Release data: Stefan Erbe – Driver CD, Erbe Music, 2010 This is my first encounter with the music of German synthesist Stefan Erbe, who describes the music as “a soundtrack for a special night drive”. From the cd booklet, I also learned the physical version of “Driver” is an extended version, containing 74-minutes/15 tracks, while the download edition contains 12…
Release data: Dave Luxton – Portal CD-R, Wayfarer Records, 2010 With this release, Mr Luxton brings us an ambient album with an overall lush and harmonic cosmic music, this time taking a more cinematic approach. Drawing from his experience as a film composer, he presents eight textural tracks of spacious music that really takes you “out there”. Its impact makes…
Release data: Tangerine Dream – Winter in Hiroshima CD, Eastgate, 2009 This cd marks part four in the five atomic seasons, and musically sees a continuation of the Nagasaki/Hiroshima story of Mr. H.T. Solely composed and played by Edgar, the music fortunately moves back to the period the TD-sound still had Soul (which hasn’t been the case for too many…
Release data: Remotion – Between Fiction and Reality CD, Groove Unlimited, 2001 Remotion is the Dutch duo Richard Stuij and Arjan Steenbergen, who recorded the music of this album live in the studio without using computer sequencers. Richard took care of composing and performing the music, while Arjan did the engineering job next to adding additional drums and effects. Although…
Release data: Cadenced Haven – Peregrination CD, Groove Unlimited, 2010 Cadenced Haven is a project by Bangladesh-based female artist Laila Quraishi, who got some great help from accomplished Dutch synthesist Gert Emmens on her debut-release “Peregrination”. The CH-project itself is a mind soothing, New Age based art form with the goal to reach the listener’s inner soul, hidden mind and…
Release data: Michael Whalen – Nightscenes CD, Alchemy Records, 1996/2004 This cd, on the original release subtitled “Music for the Evening”, is made by the accomplished American musician Michael Whalen. This Emmy award winning composer and music supervisor has made numerous tunes and commercials for radio and television next to a whole range of soundtracks. This brilliant disc offers a…
Release data: Stephan Whitlan –Stephan Whitlan – Map Reference CD, Fairy Nuff Records, 1996 With “Map Reference”, Irish synthesist Stephan Whitlan delivered his debut album on his private Fairy Nuff label back in 1996. Looking back, it’s a great example what a whole bunch of analogue gear and some keen musicianship can lead do (although the story in the cd-booklet…
Release data: Rogier – From the Shadow to the Sun CD, Quantum Records, 2004 “From The Shadow to the Sun” is the first official record by Dutch professional composer, arranger, producer and musician Rogier van Gaal, aka Rogier. The outcome on this cd indeed sounds upper-class and very rich, and the first name that jumped in my mind was Vangelis.…
Release data: Phillip Wilkerson – Interplay EP, Private Release, 2010 “Interplay” is an Ep containing five tracks of freeform, textural music. For almost 40 minutes, Mr Wilkerson takes a dip into smoothing, deep ambient spaces, which occasionally contain deep bass pulses As can be expected, there’s nothing challenging found in this airy soundscape work, a quiet sonic backdrop of harmonic…
Release data: Astrovoyager – Symphotronic Lunation CD, Dreaming-Musea, 2010 AstroVoyager is a project by French electronic musician Philippe Fagnoni, whose sonic art (according to the press-sheet) seeks connection to contemporary soundtrack composers such as Hans Zimmer, Eric Serra on one side and genre-specific artists as Vangelis, Era, Enigma and Jean-Michel Jarre on the other. “Symphotronic Lunation”, his second release which…
Release data: Przemysław Rudź – Cosmological Tales CD, Generator.pl, 2010 With “Cosmological Tales”, Polish synthesist Przemysław Rudź present us his second album, a recording graced with a fresh, melodic, vibrant and well-produced sound. The cd fires off with a fine combination of well-tempered sequencers and rhythms building a bridge with pads of warm digital and analogue sound, with some infectious…
Release data: Bernd Kistenmacher – Beyond the Deep CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Mellowjet Records, 2010 After many albums dedicated to or inspire by outer space, “Beyond The Deep” takes a dive into the inner space world and wonders of sea life. The album and its music were premiered at Planetarium Bochum on June 12. So what does this fictional musical exploration of…
Release data: Steve Roach – Sigh of Ages CD, Projekt Records, 2010 With “Sigh of Ages”, ambient master Steve Roach brings us a grand and highly reflective work or art, a soft dweller into spacious textural realms. To compose the music, Steve once more returned to some beautiful analogue synthesizers, which included the classic 40-year-old Arp String Ensemble. The six…
Release data: Michael Neil – Silent Light CD-R, Private Release, 2010 The album “Silent Light” began life as part of an ongoing series of works around the theme of Memory, Migration, and Mortality, which was set in motion with Michael Neils film “The Brownstone Trilogy” and the installation “The Breath of Exhaling Ghosts”. Moreover, the particular inspiration for this album…
Release data: Callisto – Nyx CD, AD Music, 2010 “Nyx” is the long overdue second album of Callisto, aka David Wright and Dave Massey. The 76-minute factory-pressed disc offers four long pieces ranging between 17 and 22 minutes. They pair atmospheric parts with rhythmic/sequenced and melodic sections in which one can also notice an occasional analogue angle. At first glance…
Release data: Nattefrost – Live in Germany CD, Groove Unlimited, 2010 The last couple of years, Bjørn Jeppesen aka Nattefrost has established himself as an accomplished electronic musician, which was even “accelerated” when he was contracted by the established Groove Unlimited label. The well-tempered “Live in Germany” contains excerpts of two live sets played in Wuppertal in 2008 (where Bjørn…
Release data: Robert Beau Michaels – Zero Point – Music to Disappear In CD-R, Private Release, 2010 Listening to “Zero Point –Music to Disappear in”– is as entering a slow and harmonic world, an escape from the busy life most of the modern humans live nowadays. The 40-minute non-rhythmic ride, presented in nine separate tracks, radiates a sense of wonder.…
Release data: Spyra – ADSR Remixed CD MAXI, Ricochet Dream, 2010 This 25-minute EP (a limited edition of 500 copies) contains the track “ADSR” in four different mixes. Three are by Spyra, the other is done by Ashra’s Steve Baltes. The remix version at the start is the one that connects the most to contemporary electronic music in the catchy…
Release data: Daniel Bloom – Event Horizon CD, Ricochet Dream, 2010 Daniel Bloom is a Polish synthesist who has been joining Vic Rek’s Ricochet Gathering meetings since a few years, and he also showed up on the “Keep On” tribute cd of the same label. Daniel composed the seven tracks on “Event Horizon” in 2002 and 2003 using only analogue…
Release data: Spyra/Lang – SeQuest CD, Ricochet Dream, 2010 “SeQuest” is a 66-minute album by Chris Lang and Spyra assembling four lengthy live tracks played on different occasions. The outcome though follows nicely in the footsteps of Spyra’s latest releases, being overall expressive and lively, creating lots of atmospheres on the way. To me, the album most of all is…
Release data: Brian Parnham – The Broken Silence CD, Floating Point Records, 2000/2010 This edition of “The Broken Silence” is an expanded version of the originally cd-r album, which was released in 2000. That one was put out as privately released cd-r of only 100 copies, being out-of-print almost as soon as it saw the light of day. Celebrating the…
Release data: Dan Pound – Interlace CD, Pound Sounds, 2010 With “Interlace”, California-based musician Dan Pounds adds another chapter to his series of ambient electronic, shamanic space music, which he likes to call musical medicine for the soul. The outcome is an ambient voyage beyond the tangible world of matter while simultaneously reaching into the inner depths of ones personal…
Release data: Ricochet Gathering – Keep On CD, Ricochet Dream, 2010 “Keep on” is a limited edition release featuring a live and improvised recording in Transylvania on 11 November 2008, marking the Silver Anniversary celebration of Michael Mann’s cult-movie “The Keep” for which Tangerine Dream produced the original soundtrack. Ricochet’s 9th Gathering event this time featured Spyra, Steve Schroyder, Paul…
Release data: Gert Emmens – The Nearest Faraway Place Vol. 3 CD, Groove Unlimited, 2010 This final chapter of the “Nearest Faraway Place” trilogy is brought to an end in a fashionable, but also expected manner. For many years, Gert’s output is known as typical and well-rendered mood music blending the warm sounds of analogues with vintage drums and encompassing…
Release data: Cosmic Hoffmann – Astral Journey CD-R, Heart & Mind, 2010 Here we got another archival release, Volume 4 in the Vintage Rarities from the 70’s-series, entitled “Astral Journey”, which also marks the final part of this series. No surprise we again get a good portion of highly improvised and emotionally driven retro music on the seven pieces, which…
Release data: Johannes Schmoelling – Early Beginnings CD, Viktoriapark Records, 2008 The anthology “Early Beginnings” comprises a range of previously unreleased recordings, rough drafts and demo’s Johannes Schmoelling recorded between 1979-1985, giving a nice insight in the musician’s process on finding his own voice and signature in music. When Johannes joined Tangerine Dream between 1980 and 1985, he was able…
Release data: Ben Swire – From Here to There CD, Preservation, 2010 “From Here to There” is the first full-length release of San Francisco-based composer Ben Swire, who I knew from his “Equilibrium”-Ep, out in 2002 on The Foundry. The album features eight tracks melting processed electro-acoustic instrumentation, densely layered field recordings, and sophisticated electronics with occasional glitchy bits, minimal…
Release data: Irezumi – Endurance CD, Snowblod, 2008 This album has been on my wish-list for quite some time, as I just knew it would be right up my alley. Irezumi is a project by the young French composer Manuel Mesdag (also known as trance/dance dj MANUEL-M). “Endurance” is a concept album inspired by the Ernest Shackleton’s tragic Antarctic expedition.…
Release data: Arkha Nous – Tria CD, Arkha Sound, 2009 Arkha Nous is musician and composer Rodolfo Garza, hailing from Monterrey, Mexico. In the past years he collaborated with ambient musician Jorge Reyes (who sadly passed away 2009). As Barbelo, he released released the album “Ethnoaural” in 2008, a project together with Jorge Reyes and Susan Lincoln. The 54-minute “Tria”…
Release data: Cyscape – Deep Sea Explorer CD-R, Private Release, 2003 Cyscape is the UK ambient musician Phil Riches, of which this album seems to be his second one. Yes, with such a title we’re entering some deep cinematic atmospheres, a 65-minute collage of smooth evolving dreamscapes with distinct use of rhythmic beat elements. Not that it’s that easy music,…
Release data: A Light Beacon – Music for the Patient CD, Private Release, 2002 The cd-booklet of this album “Music for the Patient” contains five slightly abstract artworks made by the artist Ian Helwig who gave them to the musician with the words “Music to be interpreted”. I personally presume this album was the outcome, which must have taken a…
Release data: Peter Davidson – Even Darker Still CD-R, Peter Davidson Music, 2010 Peter Davidson is a multi-instrumentalist who current resides on a peninsula on the Swedish west coast. He made his first steps into the electronic music genre in the late ‘70’s, dabbling around with old radios and monosynths effects. Later on he would study music theory, but the…
Release data: Stephen Parsick – Cambrium – music for protozoa CD, Private Release, 2009 No, this is not the same album as the one previously released as a limited edition of only 25 numbered copies. Stephen was offered the opportunity to play a concert at the annual “Nacht der Klange” at Bielefeld University on May 29, 2009. Here, he staged…
Release data: Phillip Wilkerson – Sun Tracer CD-R, Private Release, 2010 With the music of “Sun Tracer”, Phillip Wilkerson has brought us an fine album of uplifting, positive, enlightening, even thrilling ambient electronics which radiates a strong sense of Berlin School pulses. The inspiration for the album came from some casual reading Philip had been doing on the science of…
Release data: Arc – Church CD, DiN, 2010 After the download-only release “Rise”, “Church” is a factory-pressed full-length cd featuring five extended tracks played live during Gatherings Concert Series in November 2009. The recording offers some highly energetic, powerful, state-of-the-art ARC-music that fans of their music can purchase without hesitation. Just imagine the duo’s improvised manner of sequencing, topped by…
Release data: Stephen Parsick – Permafrost – music for hibernation CD-R, Private Release, 2010 The music of “Permafrost” (music for hibernation) was initially set in motion by a nine-hour sleep concert Stephen Parsick contributed music to in 2009, produced with the idea of allowing the listener to create your own “sleep concert” at home. Then, from December 2009 til March…
Release data: Stephen Parsick – Hoellenengel CD, Private Release, 2005 With “Hoellenengel”, recorded between November 2000 to November 2004, German synthesist Stephen Parsick brings us his second solo recording. The music on this album features the unique and beautiful sounds of the Yamaha CS80, which many know from several Vangelis recordings. Stephen also made the music without any computers, multi-track…
Release data: Robert Beau Michaels – The Wasteland – music of an apocalyptic world CD-R, Private Release, 2010 Robert Beau Michaels is an American expat who currently resides in Prague, Czech Republic. He initially tried to pursue a career as screenwriter in Hollywood during the 1980’s and 90’s. Frustrated with his inability to sell his scripts and later on also…
Release data: Hyios – Consuetudines CD, Malignant Records, 2009 Hyios is a one-man project from Leipzig, Germany. “Consuetudines”, which is his debut album recorded between 2007 and 2008, contains seven expansive cold ritual drones textures in which metallic objects and scorching, grinding and organic sounds crawl through abstract spacious realms. The dense sonic environments with noise and industrial elements create…
Release data: Rudolf Heimann – Tide CD, Spheric Music, 2010 “Tide” is the fifth album by German synthesist and producer Rudolf Heimann. Mr Heimann has been around in the genre since 1990, but took a long break after the release of his album “Twilight Voyager” in 1997 when he started to work as a session musician and producer in other…
Release data: Nemesis – 1:4:9 CD-R, Retroduction, 2010 “1:4:9” is a digital download-only release by the Finnish trio Nemesis (the cd-version is a limited edition of 100 copies reserved for an art exhibition held in Finland in February 2010). The album is a beautiful journey in introspective ambient spaces, described by the band as the perfect soundtrack for wintry evenings.…
Release data: Erik Wøllo – Gateway CD, Projekt Records, 2010 For years, Erik Wøllo is known for his expert skills in building highly imaginary and emotional music, building a bridge between grand symphonic realms and gentle, serene atmospheres. On “Gateway”, his 14th solo release, Erik takes things to a new exciting level, offering a 70-minute grand breathing space of sparkling…
Release data: Stu Jenks – West of the Fire (Soundtracks for Photographs Vol. 2) CD, Fizziweg Music, 2005 In comparison to his beautiful debut album “The Three Surrenders”, the ambient music on “West of the Fire” (Soundtracks for Photographs, Volume Two) is a long form circular work. Again, Stu takes us through a highly imaginary sonic scenery of free form…
Release data: Pascal Savy – The Silent Watcher CD-R, Audiomoves, 2010 Pascal Savy is a London-based electronic music composer who started experimenting with sequencers and synthesizers in the late nineties. Being influenced by the Detroit techno scene, he started making recordings of his output on tapes and mini-discs. “The Silent Watcher”, a digital-only release on David Newman/Autistici’s new label Audiomoves,…
Release data: Robert Carty – Starlight Volume 3 CD-R, Deep Sky Music, 2010 With this album, Robert Carty launches the third and last chapter in a trilogy of albums inspired by nights of star gazing. Like the previous releases, the music is gentle, abundant and spacious, another true celebration of the world of wonder that can be seen up in…
Release data: David Gerard – The Realm of Knowing CD-R, Orbiting Orion Records, 2010 Boston-based synthesist David Gerard began composing at age twenty-four, after studying photography and graphic art in New York City. Later on, he studied multi-track recording and started recording his own original work. In 1984, he produced “A Piece of the Desert”, an electronic/ambient suite he admits…
Release data: Matthew Florianz – Maalbeek CD, H/S Recordings, 2008 Years back, I got to know some of the fine crafted ambient music of The Hague-based musician Matthew Florianz. In 2008, he released the concept album “Maalbeek”, which again shows his great talent of painting slow morphing, highly atmospheric landscapes. Named after a forest area near the Holland/Germany border, the…
Release data: Schiller – Tag und Nacht CD, Universal Domestic, 2005 Schiller’s stunning album “Sehnsucht” made me decide to investigate his back catalogue a bit further, which brought me to “Tag un Nacht”. Again, this album presents a balanced mix of vocal and instrumental tracks, with even some great pop songs such as “Miles and Miles” and “Falling” (both with…
Release data: Zeit – Waves from the Sky CD, Hic Sunt Leones, 2008 Zeit is Italian ambient musician Tommaso Cimò, who recorded his debut-release “Waves from the Sky” during nightly sessions in his home studio “The Mag” between April and August 2007. The album contains six moody, environmental and overall melancholic ambient pieces, which dwell in a world of introspection…
Release data: Collapsar – Beyond the Event Horizon CD, Malignant Records, 2009 ans of well-produced dark ambient music will find much of their liking on “Beyond the Event Horizon”, a project by the French musician Thibaud Thaunay, aka Collapsar. This recording of overall spacious form is actually a 47-minute journey into the far depths of the vast and unknown realms…
Release data: Alio Die & Parallel Worlds – Circo Divino CD, Hic Sunt Leones, 2010 “Circo Divino”, which comes in very nicely designed digipack, is a collaborative project between Alio Die (aka Italian ambient composer Stefano Musso) and Greek vintage synthesist Parallel Worlds (aka Bakis Siros). Both these musicians have already proved what they are capable of in previous years,…
Release data: Stu Jenks – The Three Surrenders (Soundtracks for Photographs) CD, Fizziweg Music, 2003/2010 “The Three Surrenders” (Soundtracks for Photographs, Volume One) is the debut album of Tucson-based photographer Stu Jenks, who composed the music as a sonic backdrop for his 2002 photographic installation at Tucson’s Museum of Contemporary Art. About his visual work he says: “I learn a…
Release data: Justin St. Vincent – The Spiritual Significance of Music BOOK, Xtreme Music, 2009 The anthology “The Spiritual Significance of Music” is a book that investigates the relationship between music and spirituality by means of a series of interviews with worldwide writers and musicians. Music can open up the mind and soul, establish an emotional connection or even be…
Release data: Bruno Sanfilippo & Mathias Grassow – Cromo – piano & drones CD, ad21music, 2010 For this work of art, Mr Sanfilippo and Mr Grassow have teamed up a second time, together creating a smooth and quiet sonic soundscape to follow-up their critically acclaimed “Ambessence”. The six “chapters” on “Cromo” offer 62 minutes of intimate soundings which sees a…
“One Night in Paris” is a studio recording made by Walter Christian Rothe back in 1993. This recording, portraying some of the many Parisian landmarks, finds Mr Rothe in good spirits, excelling in offering a melange of lively, emotional and well-composed tracks to please any contemporary listener of electronic music. Overall, it sees a nice interplay of drums, guitars and…
Release data: Phelios – Astral Unity CD, Malignant Records, 2010 Phelios is a dark ambient project by German musician Martin Stürtzer, who’s an acquaintance of Stephen Parsick. With the latter, Martin collaborated on “It always rains in Wuppertal”. “Astral Unity”, which comes in a beautifully designed 6-panel deluxe digipack with gold foil stamping, shows a further maturation of his highly…
Release data: Michele Ippolito – In the Clouds CD-R, Penrose Records, 2009 “In the Clouds” is the second independent release of Illinois-based Michele Ippolito, who started out as a classically trained pianist. What we actually got here is a new age recording in a kindred vein as the music of e.g. Liquid Mind or Robert Haig Coxon’s “The Silent Path”.…
Release data: Clifford White – The Healing Touch (Ascension II) CD, MG Music, 2010 “The Healing Touch” is the follow-up to Clifford White’s new-age album “Ascension”, a landmark release in the genre of new age music back in 1985. Clifford has come up with a similar kind of release, but also one sounding contemporary and fresh. The outcome harkens back…
Release data: Steve Rose – Twin Earth: Collected Ambient Works CD-R, Private Release, 2009 “Twin Earth: Collected Ambient Works” is a 62-minute compilation of lush ambient/space tracks by Canadian musician Steve (Austin) Rose, with pieces dating back to 1994. The release offers seven smooth, unhurried soundscape pieces made with synths and ambient guitar treatments. Melody plays a minor role, it’s…
Release data: Yarek & Friends – Spirits of the Dust CD, Generator.pl, 2010 “Spirits of the Dust” is the third album of Polish synthesist Yarek (aka Jaroslaw Degorski), for which he revisited some shelved electronic pieces from the past. For this release, Jaroslaw completely re-arranged and re-recorded them with a bit of help from some friends. At first glance, the…