Romance is. But perhaps I should investigate some more since Ecstatic Recordings describe his(/her?) work as 'distilling reference points ranging from Tarkovsky soundtracks to the emotional grandiosity of Whitney Houston & Celine Dion smudged into something like Burial and The Caretaker’s hauntological ephemera for a session of pillow-kissing nostalgia'. Sounds interesting enough, right?
On the other hand, the name Dean Hurley immediately triggers my interest, based on the fascinating soundscapes he created on earlier releases like his Anthology Resources. As a music supervisor, Dean Hurley has worked closely with David Lynch on many of his films and series, including Twin Peaks: The Return. I guess that simple fact is enough for an introduction to his own enigmatic soundscapes.
River Of Dreams is the second collaboration of Romance and Hurley, following 2022's In Every Dream Home A Heartache. The concept for both albums is the same: a 'prismatic dissection of the daytime soap genre with an examination into the dark corners of fantasy-based escapism'.
To create these sonic adventures (to call this 'music' would be too limited), the duo uses sampled fragments from daytime soap television broadcasts: 'vintage, bit-crunched YouTube codecs form the source material here…all artfully inlaid and mosaicked to form tear-stained compositions of troubled romance gone astray'. The result is a sonic soap opera exploring as many emotions in its 40 minutes as the original television soaps themselves.
Sometimes full dialogues are included (as in I Don't Need You... But I Want You), but overlaying them on haunting soundscapes brings out a unique dreamlike atmosphere.
'The same waters that harvest and transport our buoyant dreams often funnel into nightmarish, tumultuous oceans…'
Bandcamp only hosts the digital download of this release, but Ecstatic Recordings also released a silver-coloured LP version. But I'm not sure if that is already sold out, or not available yet...
River Of Dreams by Romance & Dean Hurley
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
"When Computers Began To Misbehave"
(source: Midjourney) 00:00 DreamScenes - Intro (Susanna)
* 00:44 Tapani Rinne - Blackhorn
Grey, 2023, Signature Dark
* 04:47 Volker Bertelmann - Buried & Found
All Quiet On The Western Front (OST), 2022, Netflix Music
* 07:06 Alva Noto - Ungewissheit Im Sinus
Kinder Der Sonne, 2023, Noton
* 12:38 Michel Banabila & Jeff Greinke - Dust To The Sky
Tightrope, 2023, Tapu Records
* 19:33 Romance & Dean Hurley - Don't Even Think It
River Of Dreams, 2023, Ecstatic
* 21:48 Quiet Voices - When Computers Began To Misbehave
Hantologies, 2023, Sähkö Recordings
* 31:20 Dullmea - Com O Daniel Martinho
Lloc Comú, 2023, self-released
* 34:34 James Murray - Bluebell Tontine
Soundflowers, 2023, Slowcraft (April-07)
* 39:30 Tetsuroh Konishi - Monochrome Island
Flight From Tokyo, 2023, Off-Record Label
* 44:27 Bob Holroyd - Big Fields
Football Chants and Nursery Rhymes, 2023, Six Degrees Records (release May 12)
* 47:20 Moss Covered Technology - Outro
Brick And Air, 2022, Audiobulb Records
* 49:15 Amma Ateria - Repetition: Changes
Concussssion I, 2023, Dragon's Eye Recordings
* 53:30 Mark Jenkin - Menhir Pt. 2
Enys Men (OST), 2023, Invada
* 55:04 Volker Bertelmann - No End
All Quiet On The Western Front (OST), 2022, Netflix Music
* 59:00 DreamScenes - Outro (Dean Hurley)*
Play this edition on-demand from the Concertzender website
OR:
[audio src="https://streams.greenhost.nl/cz/cz/rod/20230409-2000.mp3" /]
(available ca 1 hour after the radio broadcast).
DreamScenes editions are also available as a podcast!
Receive the full **DreamScenes** tracklist automatically at every new edition? Simply subscribe here!
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
HAARVÖL - SEEKING THE INTIMACY OF SILENCE On their 14th album (and the 6th for Moving Furniture Records), Haarvöl explores the 'imposed and artificial' silence during the pandemic, which 'together with the silence, brought a concomitant isolation'. This is reflected in the music, which definitely can be called 'isolationist'.
There is of course a conceptual reference to John Cage, but ironically the (7) pieces on this album are never literally silent.
A side effect of the isolation during the pandemic was that there was a growing need 'to be with others again, to share life and reality (without screens or other devices to disguise the distance)'. This is reflected in the recording process: the music was recorded 'in face-to-face sessions, in which the tracks were built in a live environment [...]. What is heard has been played and experienced in a continuous sound dialogue, and yet without a safety net'. So, in fact, it's a kind of live recording.
Haarvöl's core is Fernando José Pereira and João Faria (with Rui Manuel Vieira adding his visuals). But on this album, they collaborate with Martijn Comes(see below also) who added his guitar parts on A Quiet, Indecipherable Tone, and Xoán-Xil López on cello on A Sombre Description Of The Now.
Seeking the intimacy of silence by Haarvöl
RADBOUD MENS & FERNANDO JOSÉ PEREIRA - THE INOPERATIVE SUSPENSION OF A STOPPAGEThe collaboration between Radboud Mens and Haarvöl led to another project (or maybe it was the other way around): a separate project by Mens (guitartable, dronemachine, field recordings and electronics) and Fernando José Pereira (electronics).
On this 65-minute set of drones, 'time and duration are the subjects', which in fact is the essence of drone music. The pieces all take their time to develop: the shortest is 6'30" and the longest 14'10". Every track is an interesting drone piece with many (sometimes hidden) layers and different sound structures.
This beatless music is quite different from Mens' recent release Continuous/Movement.
The album title is somewhat puzzling, and some of the track titles are, too. There is a lengthy introduction included, but I must confess that I could hardly understand it. In fact, I already lost it in the first sentence:
"Our time, without time, is a condition undergoing naturalization, in other words, it finds that reality is an ally and offers no resistance".
But as far as I understand it, this album is intended as 'a de-anaesthetic record', to escape the 'laboratory in which the players are anesthetized and therefore dazzled by their relationship with reality. Being dazzled, as we know, leads one to become somewhat blind, in a good way, shall we say, while the anaesthetic effect lasts... but then the awakening might be far from pleasant'.
So, it's music as a 'red pill' - to awake back again to reality. But be aware: you'll never know what you'll find there.
The Inoperative Suspension of a Stoppage by Radboud Mens & Fernando José Pereira
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
MARTYNA BASTA - SLOWLY FORGETTING, BARELY REMEMBERINGThough she was classically trained in guitar, Polish composer Martyna Basta 'escaped academia at the age of 18, replacing her native instrument with a synth'. Her music is described as 'balancing hush and haunting' - and that is a perfect description.
Slowly Forgetting, Barely Remembering is her third album, the second for Bratislava's Warm Winters label, following 2021's Making Eye Contact With Solitude - she definitely knows how to come up with a captivating title.
Using guitar, voice, manipulated field recordings, and zither, she carefully creates an atmosphere 'approaching what remains lost or unknown'. 'Basta plays with the voice’s limits and potential: hers interjects on a spectrum from pure, claustrophobic breath to tense muttering to an even hum'. (The autotuned voice on It Could Be As It Was Forever is not Basta's, by the way, but Claire Rousay's).
There are two tracks called Podszepnik, which is Polish for 'one who secretly whispers, an intimate confidant'. These tracks 'act as the album’s two-part centerpiece, between them tracing an arc from a child’s murmurs to a full-fledged chorus of open-throat singing that soars above the weight of an electric guitar'.
Martyna Basta may 'make a strong case for the beauty of uncertainty' here, as the liner notes state, but with its reference to dementia in the title it is rather scary at the same time. This music probably won't leave you unaffected.
Slowly Forgetting, Barely Remembering by Martyna Basta
FLOS - SONGS / SIGNSFlos started in 2011 when Stefano Castagna and Luca Formentini met. They decided to work with self-made instruments ('Flos Boards') in their search for 'new composition processes that could facilitate improvisation, electronic treatment and the emission of unplugged, analogue and unconventional sounds'.
Flos Boards were built 'assembling strings, microphones, recycled materials (violin bows, pipes, pens, guitar
pick-ups). They were wired to two computers for the elaboration and editing of the outcoming sounds'.
This already tells us that we can't expect music from trodden paths here. Flos exists 'to generate sounds that could bring the audience back to the mystic, the wonder and the well-being of interplayed, unusual live music'. This usually resulted in playing live improvisations - Songs/Signs is their first album release. (Apart from Il Sogno Blanco (2014) that is, which was the music recorded for an 8-hour action painting performance by Luccio Pozzi in Milan).
The double CD (and/or cassette) release of Songs/Signs is a real two-headed beast. Each part of this set requires a different mindset to be fully enjoyed. On Songs, 'the Flos Boards are tamed to speak the more popular language of the song', with added contributions of various voices and instruments from guests like Laurie Amat, Markus Stockhausen, Steve Piccolo and Claude Voit. By nature, this part of the album has no specific 'ambient' content: it is an adventurous vision on 'popular' music.
While Songs does not particularly aim at the ambient-inclined listener, Signs will definitely appeal to those that can appreciate a varied cinematic instrumental soundscape. Signs 'includes improvisation work coming from the various sessions recorded through the years, rearranged and mixed so as to create an uninterrupted suite of 44 minutes, divided in 15 parts'.
This evocative set of instrumentals spontaneously invokes imaginary visuals.
Unfortunately, there is not much information about the Flos boards itself. I would have loved to know some more details about the 'Tavola di Flos', the 'Saucillator', and the 'Magic drainpipe', and whatever else whas used in creating these fascinating sounds.
Songs/Signs by Flos || Luca Formentini - Stefano Castagna
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
THE LONELY BELL - GHOST TOWN BURNING Ali Murray, operating under the name The Lonely Bell, comes from the cold and windy Isle of Lewis in the north of Scotland. If you look that up in Google Maps, there's a lovely picture of a rural landscape not unlike what we know from the Lord Of The Rings movies. But I guess the average weather condition is far less enjoyable. Maybe it's more like the cover of Ghost Town Burning suggests: cold, wintery, desolate.
But desolation can have its own beauty: 'where mysterious echoes of the vast expanse vibrate as deep ache. There is comfort in the unfolding waves and possibility - that maybe the haunt was never meant to frighten, only to liberate - a radiant emptiness nestled in the ruin.'
The two 20-minute pieces on Ghost Town Burning (the title piece and Then The Snow...) breathe the same beautiful desolation. It may be dark and 'unheimisch' (uncanny), yet it's a pleasure to dwell around in it and discover its barely hidden structures. It's a comforting kind of darkness.
Ghost Town Burning is available on CD, and there's also a small (second) batch of cassettes. After that, there's still the download version left.
Ghost Town Burning by The Lonely Bell
LONEWARD - FRACTIONAL DIMENSIONS VOLUME 2Mike 'Loneward' Carss' Fractional Dimensions series is intended to explore 'slow-moving spaces for contemplation, meditation, and sleep'. So you now you're prepared to immerse yourself in this 66-minute piece called Lacunarity - 'best experiences at low listening levels'.
Lacunarity - I had to look it up - is 'a specialized term in geometry referring to a measure of how patterns, especially fractals, fill space, where patterns having more or larger gaps generally have higher lacunarity.'
This WIKI-explanation is hard to grasp (for me, at least), but I can see the link to the music involved here, which also may have a kind of fractal structure - perhaps.
But there's of course no need to get analytical here... just lie back, relax and drift away.
Mike Carss, by the way, is also known as Altus. With Loneward, he focuses on his 'purer ambient and drone works'.
As Carss states himself: "If you enjoy one Loneward release, you'll enjoy them all".
Fractional Dimensions Volume 2 by Loneward
DAVID CORDERO - ENDLESS LONELINESS Spanish musician David Cordero (from Cadíz) started releasing music in 2012. But his output started to come in a flood after 2020: in 2022 alone he released seven different albums, solo as well as collaborations.
Endless Loneliness marks the start of 2023, which may or may not be as prolific as the recent years.
That doesn't really matter, of course, it's not the numbers that count but the music itself.
I don't know if the title refers to Cordero's state of mind (and I hope it's not), but it is a good indication of the atmosphere of these ten tracks. This doesn't mean it is a depressing album, however: a title like Disillusionment Mountain is balanced by Nankuraisa - which means 'everything works out over time'. The album ends with Bruno Is Here ... let's just assume that is a good thing.
Overall, this album brings 35 minutes of classic ambient without further background explanations. Apart from Distorted Reflection, which features Binary Phaze from Barcelona, all tracks are solo pieces performed by Cordero.
Endless Loneliness by David Cordero
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
TAPANI RINNE - GREY In the past, I have regularly recommended releases (and collaborations) from Tapani Rinne, the Finnish musician 'known for his experimental and innovative style with the clarinet and saxophone'. But compared to his previous solo albums (such as Radioton and Foghornia), which are already heavily leaning towards ambient music, this Grey sounds even more subdued.
The compositions on his latest album Grey are exclusively using the bass clarinet and of course some additional electronic manipulation. But Tapani Rinne keeps it extremely quiet - making this a fitting release on the Signature Dark label which aims to release 'dark, melancholic, minimalist and cinematic music'. The seven pieces on Grey are all of that, easily.
Grey is not exactly the color of hope - and in this way the album represents 'the events of recent times and the threatening image of the future shaped by them'. But there is still hope, according to Rinne, and it is specifically art that is playing an important role: "Despite everything, it is believable that the collective understanding of humanity is developing. It is facilitated by art – sensory horns that foresee the future and keep hope alive.”
But there are many (even more than 50) shades of grey of course: 'The meaning of hope is changed by the point of view and the individual examining it. "Hope" thus moves into the gray area as one manifestation of it, which everyone tones to be like their own. Rinne's "hope" on the album is left to the listener's free interpretation.'
Despite its doubts about the future of mankind, this is not a 'dark ambient' album at all. It is a truly hopeful one - its quiet beauty is definitely reassuring.
Collectors of physical editions will be disappointed to hear that Grey is a digital-only release.
(edit: a vinyl edition is on its way, so keep an eye on the Bandcamp page)
STEVE ROACH - REST OF LIFE I don't think Steve Roach needs any further introduction. With his immense catalog (some 200 albums since 1982), he singlehandedly defined at least a part of the ambient genre: the 'lush, meditative soundscapes' originally inspired by the music of Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze,and Vangelis - but which has since then branched out to become a sub-genre of its own. If you are already familiar with his work, this new release may not bring new surprises. But 'new surprises' are not obligatory: more of a good thing can be rewarding enough too!
And Rest Of Life does not disappoint. The 2-CD release is Roach's 'opus to quietude'. 134 Minutes of quietude, to be exact, with the shortest two tracks 8 and 10 minutes in length, two tracks around 17 minutes and one of 23. The Knowing Place - which also features Linda Kohanov playing the viola - takes up the entire second CD with its 60 minutes (and 15 seconds).
"... The essence of this deep listening occurs not only within the experience of the music itself but also within the place that you are after the music fades and you return to the silence, this rest of life."
As for the title of this release, Roach reveals: "(It) is drawn from my relationship to time itself. The priceless value of time and how we engage, rest, immerse, play with, step out of, create and love within our precious time on this planet. Every day I feel the Rest of Life revealing itself in subtle yet dramatic ways."
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
ERIK LEVANDER - KVAD This album originated back in 2001, when Erik Levander passed by the Lunds Domkyrka cathedral in Sweden and decided to step in. He recorded the rehearsing choir with his minidisc recorder, but stored away the recordings. When he found them again many years later, he was enchanted 'both by the reverberated atmospheres of the cathedral, and the spars harmonies of the song'.
Deconstructing, re-arranging, and re-processing this material, adding layers and layers of new elements ultimately led to this album Kvad.
The (uncredited) choir plays an important role in these recordings, especially in the first two tracks. But do not expect the kind of choir performance you'd hear in a church: this much is true from the very first seconds when Levander kicks in with some intimidating noise.
Not áll tracks feature the choir, by the way: Levander adds sonic elements like cassette-loops, lo-fi noise, and many levels of distortion. But it definitely is the combination of the electronic elements mixed with the church atmosphere (and the choir recordings) that gives these tracks their fascinating emotional depth.
Kvad, according to Levander, 'is an old Nordic word for poem or song. Traces of the word can be found in modern words like the Swedish "kvida" meaning "to whine/moan"'.
Kvad is released on the Berlin-based Supple9 label: 'a small boutique record label with a focus on lovingly produced electronic releases backed by a physical format'. It is available on CD and as a digital download.
GRANT CHAPMAN - INDENTATIONS "You're gonna be OK. Be with me. I'm gonna take good care of you".
These are the first lines from Indentations' opening track Just Bad Dreams. You may want to remember that advice because what follows is quite, ehhh..., confusing. Not to say mind-boggling. But it's also a captivating experience: once you started this journey, you won't want to get off until the roller coaster ride stops.
'Indentations draws deeply on Chapman's personal experiences surrounding loss and betrayal. An intimate work reflecting the struggle of dealing with traumatic experiences, the album makes the case for equilibrium following life-altering experiences'.
Grant Chapman is a New York-based producer. He created these (14) tracks using a laptop, a pair of headphones, and a midi sampler, mixing and merging all kinds of sounds he mainly found on YouTube - 'taking influences that range from ASMR to acapella choral performance'.
'The album is a meditation on the sheer weight a broken relationship can have on two people. A personification of the stages of grief one feels when growing apart from someone they love, for reasons they can’t seem to reckon with or comprehend.'
PIOTR KUREK - PEACH BLOSSOMMore vocal acrobatics on this release by Polish composer Piotr Kurek. Peach Blossom presents music that was written for a theatre performance called titled 某种类似于我的地洞：心室片段 Heart Chamber Fragments, performed at the Münchner Kammerspiele in October 2021. Additional music composed following this project is also added to this release.
'Peach Blossom is named after a fable written in the year 421 by Chinese poet Tao Yuanming which depicts life in harmony in perfect isolation from the outside world, unaware of it for centuries.'
Two actors from the Münchner Kammerspiele add their vocals: Komi Togbonou and Martin Weigel. There's also a spoken word contribution from Xiangjie on the closing track Bau. Most of the time, the vocals are heavily synthesized, harmonized and distorted, to otherworldly effect. But there are also clear references from music fromall over the world, with influences ranging from Indian vocal music to Indonesian gamelan music (on the 13-minute Martin is Crying, for example).
On first listen, all these modified voices may be a bit confusing. It creates a distance from the listener to the material, and may feel as if OpenAI (makers of ChatGPT, etc) were experimenting with A.I. singing.
But when you're used to it, you'll find that this is exactly why it also is so very charming.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
Oh Moon, Oh Moon, Where? Oh Moon, Oh Moon, Where Are You?
- 00:00 DreamScenes - Intro (Susanna)
- 00:29 Ben McElroy & A Spot On The Hill - Pardon The Garden
Everything Was Different Yesterday, 2023, The Slow Music Movement - 03:28 Ly Foulidis - Afsluiting
Picture Yourself A Blue Light OST, 2022, Anterior Insula - 06:28 Anthéne & Simon McCorry - The Meadow
Florescence, 2023, Oscarson - 09:37 Bob Holroyd - Beige - Radio edit
Football Chants & Nursery Rhymes, 2023, Six Degrees Records (release May 12) - 13:32 Fatima Al Qadiri - Gumar (Moon) Intro
Gumar, 2023, Hyperdub - 14:54 Skrika - Escape Transit
Mercury Mission Diaries, 2023, Cryo Chamber - 20:27 Onasander - Red Hot Harvest
Mercury Mission Diaries, 2023, Cryo Chamber - 25:37 Romance & Dean Hurley - In Desperate Need
River Of Dreams, 2023, Ecstatic - 26:02 Martyna Basta - Podszepnik II (edit)
Slowly Forgetting, Barely Remembering, 2023, Warm Winters Ltd - 32:35 Dobrawa Czocher - March
Dreamscapes, 2023, Modern Recordings - 35:17 Mac Quayle - Cordyceps
The Last Of Us, Part II, 2020, Sony Classical - 36:29 Loscil & Lawrence English - Black
Colours Of Air, 2023, Kranky - 43:03 William Basinski - The Clocktower at the Beach (1979) (Excerpt 1)
The Clocktower at the Beach (1979), 2023, Line - 47:49 Bruno Sanfilippo - Yersina Pestis
Ver Sacrum, 2023, ad21 - 52:35 Tapani Rinne - Albedo
Grey, 2023, Signature Dark - 59:02 DreamScenes - Outro (Dean Hurley)
Play this edition on-demand from the Concertzender website
(available ca 1 hour after the radio broadcast).
OR:
[audio src="https://streams.greenhost.nl/cz/cz/rod/20230312-2000.mp3" /]
DreamScenes editions are also available as a podcast!
(image: Mercury Mission Diaries)
Receive the full **DreamScenes** tracklist automatically at every new edition? Simply subscribe here!
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
AMMA ATERIA - CONCUSSSSION IAmma Ateria is an electroacoustic composer/sound artist born in Hong Kong, but currently working in San Francisco and New York. She studied with Maggi Payne and Fred Frith, and has performed with many illustrious artists like Pauline Oliveros, Ikue Mori, Erik Friedlander, Matmos, John Zorn - to name but a few.
Concussssion I is 'an auditory meditation on cognitive recovery'. The compositions, 'developed during concussion recovery (since June 2021) utilizes brainwave entrainment, time shifts, and changes of neurological responses to DELTA, THETA, ALPHA, BETA, GAMMA waves as materials and focal point. The selected pieces are reflections of my experiences with stillness, unconsciousness, and auditory hallucinations, which became starting points towards levitation, transformation, and neurogenesis.'
The four SSSS in the title, by the way, 'symbolize a period of auditory disorientation I encountered, such as instances of prolonged frequency extension of sibilance in human speech'.
Electroacoustic music can sometimes be highly abstract and detached from human emotions. But here, the combination of this intense personal event with Ateria's experience as a composer and a sound artist results in an electroacoustic album that feels deeply human. Exploring psychoacoustics in binaural beats, she is capable of 'transforming deafening noise into meditative stance'.
With Concussssion I, you can share her experience without the downside of having a concussion yourself.
Concussssion I is a digital-only release on Yann Novak's Dragon's Eye Recordings.
LOSCIL & LAWRENCE ENGLISH - COLOURS OF AIR I do not think I am exaggerating when I say that Loscil *(Scott Morgan) and Lawrence English are among the most important artists in the ambient/electronic genre, keeping it alive and moving forward in new directions.
So the album with these two giants working together is a promising start for the year in which the Kranky* label celebrates its 30th year of existence.
Both artists have built on their extensive repertoire, developing their own personal sound - which is basically quite different from each other. In such cases, a collaboration album can be a hit or a miss - but clearly not with artists like Loscil and English, where the result is definitely more than the sum of its parts.
If I hadn't known from the liner notes, I probably wouldn't have guessed myself that the sources for these pieces were taken from recordings of an old pipe organ in the historic Old Museum in Brisbane, Australia: they were heavily 'processed, transformed, and elevated into eight majestic electro-acoustic treshold devotionals.'
But the breathing sound of the air through the ancient pipes of the organ definitely defines the sound and colour of these pieces. And if you listen closely, at some moments the original sound of the organ can still be heard.
All (eight) tracks refer to a specific colour: Cyan, Aqua, Yellow, Grey, Black, Pink, Violet, and Magenta: they are 'named after the hue each piece suggests'.
So, if you've equipped your smart home with smart lights, you know what to do while playing this album to make it a multisensory experience - I'm sure that will definitely be worth trying out.
Colours Of Air by loscil // lawrence english
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
AROVANE - SINTER I'm afraid I'm lagging behind a bit more than I should: this Laaps release was released in January because it is related to the Winter season. It is already followed by the next release in the series that's gonna end at #100 by Wil Bolton. (More on that album in another post). Consequently, the physical editions are of course already sold out. But there is still the digital download of course, so I'd still mention this album - after all, this music is enjoyable in every season, not just in Winter.
Arovane (Uwe Zahn from Germany) will probably be a familiar artist among the readers of this blog: he has produced numerous electronic albums since 1999. After a nine-year gap from 2004 until 2013, his output suddenly exploded (Discogs mentions 7 titles in 2015 alone) and from then steadily continued.
Arovane has a distinct personal musical style: a carefully crafted sound design that is not just simple 'lay back and relax'-ambient but requires active listening to all its details. Many carefully chosen fragments and loops are put together to create coherent-sounding pieces. This process of creating is reflected in this album's title:
Sintering refers to a process 'of compacting and forming a solid mass of material by heat or pressure without melting. The material produced by sintering is called sinter'.
AROVANE / EMHO - SONIC DIALOGUE #1: IN BETWEENEven older (released November 2022), and equally sold out, is Sonic Dialogue #1, In Between - a split release by Arovane and EMHO.
EMHO is French musician and designer Emmanuel Hourquet who, like Uwe Zahn, has been actively creating music since early 2000 - though he only released his debut album One in 2000.
Sonic Dialogue is (or will be) a new label publishing 'ongoing back and forth sonic conversation between artists'. The process the artists used is explained on a set of cards included with the cassettes. I am unsure if a copy of these cards is also included with the download version, but you can get a good impression from this image on the Bandcamp page. Both artists used samples from the other to create the final tracks, resulting in seven tracks on each side of the cassette: Arovane on side A and EMHO on side B.
This way, the music is linked yet different: generally speaking, the B-side (EMHO) is somewhat more ambient-oriented and quieter compared to the A-side with the typical Arovane sound sculptures.
Sonic dialogue # 1 by AROVANE + EMHO
EMHO - ARCHIPELS FRAGILES VOL. 1 Having listened to the split recording (above) was a good introduction to further check out the latest release by Emmanuel (EMHO) Hourquet called Archipels Fragiles Vol. 1. This was a more recent release, so finally here's one that isn't sold out (yet): there are still some cassettes available from the limited edition of 25.
The title and cover may refer to the fragile archipelagos that are rapidly disappearing due to climate change, but the overall theme of this mini-album (with 22 minutes it is somewhat shorter than his contributions to the split with Arovane) is remembrance and loss.
Emho created the sonic images with 'samples and curated recordings from remembered landscapes', reimagining them 'through echos, degradation, slowed them down, zoomed into the details', ultimately creating 'a new sonic vocabulary'.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
MIKE LAZAREV - SACRED TONALITIES On his previous albums (this is his sixth full album since 2016), Mike Lazarev often presented the piano as his main instrument. But to unlock the Sacred Tonalities on this new album - this time released on Past Inside The Present - he brings out his carefully curated collection of synths. This would have been somewhat surprising, had he not already introduced (and praised) the synths on this album on his social media platforms.
(Nerdy info alert) For those that want to know: the Modal Electronics' ARGON8M, the Novation Nova, the Roland JP-8000, the Sequential OB-6, the Waldorf Iridium, a Moog One, a Clavia Nord Lead, An Access Virus C, and the Ashun Hydrasynth were used - and possibly even some other ones not mentioned.
With these synths, Lazarev creates deeply layered soundscapes, more drone-based than his piano recordings, but never too minimal: there are always (hints of) melodies to enjoy.
"I think that for Sacred Tonalities, I wanted to be present with time. It's a very meditative state of mind. Like the ocean. Like breathing."
The 15+-minute opening track, Sacred Tonality Number One, takes up almost one-third of the album. It gradually builds up from a soft and introspective start to overwhelming waves of sound. The following tracks are more concise - each one around 5 minutes in length - but all are 'mantras for introspective moments'.
In his early days as a musician (mid-90s), Mike used to create hard acid trance music. He states that some influence from that time can be heard in Sacred Tonality Number Five and also in Number Four - even when they do not feature the ever-prominent beat it used to have then.
"Some aesthetics here may trigger a flashback. So, we're talking about traveling back in time again... where our past is always inside the present..."
Sacred Tonalities by Mike Lazarev
WIL BOLTON - LIKE FLOATING LEAVESWil Bolton's Like Floating Leaves is already the 26th title in the Laaps series. The start of the second quarter: the series where 'each release starts with the end of the previous one, in sound and visually' will be complete with #100. Completists beware or start saving.
Each of these releases is tied to the season in which it is released, so Like Floating Leaves marks the end of this winter.
It does so with a remarkable fresh and scintillating sound, which, indeed, reminds of floating leaves. Bolton creates the music using various synths and effects, a glockenspiel, chimes, and combines them with field recordings from Venice, Stockholm, New York and Tokyo.
The dark season is definitely ending, listening to this album is like welcoming the return of light.
Like Floating Leaves is released on natural clear vinyl and on CD (as well as digital of course). It should be noted that the CD version contains 20 extra minutes in three tracks: Etched, Dead Fountains and Into The Shadows.
Like Floating Leaves by Wil Bolton
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
TED REICHMAN - ORGELWERKEOver the years, the church organ has become quite a popular instrument in experimental music settings. No real surprise, knowing the extreme dynamics the instrument has: it can go from whispering silence to intimidating thunder within seconds. And its natural habitat, a reverberating church, always adds an extra dimension to the experience.
But for his Orgelwerke (Organ Works) Ted Reichman took a different approach to the instrument. Finding 'a pile of rare organ vinyl in a library's discard box, [...] he digitized them, turning them into loops and gestures, then reshaped them with tape, broken amplifiers, and analogue echo boxes.'
And you can simply trust a composer who studied experimental music and ethnomusicology with people like Alvin Lucier and Anthony Braxton to come up with something interesting!
But at the same time, this music does not sound like a usual church organ recording. The source is altered and modified to a different sonic entity, even if it still has its recognizable roots in the original instrument. In a fascinating way, these loops and soundscapes become 'non-electronic electronic' music.
The original recordings are looped into drones, but not the minimalist kind of drones: there is quite a lot happening here. The twelve-minute closing track Geisterorchester (Ghost Orchestra), especially, unleashes the full power a church organ is capable of, while also including the original sounds of a lightly scratched vinyl recording.
This is not exactly 'ambient' music: it requires active attention to be fully appreciated. So, perhaps, best file it under 'power ambient' - because it works best when played LOUD.
Orgelwerke is a download-only release; there is no physical edition.
CM VON HAUSWOLFF & CHANDRA SHUKLA - TRAVELOGUE (BALI)Travelogue (Bali) is the second release in a series of 'collected international audio diaries' presented by Carl Michael Von Hauswolff and Chandra Shukla, the follow-up to 2020's Travelogue (Nepal).
'The premise is quite simple: the two meet at a mutually agreed upon destination along with the facilitation of something to record audio of these experiences on.'
This time, all sound sources are recorded in various locations in Bali: beaches, temples, markets, forests, mountains, etc. etc.
But beware: this is not exactly the kind of archival recording to preserve a specific cultural environment. The recordings are used as source material to create sonic sculptures rather detached from the original culture. In fact, they are actively morphed into quite an otherworldly trip.
The album kicks in rather relentlessly with a sonic modification of the Sanghyang - a traditional sacred Balinese dance, based on the premise that an unseen force enters the body of an entranced performer. You can almost literally feel that in the Kecak chanting, and even more so with the ghostly modifications of von Hauswolff and Shukla.
The following tracks are somewhat more 'environmental ambient', but the atmosphere remains mysterious and brooding. After three instrumental tracks, a mysterious vocal chant is reintroduced. It's unclear what this chant is about (except for Bali residents, I assume). When the album finally concludes, it may leave you wondering what exactly you were listening to.
Bali's nature feels like paradise, I know. But if I hadn't seen that with my own eyes, I would hesitate to visit the island based on these soundscapes. And this is definitely meant as a compliment to these soundscapes by von Hauswolff and Shukla.
Travelogue [Bali] by CM von Hausswolff & Chandra Shukla
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
SLEEP RESEARCH FACILITY / LLYN Y CWN - SARGO / POSIDONIAIt's been 11 years since we last heard from Sleep Research Facility (Kevin Doherty). (Which, as some of you know, is not entirely true: his 10-minute AB-Mix also appeared as an exclusive track on the Ambientblog Anniversary Collection in 2015). And it's even 22 years since he released his debut album Nostromo, which has become one of the reference albums for (dark) ambient. So it's good to see him back, releasing a new extremely deep ambient drone soundscape.
It's not a full album this time, but a split with the Welsh Llyn Y Cwn *(Benjamin Ian Powell) - which means Lake of the Dogs. Since 2009, Llyn Y Cwn is emulating 'the type of environment and atmosphere encountered at that lake (in that mountain range of Snowdonia) and other cold places of the world: harsh and desolate but at the same time beautiful'.*
Here's where the two artists meet: both investigate the deepest 'blackened watery abyss, where light cannot reach': SRF's Sargo is inspired by the deep sea ocean floor and the Posidonia tracks from Llyn Y Cwn are based on field recordings relating to the ocean - a floating pontoon, waves crashing on a cobble beach, an acoustic sonar. Both sides of this split album fit together perfectly.
Be prepared to take a deep isolationist plunge into the unknown darkness to uncover its beauty.
Sargo / Posidonia (CSR317LP) by Sleep Research Facility / Llyn Y Cwn
ZANE TROW - ENVOÛTEUSE HALEINEEnvoûteuse Haleine: it translates to Bewitching Breath. A beautiful title, but liner notes do not include the translation itself but more a description of the context for this music: a 'sonic ecology, liminal frequencies in the imaginary landscapes of threshold consciousness'.
Envoûteuse Haleine presents seven pieces based on 'a defined and persistent set of tones and pitched motifs; sifted into uneasy motion; digital, analogue and found sounds, texture, rotation, duration and decay…'
Zane Trow has worked with sound ever since the mid-70s, but mostly creating works for performing and visual arts. As a recording artist he released albums since 2004, all of them on the Room40 label. His soundscapes are created 'with improvisation and sound art treatments thru pure frequency modulation synthesis, complex digital delay systems and with Ross Bencina's Audiomulch sound software'.
His broad experience shows in these well-balanced soundscapes, which are captivatingly enchanting. Ánd, unfortunately, rather short with its running time of 30 minutes. But that is what the repeat button was invented for!
envoûteuse haleine by Zane Trow
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
"The Last Of Us"
This is edition #100 of the monthly DreamScenes series!
The first 32 were published here on Ambientblog only. From then, (July 2017) each edition was also broadcast on the Dutch radio station Concertzender Nederland.
All of these editions can still be enjoyed, here as well as on Concertzender.nl.
- 00:00 DreamScenes - Intro (Susanna)
- 00:35 Gustavo Santaolalla - The Last Of Us (Never Again)
The Last Of Us (Original Game Soundtrack), 2013, Masterworks - 01:40 Gustavo Santaolalla - All Gone (No Escape)
The Last Of Us (Original Game Soundtrack), 2013, Masterworks - 04:17 Ryuichi Sakamoto - 20210310 (fragment)
12, 2023, Commmons/Milan - 07:52 Byron Metcalf & Shane Morris - Sounds Of Awareness (edit)
Ancestral Resonance, 2023, Projekt - 11:38 Benedikt Schiefer - Universal Kiss - Interlude
Universal Kiss, 2022, self-released - 13:24 Mollbury Medical Research Centre - The Results Remain Inconclusive
The G4 Project, 2022, Sensory Leakage - 15:46 Erik Levander - I Hoppet Vi Bida
Kvad, 2023, Supple 9 - 20:10 Chronos - Decard's Dream (Bladerunner)
Space Odyssey, 2023, Syngeneia Records - 24:56 Sleep Research Facility - Sargo (Edit)
Sargo/Posidonia, 2023, Cold Spring Records - 29:13 CM von Hauswolff & Chandra Shukla - Sekala Niskala
Travelogue (Bali), 2023, Touch (release: 24-02-2023) - 32:30 Gustavo Santaolalla - Breathless
The Last Of Us (Original Game Soundtrack), 2013, Masterworks - 33:34 Deathprod - Composition 1
Compositions, 2023, self-released - 35:19 Kalia Vandever - Teased Traces
We Fell In Turn, 2023, AKP Recordings - 37:31 Michel Banabila - Secunde (Ambient Mix)
Hidden Patterns, 2023, Tapu Records - 41:01 Jon Hassell - Aerial View
Psychogeography, 2023, Ndeya - 42:37 Ryoji Ikeda - Ultratronics 11 (fragment)
Ultratronics, 2022, Noton - 47:13 Machinefabriek - + Fani Konstantinidou
+, 2023, self-released - 47:47 Simon Scott - Holme Fen Posts II
Long Drove, 2023, Room40 - 50:29 Otto Sidharta - Kerikil (2020)
Kajang, 2023, Sub Rosa - 54:15 Erik K. Skodvin - Not Guilty
Schächten, 2023, Miasmah - 54:57 Otto A. Totland - Fade
Companion, 2021, Sonic Pieces - 56:55 Gustavo Santaolalla - Breathless
The Last Of Us (Original Game Soundtrack), 2013, Masterworks - 58:00 Gustavo Santaolalla - I Know What You Are
The Last Of Us (Original Game Soundtrack), 2013, Masterworks - 59:02 DreamScenes - Outro (Dean Hurley)
Play this edition on-demand from the Concertzender website.
OR:
[audio src="https://streams.greenhost.nl/cz/cz/rod/20230212-2000.mp3" /]
(it can take some after the broadcast before the program is fully converted)
DreamScenes editions are also available as a podcast!
Receive the full **DreamScenes** tracklist automatically at every new edition? Simply subscribe here!
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
STBL - THE AUTUMN VOICESSTBL is Jorge Ortiz de Pinedo, a sound artist from Madrid, Spain. STBL is 'his most accessible alias' - he also works under the name noi, creating music for installations, video, art, and theatre. There's not much further information: Discogs mentions three previous releases, two of which self-released. So, at least for me, The Autumn Voices may be the first introduction to his work.
And that definitely is a nice surprise! The Autumn Voices has a nice bright sound - ambient soundscapes mixed with some glitchy ingredients, 'a careful variety of deep percussion and organic atmospheres, [...] navigating between crazy soundscapes and ghostly noises'.
All sounds on this six-track album are created by Pinedo, with the addition of soundscapes and vocals of (voice) artist Petra Kapš (ORpoesis) on Green Water, Autumn Voices.
Inspired by nature and silence, STBL presents a welcome diversion from the usual sounds and strategies often used in ambient music. It's always good to hear a fresh, personal sound!
LIONEL MARCHETI & DECIBEL - INLAND LAKE (LE LAC INTÉRIEUR) French electroacoustic composer and sound and visual artist Lionel Marchetti visited Australia in 2019 to work with the Decibel chamber ensemble - a 'six-piece new music ensemble focusing on the integration of acoustic and electronic instruments in chamber music performance'.
Marchetti came with a ''partition concrète' that was part score, part ensemble member, part fixed media. The music is coaxed from the ensemble, without score, but with discussions, listening, and experiments'. After the first rehearsals and performances, Marchetti adapts the work integrating the recordings with synthesizers, tape and electronic manipulations.
The recording of Inland Lake was an unusual setup: the Decibel ensemble was split in half between the east and west coast of Australia, while Marchetti himself participated from France. This unusual recording process required some advanced software 'to reduce the perception of latency and improve the sound quality 'down the line' for the performers'.
The 36-minute Inland Lake demonstrates a perfect integration of the acoustic ensemble and electronics indeed. It is a slow-evolving piece where all sonic ingredients play an equally important role, together creating an enigmatic, unworldly atmosphere.
Also included is the much shorter (2'26") piece La Patience - Marchetti's first notated composition. Each member recorded their part in their own home, and the result is mixed by Marchetti.
Distance is no longer an issue, not even with chamber ensemble recording.
Inland Lake (le lac intérieur) by Lionel Marchetti & Decibel
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
RAN KIRLIAN & JAJA - COSMOS VOL. IIAs the cover and the title already show us, we're heading for deep space territory here. This is the second album in a series 'dedicated to the magnificence of the Universe and the figure of one of its biggest explorers: Carl Sagan'.
Ran Kirlian (German ambient musician currently living in Spain) teams up again with Jaja (also German, also known as Jana Rockstroh, which may or may not be her real name) to present spacey improvisations on their synthesizers (with an occasional field recording).
All tracks were written and recorded in late-night sessions somewhere between 2012 and 2019, and specifically tuned to 432,0 Hz, 432,2 Hz, and 440,0 Hz.
I have no idea what the exact effect of these tunings are, but I can confirm that this is extremely relaxing classic ambient space music that is perfect to float away on. To outer or to inner space - whatever you prefer.
Cosmos Vol. II by Ran Kirlian & Jaja
SPACECRAFT - LUNAR SESSIONSWith Lunar Sessions, Spacecraft (alias of Mumbai-based producer Rishi Batia) stays a bit closer to earth. But musically it explores the same territory: spacey, synth-based ambient soundscapes that are extremely relaxing and immersive.
'A perfect backdrop for settling down for deep relaxation.'
Lunar Sessions, released as digital-only (no physical edition), is one of Spacecraft's relatively few full-album releases: most titles in his (? I assume) catalog are single, self-released tracks. Among them are various collaborations: Lunar Sessions features Perry Frank on guitar on Sirius (Guitar Edit), and Lauge (Denmark's Henrik Rolsted Laugesen) on Sea Of Serenity.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
SIMON SCOTT - LONG DROVEI initially thought Long Drove was a linguistic twist of a 'long drive', and wondered what this past tense might exactly mean musically. But it turned out to be a reference to a location near where Simon Scott lives: the connective pathway between two nature reserves called Holme Fen and New Decoy.
So, Long Drove is 'a site-specific sound study which shifts the Anthropocene discourse from spectatorship to musical participation, accountability, and creative engagement.'
'One can almost hear Scott’s thought processes within these five compositions, of what the Fens would sound like if submerged and flooded by water again, returning to its original marshland state as a result of climate change, as the field recordings dissipate and unfurl with melancholic washes of decaying tape loops and digitally processed textures of Fenland sonorities.'
Ambient music often has a close connection to landscapes - whether imaginary or not - who isn't yet familiar with Brian Eno's Ambient 4 (On Land) should immediately check it out. Simon Scott's interpretation of the surroundings is sounding a lot more urgent than Eno's sonic landscape though. After all, we're 40 years on from then - many years of increasing climate changes and impending disasters.
But the impending doom of climate change is not the main subject here: it is all about the combination of different sonic characteristics within the same location: 'each season I’d return to observe the sonorities of wildlife merge and coalesce with the hum of the long telephone wires that stretch across the wide and flat Fens.'
The 'connective pathway' of Long Drove thus also connects the (manipulated) field recordings with Simon Scott's modular synth system 'to gradually tease out submerged hidden melodies.'
MARTINA BERTONI - HYPNAGOGIA Martina Bertoni only recently began releasing music under her own name (2 EP's in 2018 and 2019, and the albums All The Ghosts Are Gone and Music For Empty Flats (both released in 2020). But long before that, she participated with Teho Teardo in Modern Institute, who released Excellent Swimmer way back in 2006.
As a cellist, her work 'is based on deconstructing the relationship with her own instrument by combining acoustic sound, repetition, electronics and elements of improvisation.' The cello may be the sound source, but its sound is heavily 'processed, adding reverb, feedback and sub-bass frequencies and thus creating sonic sculptures, rich of atmospheres and frictions.'
Hypnagogia refers to 'a transitional state of consciousness from wakefulness to sleep, during which one
might experience sensorial hallucinations and lucid dreaming, and can tap into the pristine structures of the subconscious.
A perfect description too for the soundscapes Bertoni creates on the album with the same name. The tracks were partially inspired by Stanislaw Lem's book Solaris. Everyone that has read that book, or has seen the classic film adaptation by Tarkovski will easily recreate the atmosphere while listening to this highly cinematic music.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
ASC - COLOURS OF ABSENCE Colours Of Absence is the follow-up album to Original Soundtrack, which was released earlier this year on A Strangely Isolated Place (ASIP) records. Both albums were written during the lockdown of 2020 (as are many recently released albums). The isolation itself made room for some experimentation, which is this case means that Asc (James Clements from San Diego) could focus on the ambient instrumentation of his work.
Compared to Original Soundtrack, Colours Of Absence focuses somewhat more on the ambient soundscapes and somewhat less on the piano, although the piano is still very much present.
This music has nothing of the angst and insecurity experienced during the pandemic lockdowns - it's more like a welcome quiet moment of introspection. Suitable for all moments.
Colours Of Absence is available in clear vinyl (only a few remaining at the time of writing), and of course as a digital download.
ERIK WØLLO - THE SHAPE OF TIME The opening title track starts with a choral introduction. which, in the end, morphs into the guitar-based ambient style we've come to know from Erik Wøllo. Assuming of course that you're familiar with some of his earlier work: after all this productive Norwegian composer has released over 55 albums since 1980 and so may be called one of the veterans of ambient music.
His trademark sound is created with the guitar as a primary instrument to create 'space, drone, new age and electronic music, building a bridge between grand symphonic realms and gentle, minimal and serene atmospheres'. The Shape Of Time is a great example.
'Time remains an abstract term with no shape. It can only be explained as a rate and duration of observed change. Wøllo transforms the abstract into nine compositions of thoughtful and seductive ambient electronic music with melodic soaring themes, vast slow-moving drones and rhythmic patterns drifting in cycles of transmutable harmonies.'
the Shape of Time by Erik Wøllo
HOLLIE KENNIFF - WE ALL HAVE PLACES THAT WE MISS Apart from her solo-work, Hollie Kenniff is also known as one half of Mint Julep - the other half being her husband Keith Kenniff, otherwise known as Goldmund (represented here in three tracks), or Helios.
It would be a bit superfluous to mention this - after all, her work must be judged on its own merits. But still, it's an indication of what kind of music you may expect: meticulously produced tracks full of "cloudlike synths, seraphic strings, humming drones, and reverb-drenched shoegaze guitars, all melding into an impressionistic story of remembrance, loss, family, and connection [...] drawing on the deep tones of drone, dream pop harmonies, and new age’s bright tranquility."
The album is instrumental, as in no lyrics, but Hollie Kenniff's wordless vocals are omnipresent, as an extra personal layer within the widescreen instrumentation.
Much of this music 'originated in the wee hours of the morning while Hollie dealt with chronic insomnia spurred by anemia'.
'Though difficult, her condition enabled her to deeply investigate the liminal spaces between waking and sleeping, memory and history, and even living and dying.'
You probably won't be able to tell from the music itself, because this sounds like music from an artist that manages to focus on the positive, even when not everything is going well. Music can be a consolation in hard times.
We All Have Places That We Miss by Hollie Kenniff
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
LORENZ WEBER - əv T͟Hē nôrTHLorenz Weber recently presented pieces to be played at night (Nachtstücke), and now the follow-up is a sonic cure for a cold and dark winter. Nine tracks (44 minutes) that can best be played in one uninterrupted sequence, quiet, calm, and thought-provoking.
The north is reflected in the titles, all containing fonts that will probably choke your keyboard: ʃneːʃtʊrm (snow storm), or ʀaʊ̯naχtə (rauhnachte). Rauhnachte refers to the days between the winter solstice and new years eve. 'A time of stillness, of introspection, of looking back at the past year and looking forward to the year to come. This time is excellent for looking into the future, making predictions and getting in touch with the spirits of nature'.
əv T͟Hē nôrTH is different from Nachtstücke in that here the piano is less prominent here, and the result is much more 'ambient-focused'. The piano only appears in a few tracks (ʃneːʃtʊrm and nórdlɪçtɛr), tracks that bring some light in the dreamy, near-silent drone formed by the other tracks.
əv T͟Hē nôrTH is a 'sound journey through the winter of the far north'. An arctic winter that is probably not as calm and peaceful as this music suggests - so its best to stay inside and enjoy the warmth of the fire - and of this music.
sonic winter cure by Lorenz Weber
LORENZO MONTANÀ - DECORAR SILENZIO The Projekt Records label generously starts the year with the Name Your Price release of Lorenzo Montanà's Decorar Silenzio. An album 'of soft undercurrents where the drift of movement and stillness linger within muted and heavily processed electronic and acoustic instrumentation.'
Decorar Silenzio ('Decorating Silence') 'tries to capture the soft and subtle feeling I (Montanà) felt those years ago listening to albums like Brian Eno and Harold Budd's Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror — the first ambient album I bought.'
That may an indication of the kind of introspective music you can expect here, but this music is not simply trying to re-create the music of Brian Eno. After all, Lorenzo Montanà has enough experience to create his own style: he started as a musician in the early 90s, released 20+ albums since 2009 (among them a 5-CD series with Pete Namlook), and created music for the Hunger Games (1 & 2), Blade Runner, and more.
The ambiance Montaná creates is softened with a warm touch by using acoustic instruments embedded in the electronic soundscapes: a cello, a guitar, mbira or piano.
Decorar Silenzio is his third release for Projekt Records (not counting the 2 collaborations with Alio Die).
Decorar Silenzio (name-your-price) by Lorenzo Montanà
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
HARRY TOWELL & FRIENDS - PETROLOGIST'S LENSBesides being the tireless force behind the Whitelabrecs label, Harry Towell is also a musician himself: he has released over 20 albums as Speruleus - on many different labels such as Lost Tribe Sound, Home Normal, Time Released Sound, Hibernate and Eilean.
The combination of running a label and being a musician opens up a great possibility using his network: a collection of works created with his friends. All of them have previously released at least 2 releases on Towell's label.
And thus, Whitelabrecsstarts 2023 with the release of The Petrologist's Lens, by Harry Towell & Friends. Petrology is the branch of geology that deals with the origin, composition, structure, and alteration of rocks:
'Harry studied the land history of the areas where his collaborators reside, to help form a title for each piece. Tracks are named after particular fragments of rock or sediments, land regions or fossils for example, and the compositions were developed in a way which mimics the layering of these.'
Regular readers will obviously know most of the (12) artists performing here with Harry Towell: Edu Comelles, Pruski, Glåsbird, Pruski, Sven Laux, Andrew Heath, Polaroid Notes, Adrian Lane, Slow Clinic, Blochemy, Phil Tomsett, Simon McCorry and Guy Gelem.
Apart from the digital download, there are 2 CD versions available: a gold vinyl-effect as well as a marble vinyl-effect CD. Both include a 16-page booklet
petrologist's lens by harry towell & friends
MACHINEFABRIEK - +While on the subject of an artist's network: it sometimes seems that there are only a few artists in the electronic/experimental/improv scene that Machinefabriek / Rutger Zuydervelt has nót worked with. His immense discography (Discogs lists no less than 219 albums as Machinefabriek and 52 under his own name) features many collaborations, sometimes with a lot of people on the same release (most notable of these perhaps being 2021's With Drums, and 2014's Stay Tuned).
+ (Plus) refers to all the friends featured on this latest release: no less than 52 (!) to be exact... Rutger invited all of them to send him a short track, a musical idea not longer than one minute. The length was the only directive given for this: "because I love surprises". He then treated or reworked the submission, adding his own fingerprint to the result. And finally, the last step was 'to sequence everything into a more or less coherent album'.
That 'coherent' leaves some room for discussion, I guess ... 'The variety is huge, with jazz cats, electronica wizards, classical players, and more.'
The diverse and often unclassifiable work of Zuydervelt in combination with artists coming from such diverse backgrounds is rather unpredictable and covers a wide range of experimental styles. But Zuydervelt has carefully arranged the sequence, for example by ordering them by their main instrument. Anyway, it's coherent enough when you're familiar with Machinefabriek's diverse output.
As Rutger states himself: 'it’s safe to say that these tracks are all over the place, stylistically. But it surely is an intriguing trip. '.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
CRYO CHAMBER COLLABORATION - TSATHOGGUA If you want to complete the dark days of winter with some of the darkest music imaginable, the Cryo Chamber Collection series is a good way to go. Since 2014, Cryo Chamber, the label specializing in dark ambient, is continuously building on a series documenting all horrifying deities from H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulthu family. After Cthulthu, Azathoth, Nyarlathotep, Yog-Sothoth, Shub-Niggurath, Hastur, Yig, and Dagon, Tsathoggua is the ninth deity to be summoned.
"Tsathoggua is an amorphous, toad-like god-creature mentioned in the Pnakotic Manuscripts and the Necronomicon and the Commoriom myth-cycle".
What is special about these releases (apart ftom its theme), is that all editions are a collaborative project of many artist that have released their work on Cryo Chamber. To name only a few of the 20 involved here: Atrium Carceri, Dronny Darko, protoU, Dead Melodies, Onasander, Alphaxone, Skrika, ...
This is not a compilation of separate tracks, but a continuous work (2 x 50+ minutes), for which the artists "linked studios and sound for over a year so that they could work with each other on this deep collaborative exploration of the Mythos and Tsathoggua".
The 2CD comes with a 20 page beautifully illustrated hard cover digibook; a digital version is included with the download. For a complete Lovecraft collection, you can also order the 19 cds in one go.
Tsathoggua by Cryo Chamber Collaboration
VARIOUS ARTISTS - HOMEWORK YEAR 7The Taâlem label - 'exploring the different sides of ambient music through 3"cd-r's (and more recently through FLAC files)' - has the tradition of ending each year with a Homework compilation for which they invite every artist that had a release on their 21 years of existence to contribute an unreleased track. This seventh edition in the Homework series contains no less than 62 tracks (and one video). Eleven hours of audio don't fit on a 3" CD-r, so this is a download-only release. And, what's more: it's Name Your Price too!
The overall connection of these artists is that they all fit the Taâlem curation, but with so many tracks from such diverse artists it's virtually impossible to like áll the music presented here. Unless you are a musical omnivore. But even if you strip away the tracks you do not like, there will remain enough to fill a few CD's worth of sounds.
In addition to the many lesser-known artists there are quite some familiar names, too. I only name a few here (but head to the Bandcamp page for the full list): Aidan Baker, Modelbau, Ben Fleury-Steiner, Moljebka Pvlse, Strom Noir, Bartosz Dziadosz, Shinobu Nemoto, Terje Paulsen, Rhucle, Arash Akbari, Martijn Pieck, The [Law-Rah] Collective.
And if 11 hours is not enough to satisfy your musical hunger: the first six editions of Homework are all still available, too.
homework - year 7 by various artists
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
"A Star's Gone Dim"
- 00:00 DreamScenes - Intro (Susanna)
00:36 Terje Isungset - When Ice Sings
Glacial Poetry, 2022, All Ice Records - 02:57 Lauge & Aes Dana - Coriolis Effect (edit)
Terrene, 2022, Ultimae - 07:18 Erik K. Skodvin - A True Friend
- 08:02 Erik K. Skodvin - Freedom
Schächten, 2022, Miasmah - 08:42 Alva Noto feat. Martin L. Gore & William Basinsk- Subterraneans (edit)
Subterraneans, 2022, Noton - 14:39 Tujiko Noriko, Paul Davies - City Dreamscape - Open-mouthed On Train
Surge (OST), 2022, Constructive - 16:07 Rúnar Magnússon - A Star's Gone Dim (edit)
Komplett Kollaps (A Dedication To Jóhann Jóhannsson), 2022, Ohljod - 20:05 Lull - Expanse (edit)
That Space Somewhere, 2022, Cold Spring - 25:44 Lorenz Weber - ˈʃneːʃtʊrm (edit)
əv T͟Hē nôrTH, 2022, self-released - 30:39 Joachim Spieth - Sparsha (Alva Noto Remodel) (edit)
Reshape, 2022, Affin - 32:43 Erik Wøllo - The Shape Of Time 2
The Shape Of Time, 2023, Projekt Records - 37:09 Keda - Flow Pt. 1
Flow, 2022, Parenthèses Records - 40:07 This Immortal Coil - Magnetic North (edit)
- 44:59 This Immortal Coil - Corybantic Ennui
The World Ended A Long Time Ago, 2022, Ici D'Ailleurs - 45:37 Kasper Bjørke Quartet - Formation (edit)
Mother, 2022, Kompakt - 50:54 Mads Emil Nielsen - Climbing Plants (edit)
Black Box 3, 2022, Arbitrary - 54:54 Åke Parmerud - Louder Than Life, 4 - Presto
Bruit Noir, 2022, Empreintes Digitales - 59:02 DreamScenes - Outro (Dean Hurley)
Play this edition on-demand from the Concertzender website.
OR:
[audio src="https://streams.greenhost.nl/cz/cz/rod/20230108-2000.mp3" /]
DreamScenes editions are also available as a podcast!
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--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
RÚNAR MAGNÚSSON - KOMPLETT KOLLAPS A DEDICATION TO JÓHANN JÓHANNSSON The name of (Icelandic born, but currently living in Denmark) Rúnar Magnússon will probably not immediately ring a bell with most readers. Nevertheless, he's been active in the music scene for quite a few years, making music as well as running the hljodaklettar label together with Sabrina Joy. I first heard of this label in 2011 when they released a compilation of experimental music on a USB drive in the shape of an oversized tampon. This detail is of course not very relevant when talking about these new releases, but it may demonstrate the adventurous level of what we're talking about here.
Magnússon has been 'invisible' for quite some time because of 'a mental collapse' that in part was triggered by the death of his friend Jóhann Jóhansson in 2018. "I did not start to see the darkness lift until the summer of 2021 when I finally sought out professional help. I got the diagnosis ADHD which helped me understand a lot about my life."
Between 2018 and 2021, he worked on three different albums, but "had not been able to finish until I got the diagnosis".
Komplett Kollaps (no need for a translation), is a direct dedication to Jóhannsson. Literally, because Magnússon uses various sounds that Jóhann gave him throughout the years, and "had provided some sound manipulation for some stuff and acted as a third ear on some releases."
The main source was a recording of Jóhann improvising on a church organ, to study the possibilities of the organ. This can be heard here as Dr. Diablo Plays The Organ. Thé most direct reference is the sample used in A Star's Gone Dim.
Even though they shared a common musical interest, Komplett Kollaps does not sound like a Jóhann Jóhannsson album. Because it isn't: it's a Rúnar Magnússon album. An album reflecting a very dark period in Magnússon's life, but still an enjoyable listening experience in the end.
Komplett Kollaps (a dedication to Jóhann Jóhannsson) by Runar Magnusson
RÚNAR MAGNÚSSON - SUB-PHOTIC SCENARIO Sub-photic Scenario is the second release of this trilogy created between 2018 and 2021. (The third, Inside Out Of Chaos, will be released on Tapeworm). The three releases are connected: together they "form a trilogy that shows the mental state I was in, an incapacitating, downward spiral, a crushing chaos but in the end searching for the light and a way out of the maze and up to the surface."
The title refers to the bioluminescence of deep sea creatures: 'this work was inspired by the deep ocean, the pressure, the darkness and the fact that there are amazing creatures down there creating their own light, brightening up their surroundings via bioluminescence. Using chemical reactions these lifeforms become pockets of lights in the otherwise pitch-black, harsh environment they live in.'
The light generated by these deep sea creatures is a ray of hope, but their direct environment is still pitch black. As is the sound: this music feels as lonely as the deep sea, yet at the same time, it's as fascinating environment.
Sub-Photic Scenario is dedicated to Rúnar's father, who died just before he started working on it.
"His favourite orchestra was the nature orchestra. He took me to sea as a child and taught me to respect nature and my fellow human beings, especially those that might be less fortunate."
So, the music on these two albums represents a kind of darkness and loneliness that no one wants to experience personally, but which translates to (ambient) music in a fascinating way. 'Bleak is Beautiful', one could say.
Komplett Kollaps was digitally released on September 19: Jóhann's birthday. A vinyl edition will be out on the day of his death: February 9.
Sub-Photic Scenario was released on December, 2, on CD and digital.
But the trilogy is not complete without the third part titled Inside Out Of Chaos - on which probably more light starts to appear. (I'm not sure when this will be released).
In the meantime: for those of you (like me) that can't get enough of this music: Rúnar Magnússon has also put five other (recent) releases on his Bandcamp page - one of which is tellingly named Oh, Where Have I Been....
Sub-Photic Scenario by Runar Magnusson
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
[audio src="https://www.ambientblog.net/mix/WinterSolstice4.mp3" controls /]
This is my contribution to the fourth (8-hour) ambient night on Concertzender Nederland, which is traditionally scheduled on or around midwinter solstice.
As in previous editions, this night has four parts, respectively compiled by Roel Janssen, Harrold Roeland, Bob Rusche, and myself. It was broadcast from 5:00-7:00 AM on December 25, and closed the night.
As in all of my (Ambientblog) mixes, Winter Solstice 4 is a collage created from short fragments - hence the extended tracklist below. This time, I used a different method of selecting tracks: I chose only tracks in the key of C. (Or, to be honest: the tracks thatmy software told me were in C, since I have no absolute hearing).
As a result, the mix absolutely flows more coherently than you might guess by looking at the sequence image. At least, that's how I feel it, and I hope you feel that too.
Anyway, it's quite a hallucinating two-hour trip to dive deep into. I hope you enjoy listening! And of course: feedback is always appreciated.
TRACKLIST:
Start time Sample length Artist - Title
Album Title, Year, Label
- 00:00 5:21 S.E.T.I. - End Alarm
Sleep Environments For Interplanetary Travel, 2018, Power & Steel - 02:17 4:07 Anthéne - Light Years
Solitary Hymns, 2020, Vaknar - 04:16 02:56 Agate Rollings - 3.23 AM - In The Distance, Before Disappearing Behind The Corner Of A White Building, The Loss Of Life As You Know It
Meantime/Elsewhere, 2022, Midira Records - 06:13 3:26 Pat Keista - Orchestras Of Cygnus
Digital Hydrogen, 2020, self-released - 08:09 3:31 Loscil - Pearl
For Greta, 2015, self-released - 10:39 4:35 Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois, Roger Eno - Over The Canaries
Apollo: Atmospheres & Soundtracks (extended edition), 2019, Virgin EMI Records - 12:25 1:57 Thomas Carleberg, Emil Nilsson - Good And Bad Are But Names
Future Unfolding (Original Game Soundtrack), 2017, Minimum Records - 13:18 5:00 Kasper Bjørke Quartet - Miocene
Mother, 2022, Kompakt - 14:43 6:49 Dirk Serries - Metamorphosis
Disorientation Flow, 2015, Projekt - 17:50 3:48 Joe Evans - Receding Sun
Ecliptic Plane, 2012, Runningonair Music - 19:44 2:35 Ben McElroy - Autumn Later
…To Warm Their Hearts, If Not Their Hands, 2017, 1024311 Records - 21:06 1:48 Ida Toninato - Avant Les Forêts
We Become Giants, 2020, Dragon's Eye Recordings - 21:26 4:55 Pan American - The Penguin Speaks
For Waiting, For Chasing, 2006, Mosz - 23:51 5:01 Andrew Heath - Mother Calls Me Home
Drawings From Imagined Cities, 2021, self-released - 26:55 6:17 Stephen Phillips - Enraptured
Lightness Of Being, 2009, Endless Ascent - 31:00 3:06 Ian William Craig - A Given Stack
Music For Magnesium 173, 2022, 130701 Ltd. - 32:16 3:46 Pantaleimon - All The Birds (Melting Canvas) with Andrew Liles
Mercy Oceans, 2007, Durtro - 34:41 4:14 Robert Kroos - Anemone
4 Sonic Meditations, 2022, Ambientblog - 37:08 2:54 Ian Hawgood - Such Vocal Scars
Eilean 92, 2018, Eilean Records - 38:06 2:36 Bass Communion - Lina Romay
II/III, 2008, Tonefloat - 39:17 2:55 Andreas Rönnquist - Paradigm
New State Of Flux, 2021, Reverse Alignment - 40:31 4:23 Richard Chartier - Sketch For Winter (Version 2)
Grenzwellen Eins, 2017, Grenzwellen - 42:19 2:57 Svärtsinn - Wasteland Corridors
Of Darkness And Re-Creation, 2003, Cyclic Law - 44:09 3:36 Porzellan - Rosen
The Fourth Level Of Comprehension, 2009, Hibernate - 45:14 3:32 Yann Novak - Radical Transparency
The Future Is A Forward Escape Into The Past, 2018, Touch - 47:15 3:17 Frans Friederich - Rood
Ambient #5 - Prima, 2017, self-released - 49:30 4:10 Sonmi451 - Zero Day Exploit
Seven Signals In The Sky, 2021, Laaps - 52:37 3:48 Flim - How High The Moon
Ultimate Stranger, 2020, self-released - 55:43 2:39 IKSRE & Party Store - Thursday Night, Friday Morning
Northwest & Southeast, 2022, Stereoscenic records - 57:46 2:30 Christina Vantzou - Life Of A Mushroom
Releasing Spores, 2021, Slow Moves - 58:52 2:11 Alan Morse Davies - Myfanwy
Ys, 2021, Submarine Broadcasting Company - 58:53 2:19 Ajna & Onasander - Routing The Empusa
Canidia, 2021, Winter-Light - 1:00:31 2:43 Kenji Kihara - Light In The Sea
Dawn, 2019, Eilean Rec. - 1:02:07 3:38 Clarice Jensen - Sleep
Ainu Mosir, 2021, 130701 - 1:04:30 5:05 Shinobu Nemoto - Trip 12
Melting Loop Trip, 2010, Resting Bell - 1:07:39 3:40 As Lonely As Dave Bowman - Failure Of he AE-35 Unit Radio Antena
Monolith, 2015, Projekt - 1:08:31 5:52 Masayoshi Fujita - Fabric
Bird Ambience, 2021, Erased Tapes - 1:13:24 2:42 Animated Matter - Follow
Selkie, 2021, Animated Matter - 1:15:39 2:35 Bjarni Gunnarsson - Undrun
Safn 2006-2009, 2010, Lamadameaveclechien - 1:16:22 3:35 Ben McElroy - The First Wave Crashes Into The Mountain
1,000 Sewing Machines, 2017, Unknown Tone Records - 1:18:16 3:52 Zakè - Laudation
Milieuxia, 2019, Aural Canyon - 1:21:11 3:56 Innesti - Hexagonal Galleries
Between Worlds, 2019, self-released - 1:23:48 2:54 Philip Samartzis + Eugene Ughetti - Radome
Array, 2021, Room40 - 1:24:26 3:25 Max Würden - Or Lost
Or Lost, 2012, Farfield Records - 1:25:28 4:01 Carter Tutti - The Noise Of Chance
Camera Lucida, 2007, Line - 1:27:50 3:55 Rosales - Amethyst
Places For Peace, 2022, Home Normal - 1:30:14 3:10 Sven Laux - I Wish I Could Sleep
Paper Streets, 2017, Dronarivm - 1:32:12 3:10 Emmalee Crane - The Queens Of Carmen
Formantine, 2010, The Streetlight Farm - 1:34:48 1:52 Snowdrops - Abandoned Battlefield
Manta Ray, 2019, Gizeh Records - 1:36:00 4:36 Northaunt- The Unseen Earth
Istid I-II, 2015, cyclic Law - 1:39:18 6:13 Mark Harris - The Tributary - Losing Your Way
Sequence 5, 2012, Futuresequence - 1:41:46 3:08 Kasper Bjørke Quartet - Seminom Non Seminom
The Fifty Eleven Project, 2018, Kompakt - 1:43:36 5:25 Listening Mirror - Storm Train
What's Wrong With Miracles?, 2012, Twice Removed - 1:46:24 3:31 John Kannenberg - Maius/Sextilis
Cordolium, 2014, self-released - 1:49:18 2:44 Jóhann Jóhannsson - Arrival
Arrival OST, 2016, Deutsche Grammophon - 1:51:02 2:01 Jeremy Bible - Co_11
Collisions, 2014, False - 1:52:20 2:15 Andrew Weathers Ensemble - They Said That One Day We'd Be Free
Fuck Everybody, You Can Do Anything, 2015, Full Spectrum Records - 1:54:08 1:03 Visionary Hours - The Return Of Basho
The Road To Basho, 2011, Preserved Sound - 1:54:56 3:00 Hammock - Dark Beyond The Blue
Longest Year, 2010, Hammock Music - 1:57:30 2:27 From The Mouth Of The Sun - Walking Behind Glass
Into The Well, 2015, self-released
Download Winter Solstice 4 now 274Mb (120 min.)Alternative download from Archive.org (check here for lossless downloads)][Surround-version (DTS.wav/WMA 5.1) here]
OR: Listen on Mixcloud, Spotify or iTunes:
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
KEDA - FLOW Keda is the duo of Mathias Delplanque (electronics) and E'Joung-Ju (geomungo). E'Joung-Ju plays the geomungo: a six-string traditional Korean wooden instrument of over 1600 years old. The combination of this historical instrument with Delplanque's electronics opens up a fascinating sound world - as is demonstrated by this third Keda album for Parenthèses Records.
Flow is a score commissioned for the dance production of the Swiss dance Compagnie Linga. Their performance is 'inspired by the astonishing performance of animal’s group movements, such as shoals of fish, flocks of birds or swarms of insects. [...] Exploring the mechanisms that allow keeping coordination in collective synchronous movements. .'
In a relatively short time span (26 minutes), the four tracks on Flow have an interesting flow themselves: starting with a relatively abstract soundscape, where E'Joung-Ju seemingly explores the sonic capabilities of the geomungo backed by the embedding drones of Delplaque, the music gradually becomes more 'down to earth' in each following track. In the second half rhythm is introduced, while the geomungo gradually acknowledges its ancient history in the more melodic sequences.
I don't know if this process is reflected in the choreography, but I can easily imagine how seemingly unrelated chaotic movement suddenly changes into a determined formation. Like the seemingly unrelated movements of a school of fish or a flock of birds that suddenly changes into a coordinated formation.
AVIVA ENDEAN - MOTHS AND STARS Aviva Endean plays the clarinet. And if that simple statement puts any idea in your head about the sound you may expect, you'll have to think again. Or simply listen to a few minutes (or preferably a few tracks) of her album Moths And Stars, released on the Room40 label. It will not be what you expected (unless of course, you're already familiar with Endean's or her work).
"I wanted the recording to have a right-up-in-your-ear kind of intimacy - so close, that you could hear the
beating of a moth’s wing, but I also wanted the listener to experience the expansiveness of the recorded space, like the vast night sky."
In these (electro-acoustic) compositions, Endean combines the sound of her clarinet with various sounds from her archive, microtonal humming, Leslie speakers ( 'as a way to spin my bass clarinet around the microphones'), e-bows, magnets, binaural microphone feedback, and field recordings.
The result is a sound world that is as fascinatingly beautiful as it is disrupting. Intimately recorded in such a way that it gets under your skin, but at the same time it offers a sound world big enough to get completely lost in.
ÅKE PARMERUD - BRUIT NOIRIf it comes to electro-acoustic music, the Empreintes Digitales label from Canada is the way to go. Ever since 1990, the label has released a consistent stream of electroacoustics, acousmatics, and musique concrète. By now, their catalog includes 181 albums by 152 artists.
It's not the easiest music to listen to, it can be quite demanding, and it's not suitable to play in the background. But it often opens up sound worlds that you never knew existed.
Bruit Noir ('Dark Noise'), by Swedish composer Åke Parmerud is a great example. Parmerud is new name for me, but he's active in music and multimedia since the late 70's. Empreintes Digitales previously released four of his albums. Apart from his electroacoustic music, Parmerud's website also mentions many other musical projects, as well as music for films and stage productions.
Empreintes Digitales has no habit of including extensive promo texts with their releases. They obviously don't like to tell you what you're supposed to hear. It's up to the listener to decide. Also, I guess it's hard to describe a sonic roller coaster like this. But since I'm writing this recommendation I'm afraid I can't leave it at that.
If I had to describe what I hear, I guess I'd say it feels like a soundtrack from a movie but I'd have no clue what that movie would be about. And I couldn't tell if it was a move from the past (say, the space age 50's) or from the future. But it would definitely be a movie I wanted to see!
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
ALTUS - HIDDEN REALMS AND VACANT SPACES Altus (Mike Carss) is a prolific artist from Ottawa, Canada. He's not only working as Altus, but also as Loneward or Burlorke. Most of his work is available on the Bandcamp page, but the older music (between 2001 and 2020) is also generously offered as a free (MP3) download on his website.
Hidden Realms And Vacant Spaces is inspired by Stephen King's 'The Dark Tower' saga. It 'delves into the undiscovered where and whens beyond our imagination'.
Together these six tracks, just short of an hour, present a pleasurable journey into 'classic' ambient music, comfortable and immersive. But at times it also takes a darker turn - which of course is not exactly unexpected when inspired by the work of Stephen King.
Hidden Realms and Vacant Spaces by Altus
AGLAIA - PERENNIAL SOURCE Aglaia originally started as a duo, but after Gianluigi Toso left in 2003, it continued as a solo project of Gino Fioravanti. Fioravanti has released more than 66 solo and collaborative releases until now.
On Perennial Source, he decided 'to include elements that are very close to the tonalities and tactilities of stringed acoustic instruments. I included some melodic themes for the first time — barely mentioned but constantly present.'
'I played listening to the end of each note, the importance of hearing and following what remains at the end of the sound. In playing I gave importance to the moment when it ends. I remained listening within the space between notes. It was from that point forward that I decided when the next sound would emerge. In this way everything flows naturally and necessarily from its original source: silence.'
Calm, relaxing, and meditative sounds that the Projekt label generously made available on a name-your-price basis.
Perennial Source (name-your-price) by Aglaia
HIROSHI EBINA - IN SCIENCE AND THE HUMAN HEART Japanese multimedia artist Hiroshi Ebina explores ambient music as well as traditional gagaku music: traditional ritual music performed on the Japanese imperial court). He studied hichiriki and biwa, traditional gagaku instruments, as well as dance under the guidance of musicians from the Imperial Household Agency.
The traditional and classical influences does not mean that the music is traditional however: Ebina creates contemporary ambient music that tingles with the sounds he creates with these unusual instruments.
Although, to be honest, I am not sure if these instruments are really used here... Perhaps not: Ebina 'produced the music via a system of open-reel tape processing in conjunction with modular synthesizers and acoustic instruments such as music boxes, glockenspiel and guitars.' - There's no mention of hichikiri or biwa here.
But the 'jewel-toned plucked sounds, tape noise and the sounds of found objects (that) alternate with cascades of light and fragile beauty, create an aura of stillness and an indescribable sense of balance'.
Music as fresh as a Japanese garden in Summer.
In science and the human heart by Hiroshi Ebina
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
The Silence Around The Silence
Tracklist:
- 00:00 DreamScenes – Intro (Susanna)
- 00:43 Pacific Walker - Mycelium Ab Astris Ad Astra I (edit)
Pacific Walker, 2023, Orphanology/Bluesanct - 05:03 Joachim Spieth - Akasha (Asc Reshape) (edit)
Reshape, 2022, Affin - 09:19 Dienne - Ti Saluto Parte 1
Addio, 2022, Other People - 10:56 Rinnovare feat. Benoît Poulard - To Be In The Grey Is OK
Meditations 6, 2021, Shimmering Moods - 13:55 Astropilot & Spacecraft - Heavenly
Heavenly, 2022, Valley View Records - 16:43 Tomáš Šenkyřík - Rusava
Hajú, 2022, Slowcraft Records - 21:52 Chris Abrahams - Costume (edit)
Follower, 2022, Room40 - 28:47 Trondheim Voices - Kor Somnolent
Gjest Song, 2022, Hubro - 31:59 CoH Meets Abul Mogard - Find And Hold (edit)
CoH Meets Abul Mogard, 2022, Houdstooth - 37:25 Robert Davies - Sallow Murmurs (edit)
Delicate Terrain, 2022, Dataobscura - 42:24 Lilly Joel Plays The Organ - O Virtus Sapientiae (Alternate Take)
Sybil Of The Rhine, 2022, Sub Rosa - 45:42 Deepchild - The Silence Around The Silence (edit)
Mycological Patterns, 2022, A Strangely Isolated Place - 49:42 Andrew Heath - A Delicate Hesitation
Short Stories, 2022, Disco Gecko - 53:05 Stefanie Abderhalden & Kyle Flens - Chorale From An Economy Of Means
Ilta, 2022, Neuma Records - 57:51 Ô Lake - The Path
Gerry (Music Inspired by the Motion Picture), 2022, Patchrocklabel - 59:02 DreamScenes - Outro (Dean Hurley)
Play this edition on-demand from the Concertzender website.
OR:
[audio src=https://streams.greenhost.nl/cz/cz/rod/20221211-2000.mp3" controls /]
DreamScenes editions are also available as a podcast!
Receive the full **DreamScenes** tracklist automatically at every new edition? Simply subscribe here!
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
JOACHIM SPIETH - RESHAPENot long ago (one month, to be exact), Joachim Spieth released his critically acclaimed album Terrain. This is now quickly followed up with Reshape, on which a selection of musicians re-shape some of the earlier work from Spieth. The release marks the conclusion of the 15th label anniversary of Affin, the label that Spieth founded in 2007 and curated ever since
Reshape contains no reworks of tracks from Terrain, probably because this album was too recent for that. Five ot the reworked tracks are taken from Ousia (2021) and the other three from Tides (2020).
An impressive array of artists contributed to this collection: the album opens with Alva Noto remodeling the track Sparsha. Noto is followed by Asc, Bvdub, Zakè, *Markus Guentner, Simone Giudice, Warmth, and Głós*.
All of them reshape the original track adding their own personal sound, while at the same time the warm immersive sound from the original tracks.
Reshape is available in 2x12" vinyl and as a digital download.
ROBERT DAVIES - DELICATE TERRAINThis is the first time Robert Davies is mentioned here, which is quite remarkable since he has released over 30 albums since 2006 - most of them on the dataObscura label. Delicate Terrain is my first encounter with the work of Robert Davies, and I am not sure how that has happened. But I know now that I definitely have to check out more of his extensive back catalogue.
Davies may 'attribute the occasional darker aspects of his sound to watching too many horrorfilms as a youth', but Delicate Terrain shows the other side of his persona: 'ethereal ambience, with more meditative aspects coming from a deep appreciation of nature and beauty'.
The four tracks (each around 15 minutes) feel like sleeping under a warm summer sky, surrounded by nothing but nature. The refreshing and peaceful field recordings are completed with a soft tinkling and warm immersive synth layers. Only the last track, Sallow Murmers, has a slightly darker undertone compared to the previous three.
Only very few albums have the relaxing effect this 'set of longform pastorale ambient works' has!
Delicate Terrain by Robert Davies
LULL - THAT SPACE SOMEWHEREThe 'slightly darker undertones' on the Delicate Terrain album (above) may be a nice transition into the first album by Lull (Mick Harris, of Scorn, Fret, Painkiller and Napalm Death fame) in 14 years. The last time we heard of Lull was when he released 2008's Like A Slow River.
This is the kind of music you do nót want to hear while sleeping in the open air: it is as cold as midwinter, pitch black and filled with dark foreboding. But that is also its beauty, and exactly what we expect from a new Lull release. Especially when it is released on Cold Spring Records.
Mick Harris loves collecting sounds and 'playing with those sounds until I create something new from that sound'.
"Lull is an extension of me. Drifting. Just going to darkness. Into a space. Drifting and droning, discovering more and more what can be done with sound."
Welcome back (and let's hope we don't have to wait another 14 years)!
That Space Somewhere (CSR321CD) by Lull
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
COH MEETS ABUL MOGARD - COH MEETS ABUL MOGARD When two artists with different approaches but sharing a vision work together, the result can be fascinating. As is demonstrated by this collaboration of CoH (Ivan Pavlov) and Abul Mogard (anonymous until recently, but now revealed to be the alter ego of Italian artist Guido Zen). After they met at a Slovenian festival in 2019, they decided to work together, and this is their 'maiden collaboration'.
Guido 'Abul Mogard' Zen delivers his 'lushly romantic Buchla 200 and Serge Modular scapes', further treated with a 'grayscale fluorescence' by Ivan 'Coh' Pavlov (who is not only known for his solo work, but also for his collaboration with Psychic TV/Coil's Peter Christophersen).
The combination (or even juxtaposition) of 'Mogard's melancholic synth gloam and Pavlov's penetrative digital synthesis' works out wonderfully well - combining the best of both worlds. The album has a fresh and vivid sound that is soft and sharp at the same time.
Immersive at times, but also ruthlessly rhythmic: 'a supranatural alchemy of discrete analogue material and digital energies'.
COH meets Abul Mogard by COH meets Abul Mogard
STEFAN GOLDMANN - CALL AND RESPONSE With his large body of work, Stefan Goldmann is 'changing techno from within, creating his own unique form of contemporary art music'.
"Techno has always been about imagining the future and experiencing the excitement of change and discovery".
Goldmann has been DJing in Berlin's Berghain since 2006, which is where the 'techno' may refer to, but his music could perhaps better be described as experimental electronic, or electro-acoustic, music - especially in the case of Call And Response. After all, Goldmann also conceived the Elektroakustischer Salon nights for Berghain, presenting experimental music. There are no limits.
The sounds on Call And Response are created 'entirely from artificial reverb and nothing else': all sounds are responses to brief impulses (clicks).
'All sounds stem exclusively from the intrinsic properties of machines designed to replicate spatial acoustics. These range from early mechanical means such as springs and plates to increasingly complex algorithms aimed at convincingly approximating the rich acoustic responses of real-world environments. The capacity of artificial reverb (...) is often amplified to gargantuan proportions, only to be folded back into what appears to be the most minuscule of entrapments.'
With his reverb machines, Goldmann creates the most unlikely sound worlds. The result is as fascinating as it can be intimidating (especially when played at a loud volume).
Call and Response by Stefan Goldmann
MELVIN GIBBS - THE ANAMIBA SESSIONS VOL.1: THE WAVEMelvin Gibbs. Melvin Gibbs?? THE Melvin Gibbs - that bass player known for his work with Ronald Shannon Jackson, Henry Rollins, Vernon Reid, Arto Lindsay, The Clinton Administration, Defunkt, Sonny Sharrock, John Zorn, Femi Kuti, Caetano Veloso, and many many more?
Yes, this is him, the one and only! His work already demonstrated that he is not afraid to cross borders, but still, I would not have expected him to release an experimental album like this.
Like most of the releases on Editions Mego, this music is far from 'average'. 'Sound design' is probably a better way to describe the result than 'music' - Gibbs himself calls it 'sonics'.
The sound sources for these pieces are taken from a selection of sounds that included random moments of (probably unwanted) feedback on '70s records.
These sonics 'emerged from an alternative mode of contemplation, a mode that he sees as closer to the mindset of a rootworker, an African-American herbal doctor who cures psychic ailments using means derived from African spiritual practice, entering a forest to find the right plants for a suffering client than a mediator attempting to invoke mindfulness.'
It is a rich collection of sounds 'bristling, itching, restless, clicking, diving, abstract and unearthly', but it's a rewarding listen very much worth diving into.
And, since it's 'Vol.1', I assume that more like this will follow. Íf Melvin Gibbs is not too busy playing jazz music festivals, of course.
Anamibia Sessions 1: The Wave by Melvin Gibbs
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
CLARICE JENSEN - ESTHESIS
On her third full album (not counting EP's and single tracks), Clarice Jensen explores 'the emotional and harmonic spectrum' and its relation to the chromestesia phenomenon: 'a condition whereby sound involuntarily evokes an experience of color, shape and movement'.Hence the track titles (Liking, Sadness, Anger, Disliking, Joy, Fear, Love) and the colorful artwork.
Which color belongs to which emotion is up to the listener to decide. At home, at least, because this project was originally intended as a concert experience, for which 'Jensen imagined the audience being bathed in colored lights that corresponded to each drone, with those colors combined or oscillating during the songs in an effort to mimic or induce chromesthesia: a (gentle, not jarring) trip through the complete spectrum of color, (Western) pitch and emotion.'
But then the global pandemic hit and then the music became more focused on all kinds of principal emotions and their relation to enforced solitude and isolation.
Though originally a cello player, here Clarice Jensen here mainly uses synths and electronics. Some aid comes from Timo Andres on piano, and the voices of Laura Lutzke, Francesco Federico and Emma Broughton.
Esthesis (which means 'rudimentary sensation') covers a wide range of emotions, which naturally means that the tracks also cover a wide range of styles. Still, the album is remarkably coherent: the tracks fit together naturally like the colors of a rainbow.
After the 'likable' opening track called Liking, you may be surprised to recognize the theme of Purcell's Dido's Lament ('When I Am Laid In Earth') in the track Sadness following it. Other tracks, such as Fear, are far more abstract in nature. ('Fear attempts to simply portray breathing and absence'). Only to be followed by the intimate closing track Love, a track in which you can drown yourself in the sound of the organs 'employing only a short progression that always returns to the same but becomes layered, out-of-sync and lost, but simplest at its end'.
VOID POINTER - SYNESTHETIC VOYAGE Void Pointer is the alias of Peter Spaargaren, a Dutch musician with a track record in Techno and Tech-House (also known as deFusion). But on Synesthetic Voyage he demonstrates his ambient (or perhaps ambient-techno) capabilities.
The first thing to note is that Void Pointer must not be confused with the óther Void Pointer from Ireland - the difference (on Bandcamp) is the hyphen after Void. Both may be electronic acts, but they are not comparable in any way.
Synthetic Voyage is a set of (six) dreamy soundscapes, all originating from a jam session and slightly tweaked afterward.
If you feel that this music would fit nicely as a videogame soundtrack you are right: some (most?) of this music is featured in Oakenfold - available on Steam, developed by Rutger van Dijk. The key feature of this game is the 'TimeScrubber' that you can use to reverse time if your strategy didn't work.
In fact, that is a nice analogy to the music on Synthetic Voyage. It is definitely contemporary music, but it also has a nice comforting and somewhat nostalgic '90s' feel. So, if you feel the need, simply use Synthetic Voyage as your sonic TimeScrubber.
Synesthetic Voyage by Void Pointer
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
ECOVILLAGE - THE ROAD NOT TAKEN
Ecovillage is a Swedish duo: Emil Holmström and Peter Wikström. They've been creating music ever since 2001, releasing on various labels like Psychonavigation, Constellation Tatsu, Eilean Rec, Past Inside The Present and Dronarivm. Now they also can add the well-respected Laaps series to that list.
Perhaps I need to nuance that 'now': The Road Not Taken was already released in September, which unfortunately means that the physical editions are almost sold out by now (only 3 vinyl left at the time of writing). But there's still the digital edition of course.
The Road Not Taken can hardly be described as a 'duo' album. Only the last track is performed by the Ecovillage alone, on all the other tracks Emil and Peter collaborate with artists they met in their musical career. There's Fennesz, Henrik Meierkord (on no less than four tracks), Masayoshi Fujita, Aaron Martin, and Ruven Nunez.
These names are a clear indication of the kind of music you can expect: quiet and intimate, slow moving music with a natural, acoustic feel - according to the liner notes 'a more sacramental and human feel compared to their previous work.'
The Road Not Taken by Ecovillage
TONI DIMITROV & DEMETRIO CECCHITELLI - A NEW DAWN
Another duo here - but this is their first collaboration: Toni Dimitrov (from Skopje, Macedonia) and Demetrio Cecchitelli (from Rimini, Italy).
They build their slowly evolving textures around field recordings, thus evoking 'images of daily life surrounded by a whitening veil of nastalgia and melancholy'.
The textures are mainly developed by Cecchitelli, and the field recordings come from Dimitrov's archive. The combination of sound feels like 'a sound installation within a land-art point of view or a scenography merely composed of organic elements'.
And: it feels like summer. No coincidence I guess: was released in August - which (again) means that the physical CD-edition is almost sold out: 6 remaining at the time of writing.
A New Dawn by Тoni Dimitrov & Demetrio Cecchitelli
DAVID CORDERO & MIGUEL OTERO - A POSSIBLE DISTANCE David Cordero and Miguel Otero (both from Spain) conclude this trio of duos. Their album A Possible Distance is released on the Dronarivm label. It is the third time they produce an album together, following up Salinas (2020) and Distension (2021).
A Possible Distance 'is a reflection on the gap between human relations and everyday life; distance and closeness. The immediacy and the small personal moments that make us feel even more alone'.
That may sound a little depressing at first, but in fact, the music sounds as refreshing as reflected in the cover image.
"Minimalist melodies wrapped in luminous skies to enhance common places while nature takes its course.'
A Possible Distance by David Cordero & Miguel Otero
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
KASPER BJ∅RKE QUARTET - MOTHER I must confess I had not heard about Kasper Bjørke Quartet before - even if he is a renowned artist who released music on many labels, made music for Prada, Nike, Bang & Olufsen, and remixed works by many famous artists such as Sascha Funke, Moby, Trentemøller, Gus Gus and many more. I also missed the 2018 release The Fifty Eleven Project, a two-hour album released on Kompakt which was accompanied by a stunning website featuring stunning visuals for each track. The album was included among The Guardian's best contemporary albums. So: time to catch up - especially after hearing this follow-up album Mother.
Mother is the second release of Kasper Bjørke Quartet, which also consists of Davide Rossi (strings), Jakob Littauer (piano), and Langstrakt (synths). (The Quartet output is not to be confused with Bjørke's solo output as a house/techno DJ). They are completed with two guests: Sophie Birch (on Formation and Miocene), and duo (Josephine) Philip| (Hannah) Schneider (on Abiogenesis and Requiem).
The music on Mother is beautiful enough to be enjoyed without context, but there is a clear concept behind the album: Mother refers to our planet, Mother Earth. The track titless tell the story of its origin, life, and its ultimate decline. And this does not end well, I'm afraid: the last two tracks are named Tipping Points and Requiem.
Mother (and The Fifty Eleven Project before that) presents a kind of contemporary classical ambient music you probably wouldn't expect from a 'house/techno DJ'. The tracks on this 80-minute album are all over 10 minutes in length (the opener Formation even clocks at 21 minutes). It feels like primarily acoustic music, but there are a lot of electronic details to complete the sonic image.
In fact, it is a bit hard to pinpoint this music, since it combines elements of acoustic ambient, choir music, modern classical, and minimal music. And it does so very well!
I wouldn't be surprised if Mother will again be praised as one of the best contemporary albums of this year.
LORENZ WEBER - NACHTSTÜCKE
Lorenz Weber is a musician from Leipzig, Germany, who 'tries to carry stillness into the world.' In doing so, he designed his own language for the piano: 'a way of playing that is more like a natural rhythm, like water or the wind - in waves and forms, sometimes effervescent, sometimes flattening - but above all with space and silence'.
There are many piano solo recordings currently, but Nachtstücke definitely has a different sound than most of them. The pieces are all very quiet and introspective (which is to be expected from an album called 'Night Pieces'), and are melodic while also lacking distinct melodies. Creating a calm atmosphere, Weber wants 'to create a spece to feel, think, rest, paint or write.'
After 'exploring the beauty and darkness of the night' on his piano, Weber also wrote a poem to each of the tracks. The physical edition of Nachtstücke is available in two editions, both hand-made: a 'simple' edition CD in a hand-printed cover, and the 'fine art edition' in a black hand-printed cardboard sleeve that also includes 8 cards with the poems. Of course, there is also a digital download edition.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
"Fertile Emptiness"
- 00:00 DreamScenes – Intro (Susanna)
- 00:29 Kasper Bjørke Quartet - Requiem (edit)
Mother, 2022, Kompakt - 06:38 Erik Mowinckel - Veien Dit
Flere Steder Samtidig, 2022, Dugnad Red - 09:30 Colin Stetson - Cerberus (Reduction) (edit)
Chimaera, 2022, Room40 - 14:36 Clarice Jensen - Sadness
Esthesis, 2022, FatCat - 18:45 Matt McBane & Sandbox Percussion - Bathymetry 1 - Proximity (edit)
Bathymetry, 2022, Cantaloupe Music - 21:27 Hildur Guðnadóttir - Mortar
Tár OST, 2022, Deutsche Grammophon - 24:43 Brian Eno - Inclusion
Foreverandevernomore, 2022, Opal Records - 29:10 Peter Knight - A Wordless Song For Ania
Shadow Phase, 2022, Room40 - 34:00 Daj Fujikura & Jan Bang - Satellite Sister
The Bow Maker, 2022, Punkt Editions - 38:33 Iksre - Night Mist (Spring, 10:27 PM) - Kalimba Meditation
Awake Within The Dream (Sound Meditations, Vol. 1), 2022, Self-released - 41:29 Jonas Colstrup - Two Suns, feat. Budapest Art Orchestra & Theatre Of Voices (edit)
At The Crest, 2022, 7K! - 44:34 Peter Kirn - Pleiades (edit)
Klangbox IV, 2022, Feral Note - 47:24 Deepspace - The Flatlands (Ghosts In The Heatwaves) (edit)
The Blue Dunes, 2022, Projekt - 51:58 Sawako - Fertile Emptiness (edit)
Stella Epoca, 2022, 12K - 55:12 Mattie Barbier - Untitled I (edit)
Threads, 2022, Sofa Music - 59:04 DreamScenes - Outro (Dean Hurley)
Play this edition on-demand from the Concertzender website.
DreamScenes editions are also available as a podcast!
OR:
Download DreamScenes - Nov 2022 now (137Mb)
Receive the full **DreamScenes** tracklist automatically at every new edition? Simply subscribe here!
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
KATHARINA SCHMIDT - PARTICLES I must admit I had not heard of Katharina Schmidt before. But the Slaapwel Records label is one of the very few that I blindly trust. One of the very few labels that bring out the completist collector in me. So I ordered this CD as soon as it was announced. And I am not disappointed.
Particles is a 57:39 composition that perfectly fits the mission of Slaapwel ('Sleep Well'): 'music to fall asleep to'. The label came to life when the original curator Wim Maesschalk asked musicians to write a sleep-inducing record. 'when he failed to reach the end because he fell asleep, he released it as a musical record'. This remained the basic philosophy for Slaapwel Records, which is currently curated by Stijn Hüwels.
I must immediately add that I did not fall asleep to it, nor did I intend to do so. (Which, in fact, is the same for all of the 16 previous releases). Because it is also a waste of musical notes to do so. This is music to play in the background at a level that suits your needs, where it immediately creates a totally relaxed atmosphere without drawing too much attention. The overall effect is not unlike Brian Eno's generative music projects, but the difference is in the instrumentation: Katharina Schmidt builds it with looping guitar harmonics.
Katharina Schmidt has a history of playing drums and piano in various bands, influenced by indie, experimental and improvised music. 'From sonifications to lullabies, her work is poised between formal experimentation and narratives cued by literature and pop culture, and can be heard in installations, film music, and radiophonic pieces', as well as releases on various labels. She's holding a master's degree in Sound Studies from the Berlin University of the Arts. A versatile artist, obviously, showing her most delicate, introspective side on this release.
Particles by Katharina Schmidt
DEEPSPACE - THE BLUE DUNES
With the act named Deep Space, the Blue Dunes from the title obviously does not refer to any dunes on earth. But not exactly 'deep' space either: after all, Mars is relatively nearby. The Blue Dunes refer to the Odyssey
orbiter's 2021 finding of what first seemed to be blue-colored dunes on Mars.
'Even though the dunes only appeared blue due to false-colour imagery indicating temperature, it was
enough to kindle the desire for such a surreal place.'
Deepspace (Mirko Ruckels from Brisbane, Australia) explores these dunes in seven deeply immersive tracks of various lengths (the last one being a short edit of the 16:25 minute title track).
'Longing, desolate shimmers with glassy luminescence abound, interspersed with soft transient murmurs not quite identifiable — maybe the aural representation of a cluster of strangely-shaped rock, or something unusual on the path into a vast and strange terrain.'
As if the music itself was not enough to express his vision, Ruckels also wrote a short story accompanying each track, which 'could be atmospheric to read while listening to the album.'
This story is included as a 10-page PDF booklet included in the download, which is offered on a Name-Your-Price basis. As if that in itself is not generous enough, the story can also be read here in case you are streaming the album. But I suggest you download it and pay what it's worth to you.
The Blue Dunes (name-your-price) by Deepspace
NRV - BLUE ROOFS Even more shades of blue on this album Blue Roofs, released on the See Blue (!) Audiolabel. NRV is the drone/ambient project of Manabu 'Nerve' Ito from Sendai (Japan). During 2020's global lockdown, the 'enforced isolation enabled NRV to take his time in trying out different approaches and musical experiments, which ultimately led to the forging of a new sonic identity'.
In 2011, Sendai was one of the places that were hit by a giant earthquake and tsunami. 'Blue roofs' refers to the many houses that were covered with blue sheets instead of roofs. 'Since then, things have changed rapidly in Japan, but also little by little; even things that look the same as before do not feel the same.'
The second track, Sombra, is based on field recordings made on the tree-lined Jozenji-dori Avenue, one of the most iconic places in Sendai. 'On the day when these recordings were made, the contrast between the shadows of the trees and the blue sky above was a thing of rare beauty, a familiar scene but also fleeting.'
With these two ambient pieces, NRV demonstrates that some landscapes that may be thought of as all too ordinary reveal their beauty only on close inspection. 'Nothing is truly ordinary, and everything has its rightful place in the universe and beyond.'
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
JOHN LUTHER ADAMS - SILA: THE BREATH OF THE WORLD
All of John Luther Adams' music is closely connected to natural environments. Just check his previous releases: Arctic Dreams, Lines Made By Walking, and the massive trilogy Become River, Become Ocean, Become Desert. This is not in the sense that it merely 'celebrates' or 'describes' nature: it's more like the music evokes the natural processes in sound. Which means the compositions can be long, seemingly timeless.
Sila: The Breath Of The World continues this tradition. Originally premiered in 2014, it is only now captured and presented as a CD (/download), as well as in immersive Dolby Atmos on selected streaming platforms.
Recording Sila clearly was not an easy task, given the multiple ensembles and the compositional choices involved:
"Sila is scored for five ensembles of 16 musicians —woodwinds, brass, percussion, strings, and voices— who may perform the music in any combination, successively or simultaneously, outdoors, or in a large indoor space. The musicians are dispersed widely, surrounding the listeners, who are free to move around and discover their own individual listening points".
Besides that 'there is no conductor. Each musician is a soloist, who plays or sings a unique part at her or his own pace. The sequence of musical events is composed, but the length of each event is flexible. The music breathes.'
Sila, in the Inuit tradition, is 'the spirit that animates all things, the breath of the world. Sila is the wind and the weather, the forces of nature. But it’s also something more. Sila is intelligence. It’s consciousness. It’s our awareness of the world around us, and the world’s awareness of us'.
In this time of increasingly fierce climate crises, Sila is 'an invitation to listen more deeply'.
The composition, just short of one hour, opens with a deep rumbling. A movement from the bowels of the earth from which all further activity grows. 'Sila comes out of the earth and rises to the sky, floating upward through sixteen harmonic clouds, grounded on the first sixteen harmonics of a low B-flat. All the other tones in the music fall “between the cracks” of the piano keyboard—off the grid of twelve-tone equal temperament.'
Throughout the composition, the deep sub-level rumble recedes in favor of the higher frequencies. The music gradually dissolves 'back into the breath of the world'. Is the world simply going to rest, or is a fundamental part of it slowly dying?
Being a surround nerd (but not yet involved in Dolby Atmos setups), I'm a bit disappointed that the release does not include a traditional (5.1) surround sound recording next to the stereo version (like the previous releases did). I would love to hear a full surround session to be able to hear Sila as it was intended. With an orchestration like this, there will probably be only a very few live performances.
But enough of that. Most people are not too much into surround anyway. This stereo release is a brilliant recording, and definitely immersive enough to experience John Luther Adams' original intentions.
Just listen deeply.
Sila: The Breath of the World by John Luther Adams
JOHN LUTHER ADAMS - HOUSES OF THE WIND Houses Of The Wind, which was released earlier this year, is equally environmentally-related but with a completely different instrumentation. No large-scale symphonic acoustic ensembles here, but electro-acoustic interpretations of an original recording made in 1989 from the wind playing through (or with) a small aeolian harp.
All (five) pieces here have the same length as the original recording, but each of them demonstrates a different kind of wind: Mountain Wind, Tundra Wind, Canyon Wind, Catabatic Wind (a wind that carries high-density air from a higher elevation down a slope under the force of gravity), and Anabatic Wind (a warm wind which blows up a steep slope or mountain side, driven by heating of the slope).
The sound of the original aeolian harp is 'transposed, layered on itself and sculpted' to reflect these different kinds of winds. Interestingly, the album has the same effect on the listener as Sila (and most of the other John Luther Adams projects): it is an open invitation to 'listen deeply', resulting in nothing but respect and awe for all kinds of natural processes.
Houses Of The Wind is released on Cold Blue Music and is available on CD as well as a digital download.
Houses of the Wind by John Luther Adams
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
Until now (November 2022), áll Ambientblog mixes and DreamScenes editions were also available on Mixcloud. Starting on December 1, 2022, the free Mixcloud account can only host 10 shows. A Pro account (99 Euro/year) can host an unlimited amount of shows, but since I'd need two of those this is too expensive for me. So I made an important decision about using Mixcloud.
This also means that all DreamScenes editions can be downloaded from now on! (They weren't downloadable before, only available streaming). So you can thank Mixcloud for that!
Here's an overview of the availability:
Ambientblog mixes
- The 10 latest mixes are available on Mixcloud.
With an average of 3-4 every year, this means about 2.5-3 years. - All editions are available on ambientblog.net to stream and/or download (as MP3).
Most of them can also be downloaded in a surround version (DTS or WMA). - They are also archived on archive.org (often also offering lossless quality download).
- Podcast is available on Spotify, Apple, etc.
DreamScenes editions
- The 10 latest editions are available on Mixcloud.
Each edition is available for 10 months. - All editions are available on ambientblog.net to stream and/or download (as MP3).
- Starting with the July 2017 edition, they can also be streamed from Concertzender.nl.
- Podcast on Spotify, Apple, etc, limited to the latest 5 editions (via Concertzender).
Folio Archive
(You probably did not know this existed, did you?)
This is an archive of all the NPS Folio radio shows I produced from December 2006 until August 2009.
That is a long time ago, yes, but most of these programs are still interesting to listen to. Just try some!
Since this is an archive, there will be no new editions added and thus this collection is unaffected by the new restriction (for now at least).
- These shows are only available on Mixcloud.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
Most (if not all) previous Ambientblog mixes always had some dark moments in them, they are never 'just' relaxing. You can only feel release if you also felt tension.
This time, I wanted to avoid the darkness and create a 'lighter mood mix'. Not of the 'Ibiza Chillout Lounge' kind, but one that can be played in the background and is still exciting enough to listen to. I hope I succeeded, but of course, you're the one to decide about that!
With two hours, Cloudwatching is longer than usual. Only a few tracks are included in their full length, but most are heavily edited or even just short fragments. Also, they are often overlayed, so you'll hear the music in a different context. The extensive playlist below may help you track down the original in their full-length versions.
I really hope you'll enjoy watching these -imaginary- clouds!
Massive thanks to Dave Michuda (from Low Light Mixes) for making the beautiful promo and teaser videos, and to Joseph Aleo for co-hosting this mix in his Soundwave series.
Tracklisting
Start Length Artist - Title
Album Title, Year, Label
- 00:00 3:58 Francisco López - Untitled #373
Untitled, 2019, Esc.Rec - 00:17 4:09 Lawrence English - Pre-Approach - Citizen
Approach, 2022, Room40 - 01:47 6:04 William Basinski & Janek Schaefer - … On Reflection (Four)
… On Reflection, 2022, Temporary Residence Limited - 06:15 4:02 Arve Henriksen, Eivind Aarset, Jan Bang - The Swans Bend Their Necks Backward To See God
The Height Of The Reeds, 2018, Rune Grammofon - 09:22 2:59 Masayoshi Fujita - Harp
Book Of Life, 2018, Erased Tapes - 11:12 4:07 Mombi Yuleman - Mental Telepathy
Hours Lost, 2022, ZeroK - 13:14 2:31 Asmus Tietchens - Paralelle Ebene 1
Parallelen, 2022, Line - 14:26 2:41 Abul Mogard - Like Water
Strega Music, 2022, Make Noise Music - 16:14 2:48 Keda - La Lune De Corée
Hwal, 2015, Bruit Clair - 18:31 4:27 Tapani Rinne & Teho Majamäki - Reflection
On the Border, 2022, Signature Dark - 22:34 4:01 Radboud Mens - Convolution
Continuous, 2022, ERS - 26:02 3:03 Alex Haas & Michel Banabila - The Woods (ft. Bill Laswell)
Singles (2020-2022), 2022, Tapu Records - 27:58 2:01 Imperial Valley - Fields North Of Kane Spring, Oct 8, 1938
Imperial valley III, 2022, Folded Rime - 29:03 3:47 James Murray - Clearings
Careful Now, 2022, Home Normal - 31:41 2:02 Raum - Daughter
Daughter, 2022, Yellow Electric - 32:04 3:05 Tierro Cosmico - Eres Nocturna
Figments Of Wonder, 2022, Neotantra - 34:29 2:34 Emmanuel Holterbach - Rivage (Shore)
Le Rêve, L'Ombre Et La Vision, 2022, Canti Magnetici - 35:09 3:51 Holland Patent Public Library - A Road I've Passed But Never Taken
Songs To Fall Asleep At The Wheel To, 2022, Dear Life Records - 38:34 2:11 Thomas Ragsdale & Richard Arnold - The View
Chasing Waves, 2022, Frosti - 39:24 3:50 David Cordero & Kenji Kihara - Grazalema
Komorebi, 2022, Home Normal - 42:27 2:14 Abul Mogard - The Rain Has Gone
For Ukraine Vol. 3, 2022, Headphone Commute - 44:06 3:43 Robyn Miller - Gateroom
Riven - The Soundtrack, 1998, Virgin - 47:34 2:12 From The Mouth Of The Sun - Paint & Stories
A Broken House, 2021, Dronarivm - 49:01 4:23 Olga Wojciechowska - Recreating Worlds
For Ukraine Vol. 3, 2022, Headphone Commute - 52:50 3:13 Biosphere - Aura In The Kitchen With The Candlesticks
Departed Glories, 2016, Smalltown Supersound - 55:35 1:46 Jolanda Moletta - Spell II: Daydream And Nightbloom
Nine Spells, 2022, Ambientologist - 56:32 1:48 Budhaditya Chattopadhay - Dhvani
Anthology Of Exploratory Music From India, 2021, Unexplained Sounds Group - 57:01 6:29 Cell - Geiger
Onwards System, 2022, Ultimae Records - 1:02:46 1:33 Clarice Jensen - Fear
Esthesis, 2022, FatCat Records - 1:03:19 4:06 Erik Wøllo - Peace Bells
Sojourns, 2022, Projekt - 1:06:30 4:07 Tarotplane - Auximenes
Aeonium, 2022, Constellation Tatsu - 1:09:30 2:39 Norman W. Long - Return & Recovery
Return & Recovery, 2022, Line - 1:10:51 3:08 Marine Eyes & Antarctic Wastelands - Enshrouded
Sustain Series, Vol. 3, 2022, Ambientologist - 1:13:54 1:34 Ryoji Ikeda - Data.Tron (2007-14)
Music For Installations Vol. 1, 2021, Codex Edition - 1:14:37 2:07 Masayoshi Fujita - Pons
Bird Ambience, 2021, Erased Tapes - 1:16:39 3:32 Tetsuroh Konishi - Kevaan Aania
Scenes, 2021, Off-Recordlabel - 1:19:38 3:30 Madeleine Cocolas - Presence
Spectral, 2022, Room40 - 1:22:17 1:49 Pinkcourtesyphone - Comfortable Predictability
All Intensive Purposes, 2022, Room40 - 1:23:51 4:10 Clarice Jensen - Love
Esthesis, 2022, FatCat Records - 1:26:16 3:47 Radboud Mens - Modular
Movement, 2022, ERS - 1:29:16 2:08 Arve Henriksen - The Farmers Of Sonic Alchemy
Murimorphosis, 2021, Arve Music - 1:31:18 2:10 Daigo Hanada - Kage
Satori, 2022, Moderna Records - 1:33:04 3:21 Ivan Cebrian - Snow In Silence
Inside/Outside, 2022, Oigovisiones - 1:35:53 3:34 Robert Rich & Luca Formentini - First Day
For Sundays When It Rains, 2022, Soundscape Productions - 1:39:20 1:48 Sofie Birch & Antonina Nowacka - Outro
Languoria, 2022, Unsound / Mondoj - 1:41:03 1:50 Sven Laux & Fione - Stay
Tomorrow Everything Could Be Different, 2022, Whitelabrecs - 1:42:07 4:16 Loscil - Dub For Cascadia
Endless Falls, 2010, Kranky - 1:45:50 2:22 Powlos & Holt - Our Shimmering Breath
Sustain Series, Vol. 3, 2022, Ambientologis - 1:47:48 3:33 Anne Chris Bakker - Johan (In Memoriam)
A Sketch In Leaving, 2022, Whitelabrecs - 1:50:45 2:34 Glåsbird - Sirsa
Himalaya, 2022, Whitelabrecs - 1:53:15 1:04 Trio Ramberget - D Minor Postlude
24 Ways Vol. 1, 2022, Piano And Coffee Records - 1:54:11 2:08 Galya Bisengalieva - The Crash
Hold Your Breath: The Ice Dive OST, 2022, One Little Independent Records - 1:55:48 4:11 Madeleine Cocolas - Enfold
Spectral, 2022, Room40
Download Cloudwatching now 289Mb (120 min.)
[Alternative download from Archive.org (check here for lossless downloads)]
[Surround-version (DTS.wav/WMA 5.1) here]
OR: Listen on Mixcloud, Spotify or iTunes:
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
PETER KNIGHT - SHADOW PHASE
The memory of Jon Hassell lives not only in his own legacy. Many trumpet players adapted a style of playing their instruments that immediately reminiscences his style. It's almost impossible to listen to Peter Knight's Shadow Phase without being reminded of what Hassell has meant for music in general and trumpet playing in particular.
'Through the simple process of exhalation, I explored my relationship with the trumpet, which has been through so many twists and turns. I let the tones produced by my breath unfurl on long tape loops and degrade beyond recognition through pedal and plugin chains, until the only imprint of the initial gesture remained.'
But with that, we don't do enough justice to the art of Peter Knight. He's not simply a Hassell copycat: he's an artist in his own right, an award-winning composer who has released 12 albums on various labels and who was the Artistic Director of one of Australia's leading contemporary ensembles: the Australian Art Orchestra.
In addition, Shadow Phase is not 'fourth world music'. In fact, it is hardly classifiable music - it's 'a meditation on the nature of connection', created mainly in 2020's long winter lockdown. The music was created with his old friend and teacher Ania Walwicz in mind, who sadly passed away in September of that year (Ania's voice can be heard on the closing of the track A Wordless Song For Ania).
'Ania’s practice as a writer relied on ‘automatic’ processes. Her work was informed by everything she had read (a lot) but it was created in the manner of dreams. In a state where the subconscious might bubble up and the words arrange themselves into meaning bearing forms that resonate more than represent.'
This approach can be felt all over this album. Honest, heartfelt, mindful.
DAI FUJIKURA & JAN BANG - THE BOW MAKER
The annual Punkt festival, traditionally held in September in Kristiansand, Norway, started in 2005 and has since then gained a reputation for being different from more traditional festivals. It is a 'festival of the Live Remix', meaning that the artists are challenged to tread out of their 'safe zone' and directly interact with other artists.
'All the concerts at Punkt are remixed live, and the audience gets to hear the remixes immediately after each concert. In many cases, the remixers also invite musicians to interact with the remixes, making them a vehicle for continuous innovation and improvisation.'
This concept guarantees adventurous interactions, so it's no surprise that it attracts international artists from the centers of experimental music, such as Brian Eno, David Sylvian, Daniel Lanois, Laurie Anderson, Thurston Moore,and John Paul Jones. But the core of the festival is centered around a group of Nordic artists related to Jan Bang and Erik Honoré, the original founders of this festival.
And now there is Punkt Editions: 'an outlet for Punkt-related music, artwork and writing'. Punkt Editions plans to release 'live and studio recordings from the vaults, as well as brand new recordings.'
The Bow Maker is the very first release on Punkt Editions, and it can serve as a perfect sample for what the festival as well as the label stands for.
Main credits go to Dai Fujikura (synths, samples) and Jan Bang (samples, processing, programming), but the album introduces a wealth of contributors that are familiar with the Punkt concept and regularly participate in the festival: Eivind Aarset (guitar), Arve Henriksen (trumpet, vocals), Nils Petter Molvaer (trumpet), Kati Raitinen (cello), Tamami Tono (sho).
I can't even begin to describe the musical genres involved here, because over the years the 'Punkt Sound' has become a genre in itself. Once you know it, you'll immediately recognize it.
'The mood and atmosphere of each piece is distinct, sometimes wide in scope and spacious, sometimes enclosed and focussed, sometimes warm and hazy, sometimes cool and crystalline. The fleeting elements – whether brief incursions of drums, prepared piano or orchestra, half-glimpsed field recordings, or manipulated echoes of the other instruments – populate these spaces with a kind of ongoing life through which a leading instrument, often trumpet or voice or both, can swoop and weave. The combination of the organic spirit of the music (despite its electronic nature) with the versatility of the musicians involved means that while sounds are clearly differentiated within the soundscape, their true source is often unclear.'
So let's hope that Punkt Editions will bring the spirit of this unique festival to everyone that unfortunately cannot attend it. I'm sure it will!
The Bow Maker by Dai Fujikura & Jan Bang
SON OF CHI & ARTHUR FLINK - THE FIFTH WORLD RECORDINGS The history of Chi dates back to 1986, when they released their original self-titled cassette that has since then become a cult item (and was re-released on CD twice). The project reincarnated in various constellations: as The Chi Factory and now Son of Chi. The resulting music found a fitting home on the Astral Industries label
Core Chi member Hanyo van Oosterom, sometimes also operating as White Eagle Jones, has always admired the music of Jon Hassell. Hassell was the main inspiration for the original Chi project, the two met when Hassell performed in Rotterdam in 1987 (a concert I was lucky enough to attend), and again 20 years later when Hassell contributed to the two nights of instant composing sessions with the Numoonlab Orchestra.
So: yes, The Fifth World Recordings is a direct tribute to this legendary trumpet player and music innovator.
Van Oosterom creates the sonic layers using drones, loops, and soundscapes, resulting in a mysterious and dreamful atmosphere. Trumpet player Arthur Flink improvises his parts, 'channelling Hassell's idiosyncratic style', but at times also chooses a different playing technique, like referring to Miles Davis in his most introverted moments. It all falls into place perfectly; the two album sides create a comfortable environment to dwell in.
Fifth World may suggest that it takes the concept of (Hassells') Fourth World Music a step further. This is not the case, in my opinion, and maybe it's too early to try. After all, the Fourth World still offers more than enough to explore.
AI-32: The Fifth World Recordings by Son of Chi & Arthur Flink
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
JOACHIM SPIETH - TERRAIN
Terrain is Joachim Spieth's fifth album since 2000, and his fourth on the Affin label which he started in 2012. That is: only counting his full albums, and not the numerous single/EP releases on various labels such as Kompakt.
Terrain aims to create 'a musical language that connects Spieth's music production practice to feelings of proximity to nature'. With Spieth's experience in music production (and the cover design by Markus Guentner), this connection is easily made.
In the eight tracks on this (Terrain 1-8), Spieth focuses on the more contemplative side of nature. "It's an interplay of euphoric flashes and introspection... Soothing frequencies are intended to create a state of awareness in the listener."
The sound has incredible depth. And width. Even with the accents that give these sounds the necessary tension, the music induces an incredibly relaxed state. This is the kind of terrain I love exploring!
Terrain is released (on October 28) on vinyl and digital (no CD).
ERIK MOWINCKEL - FLERE STEDER SAMTIDIG Erik Mowinckel is a self-taught electronic musician from Norway. He began making music around 2008, and - according to Discogs - previously released two cassettes in 2020 and a (digital) EP earlier this year. But Discogs proves to be far from complete: his Bandcamp page shows another six titles. And both don't even mention the previous Contours album, released in July on Kizen Records which is definitely also worth checking out.
His website reveals he's primarily a photographer: about his music he simply states "I also make music".
Listening to his new album Flere Steder Samtidig (which translates as 'Many Places At Once'), I think that simple statement is too modest. As can be expected from a photographer, the music sounds very 'visual', exploring 'abstract and associative narratives through field recording, electronic- and acoustic instruments with an accent on textures and melody.'
Mowinckel creates 'a place without people' (not very hard to find in Norway), 'a quiet and unobserved space that disappears as soon as you enter it'.
Flere steder samtidig by Erik Mowinckel
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
RADBOUD MENS - CONTINUOUS / MOVEMENT
Dutch sound artist, composer, and sound designer Radboud Mens boasts no less than 40 years of experience in working with sound. All kinds of experimental sounds: ranging from 'attaching contact microphones to dog's brushes that he used to destroy vinyl records by scratch-laying them, boosting the signal through broken cassette decks and recording the results', to drones, clicks & cuts (to be taken quite literally: Cl;ck (2000) used digital clicks and errors he collected while cleaning up digital recordings). All things electronic & experimental, and always 'out of the box'.
As such, he also experienced the constraints of such thinking: in the 90s most labels were not interested in releasing albums where different genres (minimal techno, glitch, ambient) coexisted or were combined. It was always either...or.... But the idea of doing this never left him for over 20 years.
So finally he started working to create this vision, combining digital clicks, ambient drones, minimal techno and dub. And the 110 minutes on Continuous / Movement proves him right.
The two albums present a unique combination of sound that can be enjoyed in different ways: it is definitely 'ambient' when played on a lower volume - the pace is unhurried and the tracks take their time to develop (or to deliberately nót develop). But at the same time, the beat is relentless and unavoidable, even at a slower speed, and the lower bass is earth-shaking when played at a louder volume. This music definitely works at all levels.
I don't know if the times have changed compared to the 90s regarding the label's attitudes toward genre-defying music. I hope so. Radboud Mens decided not to find out and simply released these two titles on his own ERS label.
Continuous and Movement are two separate albums exploring this concept. They can be obtained separately but should be regarded as a double album. The - ridiculously - low price for the CD-versions ($5, which in fact is lower than the $7 for the digital version!!) means that you don't have to doubt about buying both or not.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
ANDREW HEATH & SIMON MCCORRY - A IS FOR AUTUMN Perfectly timed release, just at the start of Autumn: this collaboration of Andrew Heath and Simon McCorry, released on Whitelabrecs. On their first (but probably not their last) collaboration, they used a different sound palette for every session, choosing from instruments ranging from cello and modular to piano and guitar.
Both musicians know their way when it comes to using electronics as well as performing on their acoustic instruments. Their experience ensures 'a rich mellowing of landscape' of sound - even if on most of the tracks on this album the acoustic instruments (Heath's piano, McCorry's cello) are barely recognisable in the background, almost hidden behind multiple layers of electronics.
Autumn is, of course, the season of 'a withdrawing into a more intimate space as the year slows and the light levels fall away'. A perfect time to tap into your own memories of this colorful season, listening to A Is For Autumn.
A Is For Autumn by Andrew Heath & Simon McCorry
ANTHÉNE & STIJN HÜWELS - INTO THE SETTING SUN
Both Anthéne (Bradley Deschamps from Toronto) and Stijn Hüwels (Belgium) have been featured on various Home Normal releases, but this is their first collaboration.
Together, they present - in the words of no one less than Ian Hawgood himself - 'perfect amalgamation of organic ambient music which the label always hoped to release'.
To be honest I have nothing to add to the description of their layered guitar pieces: 'the album unfolds in its own gentle way, subtlety revealing layers of discreet melodies with the slightest sways of field recordings seeping through.'
Into The Setting Sun was already released in July this year, but (at the time of writing this) there are fortunately still some CDs available.
into the setting sun by anthéne & stijn hüwels
HALFTRIBE - ELEGANT, GOLDEN The label is different (Dronarivm), the instrumentation is different, and still, there are certain resemblances in the atmosphere of Elegant, Golden and that of Into The Setting Sun mentioned above. Probably partly due to the organic nature of the music, and probably also partly due to Ian Hawgood's mastering.
Halftribe is the alias of Ryan Bisset, from Manchester, UK. He has released some 10 albums since 2016 on various labels, Sound In Silence, Shimmering Moods and Hidden Vibes among them. This is already his third album for Dronarivm, after For The Summer, Or Forever (2018) and Backwater Revisted (2019).
Not many words are needed to introduce this album: 'Thoughts, memories, feelings and emotions hidden in noise and fragments of sound'.
Released in July, this music perfectly accompanied Summer. So I'm a bit late I'm afraid. But it's still available, and there always be another summer. And besides, warm music like this is also very welcome during a cold winter.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
For Sunday When It Rains
- 00:00 DreamScenes – Intro (Susanna)
- 00:34 Simon McCorry - Skin Deep (fragment)
Colors, 2022, Hidden Vibes - 03:54 Joachim Spieth - Terrain 1
Terrain, 2022, Affin - 9:01 Trisector - Moderate Immersion
Quiet Balance, 2022, Signature Dark - 13:34 Robert Rich & Luca Formentini - First Day
For Sunday When It Rains, 2022, Soundscape Productions - 16:40 Daj Fujikura & Jan Bang - Implanted Memories
The Bow Maker, 2019, Punkt Editions - 19:19 Lawrence English - Approach II - The Doll
Approach, 2022, Room40 - 22:01 Son Of Chi & Arthur Fink - Part One (fragment)
The Fifth World Recordings, 2022, Astral Industries - 26:09 Frans De Waard & Martijn Comes - Those Silences That Occur (edit)
Equal Weight, 2022, Moving Furniture Records - 32:17 Mollbury Medical Research Centre - Temporary Amnesia (fragment)
The G4 Project, 2022, self-released - 33:34 Il Radioamatore - A Lighthouse Through The Frequencies (edit)
The Fall Of Europe, 2022, Eiga - 34:58 Marc Richter - Chapter Fourteen
MM∞XX, Vol. 1 & 2, 2022, Cellule 75 - 36:46 Rubbish Music - Bathroom Throwaways (edit)
Upcycling, 2022, Flaming Pines - 38:55 Kasper Bjørke Quartet - Abiogenesis (feat. Philip Schneider) (edit)
Mother, 2022, Kompakt Records - 44:17 Erik Mowinckel - Løv
Flere Steder Samtidig, 2022, Dugnad Rec - 48:42 Lorenz Weber - Mauern Des Weltalls
Nachtstücke, 2022, self-released - 50:45 Craven Faults - Deipkier (edit)
Live Works, 2022, Lowfolds Works - 59:02 DreamScenes - Outro (Dean Hurley)
Play this edition on-demand from the Concertzender website.
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--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
FRANS DE WAARD & MARTIJN COMES - EQUAL WEIGHTS These days, there's nothing new about (electronic) artists working together remotely. Exchanging files back and forth, each iteration reacting on the previous. It has led to many fascinating albums of course, yet it has become a standard practice. Nothing wrong with that of course, but creative minds keep finding ways to keep that concept a step further so it stays challenging.
This online collaboration by Frans de Waard and Martijn Comes is an example of the surprising turns a different approach may take. As a start, de Waardcreated two empty 'containers' (each around 25 minutes long), adding some of his own 'sonic brushstrokes', but leaving it to Comes to fill the gaps. De Waard's electronic fragments had some kind of 'old-school' feeling about them, which lead to a feeling of nostalgia by Comes - thus defining the overall mood of the album. It's interesting to note that this album is a follow-up to 2020s Various Weights, which was an example of the more classic way of interchanging sounds.
The first part of this album ('Those Silences That Occur') is perhaps the most surprising: there are some elements that I personally would not have expected here. The opening sequence features beautiful trumpet and fluegelhorn improvisations (by Marcel Klingeler), merging into immersive spacey electronics and then morphing into a charismatic choir loop for the second half of the first part. These ethereal sequences seem to be a recomposition from themes by Carlo Gesualdo (ca 1600) - a composer whose lifestyle did not exactly match his heavenly compositions, so to say. It is exactly this unique and unexpected combination of sounds that lifts this album to a unique level not often heard.
The second part ('And There Is Nothing To Say') takes off from the closing chord of the first part but quickly drifts into deeper and incrementally more abstract electronic ambiances - drifting off into infinity (and beyond) without losing the nostalgic, somewhat sentimental mood.
The CD (and download also) features a 24-page book with artwork from Bas Mantel presenting images of various kinds of gemstones 'as a symbol for digging up objects from the past that have stayed underground for a long time.' The booklet also features some quotes that may illustrate the struggle of creating: 'That is not music'. 'There is no point', 'There is too much of nothing in it', 'I am not a musician', 'It must be revised', 'That I am getting nowhere'. The constant struggle of the creative creator fighting self-doubt and uncertainty.
Uncertainty may be a necessary phase in the process of creation, but listening to the result there was no reason to doubt. This album can easily fill those silences that occur when there is nothing to say.
Equal Weights by Frans de Waard & Martijn Comes
MARTIJN COMES & NICOLETA CHATZOPOULOU - SARIRA
Martijn Comes' common denominator may be electroacoustic music, but he is not afraid to incorporate surprising elements into his music. Who, after all, would expect a carillon to be used as an instrument within an electronic context? Of course, the piercing sound of the bells from a carillon can by definition never be used in an 'ambient' context. Or can they?
Comes composed different works for this instrument: EANN in 2017, MOTHER, written for the Dom carillon in my hometown Utrecht, and Radiance, Time for carillon, tape and electronics, commissioned by the Rewire festival and performed at the Stevenskerk in Nijmegen. The first two tracks of Sarira are the recording of this Rewire performance.
Radiance, Time is split into two separate tracks: Radiance is a solo piece for carillon (performed by Malcosa Fiebig, city carillonneur of Utrecht and Nijmegen - a beautifully recorded piece of majestic bells. Time, on the other hand, 'moulds, stretches and purifies the timbres of site-specific bell sounds into rich, cavernous reflections'. Here, the bell sounds (two bells called 'Damiaatjes', from the St. Bavo church in Haarlem) sound more distant and somewhat more hesitant among their fiercely electronic surroundings.
The closing track of Sarira is a 16:31 collaboration with Nicoleta Chatzopoulou, a viola da gamba specialist, composer, and sound researcher based in Athens, Greece. Her 'original lines and bowings remain recognizable, juxtaposed against mysterious electronic transformations, Comes’s guitar notes and the eery rattling of tuning pegs. The subtle twang of the viola, and the surprisingly rhythmical quality of the performance add up to an experience that is equally of this and another world.'
Sarira is released on The Crystal Cabinet and available as a limited 'tea shell' cassette (edition of 30), and of course as a digital download.
Sarira by Martijn Comes & Nicoleta Chatzopoulou
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
LAWRENCE ENGLISH - APPROACH Lawrence English' large body of works covers many areas of electronic/experimental music and field recordings. His work "explores the politics of perception and prompts questions of field, perception and memory. His compositions occupy a unique position where acoustic and electronic sources share similar textual and timbral qualities, blurring the nature of the source and creating a relative sonic tabula rasa."
His latest album, Approach, is heavily inspired by - and a kind of soundtrack to - Yoshihisa Tagami's manga Grey. The first Manga that Lawrence English bought as a 13-year-old boy, and also one of the first that was translated and distributed outside of Japan. Lawrence has a deeply personal emotional connection with the story and with the main character Grey, 'as laconic and often unlikable as he might be', because of his 'rejection of societal expectation and his refusal to accept the immobility of systems and social codes'.
For some context: here is a bit of the story's premise (taken from Wikipedia):
"The world is covered in wastelands that are dotted with numbered "Towns". All Towns are supervised by computers called "Little Mamas" (nodes connected to the world governing super-computer called "Big Mama"); the underprivileged live in the slums and are referred to as "People". One can only become one of the privileged "Citizens" by joining the army and fighting the other Towns' forces, as the Towns are continually at war with one another."
I'm not familiar with Grey myself (or with Manga in general), so I cannot relate the sounds on this album to the original story. But even then the sound on this album has quite a deep impact. The dystopian context can clearly be felt: the waves of sound are overwhelming, physical, and almost violent sometimes.
This material needs a good sound system - and a dedicated listening setting - to be enjoyed in full, and then it will drag you in like a black hole would. Even without the context of Grey, it is a haunting 44-minute sci-fi trip you will not easily forget.
The album is divided into 12 sections, probably referring to chapters of the original Manga. But as can be expected, they are carefully sequenced and should be enjoyed in one go from beginning to end for maximum effect. (Two additional edits/extractions of First Encounter and Shidara are added to the download).
HAARVÖL & XOÁN-XIL LÓPEZ - THE UNCANNY ORGANISATION OF TIMELESS TIME
A bold statement in the liner notes: 'There is no progress in art'. (I personally would have added an exclamation mark).
This is followed by some philosophical musings about the relationship of art with time, and 'with its time.' And about the fact that the 'sounds we hear on this album are grouped in a harmonious relationship', are 'a deliberate escape from the linearity of chronological time and the appetite for another, imaginary time, which allows for the most diverse and strange associations.'
Sounds somewhat pretentious and difficult to grasp perhaps, but don't let that put you off. After all, the most interesting 'ambient' music should make you lose track of time. And, above that, may also reveal an uncanny yet familiar strangeness.
The music on this album consists of improvisations on an Iberian pipe organ built in 1801, played by Xoán-Xil López, in a sonic dialogue with the electronics and field recordings performed by Haarvöl: Fernando José Pereira and João Faria.
The four tracks on this album all 'contain a certain degree of familiarity that is simultaneously undermined by an inherent strangeness', demonstrating what Freud meant with his notion of 'unheimlich'. But you'll probably feel that 'familiar strangeness' even without reading the liner notes.
The Uncanny Organization of Timeless Time by Haarvöl + Xoán-Xil López
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
PINKCOURTESYPHONE - ALL INTENSIVE PURPOSES / SHOUTING AT NUANCE
As Pinkcourtesyphone, Richard Chartier has developed a personal style that differs from the releases under his own name. In his own words: "Pinkcourtesyphone is a more emotional, dare one say musical side of Richard Chartier’s work. Pinkcourtesyphone is dark but not arch, with a slight hint of humor. Pinkcourtesyphone is amorphous, changing, and slipping in and out of consciousness."
These two releases (again) demonstrate what this means.
All Intensive Purposes, released on Room40, is a set of seven relatively short soundscapes that 'can be best characterized by one word — charm, well, maybe two words — questionable charm.' It is a strange combination of distant loops, layered sounds and 'ghostly utterances', a hazy sound as if coming from a distant dream that would perfectly fit the set of The Shining. "Catastrophe muzak", perhaps, but also a pleasurable listen.
Compared to All Intensive Purposes, the four tracks on Shouting At Nuance are much longer: between 14 and 27 minutes each. The two longest tracks (Problematic Interior 3 and Alternatory) were previously released in 2019 as part of On Corrosion: the 10 cassettes set housed in a wooden box that was released to celebrate the 50th release on the Helen Scarsdale Agency. A cult collector's item by now, so it's a good thing that this label decided this was worth a re-release.
For this double vinyl release two extra tracks are added: But It Felt/In Other Dreams and She Who Controls. These were álso previously released as a cassette: in 2017 on the Tapeworm release Something You Are, Something You Do. So no news perhaps for the die-hard collectors, but for most others, this will feel like a new release.
The liner note description is as recognizable Pinkcourtesyphone as his music is - and I definitely could not think of a better description myself:
"His search for ghosts on tape sifts through the warbles, clunks, notes, and beats moistened an smudged through a mid-to-late century antiquity that also pilfers from a variety of moldering vhs tapes and miserable cassingles. [...] With allusions to decay as an unrecognizable reconstruction of past works, his ghostly ambience becomes a dub of itself, echoing back a dispersion of drift and drone into a feedback loop of disintegrated memory."
All Intensive Purposes by PINKCOURTESYPHONE
shouting at nuance by pinkcourtesyphone
MATHIJS LEEUWIS - GÉNÉALOGIES 2 When mentioning physical editions we're usually referring to CDs, Vinyl or Cassettes. Mathijs Leeuwis challenges the true collector with his release on an even more anachronistic medium: Généalogies 2 is released on - wait for it - reel-to-reel tape! In a very limited edition, by the way, so if you're lucky enough to have a working tape recorder, you'll have to be quick (the release date is September 23). But if you're not so lucky: Généalogies 2 will also be available as a download via Bandcamp.
Généalogies 2 is the follow-up to Généalogies (obviously), released two years earlier. It's a further study of imperfection as a tool for creating self-generating (auditive) realities. Leeuwis' starting point was that 'erratic systems create new worlds, which lead to new ideas ... Leave, forget and invent again."
Compared to the previous Généalogies, the process is now more generative: define a set of rules and the basic material, and then let them evolve within a more or less controlled system.
Tape and feedback are Leeuwis' main instruments and so releasing it on reel-to-reel is a justifiable (nut bold) choice.
The four separate pieces Généalogies III, IV, V and VI are shorter than the previous I and II: they are only 21 minutes in total. The release also contains a continuous mix of the separate tracks, which is Leeuwis' preferred version.
Généalogies // 2 by Mathijs Leeuwis
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
VARIOUS ARTISTS - FOR UKRAINE VOLUME 3
In March and April, two volumes of For Ukraine were released, two compilations to raise support for the International Rescue Committee (if you are not familiar with them check them out: Volume 1, Volume 2, and - for an overview - perhaps also the mix I created with music from these two).
The first two volumes raised over $17k, but since the last campaign was triple matched, the total even went up to $31k!
Unfortunately, your support is still needed: the war is still going on and there are no signs that it will end soon.
For Ukraine Volume 3 helps to make your decision: presenting 20 tracks (94 minutes) curated by none other than Rafael Anton Irisarri.
It's a 'who's who' of contemporary ambient/post-classical music featuring many familiar names and also some less familiar. The quality of the music is exceptional, but that is something that's clear when browsing contributors such as Olga Wojciechowska, Clarice Jensen, Claire Rousay, Abul Mogard, Arovane, Mike Lazarev (who presents this series through his Headphone Commute site), Lubomyr Melnyk, Eluvium, Taylor Deupree, Christopher Bissonnette, Markus Guentner, Joachim Spieth and Ian Hawgood.
And that list isn't even complete.
So, as a compilation, this is what we can call a 'no-brainer'. And with the cause it supports, it's a double no-brainer. Or triple, to be exact!
For Ukraine (Volume 3) by Various Artists
VARIOUS ARTISTS - SUSTAIN SERIES, VOL. 3
Another third edition in a compilation series is this third edition of the Sustain Series, of which Volume 1 was released in November 2020, and Volume 2 in July 2021.
The Sustain Series is also a charity compilation series: in this case (as the name suggests) for the Eden Reforestation Projects: projects to restore forests together with local communities "on a massive scale, thereby creating jobs, protecting ecosystems, and helping mitigate climate change'.
The concept of sustainability is taken quite far: many of these tracks are 'recycled' versions: reworks demonstrating what can be achieved when on person's trash can be another's treasure.
And there are quite some treasures to be found here, in this two hour and twenty minute compilation of 27 tracks. So: yet another no-brainer!
"Volume 3 seems to blend as a continuous, drone-focused, collective understanding of what needs to be heard and felt." Among the participants are Anthéne, Gallery Six, Henrik Meierkord, Jolanda Moletta, Rinnovare, Halftribe, Seabuckthorn, Marine Eyes, Karen Vogt, Hilyard, Logic Moon - but there are many more.
With so many different artists, the music is remarkably well matched: "Volume 3 seems to blend as a continuous, drone-focused, collective understanding of what needs to be heard and felt."
Sustain Series, Vol. 3 by Ambientologist
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
CHRISTINA VANTZOU, MICHAEL HARRISON & JOHN ALSO BENNETT - CHRISTINA VANTZOU, MICHAEL HARRISON & JOHN ALSO BENNETT* Christina Vantzou, Michael Harrison, and John Also Bennett* collaborate on this 'suite of raga-inspired compositions and improvisations [...] centered around a devotion to just intonation tuning, deep listening, and resonant spaces.'
Vantzou is the sound director on this project (and adds the occasional tape loops and field recordings), Bennett and Harrison perform on just intonation piano (the main instrument on these pieces) and modular synth (creating the accompanying drones).
Michael Harrison was a protégé of La Monte Young (and tuned his piano) and a disciple of Pandit Pran Nath, which may indicate what music can be expected here.
The piano clearly takes the center stage; the combination with the modular drone indeed feels like a raga - with the same calming effect. The just intonation tuning of the instrument is what gives these ragas their extra dimension. For the 'uninitiated listener', without knowledge of this matter, this almost mathematical approach to tuning may sometimes sound like some notes are clashing in an 'unnatural' way. This feels somewhat uncomfortable but at the samte time also refreshing.
More informed musicologists will probably be fascinated by the examples of Harrison's tuning provided with the notes, such as this 'modified revelation tuning' as used in Sirens (which, by the way, is one of the more electronic-sounding tracks where the piano is strictly used as the sound source):
Let me be clear: I reckon myself to the former, the 'uninitiated listener'. I do not understand the complexities behind just intonation, and I have no idea what this modified revelation tuning scheme can tell me.
But I dó know what my ears tell me: this is a fascinating pleasure to listen to and explore again and again!
Christina Vantzou, Michael Harrison & John Also Bennett is released as double (45 rpm) vinyl via Séance Center. Both the vinyl edition and the digital download can be ordered via Bandcamp.
MICHAEL BEGG - MOONLIGHT AND SENTIMENT
I have not encountered many albums that are promoted with a text like this:
'This is not a crafted record. The quality is often very poor and the resolution is seldom realised. The melodic lines drift into sentimentality and the production lacks focus and rigour.'
When you are familiar with the previous work of Michael Begg, you'll probably know that it can't be this bad. But indeed: the musical atmosphere dóes reflect the image on the cover, which one could call somewhat 'sentimental'. But it's the kind of sentimentality I love to listen to. It is, in Michael's words, 'the authentic sound of moonlight suicides, Christmas midnights and a representation of a certain kind of recovered memory that ruins your sleep.'
Moonlight And Sentiment emerged more or less by accident when Begg was trying to realize something else - something 'that refused to play'. He feels that it was something he had little control over, but the result 'seems to speak more truly to my private clear-night-sky self than any contrived contribution I may otherwise have forced upon you.'
Moonlight And Sentiment is released in a CD edition by Klang Galerie; the digital download can be obtained from Omnempathy's Bandcamp.
Moonlight And Sentiment by Michael Begg
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
"Continuous Movement"
- 00:00 DreamScenes – Intro (Susanna)
- 00:43 Radboud Mens - Modular (edit)
Movement, 2022, ERS - 03:55 Erik Mowinckel - This Is Where I Am
Contours, 2022, Kizen Records - 07:25 Jacaszek, Romke Kleefstra, Jan Kleefstra - It Deel ()
It Deel I, 2022, Moving Furniture Records* - 12:08 James Murray - Careful Now
Careful Now, 2022, Home Normal - 17:05 Christina Vantzou, Michael Harrison, John Also Bennett - Harp Of Yaman
Christina Vantzou, Michael Harrison and John Also Bennett, 2022, Séance Centre - 20:59 Erlend Apneseth - Gravsong
Nova, 2022, Hubro - 23:27 John Luther Adams - Sila The Breath Of The World (fragment)
Sila The Breath Of The World, 2022, Cantaloupe Music - 26:51 Pinkcourtesyphone - But It Felt - In Other Dreams (edit)
Shouting At Nuance, 2022, Helen Scarsdale - 32:50 Matthew Florianz - Van Ons
Mist Schimmen, 2022, Self-Released - 37:43 Alva Noto + Ryuichi Sakamoto - Veru 2 (fragment)
Revep (Remaster), 2006/2022, Noton - 40:25 Vagantpoesie - Intonate (edit)
Onomatopoeia, 2022, Shimmering Moods - 43:13 Madeleine Cocolas - Presence
Spectral, 2022, Room40 - 47:54 Kenneth Kirschner - January 7 - VI, 2022 (edit)
January 7, 2022, 2022, Self-released - 50:23 Joachim Spieth - Flow
Flow, 2022, Affin - 56:34 Radboud Mens - Conversion (edit)
Continuous, 2022, ERS - 59:07 DreamScenes - Outro (Dean Hurley)
() It Deel*
| Twa hannen wêr’t noch mei boarte is gryp nea samar om dy hinne yn de keale tûken krektnjonken myn flecht in dearinnend paedin bytsje moasop it stien it bloed út dyn fingersgriis tsjin de wangen twa ierdske lippen it winter wêzen | Two hands that were once used for playing never blindly grope around you in the bare branches justbeside my flight a dead-end patha little mosson the stones the blood from your fingersgrey against the cheeks two earthly lips being winter |
Play this edition on-demand from the Concertzender website.
OR:
stream it from Mixcloud:
(added after the broadcast)
DreamScenes editions are also available as a podcast!
Receive the full **DreamScenes** tracklist automatically at every new edition? Simply subscribe here!
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
JAMES MURRAY - CAREFUL NOW
The cover shows a photo of the artist as a five-year-old, wearing a motorcycle helmet. From his expression, it's not sure if he is playing or maybe feared. The album title is Careful Now. What is James Murray trying to tell us about this release?
We'll probably have to guess because he's not telling us any details:
"I've been more upfront in the past but not this time so much... letting listeners arrive at the album without too many preconceptions. Let's just say it reflects some of where I've been at mentally and emotionally these past few years in a bunch of different ways."
James Murray's music always feels very personal. It's hard to explain why that is because it's instrumental and fairly abstract ambient music. It must have something to do with the sound design he chooses, the careful construction of the palette, and the hints of melodies that can be felt on an almost subconscious level.
Careful Now is James Murray's first solo album since 2019. This time it is not released on his own Slowcraft label, but on Ian Hawgood's Home Normal, a fitting home that also released some of his earlier albums Killing Ghosts and Falling Backwards), as well as some collaborations.
The six compositions on this album confirm the reputation that Murray already has. I guess he even sets a new standard for himself: it is an overwhelmingly deep sound with many detailed levels, at times with a thundering sub-low: "Deep rumbling bass elements burst open like flood gates into huge synth drone driven melodies and textures fizzing and skittering over the surface of all the depth that continues to resonate below."
Listening on a good system is advised here: it gave me the sensation as if I was listening to a surround mix, completely immersive.
The emotions are up to the listener to decide: within one track, one can hear impending doom, or joy, or melancholic nostalgia - depending on your own personal state of mind. everything is in the ear of the beholder.
Not many artists can do that like James Murray can.
DAVID CORDERO & KENJI KIHARA - KOMOREBI 木漏れ日
The Japanese word komorebi expresses something like "sunlight filtered by leaves". And that is a great description of the music on this album which is as bright as its cover image.
It is perfect music for the Spring season: it was released in June this year, and marked the return of the Home Normal label after a short hiatus.
David and Kenji met in 2018 when they both performed in Tokyo. Out of mutual admiration, they decided to collaborate on a new album. This collaboration links Tokyo, Japan (Kenji Kihara, perhaps also known as Sphontik)* to Cádiz, Spain (David Cordero)***.
It is not clear who exactly plays what, but the two artists managed to create 'an album of subtle electronics within an ambient framework that beautifully draws in the light between the spring and summer seasons'.
Which definitely is a welcome change among all the darker ambient albums of late.
Komorebi 木漏れ日 by David Cordero & Kenji Kihara
MODULAR SLEEP PATTERNS - MODULAR SLEEP PATTERNS I guess a title like that triggers many lovers of ambient music. Ian Hawgood and Stijn Hüwels have previously recorded together: No Voices in 2019, Day Falls (with James Murray) and Voices in 2021), but this is their first release as Modular Sleep Patterns.
For these 10 'patterns', Hawgood and Hüwels developed worked out a new compositional process: 'processing loops from an OP-1 synth through a Ciat Lonbarde modular set-up and recording straight onto old tape we needed to use up before it snapped due to age and decay. Using vocals and synths going into the simple OP-1 sampler engine, the (slightly uncontrollable) reels would create pitch-shifting patterns of deep drone music which we layered with guitars.'
Due to the state of the old reels, this work can never be recovered again - but luckily it is caught and released on CD (/digital).
The sound is quiet, subdued, with all the characteristics of all things analog (and old). The music is clearly intended to 'help you find these patterns a gentle persuasion to sleep and/or rest easy.'
For that purpose, the 10 separate tracks can best be enjoyed in one uninterrupted session.
modular sleep patterns by modular sleep patterns
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
PRUSKI - MOMENTS OF IMMERSION
Pruski is Polish artist Paweł Pruski, who uses his last name for his ambient output (or better: 'the more experimental variants of electronic music'), while the Minoo alias is reserved for his more beat-oriented music.
As Pruski, this is his sixth album release (Discogs does not mention Whispers from 2021), and his third for Whitelabrecs.
The intention for this album is clear from its title: this is intended as immersive music. Using field recordings, processed tape sounds, and modular synths, Pruski creates eight Moments.
Like most ambient music, the sound harmonises with a specific space'. But on CD (as opposed to a live set), the 'space' is depending on the place where the music is listened to. And so, 'in this case, the space is changed with the feelings of the moment, for whoever is listening.'
Moments of Immersion by Pruski
GLÅSBIRD - HIMALAYA Here's one that slipped through the cracks: it was already released in May this year. Of course, this means the CD is already sold out, but the album is too good not to mention it.
Himalaya is the 6th part of Glåsbird's Sonic Expedition series exploring 'far-flung geographic themes over the course of 10 albums', each of them released on the Whitelabrecs label.
'Himalaya was created as a fictitious film soundtrack, tracking the struggles and triumphs of a climber as they embark on and summit an unspecified mountain' - a mountain on the highest mountain range on earth.
After the two opening tracks the sound changes from ambient electronics to full orchestral, feeling like a (fictitious) film soundtrack as dramatic as the Himalayan peaks themselves. Then, 'the album closes with a descent, as the music gradually softens again but it carries with it, a sense of weary achievement.'
It still remains a mystery who is behind the Glåsbird alias: it is an anonymous project by 'an established artist'. We can only guess, but that 'established' can clearly be heard.
TOÀN - PHONOLITE Another release from out of the backlog: Toàn's Phonolite, released on Krysalisound in June.
Toàn is Anthony Elford, a French artist now based in Britain. 'With a wide range of acoustic and electronic instruments, he creates a unique world of colors and shades. His sonic paintings are visual collages of microsounds perfectly arranged and chiselled in a photography of the early twentieth century.'
Phonolite is the third part of a trilogy that started with Histos Lusis (on Eiléan) and Volta No Vento (on IIkki). The title comes from an ancient Greek word meaning 'sounding stone'. A well-chosen title, since organic materials are used to create the bright 'earthly', sound on this album, even when they are accentuated with subtle electronic details. All of the titles refer to various stones and minerals.
The Album is mastered by Francis Gri, who gave Phonolite an amazing 'open' sound where every detail can be heard. Especially recommended to those that love the sound of Francis Gri and Andrew Heath.
Ánd those that love the sound of Toàn, of course!
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
MADELEINE COCOLAS - SPECTRAL
Australian composer and sound designer Madeleine Cocolas describes her music as 'predominantly post classical and ambient instrumental music, [moving] between lush soundscapes to experimental electronics, field recordings and solo piano'. Spectral demonstrates all of that.
It opens with a vocal piece, A Memory, Blown Out, followed by a haunting piano theme layered over looped environmental sounds and voices. (If the theme of Enfold sounds familiar: it was previously included on the Vector Field Vol. 2 compilation and included in the DreamScenes January 2021 edition).
All of the (eight) tracks are created from subtle details, each of them with its own identity. But together they form a perfect and varied album of soundscapes that invite you to stay aware of your surroundings.
'Spectral is built on a foundation of sounds I collected from my immediate surroundings in recent times. I captured these sounds as a type of aural diary to mark days and weeks as they passed. At the time I didn’t know why I was collecting sounds or what I would do with them, it just felt like something I needed to do and it helped me stay connected and feel tethered to my surroundings. As the collection grew, I could sense these links between them, some sounds seemed to gravitate towards one another, they self-arranged almost. It felt very natural to then build layers over the top of them, to be able to express some of the emotions that the sounds triggered, of memories from the moments from when they were captured.'
'At its core, Spectral is about deep stillness, observation and perception underpinned by emotional expression.'
SUSANA LÓPEZ - THE EDGE OF THE CIRCLE Susana López (or Susan Drone as she also calls herself on her website) is an experimental composer and visual artist from Spain. In her work, she 'explores how intangible materials (sound and light) can act as a catalyst focusing our consciousness and altering our perception'.
The Edge Of The Circle, however, is released as a CD and thus concentrates solely on sound - though the album cover illustrations may indicate what the visual counterpart might look like.
Using field recordings, loops, and drones, she creates 'sonic objects as a quest for deeper realities of nature'. She Nurse With Wound, Coil, Eliane Radigue, François Bayle and Steve Reich as her main influences. The 13-minute Black Circle demonstrates that her sound objects can be quite dark, dense and foreboding.
'The Edge of the Circle portrays a kind of abstract narrative that comprises five concentric rings rather than chapters. The work suggests an initial departure along an open road; a tumultuous journey through an intense storm; a trek along a menacing footpath; a wilderness populated by wandering spirits; and finally, a majestic, enormous hall in which those spirits dwell.'
The Edge Of The Circle is released on the Elevator Bath label and available on CD as well as a download. CD's are shipped from Austin, Texas, so European buyers may prefer to order the CD directly from Susana herself (mail address on the Bandcamp page).
The Edge of the Circle by Susana López
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
MICHEL BANABILA - SINGLES (2020-2022)
With 146 (!) titles on his Bandcamp page, Michel Banabila's discography can be a bit confusing. Among the releases with new/unreleased music are also many compilations and reworks. And apart from that, there are the occasional download-only single tracks.
Singles (2020-2022) is, as the name suggests, a compilation of recent 'singles'. So the music is not 'previously unreleased', but for those that missed the earlier single releases, or those that favor physical releases, it probably still is 'new' music.
Most of all, it is a stunning display of Banabila's versatility, both as a solo artist and in collaboration with others. Apart from the opening and closing tracks, the other nine tracks are collaborations with a variety of artists: Alex Haas & Bill Laswell, Cengiz Arslanpay, Jeff Greinke, Ümlaut (Jeff Dungfelder), Robert Jarvis, Maarten Vos and Gareth Davis.
This list of artists itself guarantees a diverse musical offer. Singles (2020-2022) presents a versatility of styles, yet it is a coherent collection because of Banabila's skillful direction. Whatever direction the music takes, listeners that are familiar with his work will immediately recognize it as 'Banabila'. It's not easy to describe what this exactly is - I guess that's what we can call the hand of the master.
I guess it's safe to say that Singles (2020-2022) is a mandatory addition for everyone interested in Banabila's music. And it's also a great introduction to his music for those that are not yet familiar with his work. But be warned: once opened up, there's a giant collection of earlier work waiting to be explored!
Singles (2020 - 2022) by Michel Banabila
MATTHEW FLORIANZ - MIST SCHIMMEN
Matthew Florianz' musical career started around 2000 when he still used the beautiful alias Liquid Morphine. His early releases, such as GrijsGebied, Molenstraat, and Electronic Forest (some of them collaborations), were widely respected among the ambient audience, but also remained a bit of an underground cult - perhaps because of the consistent use of Dutch titles?
Florianz kept (self-)releasing quite some albums throughout the years, simultaneously building a succesful career as a game audio designer. (Not very relevant side note: I had the honor of creating a collage of sounds from 'The Chronicles Of Spellborn' in 2009).
His experience as a sound/game audio designer can be heard in his latest release: Mist Schimmen ('Fog Shadows'). It's a step forward (for instance in the use of rhythm in some tracks, such as in the opener Haven Licht where white noise bursts sound like cymbals), but at the same time it's 'nostalgia for a time in which I have created albums such as Molenstraat, Electronic Forest, Grijsgebied, Three, Niemandsland and Koude Handen'.
The album is inspired by the music of that time - without sounding retro-nostalgic, by the way: it is still music of this time, too. The music inspired by Florianz' memories of the time he lived in The Hague (he currently lives in the UK) and, of course, uses many environmental recordings from the area - all of them perfectly embedded in the synthetic soundscapes.
Again, all of the tracks have Dutch titles, adding to the nostalgia and telling the album's story in itself. They're probably uncomprehensible for non-Dutch speakers, so I'll help here: Haven Licht (Harbour Light), Nieuw Stad (New Town), Warm Ver (Warm Far), Laat Al Zo Lang (Late For So Long), Richting Zuid (Direction South), Waar Gebeurd (True Story), Toen Der Tijd (Back Then), Laat Los (Let Go) and Van Ons (Ours).
On Mist Schimmen Matthew Florianz stays true to his artistic vision and to the musical direction he chose from the very beginning of his musical career - but without repeating himself or sounding anachronistic.
mist schimmen by Matthew Florianz
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
NETHERWORLD - VANISHING LANDS
Vanishing Lands is released in May 2022, and while I am writing this it is extremely warm for the time of year. So it may be a challenge to 'immerse yourself in the great north, lost in the darkness of winter nights'.
But it proves not to be that hard when listening to Vanishing Lands, which is released on Glacial Movement Records from Italy - of which Alexander (Netherworld) Tedeschi is also the label curator.
Tedeschi clearly has a fascination for the cold arctic north. But he is also worried about what is to happen to this landscape: 'Around you, ice-covered volcanoes and endless white and silent expanses. Slowly all of this is fading, day after day, and unfortunately it is irreversible'.
The music on Vanishing Lands reflects these worries. By definition, it is dark atmospheric music picturing vast and cold expanses. But the dark and ominous music also has a melancholic beauty in it. It reflects the kind of isolation and coldness that you sometimes long for. Especially on days when the global warming can be literally felt.
Vanishing Lands by NETHERWORLD
KLOOB & ONASANDER - TEMPESTARII More darkness from Daniel Fereira (Kloob) and Maurizio Landini (Onasander). Including another link to an icy cold winter: Tempestarii is released on the Winter-Light label.
Tempestarii were medieval weather magicians, 'who claimed the power of controlling the winds by means of incantations. Dwelling amongst the common people these sorcerers possessed the power to raise or prevent storms and were capable of summoning up a storm to blight crops. [...] Anyone reputed to be a weather-maker was the subject of respect, fear and hatred, dependent on the storms outcome.'
It's easy to imagine the sorcery of these weather-makers with the sonic storms generated on this album: many of the track titles directly refer to storms. Storm Raising, Furious Dawn, Immissores Tempestatum (Injectors Of Storms) ... The opening track title De Grandine Et Tonitruis ('On Hail And Thunder) refers to the title of the treatise arguing against weather magic written by Agobard de Lyon ca. 816 (!).
It is a stormy trip back to medieval times. But with the climate getting more and more extreme, it could also be a trip to the future: to a time when we may desperately need a new generation of Tempestarii.
Tempestarii by Kloob & Onasander
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
"Let the waves in"
- 00:00 DreamScenes – Intro (Susanna)
- 00:14 Michel Banabila & Ümlaut - Burgeon A (featuring Salar Asid)
Singles (2020-2022), 2022, Tapu Records - 05:10 Felipe Otondo - Mombasa (edit)
Mombasa, 2022, Sargasso - 08:57 Sp@sms - Words With The Shaman (fragment)
From A 20th Century Box, 2022, U-Trax - 13:00 Peter Knight - The Softened Shore (edit)
Shadow Phase, 2022, Room40 - 19:13 Galya Bisengalieva - Should I Panic About Dying
Hold Your Breath: The Ice Dive, 2022, One Little Independent Records - 20:38 Invisible Ralf - Dreamstate
Matter Affect, 2022, Esc.Rec - 22:10 Aes Dana & Miktek - Lavender (edit)
Isolated, 2022, Ultimae Records - 26:48 Hekla - Í Kyrrð
Xiuxiuejar, 2022, Phantom Limb - 30:26 Ian William Craig - Attention For It Radiates (edit)
Music For Magnesium_173, 2022, FatCat Records - 33:17 Steve Roach - What Remains (edit)
What Remains, 2022, Projekt Records - 40:16 Martin Nonstatic - Layers Of Space
Isolated, 2022, Ultimae Records - 45:55 Thurston Moore - The Neighbor
Screen Time, 2022, Southern Lord - 47:01 Jolanda Moletta - Spell I: Let The Waves In
Nine Spells, 2022, Ambientologist - 49:07 Masayoshi Fujita - Nord Ambient
Bird Ambience, 2021, Erased Tapes - 54:04 Dylan Peirce - Heights
Pindrops, 2022, Digital In Berlin (rel Aug 19) - 58:39 DreamScenes - Outro (Dean Hurley)
Play this edition on-demand from the Concertzender website.
OR:
stream it from Mixcloud:
DreamScenes editions are also available as a podcast!
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--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
YUI ONODERA - TOO NE
If, like me, you associate the title with a different way of saying 'tune', you're wrong. In fact, this music can hardly be more different from the concept of a 'tune'.
These are 'almost static ambient tracks' (the word 'drone' is carefully avoided) 'about a recognition of perceived stillness, even when there is change in the sounds’ relationships with each other, and with the listener.'
Too Ne is an (old) Japanese word that refers to 'a sound that is sounding from far away. It is about distance, and also perhaps about reaching out to those sounds that seem to exist far away from us.'
Yui Onodera is a Tokyo-based sound artist whose works explore the relationship between musical forms, architectural acoustics, and spatial awareness. That description becomes more clear when listening to Too Ne, especially in the way the acoustic of the space you listen in interacts with the sound itself.
That this music is described as 'almost static ambient tracks' definitely does nót mean that there is not much happening. You're literally 'engulfed' in sound, especially when played at a stronger volume.
Onodera created these five 'Too Nes' using field recordings, found objects, electric guitar and a Lyra-8 synth.
GREG DAVIS - NEW PRIMES
'Almost static ambient tracks' is also a good description for the music on New Primes by Greg Davis, because 'drone' simply does not cover what this music is about.
Greg Davis is a Vermont-based composer and audio engineer, who has released music ever since 2002. His discography shows a lot of solo recordings as well as many collaborations, such as with Keith Fullerton Whitman, Corey Fuller, Steven Hess, Sebastien Roux, Ben Vida, etc.
New Primes continues the concept of Primes (2009), then released on his own label Autumn Records. investigating the use of prime numbers as a compositional tool.
The listener can approach this music on different levels: the easy way is to just let the music flow and see what happens. Grasping the compositional process behind these pieces requires a bit more effort:
”I start by choosing a fundamental frequency for each piece and multiplying that frequency by each of the prime numbers in a given sequence to determine the overtones above the base frequency. Most of the overtones are transposed down several octaves to fit within a comfortable 3- or 4-octave audible frequency range. This becomes the ‘scale’ or harmonic space for each piece. The panning, fades, metronome speed and other variables of each overtone are related to its frequency."
To realize these soundscapes, Davis created a custom software system in Max/MSP, using pure sine tones.
Reviving and reconsidering the original Primes concept led to an 8-channel performance in 2019. Each of the pieces is in fact generative, which means that they can last for days, or even forever. For this album, they are edited into shorter stereo versions.
New Primes is released on the Greyfade label run by Joseph Branciforte. It is available on high-resolution downloads as well as on vinyl (including the hi-res download). The release date is set for September this year, but the album can already be pre-ordered from the label website (hi-res versions) or from Bandcamp (standard formats).
Greyfade releases are not available on streaming platforms, "because these services do not currently offer an optimal environment for engaged listening, nor an equitable or sustainable economic model for artists."
OBERLIN - THE DYMAXION VARIATIONS The Dymaxion (car) was designed by Buckminster Fuller in 1933, as a 'ground-taxiing phase of a vehicle that might one day be designed to fly, land, and drive'. There were only three of them built, of which one is still in a museum.
Alexander Holtz (Oberlin) imagined what music he would like to hear while driving the fully developed version and 'float ergonomically and ecologically through every imaginable landscape'. Then he created this music with a eurorack synthesizer and an electric guitar.
It would probably not be a very long drive: The Dymaxion Variations EP is only 27 minutes long. Maybe a bit like the original prototype that. But the music definitely evokes a floating feeling (- and there's no crash!).
The Dymaxion Variations is available on cassette via Mahorka Records, but can also be downloaded as a name-your-price download.
Dymaxion Variations by Oberlin
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
IVÁN CEBRIÁN & VICTOR CERDÁN - INSIDE//OUTSIDE
Let's start with the video first: Inside//Outside is 18 minutes of video art created by Iván Cebrián (sound) and Victor Cerdán (visuals). It immediately explains the title:
'The music of this film is about inner states - The image of this film is about external states'
The project was created 'during the hardest of the pandemic' and intends to induce a state where 'you don't quite know if the music that transcends the image, the opposite or both colliding at the same time'.
(Note: this is a teaser excerpt, not the full video)
The video is combined with the 34-minute album with equally trance-inducing soundscapes created by Ivan Cebrián. Using a Moog synthesizer primarily, he creates 'ambient of perfectly threaded drones, eternal fades, loops that disintegrate leaving an infinite trace sculpted with an infinity of pedals'. Four tracks that deepen the experience, even without the images.
Iván and Victor have previously worked together on various films and documentaries, such as Perderlo Todo (2021) and Exhumar A Prim (2020).
This multimedia project is released as a project like this deserves: physically as a USB-card with the visual piece and the album tracks available in lossless and MP3 320 kbps format. Buyers of the digital version also receive the video: initially as a HD720 download, but also including a private link to download the full HD version.
Inside//Outside by Ivan Cebrian | Victor Cerdan
VONGOIVA - JATULI OBSERVATORY
Vongoivais a Finnish audiovisual duo: composer Heikki Lindgren and videographer (or 'motion designer' as he calls it) Ville Westerlund. They composed Jatuli Observatory while sheltering from a winter storm for five days on Jurno, a tiny island in the Baltic Sea, home to just a dozen people (!).
Some of the extreme weather conditions can be heard in the music: the sound of wind and the sound of water, 'by turns terrifying, wondrous and strange'. But the music also exudes a certain protection, like the comfort of having a shelter to protect you from the storm outside.
Apart from using the field recording and electronics, Lindgren also plays the Jouhikko, the traditional bowed lyre from Finland (on Then We Could See and Reef Archives).
Jatuli Observatory is a multimedia project, which means the duo presents music as well as the videos for each of the seven tracks. They can be found on vimeo.com, or simply by clicking through to each track on the Bandcamp page.
These videos are all shot in black and white, although there are subtly coloured details at moments, and very dark for most parts. It must've been quite desolate on this island while waiting for the storm to end.
The music (released by Flaming Pines - 'a home for experimenters of all types') can be obtained digitally and on CD. Both do not include the videos (the CD includes still images from the visuals). So, for the videos, you'll have to bookmark the Vimeo links.
Jatuli Observatory by Vongoiva
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
FANI KONSTANTINIDOU - BACTERIAL DANCE
The title track of this album delivers exactly what the title suggests. It is created from amplified sounds of obscure microscopic organisms. It would be interesting to know more about this process, but unfortunately, no further details are given.
As I'd imagine, the bacteria move (dance) at high speed and with tiny moves, but the sum of a lot of fast-moving details nevertheless leads to an immersive experience, which is best experienced on a higher volume.
The second track uses different kinds of (tiny animal) sounds. Σάος (Sáos) refers to Mount Samos in Samothrace, Greece. The field recordings from that area are used to create 'a steady build of dynamics to create suspense navigating an unfamiliar landscape'.
Fani Konstantinidou is a Greek performer/composer currently living and working in Amsterdam. These two tracks were recorded at a 2016 live performance at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague. They are now released on Decaying Spheres and available on cassette and as a download.
As an aside: Decaying Spheres' motto is 'interesting isn't ignorable' - an interesting comment on the well-known Brian Eno statement about ambient music ('music that is as ignorable as it is interesting'). It's true: this album is hardly ignorable yet very interesting.
Bacterial Dance by Fani Konstantinidou
MIHALIS SHAMMAS - CATHEDRAL Among the many drone albums released, this one by Mihalis Shammas stands out because of its remarkable sound. A sound that comes from the Lyraei: an electromagnetic string instrument designed by Shammas.
'It is a hybrid instrument, merging the worlds of modular electronics and chordophones. Its brain generates magnetic pulses that excite the strings, setting them into continuous oscillations. Their motions, amplified by a set of handmade pickups, is the resulting sound. [...] The conflicts between its electronic and mechanical condition give it its signature timbre.'
Mihalis Shammas is a designer and sound artist from Cyprus, 'driven by an urge to create narrative objects and tools for musical expression. He explores intricacies in motion and sound by animating simple materials, manifesting tensions between the mechanical and the chaotic.'
The hour-long Cathedral is divided into five separate tracks, but the titles indicate that it can be best enjoyed in one single session: Ascending - Expanding - Stasis - Immanence - Descent.
For focused listening, Shammas invites you to 'turn off your phones and set aside the screens'.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
Apart from its opening sample - 'It is time to stop seeing. It is time to stop speaking. It is time to listen', from David Cronenberg's Crimes Of the Future - this mix has no central theme or story. It's up to you, the listener, to take the time to listen and go with the flow. Let your fantasy tell you the story. And, after you did, I'd love to hear what you heard.
This mix is also published on the excellent Low Light Mixes. Thanks to Dave Michuda for that!
Time To Listen can be downloaded in various (lossless) formats. Of course, there is also a free surround version. Details below.
Tracklist This mix is created using many fragments and samples from longer pieces of music, often presented in multiple layers. Check the original compositions using the tracklist below:
Start time Sample Length Artist - Title
Album - Year - Label
- 00:00 01:12 David Cronenberg - Time To Listen (Sample) Crimes Of The Future, 2022
- 00:04 03:35 Dronny Darko & Protou - Sin Eater
Liberty: Compilation Of Experimental Music From Ukraine, 2022, Flaming Pines - 02:28 02:42 William St. Hugh - Voice Of The Dolphins
Dominion, 2022, self-released - 04:31 02:16 Tapani Rinne & Teho Majamaki - Lucid Dream
On The Border, 2022, Signature Dark - 06:13 02:36 Ivan Cebrian & Victor Cerdan- Enemigo Intimo
Inside // Outside, 2022, Oigovisiones - 06:40 02:30 Park Jiha - At Dawn
The Gleam, 2022, Glitterbeat - 08:49 02:39 Benedicte Maurseth - Eidfyrder
Hárr, 2022, Hubro - 10:47 03:51 Bill Fontana - Imaginary Sonic Visions
MSCTY Expo Unknown Pleasures Zone, 2022, MSCTY Editions - 12:40 02:18 Alva Noto - Odradek (for Jhonn Balance)
For, 2006, Line - 13:31 01:50 Jacek & Ewa Doroszenko - Night Masque
Bodyfulness, 2022, Audiobulb Records - 14:17 02:27 Higher Intelligence Agency - The Black Patch
Song Of The Machine, 2022, self-released - 15:58 02:50 Siddhartha Barnhoorn - Final Ascension
Out There, Oceans Of Time, vol. 1, 2022, self-released - 18:27 02:24 Mike Lazarev - All That Remains
When You Are, 2022, Slowcraft Recordings - 20:27 03:17 Orghanon - Dronework V
Droneworks I-V, 2022, St.An.Da - 22:13 03:27 Aleksi Myllykoski ft Wimme - Composition VI: Inherently Destructive Contamination
St. Virus, 2021, Signature Dark - 24:37 04:13 Peter Phippen, Rahbi Crawford, Invar Lunde Jr. - Andromeda
Galaxies, 2022, Projekt Records - 28:46 02:30 Jóhann Jóhansson & Echo Collective - Shell
12 Conversations With Thilo Heinzmann, 2019, Deutsche Grammophon - 29:46 05:29 Maggi Payne - Distant Thunder
Arctic Winds, 2010, Innova Recordings - 33:08 03:07 Leo Kupper - Litanea 1987
Complete Electronic & Voices Works 1961-1987, 2022, Sub Rosa - 36:22 04:35 Monty Adkins - Remote Communion
Remote Communion, 2020, Cronica - 38:56 01:28 Laurie Anderson & Kronos Quartet - Thunder Continues In The Afternoon
Landfall, 2018, Nonesuch - 40:11 04:35 Cell - Passive Control Part 1
Onwards System, 2022, Ultimae Records - 43:27 03:59 Alphaxone & Protou - Sub Signal
Stardust, 2017, Cryo Chamber - 45:51 03:03 Wil Bolton & Francis Gri - The Ripples Theory
Imaginary Tales, 2022, Krysalisound - 47:54 02:11 Xqui - Narrator
Pieces Part 2, 2022, Somewherecold Records - 48:45 03:57 Michel Banabila - Alienation
Monochromes, 2022, Tapu Records - 52:21 00:55 Stuart A. Staples - Fluids
Music For Claire Denis' High Life, 2019, Lucky Dog - 52:31 01:13 Helge Sten - Quad 2
Monochromes, 2014, Bôlt - 52:45 02:29 Dean Hurley - Girl Appears /Black Smoke
Anthology Resource Vol. I: △△, 2017, Sacred Bones Records - 54:00 01:55 I Wound - To Wind, Wound, Wound
Homework Year 1, Taâlem - 54:52 05:07 Francois Robin & Mathias Delplanque - Le Puits
L'Ombre De La Bête, 2022, Parenthèses Records
Download Time To Listen Now 137Mb (60 min.)
[Alternative download from Archive.org (check here for lossless downloads)]
[Surround-version (DTS.wav) here]
OR: Listen on Mixcloud, Spotify or iTunes:
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
SNUFMUMRIKO - RADIO MNEMOSYNE The name Snufmumriko always confuses me. Who chooses such an uncomprehensible word for an alias, and why? I have no particular association with the word itself... perhaps that could be the reason?
Anyway, Snufmumriko is in fact Ingmar Wennerberg from Gothenburg, Sweden. He has released quite some titles ever since 2012 (the Discogs discography is far from complete); Radio Mnemosyne is his second release for the Dronarivm label following 2019's Sekunder, Eoner.
Mnemosyne refers to the goddess of memory in Greek mythology - she was also the mother of the (nine) muses. Radio Mnemosyne induces 'ephemeral memories of the past or a distant future; a broadcast tuned in to in the depths of a half-remembered dream'.
"What if there was a radio receiver capable of tuning into both memory and future, on the earth and beyond?"
As difficult as it may be to imagine such a thing, it's not difficult to let your fantasy run freely with the cinematic soundscapes Snufmumriko creates, using drones, field recordings, vintage radio, and 'dubby ephemera'. Just tune in to Radio Mnemosyne.
Radio Mnemosyne by Snufmumriko
CELL - ONWARDS SYSTEM Ever since its start in the late 90s, the French Ultimae Records label has worked on a well-respected catalog, creating 'a musical portal to share Ambient and its many facets, as widely as possible.' The label is run by Vincent Villuis (also known as Aes Dana) and Sandrine 'Mahiane' Gryson.
Onwards System is the fourth release by Cell (Alexandre Scheffer) on Ultimae; his second studio album (in addition to two live releases). The album proves once again that the label curators have lost nothing of their fine taste in selecting the music for their label. Which, by the way, does not accept demos: 'if we're meant to work together we'll find each other...'
Alexander 'Cell' Scheffer was fascinated by electronic music machines ever since he received his first Roland Juno 106 when he was 10 years old. After completing his Acoustic Engineer studies he completely focused on electronic music.
Onwards System is somewhat less beat-oriented than 2009's Hanging Masses, and this focuses more on the immersive ambient side of sound. The ten tracks on this album demonstrates Cell's ability to build lush atmospheres with a distinct and emotional, very personal sound: 'layers of subdued downtempo intertwined with crispy electronics, hinting at our fragility with resolve while reaching out beyond genre boundaries with unfathomable talent.'
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
ANNE CHRIS BAKKER - A SKETCH IN LEAVING
A Sketch In Leaving is Anne Chris Bakker's fifth solo release, not counting his collaborations with Andrew Heath (such as the one mentioned below), and his contributions on various Kleefstra brothers projects.
Previous releases appeared on Dronarivm, Unknown Tone Records, White Paddy Mountain and Somehow Recordings, but this time Whitelabrecs has the honor to release the album.
Bakker (not to be confused with the violinist Anne Bakker) has developed a personal style, 'somewhere between electroacoustic, experimental, ambient and minimal music' which makes his music immediately recognizable. The guitar is his main instrument, but the sound is completed with many details such as field recordings, synths and the occasional deterioration. On A Sketch In Leaving, a piano is added to his instruments, which broadened his sonic explorations.
The album is inspired by the long walks in the Norwegian mountains, and the fact that Anne Chris is going to live in Scandinavia for a year: 'the immense landscape, battered and bruised by the elements represents change and loss, as well as the emergence of freshly formed details'.
The track titles refer to places and people from the Scandinavian landscape - also including the fascinating Dutch word Boskronkelsteeltjes (which seems to translate to Forest Curl Crops, but that doesn't sound half as beautiful as the Dutch original).
A Sketch in Leaving by Anne Chris Bakker
ANNE CHRIS BAKKER, ANDREW HEATH & MI COSA DE RESISTANCE - DISPATCHING Anne Chris Bakker and Andrew Heath have slowly become a steady duo: Dispatching is their fourth collaboration album, following up Lichtzin, A Gift For The Ephemerist and How To Breathe Like A Stone.
On Dispatching the duo is expanded to a trio with Mi Cosa De Resistance (Fernando Perales) adding his electronics and field recordings to Bakker's guitar (and treatments) and the piano (as well as field recordings and electronics) of Andrew Heath.
The three artists never met each other in the same studio: they worked together across the geographical distances between them (United Kingdom, Netherlands, Argentina). But the music feels as if it was performed while the musicians were looking out at the same panoramic landscape.
The music itself is closely related to nature: you simply can't associate this quiet, peaceful music with a hectic city or industrial environment!
With incredible detail, these sonic textures 'flow and meander as a river does, sometimes pausing and sometimes pushing on but always with a sublime sense that carries the listener on a dreamlike journey'.
Dispatches by Andrew Heath, Anne Chris Bakker & Mi Cosa de Resistance
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
It is time to stop seeing
It is time to stop speaking
It is time to listenCrimes of the Future, 2022 (David Cronenberg)
- 00:00 DreamScenes – Intro (Susanna)
- 00:38 Time to Listen sample (from Crimes of the Future)
- 01:13 François Robin & Mathias Delplanque - Le Puits
L’ombre de la bête, 2022, Parenthèses Records - 07:04 Vladislav Delay & Eivind Aarset - Single 10
Singles, 2022, Room40 - 11:00 Angelina Yershova & Ynaktera - Shamanic Morse Code (edit)
Time For Change, 2022, Twin Paradox Records - 15:05 Cell - Geiger
Onwards System, 2022, Ultimae Records - 20:48 Jacek & Ewa Doroszenko - Bodyfulness
Bodyfulness, 2022, Audiobulb Records - 26:55 Greg Davis - Sophie Germain
New Primes, 2022, Greyfade - 31:14 Yui Onodera - Too Ne III
Too Ne, 2022, Room40 - 37:03 Andrew Heath & James Osland - This Little Town By The Sea
Once We Were All Here And Nowhere Else, 2022, Shimmering Moods - 40:32 Melody McKiver - Watch Over Them
- 41:24 Melody McKiver - This Is The Fraser River
- 42:20 Melody McKiver - Instant Fear
Returning Home OST, 2021, self-released - 42:55 Siddharta Barnhoorn - Black Hole
Out There: Oceans Of Time Volume 1, 2022, self-released - 47:32 Katrine Grarup Elbo - Interlunium
Fold / Unfold, 2021, Sonic Pieces - 53:30 Maksymilian Gwincinski - From Toonto To Unknown (fragment)
The Spirits of Buryatia, 2022, Plexus Of Infinity - 55:40 Orson Hentschel - New Walk
Heavy Light, 2022, Denovali - 59:02 DreamScenes - Outro (Dean Hurley)
Play this edition on-demand from the Concertzender website.
OR:
stream it from Mixcloud:
(will be added after the broadcast)
DreamScenes editions are also available as a podcast!
(Images from "Crimes Of The Future", David Cronenberg, 2022)
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
BETWEEN - PRELUDE (00.00) Prelude (00.00) by Between is one of the (four) releases in the April batch (yes, I know - still catching up) of Longform Editions. It is the 99th title in this impressive series curated by Andrew Khedoori.
Between is 'a loose collective of musicians revolving around Taylor Deupree's 12K label'.
In this particular case Taylor Deupree (electronics) and Stephen Vitiello (guitar, electronics) prepared several hours of recordings, and after that 'opened them up to remote contributions' from Corey Fuller (piano), Federico Durand (acoustic guitar, objects), Michael Grigoni (lap steel) and Molly Berg (clarinet).
' The mix changed day to day as the addition of one meant carving out additional space and finding a satisfying sum of all parts.'
The result is a (20-minute) piece that feels like a restrained improvisational set - as if the six musicians were actually performing together (even though they weren't). There's a beautiful balance of the supporting electronics and the acoustic instruments; the combination is an invitation to listen to each detail in the mix.
“When you learn to listen you learn the art of restraint, of letting your movements take a backseat to your ears and to let yourself inhabit a new mental and physical space.” Taylor Deupree**
I don't know what exactly the (00.00) stands for, but I do hope the title means that we can expect more to come to follow up this Prelude.
WILLIAM ST. HUGH - DOMINION I cannot tell you very much about composer William St. Hugh, simply because I don't know anything about him - apart from the fact that he is from Fairhaven, Massachusetts, and that Dominion is his sixth release (which, by the way, can all be heard on Spotify).
Its predecessor, The Cracking Ship (August 2021), was inspired by 'the ill-fated Antarctic expedition of The Endurance'. Dominion's theme may be even darker than that: it is inspired by Richard Rhodes' book The Making Of The Atomic Bomb.
The classic orchestral setting (horns, strings, wind instruments, and percussion) merged with electronic undercurrents evokes an eerie atmosphere. Most of the time the restrained atmosphere feels like this could have been a movie soundtrack; I felt the atmosphere in the opening tracks was not unlike that of Mica Levi's soundtrack for Under the Skin.
Only halfway through (in Discovery) the orchestral sound suddenly expands to its full potential, but it immediately retreats to an almost subconscious level. The 17-minute track Infinite Dark could not have had a better title: it gives voice to total and irreversible darkness.
In the closing track The World Set Free the orchestra opens up once again, but still with dark undertones that do not leave much room for optimism or hope.
Dominion is only available as a digital download, but in my opinion, its musical quality would definitely deserve a physical edition too. Who knows what the future may bring (but I wouldn't wait for it if I were you)
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
MIKE LAZAREV - WHEN YOU ARE Mike Lazarev must be a very busy man. Next to a full-time job, he runs the immensely popular Headphone Commute site. And apart from that he somehow still finds the time to make music himself.
His earlier releases were primarily solo-piano focused, but over time, the sound of synths was added.
When You Are marks a new direction in his sound design. Lazarev 'now looks further afield, enlisting textural and harmonic support from the rich and diverse array of analogue and digital synthesis tools'.
Of course, Mike still plays the piano on this album, but it's not taking the main role. Still focusing on cinematic and often melancholic introspective compositions, the tracks are now somewhat more 'ambient' - which is why this album perfectly fits James Murray's Slowcraft label on which it is released.
The person portrayed on the cover is not Mike Lazarev himself, to be exact. It is the portrait that he uses as his avatar: a portrait of Joséphin Péladan, a mysterious French occult novelist that established the Salon De La Rose + Croix (for painters, writers, and musicians sharing his artistic ideals), and who was also connected to Erik Satie.
Mike Lazarev himself is born in Kyiv, to a Russian mother and a Ukrainian father. You can probably imagine the deep impact the current war must have on him personally - one of the reasons he released the two For Ukraine charity compilations. But it may perhaps also explain some of the melancholic, uncertain, darker moods on some of the tracks on the album - even though I would not say that When You Are is a 'dark' album.
ANNE GARNER - DEAR UNKNOWN / DEAR UNKNOWN (INSTRUMENTAL) Anne Garner's music is a bit hard to classify. It's 'pop' but not 'poppy'. There are songs, with lyrics, so it's not strictly 'ambient' - but the instrumentation, produced and performed by her partner James Murray, definitely is. I guess 'dream-pop' comes closest for a description: "an atmospheric subgenre of alternative rock that relies on sonic textures as much as melody".
'Anne Garner's music offers a rare blend of lament and solace, by turns sorrowful and sanguine, providing a well of deep comfort to hearts in need. Her hushed, intimate ballads and soaring secular hymns radiate a child-like sense of wonder and delight, yet find their roots in an unflinching commitment to explore and express the painful, contradictory workings of the emotional inner life.'
Her songs are always very personal and intimate - and even more so on her latest album Dear Unknown. The track Alma, for instance, 'celebrates the artist’s late mother, whose passing prompted Anne to begin her songwriting career, urging us all to cherish each and every moment of life’s precious, fleeting gift.'
Dust Devil tells about 'a sad and troubled girl who made her world so small and familiar that she now feels trapped and weighed down by all the emotions she’s collected to keep her safe'.
The accompanying video for this track - entirely hand-drawn by Anne herself - won the prize for beat animation at the ARFF Paris 2022 International Awards.
Slowcraft also released a fully instrumental version of Dear Unknown:
"Stripped of lyrical focus this dreamy ambient pop collection proposes an alternate vision of Anne's celebrated new work, one in which her vocal poise and bitter-sweet poetry give way to an enigmatic, ambiguous listening experience laying bare the fruit of three years' production."
Dear Unknown (Instrumental) by Anne Garner
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
'T GERUIS - BAIN D'ETOILES Two months after Slow Dance On Moss Beds, released in February this year, 't Geruis released a new album already, this time as a part of the Laaps series.
Bain D'Étoiles (Bath Of Stars) again presents the mixture of sound that has quickly become a trademark sound on which the music of 't Geruis (the 'discreet musician from Belgium') can be easily recognized. It is an enigmatic combination of 'ambient with a grainy texture of some lo-fi recordings', instruments that seem to come from the past, and melodies that evoke forgotten memories - 'a vague memory of a discovery, something that lurks in the forest'.
No need to worry about that 'something', however, not even when 'night falls over you like a warm bath of stars'. No need to be fearful, because 'we are curious!'.
The track titles may help fire your imagination: Quand Le Bois Chante (When The Woods Sing), De Reus Ontwaakt (The Giant Awakens), Voorzichtig Ontluikend (Gently Emerging), L'Echo De L'Eau (The Echo Of Water) are just a few examples.
Just imagine yourself being the person on the cover and 'always keep your eyes and ears open'.
TAYLOR DEUPREE - HARBOR
It is of course no coincidence that Taylor Deupree's Harbor is the release that follows the one from 't Geruis in the series op Laaps releases. After all, each release on the label 'starts with the end of the previous one, in sound and visual'. (For the visual link, note the right side of the album covers).
And these two titles are a perfect match - two examples of a shared musical vision.
Compared to the relative new artist 't Geruis, Deupree - also founder of the 12k label - is a veteran of the genre, having released some 45+ albums since 1998 (under various names and collaborations with many famous artists): Harbor is his fourteenths solo release.
In his recent work, Deupree 'shows a marked attention to the aesthetics of error and the imperfect beauty of nature, to the short circuits not only in technological systems but in human perception. His music today emphasizes a hybrid of natural sounds and technological mediation. It’s marked by a deep attention to stillness, to an almost desperate near-silence. '
'Technology and imperfection. The raw and the processed'.
YOSUKE KAKEGAWA - REMNANT On Remnant, 'scores for existent or non-existent films', Tokyo-based composer Yosuke Kakegawa also extensively uses lo-fi effects to celebrate the nostalgia of deterioration. The tagline for this album is, after all, 'a playback of your lost memories.....'
With a relatively modest setup (synthesizers, FM transmitter, radio cassette recorder, and field recordings), Kakegawa creates effective cinematic compositions. It is not clear which of these are indeed used in films and which are not, but that doesn't matter much since most of us wouldn't be familiar with the films probably (anyone knows Chô gekijô-ban Keroro gunsô, for instance?).
And, after all, we're here for the music - which is fresh and original.
As far as I can tell, Remnant, released on Amsterdam-based Shimmering Moods Records, is Kakegawa's first full-length solo album. Shimmering Moods Records physical releases are always limited to 50 so by this time you're too late for the CDr. But again: there's always an unlimited supply of digital downloads...
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
REUBEN LEWIS - THE HOUSE IS EMPTY Reuben Lewis is an Australian electro-acoustic composer and trumpeter, at home in many settings. He is a member of various ensembles (I Hold The Lion's Paw among them), performing jazz, multidisciplinary collaborations, and of course his own electro-acoustic work. Using the trumpet 'with extended techniques and preparations alongside live analogue processing with pedals and samplers', he feels as much at home 'in a beer-stained nightclub as well as on a hilltop in Malaysia surrounded by dancers and bull-trance shamans'.
The House Is Empty is his first solo album, and focuses mostly on his electro-acoustic work. The opening title track is a 19-minute layered drone piece in which the trumpet is barely recognizable - and yet it gives the piece a remote 'Jon Hassell-like' atmosphere.
The second track Together | Apart is quite different: here the trumpet is in the foreground, backed by haunting effects. 'Depending on the mood of the listener, it's either a siren song or a war cry. One might feel the urge to either tighten their fists or soften their belly.'
He's like you includes a strange dialogue between two men, interspersed with musical accents. To me, this is a confusing track, because it feels like a recorded part of an interview or a dialogue that was not meant to be heard. I'm afraid it sort of breaks the spell (for me, that is) that was built with the previous tracks.
Luckily, the album returns to ethereal sounds with Animal | God, which is played 'straight into the infinite space between Animal and God.'
The House is Empty by Reuben Lewis
IVAN MUELA - MONOLOGUES Like much music that is currently released, Monologues was written while in isolation. In this case, Ivan Muela decided not to work with a distant online partner to create a collaboration project, but chose to focus inward to create 'an honest conversation about finding peace within oneself', a 'sonic journal in which [he] explored making music with limited resources and a limited headspace.'
According to his website, Monologues is the sixth album of this Spanish (but London-based) composer, though Discogs only mentions two. In his work, Ivan Muela 'explores the bonds between traditional and experimental music, with performances ranging from intimate piano concerts to full-scale experimental events - sometimes classical, sometimes ambient and sometimes avant-garde but always touching and thought-provoking.'
Monologues is my first encounter with Muela's music, and it is a very pleasant introduction to the work of this artist indeed. It definitely fueled my curiosity to check out his previous work too - even though he warns us that his previous releases can turn out to sound different: using 'tape loops, guitar pedals, synths and generative techniques to create an environment that responds and reacts in unpredictable ways, the music in this album is sonically softer and less raw than in my previous releases'.
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
Today I have added a Random Post feature in the top menu.
Selecting this brings you to ... a random post (duh!), selected from the archive that reaches back to October 2005.
This button can help you find music that you might perhaps not have found otherwise.
So, if you're in for a surprise, choose the menu item (top menu, right) or press this button:
[redirect_to_post_button]
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
BILL SEAMAN & STEPHEN SPERA - ARCHITECTURES OF LIGHT The Handstitched label may 'prefer to remain a mystery', but their 64 releases dó show where there musical preferences lie. Their latest release is a collaboration between Bill Seaman and Stephen Spera called Architectures Of Light. It was released on April 22, so the 'handstitched' physical edition of 58 is already sold out, but there's still the digital download version worth listening.
Bill Seaman has released various collaborations and solo works in the past, sometimes under his own name but also as The Humble Bee or The Seaman And The Tattered Sail (with Craig Tattersall). His work is very 'sculptural', assembling and processing material from all kinds of sources. Stephen Spera has released earlier work on various boutique labels such as Parvoart, Tessellate, Editions Vaché, etcetera, using 'everything from broken cassette players to Adobe Logic' to create his sound.
Together, their tracks are like collages, built from many different fragments, using found sound, vocal samples, and degraded/fluctuating tape loops.
The album consists of 14 tracks, over 73 minutes of adventurous soundscapes that hold the listener's attention from beginning to the end. They were created in the way many collaborations currently are: "sending each other libraries of potential ideas, then building up layers of sounds, adding to each other's work as time progressed. Multiple iterations created by each artist on the album formed the audible backbone and it was added-to, and/or broken-down to form alternative viewpoints, resulting in moments of slowly-formed movements which evolve without escaping the focus of the audience's attention."
To complete the album, both artists also created a video for two tracks: Heraclitus And The River (Stephen Spera) and Tswana Dreaming (Bill Seaman)
Architectures Of Light by Bill Seaman & Stephen Spera
LANDTITLES - AS THE NIGHT COMES SOFTLY DOWN As The Night Comes Softly Down is the follow-up to 2021's Your Voice In Pieces, which was released on Slowcraft Records. This time it is released on the Canadian Polar Seas Recordings.
Landtitles is the alias of Grant Gard, from British Columbia. He creates his music with 'synthesizers, acoustic sources, field recordings, room tones, tape manipulations & DSP explorations'.
There is not much more background information that comes with this album, so you'll have to do with the music itself.
The overall sound of this 7-track album is open, bright, and associative - like fresh morning dew. I guess it is reflecting the location it was recorded: Victoria BC (Coast Salish territory of the Lekwungen
and W̱SÁNEĆ nations).
as the night comes softly down by landtitles
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
MEMORYBELL - MEMBRANES Grant Hazard Outerbridge* (Memorybell) has been playing music for more than 30 years. In 2014, he was diagnosed with 'transient global amnesia, a condition that causes the brain to temporarily stop making new memories.' Returning from the hospital he found his previous compositions 'garish' and started to pare them down to their essence. This resulted in the minimalist piano album Obsolete* (2016).
Three more modular synth-based ambient albums followed, but on Membranes he once again presents an album of Satie-esque piano compositions. Once again, his unfortunate medical condition triggered this work:
"Between December 2020 and November 2021, Outerbridge was in excruciating pain caused by the side effects of various medications. He underwent multiple surgeries and spent much of the year incapacitated in bed. 'Membranes' - a reference to staring through pain while imagining one is somewhere else - is the result. [...] The songs mimic the experience of being in two places at once, one real and one imagined."
None of the tracks reflects this pain and suffering, however. At least not directly. Leaving many long spaces between the notes, these pieces are very calm, relaxing and comforting. The opening title track sets the theme (and the mood), but the album is best enjoyed in one single session. Membranes feels like one single (39-minute) composition that is divided in seven parts, each variation on the recurring theme.
In the abundance of solo piano albums that are released in recent years, it is refreshing to hear someone taking a completely different approach. Espécially of course when the music sounds like it could have been a lost work from Erik Satie!
Membranes is released on Hidden Shoal and will be available digitally and on CD (Bandcamp only) from June 10.
TRIO RAMBERGET - 24 WAYS VOLUME I , VOLUME II , VOLUME III The idea for 24 Ways started when Trio Ramberget recorded the music for Musik Att Somna Till (music for falling asleep) in 2020. They wanted 'to create a space where you just don’t fall asleep, but where you can totally lose yourself in, music to accompany you during the 24 hours of the day'.
The result is not a 24-hour set, but it is still a massive two and a half hours of music divided over three albums,. 48 Tracks: 24 (short) preludes and 24 improvisations varying in length. The pieces follow every key of the twelve-tone scale, from C major to B minor, and are presented in that exact order.
Swedish Trio Ramberget is Gustav Davidsson (trombone), Johanna Ekholm (double bass), and Pelle Westlin (bass clarinet). They are able to retain a calm and reflective mood, even in this massive project that crosses the borders of jazz, improvisation, and modern classical music.
The three different volumes were released in November 2021, February and May 2022 respectively. The CD's of Volume 1 and 2 are already sold out, as is the triple CD also containing Volume 3. But the individual volumes remain available digitally.
24 Ways (Volume I) by Trio Ramberget
24 Ways (Volume II) by Trio Ramberget
24 Ways (Volume III) by Trio Ramberget
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
... on reflection ...
- 00:00 DreamScenes – Intro (Susanna)
- 00:44 Carmen Villain with Arve Henriksen - Gestures
Only Love From Now On, 2022, Smalltown Supersound - 08:12 Philipp Rumsch Ensemble, Jana Irmert - Echo
μ: of transfiguration x resonance, 2022, Nynode Intermedis - 13:04 Dag Rosenqvist - Kryphål
Vråen Centrum, 2021, Laaps - 13:51 Anne Chris Bakker - Måbødalen
A Sketch In Leaving, 2022, Whitelabrecs - 18:19 Michel Banabila - Grim
Monochromes, 2022, Tapu Records - 21:08 Glåsbird - Śīrṣa
Himalaya, 2022, Whitelabrecs - 23:31 Mike Lazarev - If I Could Be Your Tears
When You Are, 2022, Slowcraft Records - 26:04 H. Takahashi - Drift
Paleozoic, 2022, Dauw Records - 30:54 Raum - Daughter
Daughter, 2022, Yellow Electric - 37:35 Tapani Rinne & Teho Majamäki - On The Border
On The Border, 2022, Signature Dark - 40:47 Machinefabriek with Anne Bakker - Ruimte I
Wisps, 2022, self-released - 42:59 William Basinski & Janek Schaefer - … on reflection (one)
"… on reflection", 2022, Temporary Residence Ltd. - 48:54 Kemper Norton - Morwenstow 1888 C
Estrenyon, 2022, Zona Watusa - 52:01 Chloe Alexandra Thompson - Improv
They Can Never Burn The Stars, 2022, Sige Records - 55:07 Loscil - Upstream
The Sails p.1, 2022, Frond - 58:59 DreamScenes - Outro (Dean Hurley)
Play this edition on-demand from the Concertzender website.
OR:
stream it from Mixcloud:
(will be added after the radio broadcast)
DreamScenes editions are also available as a podcast!
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
TAPANI RINNE & JUHA MÄKI-PATOLA- OPEN If there is a thing called ambient jazz then the music of Tapani Rinne definitely is one of the first names to mention. And this album, combining his soothing saxophone and clarinet playing with the synths, piano, organ, and guitar performed by Juha Mäki-Patola once again demonstrates why.
Both artists were already active for decades in the Finnish music community before they met in February 2021. Tapani Rinne's already boasts an impressive discography (some of which were previously mentioned here). Compared to this, the discography of Juha Mäki-Patola may seem rather modest, but don't underestimate this based on quantity alone.
After deciding to work together, Open was recorded in three months, working remotely from their home studios, covering 'cerebral jazz, glacial ambient, and cinematic neo-classical styles'.
'Ambient jazz' is often connected to the darker sound of acts like Bohren & Der Club Of Gore, The Dale Cooper Quartet & Dictaphones, and the 'doom-jazz' of Jason Köhnen's Kilimanjaro DarkJazz Ensemble or Mount Fuji's Doomjazz Corporation, but Rinne and Mäki-Patola claim their own different space which is much more comfortable to wallow yourself in.
The soft and warm sound of Rinne's saxophone embedded in Mäki-Patola's soundscape has more in common with the introspective Nordic sound we know from many ECM-releases. Its 'expansive and contemplative aesthetic [is] informed by Finland's icy climate and long winters, as well as the atmospheric nature of the Nordic experimental jazz scene.'
Open by Tapani Rinne & Juha Mäki-Patola
TAPANI RINNE & TEHO MAJAMÄKI - ON THE BORDER
Only a few months after Open, there's another Tapani Rinne collaboration: this time with percussionist Teho Majamäki. This is not the first time they worked together: they did so on Inside the Temple (2011) and Under The Ground (2015) - both the album titles referring to the locations where they recorded: temples and caves in India, and railway tunnels of Helsinki's metropolitan area.
On On The Border, the tracks were recorded "in controlled studio conditions, where different spaces can be created electronically." The name of the album refers to the place where the music was recorded: Kitee, Eastern Finland, near the Russian border.
The music is partly composed, partly improvised:
"Instead of listening to the sound of the space itself, the musicians tuned in to listen to the vibration of the metal and wooden instruments. We focused on sensing the mutual resonance of the instruments and the sensitivity of the improvisation.".
Once again, the music is unhurried, extremely relaxed, almost meditative. There's no sense of doom (so no 'dark-jazz'), but mostly a respectful and appreciative awareness of the surroundings.
Once again, an album to play on repeat.
On The Border by Tapani Rinne & Teho Majamäki
SPACE BETWEEN CLOUDS - SPACE BETWEEN CLOUDS Space Between Clouds same-titled album is a perfect companion to the above-mentioned Tapani Rinne albums. Not so much in terms of instrumentation, perhaps, but definitely in the atmosphere that the music evokes, in its patience and subtlety.
At the basis of these tracks was "a series of drones designed to sneak by consciousness and lay down in the shadows behind clouds". But the drones grew into luscious tracks that "can shine either in the background or foreground."
'Analogue and FM synthesizer sequences pulse at 30 BPM - “roughly half the speed of the human resting heart rate” - beneath saxophone, flugelhorn, clarinet, glockenspiel, all interlocking with textural, environmental sounds.'
Space Between Clouds is the debut album as well as the alias of David Ralicke from Los Angeles. And it may very well be the first time exploring music like this. But from his bio we learn that this 'debut album' has emerged from a wealth of musical experience.
Apart from the many groups he participated in, there's also an incredible list of artists that Ralicke has played (saxophone and trombone) with. I'm just gonna mention some of them to impress: Beck, Devendra Barnhart, Cat Power, Paul McCartney, John Cale, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Van Dyke Parks...
I guess none of this music resembled the work on Space Between Clouds, but it shows that Ralicke is not your average debutant. No further introduction is needed I guess.
And this experience can clearly be heard in this remarkable collection of "slowmotion explorations of spiraling dream-tones."
Space Between Clouds by Space Between Clouds
--- originally published on Ambientblog ---
HEATHER WOODS BRODERICK - DOMES Her three previous (vocal) releases were often categorized as Folk, Shoegaze, or Indie Rock, but the latest release from Heather Woods Broderick (yes, sister of Peter) is a fully instrumental album.
Like many others, Heather needed "to find moments of respite in response to the chaotic and turbulent times we all faced". For that, the multi-instrumentalist turned to the cello, even if that was not her primary instrument.
Starting from a single melody, then adding new elements to the loop "until the sounds filled her up" enabled her "to express emotions outside the world of words of lyrics".
Adding elements incrementally to the base loops has a meditative effect, but at the same time the pieces slowly become filled with sound, adding more and more pressure, until they start to feel like "dense masses – strong grounding sounds that can hold weight or be used to disperse weight - in an emotional sense".
This is why the album is called Domes: referring to triangles - "the strongest shapes in the physical world", offering the listener "a solid basis to find rest and calmness".
Domes is released on the Dauw label on vinyl as well as a download, with the label's distinctive artwork by Femke Strijbol.
Domes by Heather Woods Broderick
ANDREW TASSELMYER - SONGS FOR NONEXISTENT FILMS Andrew Tasselmyer already has quite an extensive discography, with solo albums released on labels like Laaps, Eilean Recs, Constellation Tatsu, Home Normal, etcetera - but also as a member of Hotel Neon, Gray Acres, Mordançage as well as various collaborative projects.
Music For Nonexistent Films, released on Somewherecold Records this time, consists of largely improvised material, inspired by photographs of Philadelphia (where he currently lives). As far as I know, the photos are not included in the release (apart from the cover image of course), so it's up to you to relate the music to images of your own surroundings. This should not be too hard because, as the album title already suggests, this is very 'visual' music.
Songs For Nonexistent Films will be released on June 17, but can already be pre-ordered on Bandcamp.
It may be worth noting that Tasselmyer also recently released an album in the Laaps series called Limits. So there may also be a bit of catching up to do if you missed that one.
Music for Nonexistent Films by Andrew Tasselmyer
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WILLIAM BASINSKI & JANEK SCHAEFER - ... on reflection I wouldn't say they were opposites, but musically William Basinski and Janek Schaefer come from a somewhat different directions. Basinski is best known for his long sustained loop-based tacks that often investigate the process of decay. Schaefer has created many conceptual sound art projects and performances: way back in 1995 he presented Recorded Delivery: a recording of the fragmented noises of a sound-activated dictaphone traveling overnight through the Post Office. Both are 'sonic sculptors' that welcome the role of chance in ther compositional processes. In working together their individual approach complements each other very well, as can be heard on their "... on reflection".
This album took no less than eight years to create: sending files and ideas between Los Angeles and London between 2014 and 2022. The first thing noticed is the bright sounding piano, 'a delicate piano passage from their collective archive' that they 'weave and reweave in numerous ways, forging an iridescent flurry of flickering melodies'.
The album is dedicated to Harold Budd, but there are also striking similarities to some of the (piano-centered) works of Akira Rabelais.
The piano theme slowly drifts from foreground to background (and back again), fragments are looped or highlighted, or temporarily disappear in a cloud of static and soft distortion (... On Reflection (Three)).
The atmosphere is subtly enhanced with the occasional sounds of various birds 'heard from late-night windows on tour, ricocheting off mirrored facades, reflecting on themselves as they continually reshape their own environments with song'.
'... on reflection' is divided into five chapters, but it can best be enjoyed in one uninterrupted session. It has the power to generate the languid sensation of having a nap on a hot summer afternoon.
The album is currently available on CD and as a digital download. Vinyl versions (black or metallic silver-colored vinyl) can be pre-ordered but will be shipped later this year around October 21.
“ . . . on reflection " by William Basinski & Janek Schaefer
RAUM - DAUGHTER
Another remarkable collaboration called Raum: the duo formed by Liz Harris (Grouper) and Jeffrey Cantu-Ledesma. Daughter is their second album, following up Event Of Your Leaving from 2013.
The album opens with a bright piano theme, but it only takes a few seconds until that is rudely distorted and overtaken by an abstract soundscape featuring Liz' floating vocals. The piano returns near the end of the track but once again is completely run over by the noise. The track ends abruptly, but most of the other tracks blend seamlessly into the next, so the liner notes advise listening to the album as one long gapless piece.
The first six tracks of this hour-long album are each around 5-7 minutes long. The different atmospheres of each track are connected through their fuzzy sound - as if the music comes to you from within a dense fog. But at the same time it avoids the familiar clicks and tricks of lo-fi ambient and creates an atmosphere of its own.
There's a dark background to the making of this album: 'it captures a strange time spent in the desert, later added to, edited and finally made sense of after we lost the friend we’d been there with. There are fragments of beginnings and a deep sense of loss.'
With 20 minutes and 46 seconds, the closing track Passage is much longer than its predecessors, and also quite different. More than 20 minutes of soft piano loops layered in effects and pads - a track that induces a peaceful calm and closes an album full of surprises.
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Among the many benefit albums and compilations that are released in support of the Ukrainian cause, the two that were curated by Hollie Kenniff in collaboration with Headphone Commute deserve special attention because of the wide range of artists presented in the (48) tracks.
All proceedings from these albums will be donated to International Rescue Committee to support displaced children and families with vital supplies during the Crisis in Ukraine.
Volume 1 was released on March 18 and Volume 2 followed on April 29 - so chances are you already know them. If not: check them on Bandcamp with the links below. Support is still needed, because unfortunately the war is not over yet.
For Ukraine (Volume 1) by Various Artists
For Ukraine (Volume 2) by Various Artists
When Mike (Headphone Commute) Lazarev invited me to do a mix of both albums, I initially hesitated to do so. How to avoid people NOT buying the compilations because they already have the mix? The mix should boost sales, not reduce them.
To avoid redundancy I decided to edit (or shorten) EVERY track in this mix: none of them are included in their original full length! So think of it as 'preview edits'.
And remember: not all tracks of the two compilations are included in this mix. Only 27 of the 48 tracks are included, so that leaves another 21 ‘musical incentives’ to buy the compilations!
If you like this mix, or even if you dón't like it, be sure to check out both charity compilations and help support the Ukrainian cause!
Included Tracks and their start time:
(Note: All tracks are edited/shortened. Download the original benefit compilations for the full-length versions)
- 00:00 Kiev Ambiance Intro by Stanislav Teterevlev
- 00:53 Madeline Cocolas - Emergence
- 03:48 Marine Eyes - Heart Held
- 06:38 Rachel Grimes - Patsy (instrumental)
- 08:35 Heather Woods Broderick - Monarch
- 11:03 Benoît Pioulard - Rasping Descend
- 13:02 Slow Reels - Interference
- 14:16 Simon Scott - Ember
- 16:57 Helios (feat. Hollie Kenniff) - Enfold
- 18:57 Christopher Willits - The Unknown Sea
- 21:48 Gailes - 7.83
- 25:35 Ryuichi Sakamoto and Illia Bondarenko - Piece For Illia
- 27:45 IKSRE - Seeds
- 28:59 Nailah Hunter - Palace
- 30:30 Sachi Kobayashi - Sakura
- 31:22 Karen Vogt - Light Must Come
- 32:56 Lea Bertucci & Lawrence English - This Heavy Rock
- 34:30 Mike Lazarev - Incoming
- 36:17 Endless Melancholy - A Peace Once Lost
- 37:39 Julia Kent - Spring Snow
- 40:33 Zakè & 36 - Rodych
- 43:14 Hammock - Displacement
- 44:54 Claire Deak - A Million Cloaked Ghosts
- 47:14 Joe Trapanese - Introspection
- 49:53 Rhian Sheehan - We Found Ourselves Beneath A Dark Sky
- 52:29 Rose Riebl - Near Dark
- 53:50 Aisha Burns and Jake Woodruff - The Reservoir
- 57:33 Hollie Kenniff and Anna Phoebe - Ways Of Seeing
(This mix is also published on Headphone Commute)
Download FOR UKRAINE (MIX) Now 137Mb (60:07 min.) OR: Listen on Mixcloud, Spotify or iTunes:
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ITHAKI - CORNERSTONE
Ithaki is one of the many aliases Andrea Bellucci (the Italian sound artist, not the American film composer of the same name) uses for his musical output. You may also know him as one half of the duo Iluiteq - check below for more info on that.
Cornerstone is a solo release on the TXT Recordings label, presenting a varied collection of ambient/electronic compositions. It can be labeled as 'ambient' but at the same time as 'glitch IDM': the pieces are created with many subtle details, while at the same time keeping the details from distracting from the whole. So you can listen on different levels: you can simply surrender to the atmosphere or give attention to the details.
The two first tracks focus on the piano as the main instrument, Whispers is based on a vocal sample not unlike Brian Eno's 2/1 or 1/2 on Music For Airports. After that, Bellucci keeps you from dozing off with the heavily rhythmic title track (though, like most IDM, you'll have a hard time dancing to this). Quiet sleepy atmospheres alternate with haunting rhythms with deep bass, like in Missing Waves and Thought Talk, until the album closes with Reflects Of Moonlight which sounds as you might expect from its title.
With Cornerstone, *Ithaki* presents an album with remarkably diverse styles that still remains coherent. Presented this way, it is simply impossible to lose interest somewhere halfway. That's why I recommend listening to the full album in its original sequence.
ILUITEQ - THE LIGHT INSIDE, THE DARK OUTSIDE Compared to Cornerstone, Iluitec's The Light Inside, The Dark Outside has a more 'ambient' approach, in the 'beatless' sense. There are a few details that link the two albums together, however, such as the vocal samples in the opening track The Light Inside. This is no surprise, knowing that Andrea Bellucci is one half of Iluiteq, the other being Sergio Calzoni.
This is the Italian duo's third album as Iluiteq, but both artists work under various aliases in various combinations. Their previous albums had descriptive titles like Soundtrack For Winter Departures (20218) and The Loss of Wilderness (2021). Apart from that, tracks from the duo were included on various compilations, such as (4 tracks on) the massive TXT Recordings compilation Nagual 5.
Created in the time of the COVID crisis, The Light Inside, The Dark Outside 'was conceived as a means to nourish the light inside all of us, no matter how difficult and dark the reality can turn out to be'.
And indeed, each track expresses the 'inner need for brightness and hope' in its own way - even those that have their focus on the 'darker' side. So this album may help to keep the dark outside and enjoy the light inside.
The Light Inside, The Dark Outside by ILUITEQ
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CROWS LABYRINTH, DISTANT FIRES BURNING, JON DOE ONE, STRATOSPHERE - BASSBIENTS Bassbients, released on Móatún 7 from Iceland, is a collaboration project celebrating the electric bass guitar. Invented in the 1930s, it was was "exclusively meant to enhance the lower frequencies of the guitar parts in a band as a more user-friendly replacement to the double bass".
The electric bass became a prominent instrument in all musical directions, but not too much in ambient music and soundscapes. Enough reason for Crows Labyrinth (Theo Tol), Distant Fires Burning (Gert de Meester), Jon Doe One (Hannes d'Hoine) and Stratosphere (Ronald Mariën) to join forces and show the potential of this instrument.
'Each recorded a track which he passed on to the next, whom in his turn did overdubs to pass it onto the next.'
This way, all four artists contribute on all four tracks, creating imaginative ambient music with a natural emphasis on the lower sound spectrum.
Móatún 7 releases physical releases usually include a limited vinyl lathe cut edition (30), but these are sold out already. A CD versions is still available, and the digital download will remain after they also sell out.
MOA1207 - Bassbients by Crows Labyrinth / Distant Fires Burning / Jon Doe One / Stratosphere
KLOOB - PARALLEL STATES I know I'm late to this particular party: Parallel States was already released on October 1, 2021. But this one should not go unnoticed, so: better late than never...
Daniel 'Kloob' Fereira (from Spain) has been creating ambient/experimental music since 2010. The first two albums as Kloob were released on Relaxed Machinery, but since 2018 he found a fitting home on the Winter-Light label.
And dark it is: "Ethereal soundscapes, deep-low drones, subtle-faint dub chords, and gloomy atmospheres slowly slide in to assemble nebulous structures".
In fact, I have nothing to add to the accompanying liner notes, so I'll just paste them here:
" ... Drifting helplessly in unchartered space. Gripped by fear and an inherent dread; the mind becomes wracked with feverish blurred visions. Intermittently slipping into dreamlike sequences, spliced with harsh realities and the surreal..."
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Robert Kroos offers his second release on Ambientblog: 4 Sonic Meditations that can be downloaded (for free) from our Bandcamp page.
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"The Low Drone Of Circulating Blood"
- DreamScenes for May 2022. (Dedicated to the memory of Klaus Schulze)
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Lawrence English's notes on the future of Ambient
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Sound pictures from Phonsonic and pensive explorations from Beachcomber.
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Introspective, nocturnal music for 'dreamlike realms and rooms': Sven Laux & Logic Moon, Lorenzo Montanà and Agate Rollings.
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Kate Carr creates an aquatic environment without using field recordings * Maggi Payne travels through space and time.
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Olli Aarni dusts out his pockets on his release on Laaps Records; Michael Oscillate presents electro-acoustic music 'you never knew you needed to listen to'.
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"Me And My Heart" --- DreamScenes edition for March 2022
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"Lowercase music" as performed by Andrew Heath and by Francis Gri in collaboration with Wil Bolton and Grotta Veterano.
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Places for Peace is a massive 48-track charity compilation curated by the Home Normal label. All profits will be donated to Unicef's Protect Children In Ukraine. Don't hesitate, donate!
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Brendan Paxton spends 2.5 hours watching the stars with his violin (and effect pedals) * Two ambient jazz albums by trumpet player Tetsuroh Konishi.
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Two 'acousmagic' albums: a sonic study of working steam engines (Higher Intelligence Agency) * Mysterious sound paintings of the Finnish deep North (Emmanuel Holterbach).
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Darkness from outer space or darkness from witchcraft: enjoy the shivers down your spine with these two dark ambient albums. Be sure to leave the light on!
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"Detached from one reality, connected to another"... albums by Gianluca Ceccarini, Aperus and Blessed Are The Hearts That Bend.
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't Geruis slowly dances on moss beds * VÍZ (Réka Csiszér) presents her requiem for (her Transsylvanian) ancestral origins.
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"Depths Of Delusion" - DreamScenes for February, 2022
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Drones from different perspectives: based on spoken sentences, structuralist architecture and the Antarctic landscape.
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Two albums presenting 'ambient americana' with the pedal steel guitar as a distinctive instrument: The Howard Hughes Suite and Alister Fawnwoda, Suzanne Ciani & Greg Leisz.
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A 'descent to the depths of a non-place made of desertion and desolation' (Dullmea/Pinto), as well as exploring the Alpine mountains (Enrico Coniglio).
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Exploring the hidden treasures of Hoek van Holland and IJmuiden - and that of a Rhododendron! Environmental soundscapes by Roel Meelkop, Hessel Veldman, and Monty Adkins.
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Bill Seaman and Craig Tattersall uncover their own covers --- Matt Walker (of1000faces) used the pandemic period to create The Monomyyth Trilogy.
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Only one day after I published the previous Various Various post, the Tâalem label published two massive compilations, together stretching up to 24 hours of music, sounds, drones, and experiments. So here's an 'addendum' to the previous post.
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"... The still sea is darker than before ..."
DreamScenes for January 2022
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Three different (acoustic and neo-classical) soundtrack albums that work together very well: performed by Gideon Wolf, From The Mouth Of The Sun and Shida Shahabi.
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Two (of six) releases from the latest (and last) batch of Taâlem 3"-CDr releases: The [Law-Rah] Collective and Peter James.
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'Drone music' has a long musical history spanning all continents, which can be felt when performed with acoustical instruments. Two beautiful examples.
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A two-hour long mix - my contribution to the third edition of the (8-hour long) Winter Solstice broadcast on Concertzender Nederland. Be sure to sit back, relax, and forget about time.
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Orchestral, post-classical music that strays off the beaten track: albums by mastroKristo, William Ryan Fritch and Glåsbird .
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"You Are Safe" - DreamScenes for December 2021
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Two albums that do not have much in common except for their scientific approach: the astrophysics of Alva Noto and the psychedelic therapy of Jon Hopkins.
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Two completely different albums that share a background of deeply personal experiences: music from Robert Takahashi Crouch and Julius Eastman.
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Two different examples from the Longform Edition series: Matthew Liam Nicholson's chamber music in nine movements, and Yvette Janine Jackson's electronic space flight.
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Music for all seasons - but especially to help you keep warm in the cold winter season: EP's by Snorri Hallgrímsson and Isabel Pine.
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Chas Smith performs on an array of self-built instruments * A short but impactful soundtrack score by Clarice Jensen.
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The music of Akira Rabelais "definitely isn't something of this world": a beautiful ghostly presence at night, and a box full of remembrances of things past.
(Leave a comment for a chance to win a free download code for one of these two releases!)
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"Mirror of Dreams": DreamScenes edition for November 2021
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Danish duo Vy present their music with a strong link to the performing arts Lab's Cloud remixes the music of Man Of No Ego* in very relaxing 432 Hz.
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Soundscapes based on data from black holes (Valery Vermeulen) and from the arctic ocean (Michael Begg).
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French duo known as RadioMentale presents a soundscape 'at the crossroads of ambient, sound art and radio art'. The album is directly linked to the solo project of Éric Pajot as Humans By Billions
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Anne Bakker, Rene Aquarius and Rutger Zuydervelt play together on an album that was never meant to exist * Hannes d'Hoine aka Jon Doe One dedicates his album to the Roman Sun God.
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Exploring the sound of different materials (Cartridge Grain), drifting generative music (Esmez) and cinematic melancholy (Stray Theories).
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Where Basinski meets Palestrina: The Penitential Station's album is 'a balm for the soul' * Lina Filipovich creates sound collages mixing classical choir samples with Doctor Who-style electronics.
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The COVID-19 lockdown obviously triggered a lot of online collaborations - which were often also thematically related to the worldwide crisis. But few - if not none - of them are as surprising as Jacob Cooper & Steven Bradshaw's Sunrise.
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Ben Bertrand evokes gentle spirits called Dokkaebi * Nobuka deals with feelings of anxiety and isolation from the past year and a half
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DreamScenes, October 2021 edition: "The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise"
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Innesti's self released album 'In Letters', and Wil Bolton's sonic interpretations of the colors of Hokusai's famous Kanagawa Wave painting.
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Lawrence English explores the 'elegant uncertainty' of a Brisbane pipe organ Saffronkeira and Siavash Amini* create a sound environment to trigger false memories.
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Just imagine yourself sitting in a local bar at the end of the day. A bit tired, your head full of thoughts. The murmuration of the people around you slowly gets blurry as you drift off. Your thoughts begin to wander, memories are mixed with fantasies and places you never even visited. Until now.
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Unusual atmospheres: ethnic-sounding 'medicine music' from Otorongo, and granulated theatrical cello sounds by Olenc.
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Simon McCorry's solo album 'Flow' - and his collaboration with Requiem on 'Critical; Mass'.
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"Empower and Enhance" - The DreamScenes September 2021 edition.
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The unique 'dark jazz' blend of Dictaphone and the cyborg-like heartbeat of Jason Sharp.
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Venturing into the darkness with Skrika (Monty Adkins) and the Lovecraftian tragedy of Jason Köhnen's The Lovecraft Sextet.
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Andrew Heath draws inspiration from imagined cities * The Transition Recordings by Son of Chi & Radboud Mens.
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A compilation that is sustainable in more than one way, a collaboration project dedicated to the Georgian Glaciers, and the introduction of a new subscription series.
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C.M. von Hausswolff and Chandra Shukla open their sonic diaries series with their impression of Nepal * Carlos Casas interprets the Aeta culture on a mixed media set.
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"Some bright morning, when my life is over, I'll fly away..."
DreamScenes for August 2021.
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Clarice Jensen's debut movie score for Ainu Mosir, Rose Bolton's Lost Clock, and Genrietta's memories of Moscow locations.
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Two different scores that demonstrate the multi-faceted sound of Machinefabriek: CM_30 for a juggling performance, and RE:Moving for choreographies by Yin Yue.
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Arrowounds ends his trilogy with The Rise And Fall Of The Melting World, while Loneward tries to keep things simple and invokes stasis.
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Erik Wøllo’s scenic North Star album (as well as the Name-Your Price download from his SoundQuest performance), and the 'ethereal modern classical' sounds of The Green Kingdom.
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Sonmi451's 'Seven Signals In The Sky' is the Summer edition in Laaps' Records series * Iluiteq mournes the (future) loss of wilderness.
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Dark ambient with a vague sense of nostalgia by Dead Melodies, and a scary exploration of death from Dave Phillips.
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"The Place Where You Go To Listen" is a title from John Luther Adams' 'Arctic Dreams' - but also the motto for this months' DreamScenes edition.
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Marc Neys's sound collage compiled from soundtracks for animated stills, and Ivano Pecorini's music for the 'Sexy Movers' dance performance.
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Day Falls: a collaboration by Ian Hawgood, James Murray and Stijn Hüwels.
Hüwels also released an album with Tomoyashi Date.
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Richard van Kruysdijk concludes his Cut Worms trilogy * Lab's Cloud (Raúl Jordán) explores the Structure of Emotions.
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Kevin Richard Martin re-interprets and re-scores the soundtrack for Tarkovsky's Solaris * K. Leimer, Marc Barreca and Steve Peters collaborate on the second Three Point Circle album.
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From Arctic Dreams to reverberating cisterns of Istanbul: music from John Luther Adams and Philip Blackburn.
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Ambientblog does not generally cover the bigger names in ambient music.
In my opinion, both Loscil and Murcof belong to the more well-known artists of the genre - and most of you will probably already be familiar with their new releases.
But even so, I couldn't bring myself to skip these releases. Simply because they belong to the best you will probably hear this year.
So here's an exception to the 'rule'.
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"Dear penpal...
My computer is broken
I'm sorry it's taken me so long to write, but as you can see, I'm not very good at this.
And sometimes I have to backspace over words and type 'X's through them because I don't have any whiteout.
I hope I get my MAC back soon. Until then, you probably won't hear from me too often.
Love..."
Nocturnal Sunrise - DreamScenes for June 2021
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Dwell for hours in the interactive environment of Moiré, created by Chloe Alexandra Thompson and aesthetic.stalemate (Matthew Edwards).
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Stillness combined with uncertainty on Zane Trow's Why Echoes? * Droning and floating with Spacecraft.
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Zimoun explores the mindful sounds of Various Vibrating Materials * Ensemble Musikfabrik presents Simon Martin's Musique D'Art.
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Enter the refreshing environment of Ned Milligan and the immersive ambient of Cosmos Rennert's Hipnotic Earth.
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Food for thought: Simon McCorry's solo album and his collaboration with Anthéne ***
Meditative calm in Dave Nelson's Act of Vanishing.
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Fuantei accepts 'the transitory nature of things' - Anna Aaron and Bernard Trontin prove there's no need for words when creating music.
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Sonic mountaineering with Rutger Zuydervelt (Machinefabriek) * Scanner demonstrates the tricks from his Magician's Hat.
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James Osland & Finn Kelvin explore the dark and unsettling place of dementia * Kazuya Nagaya's meditative 2018 album gets a rework from different artists (Murcof among them).
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Various Compilations: three collections of ambient electronics and another two 'from the blurred edges of (modern) classical music'.
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"That's very normal, that you don't hear the phone when you're vacuuming. And you have to vacuum. Because that's part of the job."
DreamScenes"/em> for May 2021: "Slaap, kindje, sl
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'Unfinished' by Nthng has a lot more to offer than name and title suggests * Yair Etziony presents two albums coming from very different concepts.
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Deep minimalistic sound paintings by Richard Chartier, and Jen Kutler's sonification of (indicators of) empathy.
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Steve Roach further explores 'time- and space-altering realms', while Loren Nerell dives deeper into the mystical sounds of the Balinese gong.
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Erik Levander and Hannu Karjalainen both celebrate the winter season and warns us of the climate change impact on glaciers.
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'Darkness' in music may be a subjective matter, but these albums by Hilyard and Rngmnn will most certainly give you the chills.
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On a stunning debut album, Josu Mämmi takes 'Nordic crossover' to a new level Dublin's Ian Nyquist* paints sonic pictures of Winter landscapes on a new edition in the Laaps series Piano/Guitar dialogues performed by Enrico Coniglio and Stefano Guzzetti*.
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Three releases on the Palace Of Lights label: K. Leimer, Marc Barreca and Gregory Taylor.
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DreamScenes April 2021 edition: "Fanfare For The Illusion Of Choice"
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This mix is simply named after the podcast it was created for: Joseph Aleo's SoundWave.
It is a happy coincidence that it literally starts with 'waves' - and ends with the same waves morphing into the sound of a cheering crowd. This mix (hopefully) shows that it can be rewarding to take a moment's rest to really listen and let the sounds affect you.
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Sometimes music seems to alter the way you experience your surroundings...
Examples by Andrew Heath & Anne Chris Bakker and Landtitles.
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W.E._aa's album ཀ (Ka) is as surprising as the name suggests * Sandro Mussida merges guitar, bass clarinet and violoncello (in three different tunings) with the reverb of a church.
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Ian Hawgood introduces us to the Japanese traditions of 'wabi-sabi' in these collaborations with Craig Tattersall and Stijn Hüwels.
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The nocturnal walks of Max Corbacho, the escapeology of Robert Scott Thompson, and the imaginary cities of Cryptic Scenery.
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"I heard things you people wouldn't believe" ... DreamScenes for March 2021
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Robert Moran decomposes Wagner's Parsifal using a 12-second reverb as an instrument * Henrik Meierkord plays his meditative ambient cello to turn life's burden into much-needed peace.
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Fascinating electro-acoustic soundscapes by Jos Smolders and Iain Chambers, respectively:
Jos sonically explores a poem by Stéphane Mallermé ; Iain celebrates the brutalist architecture of Paris.
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Escape from daily life on earth for a while watching clouds with Wil Bolton or drift off with Grigoni, Hatakeyama and Vitiello.
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Adventurous debut from Ryan van Haesendonck * Midnight stories as told by Valothikuu & Dynastor.
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Learn to love the things you used to hate: Lijnenspel goes meta by removing the signal from the noise, creating drones from compression artefacts.
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Linked by their cover image but presenting totally different kinds of music: 'post-industrial' loops by Craven Faults vs. brutal noise-drone by N (93) + Deep.
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"Deep Drone - Drowning Light ... Dark Drone - Dead of Night"
....
DreamScenes for February 2021
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Music for quiet moments: two dreamy albums by Sachi Kobayashi, and Frieder Nagel's music for an installation celebrating a park tree.
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Music for dark nights and dark dreams: Kreng & Svarte Greiner, Jasmine Guffond & Erik K. Skodvin, and Bruno Duplant & Alfredo C. Monteiro.
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An interaction between the acoustic and the electronic, the human and the machine: Mats Erlandsson's Minnesmárke and Erik Griswold's composition for piano with 11 bows.
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Two cinematic ambient albums by experienced producers: Joachim Spieth's Ousia and Fatih Tuter's Beehive.
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An unexpected fascinating soundtrack by Kinnie Starr, a tape loop setup by Mathijs Leeuwis, and an album about the personal growth of Túrion.
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Daniel Menche explores the human voice and so does Mamiffer, who also release their new album. The Abyss Within Us is an Italian Duo with a new album released on the Astral Industries label
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Two 'modern classical' album that take melancholy to a different level: 'Landbrot I' by Snorri Hallgrímsson and 'Midnight Intervals' by Glowworm (Kevin Scott Davis).
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Landscape Studies by Andrew Heath is perfect music to escape dark winter nights - and so are the two different releases by Francis M. Gri.
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"... to find a place to sleep, to pass the months of winter ..."
DreamScenes for January 2021: start the year with some mixed emotions ....
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'Apart' is reflecting Simon Scott's memories of walking with his father in the New Decoy Nature reserve * On 'Portail', Dennis Smalley re-creates classical composer's chords into modern electro-acoustic compositions
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Music that wraps around you like a blanket: Andrew Sherwell's 'Above Below', and Ciro Berenguer's 'Bruma'.
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Sam Rosenthal celebrates the 100th birthday of Timothy Leary with a fitting tribute created with many artists from his Projekt label * ... and A Journey Of Giraffes extends the trip with half-sleep dreams on an imaginative faraway island.
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Music for long winter nights: my 2-hour mix contribution to the "Winter Solstice 2020" ambient music broadcast on Concertzender Nederland.
(Also available in DTS surround)
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The collaboration of Hessel Veldman and Martijn Comes captures some of the atmospheres of a deserted psychiatric facility * Geneva Skeen explores the conflicting emotions of a 'double bind' situation.
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"How to Disappear..." - DreamScenes for December 2020.
(Warning: the last 15 minutes of this edition are more intense than usual compared to previous editions).
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Dennis Johnson's minimal composition 'November' reworked by Horvath & Lustmord William Burroughs explores The Western Lands as orchestrated by The Opening Performance Orchestra, in company of Iggy Pop and Bill Laswell*.
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Two great compilations presenting a range of ambient styles: Ambient Layers, and Sustain Series Vol. 1 (proving that sustainable ambient music exists).
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An Moku and Stijn Hüwels meet in a pleasurable space * Mathieu Karsenti paints a picture of a 'diverse, textured and complex human environment...
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Memories of childhood: Tapani Rinne reflects on his childhood hometown, Pepo Galán on his aunt's house on the beach where he stayed during summers.
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Acoustic piano, contemporary classical and expressions of 'Solastalgia': works by Chris Abrahams, John Luther Adams, Michael Begg and the Black Glass Ensemble.
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Orchestral symphonic drones by A-Sun Amissa and Ashtoreth & Stratosphere. Dark references to impending doom.
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David Cordero's trip to Japan results in very uplifting ambient music * Anthéne is perfectly at home creating 'dusty ambient guitar and synth led works'
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The abstract soundscapes of Martina Claussen combine her voice with sound objects, field recordings, and electronics * Returning from Berlin to Italy inspired Andrée Burelli * Clarice Jensen evokes stasis and movement at the same time.
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Three different albums that are still connected: releases by Silent Vigils, James Murray & Mike Lazarev, and Ian Hawgood.
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"Beware of the middle road - the obvious road is almost always a fool's road".
DreamScenes for November 2020
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Built around Christine Ott's 'Comma' and its variation, 'Upon Departure' became a somewhat melancholy journey that fits the end of this remarkable year.
(Surround version also available for free download)
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Redefining post-classical music: Gyda Valtysdottir, Galya Bisengalieva and Lukas Lauermann.
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A selection of dark ambient projects: Music for Abandoned Cold War Places (various artists), Scenes from the Sublime (Neraterrae), and a 'different kind of nothing' (Diffie).
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Imagine 'Midsommar' was a documentary instead of a fictional movie story....
And then check the Kliffotiska Ritualpoemen as read by Thomas Karlsson and set on music by Sjunde Inseglet in this ritualistic (10-hour) set .
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Snowdrops combines the sound of ondes Martenot with a contemporary classical setting Akira Uchida performs two meditations together with the voice of Miu Sakamoto*.
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DreamScenes for October 2020: "Drifting Into Sleep"
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The new releases by Pinkcourtesyphone and Richard Chartier show the different approach to sound by one and the same person.
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"Applied Music" by Joshua van Tassel ('More Songs For Slow Motion') and Loris S. Sarid ('Music For Tomato Plants')
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Cinematic ambient storytelling on these albums by Gimmik, Waveform Transmission and Vision Reels .
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Summer Extras: browsing through releases that somehow got stuck to the bottom of the promo pile but are definitely worth hearing!
Featuring: Erik Wøllo & Michael Stearns, Library Tapes, Aase Frejadóttir, F5point6 and Alex Baril.
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Summer Extras: browsing through releases that somehow got stuck to the bottom of the promo pile but are definitely worth hearing!
Featuring: Jarguna & Henrik Meyerkord, Pruski, LLyn Y Cwn, Shinjuku Thief and Robert Millis.
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Summer Extras: browsing through releases that somehow got stuck to the bottom of the promo pile but are definitely worth hearing!
Featuring: Wanderwelle, Marja Ahti, R.A. Irisarri, Ümlaut and Jack Woodbury.
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DreamScenes for September 2020: "21 People In My Bathroom".
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To celebrate its 100th release, Audiobulb releases a set of 34 separate 'singles'.
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Two releases from the August 2020 batch of Longform Editions: a meditation on sound by K.Leimer and an Analog Dream of Nadia Struiwigh.
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Scanner's album is the fruit of an artist making the most of the Lockdown period * 'Conscious Perception' explored on Innesti's double CD * Cinema Perdu translates demarcations in the Dutch landscape into an abstract soundscape.
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Be sure you are in the right relaxed and undisturbed mood before you start listening to these albums by Ian Vine, Orphax and Ellis Cage, because they present some of the dronest of drone music.
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Two compilations: artists from all over the world present works recorded during lockdown - and a collection of (obscure) post industrial music from the Balkan Region
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Echoflex is a 5-part generative/modular set by David 'Jamuud' Muddyman * KMRU (from Nairobi) presents a stunning ambient album * Unjin comes from Seoul but his music sounds as arctic as the album title.
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The interplay of a 'serpent' with a church organ and electronics Machinefabriek/Deman, untitled sonic extremes from Francisco López, and a rerelease from an EP by Poryama Hatami with added remixes.
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Dark, brooding ambient-jazz tracks from Myllykoski/Rinne and Golden Retriever/Chuck Johnson, as well as cinematic ambient from award-winning composer Robin Schlochtermeier.
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"Between Whispering Water Spirits" - DreamScenes for August 2020
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Lionel Marchetti presents a 3hr43m set of sound materials "on par with that of the Ocean: expressing the furtive, secret or luminous presences, the massive or incongruous presence of these beings whose existence we may be unaware of."
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Simon Posford, the musical genius behind Shpongle, reflects on being an artist in isolation Shall Remain Nameless* bring back long-forgotten memories *Melorman celebrates enjoying the sun in a carefree holiday mood.
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A collaboration mix with Dave Michuda from Low Light Mixes:
"5 minutes each turn. Start with a 5-minute track, increase the sample count each turn (next turn 2, next turn 3, next turn 4…) until we reach 60 minutes… (last 5 minutes contain 6 samples each turn). See what happens."
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Three minimalist albums perfect for Deep Listening sessions or to meditate to: Death Poems (Jisei) by Vittorio Guindani, Fells sitting on a hill, and Emile Bojesen's Scrape.
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A deep dive into the dark ambient abyss with three releases on the Cryo Chamber label: Dronny Darko, Apocryphos and Dead Melodies & Zenjungle. Not for the faint of heart!
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Urban Eden are succesfully building gardens from concrete * Lauren Doss captures the kinesthetic energy from dancing with her voice.
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DreamScenes for July 2020: "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights."
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Max Richter's incredibly well timed album on the Universal Declaration Of Human Rights *** The app version of his Sleep project helps you sleep, meditate or focus ...
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Tomáš Šenkyřík's Fond is the second release in Slowcraft's Lifeline series Wu Cloud* moved to Sumatra and recorded an atmospheric lo-fi set of exotic ambient Kamila Govorçin* explores textural sonic, meditative landscapes.
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Exploring the Marimba as a source for ambient music with MNO Michael Begg returns to the music of satellites in the company of Clodagh Simonds*.
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Stephen O'Malley's 'Géante 4' composed for Stuart Dempster and performed by Eye Music Black Glass Ensemble* explores the power of the B Minor chord together with 104 friends Michael Vallera* creates soundscapes where the sound cannot be traced back to his guitar.
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A (belated!) introduction to the Longform Editions label/collective. Their June 2020 editions present works by Carmen Villain, Celer, Chihei Hatakeyama and Michael Vincent Waller.
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Alva Noto returns after a five year hiatus with volume 4 of his Xerrox pentalogy * Madeleine Cocolas explores the complex emotions she felt when returning home to Ithaca.
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"You Will Now Listen To My Voice"
...
DreamScenes for June 2020
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