Release data: Robert Carty – Spore DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Deep Sky Music, 2013 The six-track album Spore” kicks-off with the vibrant sound design and dancing sequencer patterns of the lush “Beginning”, later on winding down into calming, cosmic/new age soundscaping. A magical, soft-soaring sound current comes to the surface on the freeform “Journey”, shifting to more lyrical realms on “Natural Nature”.…
Release data: Celer – Climbing Formation CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Entropy Records, 2013 “Climbing Formation” is my second encounter with the ambient music of Will Long (aka Celer), who plays synthesizer, organ and tape loops on this release. Three lengthy and one short piece make up the 70+ minute album, featuring most tranquil and highly minimal drone ambiences. It’s a slow morphing…
Release data: Banco de Gaia – Apollo CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Disco Gecko Recordings, 2013 Banco de Gaia is UK composer Toby Marks, whose project is about mid-tempo trance-dance beats intertwined with ambient moods along world music samples and a slight new age-spiritual angle. “Apollo” appears to be his first album in seven years. The albums opens strong with the emotive and…
Release data: Havdis – Nightbreeze CD, Gterma, 2013 Similar to his previous album, the main inspiration of “Nightbreeze” is the immediate surroundings of the composer (a fisherman by trade) along his close connection to the sea and its nature. However, this time around Odd Jensen (aka Havdis) tries to embrace the northern summer’s atmospheres while living so close to its…
Release data: David Helpling & Jon Jenkins – Found CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spotted Peccary Music, 2013 This is such a recording causing a rush of excitement already at first glance, although being the final episode of the duo’s trilogy. “Found” is a 70+ minute emotive work of ambient music featuring both grand and intimate atmospheres along compelling rhythm sections, all propelling…
Release data: Mindglide – Radiance DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Altera Orbe, 2009/2013 Mindglide is an electronic music project founded by composer Rafael De Julián Garcia, an independent artist residing in Valencia, Spain. The project is heavily influenced by electronic music from the 1970’s such as progressive rock along other experimental and improvising genres like Krautrock. “Radiance”, Mindglide’s second album, was originally composed…
Release data: Narcosis – Narcosis CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Fairy Nuff Music, 2007 What I got here is a kind of forgotten but worthy album in the EM-genre. Narcosis is Steve Jenkins, a technical/stage manager for the UK Hampshire Jam series of concerts, and Irish synthesist Stephan Whitlan. Despite Mr Jenkins not being a technically skilled player as Mr Whitlan, he is…
Release data: Coral Cave – The 4th (live) CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2013 It may sound strange, but this is my first encounter with the music of the German band Coral Cave, which was founded at the end of the ’80’s by the Düsseldorf-based synthesizer duo Tilo Voigthaus and Erik Matheisen. Both also seem to have followed some solo-endeavours as…
Release data: Walter Roos – Buddhas Breeze CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2010 The music of German composer and visual artist Walter Roos has been on my list for quite a while, so I hereby finally found time to investigate one of his recordings. “Buddhas Breeze”, an attempt on creating meditative music, is a 78-minute ambient recording and Walter’s third album.…
Release data: Klaus Schulze – Shadowlands CD, Synthetic Symphony/SPV, 2013 This is a bit of an unusual review as I generally tend not to review releases by the bigger, better-known EM-artists, as they already get their share of attention through lots of other channels. Still, the limited edition 2-cd version of the studio-release “Shadowlands” intruiged me, as I wanted to…
Release data: Javi Cánovas – Cracks in the Air DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2013 With his album “Cracks in the Air”, Javi Cánovas attempts to express feelings about very abstracts things that are hard to describe, along reflections about the apparent inconsistency about them as well. Sonically, it all feels like a journey through time and space, offering both slow…
Release data: Marcomé – Seven Seas CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Rubicon Records/Marco Productions, 1996 The (sadly deceased) Canadian label Rubicon Records released the feel-good/new-age album “Seven Seas” in 1996, which is the debut-album by Canadian singer/songwriter Marcomé (written as Marco May on my copy and also pronounced that way). Synthesist and producer Michel Robidoux was involved in the making of this album,…
Release data: Jerome Froese –Far Side of the Face CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Moonpop, 2012 On the minimalist designed digipack release “Far Side of the Face”, Edgar’s son Jerome adds a new chapter to his existing catalogue of “guitartronica”. I find slightly kindred emotive currents in the album’s music as encountered in the shoegazer works of Ulrich Schnauss, although Jerome’s outcome radiates…
Release data: Schiller – Horizon CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Panorama/Deutsche Gramaphone, 2013 This is a bit of an unusual review, as it focusses on the album “Horizon” only, which is part of Schiller’s expensive and limited “Opus” Limited Ultra Deluxe Edition, (a four-cd-set) and not available seperately. Musically, it is way different compared to the dreary, reinterpreted classical-electronic music making up “Opus”.…
Release data: Mirrored Meridian – Heliolatry CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Meridian Music, 2013 “Heliolatry” is referred to as a soundtrack for an imaginary science-fantasy story sandwiched between two space-ambient tracks. The overall music though has a different impact and mindset compared to the more song-based predecessor “A Sense of Wonder”. “Heliolatry’s” instrumental storytelling takes the listener further into deep space as we…
Release data: Within Reason – Substrate: Collected Elements CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Harmonic Resonance Recordings, 2013 In his press-notes, US-composer Gregory Kyryluk (aka Within Reason) refers to “Substrate: Collected Elements” as a body of collected Within Reason tracks created prior to “Subtle Shift” and in-between “Transient Broadcasts”. In my opinion, the seven tracks on the release once more reveal and emphasize the…
Release data: Troika – Goddess CD, Enso Records, 1996 At first glance, the visuals of Troika’s debut album already evoke a dreamy, fairy-tale like feeling, something also found in the beautiful art and design gracing the albums of e.g. Amethystium or the early albums of Gandalf. Sonically, Troika tells its own story in instrumental music in a most lyrical style…
Release data: Synaesthesia – Ephemeral CD, Zoth Ommog, 1997 Synaesthesia is one of the various projects by Bill Leeb and Rhys Fulber, who are also the driving forces behind Delerium and Frontline Assembly. “Ephemeral” is their third (and also last) album under this alias, a sonic exercise in infectious tribal ambient with powerful but slow rhythms, drums and beats. The…
Release data: Steve Roach & Vir Unis – Blood Machine CD, Greenhouse Music, 2001 “Blood Machine” is the follow-up to “Body Electric”, and would also be the last full-length collaborative album of Steve Roach and John Strate-Hootman (aka Vir Unis). In the process of creation, the two musicians were exploring a kind of collaboration where the mutual focus is maintained…
Release data: Sayer – Random Access Melodies CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, New Territory Records, 2013 After a long hiatus, American synthesist Sayer Seely re-surfaced lately, announcing a remastered version of his debut album as digital download only, along “Random Access Melodies”. The latter is a compilation of various tracks recorded since the debut album and prove Sayer still knows his ways in…
Release data: AirSculpture – Attrition System CD, Neu Harmony, 1997 “Attrition System” is an album assembling various tracks from the October ’95, November ’95 and March ’96 sessions, all happening after the EMMA#3 festival. Although featuring shorter bite sized pieces than usual, they all show the live improvisation (which is the core element of the band’s sound) while at the…
Release data: Lightwave – Tycho Brahe CD, Hearts of Space/Fathom , 1994 This concept album, named after Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe, is made by the French collective Lightwave (aka synthesists Christoph Harbonnier and Christian Wittman). It can best be classified as atonal and unpredictable cosmic music with a firm twist along a good dash of experiment. This already comes forward…
Release data: Vidna Obmana & Sam Rosenthal – Terrace of Memories CD, Projekt Records, 1992 Terrace of Memories is a collaborative ambient effort between Sam Rosenthal (owner and founder of Projekt Records) and vidnaObmana (aka Dirk Serries). The five free form compositions on this 42-minute album all breathe a deep and absorbing atmosphere. I’d say it’s a meditative and highly…
Release data: G.E.N.E. – Flying Fish CD, Innovative Communications, 1995 G.E.N.E. (Grooving Electronics Natural Environments) is no single musician, producer, or influence, but several established musicians who have brought their own style and instrumentation to recordings. The overall concept behind it is to create a style of music that exists at the intersection between nature and technology that would unite…
Release data: Three-Six (36) – Shadowplay CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, 3Six Records, 2013 “Shadowplay” harkens back to the days when 36’s (pronounced three-six) debut “Hypersona” (2008) saw the light of day, made in a period when Dennis Huddleston was just having fun while making ambient music, with no strings attached, pressure or other expectations floating around. In the end, the new 48-minute…
Release data: Budd/Garcia/Lentz – Music for 3 Pianos CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, All Saints, 1993 “Music for Three Pianos”, inspired by Morton Feldman’s multi-piano pieces, brings together the gifted minimalist piano players Harold Budd, Ruben Garcia and Daniel Lentz. It’s not full album but a 21-minute EP with six compositions featuring simple but most effective music. Its subtle impact reminds of Budd’s…
Release data: Various Artists – Oxycanta III CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Ultimae Records, 2013 After two years of hard work, label manager and dj Mahiane (aka Sandrine Gryson) finally compiled a third volume in the fine, but still rather unknown “Oxycanta”-series (named after Crataegus Oxyacantha, a species of Northern European Hawthorn dear to old time herbalists), this time containing 76 minutes of…
Release data: Temps Perdu? – Terra Incognita CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Timebase, 1995 “Terra Incognita” is the second ambient album by Temps Perdu?, aka French/German duo Dirk and Catherine Ledit-Grützmann. The music is highly inspired by extensive travels around the globe, bringing elements from various cultures and traditions together. The instrumental outcome is an exotic, atmospheric and highly organic ambient soundtrack with…
Release data: Juta Takahashi – Transcendence CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Lunisolar Records, 2013 With the tenth release of this talented Japanese musician, we enter the next level of the ethereal, expansive float zone. Once more sticking to a free form, textural outcome, Mr Takahashi brings his listeners four 16-minute tracks with drifting, exotic-spiced soundscapes along a very nice touch of analogue sounds.…
Release data: Gastón Arévalo – Rollin Ballads CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Oktaf Records, 2013 Gastón Arévalo is a musician from Uruguay, whose album “Rollin Ballads” is a nature- inspired album featuring eight neo-classical and pop-ambient sound collages, evoking a certain aural and visual feel. Sound wise it clearly fits in the roaster of the Oktaf-label, offering calm but foggy/modulated synthetic washes, lush…
Release data: Frank Van Bogaert – GeographicCD, Groove Unlimited, 1999 With his second album “Geographic”, Belgium synthesist Frank van Bogaert takes his listeners on a journey to far-off places, a tasty melting pot of electronics, assorted world (percussion) instruments and voice snippets. Moreover, it’s (again) highly emotive work of sonic art with a carefully molded sound design that reminds somewhat…
Release data: Harold Budd & Brian Eno – Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror CD, EG Records, 1980 I thought it time to lift out another ambient classic out of the collection. Being the second in Eno’s ambient series, “The Plateaux of Mirror” is an album where Budd would indulge in lots of live improvisation on electric and acoustic piano…
Release data: Alex Farhoud – Nosso Nosso LP/CD, Racket Records/Rubicon Records, 1988/1992 In the fast days of modern society, we sometimes need some music to slide back to the slow lane of things. At the end of the ‘80’s/start of the ‘90’s, Canadian composer Alex Farhoud created “Nosso Nosso”, (in Japanese the silence you provoke within), which offers the listener…
Release data: Darshan Ambient – Little Things CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, LotusPike Records, 2013 On his concept album “Little Things” (which is about uncovering and celebrating the wonderful little details that exist below the surface of our normal routines) Michael Allison has come up with a range of sounds and compositions that mix contemporary with Eastern, African, sometimes Urban ones. There’s still…
Release data: Arjen Schat – Infinite Arithmetics DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2013 The cover of “Infinite Arithmetics” by Dutch composer Arjen Schat is graced by some very nice experimentation with abstract macro-photography. The album itself offers tracks with sequencer pieces only, and is completely made using hardware gear only. The latter features two Moog Little Phatty’s, Moog Slim Phatty, Waldorf…
Release data: Vidna Obmana – Crossing the Trail CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Projekt Records, 1998 Fans of minimal soundscape tapestries will really want to dig this gem by Dirk Serries, better known as vidnaObmana. “Crossing the Trail” offers a continuous 70-minute farscape of ethereal sound washes, shakers and percussion, journeying through shaded and light territory with nice unfolding minimalism. It’s a seamless…
Release data: Emerge – Desecrate CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Attenuation Circuit, 2013 Emerge is a drone-ambient project by Attenuation Circuit’s label owner Sascha Stadlmeier,aka Emerge. What I got here is a 3″ mini cd-r on which the minimal, slow morphing music of the 18-minute track takes on an “acousmatic” approach, merging experimental and abstract elements with darkening, organic-flavored soundscapes along totally meshed-up…
Release data: Sigma – Binaural Beats CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2007 The discovery of their sophisticated album “Sleep of the Shadow” made me investigate their previous efforts, “Binaural Beats” being one of them. Don’t expect any cheesy or song-structured music on this album, as the improvised outcome is unconventional in many ways. Its sonic approach is challenging and adventurous, while…
Release data: Ran Kirlian – Formations CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Altera Orbe, 2012 “Formations” is an ambient album by Ran Kirlian that merges elements of the organic subgenre with more traditional free form styles. According the composer, the outcome defines a journey to the core of the tribal-ambient landscapes previously heard on the albums “Sleeper”, “Melting Point” and “Limbo”. The 70 minutes…
Release data: Liveform – In Harmony DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 1997 “In Harmony” is the debut release of the Dutch band Liveform, aka Arjan Steenbergen, Richard Stuij and Menno Zielhorst. As can be expected with such a title, the music covered here has a tranquil, balanced and relaxing character without becoming new-age. There are ten pieces in total, with quite…
Release data: Juta Takahashi – The Door into Winter CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Lunisolar Records, 2007 For his second release, Juta Takahashi chose a winter-theme which is expressed through three lengthy tracks. Its freeform soundscape ambient without a chilling effect though, as Mr Takahashi uses warm flowing pads in his quite minimal-oriented music. There’s a sense of stillness and balance embedded in…
Release data: Saul Stokes – Washed in Mercury CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Hypnos Recordings, 1997 For its time, “Washed in Mercury” (the first cd-release on Mike Griffin’s newly founded label Hypnos Recordings back in the ‘90’s) offered an innovative, progressive sound in electronic music. For this purpose, Washington-based composer Saul Stokes used various home-made analogue synthesizers and fx’s gear. The medium tempo…
Release data: Mirrored Meridian – A Sense of Wonder Vols 1 & 2 CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Meridian Music, 2013 The sole musician behind the UK-electronica project Mirrored Meridian is Chris Thomas. For “A Sense of Wonder”, he compiled material recorded between 2007 and 2011, for which Chris used an assortment of software and hardware synthesizers along e-guitars. This double album, split…
Release data: Benn Jordan – Pale Blue Dot (A Tribute To Carl Sagan) CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, AlphaBasic, 2008 Benn Jordan is a Chicago-based musician/producer who seems to be known under various other aliases (e.g. The Flashbulb) and for other types of music than what’s found on this cosmic gem. “Pale Blue Dot”, a tribute album to the late scientist and astronomer…
Release data: Janneh – Solarization CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Hanhisoundit, 2013 “Solarization” is a concept album of Finnish composer Janne Hanhisuanto about solar power and its significance through the history of mankind. Sonically, it combines the ambient flavors of Erik Wollo with more traditional Berliner School-oriented and symphonic electronic music. Most of all, the 34-minute outcome makes an accessible, contemporary-instrumental work featuring…
Release data: Peter Mergener – Take-Off CD, Cue Records, 1992 “Take Off”, a concept-album on “Flight”, was released during the prolific days of German electronic music, and continues in the slipstream of his Mr Mergener’s previous two solo albums. Back are the tasty and Mergener-specific sequencer patterns and electronic drums in a derivative of the Berliner School style, with a…
Release data: Horizontal Excursions – Symphonica Helvetica DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2013 A colleague at work pointed me to the music of Horizontal Excursions, a project by Dutch electronic DJ/dance-producer Roger Martinez that aspires to reach out to and touch people on a musical, universal level. “Symphonica Helvetica” (part of Roger’s Places Series project) is his second work of art,…
Release data: Phelios – Gates of Atlantis CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Malignant Records, 2013 It’s time for another journey in dark ambient, this time executed by German musician Martin Stürtzer, aka Phelios, with his fine album “Gates of Atlantis”. The cinematic ambient voyage starts out dynamic with fierce tribal drumming in the title track piece, thereafter ascending into slow morphing, dark ambient…
Release data: Jonteknik – The Satellites Of Substance CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Jonteknik Music, 2013 “The Satellites of Substance” is a concept-album by Jonteknik, aka Brighton-based musician Jon Russell, about and inspired by communications and satellite technology. From the press-sheet I learned Mr Russell improved his musical skills whilst working alongside synth-pioneer Paul Humphreys of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. The accessible…
Release data: Max Van Richter – Portal DIGITAL DOWNLOAD EP, Private Release, 2011 Max van Richter, aka Paul Lawler aka “deceased” member of Arcane, once again rides the fine edge of vintage electronics with the music of his EP “Portal”. Although there are only two tracks on this release, the 18 minutes of tasty music moves gently through the darker…
Release data: Constance Demby – Æterna CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Hearts of Space, 1995 When we are talking about majestic and rich symphonic space music, the name of Constance Demby comes to mind. The contemporary orchestral style executed on the highly emotive “Aeterna”, made exclusively with Kurzweil K-2000 digital sampling synthesizers, is a musical meditation on eternity and the afterlife. Sonically, it…
Release data: Forrest Fang – The Wolf at the Ruins / Migration CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Projekt Records, 2013 The last couple of years, quite some re-releases of older out-of-print albums have seen the light of day. This happened as single or combined packages of the works by Steve Roach or Robert Rich. The US Projekt label hereby presents a limited edition…
Release data: Arc – Octane CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Something Else Productions, 1998 “Octane” is the remarkable debut album by UK synth-giants Ian Boddy and Mark Shreeve, who know each other already since the start of the ’80’s. When the two founded ARC, they were looking for a more modern electronic sound, apart from the retro-space sequencer style. The music of Arc…
Release data: Elektric Music – Esperanto CD, SPV, 1993 It’s time for some more up-beat, melodic-spiced music, for which I turn to the synth-pop of “Esperanto”. This debut album by former Kraftwerkian Karl Bartos (with some help of Lothar Manteuffel and Emil Schult) was in initially released as a limited edition digipack through SPV. As such, it didn’t garn much…
Release data: Acheloo – Dream CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, AD Music, 2013 “Dream” is the third album by Italian composer Carlo Luzi, aka Acheloo, released by David Wright’s at AD Music label. It continues his journey into spherical and overtly relaxed electronic music. His exquisite blend of delicately flowing electronic pads and guitar during the 58-minute ambient ride indeed paints a profound…
Release data: Jamie O’Callaghan – Music for Empty Spaces – Theremin Suite CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Happy Willow Productions, 2011 As a composer and Theremin player, Jamie O’Callaghan wanted to use and display the textural and micro-tonal possibilities of this special instrument. As the Theremin is often squeezed in the role of violin/Cello or sound effect, Jamie composed “Music for Empty Places”…
Don’t be deceived by the clinical sounding name of the artist or its cover-art, as the musician responsible for the very nice “Kontakt” (assembled from tracks made between 1996-1998) is no other then the talented Gerd Wienekamp, also known as one half of Rainbow Serpent. Gerd’s fine electronic music ventures beyond the Berlin School tradition but also differentiates quite a…
Release data: Robert Fox – Still Waters CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, AD Music, 2013 For the music of “Silent Waters”, Robert Fox was inspired by the culture and world music from the Eastern spheres, and more specific the Persian region. The continuous outcome is an emotive and exotic journey with profound lyrical sonic motives giving its own interpretation of 1001 Arabian Nights.…
Release data: Juta Takahashi – Across the Flow CD-R, Lunisolar Records, 2007 What I got here is the debut album by Japanese ambient composer Juta(ro) Takahashi, who only applies analogue synthesizers. The three lengthy pieces found “Across the Flow” come down to smooth soaring and drifting textures and some piano on the opening (title) track. This freeform music carries on…
Release data: Liveform – Take One Volume 1 DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2013 Around the end of the ’90’s, preliminary to the formation of the band Remotion, Arjan Arjan Steenbergen and Richard Stuij briefly formed the band Liveform with Menno Zielhorst as third member. “Take One, Volume 1” is their second album, offering eight tracks all made live in the…
Release data: You – Electric Day LP/CD, Cue Records/Bureau B, 1979/2011 “Electric Day” is one of those classic analogue albums recorded at the famous Panne-Paulsen Studios, where also Klaus Schulze frequented a lot. The fine drumming on You’s debut album is also most recognizable as being those of Harald Grosskopf, due to copyright reasons listed as Lhan Gopal at that…
Release data: Martin Solós – Coro de las Estrellas (Chorus of the Stars) DIGITAL EP, Private Release, 2013 This release is one of the many unsolicited albums I receive on a regular basis, made by Birmingham-based composer Martin Solós. “Coro de las Estrellas” (“Chorus of the Stars”) is his first effort, a passionate 16-minute ambient/space piece in glorious 70’s Berliner…
Release data: Steve Roach – Live Transmission CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Projekt Records, 2013 The music that landed on the double album “Live Transmission” was created, recorded and broadcasted live at the studio of internet radio station SomaFm, San Francisco, May 7 2013. Established in a single two-hour session two days after his May 2013 Ambicon concert, Steve grabbed the opportunity to…
Release data: Pete Namlook – Air CD, FAX, 1998 “Air” is the first solo-album and one of the many projects by the prolific German artist Pete Namlook, aka Peter Kuhlmann. It presents an inventive way of merging neoclassical, contemporary and ethnic influences with acoustic instruments into a consistent whole. The 60-minute journey starts out with a deep ambience of drones…
Release data: Steve Roach – Early Man CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Manifold/Projekt Records, 2000/2001 “Early Man”, on Steve’s site described as primeval innerspace deep ambient, is a profound organic and highly atmospheric piece of sonic art, a 74-minute journey through excavated memories of ancient earth. From the first track on, the listener is immersed into the deep depths of underground audioscapes, visualizing…
Release data: Tim Story – The Perfect Flaw CD, Hearts of Space, 1994 The string of emotive musical miniatures by Tim Story continues beautifully on the 45-minute “The Perfect Flaw”, containing 12 new-age compositions which blend feelings of desolation and hope simultaneously. This time around, Mr Story started to incorporate orchestral instruments in his music. If you love calm, contemplative…
Release data: Frank Van Bogaert – Colours CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Ace Studio Editions/Groove Unlimited, 1998/2004 “Colours” is the remarkable debut album by Belgium composer/synthesist Frank Van Bogaert, also owner of the notable Ace-studio in Artselaar. From the liner notes we learn each of the twelve musical paintings has a distinct atmosphere, primary to the melodies and rhythms. Not only does Frank…
Release data: Toss Power Traps – Earth Rot II: Music For Iceland DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2013 “Earth Rot II: Music For Iceland” is a musical commentary on the state of the environment in Iceland and an unsolicited sequel to David Axelrod’s 1970 “Earth Rot”, made by Brendan Coon aka Toss Power Traps. Like the original, its principal goal is…
Release data: Synergy – Computer Experiments Vol. 1 LP/CD, Audion , 1981/1986 The following is taken from the release notes: “Computer Experiments Volume One” is a recording of three different executions of a microcomputer self-composing program. The program, called “Pink Tunes”, was written by John Simonton of PAiA Electronics Inc, and is an application of the stochastic process to electronic…
Release data: Pete Namlook & Wolfram Spyra – Virtual Vices CD, Fax, 1998 In the ongoing list of current releases, it’s also good to glance back once in a while on some nice releases of the past. “Virtual Vices” (the first in a series of six) is such a gem, although it starts out with the quite weird and freaky…
Release data: Ashtoreth’s Gate – Ashtoreth’s Gate CD, Gterma, 2013 Ashtoreth’s Gate (named after the goddess of love and war) is Lee Norris and Craig Murphy. Both have previously worked together as Solipsism & Nacht Plank, and sonically they firmly touch base in the experimental/abstract genre. This makes the listen to the three extended tracks on this album not so…
Release data: Zodiac – I.C. CD, Cue Records, 1995 Let’s make a trip back in time to the period in the first half of the ‘90’s when Ron Boots ran the Dutch part of Cue Records. In 1991, Ron already gave the Dutch duo Ruud Grothauzen & Frans Ramakers, aka Zodiac, the opportunity to contribute a track to the Synteam-…
Release data: Jesse Waugh – Japanese Tea Garden DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2013 Jesse Waugh, who’s currently living and working in New York’s Lower East Side, and in the United Kingdom, is an artist who works in painting, filmmaking, sculpture, and music. What I got here is what the composer describes as a night peregrination through a Shinto garden haunted…
Release data: Phillip Wilkerson – Sojourner CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2013 With “Sojourner”, US-synthesist Phillip Wilkerson brings his listener a musical odyssey for inner travel and pure relaxation for which he used the Yamaha XS6, Virus Access and Polar synthesizers. From the liner notes I also learned the contemplative sonic journey offered the composer the opportunity to explore new levels…
Release data: Ornah-Mental – Excursions CD, Gterma, 2013 Orna-Mental is a collaborative effort by German musicians Carsten Agthe (who some may know for his collaborations with Mathias Grassow) and Dirk Schlömer. “Excursions” is their sixth album by now, offering seven tracks of spiritual/world music with occasional ethereal/eclectic touches. Or as the label puts it, it’s music made for drifting out…
Release data: O Yuki Conjugate – Undercurrents (In Dark Water) CD, Staalplaat, 1992 “Undercurrents” is a classic (and nowadays very hard to get) ambient release by the UK-collective O Yuki Conjugate that even musicians like Steve Roach have added to their deserted island list since its initial release. As a matter of fact, the recording is assembled from eight tracks…
Release data: Erik Wøllo – Silent Currents 3 DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Projekt Records, 2013 This digital-only release complements the previous released hardcopy album “Silent Currents”, offering an evocative instrumental suite in thirteen continuous parts. The press sheet explains “Silent Currents 3” though differs as the live material from the previous occasion served as a basis for a new sonic voyage, where…
Release data: Ran Kirlian & Landru – Waterfront CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Altera Orbe, 2012 “Waterfront” is the debut collaborative work of Spanish ambient composers Ran Kirlian and Landru (aka Patxi Hernández), both co-owners of the online ambient label Altera Orbe. About an hour of the 72-minute outcome was created live in the studio with no set plans or ideas. The additional…
Release data: Mathias Grassow – Sonnenwende CD, Gterma, 2013 The double-album “Sonnenwende” is the spiritual successor to “Dämmerung” and follows the sun along her passage through the seasons, the seemingly endless journey between darkness and light. The release (clocking around 150 minutes) is assembled from music made by Mathias Grassow during the past 20 years, and features a very nice…
Release data: Amir Baghiri – Light Textures CD-R, Attenuation Circuit, 2013 , 2013 Amir Baghiri’s “Light Textures” is a concept album made available as a very limited, hand-numbered cd-r of only 55 copies. Like its predecessor, it again comes in a beautifully designed origami-style digipack. The album’s carefully moulded ambient spaces with occasional sampled footage on space travel pays homage…
Release data: Meg Bowles – The Shimmering Land CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Kumatone Records, 2013 “The Shimmering Land” is a 60-minute collection of lush and highly emotive ambient space music, smoothly morphing through tender, soft resonating spaces. The outcome is ambient/orchestral, but still differentiates from the works of e.g. Altus or Jonn Serrie. Meg’s delicately-crafted and subtle melodic creations leave a sense…
Release data: VelgeNaturlig – Húmus CD, Gterma, 2013 VelgeNaturlig is a Portuguese field/audio/soundscape project by Ivo Santos, who initially privately released “Húmus” on cd-r in 2004 Ambient treasure seeker Mr Rehn hereby re-issues the fully remastered album on factory-pressed cd, adding another impressive but also rather obscure textural drone release to his ongoing range of high-standard Gterma releases. From the…
Release data: Craig Padilla/Sendelica – Strange Fish 1 LP, Fruits de Mer Records, 2013 The shared release Strange Fish 1 is a very limited edition coloured vinyl record, part of the 6-lp set “Strange Fish”. The latter is a series of instrumental compilations, spanning everything from ambient to full-on progressive/kraut/cosmic rock and psychedelica, of which each album may be purchased…
Release data: Brendan Pollard, Javi Canovas, Adrian Dolente & Michael Daniel – Two Roads CD, Acoustic Wave Records, 2013 “Two Roads”, a limited edition factory-pressed cd of just 500 copies, is one those unexpected (but boy, so welcome!) releases I knew was going to blow me away before I had even heard a bit of it. The disc comprises four…
Release data: Red Planet Orchestra – Secrets of Eternity DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Path of Action Productions, 2013 “Secrets of Eternity” is the follow-up to “Aurora Symphony”, again with Vincent Rees and Pete Smith at the helm, but this time also featuring singer Heather Jones. Fans of free form electronic space music can enjoy themselves once again, as the astral electronic symphony…
Release data: Frozen Thoughts – Calm Before The Storm CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Glacial Movements, 2013 This is a typical album of slow morphing, non-rhythmic textural ambient, featuring five drifting movements clocking between 9 and 13 minutes. Biosphere’s “Substrata” comes to mind, as Frozen Thought’s chill-out music also incorporates delicate environmental sounds of snow, fire, ice and wind. The deep ambient outcome,…
Release data: Alpha Wave Movement – Architexture of Silence CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Harmonic Resonance Recordings, 2013 On an irregular basis, I absolutely love to listen to some sophisticated ambient music in the final hours of the day or in early night time. It gives an opportunity to reflect a bit on things and put the mind to rest before turning to…
Release data: Tonefloat:Ikon – Streams of Consciousness (Series) LP, Tonefloat:Ikon, 2013 Only recently, Belgium-based sound forger Dirk Serries (better known as vidnaObmana, fear falls burning) has made the return to the highly textural and most successful music he once created in 1984-2005 using the vidnaObmana moniker. To find an suitable outlet for this music he started the Ikon-imprint at the…
Release data: Dead Beat Project – Samsara CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, AD Music, 2013 The French multimedia project Dead Beat Project made quite an impression on me with their album “R’Évolution”, a nice blend of electro, world and ethnic flavors. Now here’s it successor “Samsara”, made out of tracks composed for various dance shows of the dance choreographer Gwam in recent years.…
Release data: Oöphoi & Ran Kirlian – The Physics of Heaven CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Altera Orbe, 2013 As Oöphoi, aka Italian deep-ambient composer Gianluigi Gasparetti, flies with the angels since a couple of months, Spanish soul-spirit and musician Ran Kirlian decided to release his wonderful collaboration with him, based on unfinished recordings by Oöphoi between 2009-2011 and additional stuff created by…
Release data: Mythos – Grand Prix CD, Sireena Records, 2013 “Grand Prix”, a classic Sky-recording from 1981, is the last album from Stephan Kaske’s 40 Mythos releases that finally sees a re-release on factory-pressed cd. On the occasion, two previously unreleased bonus tracks have been included. Made with a range of vintage instruments from e.g. PPG, Moog and Crumar, the…
Release data: Forest Field – Floating on Air DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Rock Company, 2013 Forest Field is Dutch composer Peter Cox, hereby presenting his debut EP “Floating on Air”. The outcome, originally written to participate in the 2013 “Music For Car Parks” competition in Belgium, is a 32-minute ambient work in nine continuous parts incorporating elements from new age and progressive…
Release data: Soundician – Soundician – Insects CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2013 The UK-duo Soundician have tried something new on their concept-album “Insects”, a 28-minute Ep with nine interweaving pieces tracks dedicated to invertebrates carrying wings. The continuous track, meant to be played and listened to as a whole, has an overall lush sound design and uncomplicated character, nicely imagining…
Release data: William Gregg – Source of the Hardware CD, Harmonic Resources, 2013 “Source of the Hardware” is a 60-minute album with electro-acoustic music by New York-based composer William Gregg, originally released on a (now out of print) 1990-recording. Only the title track is a re-recording from the 1990 album, while the other 11 tracks are live recordings from a…
Release data: Przemysław Rudź – Discreet Charm of an Imperfect Symmetry CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Generator.pl, 2013 According to the liner notes in the cd-booklet, the music making up “Discreet Charm of an Imperfect Symmetry” is fully improvised, and was accomplished during various sessions in the composer’s studio. It ended up as three movements on this cd, with two guest musicians helping…
Release data: Shane Morris & Mystified – Emergence CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spotted Peccary Music, 2013 What I got here is the second installment of the “Inspired Evolution” , a triple concept-release about prehistoric time and evolution. As can be expected, the highly atmospheric, free form and organic ambient music takes up the trail where its predecessor “Epoc” left us. In this…
Release data: Chronotope Project – Solar Winds CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2013 “Solar Winds” is the second installment of sensuous ambient music by Jeffrey Ericson Allen, aka Chronotope Project, this time aiming for deep space territory. The 52-minute emotive outcome (meant to calm the body-mind and gladden the spirit) is a richly colored kaleidoscope of immersive textures along atmospheric, soft-breathing…
Release data: Secondface – Limitless 014 DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Limitless Audio, 2010 Like the album “Inspiring Silence”, “Limitless” contains music Danish composer Frank Vilbæk Jensen was able to compose in a period he spent on a sort-of reform school that also had an electronic music line. The album reveals the composers first steps into the ambient chill-out genre, containing four pieces…
Release data: Yarek – Last Train to Berlin CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Generator.Pl, 2013 While his previous release “Spirits of the Dust” left me rather confused, Yarek’s album “Last Train to Berlin” heads back to Berliner School inspired contemporary electronic music with a good portion of ambient thrown in. To a certain degree, back are the lush, spatial but slow-paced sequencers and…
Release data: Abandoned Asylum – Derelicts of Distant Hope CD, Malignant Records, 2013 Massive dark ambient drones drenched in the same sonic well as German composer Phelios. That’s what Polish artist Lukasz Czajka, aka Abandoned Asylum, brings his listeners, who should prepare for an intense 40-minute ride through nebulous, bleak textures that echo and visualize darkening vaults with industrial debris.…
Release data: Deepernet – One CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spotted Peccary Music/0E3, 2013 DeeperNet, is Oregon- based composer Andrew Miles, who hereby makes his debut on the Spotted Peccary sublabel 0E3. The first thought that came to mind when I heard the first track of “One” were Nigel Stanford and the deep down-tempo of the Ultimae label. Andrew’s highly energetic, electro-acoustic outcome…
Release data: Secondface – Minus Degrees DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Cold Fiction Music, 2012 As one can imagine with such a title, the composer wanted to compose a pack of floating ambient music without drums, imagining chilly, wintery conditions and the beauty hidden inside them. The only spot on the 36-minute EP where drums do show up is in the last section…
Release data: Remy & My Breath My Music – Sessions 2012 CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Deserted Island Music, 2013 “Sessions 2012” is a special music session Remy Stroomer did together with four students from the “My Breath My Music” foundation in fall of 2012. The goal of the latter is to offer people with severe physical disabilities an opportunity to make music…
Release data: Loveliescrushing – Ghost Colored Halo DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Projekt Records, 2013 Loveliescrushing is the duo of Scott Cortez (ambient guitar, loops, treatments) and Melissa Arpin-Duimstra (vocals), who established the project in 1991. The guitar-generated, heavily modulated drone textures on their tenth album “Ghost Colored Halo” features thick layers of reverb and tape hiss, ending up in a massive, dense…
Release data: Phragments – New Kings and New Queens CD, Malignant Records, 2013 “New Kings and New Queens” is a 32-minute release (limited to 500 factory-pressed copies in oversized fold out packaging) by Slovakian ambient composer Matej Gyarfas, aka Phragments. The disc contains one continuous drone track spit in six chapters, featuring minimal, slow morphing textural scapes with a strong…
Release data: Graham Getty – The Sound of the Cloud CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2012 I can be brief about this release as it, like its predecessors, has full-focus on the vintage ’70’s music of TD. Assembled from random fragments of Mr Getty’s SoundCloud page, the music features lots of (luckily not too massive and ongoing) sequencer activity and sizzling…
Release data: Vangelis – Chariots of Fire: The Play CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Decca, 2012 Due to a vast amount of albums waiting for review, I now finally found time to listen to “Chariots of Fire: The Play”, although being almost a year after its initial release. The album’s harmonic music is based on the stage adaptation of the previous movie for…
Release data: Przemysław Rudź – Pain/tings CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Generator.Pl, 2012 A steady flow of releases by Mr Rudź keeps coming from the Polish Generator-label, with “Pain/tings” as his last effort in 2012. The lengthy outcome is a surreal affair with psychedelic hints, already evoking strange, otherworldly images on the opening track “Hidden Nooks of our Ego”. Some pretty chilly, murky…
Release data: Code Indigo – MELTdown CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, AD Music, 2013 Code Indigo’s album “MELTdown” premiered at E-Day 2013 in The Netherlands, where David Wright’s band hit the stage in a new line-up with lots of the enthusiasm. Founded back in 1995 by Robert Fox and David Wright, Code Indigo not only has seen quite some changes in the members…
Release data: Rigel Centaurus – Atlas Coelestis DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, USC Music, 2013 Andrey Hlybov, aka Rigel Centaurus, continues his journey through what seem endless journeys through cosmic space. Strangely enough, the “Atlas Coelestis” is not presented as one continuous ride, but as seven individual tracks floating in deep space territory. Again, the composer has tried to give the free-form, ethereal…
Release data: As if – In my Room CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, ROHS!, 2013 “In my Room” is a 48-minute album by Kenneth Werner (Jensen), aka As if. Contrary to the previously released, more ambient-oriented “Faraway Trees Standing Still”, “In my Room” contains livelier minimal ambient-dub music with track titles having reference to some lines in Depeche Mode tracks. Melody though plays…
Release data: Secondface – Inspiring Silence DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Kopp netlabel, 2010 “Inspiring Silence” is a four-track/18-minute EP by Secondface, aka Frank Vilbæk Jensen, containing both dub/down-tempo and spherical tracks. The first two tracks have a dreamy, chill-out flavor, and are lead by a slow but steady sequencer patterns and lofty rhythms. It forms an airy, atmospheric and transparent sonic canvas,…
Release data: Richard Bone – Images from a Parallel World CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, AD Music, 2013 After the nice retrospective release “Anthology”, AD Music hereby brings us a full-length album with all-new music by US composer Richard Bone. The outcome though still reflects the different or should I say awkward view and approach on composing that has seems a trademark of…
Release data: Ron Boots – Signs in the Sand CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2012 Those who missed out on the concert Ron Boots gave in May in the St. Bavo Church in Haarlem hereby find the opportunity to hear it after all. For the 57-minute recording, Ron was joined by synthesist Eric van der Heijden, drummer Harold van der Heijden…
Release data: Klaus Schulze – Are you Sequenced? CD, Revisited Records, 1996/2006 This is the re-release of the double-cd recording that originally came out in 1996, but without the various non-Schulze remixes on the second cd. “Are you Sequenced?” is a highly rhythmic and dynamic affair, which happens to be Schulze’s response to techno-dance music at that time. The almost…
Release data: René Splinter – Modern Ruins CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2013 With his album “Singularities”, René Splinter showed a remarkable talent in the world of contemporary electronic music, although the music of Johannes Schmoelling and ‘80’s TD were (and still are) big influences. Fresh fruit in a similar, still engaging style is presented on the 62-minute concept –album “Modern…
Release data: Ian Boddy – Liverdelphia CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, DiN, 2013 At first glance, I agree this is an odd name for an album, but it makes more sense when one knows this cd comprises parts of Ian’s live performances in Autumn 2012 in both Liverpool and (across the big pond) Philadelphia. Moreover, the contemporary, the cosmic and a sense of…
Release data: Mathias Grassow – Uttarakuru CD, Gterma, 1999/2012 “Uttarakuru” (the Sanskrit name for a continent in ancient Hindu and Buddhist mythology) is a double-album containing minimal ambient drone music and occasional flute recorded in April 1999 by Mathias Grassow. Both discs contain one expansive, continuous track of 74 minutes each, sonically showing many similarities with the warm mood and…
Release data: Aes Dana – Aftermath 2.0 Archives of Peace DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Ultimae Records, 2003/2013 What I got here is a digital-only re-release of the second album by Aes Dana, aka Vincent Villuis, that originally saw the light of day in 2003. This new version though also includes the profound down-tempo “Aftermath 8” as a bonus, previously found on Nova’s…
Release data: Within Reason – Transient Broadcasts CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Periphery/Anodize, 2013 With his first recording “Subtle Shift”, Gregory Kyryluk (aka Within Reason) already delivered an excellent effort that expands on the fine sounds and impact of some Basic Channel releases. Well, the most pleasant rhythmic but not hasty groove continues on this 66-minute follow-up, turning up and muting the chill-out/pulse…
Release data: Sigma – Sleep of the Shadow DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2013 Sigma is the Finnish duo Mauno Tuominen and Petri Frestadius, who founded the band in 1997. “Sleep of the Shadow”, their fifth release by now, reveals a strong ambient current with an edge of experimental electronic music, of which the seed came from an Electronic Music Box…
Release data: Graham Getty – The Lattice CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Retrochet Records, 2010 All those out there who love massive sequencing and TD’s vintage style from the mid ’70’s will surely like to grab this fine dynamic release. The 50-minute “The Lattice” (recorded real-time straight to multi-track hard disc) just sparkles energy and fun as the ongoing strings of pulsating sequencers…
Release data: Parikrama – Manusyaloka CD, Gterma, 2013 “Manusyaloka” is the second full-length album of German composer Seetyca and his trusted sound technician Artin Mucht for the Scandinavian Gterma label. Sonically, it’s an extension of the fine ambient journey that was undertaken on the previous “The Silent Bōn”. From the first track on, the listeners ascends into a deep, mysterious…
Release data: Simon Lomax – Zone of Cold CD, Private Release, 2013 As Simon states, “Zone of Cold” had a long time coming, as his last effort “.74” (made under the Maitreya-moniker) hails back to 2004. Meanwhile, the Maitreya-project has ceased to be. Its immersive and overall lush ambient soundings are now more or less carried on. With this title,…
Release data: Wellenfeld – Pandemie CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Mellowjet Records, 2013 “Pandemie” is a concept album filled with sequenced, pulsative electronic music, despite its quiet opening track. During the intense sonic ride, the Wuppertal-based German duo Braun/Dominizcak pairs grand orchestral/symphonic outings with modern, dancy-oriented exercises, although an apocalyptic/menacing undercurrent is always more or less shimmering through. Accessible electro-pop tracks like “Prophecy”,…
Release data: James Johnson & Aperus – Ecotone CD, Geophonic Records, 2013 In the genre of organic-infused ambient music, ambient sound sculptors James Johnson and Brian McWilliams (aka Aperus) have made a new offering centred on deeply textured environmental sound. “Ecotone”, a strong statement of appreciation and concern for the natural world and its current fragile state, is a factory-pressed…
Release data: Schiller – Die Einlassmusik 8 & 9 CD, Sleepingroom Musik, 2012 The year 2012 has been very busy for Christopher von Deylen, aka Schiller. So it’s even more surprising he found time to compose not one, but two albums of Einlassmusik to accompany his “Sonne” Live-Tour in fall of that year. Both releases each feature about 48 minutes…
Release data: Erik Wøllo – Celestia DIGITAL DOWNLOAD EP, Projekt Records, 2013 “Celestia” is a digital-only ep by most-talented Norwegian composer Erik Wøllo, containing an instrumental atmospheric suite in four continuous parts. For this work, Erik extensively used a 1976 analogue synthesizer (an Arp Pro/DGX), which resulted in a warm, intimate sound design. The 27-minute “Celestia” suite is a real…
Release data: Fanger & Schönwälder – Earshot CD, Manikin Records, 2013 “Earshot” is a 46-minute release presented in cardboard sleeve on which Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock joins the Fanger & Schönwälder tandem for a sonic ride through Berliner School/vintage territory. Next to three tracks recorded live during the Dutch “E-Live 2012” festival, also two fine tracks from studio sessions in winter 2012/2013…
Release data: The Glimmer Room – Tomorrow’s Tuesday CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Neu Harmony, 2002 “Tomorrow’s Tuesday” is the fine debut-release of UK-based synthesist Andy Condon, aka The Glimmer Room. The album contains 13 instrumental tracks (plus one vocal piece) of rhythmic, pure and moody electronic music, searching a way through funky, groovy, lush and down-tempo realms while featuring lots of light…
Release data: Ian Boddy – Chiasmata CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, DiN, 2004 “Chiasmata” contains the music played live-in-concert at the planetarium of Leicester’s National Space Centre, UK, in November 2003. This is not your average planetarium music, as Mr Boddy combines abstract soundscapes and dense atmospheres with strange pulsating reveries and vintage textural pads. Moreover, its overall mood is somber and occasionally…
Release data: Steve Roach – Future Flows CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Projekt Records, 2013 “Future Flows” is the second part in a triptych that kicked-off with “Soul Tones” at the end of 2012. If you´re looking for any significant change in sound or direction, Roach´s “Future Flows” won’t bring any of that. Still, the surge into deep and immersive sound worlds continues…
Release data: E-Musikgruppe Lux Ohr – Kometenbahn LP, Svart Records, 2013 E-Musikgruppe Lux Ohr is a cosmic music collective from Finland comprising the talents of Pertti Grönholm (synthesizers, sequencers and samplers), Jaakko Penttinen (synthesizers and sequencers), Kimi Kärki,(guitar, e-bow and effects) and Ismo Virta, (Memotron, guitar and effects). According the press info, their debut album “Kometenbahn” is a sonic quest…
Release data: moonbooter – Zeitenwende CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Mellowjet Records, 2013 For the music of his album “Zeitenwende” (that again premiered live in concert at a planetarium in Germany) Bernd Scholl started sketching out ideas behind the piano. Whilst transferring the outcome and ideas to electronics in a later stage, he kept a strong focus on using a versatile range of…
Release data: Gert Emmens & Ruud Heij – Lost in the Swamp CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2012 Compared to their previous albums, the music on the concept-album “Lost in the Swamp” takes on a much spherical, lyrical and introspective approach, although the strong vintage feel is still found at the centre of the duos music. The almost 80-minute sonic narrative…
Release data: Amir Baghiri – Prayers for the Earth CD-R, Attenuation Circuit, 2013 The music found on the 55-minute/six-track “Prayers for the Earth”, Amir Baghiri’s follow-up of the immersive release “The Serenity”, is a freeform, non-rhythmic soundscape addressing both cosmic and earthy territory. The slow, warm and dreamy washes of textural tapestries and floating drone pads on this special collector’s…
Release data: Joost Egelie – Particles DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2013 Joost Egelie is a Berlin-school inspired electronic composer living in Belgium, who derives much inspiration from the electronic music that surfaced between 1973 and 1975. “Particles”, his fourth full-length album if I’m correct, is my first encounter with his music. It turned out to be a pleasant surprise and…
Release data: Enh – Body of Blue CD, Gterma , 2013 Enh is the moniker of Ian Handsley, who resides in an old hotel in a small fishing village on Japan’s Pacific coast. The full-length “Body of Blue” is assembled from some reworked material of Enh’s previous “Anori Radar” mini-album along a number of unreleased tracks and remixes. What we…
Release data: Paul Lawler – Lost EP, Private Release, 2012 With “Lost”, Paul Lawler delivers an Ep with three tracks, sonically depicting the final resting places of three failed Mars probes. No sequencers here, but freeform minimal ambient with a slight experimental edge creating a hypnotic mood. The saddening vintage soundscapes aptly visualize the despair and end of technology in…
Release data: Mark Isham – Songs my children taught me CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Windham Hill, 1991 “Songs my children taught me” is an album by trumpeter, synthesist and (soundtrack) composer Mark Isham containing a set of four neo-classical suites, each intended to accompany the reading of a classic children’s story. The outcome is exceptional mood music with various romantic and pastoral…
Release data: Dan Pound – Spherical CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Pound Sounds, 2013 More than once, the music of Dan Pound has shown similarities to the sonic art of Steve Roach. The 74-minute “Spherical” reveals many improvements in that direction, as it merges immersive textural sound worlds with beats, assorted percussion, guitars, field recordings and some Native American flute, all hinting for…
Release data: Hollan Holmes – Phase Shift CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2013 “Phase Shift” is the third release by US synthesist Hollan Holmes, containing two long form compositions along three shorter takes found at the beginning. The outcome, a contemplative look into the human psyche, is a thought-provoking, spiritual and above all positive work of sonic art, while also an…
Release data: Chuck Van Zyl – Cenotaph CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Synkronos Music, 2012 “Cenotaph” (the name for a monument erected in honor of a dead person whose remains lie elsewhere) is the follow-up release to Chuck’s beautiful album “MemorySpace” (2010). Sonically, Mr van Zyl very nicely expands on his cosmic sequencer style and signature, merging the timeless and the intimate while…
Release data: VoLt – Particles CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2013 Work on “Particles” already started during the process of assembling and finalizing “Circuits”, a VoLt-release that turned out less accessible and much more adventurous in the end. “Particles” however, once again developed and shaped over the internet, takes on an organic, more flowing character. Moreover, it re-invents and re-energizes the…
Release data: Paul Lawler – Opus DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2013 The 61-minute “Opus” is an a instrumental space/rock/EM album by Paul Lawler, starring Zlatko Perica (of TD-fame) and guitarist Paul Speer as guest-musicians to add some melodic prog-rock hooks to a couple of tracks. The whole album airs a sturdy vintage ’70’s realm where anthemic, darkening and cosmic spheres…
Release data: Schiller – Sonne Live CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Universal Domestic, 2013 The double-cd “Sonne Live” by Schiller, aka Christopher von Deylen, contains the full performance played at Berlins O2 World in December 2012. As on previous live-albums, Schiller and band do what the audience is expecting from them: playing an accessible and emotionally-charged set of vocal and instrumental tracks from…
Release data: Red Planet Orchestra – Aurora Symphony DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Path of Action Productions/Sound for Good records, 2012 The Red Planet Orchestra is a collective of well respected musicians who between them have produced works for film, TV and several mixed media events. One of them is renowned SF-author and composer Vincent Rees, also founder member of T30 Control, who…
Release data: Solar Fields – Origin #2 CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Ulimae Records, 2013 With “Origin #2”, Solar Fields (aka Swedish composer Magnus Birgersson) presents the second chapter of retrospective tracks fitting in the atmospheric/downbeat/chill-out realm as the first one, this time featuring tracks by composed between 2003 and 2009. I remember the rather awkward listening experience when I submerged in the…
Release data: Boreal Taiga – At Gutú DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Wayfarer Records, 2013 “At Gutú” (“woods” or “forest” in Tlingit-language) is Boreal Taiga’s fifth ambient release with Wayfarer records. It’s is a concept ambient album influenced by the expansive forest-environments found in USA’s Pacific Northwest and the ancient Tlingit tribes that have been living in this region for thousands of years.…
Release data: Altus – The Sidereal Cycle 4 DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Free Floating Music, 2013 This album marks the last chapter in Altus’ “Sidereal Cycle” series, rounding out the earth’s annual cycle with one more piece of immersive, highly contemplative ambient music. This time though, Mike Carss used medieval composer Thomas Tallis’s “Spem in Alium” (a motet for 40 voices) as…
Release data: Remy & Synth.nl – PrimiTiveS CD, Groove Unlimited, 2013 “PrimiTiveS” is the debut-album by the established Dutch synthesists Remy (aka Remy Stroomer) and Synth.nl (aka Michel van Osenbruggen). Although they are both musically influenced by Jean Michael Jarre, classically-trained Remy and autodidact Synth.nl both have developed their own style, character and approach in their music. After they got…
Release data: Der Waldläufer – Wanderlust DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2013 There’s quite some electronic music around that’s inspired by or strongly connects to the natural world, its beauty and organic foundation. Der Waldläufer, a project by German synthesist, producer and composer Tobias Seidenthal, also fits in this category, as it offers an organic-based mix with elements derived from ambient,…
Release data: Schiller – Sonnenwelten CD, Universal Domestic, 2012 Schiller’s album “Sonnenwelten”, only available in the Limited Ultra Deluxe package of “Sonne”, can be regarded as a kind of Einlassmusik-release. It’s a fully instrumental release featuring tranquil music that fits best to what most fans in our genre characterize as electronic music. Although lasting for only 37 minutes, Mr von…
Release data: Richard Bone – Anthology DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, AD Music, 2013 Through the many years of reviewing electronic music, I’ve been able to get to know a fair share of the music created by US-based ambient composer Richard Bone, also owner of the label Quirkworks Laboratories. Regarded as one of the founding members of the New York electronic music scene,…
Release data: Goldmund – The Malady of Elegance CD/LP, Type Recordings, 2008 For as long as I review electronic and strongly related music, I always have had a fascination for intimate soundscape worlds that breath a soft mourning, sadening and melancholic emotion. While searching the internet for something in this genre, I ran into the Goldmund’s release “The Malady of…
Release data: Etherfish – Psyquarium CD-R, Private Release, 2007 “Psyquarium” contains the first live concert (recorded direct from the mixer) that English synthesist Chris Christou, aka Etherfysh, gave at Noetic Sound on April 19th 2007 for an invited audience. It was partly undertaken to see how the logistics worked out in a live environment, and also to see whether he…
Release data: David Gerard – The Dream Chamber DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Orbiting Orion, 2013 The 51-minute “The Dream Chamber” is best classified as sleep-inducing and stress-relief soundscape music, pairing flowing textures and gentle washes into a slowly-evolving outcome. Overall minimal in form, the hypnotic textural current of the first phase is only occasionally interrupted by a few stronger sounding string bits.…
Release data: Bernhard Wöstheinrich – Live in New Jersey 2011 DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2011 I’m not that familiar with the quite extensive output of German experimental electronic musician and multimedia artist Bernhard Wöstheinrich (also known as Redundant Rocker), although I’ve explored a couple of his solo releases and collaborations through the years. These recordings all show cast Berhard has…
Release data: Romerium – Solar Sequences CD-R, Private Release, 2012 With the album “Solar Sequences” (initial title “Planets II”), Dutch synthesist Romerium (aka Rene Montfoort) has chosen for a cosmic music concept. As the title already implies, the music takes a jolly nice sequential/rhythmic approach, kicking off with the 10-minute “Leaving Earth” that’s also available on YouTube with nice imagery.…
Release data: Phobos – Monolith CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Dark Duck Records, 2010 Before he started releasing on his own, Phobos (aka David Thompson) found his first home on the US-based Dark Duck label, known for its expansive catalogue of dark and experimental/abstract ambient music. The 72-minute “Monolith” contains an extensive and deep journey in two parts, where David already displays his…
Release data: Ulrich Schnauss – Quicksand Memory EP, Independiente Music/Domino, 2007 By whatever reason I seem to have missed this EP of Mr Schnauss when it came out, but I’m happy it came on my way after all. “Quicksand Memory” features progressive instrumental music that puts regular electronics normally discussed here in the corner, hitting the shoegazer-button on the first…
Release data: Eyes Cast Down – The Separate Ones CD-R, Kalindi Music, 2013 The sole musician behind Eyes Cast Down is US-based ambient/electronic composer, musician and writer Greg Moorcroft. “The Separate Ones” (that demanded seven years of hard work to complete as life got in the way on many occasions during the process of creation and sculpting) is a concept…
Release data: Mathias Grassow – Bloodmoon CD, Gterma , 2012 German drone-King Mathias Grassow is well-known for his extensive and deep textural music, and the exactly 76-minute “Bloodmoon” (compiled from various projects recorded in the autumn and winter of 2009 and 2010) adds another chapter to that. As usual, Mathias layering of the various sound pads is done with precise…
Release data: Johan Tronestam – Roots and Legends from the North CD, TeamQuasar, 2013 During the creation of the album “Roots and Legends from the North”, composer Johan Tronestam ended up in what he refers to as quite a turbulent journey with both joy and doubt, sometimes feeling afraid of getting lost in something he did not master. Due to…
Release data: Robert Carty – Beautiful Depths DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2013 For the music of “Beautiful Depths”, synthesist Robert Carty implemented an exotic touch to his freeform soundscape music. Overall, the outcome sticks to his trademark of uplifting and lush spacemusic with gentle cosmic washes and an overall floating sound current. This is drifting chill-out music for the slow…
Release data: Stephan Whitlan – Inertial Moments CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 1997 “Inertial Moments” is actually a live (and also pretty rare) album by Irish synthesist Stephan Whitlan. It contains a recording of a concert performed at The Flowerpot, Derby on April 6, 1997, also featuring a rare chance to hear Stephan playing the accordion. Although the sound quality isn’t…
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…
Release data: Stephen Parsick – Sediments -music from 1989 to 1994- CD-R, Private Release, 2008 I must say it’s always nice to hear the “roots” of an EM-artist, especially when he or she has gained its own share in the genre in better and worse times. “Sediments” is a compilation album containing the best tracks Stephen Parsick’s first two cassettes…
Release data: Lyonel Bauchet – The Secret Society DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, DiN, 2012 This is one of the many digital download-only releases that had to sit too long on my harddisc due to an overflow of music for review. Now that I’m finally giving the album several spins, I much regret I didn’t find time to dig this nice and well-crafted…
Release data: Spiraleye – Ramelion CD-R, Private Release, 2011 “Ramelion” is the third release by Spiraleye, a project of contemporary improvised electronic music by UK-musicians Peter Challoner (synths) and ambient guitarist Neale Haddon. The 70-minute album contains eight spontaneous crafted compositions, where emotive sound design and textural ambiences merge with groove-based soundscape music. The spherical outcome sees the composers play…
Release data: Dave Luxton – Music From The Firmament DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Wayfarer Records, 2011 In the last couple of years, I’ve reviewed quite a few cosmic albums by US-ambient composer Dave Luxton, who’s also the owner of the Wayfarer Records label. Those who are still not familiar with his music hereby get an excellent opportunity to do so after all.…
Release data: Craig Padilla & Zero Ohms – When the Earth is Far Away CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, LotusPike, 2012 Three years after their previous collaborative recording “Beyond the Portal”, Craig Padilla & Zero Ohms (aka Richard Roberts) hereby return, adding a third chapter of gentle cosmic music to their release-sheet. Richard and Craig explain they both did not add parts to…
Release data: Various Artists – Gyalpo CD, Gterma, 2012 “Gyalpo” (“King” in Tibetan mythology) is a 77-minute concept album with deep atmospheric ambient music dedicated to the great protectors of our realm, a tributary to the Four Heavenly Kings, Caturmaharajika. The accompanying 12-page cd-booklet is graced with beautiful photos from the neighbouring Ladakh province in India. Label manager Johan Rehn…
Release data: Altus – The Sidereal Cycle 2 DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Free Floating Music, 2012 “The Sidereal Cycle 2” is the second installment of cinematic music on time and the change of the seasons by Canadian ambient composer Mike Carss. The recording contains one lengthy track, the almost 55-minute Andromeda”, in which one can “see” and “feel” the change of colours…
Release data: Javi Cánovas – Psychedelic Voyage DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2012 “Psychedelic Voyage”, inspired by psychedelic images, movies and sounds, sees a continuation of Javi Cánovas’ classic electronic music style for which he applied his usual gear such as the Andromeda A6, Roland Juno D, Novation XIO along some soft synths. This time though, Javi tried much harder to…
Release data: Parallel Worlds & Dave Bessell – Morphogenic CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, DiN, 2012 “Morphogenic” is another example of fine vintage electronics shining energetically and vibrantly, that this time sees Parallel Worlds (aka Greek synthesist Bakis Sirros) team up with analogue soul-mate and Node-member Davell Bessell from the UK. The latter also delivered some tasty guitar and textures with his trusted…
Release data: Phobos – Darker CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2012 Phobos album “Darker”, his third private release to date, is another treat for ambient fans who love longform, overtly dark and intense soundscape music meant for headphone listening. With four overall dense and at times rather abstract sound paintings, the composer really takes his listener to the next level down…
Release data: Robert Rich – Nest CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Soundscape Productions, 2012 “Nest”, by Robert described as a revery of landscape and internal spaces, is one of the calmest and subdued releases I know by him. Incorporating lots of environmental and natural sounds made in Australia, the continuous, overall contemplative music has a strong soothing effect. Long drifting and slow evolving…
Release data: Liquid Mind – X: Meditation CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Real Music, 2012 “Meditation” is the twelfth album release by Chuck Wild, aka Liquid Mind, and another fine addition to Liquid Mind’s ongoing series of ultimate stress-relief and relaxation music. This is overall smooth and profound velvet soundscape music containing a deep sense of grace. A full-size neo-classical orchestra and worldless…
Release data: Andrew Forrest – Boundless (Harmonics Trilogy Vol. 2) CD, Private Release, 2012 The lush, the powerful and the spacious oncemore re-unite on the ambient/space extravaganza “Boundless”, the second installment in Andrew Forrest´s “Harmonics Trilogy”-trilogy. Again, there are three lengthy movements, each clocking over 20 minutes, featuring some very nicely rendered twinkling sequencing beyond immersive, velvet soundscapes. Andrew perceives…
Release data: Phillip Wilkerson – Complex Silence 23 DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Tree Trunk, 2012 Mr Wilkerson states the outcome found on “Complex Silence 23” was born out of extreme emotional pain along a kaleidoscope of personal experiences of life and ruminations on them. The music conveys his personal sense of profound loss and anguish, but also his faith that love and…
Release data: Northcore – Desatero CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spotted Peccary Music/OE3, 2012 Northcore is the UK-duo Carl Gibbons and Jana Tillotson, who compose impressionistic, alternative electronics with an organic and chill-out edge. “Desatero” contains ten intriguing tracks (half of them have vocals) offering an unusual but exciting blend of contemporary electronica. Its 41-minute peculiar sonic canvas blends ethno-ambient with down-tempo, experimental…
Release data: Bob Holroyd – re:ambient DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2012 “Re:ambient” is part a series of occasional releases by Bob Holroyd which aims to revisit, reinvent and reinterpret some of his previous output. Three of the nine instrumental tracks received laid-back and spacious remixes by Mr Holroyd, while the other six were handed over to Mogwai, The Album Leaf,…
Release data: Seetyca –Seetyca – The Luminous Deep CD, Gterma, 2012 “The Luminous Deep” is my second encounter with the ambient/space music of German composer Seetyca. Three long, uninterrupted pieces make up the 80-minute album, that was conceived as a longform reconstruction of Seetyca’s soundtrack to the same-titled short animated movie by Amy Scott-Murray and Kevin Adams. The latter is…
Release data: Bryan Carrigan – Focus CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Peonies Music, 2011 The 34-minute “Focus” is the second release by US-synthesist Bryan Carrigan, and almost seems an Ep to me. Like its predecessor “Passing Lights”, it contains ten emotive tracks of up-tempo, instrumental and moody electronic music. This time though, Mr Carrigan has put in a bit more hidden and straightforward…
Release data: Sphäre Sechs – Tiefschlaf CD, Malignant Records, 2012 “Tiefschlaf”, containing the music performed live during a sleep concert in Wuppertal, Germany in September 2011, marks the formal debut of Sphäre Sechs, aka German ambient composers Martin Stürtzer’s (also known as Phelios) and Christian Stritzel. The 55-minute recording consists of six phases, making up a continuous tapestry of massive,…
Release data: Numina – The Deception of Reality CD, Hypnos Recordings, 2012 From the labels notes on Jesse Sola’s concept release “The Deception of Reality” I learned it’s about introspective escapism while balancing light and dark themes, with the music transporting the listener to wherever they wish the music to take them. Jesse’s previous two albums already opened the doorway…
Release data: Paul Ellis – I Am Here CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, LotusPike, 2012 In the words of the composer, “I Am Here” is a sort of a counterpart to his previous album “From Out Of The Vast Comes Nearness”, released on the same label. The concept album and its music is inspired by the Chinook tribe of Native Amaricans who once…
Release data: Boreal Taiga – yg:drasil DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Wayfarer Records, 2012 “yg:drasil”, subtitled “Modern Interpretation of Northern Sounds”, is Boreal Taiga’s fourth release with Wayfarer Records and also his first double album. The recording, clocking over 2,5 hours, features ambient and deep space tracks on the first cd that explore the vast regions of our Arctic environments. On the second…
Release data: Alpha Wave Movement – Eolian Reflections CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Periphery, 2012 “Eolian Reflections” makes a great addition to the ever expanding collection of high-quality ambient/space music by Gregory Kyryluk, aka Alpha Wave Movement. Gregory states the outcome is a purely unconscious follow-up to the 2000 release “Drifted Into Deeper Lands”, as it is oncemore inspired by the timeless arid…
Release data: Har & Altus – Shadow District DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Earth Mantra, 2012 At the beginning of 2012, Mike hinted at a collaboration that he’d been working on since 2011 with ambient guitarist/bassist/Chapman Stickist Har. The outcome is “Shadow District”, a dense and mysterious affair triggering the imagination. It’s an intense journey through abstract soundscape netherworlds of dark, gloomy ambience…
Release data: Mathias Grassow – Wisdom of Fate CD, Gterma, 2012 For over two decades, German composer Mathias Grassow is known as one of the strong purveyors of deep and immersive ambient music in the genre. Not only for his solo releases, but also his extensive, fruitful collaborations with other kindred spirits around the globe, most notably in Italy. The…
Release data: Bryan Carrigan – Passing Lights CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Peonies Music, 2011 “Passing Lights” is the debut album by US-synthesist Bryan Carrigan, who’s also a most experienced synth programmer, sound designer, remixer, engineer and producer with extensive experience in records and post production under his belt. He e.g. did a wonderful job on Raygun Ballets “World that wasn’t” but also…
Release data: Phillip Wilkerson – Highlands DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Free Floating Music, 2012 “Highlands”, mastered by Ben Cox (one of the guys behind the Lotus Pike label), is a 66-minute narrative soundscape journey into higher and peaceful spheres, split in four long form compositions. These free form and rhythmless textures are the doorway to a tranquil and balanced world beyond where…
Release data: Within Reason – Subtle Shift CD-R, Periphery, 2012 Within Reason is a most interesting side-project by skilled synthesist Gregory Kyryluk (known as Alpha Wave Movement and one half of Thought Guild) that focusses on spacy dub-electro. The excellently produced outcome consist of eight tracks and is overall lush with lots of groovy undercurrents, carrying a smooth pulse and…
Release data: Parsick & Reuter – Lament CD, Gterma, 2012 The music of Parsick & Reuter’s second ambient release “Lament”, that both musicians consider a successor to the 2007 album “Ceasing to Exist”, was recorded between July and September 2010. It contains nearly 70 minutes/seven tracks of in-depth and lush textural soundscape drones, accompanied by processed/atmospheric guitar-strings and loop devices.…
Release data: Bertrand Loreau – Journey Through the Past CD, Spheric Music, 2012 Since long, Spheric Music owner Lambert Ringlage has had a good ear for fine (especially Berliner School-oriented or inspired) electronic music releases. As the title of this cd already suggest, “Journey through the past” by French composer Bertrand Loreau is another fine melodic recording fitting in the…
Release data: Various Artists – Euphony 2 CD, WWUH, 2009 “Euphony 2” is the second ambient collection published by the US public alternative radiostation WWUH, that this time turned out to be a double-cd. Like the previous sampler, it contains lots of unreleased goodies by established performers such as Steve Roach, Ron Boots, Forrest Fang, Dino Pacifici, and Alpha Wave…
Release data: Phobos – This Desolate Place CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2011 Now here’s another strong piece of profound ambient music by UK-based composer David Thompson, aka Phobos, who already made a great impression on me with “Live on Earth”. “This Desolate Place” contains one longform piece, offering 68 minutes of highly atmospheric textural music. I gave the album several…
Release data: Erik Wøllo – Airborne CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Projekt Records, 2012 Norwegian multi-instrumentalist Erik Wøllo already has a beautiful, extensive list of solo and collaborative releases under his belt, to which “Airborne” makes a great addition. Known for his highly emotive and sensitive approach, Erik again has incorporated minimal, contemporary and symphonic styles in his music that lend the melodic,…
Release data: Stephan Whitlan – Travelling Light DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Fairy Nuff Music, 2010 “Travelling Light” contains the live concert by Irish/UK synthesist Stephan Whitlan performed on October 17 at E-Live 2009 in Oirschot, The Netherlands. Those who saw him as support act to John Dyson & friends the previous year already witnessed a most skilled and enthusiastically playing musician. Stephan…
Release data: Johan Tronestam – Far Away CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, TeamQuasar, 2012 Danish composer Johan Tronestam played earlier in various music groups, but has for a long time concentrated on writing instrumental synth music. Created between 2011 and 2012 on the Åland Islands, an island in the Baltic Sea, the concept album “Far Away” (subtitled: a musical voyage beyond time and…
Release data: Ok Ikumi – Alpine Sequences DIGITAL DOWNLOAD/CASSETTE, Hel Audio, 2012 “Alpine Sequences” by Utah artist Ok Ikumi (aka Karl Jørgensen) is a collection of 12 short and simple ambient recordings. The latter are inspired by Utah geography and are built around procedurally generated and repeating sequences and looping melodies. The outcome is lush and spacious but also rather…
Release data: Steven Grace – Flow DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2011 Steve Grace’s release “Flow” is an ambient album made with the Avatar ST software synthesizer only. Mr Grace recorded it during four sessions in March 2011 mostly through improvisation, with some editing afterward. Contrary to his output under the Logic Gate moniker, the music made using his own name…
Release data: Jack Hertz – Time DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Free Floating Music, 2012 Ambient minimalism and (the impact of) the slow passing of time are core elements that mark the quiet and immersive music on the 76-minute “Time”. The longform and unhurried drone textures breath a similar kind of introspection, subtlety and profound stillness as found on Roach’s “Quiet Music” or…
Release data: Thomas Ronkin – Precursors CD-R, The Periphery, 2012 Some may know the previous two releases of US-synthesist Thomas Ronkin, “Within; Distance” and “Symmetric”. Both stand out for its classic, sequencer-driven, and Berliner School-influenced Em next to some fine, sophisticated and deep ambient tracks. Although I already had some unreleased studio recordings from Mr Ronkin from the ’80’s, the…
Release data: Alio Die & Yannick Dauby – Descendre cinq lacs au travers d’une voilé CD-EP, Aqua, 1998 This limited edition EP contains one 21-minute abstract/experimental soundscape with psychedelic undercurrents. Overall spiritual and meditative in nature, the sound collage of textures, electronic effects, water elements and Tibetan bowls is meant for deep listening as we travel through the veil into…
Release data: Project Earth – Tak Ze CD/12INCH, MFS, 1994 “Tak Ze” by Martin Stark and Christopher Hausmann, aka Projekt Earth, contains 36 minutes of overall mellow, spherical and highly textural spacemusic. Nowadays we would call these almost non-rhythmic, slow morphing cosmic soundscapes “Chill-out”, but in the days these three lengthy tracks where composed, the German duo already made an…
Release data: Gustavo Jobim – In Search of Berlin DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2011 Gustavo Jobim’s “In Search of Berlin”, part of an ongoing project of archival releases, contains 78 minutes of improvised music composed between 2003 and 2009. In contrary to his current output that is much more experimental, the music featured here connects very strong to the Berliner…
Release data: Ian Boddy – After the Rain DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, DiN, 2012 The music contained on “After the Rain” reveals the more experimental and abstract/adventurous side of skilled UK-composer Ian Boddy. Recorded live in concert at the Basic Electricity #4 festival in Berlin held in June 2012, the 65-minute outcome harks back to the dawn of electronic music at the…
Release data: Nostalgia – Arcana Publicata Vilescunt CD, Relapse Records, 2002 Rich, gothic-like drone tapestries, tribal percussion and symphonic synth textures grace the intoxicating and rather dramatic music of “Arcana Publicata Vilescunt”, the debut release of the German project Nostalgia (aka Mathias Grassow, Rüdiger Gleisberg and Carsten Agthe). Composed and performed between 1999 and 2001, the outcome is a peculiar…
Release data: Juta Takahashi – Angel CD, Lunisolar Records, 2012 After a hiatus of nearly two years, Japanese composer brings us his ninth album “Angel”. The recording is a 65-minute soundscape journey spread out over four lengthy tracks that once again moves through immersive, contemplative sonic territory. Here, things are at ease and in balance, with slow morphing and smoothly…
Release data: Picture Palace Music – Indulge the Passion CD, Groove Unlimited, 2012 “Indulge the Passion” is the second cd by Picture Palace Music on the established Groove Unlimited label containing 75 minutes of post-rock and contemporary electronica. Contrary to PPM’s energetic concerts, the music on their cds are at a lower volume level, leaving room for more detail, the…
Release data: Tau Sagittarii – Sensory Data DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Mehanika, 2012 The person behind Tau Sagittarii is Kurt Baggaley, an English producer and artist of deep electronic music, who’s best known for his minimal electro/techno productions as Scape One. Tau Sagittarii is a new project to launch his more experimental electronic scores. The theme of the first Tau Sagittarii concept…
Release data: Gert Emmens – An Artist’s Stroke CD, Groove Unlimited, 2012 For the concept album “An Artist’s Stroke”, inspired by the life and works of the late Russian painter Yuri Pugachov, Dutch synthesist Gert Emmens has composed some vintage music with a strong lyrical feel. Overall, the retro sequencing is well done but also executed in the same manner.…
Release data: Booth & Creek – Lightwaves CD-R, Private Release, 2012 If you’re a fan of more abstract-oriented ambient, “Lightwaves” by the UK-duo Phil Booth and Jez Creek may be something up your alley. The 61-minute title track filling the release is a lengthy soundscape without a trace of melody, taking the listener into a psychedelic sonic environment where alienating…
Release data: Dreamfire – Atlantean Symphony CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Dreamfire Music, 2012 Dreamfire started in 1999 as a symphonic musical project to explore ancient mysteries, magic, legends and majestic/epic themes. It’s the effort of a UK-composer and guitarist who has been a musician for almost 20 years. He regards the project as a conceptual manifestation of journeys through time, space and…
Release data: John Stanford – TimeScapes (Official Soundtrack) CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, SouthWest Light Ltd, 2012 Now, 13 years after his debut “Deep Space”, New Zealand based composer (Nigel) John Stanford releases his second album “TimeScapes”. The latter contains the synthesizer soundtrack music to Tom Lowe’s amazing documentary film of the same name, that’s loaded with stunning time-lapse footage. Clocking at exactly…
Release data: Robert Schroeder – New Frequencies Vol. 2 CD, News Music, 2012 “New Frequencies Vol. 2” is proof Robert Schroeder has further developed his own musical trademark of contemporary electronic music, merging melody with a whole range of groovy and sometimes even dance-like elements. Although more varied than anything Robert put out before, the best parts in his music…
Release data: MoonSatellite – Unendlich Sequenzer, Sequenzer Vol. 2 CD-R, PWM Distribution, 2010 Here’s another fine batch of classic-inspired, melancholic sounding EM from French composer MoonSatellite. It is strange though the track durations of the music are totally different from the onces listed on the back of the cd-booklet As can be expected, no surprises to be found in his…
Release data: Peter Challoner – More than can be heard CD-R, Ambient Sound Projects, 2012 With “More than can be heard”, UK-synthesist Peter Challoner adds his 13th ambient soundscape to his music catalogue. In almost 62 minutes, Peter’s quiet and introspective textures take us into a world of calm ambience in which a fair bit of environmental sketches and urban…
Release data: Urenga – After Rain CD, Gterma, 2012 Urenga is the youngest project of Hungarian sound-wizard Andras Kiss, that slowly but surely created its own existence from his other ambient experiments. Besides that and compared to those other projects, the Urenga-formulae is inspired by/ focuses on the beauty and impact found in the untouched natural environment. “After Rain” is…
Release data: The Grey Encounter – Dark Matter CD-R, EEMC, 2012 The Grey Encounter is a collaborative effort by UK synthesists Phil Booth and Xan Alexander, whose 61-minute “Dark Matter” is their debut release. If you love well-rendered spherical electronics and ambient, the two extended tracks of 32 and 28 minutes do the job most satisfactory. The duo has assembled…
Release data: Indo – Winter in Zangla (A Tribute To Alexander Csoma De Kőrös) CD, Gterma, 2011 Indo is an older project of Hungarian soundartist extraordinaire Andras Kiss, that has been growing out slowly from his other ambient endeavours. The Indo-project is strongly influenced by nature, metaphysical traditions, lost cultures and civilizations, ancient knowledge by people what’s getting lost or…
Release data: Rigel Centaurus – Into Infinity DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, United Studios Corp., 2012 “Into Infinity” is the second cosmic album by Russian composer Andrey Hlybov, aka Rigel Centaurus, again solely made with soft synths. Once again, the listener is invited on a freeform deepspace trip through the vast unknown, while various elements of the grand celestial design float by. The…
Release data: Altus – The Sidereal Cycle 1 DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Free Floating Music, 2012 According to Mike Carss, aka Altus, this series is something that he should have done years ago, and has been suggested by a number of his listeners. “The Sidereal Cycle 1” is the first of a four “disc” project (that will be on-going into 2013) that…
Release data: Nothing but Noise – Not Bleeding Red CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Future Noise Music, 2012 Nothing but Noise is a project of Front 242 founder Daniel Bressanutti assisted by former Front 242 member Dirk Bergen and Erwin Jadot. Don’t be alarmed by the band’s name nor the cover art, as the outcome of “Not Bleeding Red” features a beautiful range…
Release data: Various Artists – Manikin Records Second Decade 2002-2012 CD, Manikin Records, 2012 This double album celebrates the 20th anniversary and second decade of Berlin-based Manikin label with 2x 70 minutes of brandnew and unreleased electronic music. Of course, the usual suspects Broekhuis, Keller, Schönwälder are featured in various formations, next to affliated musicians such as Raughi Ebert, Thomas…
Release data: Forrest Fang – Animism CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Projekt Records, 2012 On “Animism”, Forrest Fang’s ninth solo release to date, a large range of vibrant sounding acoustic instruments and a few synths are at play, melting the music culture of the East and the West in a fascinating, but most of all ingenious fashion. In just an hour, Mr Fang…
Release data: Sync24 – Comfortable Void CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Ultimae Records, 2012 “Comfortable Void” is the second solo-release by Swedish musician Daniel Segerstad, also one half of the project Carbon Based Lifeforms. Back in 2007, he released his critically acclaimed debut “Source”, that already revealed a much more introspective side of his musicianship. This follow-up contains a continuous mix of 10…
Release data: Michael Stearns – Chronos CD, Sonic Atmospheres, 1985 The original soundtrack recording “Chronos”, a predecessor to the Imax-movie “Baraka”, is a classic space music album by Michael Stearns for which he once again used the (Mighty) Serge analogue modular synthesizer. The album features 40 minutes of highly and in-depth atmospheric music aptly accompanying the mind-blowing journey through time…
Release data: Loren Nerell – Slow Dream CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Projekt Records, 2012 As some may know, the music of Los Angeles-based composer Loren Nerell always had firm roots in the music from Indonesia, especially when it concerns sounds that were from a gong’s perspective (in that culture, a gong is regarded a thinking spirit). The deep, dense and cinematic ambient…
Release data: Odyssey – Music for Subway (Symphony for Analogues) CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Generator.Pl, 2012 The last couple of years have seen a large amount of recordings that are referring to or highly inspired by vintage electronic music and their classics. Odyssey’s double-album “Music for Subway” is another one that can be added to that range of releases. According to the…
Release data: Solar Ocean – Enter Serenity CD, Gterma, 2011 Solar Ocean is an ambient drone project by a 19-year old Russian musician called Eugene, residing beyond the Urals. The 37-minute mini-album “Enter Serenity” ties emotion, drone textures and a sense of comfort together in four uninterrupted parts. It offers the listener a highly minimal and slowly evolving soundscape journey…
Release data: Phobos – Live on Earth (Live at Awakenings) CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2012 This is my first encounter with the music of Phobos, aka UK-composer David Thompson. He previously had been creating music using his own name in the general melodic sequencer-based style in the ‘90’s. After 2000 he took a break from making music, but decided to…
Release data: Steve Roach & Dirk Serries – Low Volume Music CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Projekt, 2012 This year, it’s about 10 years ago Steve Roach and vidnaObmana did their last collaborative work. With “Low Volume Music”, Dirk Serries returns to re-energize their fine collaborative efforts, but by going with his own name instead. What we got here is almost an hour…
Release data: Bruno Sanfilippo – Urbs CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Hypnos Recordings, 2012 On “Urbs”, Bruno Sanfilippo introduces the listener in the amazing world of city soundscapes and its vast array of noises. Bruno tried to merge this mysterious alchemy from a punctual approach, discrete in elements and discourses. “Urbs” offers a spacious, mysterious and above all hypnotizing sonic ride through the…
Release data: Michael Meara – Contemplation 1: Void in Form DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2011 As one can imagine with such a title, this is an album of overall quiet and calming soundscape musings. It’s also the first in an ongoing series of subliminal drift pieces by Australian ambient musician Michael Meara. “Contemplation 1: Void in Form” contains one 51-minute…
Release data: Vanderson – Synthetic Breath CD, Generator.Pl, 2012 Already with the first track “A Tribute to Tangerine Dream”, Polish synthesist Maciej Wierzchowski (aka Vanderson) once more shows who has been and will remain the core inspiration for his music since several years: in exactly six minutes he comes up with some catching sequencing along vintage pads and solo voices…
Release data: Rigel Centaurus – Area of Habitat DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, United Studios Corp., 2012 What we got here is deep space music from Russia. “Area of Habitat” is the debut album by Andrey Hlybov, aka Rigel Centaurus, who has been doing this kind of music since five years or so. The floating and highly spacious sounding “Area of Habitat” reflects…
Release data: Sleepresearch_Facility – Stealth CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Cold Spring, 2012 “Stealth”, a project commissioned for Cold Spring-label, is the long overdue project by UK sound sculpture Kevin Doherty, aka SleepResearch_Facility. It’s another deep ambient journey committed to the exploration of sound, this time inspired by one of the most mysterious aircraft of the twentieth-century. The outcome is basically a hack/remix…
Release data: Somnarium – The Fourth Presence DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Dark Winter, 2009 Somnarium’s 50-minute “The Fourth Presence”, inspired by the works of Dante and Lustmord, takes its listeners on an otherworldly trip into dense and darker spaces. The outcome are six free form pieces of headphone music with slow evolving, textural landscapes linked by processed guitar experimentations, featuring the occasional…
Release data: Emmanuel Tuts-Schiemsky – Muze in de Storm CD-R, Private Release, 1998 The almost 51-minute “Muze in de Storm” is alchemy of tribal-organic music, mostly driven by cyclic rhythms and shakers. Electronics are almost absent here, and have been replaced by flutes, bells, soaring monk chants, Tibetan bowls and spacious environmental sounds. These ingredients all end up in an…
Release data: MoonSatellite – Earth Gravity CD-R, Private Release, 2010 Fans of spherical and unhurried electronic music will be delighted to listen to “Earth Gravity”, another fine work by Marc Perbal, aka MoonSatellite. The album subtitle is Sequencer Prelude, and marks the first album in MoonSatellite’s Sequencer Trilogy. Although the echo of Mr Jarre’s ’70’s music is vaguely noticeable on…
Release data: Pyramid Peak – Evolution CD, Private Release, 2007 With the studio-album “Evolution”, the German trio Andreas Morsch, Axel Stupplich, Uwe Denzer (aka Pyramid Peak) has composed another fine melodic and Berliner School inspired release. The distinct style of Tangerine Dreams “Underwater Twilight” and “Tyger” is running smoothly through the five lenghty and spatial sounding tracks. Proof of that…
Release data: Undara – Traveller CD, Gterma, 2012 Undara (the name is derived from a track by Steve Roach & David Hudson that refers to the lava tubes of Undara, Australia) is a Portugese organic-ambient project founded in 2008 by J. A. (Wolfskin, Karnnos), and A. Coelho (Sektor 304, Sparagmos, Profan). Both musicians meant it as a way of exploring…
Release data: Urenga – Seafloor DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Entropy Records, 2011 “Seafloor” is an ambient work of art by Hungarian composer Andras Kiss, aka Urenga. The project draws inspiration from nature and projects an aural sensation of a living, breathing world somewhere in the borderlands between dub techno and ambient. The Ep “Seafloor” contains two lengthy tracks of 15 and 14…
Release data: Geodesium – Music from Space Park 360 CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Loch Ness Productions, 2010 With “Music from Spacepark 360”, Mr Geodesium (aka US-synthesist Mark C. Petersen) invites his listeners to a quite different sonic ride than the stuff usually found on his space music releases. The 32-minute (!) release is more dynamic, up-tempo and features more spiced-up instrumental tracks,…
Release data: Nattefrost & Matzumi – From Distant Times CD, Groove Unlimited, 2012 “From Distant Times” is the first full-length album by Nattefrost (aka Danish synthesist Bjørn Jeppesen) and Matzumi (aka German composer Kathrin Manz), realized between September 2010 and February 2012. Starting out in a symphonic manner on the first track, the music already shifts to an accessible type…
Release data: Pjusk – Tele CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Glacial Movements Records, 2012 Pjusk is a deep ambient project by Rune Sagevik and Jostein Dahl Gjelsvik, both residing on the Norwegian west coast. The music of “Tele” (which is also Norwegian for frozen underground water) is inspired by the hard, enduring and harsh weather conditions found in Norway, its vast arctic wilderness…
Release data: Dead Beat Project – R’Evolution CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, AD Music, 2011 “R’Evolution” is a soundtrack to a visionary instrumental opera and musical play to elevate your consciousness. The creator of this surprising and multi-faced electro-acoustic foray is Dead Beat Project, aka French composer, sound-designer and multi-instrumentalist Olivier Goyet. Its music mixes fascinating sounds and structures merging elements from ethnic/world…
Release data: Peter Challoner – Optimum CD-R, Private Release, 2011 With “Optimum”, UK synthesist Peter Challoner presents a 75-minute ambient ride revealing a progressive, more dynamic style compared to his previous works. It starts out in a contemplative manner on the first two pieces, featuring a marriage of piano, environmental sounds and gliding textural pads. It’s smooth, slow evolving and…
Release data: Havdis – Clouds into Sea DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Mixgalaxy records, 2011 “Clouds into Sea” is the debut album by Norwegian composer Odd Jensen, aka Havdis. Mr Jensen, an ordinary fisherman in daily life, started dabbling with some new and wonderful creating/recording technology about 10-12 years ago, but only found the courage and guts taking his sonic creations online only…
Release data: Seren Ffordd & Oöphoi – The Martian Chronicles CD, Hypnos Recordings, 2011 “The Martian Chronicles” is a 74-minute longform album inspired by Ray Bradbury’s short science fiction story by the same name. It is the first collaborative album between Oöphoi (aka Italian drone expert Gianluigi Gasparetti) and Welch soundscape composer Seren Ffordd (aka Andy Benford). What we got…
Release data: Parikrama – The Silent Bōn CD, GTerma, 2011 Parikrama can be translated as “the path surrounding a holy place”. It’s a collaborative project by German composers Seetyca (who has been doing experimental music since 1992) and his regular sound technician Artin Mucht, who have dedicated the album’s outcome to the highly spiritual works of David Parsons. Previous to…
Release data: René Splinter – Singularities CD, Groove Unlimited, 2012 On his previous albums, Dutchman René Splinter already proved he has a lot of talent to offer. So it came to no surprise, for me at least, that this release is now put out as a factory-pressed release by Groove Unlimited. Oncemore, René doesn’t hide his core inspiration in his…
Release data: EternalKeys – EternalKeys 2 DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2011 EternalKeys is a one-man project by Mimmo D’Ippolito, residing in Brindisi, Italy. The 40-minute “EternalKeys 2” contains a mixed and unbalanced bag of instrumental music, ranging from simple but effective piano work (heard at the start of the album), but soon hitting the Goth-Rock oriented and soundtrack-oriented avenue. The…
Release data: AirSculpture – Burn CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2008 “Burn” is a vibrant and atmospheric live album by the energetic trio AirSculpture, aka John Christian, Adrian Beasley and Peter Ruczynski. The outcome was recorded at the UK’s second Hampshire Jam festival, held in November 2002, where the three musicians played a glowingly set of highly improvised music as some…
Release data: Robert Schroeder – TimeWaves CD, Racket Records/daMusic, 1986 “TimesWaves”, Robert’s eight release, is considered a worthy album within the Schroeder discography by many. It leads the German musician in a contemporary instrumental style in which new digital technology and the digital sound of the ’80’s play an import part. First released on Direct Metal Mastering vinyl only, the…
Release data: Kebu – To Jupiter and Back CD, Private Release, 2012 “To Jupiter and Back” is the debut album by Finnish musician Sebastian “Kebu” Teir. As a matter of fact, it made quite a surprising and succesful entrance at E-Day 2012, where the nicely designed, factory-pressed cd was offered for only 10 euro. Fully executed on analogue equipment and…
Release data: Caul – Let the Stars Assume the Whole of Night CD, Hypnos Recordings, 2012 Kansas City-based composer Caul, aka Brett Smith, is a purveyor of dark, cinematic ambient music. Some may know him from the 2004 collaborative effort “Inside the Hollow Realm” with Numina. “Let the Stars Assume the Whole of Night” contains 12 structured and composed ambient…
Release data: Ron Boots & MorPheuSz – From the forgotten rooms of a lonely house CD, Groove Unlimited, 2011 “From the forgotten rooms of a lonely house” is a limited edition album of only 400 copies, offered as a free gift to visitors of the concerts held on December 30, 2011 and January 8th, 2012. The first three tracks on…
Release data: Gandalf – Gallery Of Dreams • plus live! CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, BSC/Prudence, 2012 “Gallery Of Dreams • plus live!” is the anniversary edition of the classic album by Austrian multi-instrumentalist Heinz Strobl, aka Gandalf, that first came out in 1992. For this special occasion, the release has been expanded to a 3-disc set. The first disc contains the original…
Release data: Solar Fields – Random Friday CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Ultimae Records, 2012 AWith “Random Friday”, Mr Solar Fields Magnus Birgersson brings us an energetic album with music that continues where his 2007-release “[Earthshine]” left us. Although it opens atmospheric and lush with “Light Control”, the heavy beats and deep downtempo bass lines present themselves as soon the second (title) track…
Release data: Shane Morris & Mystified – Epoch CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spotted Peccary Music, 2012 From the liner notes on the cd, I learned the four-part “Epoch” is the first installment of a trilogy entitled “Inspired Evolution”. The latter is a concept-triptych about prehistoric time and evolution. To create the four lenghty tracks making up “Epoch”, Shane Morris and Mystified (aka…
Release data: Mon0 – Monolog DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2011 The journey into vast and sombre textural landscapes continues on Mon0’s album “Monolog”. This time, Mon0 (aka German composer Andre Zufall) has created an even deeper chill-out/dubtech release: repetitive bass beats, spatial dronescapes, sequencer parts and an assortment of minimal structures and shapes lead the listener into dark, hypnotizing shades…
Release data: Craig Padilla – The Heart of the Soul CD, Spotted Peccary Music, 2012 “The Heart of the Soul”, created during a series of major life-changing events, marks the return of American synthesist Craig Padilla into the world of contemporary electronic music after a four year hiatus. The outcome is an intense, detailed and emotional effort celebrating the great…
Release data: Awenson – Saphonic CD, Dreaming/Musea Records, 2007/2012 “Saphonic” (released in 2007 as a privately released cd-r under the Awen-moniker) is the second album of Awenson, aka French composer Joël Bernard. It now sees a proper re-release as factory-pressed cd with new cover art, and has been aptly overhauled sonically. The album takes off with the 22-minute longform “Le…
Release data: Daren Keck – Quiet Hillside CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Wayfarer Records, 2012 “Quiet Hillside” is the second studio release by Oregon-based ambient composer Daren Keck. The music of the 51-minute album, created while being in retreat, is meant to convey the high and lows of solitude and a state of peace. As such, it is an intimate work of art…
Release data: VoLt – Circuits CD, Groove Unlimited, 2012 After a long wait of about four years, VoLt (aka Michael Shipway and Steve Smith) finally released its sixth album “Circuits” in April 2012. One might ask what caused the delay, as their previous albums followed rather swiftly after each other. Well, the duo basically started work on the structure and…
Release data: Richard Burmer – On the Third Extreme CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, American Gramaphone, 1988 This album is another example of Richard Burmer’s visual mood music. There are some great pieces “On the Third Extreme”, such as the spine-shivering opener “Magellan”, the euphoric/medieval atmosphere created by the symphonic “Celebration in the Four Towers” or the simply beauty of the heart-felt “Turning…
Release data: Richard Burmer – Mosaic CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, American Gramaphone, 1984 “Mosaic” is the debut release by American synth-wizard Richard Burmer, who sadly passed away in September 2006. Considered a sparkling New Age release in his homeland, the almost 48-minute musical travelogue counts 11 varied tracks which sees a keen synthesis of melodic electronics with world music elements, sophisticated percussion…
Release data: Richard Burmer – Bhakti Point CD, Groove Unlimited, 2009 Richard Burmer’s second album “Bhakti Point” contains eight compositions offering a fascinating musical journey to imaginary worlds. Next to vibrant and symphonic landscapes, Richard also excels in composing more melodic, structured tracks along more intimate, feel-good soundscapes, all telling their own story. My personal and all-time highlights on this…
Release data: Bill Vermette – Galaxies IV CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Horizon Music, 2012 “Galaxies IV” is a double album of cosmic and at times sequenced electronics by Chicago-based synthesist Bil Vermette. Bil has been playing electronic music for 30 years or so and has released four cds, a vinyl recording and a couple of cassettes previous to this one. As a…
Release data: Vanderson – Earth Moving CD-R, SynGate, 2009 “Earth Moving” is a live album by Polish synthesist Maciej Wierzchowski, aka Vanderson. The cd contains two lengthy pieces of 25 and 23 minutes, recorded in August and September 2008 respectively. Maciej’s music is an attractive blend of long solos and rhythmic / sequenced Berliner School, with several breaks tying things…
Release data: Robert Schroeder – Computer Voice CD, DA Music, 1994 The music on Mr Schroeder’s “Computer Voice” is a good example of still fresh sounding contemporary electronic music blending themes of space and earth into a lush and transparent formula while also implementing bits of experiment. Most of the album’s spacious and technological sounding music, that’s actually a concised…
Release data: Beehive Plains – Tape CD, Ad Inexplora/Xenophone International, 2012 The Swedish electro-experimental band Beehive Plains is a side project initiated by Twice a Man-member Karl Gasleben, who is joined by Peter Davidson and Olle Niklassen. The musical journey “Tape”, a unique sounding fusion of electronic and acoustic instruments, found its starting point by means of a found cassette…
Release data: Geodesium – Stella Novus CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Loch Ness Productions, 2011 “Stella Novus”, the tenth release by Geodesium (aka Mark C. Petersen), is an album filled with beautifully rendered cosmic music. Following in the footsteps of planetarium show music Geodesium is best known for, the interstellar music unfolds in a spacious, graceful, dreamy and unhurried fashion. Warm textural tapestries…
Release data: Raygun Ballet – World That Wasn´t CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2012 Raygun Ballet is the persona of Los Angeles based creative director John-Mark Austin, whose name some may remember from Immersion Theory’s excellent space album release “The Icarus Foray”. Its music though is a different story: it focusses on downtempo and IDM, and if you’re familiar with the…
Release data: Lamp – The Three Towers CD, Groove Unlimited, 2012 Lamp is a collaboration of Michael Shipway (also known as one half of VoLt) with guitarist/friend Garth Jones. Michael and Garth are actually former work colleagues and after a number of studio and live sessions together, they agreed that the combination of Garth’s melodic guitar with Michael’s synthesizer soundscapes…
Release data: Javi Cánovas –Transfiguration DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2012 The music on Javi Cánovas’ 2012-release “Transfiguration” sees a return to the comfortable realm of the classic Berliner School style. The spatial (sometimes even restless and smoothly pumping) sequencing on the five extensive tracks is in optima forma as are the various synth pads, solo lines and mellotron textures kicking…
Release data: Alio Die – Deconsecrated and Pure CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Projekt, 2012 “Deconsecrated and Pure” by Alio Die (aka Italian ambient-acoustic composer Stefano Musso) is a work of minimal sonic art where electronic music meets infinite loops, acoustic drones, sounds of metal and glass, bagpipe, stringed instruments, sacral voices and field recordings. It enters a profound liturgic but also timeless…
Release data: Three-Six (36) – Lithea CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, 3Six Records, 2012 “Lithea” is the third and final part of the triptych that 36 (aka UK-based ambient/experimental composer Dennis Huddleston) kicked-off with “Hypersona” and “Hollow” previously. The 77-minute album is an intense ambient journey, creating warm and profound emotive textural landscapes based on extensive, yet melodic loops and choir pads. It’s…
Release data: Aurom – Secret Garden DIGITAL DOWNLOAD EP, Kahvi Collective, 2010 Aurom is a down-tempo ambient project by Australian composer Nicholas Buchanan. The five tracks on “Secret Garden” are presented in one continuous mix, and have a spacious sound along a pleasant groovy undercurrent and an organic rim. The opening-piece “Gaiam” takes off with great textures, followed by the…
Release data: John Lyell – Eternity CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2012 Six years after his first solo album “Dimensions”, Minneapolis-based -synthesist John Lyell (also known from two collaborative albums with Brent A. Reiland) brings us his long-awaited second album “Eternity”, mastered by Robert Rich. The new album, best listened to with some good headphones, proves John has made another step…
Release data: Havdis – The Hidden Islands CD, Gterma, 2012 Havdis is an ambient project by Odd Jensen, who resides in the remote coastal area of northern Norway. If I’m not mistaken, “The Hidden Islands” is his second release, put out by Johan Rehn’s quality ambient label Gterma. Mr Jensen’s soundscape music is profoundly inspired and influenced by nature and…
Release data: John Stanford – Deep Space CD, White Cloud Records, 1999 “Deep Space” is an ambient-dub album by New-Zealand based composer John (Nigel) Stanford, released on Jon Mark’s small White Cloud-label (part of the Naxos classic brand). It contains six tracks of spacious, melodic trance music merging highly sequenced trancy rhythms with expansive, almost symphonic themes. It all ends…
Release data: Wellenfeld – The Big Bang CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Mellowjet Records, 2011 The 66-minute “The Big Bang” is the sixth album by Wellenfeld, aka the German duo Andreas Braun and Detlef Dominizcak. The melodic and highly accessible music comprised on the ten interconnected songs merges spatial/minimal sequencing with choral/string pads, dancy rhythms and beats nicely. Beside a certain Jarre-esque/Kraftwerkian touch…
Release data: Chronos – When Mars Meets Venus CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Altar Records, 2012 Chronos is a project by Moscow-based musician Nick Klimenko who used analog gear and hardware synthesizers exclusively for this recording. Nick’s fifth album “When Mars Meets Venus” is split in two parts: the first is the factory-pressed cd “Mars” featuring nicely crafted down-tempo electronics, while the second…
Release data: moonbooter – World of Apes 2 CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Mellowjet Records, 2011 The second chapter of “World of Apes” (subtitled The Madness Continues) offers 75 minutes of fresh, contemporary and at times even danceable Em. Featuring less sampled sounds compared to it predecessor, Mr Scholl also didn’t use any witness-samples. Beside quite some loungy undercurrents through the various tracks,…
Release data: Michael Meara – To Resonate & Glow DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2005 After a period of experimenting with guitar-centered work and the use of some vocals, Australian ambient/space composer Michael Meara has found his way back to creating slow, freeform and gentle soundscapes. “To Resonate & Glow” contains eight shorter melodic, classical/orchestral ambient pieces of a smooth nature,…
Release data: MoonSatellite – Sequenzer I CD-R, Private Release, 2009 “Sequencer I” is an earlier work of Nancy-based composer Marc Perbal (aka MoonSatellite) where he shows he’s very fond and/or profoundly influenced by the classic electronic music as produced in the 1970’s and 1980. The music featured on the five parts taps into the heritage of Jarre (“Oxygene”/”Equinoxe”) but also…
Release data: Cyber Zen Sound Engine – Cooperation CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, N-Light-N Records, 2011 “Cooperation” is the fourth album by Cyber Zen Sound Engine (CZSE), and the first one to feature their new line-up that adds British composer Tom Boon (known from EnoWeb) as a full member to the project. The music started flowing almost immediately after CZSE’s album “Ausländer” (released…
Release data: Robert Schroeder – D.MO Vol. 3 (Original Unreleased Recordings from the 80´s) CD, Spheric Music, 2011 More archival and shelved recordings are presented on Mr Schroeder’s “D.MO Vol. 3”, revisiting his typical and so much appreciated sonic excursions from the 1980’s . This time, the quality of the compositions and the selection of pieces is far better compared…
Release data: Steve Roach – Groove Immersion CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Timeroom Editions, 2012 The 74-minute “Groove Immersion” comes in four parts and is a mixed bag of “infinite” grooves, minimal percussion and mercurial soundworlds. Although the sounds on this album lend the outcome a high-tech rim, it’s also too easy and rather uninspired to my ears. I imagine Steve’s intention must…
Release data: Ian Boddy & Erik Wøllo – Frontiers CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, DiN, 2012 There are many EM-albums that take the listener on an evocative journey with great sonic vistas passing by as the aural landscapes of sounds unfold. Mr Wøllo is already known for his great cinematic sound paintings of the cold northern hemisphere, most notably displayed on albums such…
Release data: Various Artists – Greenosophy CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Ultimae Records, 2012 “Greenosophy” (inspired by two outdoor Greenosophy parties in 2009 and 2010) is a mixed ambient compilation collected Mizoo (aka Swiss dj Cyril Miserez). It takes off gently and smooth, but as soon as the second track fades in, the narrative and rather surreal space slowly transforms into a bubble…
Release data: Various Artists – Lost in the Humming Air (Music inspired by Harold Budd) CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Oktaf, 2012 “Lost In The Humming Air (Music inspired by Harold Budd)” is a thirteen-track compilation containing a collection of exclusive pieces by various composers paying tribute to the spheric, yet spacious sound art of ambient pioneer and pianist Harold Budd. Next to…
Release data: Michael Neil & Graham Getty – Retrochet III CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2011 With the third chapter in the “Retrochet”-series, the duo Getty and Neil continues their journey into the future of the past with another selection of fine crafted retro electronics. At first its seems they take on the Redshift-road, but soon it appears they pull their…
Release data: Steve Roach – Back to Life CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Projekt, 2011/2012 The double album “Back to Life”, presented in a beautiful designed 6-panel digipak, is a culmination of sonic events adressing a fantastic range of ambient landscapes and forms. Again hitting the 70-minute duration on both discs, Steve’s in-depth spherical creations bring a sense of magic and comfort, but…
Release data: Janne Hanhisuanto – Quiet Places CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2012 “Quiet places”, inspired by nature and people, contains 11 tracks that take the listener into a world of emotion and stillness. In an attempt to give a voice to strange moments, Finnish composer Janne Hanhisuanto prefers to play his synths by instinct, so most music heard here are…
Release data: Broekhuis, Keller & Schönwälder – Red CD, Manikin Records, 2012 The music that makes up the 67-minute BKS-release “Red” is no other than classic Berliner School music, but executed in a rather minimal structure and (in my opinion distinct) slow transforming manner. This and the fact the cd only contains three lengthy tracks makes it difficult though to…
Release data: Amongst Myselves – Ambient, Landscape and Space CD-R/DVD-R, Private Release, 2012 “Ambient, Landscape and Space” is an cd/dvd package offering a collection of visuals and performances alongside music of Amongst Myselves (aka Steve Roberts), all made and assembled over a period of four years. The atmospheric music is performed by Steve Roberts is accompanied by Bernard Haseloff on…
Release data: Berlin Heritage – Land of the Rising Sun CD, Groove Unlimited, 2009 Berlin Heritage is a newly founded Em project initiated by Hannover-based composer Robert Sigmuntowski. The latter released his debut album “Land of the Rising Sun” at the start of February 2012 through Lambert Ringlage’s Spheric Music label. While combining the best from old gear and stuff…
Release data: Thought Guild – Third Voyage CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Harmonic Resonance Recordings, 2012/2015 Thought Guild’s third and final album “Third Voyage” is handmade and packaged in beautiful “retro” 5.25 floppy discs, all hand numbered with a limited edition of only 50 copies. It’s sad though this is the last recording of this dynamic and creative duo, as the 52-minutes of…
Release data: Loom – Scored (live) CD, Viktoriapark Records, 2012 “Scored” contains the fantastic, full-length E-Live 2011 performance by Loom, aka Johannes Schmoelling, Jerome Froese and Robert Waters (aka Robert Wässer). All present then will remember the very professional, versatile and dynamic music played by the trio, with Johannes Schmoelling playing very emotionally and enthusiastically. The concert featured 17 tracks…
Release data: Yagya – Rigning CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Sending Orbs, 2009 Like the previous two releases, it will be most difficult to track down a physical copy of Yagya’s third album “Rigning” (Icelandic for “raining”), although it’s still digitally available through the label’s own official download site E-Orbs. Nonetheless, the smooth dub/techno ambient making up this recording is a very nice…
Release data: Brendan Pollard – Live in Concert 2006 part 1 & 2 and more CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Acoustic Wave, 2012 Since his most convincing live performing at “E-Live 2006”, Brendan had been asked multiple times when the recording of it was being released. Being put on the back burner for a long time, he finally revisited the recordings late 2011…
Release data: Altus – Complex Silence 22 DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Treetrunk, 2012 As usual, Mike Carss (aka Altus) had not much to say about the music on “Complex Silence 22”, a release in a series of albums of enigmatic atmospheres & soundfields created by fellow-ambient composer Phillip Wilkerson. Once again, Mike displays he’s a master in creating beautiful textural music with…
Release data: Void – Avoidance CD, VOID Records, 2011 Some might know the music of Void, aka Dutch musician Danyo Romijn, from his recent contribution to the EM-sampler “Dutch Masters”, although he made his first album back in 1997. The unaccomplished melodic/rhythmic style found on “Avoidance” is much inspired by the big names in the genre. At the same time,…
Release data: René van der Wouden – Fixus Naturalis CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, REWO Records, 2011 The music found on Mr van der Wouden’s release “Fixus Naturalis” came into being during November/December 2009, a period in which René was very busy completing the album “Numerus Fixus”. The spacious, warm and detailed sounding outcome, presented in five parts, is again inspired by nature…
Release data: Kevin Kendle – Light from Andromeda (Deep Skies 4) CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Eventide Music, 2012 Still hugely inspired by the mysteries and spectacular of deep space, UK-artist Kevin Kendle brings his listeners “Light from Andromeda”, his fourth installment in the Deep Skies concept-series. Inspired by the awe-inspiring Andromeda Galaxy, Mr Kendle focusses on a melodic-oriented, lighter and accessible kind…
Release data: Sleepresearch_Facility – Dead Weather Machine / Dead Weather Machine Re:Heat CD, Manifold Records, 2004 “Dead Weather Machine” is the second release by SleepResearch_Facility, aka Scotland-based ambient musician Kevin Doherty. Those familiar with his more recent endavours “Nostromo” and “Deep Frieze” know SleepResearch_Facility is a purveyor of slow morphing drone and sleep-conducive music. The fascinating outcome of “Dead Weather…
Release data: [‘ramp] Doombient.Five – Archetypes CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2009 Every musician or music project has had its rather insecure beginning. “Archetypes” assembles 12 tracks made during the formative stages of [´ramp] in 1996 and 1997. The outcome on this release shows quite a lot of rough sonic sketches with a main part for Stephens and Franks analogue equipment.…
Release data: Robert Schroeder – Cygnus-A CD, Spheric Music, 2010 To much surprise, Robert Schroeder announced the cd-release of this album in 2010, that appears to be a well-done re-recording of the classic album “Galaxie Cygnus-A” from 1982. The biggest relief though for me is that the overall ambience of the slow morphing and dreamy music stays very close to…
Release data: Phillip Wilkerson – The Stars and Afterward CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2012 Fans of Philip Wilkerson’s music may have had the impression that this musician was going to persue a different musical direction after “Ten to Eleven”. This is not the case, although that album otherwise reflects on a phase in the composers life and music career. “The…
Release data: Johan Agebjörn – Music with Less Electricity DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Husmus Media, 2006/2012 “Music With Less Electricity” is an album with piano music by Gothenburg-based Swedish producer Johan Agebjörn, influenced by Satie, Debussy, Swedish folk music, ambient and jazz. Mr Agebjörn composed them during a hard period in his personal life (starting around 2003) when Johan was suffering from…
Release data: Ron Boots – Ante Oculos CD, Groove Unlimited, 2011 The album “Ante Oculos” (“For Eyes”) was released on the occasion of the Bochum planetarium concert by Ron Boots and friends in December 2011. The six tracks offers a lush and atmospheric blend of contemporary electronic music graced by the Ron’s familiar musical trademark. In its own way, it…
Release data: Uwe Reckzeh – Subsesizer CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Mellowjet Records, 201 Uwe Reckzeh already proved on his previous releases he’s most talented, and the music of the 77-minute “Subsesizer”, released about two years after “Unnatural Light”, again confirms this. Uwe knows his ways in composing attractive, smoothly cascading (and sometimes even poignant) sequencers, rhythms and textures with emotive solos on…
Release data: Dan Pound – Cocoon CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, PoundSounds, 2011 The 65-minutes of tranquil music that make-up “Cocoon”, that depicts a sequence of events and transmutations of the life stages of a cocoon and chrysalis into a butterfly, once more prove that Mr Pound is a follower of Steve Roach. It’s introspective music about transformation, embarking on gentle textural and…
Release data: Ian Boddy – Strange Attractors DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, DiN, 2012 “Strange Attractors” is a power release by Ian Boddy, known as one of UK’s longtime and leading Em composers. The disc contains music performed live in concert in April 2011 at the Awakenings electronic music concert series. The 75-minute recording shows Mr Boddy is in excellent spirits, as he…
Release data: Tidal Force – Nebula CD, Groove Unlimited, 2009 “Nebula” is the debut album by the Danish quartet Tidal Force, made up by Emil Bech, Frederik Olsen and two other musicians who go under the aliases HC Aarup and PC-72. Slightly carrying on in the footsteps of melodic side of the Berliner School, they’ve composed some energetic music that…
Release data: Amethystium – Aurorae DIGITAL DOWNLOAD EP, Ramfjord Music, 2012 “Aurorae” is a four-track Ep from Øystein Ramfjord, aka Amethystium, who considers the digital-only release very much a do-it-yourself project, as there’s no traditional promotion behind it. Amethystium very much sticks to the formulue of emotional and lyrical instrumental music as known from his previous albums. But this time,…
Release data: Michael Neil & Graham Getty – Retrochet II CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2010 “Retrochet II” is the second album by Michael Neil and Graham Getty, smoothly hitting the electronic avenue with two tasty 30-minute tracks (“Cascade Effect Part 1 and 2”) in Berliner School tradition. The music pairs unhurried atmospheric intros and interludes with immersive mellotron flutes and…
Release data: Bernd Kistenmacher – Antimatter CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Mellowjet Records, 2012 It was great to see Berliner-based composer Bernd Kistenmacher re-emerge in the electronic music scene a couple of years back with “Celestial Movements”, followed by “Beyond the Deep”. With “Antimatter”, Bernd adds the final chapter to his “Trilogy of the Universe”, which features typical Kistenmacher-music but now with an…
Release data: Yagya – Will I Dream During The Process? CD, Sending Orbs, 2006 If you’re looking for timeless quality-ambient music with that typical Northern touch, Yagya’s second album “Will I Dream During The Process?” for sure will be a most welcome discovery. Aalsteinn Gumundsson’s organic, free-flowing minimal synth washes and bouncing mid-tempo beats create a smooth and gentle ambience,…
Release data: Komendarek & Rudź – Unexplored Secrets of REM Sleep CD, Generator.pl, 2011 The first impression of the music on “Unexplored Secrets of REM Sleep” is one that connects progressive electronics with the TD sound of the ‘80’s, but this vision for sure is ruined by the chaotic opening piece, loaded with lots of freaky and loud solo voices,…
Release data: [‘ram] Return CD, Doombient Music, 2011 For every project, Stephen Parsick has always found it a real challenge what means to use to create music and/or a specific outcome he envisioned, also when it came to the use and implementation of atmospheric recording. At the same time, he always avoided any convenient solutions along the way within the…
Release data: David Wright – In Search of Silence CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, AD Music, 2011 For “In Search of Silence”, David Wright put everything he’d accumulated over 25 years into practice, both musically and technically, plus more of an awareness of playing and programming. The outcome is a 79-minute melodic and emotive journey that ebbs and flows through various moods and…
Release data: Boris Lelong – Everyday Flower DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2012 With the music of his album “Everyday Flower”, US-composer Boris Lelong offers a freeform ambient soundscape in five “Movements”, meant as “a sweet and sour electronic requiem dealing with loss and tenderness”. Although the slow morphing textures sound less polished and valvenized and could benefit from a bit…
Release data: Rüdiger Gleisberg – Symphonic Arts CD, BSC/Prudence, 2012 For long, German composer Rüdiger Gleisberg had the wish to once make a production with a full orchestra or with a few orchestral members. With “Symphonic Arts”, that dream has finally come true. It all started when the young, much accomplished musician Wladimir Krasnich wrote Rüdiger a letter in which…
Release data: Robert Jíša – Pět Tibeťanů (Five Tibetans) CD, LK/Nextera, 2006/2011 In 2006, Tjech-based composer Robert Jíša was asked to compose a simple, rather monotone album for relaxing and meditative purposes, that later appeared to sell over a 100.00 copies. “Pět Tibeťanů” (Five Tibetans) contains one 56-minute track made up by massive longform drones of Tibetan monk chants, all…
Release data: Various Artists – Euphony 1 CD, WWUH 91.3 FM, 2008 “Euphony 1” is an electronic ambient release compiled by Susan Mullis of the US-based radio station WWUH, a public radio station broadcasting alternative programming from the University of Hartford . The cd contains 14 previously unreleased tracks, offering quite a range of various ambient styles. Next to a…
Release data: MorPheuSz – Garden Gnomes & Goblins CD, Groove Unlimited, 2011 For July 2011, Ron Boots was requested to play a concert at a garden party in Germany, but during its preparations his musical friends Eric van der Heijden, Harold van der Heijden kindly offered to join him, as well as German guitarist Frank Dorittke (aka F.D. Project). It…
Release data: Synth.nl – Apollo CD, Groove Unlimited, 2011 After a beautiful and well-rendered sonic journey into the sea, Synth.Nl (aka Michel van Osenbruggen) takes his listeners into the fascinating aura and wonders of space with his fourth album “Apollo”, inspired by the various moon missions. The first drafts of this album were presented by Michel on “E-Day 2011” along…
Release data: Matthew Florianz – Los DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2011 As Mr Florianz explains in some notes to “Los”, story and abstraction were and always will be reoccurring themes in his music: not in their pure sense, but more complementing each other in the composers sonic quest of investigating new ideas and possibilities. And while various ambient environment recordings…
Release data: Wave World – Hieroglyphs CD, Virtual Factory Records, 2011 After a five-year period of silence, the Dutch multimedia project Wave World resurfaced in the fall of 2011 with two new albums, “Hieroglyphs” being one the them. The cd offers seven highly cinematic compositions, accompanied by many strange and insect sound effects expanding the visual experience. The sound design…
Release data: Wave World – Tableaux CD, VFR Records, 2011 At the same time as their album “Hieroglyphs” came out, the Dutch trio Wave World also released “Tableaux”. The latter contains 15 single tracks composed exclusively for the art exhibition held by visual artist Pbalris (aka Wave World member Gert van Santen) in early 2011. Beside the fact that the…
Release data: Vanderson – Visions CD, Generator.pl, 2011 If I’m not mistaken, “Visions” is the very first factory-pressed cd by Polish composer Vanderson, aka Maciej Wierzchowski. This cosmic album pairs the classic sound of Germany’s vintage EM-years with nowadays modern technology, all assembled into four long compositions. Next to most enjoyable spatial sequencing following in the footsteps of Schulze and…
Release data: Robert Carty – Ancient Flow DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Deep Sky Music, 2011 With “Ancient Flow”, ambient/space composer Robert Carty delivered his third release of deep sonic textures in 2011. Known for his lush and floating soundscape design, the music of the four 15-minute tracks walks into familiar territory. Carty’s expansive electronic dronescapes easily immerse the listener in a warm…
Release data: Apollonius & 33 Tetragammon – Ascension DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Resonating Earth, 2011 With “Ascension”, the Dutch duo Apollonius & 33 Tetragammon continues their sonic quest into the realm of human existence and the transition in other states of being. Soundwise, the two musicians decided to use field recordings made in natural environments, sacred sites and ancient burial mounts as…
Release data: Solar Fields – Until we meet the Sky CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Ultimae Records, 2011 Almost on the brink of 2012, Ultimae Records released Solar Fields 10th album “Until we meet the sky”, a title that suggests quite a spacious kind of ambient. On the other hand, this recording also connects to Solar Fields album “Movements”, but on an undefinable…
Release data: Hollan Holmes – The Farthest Fringes CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2011 Out of the blue, Texas-based electronic musician and computer graphics artist Hollan Holmes surprised the electronic space music community in 2010 with his debut “A Distant Light”. One year later, Mr Holmes presents “The Farthest Fringes”, an effort he considers a significant milestone in his growth as…
Release data: Soundician – The Speaking Earth CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2011 When listening to their ninth album “The Speaking Earth”, it at times appeared to me the UK-project Soundician (aka Kit and Odette Johnson) is further heading into a more introspective direction. The 12-track album offers an eclectic mix of instrumental electronic miniatures combining a classical style with minimalism…
Release data: [‘ramp] Electric Karma DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2011 Those fond of the sounds of the famous CS80 synthesizer will more or less enjoy listening to Stephen Parsick’s album “Electric Karma”, privately released on 1 November 2011. Those expecting something like “Hoellenengel” will be disappointed though, as the outcome of “Electric Karma” is improvised, at times experimental-oriented and recorded…
Release data: Gert Emmens & Ruud Heij – The Sculpture Garden CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2011 I won’t spend many words on this concept album, inspired by the Sculpture Garden of the Dutch Kröller-Müller Museum, as the experienced duo Emmens/Heij have delivered another fine album, their fifth by now, of vintage electronics that fits nicely next to their previous releases.…
Release data: Wassonic – Wassonic CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Disappearing Music, 2011 Fans of soundscape ambient might already know the music by Canadian composer Terry O’Brien, aka Anomalous Disturbances. For the collaborative project “Wassonic”, Terry has joined forces with his old friend Matthew Poulakakis, who is a fellow performer at Toronto’s The Ambient Ping next to being the musician behind project such…
Release data: Amir Baghiri – Live Long and Prosper CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Bluebox, 2011 After an absence of five years, German/Iran ambient composer Amir Baghiri fortunately re-enters the electronic space music scene with “Live Long and Proper”. The 76-minute release, dedicated to Trekkies from all over the world, continues in the tradition of the comfortable, highly textural cosmic ambient as known…
Release data: Geodesium – Arcturian Archives CD, Loch Ness Productions, 2011 Mark C. Petersen, aka Deodesium, belongs to the select group of musicians such as Kevin Braheny and Jonn Serrie who composed custom-made planetarium music in the early ’80’s. “Arcturian Archives” is Geodesium‘s 11th album to date, and contains music that was originally created in the 1980s and 1990s. It…
Release data: MoonSatellite – Missing Time CD, Dreaming/Musea Records, 2011 As far as I know, this is the first factory-pressed album by French composer Marc Perbal, aka Moonsatellite, beyond a series of privately-released, home-brewed cd-r’s. The music on the 65-minute “Missing Time” is split in five lengthy parts, and carries a warm, cosmic flavour and now and then strongly relates…
Release data: F.D. Project – Water and Earth CD, Private Release, 2011 Since several years, German composer Frank Dorittke (aka F.D. Project) is quite succesfull in his efforts to fuse melodic contemporary styles and vintage electronics with some poignant and sometimes even powerful e-guitar. His recent collaborations with Ron Boots and friends in project MorPheusz even helped him further mould,…
Release data: Andrew Forrest – Resonance (Harmonics Trilogy Vol. 1) CD, Private Release, 2011 Despite the hard times to survive by putting out hard copy releases nowadays, independent electronic sound painter Andrew Forrest once more has found the faith and guts to let his creativity prevail above all. The idea of a harmonics trilogy surfaced a few years back from…
Release data: René van der Wouden – Zeppelins! There they Go CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, REWO Records, 2011 On the 78-minute “Zeppelins! There they go”, Dutch musician René van der Wouden offers his listeners five lengthy pieces and one shorter trip. The adventurous and airy compositions are all inspired by the great electronic music albums made from 1974 to 1984 beside the…
Release data: Stormloop – Snowbound* CD, Glacial Movements, 2011 “Stormloop” is an ambient project by one Kev Spence who hails from Leeds, England. “Snowbound*” (which found a home on Alessandro Tedeschi’s Italian label Glacial Movements) is a winter ambient release created in late december 2009. The original demo material though was created in 2005 and 2009. It consisted of approximately…
Release data: Darshan Ambient – Dream in Blue CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, LotusPike, 2011 The music for “Dream in Blue” by Michael Allison (aka Darshan Ambient) was highly inspired by the music of jazz giants Miles Davis and John Coltrane. In addition, Mr Allison says he feels there’s certainly a sonic bridge between jazz and ambient music, a logic extension between the…
Release data: Eric van der Heijden – Dal Segno CD, Groove Unlimited, 2011 Eric van der Heijden is one of the purveyors of passionate and quality electronic music from our lower lands. On “Dal Segno”, his fourth release, Eric continues his sonic sojourn, bringing honest human emotions very close to his listeners. Bridging the grandness of symphonic music with delicate…
Release data: Jamie O’Callaghan – The Quiet Poet CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Happy Willow Productions, 2011 Eindhoven-based performer, teacher and composer Jamie O’Callaghan was born in the United Kingdom, but states he has his roots in both Wales and Ireland. A fascinating aspect of the instrumental “The Quiet Poet” is that Jamie is linking the evocative sounds of violin with lush, almost…
Release data: Yagya – Rhythm of Snow CD, Force Inc. Music Works, 2002 The creative mind behind Yagya is Islandic producer Aalsteinn Gumundsson. His debut release “Rhythm of Snow” is a 78-minute deep house/ambient kaleidoscope. It reflects the ice cold stellar beauty found in the Scandinavian, Islandic and the Arctic region. With such a description, one might easily think of…
Release data: Triple S – Poles CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Pleasure Sound Music, 2011 Triple S is a new German electronic music project bringing three established musicians together: Max Schiefele (aka Maxxess), Erik Seifert and Cologne-based Joseph Steinbuechel. With Erik Seifert at the helm, one can sense quality is guaranteed, and the content of the 70-minute concept album “Poles” indeed doesn’t. “Poles”…
Release data: Janne Hanhisuanto – Circles in 3D CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Auraltone Music, 2011 The creative mind behind “Circles in 3d” is Finnish musician Janne Hanhisuanto. From the press-sheet I learned “Circles in 3d” was inspired by the beauty of circles. A circle begins and at the same time ends. Always moving, looking for the end, only to find nothing but…
Release data: Bruno Sanfilippo & Max Corbacho – Bioma CD, ad21 music, 2011 Bruno Sanfilippo’s and Max Corbacho’s second collaborative album “Bioma”, the name for a large community of plants and animals that occupy a distinct region, is another fine ambient recording from the Spanish Ad21 Music. As the press sheet explains, the initial idea for it was born after…
Release data: Awenson – Beyond the Galaxies CD-R, Private Release, 2009 On “Beyond the Galaxies”, Bordeaux-based composer Joël Bernard (aka Awenson) takes the listener on a more atmospheric oriented sonic journey. Still roaming in the cosmic sounds of the vintage electronic age of the ’70’s, the three lengthy ambient pieces unfold in a fascinating manner while they travel in the…
Release data: Javi Cánovas – Strange Vision CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2007 Mr Canovas is most famous for his genious blend of vintage electronic sounds and sequencers with contemporary technology, bringing the listener the best of both worlds. On his third album “Strange Vision”, Javi persues his journey through well-balanced vintage electronics with more shorter tracks, all containing more melody,…
Release data: Van Zyl & Gulch – Regeneration Mode CD, Synkronos Music, 1994 “Regeneration Mode” is an album by the duo Chuck van Zyl and Peter D. Gulch (both known from the project The Nightcrawlers) filled with vintage, but most of all adventurous and future electronic music. It’s cosmic music pur sang, now and then briefly tapping in the heritage…
Release data: Ron Boots – La Caída de Hormigón CD, Groove Unlimited, 2011 As some may know, Dutch musician Ron Boots has a great passion for history next to composing electronic music. It’s something he previously adressed on “Acoustic Shadows”, that dealt with (the hell of) human warfare. “La Caída de Hormigón” (The fall of concrete) is a concept album…
Release data: Various Artists – Ambrosia CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Ultimae Records, 2011 “Ambrosia” is a compilation album by the Lyon-based Ultimae label, selected and compiled by Fishimself (aka Haris Papadimitriou), deejay and the driving force behind IT records and Freeze Magazine. The excellently mastered disc (courtesy Vincent Villuis) features ten captivating instrumentals by mainly Greek electronica artists from the downtempo, idm…
Release data: Remy – The Great Church Trilogy CD, Deserted Island Music, 2011 This 75-minute album, the second factory-pressed release on Deserted Island Records, comprises music performed during three different concerts by Remy (aka remy Stroomer) in 2007, 2008 and 2010 in the Grote- of St.Bavokerk in Haarlem. The music featured on “The Great Church Trilogy” focusses on the new,…
Release data: Altus – Ecotone DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2011 Many may know the music of Mike Carss, aka Altus, as vast textural and out-of-this-world music. Sonically, “Ecotone” though opens a new, vibrant chapter in his already extensive discography. The recording contains more varied music covering a lot of ground, which (according to the composer) was necesarry to tell and…
Release data: Space Station – Transmission DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2010 Space Station is a music project initiated in 2006 by Portugese composer and producer Bernard Lampreia. “Transmission” is an accessible release filled with melodic sequencer-oriented electronics beside flavours of space and progressive instrumental music. Sonically, I hear lots of influences of German electronic music among others, but the overall…
Release data: Pyramid Peak – 5Vor12 CD, Private Release, 2011 Pyramid Peak’s album “5vor12” (named after the bands habit to finish a project or concert preparation just in time) was released on November 22, 2011 when the band played their Jubilee concert at the Dechenhöhle in Iserlohn, Germany. Those who know and appreciate the accessible, highly sequenced and occasionally melodic…
Release data: Chad Hoefler – Quiet Glow CD, LotusPike, 2005 “Quiet Glow” is Chad Hoefler’s second album and again a concept release, this time dealing with “simplicity” and “light”. In addition, it’s classified by the label as “intelligent electronic music” featuring “icy overtones and glitchy electronic textures”. Well, there’s certainly a somewhat quirky side to Hoefler’s music, which is basically…
Release data: Robert Rich – Medicine Box CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Soundscape Productions, 2011 Referred to as “a sonic tincture of shamanic energy, at once ecstatic and shadowy, fragile and surreal, fluid and psychedelic”, to me the ancient meets the modern while the dynamic meets the reflective on the Robert Rich release “Medicine Box”. Next to some velvet and graceful wordless vocals…
Release data: Chad Hoefler – Twilight in the Offing CD, Hypnos Recordings, 2004 “Twilight in the Offing” (mastered by Robert Rich) is the debut album of US-synthesist Chad Hoeffler. According to the composer, it’s a concept album on inevitability, the inescapable fact that darkness follows dusk, that fall and winter follow summer, and that the expiration of life is the…
Release data: Johannes Schmoelling – Time and Tide CD, Viktoriapark Records, 2011 All those who were present at the unique live Loom concert on E-Live 2011 will remember the great and enthusiastic musicianship displayed by Johannes Schmoelling during this performance. That day he also presented his brandnew album “Time and Time”, that again features some state-of-the art electronic music as…
Release data: Paul Vnuk Jr. – Silence Speaks in Shadow CD, Hypnos Recordings, 2001 Paul Vnuk Jr’s is known as one half of the ambient project Ma Ja Le, who hereby presents his first solo release of long-form and so-called “psycho-environmental music”. The 74-minute “Silence Speaks in Shadow” is a highly atmospheric ambient painting of looped synth improvisation and sound…
Release data: Justin Vanderberg – Synthetic Memories CD, Spotted Peccary Music, 2011 To me, Justin Vanderberg is a new ambient musician, but the press sheet learned he already released an album back in 2007 called “In Waking Moments”. “Synthetic Memories”, a concept album upon the idea of questioning the reality of memories, is his second effort. And what a beauty…
Release data: Sam Rosenthal – The Passage CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Projekt, 2011 “The Passage” is a foray into the realms of pure textural ambient from Black Tape For A Blue Girl founder/songwriter Sam Rosenthal, also known as owner of the Projekt label. The 44-minute title track is derived from the 16-minute closing track from the 1989 Blacktape album “As one aflame…
Release data: Picture Palace Music – Metropolis Poetry CD, Eastgate, 2010 “Metropolis Poetry” is another cinematic concept album by Thorsten Quaeschning, inspired by Frits Lang’s classic non-verbal movie “Metropolis”, realized in 2005, 2008 and 2011. Once more, their electronic-post-rock stays close to the output of Tangerine Dream from the begin and mid ’90’s, while at the same time aptly translating…
Release data: Exuviae – Intrinsic Luminance DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2009 With “Intrinsic Luminance”, Exuviae (aka Minnesota-based ambient composer Brooks Rongstad), finally brings us another chapter of textural and highly atmospheric pieces that contine where the gentle ambiences of “Echoes in the Emptiness” or “Settling Density” left us. I’m glad Brooks took the time to mould these smooth and overall…
Release data: Awenson – Wizard CD, Dreaming/Musea Records, 2010 Awenson is the new artist name of French musician Joël Bernard, previously known as Awen. I don’t have a clue why he switched to this new moniker, but the lovely crafted “Wizard” makes a release not to be missed: this is slow evolving and building electronic music (like the Awen-recording) firmly…
Release data: Mazmoneth – Music by Mirrors CD, DiN, 2011 Mazmoneth is a new name in both the DiN catalogue and in the Em-genre. It’s a project in search of new sonic horizons without borders initiated by Nigel Mullaney and Ray Sherwin. “Music by Mirrors” is a sonic journey incorporating progressive, inventive, reflective and fresh flavours that keep hold of…
Release data: Loom – 100 001 CD EP, Moonpop, 2011 “100 001” is a 4-track/19-minute Ep by Loom, a music project created by Jerome Froese, Johannes Schmoelling and Robert Waters, specially produced for LOOM’s first live show on October 15th, 2011 (E-Live 2011). The recording actually features one solo piece by Johannes and Jerome, and two tracks by Mr Waters.…
Release data: Keller & Schönwälder – Long Distances CD, Manikin Records, 2011 “Long Distances” is another typical Berliner-School inspired release from the German duo Keller & Schönwälder, for the biggest part made up of shelved recordings from a few years ago. The album contains two long pieces along one short track following in the footsteps of this EM-style, so no…
Release data: Broken Harbour – Gramophone Transmissions CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2011 “Gramophone Transmissions” is the second album by Broken Harbour, aka Canadian ambient composer Blake Gibson, made without any use of synthetic sources. Recorded between July and October 2009, the release offers a fascinating, highly cinematic ambient travelogue of loops, drone and textural pads with a strong organic rim.…
Release data: Phillip Wilkerson – Ten to Eleven CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2011 “Ten to Eleven” is a 42-minute freeform soundscape ambient/space album by US-musician Phillip Wilkerson, offering eight pieces of highly spherical music. From his website I learned its actually a compilation of variously release tracks recorded during 2010 and 2011. In addition, Phillip describes “Ten to Eleven” as…
Release data: Tangerine Dream – The Endless Season CD, Eastgate, 2010 “The Endless Season” is the fifth (and final) part of the Five Atomic Seasons album series. Quite some of the overall mellow music on the album remembers me of the live music Tangerine Dream played in the ’80’s and ’90’s and especially “Livemiles”, but now executed by Edgar solo…
Release data: Gustavo Jobim – Trapped in a Day Job DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2011 Gustavo Jobim is an electronic music composer from Brazil, who (according to the notes on his site) literally conceived “Trapped in a Day Job” during working hours between December 2009 and January 2009 by means of a small (only 250 kilobytes) software synthesizer, TS-404 V1.05…
Release data: Patrick O’Hearn – Transitions CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2011 According to Patrick O’Hearn, the music of “Transitions” intentionally hails back to the sounds of his first Private Music albums, sticking to the formulae of simple melody, harmony and above all: atmosphere. The 45-minute outcome was created using a mixture of hardware synthesizers, computer generated elements and traditional acoustic…
Release data: Polaris & Krzysztof Horn – Collision CD, Ricochet Dream, 2011 “Collision” contains 52-minutes of improvised live music played by Jakub Kmieć (aka Polaris) and Krzysztof Horn at The Richochet Gatherings event 2011, that took place in Berlin. Spherical and dreamy music starts out on the 11-minute title track with a distinct kind of movement that nicely carries on…
Release data: Steve Smith & The Tylas Cyndrome – Phoenix Arising CD, Groove Unlimited, 2011 In the electronic music community, synthesist Steve Smith is best known as one half of the UK band VoLt. “Phoenix Arising” is actually a project that has taken about 40 years in the making, as Steve and the other two musicians involved in it (drummer…
Release data: Altus – Symmetry & Shadow (Singles Collection Vol. 2) DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2011 This is a second compilation by Altus, aka Mike Carss, supposed to fill the gap until the release of his full album “Ecotone” due for mid November 2011. “Symmetry & Shadow”, with nice descriptive linear notes of the composer on the cd-artwork, comprises another…
Release data: John Broaddus – A Strange Mint DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Parnassus Nump, 2011 The linear notes on “A Strange Mint” read as follows: “a title created by mucking about with some recordings of organic and man-made materials interacting; fashioning them into something yet undiscovered, a hybrid of the natural and the synthetic, minting a new sound and form in the…
Release data: Exuviae – The Sum of Zero DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2011 With “The Sum of Zero”, Minnesota-based ambient composer Brooks Rongstad offers his listeners the second and final chapter in Exuviae’s exploration of “End-Time” themes that started in 2009 with “Amnesiascape”. Brooks comments to this second part it “captures the more emotional and less literal side of an…
Release data: Geigertek – Soundtrack for City Living CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, AD Music, 2011 “Soundtrack for City Living” is Geigertek’s sonic sketch of the varied feelings and moods encountered in the vibrant nightlife of an imaginary city. The opening piece “Beyond the Garden” starts out as a cinematic, spherical and warm soundscape composition, nicely spiced with gentle percussion and smooth soaring…
Release data: Mon0 – Monolith DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2011 Mon0’s “Monolith” invites us into a dark and mysterious ambient world with occasional minimal dub-techno beats, in which a strong sense of dynamic is embedded in the slow shifting and precisely tuned textural scapes. This is no scary trip though (with the exception of the entrance to the fifth track…
Release data: Pascal Savy – Liminal CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2011 “Liminal” is a four-track Ep by composer Pascal Savy, made with FM and analog synths, piano, oboe, and an assortment of processed field recordings, offering slow moving minimal and abstract ambient drone movements. Using loops attached to miniature soundscape forms and no melodic lines, the outcome constantly shifts through…
Release data: Steven Grace – Cobalt Blue DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2010 The 62-minute “Cobalt Blue” is an album fully composed with only one piece of gear: Leslie Sanford’s Cobalt synthesizer. The composer of it is Steven Grace, also known as the musician behind the retro-oriented project Logic Gate. The freeform music on “Cobalt Blue” focusses on quiet and moody…
Release data: Al Gromer Khan – Music from an Eastern Rosegarden CD, Aquamarin Verlag, 1989 “Music from an Eastern Rosegarden” by Al Gromer Kahn is a highly spiritual piece of sonic art that will appeal to ambient music fans who like smooth, relaxing electronic soundscapes and spheres with occasional sitar, all gently tapping in the mystic realm of or connecting…
Release data: Carbon Based Lifeforms – Twentythree CD, Ultimae Records, 2011 For this album, the duo Segerstad/Hedberg have chosen to turn the wheel and head into a different music direction, away from the down-tempo stuff of their previous releases. The outcome is the beatless “Twentythree”, moving into vast and spacious ambient territory. Its eight tracks of majestic textural drift music…
Release data: Transceive – Transformation 88:98 CD, Alles Klar Productions, 2006 The music by Transceive, aka Steve Nelson, is typical English melodic power-EM, so expect lots of pumping sequencing and fierce, rattling rhythms. “Transformation 88:98” is what Steve calls a kind of best-of album, containing music he compiled after the release of “Intrigue”. All tracks, except one, were composed between…
Release data: Symatic Star – The Distance DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2011 “The Distance” is the debut release of musician/composer Simon Walsh, aka Symatic Star, who hails from South Western Australia. The album contains two lengthy soundscape ambient pieces of 38 and 30 minutes each, both recorded live during and after the Electro-music.com 2011 Summer Solstice online concert June 18,…
Release data: Transceive – The Circe Complex DIGITAL DOWNLOAD EP, Alles Klar Productions, 2011 “The Circe Complex” is a 3-track/20 minute EP containing the first new tracks by Steve Nelson, aka Transceive, in five years and is meant as an appetizer for Transceive’s full length cd due for 2012. I’m sure those who know the dynamic, rhythmic music of Transceive’s…
Release data: David Wright – The Spirit of Light (Best of Volume 2) CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, AD Music, 2011 The 79-minute “The Spirit of Light” marks the second volume in the “Best of David Wright” series, featuring another selection of smooth-melodic, rhythmic but also light-weight (space)music. I can’t help not being fond of the sweet, profound new age edge and spiritual…
Release data: Numina – Subterranean Landscapes CD, Numina Music, 2011 Jesse Sola’s “Subterranean Landscapes” (inspired by the alien landscapes of the American desert Southwest) is a project of dark-oriented and longform ambient dronescapes, presented in seven imaginative tracks. While ambient musicians Biff Johnson and Nathan Youngblood join Jesse’s work on three separate tracks individually, the whole body of work roams…
Release data: Nebulæ – The Path of White Clouds CD, Hypnos Recordings, 2003/2011 “The Path of White Clouds” is the second release of Nebulae, an Italian/German ambient project lead by Oöphoi, aka Gianluigi Gasparetti. The version reviewed here is a re-release of the album that came out as a limited edition cd-r in 2003. The albums sonic concept is inspired…
Release data: Bob Holroyd – Afterglow CD, Private Release, 2011 “Afterglow” (also the featured album on the Bowers & Wilkins Society of Sound website during July 2011) is the seventh album by UK musician Bob Holroyd, musically turning away from the outcome as heard on his previous recordings. The 45-minute instrumental release features quiet and reflective ambient miniatures with a…
Release data: Alpha Wave Movement – Myriad Stars DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Harmonic Resonance Recordings, 2011 With “Myriad Stars”, Gregory Kyryluk aka Alpha Wave Movement brings us a nice and colourful addition to his existing catalogue of space music, and especially his album “A Distant Signal”. These are ten tracks of atmospheric spaciousness opening a doorway to an expansive, cosmic environment, very…
Release data: Steve Roach – Quiet Music (The Original 3-Hour Collection) CD, Projekt, 2011 It’s finally here: the entire release of “Quiet Music”, Roach’s classic ambient release of the mid ’80’s, presented as a triple cd-set. For a description of all previous versions of this recording plus a bit of background, I refer to the other review of this album…
Release data: Robert Schroeder – Esthétique CD, Spheric Music, 2011 Since Robert Schroeder showed up again several years ago after a long period of silence, he kept up a steady schedule of new releases as if he started a second youth. Like its recent predecessors, the music of “Esthétique” (another 24-bit production) offers vintage-flavoured and sequencer-based elements glued together and…
Release data: Temps Perdu? – Athanor CD, Timebase, 1992/1993 Temps Perdu is an ambient/industrial project by the Dusseldorf-based French/German duo Dirk and Catherine Ledit-Grützmann. Their debut and privately released album “Athanor” is strongly influenced by modern life at the start of the ‘90’s, a period in which lots of communication facilities such as fax, email services, mobile phones and other…
Release data: Michael Brückner – Endless Mind Portal DIGITAL DOWNLOAD/CD-R, Private Release, 2011 For fans of atmospheric ambient and cosmic music, the album “Endless Mind Portal” (released as a download in early August 2011) by German composer Michael Brückner may be a treat. The three-hour recording (a concept album on the discovery and exploration of the universe) features lengthy and…
Release data: Radio Massacre International – Time & Motion CD, Cuneiform Records, 2010 Many Em-fans will haved loved the first batch of albums by the UK-trio Radio Massacre International along several of their privately brewed and released cd-r’s. On those recordings, the band presented energetic and progrock oriented vintage electronics firmly rooted in TD’s ’70’s sound . “Time & Motion”…
Release data: Robert Scott Thompson – The Silent Shore CD, Oasis/Mirage, 1996 “The Silent Shore” is an album of US-composer Robert Scott Thompson, who is associate professor at Georgia State University, School of Music. His electro-acoustic music, split in three separate “modules”, features a darker type of atmospheric ambient. It’s free form, highly textural and slow morphing in nature with…
Release data: You – Laserscape LP/CD, Cue Records, 1986 “Laserscape” is the fourth and last album by You, aka the German duo Albin Meskes and Udo Hanten, from the ‘80’s period. Initially released on vinyl in 1986, only few copies of the recording made it on the market, making it very hard to find for many years. Fortunately, Joerg Strawe’s…
Release data: Markus Reuter & Zero Ohms – The Sun Is Just The Sun, But The Stars They Call The Heavens DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, DiN, 2011 As an avid fan of ambient soundscape music, German touch guitarist Markus Reuter and American woodwind experimentalist Zero Ohms (aka Richard J. Roberts) have added a peculiar one to the genre. Their collaborative 68-minute release…
Release data: Michael Shipway – Voyage to Venus CD, MSL Music, 2011 Most fans of electronic music will probably know Michael Shipway as one half of the successful UK project VoLt. Since their last album “HJVI” they both have spend their time on own projects. “Voyage to Venus” is the follow-up on Michael’s cd “The Spirit of Adventure”, released in…
Release data: Steve Brand – Avatara CD, Hypnos Recordings, 2011 If you’re looking for a contemplative ambient release with a minimal framework, Steve Brand’s “Avatara” (inspired by the various avatars of various ages and cultures) could be an appropriate choice. I for one would classify it as high-quality contemplative music, due to its ongoing gentle flow of textural pads with…
Release data: Javi Cánovas – Aureal DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2011 With “Aureal”, Javi again brings us a very attractive and highly inspired sounding sonic canvas. The music itself features a wealth of expansive and vibrant textures all the way, but what fascinates me the most is that the whole arc of evocative and sounds paints a grand cinematic scenery…
Release data: Wintherstormer – Ground Connection CD, Bajkal Records, 2011 For me, expect the weird and unexpected has always been the case when I encountered a recording of the Norwegian quartet Wintherstormer, led by Terje Winther and Erik Stormer. The music on their fourth release “Ground Connection” is no exception on that with is mixed bowl of analogue synths, sequencers,…
Release data: Dave Luxton – Dreams Ghosts and Parallel Universes CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Wayfarer Records, 2011 With “Dreams Ghosts and Parallel Universes”, US synthesist Dave Luxton brings us an album offering twelve atmospheric space music tracks, making up almost an hour of listening pleasure. During the spacious ride with minimal use of rhythm or sequences, Dave keeps things drifting in a…
Release data: Erik Wøllo – Silent Currents (Live at Star’s End) CD, Projekt Records, 2011 Those who have seen Norwegian multi-instrumentalist Erik Wøllo perform live know that he is able to create impressive and highly cinematic spheres with a symphonic/prog-rock touch. The double album “Silent Currents” contains two different live sets of 52 minutes each, both performed at Star’s End…
Release data: Bernard Weadling – Out of Time CD, Private Release, 2009 French artist Bernard Weadling started playing electronic music at the age of 14, using a Korg MS 10 as his first synthesizer. When he was 16 years old, he had built his own home studio which contained various synthesizers along an SQ 10 analogue sequencer and a 4-track…
Release data: Robert Fox – Short Stories CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, AD Music, 2011 The music captured on “Short Stories” proves Mr Fox is further continuing the sonic path taken on his album “Evergreen”. The outcome again is a tad lighter and almost easy-listening when one hears the ten storytelling tracks too gently unfold in an almost new age kind style. Sadly…
Release data: A Produce & Loren Nerell – Intangible CD, Hypnos Recordings, 2011 “Intangible” is the outcome of a collaboration between Barry Craig (aka A Produce) and Loren Nerell, both known as skilled ambient composers for many years. Composed between 2007 and 2010, the seven moody tracks on their debut album are a journey into warm textural drone paintings and…
Release data: Paul Ellis – From Out Of The Vast Comes Nearness CD, LotusPike, 2011 About two years after his last hard-copy release “Last Hiding Place of Beauty”, synthesist Paul Ellis brings us the 74-minute “From Out Of The Vast Comes Nearness” (working title “Watch the stars come one by one”) of which the music is especially dedicated to Steve…
Release data: Numina – Dawn of Obscurity CD, Numina Music, 2011 After being absent for a while in the electronic music scene due to personal circumstances, Colorado-based musician Jesse Sola (aka Numina) fortunately brings us not one but two brand new ambient albums in July 2011. One of them is “Dawn of Obscurity”, in the press-sheet described as “six songs…
Release data: Robert Fox – Asfafa -a journey- CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, FXMusic, 1991 Many consider “Asfafa” as the debut album of UK-composer Robert Fox (a drama teacher in daily life), but it was actually preceded by no less than two albums (“Voices from the Inner Ear” and “Far Distant Shore”). Starting out with lush, spherical choirs pads, the accessible music of…
Release data: Tuu – Mesh CD, Hearts of Space/Fathom, 1997 For “Mesh”, the UK-band TUU consisted of Martin Franklin, Mykl O’Dempsey and Nick Parkin along two guest stars. The band were able to get their album released in the flow of tribal-infused and darker shaded string of releases that appeared on the Hearts of Space sublabel Fathom in the mid…
Release data: John Flomer – Night in the Vapor Jungle CD, Spotted Peccary Music, 1999 “Night in the Vapor Jungle” is the second release of visionary artist and sound designer John Flomer, that again is marketed as an album filled with fantastic and dreamy, almost romantic flavoured electronic music. The red line on the 50-minute album are lush new-age piano…
Release data: Richard Bone – XesseX (The Palindrome Project) CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Quirkwork Laboratory Discs, 2011 The eight compositions on the ambient album “Xessex” are the outcome of Richard Bone’s lifelong fascination with directional sound. Not the direction from which it emanates, but rather the direction in which it flows. The depth and density within a reversed sound is totally different…
Release data: Grindlestone – Tone CD, Noh Poetry Records, 2011 Grindlestone, founded in 1999, is an ambient/experimental project that brings together US-musicians Don Falcone and Douglas Erickson. Their release “Tone”, mastered by Robert Rich, offers nine minimal-oriented sonic creations with a raw edge, assembled from found sounds and manipulations of music performances. The 53-minute creepy outcome is no easy and…
Release data: Optical Image – Treasure Point CD, Bargain Productions, 1993 Optical Image is a project by Dutch composer Tom Habes, who developed quite an original, cinematic and overall fresh sounding style of electronic music. Tom refers to the music of his debut “Treasure Point” as a journey of images and moods allowing the listener to generate his own impressions.…
Release data: Arnold Mitchem – Desert Dreams CD, ADM Music/Earthsong, 1998 The instrumental music on the album “Desert Dreams” by guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Arnold Mitchem is inspired by the national treasures and overall beauty of the American desert Southwest. At certain spots, Mitchem’s acoustic six-string guitar playing is accompanied by lush and warm electronic string pads, bass and flutes. Desert…
Release data: Tim Story – Shadowplay CD, Hearts of Space Records, 2001 Ambient musician Tim Story doesn’t need a lot of introduction, being an accomplished contemporary instrumental composer of ambient chamber music for many years. While bridging old and modern classical music, Tim has creates 49 minutes of reflective, soundtrack-like and overtly intimate instrumental music miniatures that touch the heart.…
Release data: Santé – Into Light CD, Santé Music, 2000 Stephanie Santé belongs to the very small league of female musicians in the genre of electronic music. With her debut “Into Light” she offers an emotive and accessible album, nicely kicked off by the inviting “Airstream”. Stephanies smoothly sequenced and highly imaginative music is airy and relaxing, featuring slight symphonic…
Release data: Rüdiger Gleisberg – Baktun CD, Musique Intemporelle, 1993 “Baktun” by German synthesist Rüdiger Gleisberg musically follows a classical approach. Here, Gleisberg displays a nice range of dynamic, overall creative sonic creations that mix classic strings and orchestrations with percussion, plus occassionally some ethnic elements. The music is vibrant and expressive, a kind of modern symphonies in a nutshell…
Release data: Emmanuel Tuts-Schiemsky – Rust voor de Stilte CD, Arya, 1996 Belgian musician Emmanuel Tuts-Schiemsky was part of the range of ambient musicians who were offered the possibility to release their music on the Italian Amplexus-sublabel Arya. “Rust voor de Stilte”, inspired by fading memories and unattainable desires and released as a limited edition of 100 copies, was Emmanuels…
Release data: Enterphase – Phase One CD, AD Music, 1994 On “Phase One”, Enterphase is an electronic space project made up by the American duo Fred Becker and Jeff Filbert. The duo came with the group of import electronic music from the US such as Mark Dwane, Geodesium, Jonn Serrie and Michael Stearns. Enterphase found a most welcome ear in…
Release data: Nebulous – Synthetica III CD, Private Release, 2000 “Synthetica III” is -according to the musicians site- the official (and final) cd release of Synthetica material, created by the Canadian musician Jared (Nebulous) Brookes. For years, the latter designed and built his own analogue gear, followed by an extensive period of experimentation and sound design, a process in which…
Release data: Dweller at the Threshold – No Boundary Condition CD, Eurock, 1996 Dweller at theThreshold is a retro-project founded by Paul Ellis and Dave Fulton, helped out by Jeff Vasey. The project’s music, firmly rooted in the classic Berliner School style, is complex and while not always clearly heading into a certain direction, there’s this intruiging thread running underneath…
Release data: Harold Budd – The Serpent (In Quicksilver) / Abandoned Cities CD, Opal, 1991 This cd-release comprises two albums made in 1981 (“The Serpent”) and 1984 (“Abandoned Cities”) respectively. “The Serpent” is actually a 20-minute Ep containing six short ambient miniatures, taking off with some pedal steel guitar and treated piano on “Afar” followed by the drifting spheres and…