Release data: Axis – Natural High Lp, Victor, 1983 Despite being around in the genre for a long time, I still stumble upon, often well hidden, recordings deserving mentioning “Natural High” fits into that category, a project released in 1983 by Japanese synthesist Yasuo Ogata and programmer Keita Miyahara, aka Axis. The 45-minute outcome, setting off with warm analogue synths…
Release data: Robert Rich & Markus Reuter – Incubation CD/Digital Download, Soundscape Productions, 2025 The dark-flavored “Incubation” is the soundscape outcome created by touch-guitarist Markus Reuter and the accomplished Robert Rich. It was born out of various improvised sessions at Rich’s studio when Markus stayed there for a week, after one of his tours got cancelled. Don’t be deceived by…
Release data: Jim Ottaway – Treasures of Light CD/Digital Download, Private Release, 2026 When it comes to contemporary, cosmic-angled and melodic music, Mr. Ottaway’s “Treasures of Light” has a lot on offer. Same as the approach of the albums “A Promise of Eternity” and “Somewhere Inbetween”, Jim compiled this album from tracks recorded as early as June 2008 and completed…
Release data: Martin Stürtzer – Portal to Tau Ceti Digital Download, Echo Elberfeld, 2025 What I have here is a one-hour ambient-space recording by accomplished synthesist Martin Stürtzer containing three lengthy compositions. All are highly atmospheric, drifting, ethereal, and calm excursions into outer space assembled of improvised soundscapes and morphing ambient pads. One should best cherish this slow, enveloping and…
Release data: Ascendant – Excursions in Light Digital Download, Aura Exclusive, 2016/2023 In the past years I’ve heard quite a bit of the works Chris Bryant and Don… Tyler created under the Ascendant moniker. For years, “Excursions In Light“ (together with “Into the Void”) was previously only available as an exclusive ambient release through the duos Patreon portal. As the…
Release data: Loren Nerell – The Gong Prophet CD/Digital Download, SoundQuest Music, 2021 The recent passing of California-resident and musician Loren Nerell, a free spirit composer who built bridges between Balinese gamelan, tribal and electronic rhythmic ambient music, prompted me to visit another recording of his. Gamelan (an ensemble of instruments, mostly tuned percussion similar to xylophones) again makes a…
Release data: Sphäre Sechs – Nebular Resonance CD/Digital Download, Loki Foundation, 2026 A rise and fall of spacious synth pads forms the core of the journey of exploration found on Sphäre Sechs’ seventh album “Nebular Resonance”. Approximately half of the darker shaded, free form outcome was introduced at Mr. Stürtzer’s “Phobos live 2025″ free-form live event. Strings of mysterious, spatial,…
Release data: Subheim – Approach CD/Digital Download, Tympanik, 2008 “Approach” is the debut recording by Greek composer Kostas Katsikas, aka Subheim, whose music I ran into by accident. It offers a peculiar but intriguing mix of ambient, IDM, and downtempo, merging crispy beats/rhythms, piano, drones, female voices, electronics as well as a tad of glitch into a rather…
Release data: Chris Meyer’s Alias Zone – Passage CD/Digital Download, Private Release, 2026 “Passage” is a collaborative beat-less and mostly sequencer-less ambient electronic music work between Chris Meyer’s Alias Zone and acclaimed ambient artist Robert Rich, offering an outcome that’s quite a bit different than Alias Zone’s previous albums. According to the promo blurb, Mr Meyer’s has been working on…
Release data: Manuel Göttching – Dream & Desire CD, Musique Intemporelle/Spalax, 1991 Originally, “Dream & Desire” was recorded for a one-hour radio play at RIAS Berlin in 1977, but it never saw the light of day as an album. This stayed that way until 1991, when Bernd Kistenmacher seized the opportunity to release it on his label. What the listener…
Release data: Michael Stearns & Robert Rich – Reunion of Breath and Waves CD/Digital Download, Soundscape Productions, 2026 In June 2025, after many years of friendship and shared musical interests, sound explorers Michael Stearns and Robert Rich finally embarked on a collaboration to create an album together. They actually met back in 1986 when Stephen Hill introduced them to each…
Release data: Phobos – A Perceived View Digital Download, Private Release, 2026 The list of releases by this English musician is becoming lengthy by now, which isn’t a bad thing, as until now there always has been sufficient weight and fine atmospheric content found in each of them. The two-hour “A Perceived View” consists of two extended tracks recorded live…
Release data: Lisa Bella Donna – Moogmentum CD/Lp/Digital Download, Behind the Sky Music, 2021 The magic and possibilities of Moog equipment are demonstrated clearly on “Moogmentum” by Lisa Bella Donna, who’s a proud ambassador & educator of Moog Music and all of the artistry that goes into making their instruments. The sonic landscape enfolding on the continuous 11-track outcome (depicted…
Release data: Ian Boddy & Erik Wøllo – Transmissions CD/Digital Download, DiN, 2025 Those familiar with and/or enjoying Mr. Boddy’s and Mr. Wøllo’s previous collaborative albums “Meridian” and “Revolve” will find some interesting reimagined and revisited versions of tracks from each of them on “Transmission”. The latter chronicles their concert at the Capstone Theatre in Liverpool in April 2024, offering…
Release data: Black Mellotrons – Tripmuziek Digital Download, Doombient, 2026 Ok, aficionados of ambient, drone-based electronic music created with real mellotrons should pay attention here: “Tripmuziek” contains a series of five recordings Stephen Parsick made once upon a time, on his own or as collaborative efforts with Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock (aka Cosmic Hoffmann), to be used for future concert performances or…
Release data: Between Heaven and Sky – A Horizon of Dreams Digital Download, Private Release, 2026 What I got here is the second, now full-length, release by Rishi Bhatia (aka Spacecraft) and UK synthesist Nik Davies (aka Applefish). The 41-minute recording focuses on lush soundscape ambient, sonically continuing where their previous EP left us. A kindred sense of calm and…
Release data: Forrest Fang – Radiance and the Receding Light CD/Digital Download, Projekt Archive, 2026 The outcome featured on this double album -mastered expertly by Robert Rich- is another showcase of Mr. Fang’s rather unique hybrid style of electronic music incorporating ethnic influences from Asia, as such producing rich electronic textures of music that’s often complemented by assorted Western and…
Release data: Loneward – Mosaic – Singles Collection Volume 5 Digital Download, Altus Music, 2026 Mike Carss started this series of albums under the Altus moniker back in 2007 with the first volume entitled “Singulus”. By whatever reason, it now continues under the Loneward banner, offering a batch of eight atmospheric soundscapes -of which five are previously unreleased- composed between…
Release data: Lisa Bella Donna – Mysteries of Time and Space CD/Digital Download, Groove Unlimited, 2026 “Mysteries of Time and Space” -released on E-Day 2026- marks Lisa’s strong debut on the established Groove Unlimited label, seeing her execute a wondrous blend of vintage sound imagery and field recordings in three extended tracks. Here, anyone looking for profound, enchanting pads and…
Release data: Brainwork – Hypnos CD, Cue Records, 2026 In the album’s booklet, musician Uwe Saher elaborates that the content of this album turns away quite a bit from traditional Berlin School. Instead, it focuses on minimalist sound design and layered repetitive sound structures featured on two 20-minute tracks and one 12-minute piece. As such, listening to and appreciating the…
Release data: Perge – Tall Stories CD/Digital Download, Private Release, 2026 When Matthew Stringer initially formed Perge with Graham Getty, it was in response to the TD ‘Tape Tree’ bootleg exchange project being cancelled and that much of what was being put out as EM wasn’t really putting in the effort which was turning the audience off; the large interest…
Release data: Gert Emmens & Ruud Heij – In Perspective CD/Digital Download, Private Release, 2025 Well, these two musicians -who first met back in 1997- don’t need to prove anything anymore as they are both very well skilled and have brought a long list of releases (solo as well as through collaborations) to the table. The 3-cd “In Perspective” (comprising…
Release data: Johannes Schmoelling – Instant City CD, Viktoriapark Records, 2006 One could say the 74-minute “Instant City” by accomplished musician Johannes Schmoelling is one of vision, joy, and experience while also revealing a bit more of Johannes’ personal world and his development through time. In an interview, he once remarked the album in some ways is also the approach…
Release data: Rainbow Serpent – Voyager CD, Ardema Musik, 1996 Same as their fine debut “Futuregate”, their second collaborative work “Voyager” continues nicely in the footsteps of the Berlin School style of Klaus Schulze while being strongly influenced by the available technology, as well as gained experience over the years. Aside from that, I’m sure the duo’s own activity as…
Release data: Hoenig – Göttsching – Early Water CD, Musique Intemporelle/Spalax, 1995 “Early Water” is one of those classic gems in electronic music that found its origin in a jam session that took place in Berlin in the autumn of 1976 between Manuel Göttsching and Michel Hoenig. The “lost” recording remained on the shelf for about 20 years or so,…
Release data: Australis – Oneironaut CD/Digital Download, Essential Noises, 2025 “Oneironaut” (referring to Oneironautics, the ability to travel within a dream on a conscious basis.) is an accessible, melodic release offering a brief conscious exploration into the always unexpected territory of dreams, a place where we are involuntary wanderers. Within the dream experience -which is unique to each human being-…
Please click the link below to read the full article “David Parsons: Immersive sounds tapping into worlds beyond” Feature of David Parsons Tribute – Sonic Immersion This extensive article is the outcome of a collaboration of myself, New Zealand composer Rudy Adrian and Marius-Christian Burcea, host of the podcast website “Journeys To The Infinite”.
Release data: Craig Padilla & Zero Ohms – To Sleep on Stellar Winds CD/Digital Download, Spotted Peccary Music, 2024 The five-track ambient-space release “To Sleep On Stellar Winds” sees a reunion of acclaimed US synthesist Craig Padilla and Richard J. Roberts (aka Zero Ohms) after a 12-year hiatus. It has resulted in an aural journey, which sees Mr. Padilla implement…
Release data: David Helpling & Scott Reich – Through the Thought Horizon CD/Digital Download, Spotted Peccary Music, 2026 A reverie of delicate yet thoughtful soundings and a serene aural sanctuary would be an appropriate description for this spacious, luminous, 55-minute work of ambient that’s filled to the brim with lush, warm, and pastoral tones. According to the press sheet, “what…
Lp/ Release data: Michael Hoenig – Xcept One LP/CD, Cinema Records/Capitol Records, 1987 Anyone expecting something like his classic “Departure from the Northern Wasteland” will be disappointed as “Xcept One” presents an assortment of noisy, driving progressive electronics with digital drums/rhythmic percussion matched with melodic synth lines. In particular, the sound of Synclavier and Oberheim synthesizers is featured throughout. “Xcept…
Release data: Rogue Element – Premonition CD/Digital Download, Acoustic Wave Records, 2004 What I got here is the first release on Brendan Pollard’s own Acoustic Wave label, a recording he made with Jerome Ramsey using the Rogue Element moniker. Having released “Storm Passage” earlier on, this fine release is breathing the sound of vintage electronics through all its veins. Great…
Release data: Detlef Keller – 2025 Live CD/Digital Download, Manikin Records, 2026 This release sees the light of day some 10 years after “The Breakfast Event”, which I’m still enjoying quite a bit. “2025 Live” comprises a 53-minute set Detlef played at the EC festival in Lemgo, as well as a 20-minute recording made at a presentation in Münster. The…
Release data: Software – FragrancE CD/Digital Download, IC/DigIt, 1990 With this album (part of the exhibition “Digital Art”), the Software formulae moves straight into New Age music territory while integrating some further money-making tricks Mr. Weisser & co. were good at back in those days: dabbling with catchy concepts and so on. This one says it offers musical translations of…
Release data: Axess – The Power of Love CD/Digital Download, Private Release, 2026 The content of this album -which comes with a rather kitschy cover in my opinion- sees a continuation and slight extension of the emotive yet compelling and profound sound palette musician Axel Stupplich displayed on the subdued-sounding “Resurrection” and “Sea Shore”. Released on April 10, 2026, it…
Release data: Simon Lomax – Together, We Are Never Far From Home CD/Digital Download, Council of Nine, 2026 What I got here is Simon Lomax’s 15th album to date, which the artist refers to as another passage through time and emotion. To the outcome of the 48-minute “Together, We Are Never Far From Home”, Simon elaborates that it explores enduring…
Release data: Lisa Bella Donna – Odyssey CD/Digital Download, Private Release in collaboration with Omnia / Live Acts, 2020 Those who have seen this remarkable woman play live at E-Day 2026 have experienced a very talented, extraordinary and above all profoundly skilled musician who’s very much at home in the analogue gear domain. She has actually been composing and recording…
Release data: Erren – Fleissig – Schöttler – Steffen – Mosselbank Digital file, Private Release, 2016 The outcome of this album was created by Jörg Erren, Bert Fleißig, Jochen Schöttler, and Christian Steffen during jam sessions and lots of improvising while staying at a holiday lot in Ouddorp, Zeeland, in 2016. Same as “Tidal Shift”, the music (split into Part…
Release data: Ice Planet 9000 – How to bottle a Star CD/Digital Download, Private Release, 2026 Their fourth album, “How to Bottle a Star”, sees the duo Brent Zius and Karl Learmont take the next step in what they pinpoint as a retro‑futuristic, dark‑ambient voyage built around luminous melodies and vast, galactic chord progressions. Furthermore, Karl elaborates that he was…
Release data: Loneward – Paradox of Silken Stars Digital Download, Altus Music, 2026 A display of emotions has always been one of the pillars of Mike Carss’s music, a stronghold for aural journeys for the mind’s eye. March 2026 saw the release of the 55-minute, 7-track “Paradox of Silken Stars”, an album pairing varied emotive currents beautifully with broadening, deep,…
Release data: Boduf Songs – Selected Instrumental Works Mc/Digital Download, Bluesanct, 2026 Those looking for some quiet, reflective as well as intimate electronics in these restless, troubled times should check out this release comprising 14 instrumental tracks by Mathew Sweet, aka Boduf Songs. It’s solitary, sparse music without overt song structure, with intimacy always found at the core of the…
Release data: Hollan Holmes – The Sanctity of Rust CD/Digital Download, Spotted Peccary Music, 2026 As we humans grow older, a sense of patience and extended moments of reflection may surface more often from time to time. The captivating music making up the deeply personal “The Sanctity Of Rust” (featuring the greatest abundance of piano and Rhodes electric piano on…
Release data: Max Corbacho – The Gentle Continuum CD-r/Digital Download, Silentsun, 2026 After a (creative?) pause, Mr Corbacho returns to the ambient-electronic scene with the 73-minute “The Gentle Continuum”, another steady, but also familiar-sounding soundscape recording. B ack are the calm, highly atmospheric textural spaces without any rhythm, all spiralling smoothly but surely into infinite distances. As before, there’s a…
Release data: Various Artists – The Wending Works I MC, Private Release, 1989 At the end of the ‘80’s, the Belgian EM scene produced a new but short-lived magazine: De Wending. At that time, I was not able to become a member, but I kept an eye on it while I continued reading as well as contributing to the Dutch…
Release data: Redshift – Wild 2 CD/Digital Download, Distant Sun Production, 2006 As the Redshift site says, following the constant demand for extra print runs of the first “Wild” album, Redshift decided to create a full, commercial, and factory-pressed CD of the next set of previously unreleased tracks, all recorded at different times during the band’s existence. More specifically, the…
Release data: Redshift – Wild CD-r/Digital Download, Private Release, 2002 The nearly 35-minute “Wild” by Mark Shreeve’s Redshift was physically released in a limited run of 100 hand-numbered CD-Rs and sold as an exclusive to the attendees at the Hampshire Jam 2002 concert. The recording comprises the live tracks “Red 1” (from KLEM-dag 1995, The Netherlands) and “subEther” (from the…
Release data: Ash Ra Tempel – Friendship CD, Manikin Records, 2000 In the year 2000, Manikin label-owner Mario Schönwälder released this fine, fully instrumental album. Klaus Schulze and his Ashra Tempel bandmate Manuel Göttsching go back a long way, belonging to the league that started the so-called Kosmische, Kraut, and Prog-Rock wave in Germany. Three long, slowly evolving tracks are…
Release data: Suzanne Ciani – History of my Heart CD/Lp, Private Music, 1989 The gentle, melodic, and classical arrangements found on Ciani’s album “The Velocity of Love” continue on this album. Aside from stronger New Age flavors, this time the electronics are paired further with a piano approach and various classical instruments, delivering inspired pieces like “Anthem”, “Inverness”, “Eagle”, “Mozart”,…
Release data: Brian Eno – Neroli CD, All Saints Records, 1993/2014 The single 57-minute track (alternatively entitled Thinking Music Part IV) featured on this album sees Brian Eno execute another profound minimalist and most quiet work of ambient that exists “at the edge of music”. Named after the precious sensual oil derived from the flowers of the Seville orange, it…
Release data: Between Heaven and Sky – The Quiet Geometry of Light EP Digital Download, Private Release, 2026 The free-floating ambient music captured on this 5-track EP creates a beautiful place of harmony and calm where one could pause and relax for a while. It’s the first fruit from the collaboration between Indian composer Rishi Bhatia (aka Spacecraft) and UK…
Release data: Forrest Fang – The Oort Cloud MeditationsCD/Digital Download, Projekt Records, 2023 Contrary to Mr. Fang’s previous releases, this ambient-space album is a pure electronic affair without any acoustic instrumentation whatsoever. Instead, the 69-minute “The Oort Cloud Meditations” features expansive, brighter-lit drone soundscapes and open-ended textures all moving, evolving, and shapeshifting at an almost glacial pace. Mr. Fang…
Release data: Erik Wøllo – Snow Tides CD/Digital Download, Projekt Records, 2026 Capturing cold weather conditions and the beauty of frozen landscapes and transforming them into captivating sonic scenery has always been one of the strongholds of Erik Wøllo’s work. On the 10-track/55-minute “Snow Tides”, the sounds of synthesizers and guitar shake hands in a beautiful and complementary manner, painting…
Release data: Steve Roach – One Day of Forever CD/Digital Download, Projekt Records, 2024 One can’t have missed the big as well as too frequent amount of releases this musician has put out in the last 2 decades, which had a significant negative impact on their quality and impact of many of them in my opinion. Fortunately, the etheric textural…
Release data: Owann – Saga CD-r/Digital Download, Private Release, 2021 The calm yet tender unfolding music making up Owann’s “Saga” seems kind of observations to my ears, they make the listener’s mind drift into imaginary, distant lands. Composer Johan De Paepe refers to the outcome as stories where music meets environmental sounds. The spacious ambient created here is an attentively…
Release data: TiRa – Space Symphony USB Stick / Digital Download, Groove Unlimited, 2026 Ralf Gülpen’s 127-minute “Space Symphony” is an ambient project through space and time. His friend Wilfried Schüller narrated the prologue in English, and the texts for the prologue and the planets were written by him. The planets and moons were then narrated by an AI. Here,…
Release data: Three-Six (36) – Night LanguageLp/Mc/Digital Download, Pure Life Records, 2026 I was a bit disappointed by Mr. Huddleston’s previous release, “A Warm Static Sphere”, due to a veil of dissonance. The 6-track “Night Language” -inspired by Berlin School era electronic music, by artists such as Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze- is a different story of contemporary ambient, delivering…
Release data: Phobos – Cydonia Plain Digital Download, Private Release, 2005 This release contains two 30-minute tracks, live and improvised studio recordings to be exact, which synthesist David Thompson really enjoys doing nowadays, along with two shorter, composed pieces. On the opening title piece, slow enveloping dark textures are scattered all over the place, with a low sequence surfacing in…
Release data: Harold Budd & Brian Eno – The Pearl LP/CD, EG Records, 1984 The lovely ambient poetry featured on Budd & Eno’s classic album “The Pearl” (of which a good portion was recorded at Daniel Lanois’ studio in Ontario) is one of the works I keep returning to when I’m in need of something to ease the mind. It’s…
Release data: Pete Bardens – Seen One Earth CD/Lp, Capitol Records, 1987 Known as a founding member and keyboard player of symphonic/prog-rock band Camel, Pete Bardens released a few solo releases after he left. The 33-minute “Seen One Earth” is an accessible, moody, and overall mellow-sounding album with a clean electronic sound. I guess some might characterize the atmospheric as…
Release data: Ashra – Sauce Hollandaise CD, Manikin Records, 1997 Ok, please journey back with me to October 1997 when Ashra played at “KLEMdag 1997” in Nijmegen, a still memorable event. “Sauce Hollandaise” contains 3 lengthy tracks live on stage by the quartet Manuel Göttsching, Lutz Ulbrich, Harald Grosskopf, and Steve Baltes on that occasion. What’s featured here is a…
Release data: Altus – Symphony for the Sullen Digital Download, Altus Music, 2025 With this release, Altus’s music swerves away from his usual “ambient” self: the 48-minute “Symphony for the Sullen” is a completely orchestral work inspired by 20th-century composers. Mike Carss actually composed it in the wake of Donald Trump’s inauguration. As Mike further comments, across nine pieces, its…