Release data: Skoulaman – Synthesizer Mood CD-R, Private Release, 2012 Skoulaman, aka Dutch synthesist Hans van Kroonenburg, is part of the Berliner School-trio AKS, that some might know from the fine concerts played at the upper room on E-Live 2012. AKS though was put to an end recently. Skoulaman’s motto (The power of a synthesizer is not to imitate but…
Release data: Asymmetric – From Nowhere Came CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Asymmetric Records, 1999 “From Nowhere came” is the only release to date by the UK-duo Peter Challoner and Paul Smith, aka Asymmetric. If you’re fond of melodic and nicely sequenced contemporary EM, I have no doubt the accessible music on this album will be right up your alley. The 63-minute outcome…
Release data: Phobos – Darkness Within CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, AmbientLive Records, 2009 Fans of lengthy but inspired drone ambient are at the right spot when it comes to the output of synthesist and sound sculpture David Thompson, aka Phobos. The 76-minute “Darkness Within” taps into the deep end with one continuous track, blending and layering textures in an fashion without the…
Release data: Zorch – Ouroboros CD-R, Zorch Music, 1975/2000 What we got here is a vintage Em-release from the mid-‘70’s made by Zorch, aka the UK-duo Basil Brooks and Howard Scarr (aka Gwyo Zepix). According info on the bands website, it’s the only album ever recorded at Peter Zinovieff’s EMS studio, where the two musicians had access to the massive…
Release data: Ethereal 77 – Landscapes CD, Basedaddy, 1999 Before composer Ulrich Schnauss started releasing music under his own name, he made one full-length album and an Ep under the alias Ethereal 77. “Landscapes” is the highly melodic and crisp drum & bass outcome, both ethereal and groovy. It offers a jolly, uplifting and warm sound overall, with magic currents…
Release data: Apollonius – Birth of the Real Self DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2012 “Birth of the Real Self” is the next chapter in a series of spiritual sonic journeys meant for personal introspection, self-awareness and growth, this time solely composed by Eelke van Hoof, aka Apollonius. The spatial and organic soundscape, where flute and treated vocals were initially meant…
Release data: Ulrich Schnauss – A Long Way to Fall CD, Scripted Realities, 2013 In his own words, Mr Schnauss describes his fourth release “A Long Way to Fall” as an album that would celebrate the synthesizer as the very capable musical instrument that it is, but without the need to disguise it behind a wall of echo and reverb.…
Release data: Bertrand Loreau – Nostalgic Steps CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spheric Music, 2013 On “Nostalgic Steps”, French synthesist Berrand Loreau offers another collection of vintage electronic music, paying tribute to the big names of the Berliner School and their recognizable sequencer style. I think this one is more cohesive, moody and musically stronger than the previous Spheric recording “Journey through the…
Release data: Cell – Phonic Peace CD, Indica Music, 2005 I ran into this album by accident, not aware that Cell (aka Alex Scheffer) had released another full-length album before his “Hanging Masses” release on Ultimae Records and a whole list of fine single tracks on various compilations. “Phonic Peace” presents 70-minutes of evocative and atmospheric ambient chill-out with smooth…
Release data: Chronotope Project – Chrysalis CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Relaxed Machinery, 2102 The musician behind Chronotope Project is Jeffrey Ericson Allen, who has an eclectic background in classical, new acoustic and theatrical music. As a composer, Jeffrey is triggered by themes that contrast yin and yang, of mysteries that open themselves slowly, gradually unfolding and revealing hidden facets. “Chrysalis” contains music…
Release data: Amir Baghiri – The Serenity CD, DataBloem, 2013 German/Iran synthesist Amir Baghiri already started work on “The Serenity” in 2009, but as Amir got further involved in the film music industry and had to deal with many deadlines from then on, the project evolved only very slowly from then on. Work only continued when times became calm and…
Release data: Alpha Wave Movement – Yasumu CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Harmonic Resonance Recordings, 2013 “Yasumu” is music Alpha Wave Movement (aka Massachusetts-based composer Gregory Kyryluk) composed for quiet contemplation, meditation as well as a subtle removal from more frantic rhythmic music. The 45-minute release indeed is an oasis of tranquillity and harmony. Here, gentle flowing textures lead the way on the…
Release data: Arcane – A Tale of Unease DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2012 Besides the many vintage influences and sounds found in the music of Arcane, aka UK-synthesist Paul Lawler, there also has been a distinct sense of something sinister, gothic and foreboding to it as well. The six-track outcome on the full-length “A Tale of Unease” is no exception,…
Release data: Javi Cánovas – Desert Dawn DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2013 For his album “Desert Dawn”, Spanish synthesist Javi Cánovas decided to switch to a world music approach, something Gregory Kyryluk once did with his Open Canvas-project. The outcome on “Desert Dawn” contains many influences of ethnic music of different countries round Magreb (Northern Africa), the Middle East and…
Release data: Telomere – Lux Primordia CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Evenfall , 2012 In the early stages of recording his fourth album “Lux Primordia”, California-based space music composer Chris Macdonald (aka Telomere) was interested in pursuing a more drone-influenced style. But at the same time, Chris kept a clear focus on the cosmic outcome in motion through harmonic, melodic, rhythmic or thematic…
Release data: Resonant Drift – Full Circle CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Flow Space Music, 2012 This album is entitled “Full Circle” because of various thoughts and ideas the duo Bill Olien and Gary Johnson had about returning, coming back and so on, that initially started them to create music on this theme. In the process of crafting and moulding the music, those…
Release data: Ian Boddy – Sepulchre DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, DiN, 2012 “Sepulchre” contains the set that Ian Boddy performed live on air for the Stars End radio show in Philadelphia, USA on October 14th 2012. The 64-minute outcome of Ian’s concert at this venue is made up by a rich and colourful tapestry of pads and floating atmospheres, all carrying the…
Release data: Secondface – Vega Colony CD, Gterma , 2013 “Vega Colony” is an ambient/spacemusic extravaganza dedicated to the life and work of the late British science fiction illustrator and painter Peter Elson. Its mesmerizing futuristic music though is composed by Secondface, the moniker of Danish musician Frank Vilbæk Jensen, who released some other ambient-dub albums through various netlabels previously.…
Release data: Nemesis – Living Statues CD, Retroduction , 2012 The beautiful designed and exceptionally packaged “Living Statues” is a concept album by the Finnish band Nemesis that was highly inspired by the life and art of Veijo Rönkkönen. To experience the full impact of Rönkkönens strange new world of peace and surrealistic environment, the Finnish band members went to…
Release data: Alpha Wave Movement – Exiled Particles Vol. I Archive 1997-2005 CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Harmonic Resonance Recordings, 2012 With “Exiled Particles”, skilled American ambient composer Gregory Kyryluk (aka Alpha Wave Movement) brings us the first volume in a series of archival recordings. Tracks were made between 1997 and 2005, but never found its way to an actual physical release. Gregory…
Release data: Uwe Gronau – Visions CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2012 “Visions” is a 76-minute instrumental album by German composer Uwe Gronau, taking the listener on a summertime late-night journey through the (atmos)pheres of Paris. Uwe’s eclectic mix of dream-like music creates strong moods that range from ambient to more melodic/progressive outings. It’s hard not to be touched by the…
Release data: Mathias Grassow & Carsten Agthe – Beyond the Silence (Live at Gut Saunstorf) CD, Gterma, 2012 What we got here is a double-album with music played during an extensive live-set by Mathias Grassow and percussionist Carsten Agthe, complimented by a few new (improvised) compositions at the end of each disc. The 160-minute outcome strongly connects to Grassow’s foundation…
Release data: Last Industrial Estate – Last Industrial Estates CD, Gterma, 2012 Extensive and sinister drone ambient is the game at play on the concept album “Last Industrial Estates”, an ode to the remnants of the industrial era. It’s one of the ambient projects by A.P., aka Anders Peterson (who’s doing all the excellent mastering-jobs for the Gterma label until…
Release data: Steve Roach & Byron Metcalf – Tales from the Ultra Tribe CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Projekt Records, 2012v During his musical career, ambient master Steve Roach once in a while always kept returning to the fusion of electronics with tribal/organic elements. With Byron Metcalf, he made his first collaborative effort “The Serpent’s Lair” in 2000 that hereby gets a follow-up.…
Release data: Mark Isham – Castalia CD, Virgin Records, 1988 “Castalia” is the fourth album by composer Mark Isham, whose title refers to the mythical spring Castalia on Mount Parnassus in Greece, that sees mark collaborate with quite a large amount of other session musicians. The recording has a moody and warm sound design along a vague a new age…
Release data: Arcanum – Arcanum CD, Faria Records, 1997/2007 This is the re-release of the classic album by the German trio Mathias Grassow, Rüdiger Gleisberg and Amir Baghiri that originally saw the light of day in 1997 on the Italian Amplexus sub label Arya. There’s a small difference though, as two nice bonus pieces have been added (“Vipassana” and “Reminiscence”).…
Release data: Mathias Grassow – Dämmerung CD, Gterma, 2012 Those familiar with the extensive discography by German multi-instrumentalist Mathias Grassow will be acquainted to his vast and deep-listening type of music. “Dämmerung”, depicted as one long flowing epos dedicated to the sun and her voyage across the burning evening skies of Northern Europe, is a vast landscape of intense ambient…
Patterns of the Sky is a soundscape ambient project by Texas-based musician Glenn Matson that was originally founded in 2005 as an outlet for lush and old-style trance. Mr Matson designed it as well for refining sounds of pure bliss and music for thoughts through seminal techno and classic trance music since its inception. “The Long Flight” opens up a…
Release data: As if – Faraway Trees Standing Still CD, Gterma, 2012 As If is the magical soundworld project of Danish composer and visual artist Kenneth Werner (Jensen), which focuses on low-tempo, soundscape and the ambient/dub end of electronic music. Although the music starts out in a very atmospheric and free form fashion on the first take, the recording reveals…
Release data: 12 Followers / Meteo Xavier Impulse OST DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2012 12 Followers/Meteo Xavier is currently a one man collective, semi-professional composer operating out of East Tennessee, who got and grabbed the opportunity to contribute some music to the spacey-puzzle game “Impulse”. The outcome is an ambient/experimental, rhythmic and sample-driven work that sure is not your (and…
Release data: Noryani – Southeast 225 CD, Generator.pl, 2012 “Southeast 225” is the second full length release in a series of four concept albums by Polish synthesist Adrian Noryani, and another emotive and well/composed work of electronic art. And although lots of the composed music did match the conceptual idea one way or the other, Adrian also felt they simply…
Release data: Otarion – Creator CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Neu Harmony, 2002 About a decade ago, German composer Reiner Klein, aka Otarion, made his third and also last album “Creator”. Until today, I regard it as a solid release featuring powerful, rhythmic and melodic synthesizer music accompanied by bubbling and otherwise tasty sequencing. His moody and at times spacy and symphonic music…
Release data: Gert Emmens & Cadenced Haven – Mystic Dawn CD, Groove Unlimited, 2012 If you’re looking for a moody, melodic and nicely sequenced music, one in general can’t go wrong with the music by successful Dutch synthesist Gert Emmens. “Mystic Dawn”, his second full-length collaboration with Cadenced Haven (aka Laila Quraishi), is no exception to that rule. It offers…
Release data: Brian Eno – Lux CD/LP/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Warp Records, 2012 “Lux” is a pastoral work by Brian Eno, marking a return to his earlier focus on ambient sound collage, while also being his first solo album since 2005’s “Another Day On Earth”. The release features four generative, long-form tracks of cohesive, contemplative ambient, or intellectual/emotional sound collage, as Brian…
Release data: Peter Hennix – Ocean CD, Gterma, 2012 The album “Ocean” (a Rudra Veena meditation) originally saw the light of day in 2004 when it was released on CDr by the new age label Sangha Records. Treasure seeker Johan Rehn of the Swedish Gterma label did quite some troubles tracking down this meditative world music by the sadly departed…
Release data: Nirmanakaya – Nirmanakaya CD, Gterma, 2011 “And now for something completely different”. That was the first thought I had when I was listening to this awkward mini-recording of the Swedish Gterma label. Like all their releases on the label, it’s accompanied by a lavishly illustrated cd-booklet that proved to be the only good element. With a playing time…
Release data: Aes Dana – Pollen CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Ultimae Records, 2012 In the last month of 2012, the French Ultimae label treats its fans with another fine down-tempo release. It comes on the account of Vincent Villuis, aka Aes Dana, also known as co-owner of the Lyon-based quality label that continues promoting panoramic music for panoramic people around the globe.…
Release data: Altus – The Sidereal Cycle 3 DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Free Floating Music, 2012 This freeform release marks the third chapter of “The Sidereal Cycle” series, which the composer regards the spiritual successor to his “Winter Embrace” concept series. The recording again features one track, the 55-minute “Orion”, which sees Mike Carss sophisticatedly weave perfectly layered velvet pads on the…
Release data: RMax Corbacho – The Ocean Inside CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, AD21 Music, 2012 After quite a quite a long hiatus, Spanish ambient composer Max Corbacho is back with double album of expertly crafted atmospheric ambient pieces, clocking over 140 minutes. Bearing the subtitle “slow movements from the depths”, Mr Corbacho takes his listeners on an epic and stellar soundscape journey…
Release data: Indo – Rupa Loka CD, Gterma, 2011 The Rupa Loka is the fine material world in Buddhist cosmology, the “residence” of higher life forms than us. It’s also the name of a concept-album by Hungarian composer Andras Kiss, aka Indo, who thinks the release an important one as an artist (although it’s considered one of his most unpopular…
Release data: Sync24 – Ambient Archive [1996-2002] DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Leftfield Records, 2012 “Ambient Archive” is a backlog compilation by Daniel Segerstad, aka Sync24, containing unreleased tracks from 1996-2002. It showcases the early, rather raw and unpolished sketches that later on would lead to more mature, deepened and carefully moulded ambiences on his solo-albums. There’s also a rim of experimentation noticeable…
Release data: Boreal Taiga – Arctic Remixes DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Wayfarer Records, 2011 For “Arctic Remixes”, Norwegian-based Boreal Taiga (aka JimDe) composed various lush ambient electronic atmospheres that are profoundly influenced by the northern hemisphere and its arctic environments. Moreover, the album’s quite hypnotic, non-rhythmic music features beautiful slow flowing ambient soundscapes with occasional sequencers along organic undercurrents and a range…
Release data: Robert Schroeder – Ferro Oxid CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spheric Music, 2012 On his 28th album “Ferro Oxid”, Robert Schroeder pairs authentic sounds and the feel of nostalgic EM with nowadays contemporary music and technology in a beautiful manner. In addition, Robert here doesn’t stick to simple tunes and melodic songs only. The sparkling 11-minute title track is a great…
Release data: Ashra – New Age of Earth CD, Virgin Records, 1976 When I look at the lengthy discography of Manuel Göttsching, Ashra’s debut-album “New Age of Earth” remains an all-time classic that beats his other releases by far. The four tracks on the album, which Manuel considers an experiment with keyboards and synthesizer, all have a lovely warm feel,…
Release data: Synthex – Pythagoras CD-R, Private Release, 2012 Synthex, aka the 13-year old enthusiast Dutch synthesist Jeffrey Haster, is a most frequent visitor at Dutch Em-festivals. In addition, he loves twisting knobs on analogue gear (in search of a nice sound or effect) and is a big fan of the music of Jean-Michel Jarre. It’s no surprise the latter…
Release data: Fanger & Schönwälder –Analog Overdose – The Road Movie DVD, Manikin Records, 2012 “Analog Overdose – The Road Movie” is the long-awaited dvd comprising various live concerts performed by the German duo Fanger and Schönwälder in 2007 and 2008, accompanied by snapshots while being on the road. The 115-minute disc starts with the atmospheric/chill-out set they played in…
Release data: Celer – Without Retrospect, the Morning CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Glacial Movements, 2012 Celer is an ambient/soundscape project by Will Long, who has an extensive list of releases under his belt made as Celer and various other monikers. The 52-minute outcome found on “Without Retrospect, the Morning” (which is the final part of the water-themed trilogy of albums that included…
Release data: Darshan Ambient – Falling Light CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, LotusPike, 2012 I remember the early music by multi-instrumentalist Michael Allison, aka Darshan Ambient, as pastoral and quiet textural synth music. Since a few years though, his musical approach has started to transform quite a bit. “Falling Light” features a further shift to extensive use of bass and lap steel/slide guitar,…
Release data: Bryan Carrigan – Windows CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Peonies Music, 2012 For his third album “Windows”, accomplished composer Bryan Carrigan wanted to step away from the loops, rhythms and beats as mostly heard on his previous two releases, and instead venture into more of an ambient direction. The 60-minute outcome is what Mr Carrigan likes refers to as “eclectic adventures…
Release data: Steve Roach – Soul Tones CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Timeroom Editions, 2012 “Soul Tones” is the first in a triptych of cds, featuring inner-connected pieces with space and time in between each. Filled with 74 minutes of warm, free form music, ambient-master Steve Roach returns to vast and quiet open spaces which flow and evolve naturally. The smooth curling and…
Release data: moonbooter – Cosmophonica CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Mellowjet Records, 2012 With “Cosmophonica”, German synthesist Bernd Scholl, aka Moonbooter, brings his fans another highly accessible and melodic release that I’m sure will appeal to many. While taking his audience on a trip through the cosmos, he aptly pairs and mixes (atmo)spheric sound paintings with symphonic and up-tempo outings. The 10-minute title-piece…
Release data: Schiller – Sonne (DeLuxe Edition) CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Universal Domestic, 2012 The album “Sonne” adds a new chapter to the growing music catalogue of most successful Berlin-based composer Christopher von Deylen, aka Schiller. If you’re expecting something new though, the outcome on his seventh studio release makes quite clear that’s not the case. Once again, Schiller sticks to the…
Release data: Broken Harbour – The Geometry of Shadows CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Relaxed Machinery, 2012 Originally, the music for the concept-album “The Geometry of Shadows” was composed under the title “Ansible” (which is now the last track on this album) in 2009, but was shelved when Blake Gibson (aka Broken Harbour) decided to take a break from music. Last year though…
Release data: Art of Infinity – Raumwerk CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, BSC Music, 2012 “Raumwerk” is the fourth album by Art of Infinity, a German project founded back in 1996 by Thorsten Sudler-Mainz and Thorsten Rentsch. I’ve never felt any affinity or emotion in the band’s mainstream electronic music, and the poppy tunes making up this 55-minute release once again make me…
Release data: Connect.Ohm – 9980 CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Ultimae Records, 2012 The French Ultimae label is one of the fine firms that’s able to amaze me from time to time, putting out new, fruitful collaborations next to their regular league of artists. Connect.Ohm is such a newbie, introducing the debut album by label-artists Alex Scheffer (also known as Cell) and Tokyo-based…
Release data: [‘ramp] Astral Disaster (live at Bochum Planetarium) CD, Private Release, 2012 “Astral Disaster”, the first proper [‘ramp] live album since the release of “Oughtibridge”, is a limited edition, factory-pressed cd by German composer and sound explorer Stephen Parsick, who once more offers his fans a great and most exciting treat. It contains six new pieces of music composed…
Release data: Sylvain Carel – Caravansaray CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, AD Music, 2012 Melodic, cinematic and symphonic music with strong ethnic/oriental spheres, samples and vocal textures. These are the ingredients found in the detailed and transparent sounding music of Sylvain Carel’s “Caravansary”, an accomplished and skilled French composer. “Caravansary” is a evocative instrumental songbook containing 22 short tracks blending an assortment of…
Release data: Soft Note – Music Book Vol. II DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Ambione Foundation, 2012 Soft Note is a textural ambient project by Siberian composer Philipp Kalchuk, created with hard and software synthesizers. The 46-minute “Music Book Vol. 2” is an rather unpolished soundscape journey with an overall raw/adventurous edge were quite a bit of experimentation is going on. In this…
Release data: David Wright – Connected CD/DIGITAL DOWNOAD, AD Music, 2012 UK-composer David Wright is well-known for his accessible electronic music that balances between strong melodic and more spacious oriented outings. “Connected”, his 24th release to date, is another appealing and varied work of sonic art, assembling both the sequencer/melodic angle and the cosmic side of his music. What I…
Release data: Phobos – Moments in Sound DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2011 “Moments in Sound”, a collection of released and unreleased music, is a release by the UK composer David Thompson (aka Phobos) who already impressed me a lot with his in-depth ambient albums “This desolate place” and “Darker”. Besides the fact this album of this very talented musician is…